Blazing Flame Pill?

Outside a cave dwelling halfway up the peak directly north of Spring Return Valley, Dan Fusheng and seven fellow disciples in pale violet Daoist robes sat cross-legged, sealing off the cave entrance according to the positions of the Eight Trigrams. A mountain wind swept past, carrying withered branches and dead leaves down from the summit, yet when they came within nearly a hundred zhang of the cave gate, an invisible force shoved them aside and shattered them into powder.

The eight Daoists, Dan Fusheng among them, each assumed the posture of five hearts facing heaven. From above each of their heads rose a fist-thick pillar of energy—red, white, green, or yellow—shooting more than three zhang into the air. The pillars diffused through the air and became hazy clouds several feet across, within which faint lotus-shaped phantoms seemed to flicker. Yet those phantoms were too dim and scattered, as though lacking sufficient foundation. At almost every moment, one phantom struggled to gather into form, only to fall short at the final juncture and scatter once more into specks of light.

After an hour passed, Dan Fusheng was the first to open his eyes. Somewhat troubled, he chanted at length, "The Dao Path is difficult, more difficult than climbing to the blue heavens."

The other Daoists opened their eyes at the same time and sighed as well. "The Dao has no bounds, while our lives have bounds. To pursue the boundless with what is bounded—how misguided."

The eight Daoists exchanged glances, then suddenly threw back their heads and laughed. "Nothing else matters. We can only give it our all!"

After laughing for a while, the Daoists clasped their hands in salute and withdrew the hazy pillars above their heads. They took silk-bound books from their sleeves and began reading them closely. From time to time, a Daoist would quietly voice an opinion on some question in the text, and someone would immediately respond or argue against it. Outside the cave dwelling, it had become a worldly academy, with a group of students seeking the Dao and resolving their doubts.

Inside the cave dwelling, however, was an entirely different scene.

Beyond three stone doors protected layer upon layer by restrictions lay a square stone chamber. There was only a stone couch within, while a bamboo mat lay on the floor, piled with vegetarian fare such as pine nuts, Solomon's seal, and Chinese yam. On the stone couch, Yao'er clutched the jade tablet that recorded the Great Luo Pill Scripture, her head resting on an enormous lingzhi mushroom as she slept soundly. A bright thread of drool slowly dripped from the corner of her mouth. Her eyes darted beneath her lids as she muttered in complaint, "Little Junior Brother, eat less~~~ Give Senior Sister the chicken legs!"

Suddenly, Yao'er let out an indignant cry. "Damn Little Junior Brother! You even gnawed the chicken claws clean!"

Anger rushing to her head, Yao'er sat up from the stone couch in a huff. Pouting, she looked left and right before shouting irritably, "Little Junior Brother! Lin Xiao! Get out here!"

After blinking for a while and realizing Lin Xiao had not obediently "gotten out," Yao'er froze. Tilting her head, she thought hard for a long time before abruptly slapping her forehead and gasping under her breath, "Oh no, I got muddleheaded again! I'm in seclusion, comprehending the Great Luo Pill Scripture! Heavens, I still have to stay cooped up here for over two months before I can leave! Little Junior Brother's roast chicken~~~ Boohoo!"

As she spoke, Yao'er's tears began to fall with soft plops. She muttered resentfully, "If I weren't afraid Master and the others would find out that I secretly taught the Great Luo Pill Scripture to Little Junior Brother, Yao'er would never obediently stay cooped up here for three months! Hmph, Little Junior Brother, you're dead! When I get out, you'll roast a hundred—no, a thousand roast chickens for me!"

