Lionheart Baptism

Early the next morning, when Yan Qingshan came from Xiao Yi Xian's room into the outer courtyard, he saw Boss Yao with two huge dark circles under his eyes, as though he had not slept well last night.

"Morning, Boss!"

Having slept soundly, Yan Qingshan was refreshed and in high spirits as he greeted Boss Yao with a smile. Yet Boss Yao, who had been so warm yesterday, did not even glance at him. He pulled a long face and turned to leave.

Yan Qingshan did not care about Boss Yao's sour expression. He began his morning training alone in the courtyard. Around the time breakfast was over, more people began to gather nearby, and he could faintly hear murmurs of discussion, interspersed with words such as South City, Wolf Head, and Mu She.

After wiping away his sweat with a damp towel, Yan Qingshan briskly headed toward the hall where Boss Yao was. When he entered, Boss Yao was speaking with his subordinates. At the sight of him, he seemed slightly flustered.

Boss Yao rose to his feet, his suspicious gaze continuously sizing Yan Qingshan up. "Qingshan, what is it?"

Yan Qingshan got straight to the point, glancing at Boss Yao's trusted men on either side. "Boss, there is something I want to discuss with you. Let's talk alone."

"Fine. You all go out first!"

Boss Yao fell silent for a moment, then waved the others away. One by one, his subordinates filed out.

"Go on. What is it?"

Boss Yao watched Yan Qingshan sit in the rosewood chair to his left, and the suspicion in his eyes deepened. He seemed increasingly restless, as though sitting on pins and needles.

"Hehe, Boss, don't be nervous. You're making it seem like I'm about to do something to you!"

Yan Qingshan smiled and took two scrolls from his robes, one new and one old. He first spread open the new white scroll, which listed one precious material after another, most of them rarely seen on the market. "I hope you can help me gather everything listed here."

"You... did you write this wrong...?"

Boss Yao frowned deeply after taking the scroll and looking it over. Many of the items were among his personal collection, while the rest could be obtained by calling in favors and using his connections. But doing so would wipe out nearly ten years of Myriad Medicine Hall's profits, not to mention the cost in connections and resources.

Yan Qingshan pushed the other Light Green Scroll toward him. "This is the payment I have prepared, the deposit. The rest is in a residence in South City. I trust you'll be satisfied."

"This is... a Profound-tier Low-grade Dou Technique... Wind Blade Dance... the matter in Zhennan... You..."

Boss Yao looked at the Profound-tier Low-grade Dou Technique, something worth a fortune and nearly impossible to find on the market. Yet that was not what truly shocked him. More importantly, when he connected it to the news from Zhennan this morning, his expression changed again and again, and his eyes filled with horror as he looked at Yan Qingshan.

Facing the smiling Yan Qingshan, Boss Yao felt immense pressure. In the end, he forced himself to calm down and said, "Don't worry. I will gather the things on this list as quickly as possible!"

Yan Qingshan rose unhurriedly. "Good. Then I'll be relying on you, Boss!"

That morning, Yan Qingshan entered the courtyard wearing a Storage Ring. Xiao Yi Xian was tidying the yard for him when her vision suddenly blurred. A calf-sized magical beast and half a tail crashed into the courtyard, startling her badly.

"Xian'er, go stand guard at the entrance for me!"

Yan Qingshan spoke in a low, solemn voice. Then he began processing the Azure-maned Scorpion-lion Beast and preparing for the Lionheart Baptism.

"Ah, oh, okay..."

Though Xiao Yi Xian was extremely curious about what Yan Qingshan intended to do, she obediently refrained from asking. Instead, she cautiously peered outside the gate, guarding against anyone coming over and disrupting him.

"Shuguang, record the actual process. Attempt to analyze and simplify it..."

Yan Qingshan activated Shuguang and prepared to attempt the ritual. A simulation was only a simulation. When it came to actual execution, whether in battle plans or preparing medicinal fluids, it was impossible to perfectly follow the proposed plan. He needed to record the process and, after repeated attempts, revise any erroneous methods and actions.

The Lionheart Baptism required many preparations, some of them quite precious. The Cliff Cave Treasure contained part of the materials. As for the rest, Yan Qingshan had nearly emptied Boss Yao's collection, and Boss Yao had mobilized his connections and resources to finally gather them all.

