Xiao Yi Xian

Seeing that if he waited any longer, the medicinal essences would dissipate from prolonged burning, Gu He gritted his teeth.

"I'm going all out!"

Gu He poured more soul power into the Medicine Cauldron, controlling the four clusters of medicinal essence as they fused toward the center. Based on his own deductions, he adjusted the flame temperature within the cauldron to the most suitable level.

When the four clusters of essence collided, waves of energy rippled outward and struck the Medicine Cauldron, making it ring with clangs. At the same time, under the heat of the flames, the mass of medicinal essence not only failed to contract into the shape of a pill, but instead began to expand. Sweat covered Gu He's forehead as he continued increasing his soul power, using it to stabilize the Medicine Cauldron while wrapping the mass of medicinal essence in soul power, preparing to forcefully compress it back down. Then came a bang.

A burst of energy pierced through the Medicine Cauldron and erupted outside. Gu He only had time to spare a fraction of his attention to form his Dou Qi into armor before the energy slammed into him.

The energy easily shattered the armor Gu He had formed from Dou Qi, but the armor bought him a little time. Without time to gather strength, Gu He directly used the Tang Cao Fist against the incoming energy. Fortunately, the impact was merely the final burst from a Fifth-grade pill. It was rootless energy and quickly dissipated.

Gu He could not help but let out a long breath. Had he taken that energy blast completely unprepared, even a Dou Wang expert would have suffered some injuries. Gu He had no desire to be injured on the very first day he decided to properly refine pills, all because of a failed attempt.

Gu He wiped away his sweat and sighed. "As expected, even a Fifth-grade Alchemist only has a fifty percent chance of successfully refining Fifth-grade pills. Let alone someone like me, who has all this rich experience in pill refinement but has barely practiced it myself. Fifth-grade pills can no longer be successfully refined through experience alone. Not only is experience necessary, but so is an understanding of the medicinal ingredients one extracts. It seems I'll need several failures before I can successfully refine Fifth-grade pills!"

Gu He tidied up the hillside and could not help feeling fortunate that he had reinforced the ground beforehand. Otherwise, the hillside would already have been a complete mess. As it was, only the area around the Medicine Cauldron was somewhat disorderly, leaving little to clean up. After cleaning the Medicine Cauldron, Gu He stored it away, then cleaned up the hillside and reinforced it once more with the Tang Cao Fist.

Gu He flew onto a nearby roof, faced the sun, narrowed his eyes, and lay back as he considered the gains and losses from this failed refinement.

He drew lessons from it, striving to succeed in a single attempt next time.

In the end, Gu He did not succeed on his second attempt at refining the Qi Cultivation Pill. It was not until his fourth attempt, when he was beginning to grow irritated, that he finally succeeded once.

After that success, refining Fifth-grade pills became much easier. Combining Gu He's previous experience with his renewed insights after becoming a Fifth-grade Alchemist, his success rate in refining Fifth-grade pills rose to over ninety percent.

Over the next three months or so, Gu He used the herbs in the Small Valley to refine the Fifth-grade pills from his memories. This allowed him to truly master his pill-refining arts. He even felt that he could successfully refine Sixth-grade pills, though Gu He temporarily suppressed that thought.

That was because, over those three months, Gu He had relied on refining Magic Cores, constantly refining pills to consolidate his Dou Qi, and nurturing his body to reach the peak of nine-star Dou Wang. He even felt as though he could break through to the Dou Huang at any moment.

After gaining that feeling, Gu He stopped refining Fifth-grade pills and stopped refining Magic Cores as well. It was best to rely on his own strength when breaking through such a major realm.

Every day, he merely went out to fight those magical beasts he had once dared not provoke, then returned to cultivate.

After finishing a battle with magical beasts, Gu He flew back to the Small Valley along his usual route. However, the moment he entered the Small Valley, his expression changed. On the hillside, where Gu He had placed his pill cauldron, stood a young girl and a magical beast. Since he had been refining pills frequently over the past few months, Gu He had not stored the Medicine Cauldron back in his Ring. At that moment, the girl was staring excitedly at the cauldron.

After taking a closer look at the girl, especially her distinctive slender waist, Gu He's expression softened. Strictly speaking, this Small Valley should have belonged to her in the first place.

Hearing the sound of rushing wind, the girl turned around, while the magical beast stood protectively in front of her with a wary expression.

It really is Xiao Yi Xian, Gu He thought.

Seeing Gu He's Dou Qi Wings, Xiao Yi Xian first apologized sincerely. "I'm sorry, Senior. I didn't know this was your secluded residence. Xiao Lan was curious about the depths of the basin, so I came to see what was inside and accidentally wandered in. I hope Senior can forgive me."

Gu He thought for a moment, then looked at the uneasy Xiao Yi Xian. "As long as you do not tell anyone about this place, you may leave."

Gu He knew that Xiao Yi Xian would definitely think of a way to stay. Her persistent pursuit of pill-refining arts for many years in the original story showed just how much she loved them. At this point, she had not yet reached the Dou Zhe realm and therefore did not know that her attributes actually prevented her from becoming an alchemist. With a Dou Wang-level alchemist standing before her, how could Xiao Yi Xian possibly give up? No matter what, she would have to try.

Gu He wanted to take Xiao Yi Xian as his disciple. Although he did not know how talented she was in pill refinement, her identity as the Calamity Poison Body alone made Gu He unwilling to let her go outside. If Xiao Yi Xian fell into the hands of someone with ulterior motives, and they discovered her constitution, they could easily create a Dou Zong-level expert. Moreover, an eruption of the Calamity Poison Body was also an unstable factor. Therefore, Gu He still felt it would be better to keep her by his side and prevent her from having the chance to come into contact with poison. As for telling Xiao Yi Xian to leave, that was naturally a tactic of playing hard to get. When it came to becoming a disciple, the disciple should be the one to request it. What kind of master would beg and plead to take on an apprentice?

A trace of struggle flashed through Xiao Yi Xian's eyes, but she ultimately decided to give it a try. "Senior, I have always admired pill-refining arts and hope to become an alchemist someday. But in Qingshan Town, I have never encountered a true alchemist. I beg you to accept me as your disciple and allow me to follow you and learn pill-refining arts."

After speaking, she looked at Gu He with a face full of hope.

Gu He secretly sighed in relief. If Xiao Yi Xian had simply left, he would not have known whether to stop her. Fortunately, that was no longer a concern now.

The necessary process for accepting a disciple still had to be followed. Otherwise, if taking in a disciple was too easy, it would not seem precious. Thus, Gu He said nothing. He merely descended onto the hillside as well, pointed at a medicinal herb, and said to Xiao Yi Xian, "Then tell me, what kind of medicinal herb is that?"

Xiao Yi Xian could barely conceal her excitement. She knew that since the alchemist before her intended to accept a disciple, she still had a sliver of hope. What she feared most was an alchemist who did not ask anything at all and simply drove her away—that would mean she had no chance whatsoever. Now, he was testing how familiar she was with medicinal herbs.