Before long, Yao'er's mood turned bright again. She wiped her eyes, rushed eagerly to the bamboo mat on the floor, and said with a beaming smile, "Mm, seclusion isn't fun. Eating is much more fun!" She grabbed a handful of pine nuts and gave them a light shake with a thread of true essence between her hands. Their hard shells instantly turned to drifting powder. Opening her little mouth, she stuffed the entire handful of pine nuts inside and slowly chewed each kernel with care, an incomparably satisfied smile blooming on her face. "Delicious, delicious, so delicious. Hmm, if pine nuts were used in medicine, what could they be paired into? And this Solomon's seal and Chinese yam—though they are too young and their medicinal strength is weak—if they were assisted by those few particularly domineering medicinal herbs as ruler and minister, could they be used in a pill?"

Her little mouth continued chewing mechanically as Yao'er blankly drifted into thought again. Yet judging from how her small hands rapidly formed all manner of spirit seals, with faint currents of force rippling from her fingertips, it was clear that beneath her seemingly vacant expression, all sorts of thoughts were churning through her mind.

"Ahhh!" Yao'er suddenly shrieked and sprang up from the floor. She used so much force that she shot more than three zhang straight into the air, smashing her head into the stone chamber's ceiling. With a thud, Yao'er bared her teeth in pain, clutched her head, and fell back to the ground, landing hard on her bottom. "Owww, human heads really aren't as hard as rocks! Damn rock! Mm, this is terrible—I have to stay in seclusion for three months! Will Little Junior Brother remember to pick Lotus Seeds to eat? Mm, he won't miss a chance to eat Lotus Seeds, will he?"

The corners of Yao'er's eyes and mouth drooped, and her whole body turned listless. After tilting her head and pondering for a while, she nodded, then shook her head again. "Mm, Little Junior Brother is smarter than Yao'er! But when it comes to this sort of thing, he's always muddleheaded! Does he remember when the Lotus Seeds ripen? Uh, does he? Doesn't he? Yao'er is mad to death!"

She viciously waved her fist and muttered fiercely, "Little Junior Brother, I'll teach you a lesson once I get out! Hmph hmph, how could you be so careless!" Before even seeing Lin Xiao, Yao'er had already pinned a crime on him and prepared to punish him severely to vent her anger. As for the means of punishment, Yao'er propped her chin on both hands, tilted her head, and giggled foolishly. "If I make Little Junior Brother roast two thousand pheasants, will the mountain-patrolling Martial Uncles scold us? Mm, if he roasted two thousand pheasants at once, how far would a row of golden-yellow pheasants stretch?"

Yao'er's eyes glowed green. She clenched her fists hard and said viciously, "Mm, decided! Not two thousand—five thousand! Wah, can pheasants be used to refine pills?"

Outside the cave dwelling, a white cloud descended from the sky. Daoist Danling arrived with two young Daoist boys, slowly stepping down from the cloud. Dan Fusheng and the other eight old Daoists hurriedly rose and saluted him. "Senior Brother Sect Master!" Dan Fusheng asked in surprise, "Senior Brother, why have you come here instead of presiding over the disciples' competition?"

Daoist Danling smiled faintly and slowly approached the stone gate of the cave dwelling, gently pressing both hands against it. Centered on his palms, rings of moon-white light flickered faintly, and a water mirror over a zhang wide immediately displayed Yao'er's every movement within the cave dwelling with perfect clarity. Daoist Danling said leisurely, "Other elders are presiding over the disciples' competition, so there is no need for me to remain there. Yao'er, on the other hand, possesses the exceedingly rare body complete in all Five Elements, seen perhaps once in ten thousand years. According to Elder Granduncle Xiao Yun's physiognomy, Yao'er is also a person of great fortune, with limitless prospects ahead of her. Her secluded comprehension of the Great Luo Pill Scripture is more important than that disciples' competition."

Dan Fusheng and the others all bowed in agreement. Only elders of the Great Luo Pill Dao understood this secret. Yao'er was not as she had told Lin Xiao, with each of the Five Elemental attributes within her body evenly accounting for twenty percent. There was another mystery to it. If a person's total Five Elemental aptitude were ten, divided proportionately among the Five Elements, then Lin Xiao's fire-aspected physique represented ten points of fire aptitude. Yao'er, however, possessed a total aptitude of fifty, with ten points in each of the Five Elements! Such talent could only be described as superhuman and terrifying.