A Black-Green Cauldron carrying a rich medicinal fragrance appeared in the courtyard. Although the senior in the cliff cave had not been an alchemist, he had been a learned man with profound attainments in the Path of Medicine and Poison. Naturally, he had also studied the compounding and refining of medicines.

This cauldron might not compare to the alchemy cauldrons used by some high-tier alchemists, but it was more than sufficient for Yan Qingshan.

Chunks of black wood, hard as stone, struck the ground with the sound of blue bricks falling. Black Locust Wood, a type of yin wood, was hard and heavy.

The yin fire produced by this wood burned at a considerable temperature and was easy to control. Though it was not Beast Flame or a Heavenly Flame, it was just right for Yan Qingshan, who also possessed the Wood Attribute.

Black Locust Wood was yin in nature. It was not as blazing or violent as yang fire, and its flame was steadier and lasted longer. A single chunk of Black Locust Wood could burn for more than half a day. A long-lasting source of fire was extremely important to Yan Qingshan.

Yan Qingshan neatly stacked the pieces of Black Locust Wood into a pile. After carefully setting the cauldron in place, a small cluster of Blue-Black Flame rose up. Unlike ordinary flames, the Blue-Black Flame did not blaze fiercely. Instead, it steadily heated the cauldron and raised its temperature.

Yan Qingshan's expression was solemn as he placed the prepared medicinal herbs and other supplementary ingredients into the cauldron one by one. Each herb, at the very least an Intermediate Medicinal Material, was stimulated with his Wood Attribute dou qi to bring out its Medicinal Properties before being tossed inside.

Pure mountain spring water and spiritual dew were poured into it. His Wood Attribute dou qi stirred the medicinal liquid while the yin fire slowly heated and refined it. Before long, the fragrance of medicine spread throughout the small courtyard.

Yan Qingshan had already processed the Azure-maned Scorpion-lion Beast's corpse. Its entire body was a shining azure, its fur and lion's mane more lustrous than sky-blue silk. Even after nearly a full day, it had barely changed, lying on the ground like a sleeping lion that could come alive at any moment.

Its scorpion tail, even longer than its lion body, lay stretched out beside it. It was dazzling and crystalline like a sapphire, its azure light flashing beautifully. Yet the stinger at its tip, faintly gleaming with a dark golden luster, made one keenly aware of the endless killing intent hidden beneath that beauty.

Under the gentle heat of the Black Locust Wood, the medicinal liquid inside the cauldron quickly came to a boil. A faint medicinal fragrance that refreshed the heart and mind permeated the surroundings, while the medicinal liquid had turned lake-green, like the most beautiful Imperial Green Jade.

Yan Qingshan had torn open the Azure-maned Scorpion-lion Beast's body along the wound at its neck. A pale-blue heart still retained residual warmth, as if it had only just stopped beating.

Yan Qingshan lifted the Azure-maned Scorpion-lion Beast's corpse and used dou qi to force every drop of usable blood into the cauldron. Finally, he tossed the heart into the boiling medicinal liquid as well.

The pale-blue lion blood mixed with the emerald medicinal liquid. At first, the two colors remained clearly separate, but as time passed, they gradually began to merge. Threads of purple light appeared within the crystalline blue-green liquid, so dazzling beneath the sunlight that it was almost painful to look at.

This was the trace of higher bloodline inherited from the Ancient Thunder Lion within the Azure-maned Scorpion-lion Beast's bloodline, containing an exceptionally pure power of lightning.

After dealing with the lion body, Yan Qingshan picked up the scorpion tail. Holding its end, he inverted the opening at its front over the cauldron. As he injected dou qi into it, drops of blue blood were forced out. Toward the end, the blood even carried faint threads of green.

The Azure-maned Scorpion-lion Beast possessed the bloodlines of two high-tier magical beasts, the Ancient Thunder Lion and the Scorpion Dragon. Those faint green traces were the manifestation of the Scorpion Dragon bloodline, hidden within the scorpion tail that resembled the symbol of the Scorpion Dragon Tribe.

