In the world of Battle Through the Heavens, an alchemist's rank was often closely tied to their cultivation, especially at higher ranks.
To become a Sixth-Rank or Seventh-Rank Alchemist, one's cultivation had to at least reach the Dou King realm. To become an Eighth-Rank Alchemist, one's cultivation had to at least reach the Dou Zong realm. To become a Ninth-Rank Alchemist, one's cultivation had to at least reach the Dou Saint realm.
And to become a Tenth-Rank Alchemist, one had to be a Dou Di!
However, cultivation was only one of the thresholds.
To cross that threshold, cultivation was the most fundamental requirement, but one also needed a sufficiently powerful soul.
However, because one's soul realm was often heavily influenced by innate factors, it could exceed an alchemist's current rank. Cultivation, on the other hand, could not.
Thus, two situations generally appeared in the alchemy world.
The first was having sufficient cultivation but insufficient Soul Power. This was the most common situation.
After all, only a very small number of people possessed powerful souls. Many of the alchemy grandmasters in the hall were like this.
Although many of their cultivations met the requirements to become Seventh-Rank Alchemists, their souls were not strong enough, so they remained only Sixth-Rank Alchemists.
The other situation was having a sufficient soul realm but inadequate cultivation, making a breakthrough impossible.
Yao Chen was an example. His soul realm had already reached the Heaven Realm, allowing him to break through to the ninth rank, but because his cultivation was still only at the Dou Zun realm, he could not break through.
But the reason an alchemist's rank advancement required the support of cultivation and soul realm—
Was fundamentally because, when refining pills, the higher the pill's rank, the more powerful the energy erupted when the various