Moreover, among the only two or three remaining elders of the Xiao generation in the Great Luo Pill Dao, there was old Daoist Xiao Yun, who did not study the pill Dao but instead favored the art of deducing heavenly secrets. When Danxia brought Yao'er, still swaddled in infancy, back to Spring Return Valley, he had cast a divination for her. The hexagram showed that Yao'er possessed an immensely noble fate and boundless prospects. Though certain aspects of her destiny remained obscure, her supremely noble fate was beyond doubt. The upper ranks of the Great Luo Pill Dao had long decided to cultivate Yao'er as the next generation's sect master. Otherwise, why would Dan Fusheng have wagered the Great Luo Pill Scripture against such a young disciple, then lost it to her so easily?

Enough idle chatter. Daoist Danling used a secret art to spy on Yao'er's comprehension of the Great Luo Pill Scripture. The nine old Daoists and two Daoist boys all looked toward the water mirror at once. The nine old Daoists nearly fainted from anger, while the two Daoist boys suddenly clutched their stomachs and burst into laughter.

Within the stone chamber, Yao'er was wielding the purple jade tablet as a tool, constantly hopping up and viciously striking the ceiling. As she pounded the stone overhead with all her might, she cursed in a huff, "That's for hurting my head! That's for hurting my head! Hmph hmph~ Strange, why is this jade tablet so sturdy? It won't break? Then I'll use more strength!"

Clang, clang, bang! Sparks flew in every direction as Yao'er forcibly smashed a hole the size of a human head into the stone chamber ceiling. Layers of rosy clouds swirled across the purple jade tablet, trailing dazzling streams of light. Every blow chipped a fist-sized piece from the stone wall, despite the layers of protective restrictions upon it. Yao'er was getting addicted to it. Humming a little tune, she swung the jade tablet with all her strength while vaguely reciting a formula for medicinal soup. Every now and then, she would rush to the bamboo mat, grab a Chinese yam, and take a savage bite from it.

Daoist Danling, who normally wore a round, smiling face like a genial merchant who made harmony his fortune, had gone green in the face. He turned furiously toward Dan Fusheng and snapped in a low voice, "Junior Brother Danfu, your disciple!"

Dan Fusheng's expression turned peculiar as he retreated a step and saluted. "Senior Brother, though Yao'er is nominally my disciple, Danxia raised her from childhood! It was merely that Danxia was too lazy to be a master, so Yao'er was placed under my name and became my disciple. Since Senior Brother puts it that way... why not speak directly to Danxia?"

Daoist Danling's face twitched, and he gave a displeased snort. Dan Fusheng continued, "Come to think of it, both Hua Feng'er and Yao'er were personally taught by Danxia. I have only one genuine disciple—Lin Xiao!" At the mention of Lin Xiao, Dan Fusheng's eyes narrowed into slits. "Xiao'er has truly done us proud. To break through the True Fire Art to the eighth level in only two years—such aptitude is rare even within Spring Return Valley. What does Senior Brother think?"

Daoist Danling's mouth twitched. He turned and left resentfully, summoning a white cloud and lightly stepping onto it with the two Daoist boys. Waving his broad sleeve, he laughed oddly. "Junior Brother, you had better be careful! Lin Xiao may well become Junior Sister Danxia's disciple too! Heh heh, you may not know it, but Junior Sister Danxia cheated this time for that Hundred Treasures Rainbow Robe."

"Cheated?" Dan Fusheng's expression became incomparably strange. The other old Daoists also tilted their heads and eyed him sideways, yet none said a word. Danxia was the sole female elder in Spring Return Valley qualified to wear pale violet Daoist robes. No one wished to provoke her for no reason at all. So what if she cheated? So long as it was not too excessive, everyone could simply turn a blind eye and let it pass.