Although the Azure-maned Scorpion-lion Beast was only a Third-tier Magical Beast, both the Ancient Thunder Lion and the Scorpion Dragon, the sources of its bloodline, were high-tier magical beasts. Once fully grown, they were at least fifth-tier magical beasts.

Ancient Thunder Lions were now nearly extinct, while the Scorpion Dragon Tribe was also rare on the Dou Qi Continent, though members of the species still remained active.

One of the primary ingredients Xiao Yi Xian would need in the future to condense a Poison Pill was the seventh-tier Heavenly Poison Scorpion Dragon Beast. The seventh-tier Illusory Fire Scorpion Dragon Beast, whose eggshell remains could yield Illusory Gold Flame, was another extremely active and powerful magical beast on the Dou Qi Continent.

After Yan Qingshan extracted all the blood from the lion body and scorpion tail, the formerly lustrous corpse of the Azure-maned Scorpion-lion Beast became much duller. After carefully removing its Magic Core, Yan Qingshan tossed the precious first-tier lightning-attribute Magic Core into the medicinal liquid.

The two most important things on a magical beast were its essence blood and Magic Core. Once those were gone, its fur, bones, and flesh still held some value, but more than half of its worth was lost.

The medicinal liquid, containing nearly all the essence of the first-tier Azure-maned Scorpion-lion Beast, was undergoing a qualitative transformation. The blue-green fluid gradually thickened and took on a glazed sheen, while that blue-violet heart seemed to glow.

Boom~~~

After holding his breath and gathering his qi, Yan Qingshan stepped beside the cauldron. His hands circulated Wood Attribute dou qi, pouring it into the burning Black Locust Wood beneath it.

Spurred by the wood element, the flames suddenly surged. Only parts of the stacked Black Locust Wood had originally been burning, but now every piece, every section, burst into flame.

A fierce fire boiled the great medicine. The flames were intense, and the medicinal fragrance was rich. Blue flashes of lightning flickered within the glazed liquid in the cauldron, accompanied by what seemed like roars of a lion, as if the Azure-maned Scorpion-lion Beast were bellowing in unwilling fury. The green vapor rising from the cauldron also seemed to form the shape of a lion.

The sight told Yan Qingshan that the medicinal liquid for the baptism had reached the proper heat.

"Xian'er, help me control the heat!"

Yan Qingshan turned his head and spoke solemnly. Xiao Yi Xian hurried over, and Yan Qingshan leaped into the cauldron with a splash. The glowing medicinal paste nearly submerged his cross-legged body completely, leaving only his head and a small portion of his upper body exposed.

Xiao Yi Xian did not dare let her guard down. She came to the cauldron's side and carefully controlled the Black Locust Wood flames again according to Yan Qingshan's instructions.

The blue-green, glazed medicinal paste seemed alive as it slowly spread up Yan Qingshan's exposed upper body. Bit by bit, it enveloped his entire body in a gleaming glazed radiance, as though forming a great cocoon around him.

Inside the glazed medicinal cocoon, Yan Qingshan closed his eyes and sat quietly, circulating his dou qi. Strands of lion blood essence were absorbed by his dou qi and circulated into his body, bringing deep transformations and evolution. As his heart slowly beat, it acquired a trace of glazed color, and faint lion roars seemed to sound with every beat.

His body glowed with a crystalline radiance. His scarlet blood carried traces of glazed divine light, faint arcs of electricity flickering as it flowed. His body shone and rumbled, his five viscera glowed, and his flesh emitted rosy light, as though a heavenly being had descended into the mortal world.

Ripple after ripple spread out. Bones throughout Yan Qingshan's body cracked explosively, and his flesh and blood pulsed. Amid a series of crackling sounds, his aura and cultivation reached a peak, then burst through its bottleneck with a soft pop and began another round of ascent.

Yan Qingshan sat cross-legged with his eyes closed and his hands forming seals. At that moment, he possessed a solemn, unfathomable bearing, filled with an alluring temperament and mysterious charm. Looking at him, Xiao Yi Xian unconsciously smiled, her gaze seeming entranced.

After an unknown amount of time, he suddenly opened his eyes. A flash of blue light streaked through the courtyard, like lightning born in a dark room, impossible to look at directly. His aura also slowly changed, growing ever more powerful.