Dan Fusheng coughed, sat cross-legged on the ground somewhat awkwardly, looked at his nose with his eyes and his heart with his nose, and sent a cloud of hazy energy soaring from above his head as he entered meditation by himself. His Dao companion and his Dao companion's disciples thought somewhat differently from normal people. Dan Fusheng, like Daoist Danling, was a habitual peacemaker. What could he possibly say?

Outside the pill chambers of Spring Return Valley, several Great Luo Pill Dao experts used their magical power to move two hundred pill furnaces from the Desolation Grade pill chambers and arrange them across an open stretch of ground outside. Lin Xiao and the other disciples responsible for furnace flames hurried back and forth behind two elders, drawing fire-guiding spirit arrays upon the ground, connecting them to the underground spirit veins, and arranging rare firewood such as golden birch. At once, pill fires blazed within the furnaces. The square's temperature instantly soared, and waves of heat forced the white-robed boys to retreat again and again in alarm.

Once the furnace fires had been lit, Lin Xiao and the other Fire Worker Daoists stepped aside. During the disciples' competition, everyone had to control their own flames. The art of controlling fire was also an important measure of a person's pill-refining skill. The Great Luo Pill Dao had established Fire Worker Daoists like Lin Xiao only to facilitate large-scale pill production. In truth, Fire Worker Daoists like them still had to study various pill formulas, while pill-refining disciples also had to learn how to handle fire. Their focus merely differed somewhat according to their Five Elemental attributes.

Based on the order in which they had entered the sect, Lin Xiao was placed in the seventh group of blue-robed disciples. In other words, he would not take the stage until the twelve hundred blue-robed disciples before him had completed their pill refinement in batches.

There were enough pill furnaces within the Desolation Grade pill chambers for all the blue-robed disciples to compete at once, but Spring Return Valley's disciples' competition was not merely a contest. More importantly, it was meant to increase the disciples' pill-refining experience. Refining pills in batches of two hundred allowed the low-cultivation white-robed Daoist boys and blue-robed Daoists to gain insight into the mysteries of their senior brothers' techniques. It was also a way of nurturing the younger generation.

One matter, however, was handled simultaneously. Once the pill furnaces had been arranged, all blue-robed disciples participating in the competition went to the disciples managing the medicinal storehouse to collect the various herbs they required. When Lin Xiao named the precious, intensely heat-aspected herbs needed to refine Blazing Flame Pills—Blazing Flame Flowers, Nine Yang Grass, Flame Dragon Fruit, and the like—the disciples managing the medicinal storehouse and several elders supervising nearby all stared at him in surprise. The medicines Lin Xiao requested were rarely used in other pills, and when combined, they could only be for refining Blazing Flame Pills.

A long-bearded old Daoist in pale violet robes glanced at Lin Xiao and kindly reminded him, "Martial Nephew Lin Xiao, aiming too high is no good!" As a genius disciple who had cultivated the True Fire Art to the eighth level within two years, nearly every elder of the Dan generation in Spring Return Valley knew Lin Xiao.

Lin Xiao saluted the old Daoist and was about to say something when Danxia's rather impolite voice suddenly sounded nearby. "Little Junior Brother Dan Yao~~~" Deliberately drawing out the words "Little Junior Brother," Danxia sneered, "How do you know Xiao'er is aiming too high? How do you know Xiao'er cannot refine this Blazing Flame~~~ Hehehehe!" Danxia abruptly raised her sleeve over her mouth and laughed softly.

Daoist Dan Yao rolled his eyes and saluted Danxia weakly. "Senior Sister Danxia is right. It is only that this pill, refined in a Desolation Grade pill furnace, would likely—eh? Unless, like the Spirit Gathering Pill refined by Yao'er, something was added within it..." Daoist Dan Yao's eyes brightened. Grinning, he asked Lin Xiao, "Xiao'er, good Martial Nephew, what auxiliary medicinal herbs do you still need?"

Danxia grabbed Lin Xiao by the shoulder and dragged him away. As she walked, she turned back and shouted, "Why are you asking about that? I have already prepared the auxiliary herbs for him, so there is no need to trouble Little Junior Brother Dan Yao~~~!"

Daoist Dan Yao watched helplessly as Danxia dragged Lin Xiao away. With both hands tucked into his sleeves, he calculated for a while and muttered, "Interesting, interesting. Isn't this cheating? Only Sect Master Senior Brother and a few others have seen Yao'er's pill formula. The mysteries within it... hmm, perhaps there truly is a way to refine Blazing Flame Pills using a Desolation Grade pill furnace? Difficult, difficult, difficult!"

To make a long story short, by the eleventh day of Spring Return Valley's competition, the twelve hundred blue-robed disciples before Lin Xiao had all refined their pills. The highest quality among them was a Flood Grade Spirit Cleansing Pill. The elders of Spring Return Valley evaluated it as upper-middle quality even among Flood Grade pills.

After observing for eleven days, being pestered by Hua Feng'er for eleven days, and being threatened by Danxia, intentionally or otherwise, for eleven days, Lin Xiao finally took the stage.

Choosing a pill furnace at random, Lin Xiao sat cross-legged on a white stone before it. He formed several fire-control spirit seals, and the furnace fire immediately rose and fell according to his will like an obedient kitten. The flames shifted continuously from crimson to milky white. In the blink of an eye, the furnace temperature changed several hundred times, perfectly demonstrating the required changes in fire intensity from the stages of adding ingredients to nurturing the pill. With this display of fire control alone, Lin Xiao won a chorus of cheers from all his nearby fellow disciples.

With the fire-control skill Lin Xiao displayed, he had nearly caught up to several of Spring Return Valley's weakest elders. Danxia laughed so hard she bent forward and backward, while the elders all revealed delighted expressions.

Lin Xiao himself did not think it was anything remarkable. Back when he had been at Spring Return Hall, he had already grown accustomed to merging his mind with the furnace fire and effortlessly sensing every change in its intensity. Seemingly casually, he preheated the pill furnace with gentle fire, then poured a bucket of spirit spring water into it, filling the foot-wide pill cauldron at the furnace core. Once fish-eye-sized bubbles rose from the spirit spring water, he tossed in the Blazing Flame Flower first.

Steam billowed. Pressed by fire-aspected Spiritual Energy, the Blazing Flame Flower melted into a lump of pale-red gelatinous matter. It bobbed upon the clear spirit spring water without merging with it in the slightest.

At this stage in the past, a Cosmos Grade pill furnace had been required. High temperature and immense spirit pressure would forcibly break apart the gelatinous matter formed from the Blazing Flame Flower and compel it to fuse with the spirit spring water. Yet Lin Xiao lacked the cultivation to operate a Cosmos Grade pill furnace and could not produce such temperatures or spirit pressure. He simply took out a Three Yin Ganoderma Leaf and tossed it into the pill cauldron. The Three Yin Ganoderma Leaf turned into a faint silvery liquid. The moment it collided with the red gelatinous matter, the red mass rolling within the spirit spring water abruptly burst apart, turning the entire cauldron into red liquid.

Master's method really worked. Lin Xiao had a clear grasp of the matter now, and he could not help feeling full of confidence in taking first place among the blue-robed disciples.

Danxia examined the changes in the pill cauldron with her divine sense, then suddenly raised her sleeve and lightly wiped the cold sweat from her forehead. Leaning close to Hua Feng'er's ear, she whispered with a smile, "Master's hastily devised pill formula really works. Hee hee! That improved Spirit Gathering Pill formula Yao'er muddled together—I copied the gourd and drew the ladle, altering it a little, and it truly works wonders!"

Hua Feng'er's face twitched. Staring at Danxia in horror, she asked quietly, "Master, you weren't even sure about the formula you gave Little Junior Brother?"

Danxia looked at Hua Feng'er in surprise and replied as though it were only natural, "Of course I wasn't sure! After all, that was an altered Blazing Flame Pill formula! That is a Cosmos Grade spirit pill!"

Hua Feng'er stared blankly at Danxia and asked softly, "Then... if Little Junior Brother fails this time and does not take first place?"

Danxia snorted, her beautiful face turning stern as she said viciously, "Such an incompetent disciple naturally deserves to face the wall for three years and reflect on his mistakes! The Hundred Treasures Rainbow Robe! Such beautiful magical attire~~~ Er, Feng'er, are you dissatisfied with Master, speaking to me like that?"

Hua Feng'er lowered her head, her eyes rolling around as she obediently said, "How would Feng'er dare?"

"Exactly!" Danxia chuckled. "Isn't the formula working well now? At least there were no problems after the first three main medicinal ingredients were added, right?" Danxia patted her chest proudly and boasted, "How could Master make a mistake when I take action? Even muddleheaded Yao'er managed to improve the Spirit Gathering Pill. Could Master possibly be inferior to Yao'er?"

Hua Feng'er stared at Danxia with twitching eyes and said nothing for a long while.

The simplified Blazing Flame Pill was extremely quick to refine. Lin Xiao spent three hours condensing the pill liquid within the cauldron into a fist-sized lump of thick medicinal paste. At this point, he should have used spirit seals to form the pill, then performed forty-nine transformations between gentle and fierce fire to draw in the pill's aura and create a qualified spirit pill.

However, because too many auxiliary medicines had been used during refinement to fuse the difficult-to-refine main ingredients together, those auxiliary medicines possessed mixed and impure properties that would severely affect the final result. They might even prevent the pill from forming altogether due to their conflicting medicinal strengths. Thus, Lin Xiao added the final auxiliary ingredient, Thousand Knot Grass. This herb was mild and pure in nature, exceptionally suited to absorbing all kinds of medicinal strength. By melting it into the medicinal paste, it might slightly weaken the Blazing Flame Pill's efficacy, but it could effectively counteract the impact of those mixed medicinal properties upon the pill.

By all reason, Danxia's formula had been thoroughly considered. Adding Thousand Knot Grass at the end was pharmacologically feasible as well.

But why did Lin Xiao feel that something about it was faintly wrong?

Still, there was no time for further thought. With several more spirit seals, the gentle and fierce fires in the pill furnace shifted rapidly. The fist-sized medicinal paste condensed again and again before finally turning into thirteen thumb-sized black-red pills, spinning rapidly within the pill cauldron. They spun so quickly that they even stirred the air within the cauldron, producing a strange humming sound.

Merely from the unusual phenomenon when the pills formed, one could tell that the thirteen pills were of good quality.

Danxia, who had been monitoring the pill cauldron's movements with divine sense all along, finally relaxed. Unable to conceal the delight on her face, she whispered with a smile, "They truly are excellent pills. Their quality is at least superior to that Spirit Calming Pill from earlier." Yet after laughing a few times, Danxia frowned in doubt. "But why are they black-red?"

Hua Feng'er stared blankly at Danxia, unable to understand where the problem lay. Everyone knew that Blazing Flame Pills should be entirely crimson, with thread after thread of fire-cloud-like pill aura winding around their surface. Only then were they high-quality Blazing Flame Pills. Yet Danxia was saying that Lin Xiao's Blazing Flame Pills were black-red? Black-red Blazing Flame Pills? Red was fire energy, but what was the black?

Daoist Danling's laughter suddenly rang out from nearby. "Hehehe, Junior Sister Danxia, did you get what you wished for?"

Danxia turned around irritably and glared at Daoist Danling.

Daoist Danling chuckled, stroking his beard as he sighed. "Who would have thought that after learning of the competition, Junior Sister could concoct an improved Blazing Flame Pill formula within only three days? It took Yao'er three years of painstaking effort to improve the Spirit Gathering Pill, and that already made her heaven-sent talent. Junior Sister improved the Blazing Flame Pill in three days—such skill, heh heh!"

Danxia's face reddened slightly. She knew Daoist Danling was mocking her for using Yao'er's method of improving the Spirit Gathering Pill to alter the Blazing Flame Pill. Even so, she glared viciously at Daoist Danling and said coldly, "Yao'er is my disciple!"

Daoist Danling smiled faintly and hurriedly said, "She is Junior Brother Danfu's disciple."

"Is there a difference?" Danxia glared at Daoist Danling, her right hand already resting on the sword at her waist.

Daoist Danling's expression immediately became solemn. He hurriedly said, "No difference, of course there is no difference~~~ Mm, Junior Brother Daoist Danyu, quickly bring this batch of two hundred disciples over. Let us carefully evaluate their pills." Lin Xiao's improved Blazing Flame Pill had taken the longest to refine. By the time he finished, his fellow disciples had long since completed their work. Daoist Danyu stepped forward and brought Lin Xiao and the disciples in his batch before Daoist Danling and the other elders.

There was nothing much to evaluate among the pills refined by the other one hundred and ninety-nine blue-robed Daoists. The best were only three Flood Grade Marrow Cleansing Pills.

When Lin Xiao presented the thirteen mutated Blazing Flame Pills, every violet-robed elder frowned and let out soft sounds of surprise.

Every one of these elders knew what Blazing Flame Pills should look like, yet they had never seen black-red Blazing Flame Pills before. But to say they were not Blazing Flame Pills was impossible. Every elder had watched Lin Xiao's refining process with spirit sense. Those were clearly the steps for refining Blazing Flame Pills, merely with many additional auxiliary herbs. Using auxiliary herbs was perfectly reasonable as well. No one believed Lin Xiao possessed the cultivation to refine genuine Blazing Flame Pills.

Danxia could not hold herself back any longer. "Sect Master Senior Brother, what do you think of these pills?"

Daoist Danling picked up a black-red pill, his expression wavering uncertainly. This pill looked far too strange. He sniffed it, but it had no scent, and he could not determine what sort of pill it was. Yet when he probed it with divine sense, the pill aura within was condensed and solid. It was indeed a spirit pill of decent quality.

But as for its precise medicinal effect~~~

Daoist Danling habitually raised the pill, intending to test it on himself. Yet when he saw the somewhat nervous faces of Danxia and Hua Feng'er, he changed his mind. His eyes turning, Daoist Danling smiled. "Junior Brother Daoist Danyu, go catch a mountain monkey. Leave it in the frozen pond behind the mountain for a quarter of an hour, then bring it back for Senior Brother to treat."

Daoist Danyu nodded and left on a streak of white light.

Hua Feng'er's heart began pounding. She suddenly leaned close to Danxia's ear and asked, "Master, was the auxiliary herb used to fuse the Flame Dragon Fruit Poison Dragon Grass?"

Danxia glanced at Hua Feng'er and nodded. "It was Solitary Dragon Grass. What about it?"

Hua Feng'er's gaze drifted for a moment before she asked for confirmation again, "Master, when you told your disciple to prepare the auxiliary herbs, you did not write a formula. You only named the herbs orally. Was it Poison Dragon Grass?"

Danxia nodded somewhat impatiently and snapped in a low voice, "It was Solitary Dragon Grass, that's right. Why are you being so long-winded? Didn't your Martial Uncle Danyu go catch a monkey? We will know the medicinal effect soon enough."

Hua Feng'er opened her mouth but said nothing.

Lin Xiao, standing nearby, caught a hint of what was going on. His heart pounded as he stared at Danxia and Hua Feng'er, his eyes widening enormously.

Danxia noticed Lin Xiao staring at her and could not help looking back. When she saw his wide eyes, Danxia seemed to realize something as well. Her mouth fell open as she looked toward Hua Feng'er. Hua Feng'er smiled awkwardly at Danxia and quickly backed away several steps. Danxia's face shifted between green and white. She viciously slapped her forehead and suddenly roared under her breath, "Master's Hundred Treasures Rainbow Robe~~~ You two useless, disappointing disciples!"

Lin Xiao shrank his neck and furtively slipped behind Daoist Danling. What is this supposed to mean? What does it have to do with me? Didn't I honestly refine the pills? This... even if something went wrong, it has nothing to do with me!

As for Daoist Danling, who had been holding a pill ready to swallow and test its medicinal effects, he had clearly heard Danxia and Hua Feng'er's whispered conversation. His face darkened again and again. He casually tossed the pill from his fingertips back onto the jade tray held by a Daoist boy, then looked helplessly at Danxia and Hua Feng'er.

A quarter of an hour later, Daoist Danyu came racing back on a flying sword, carrying a mountain monkey covered in thin sheets of ice. He shouted, "Senior Brother, quickly, the Blazing Flame Pill! This monkey's five viscera and six bowels have frozen into ice sheets! Give it the pill quickly, or else this monkey's life will be on your head, not mine!"

Daoist Danling's face darkened again. He grabbed a Blazing Flame Pill and flicked it away. It shot directly into the mountain monkey's mouth.

The mountain monkey let out a shrill, miserable screech. Its ice-covered body shuddered, then it suddenly leaped more than ten zhang into the air. After several sharp screeches, its body transformed into a blazing fireball. In the time it took to snap one's fingers, the mountain monkey Daoist Danyu had caught, nearly the size of a human, was burned into ashes.

"Hisss~~~" Every Daoist present sucked in a sharp breath and simultaneously turned enigmatic looks toward Lin Xiao.

Lin Xiao hugged his head with both hands, crouching weakly amid thousands of strange gazes.

Daoist Danling looked at the twelve black-red Blazing Flame Pills remaining on the jade tray in the Daoist boy's hands, then gently patted his forehead, still somewhat shaken. He said solemnly, "Martial Nephew Lin Xiao, bring out the pill formula you used to refine this pill!"

Lin Xiao swiftly pulled the yellow silk sheet Danxia had stuffed into his sleeve and threw it to Daoist Danling.

A group of Great Luo Pill Dao elders gathered together, gesturing and discussing around the yellow silk. Danxia's cries could be heard constantly among them.

After a long while, the elders parted to either side. Daoist Danling swept a stern gaze over the gathered disciples and announced in a deep voice, "After joint confirmation by all the elders, the pill refined by Lin Xiao was not a Cosmos Grade Blazing Flame Pill, but an unnamed Pill Poison whose medicinal strength has reached the Universe Grade. Refining a Universe Grade pill with the eighth level of the True Fire Art... hmm, first place among the blue-robed disciples in this competition~~~ goes to Lin Xiao!"

The vast square was deathly silent. Everyone stared blankly at Lin Xiao, their eyes occasionally flicking toward the embarrassed-looking Danxia and Hua Feng'er.

Quite a trick. It really was quite a trick.

In a competition for low-ranking disciples, Lin Xiao had refined a Universe Grade spirit pill. He was absolutely the first person in the Great Luo Pill Dao since its founding to accomplish such a feat.

And in a competition for low-ranking disciples, rather than refining a life-saving spirit pill, Lin Xiao had refined a harmful Pill Poison. He was also the first in history to do that—a monumental achievement no one else could match.

When Lin Xiao accepted the first-place rewards from Daoist Danling, he felt rather caught between laughter and tears.

Having made a name for himself with a single attempt in the Great Luo Pill Dao, everyone in the Great Luo Pill Dao should know him now, right?