Foundation Establishment Divine Liquid

"Tell me, what do you need this old man to do? I should warn you in advance—with my current condition, even refining a Rank 6 Pill would be rather taxing."

Yao Lao yawned as though he had not yet woken up.

Since he had only absorbed Xiao Yan's Dou Qi once, his Soul Power had merely recovered to around the combat strength of a Dou Wang. Unless he used the Bone Chilling Flame, facing a Dou Emperor would likely prove extremely troublesome.

"Hehe, of course I know Teacher's condition perfectly well. But this pill should not be anything difficult for Teacher."

Xiao Yan chuckled and pointed at the pile of boxes beside him, stacked like a small mountain. He then pulled out five boxes marked with special symbols.

The mountain of boxes contained small snacks such as preserved fruit and pastries, delivered on Ya Fei's orders by one of her trusted aides.

Officially, they had been gifted to him, the young master of the Xiao Family, to satisfy his cravings. Their total value was only a few hundred Gold Coins, so apart from assuming that Ya Fei thought rather highly of Xiao Yan, no one in the Xiao Family gave them much thought.

In truth, however, the boxes concealed precious medicinal ingredients worth fifty thousand Gold Coins.

For now, Xiao Yan did not want the clan to know too much about him.

Success depended on secrecy. No matter how powerful he had been in his previous life, he was now merely a youth at Dou Qi Level 3. Thus, Xiao Yan still needed to lie low for a while.

He casually opened one of the boxes. Inside lay three stalks of Purple Leaf Orchid Grass, two Marrow Cleansing Flowers, a small Jade Bottle, a Wood Attribute Tier 1 Magic Core, and a Water Attribute Tier 1 Magic Core.

"This formula of yours..."

Yao Lao glanced at the materials in the box and was first stunned. Then, after a moment of silence, he said, "Why does it resemble a Foundation Establishment Spirit Liquid I once created?"

"This is a new pill improved from Teacher's Foundation Establishment Spirit Liquid. I have named it the Foundation Establishment Divine Liquid."

Xiao Yan smiled faintly, but this only made Yao Lao's expression more complicated.

"If I am not mistaken, the Jade Bottle seems to contain Earth Heart Spiritual Milk. Although Wood and Water Attribute Magic Cores are relatively mild, they are ultimately too violent for a little fellow who has not even become a Dou Zhe.

"But with the balancing effect of Earth Heart Spiritual Milk, it truly can be refined into a pill that even those in the Dou Qi stage can endure."

"It is just that I truly cannot imagine it. Could everything you said possibly be true?"

In Yao Lao's mind, as a fallen Soul Body, he was like a ghost to the people of Wu Tan City, whose strongest experts were no more than Da Dou Shi.

Yet ever since Xiao Yan had awakened him, he had remained somewhat bewildered.

A twelve-year-old child woke you up after you had been dead for over a century, then told you that he was your future disciple, that he had returned from tens of thousands of years in the future, knew everything about you, and had even casually improved one of your old formulas.

Who exactly is the ghost here?

I really did run into a ghost!

"Whether it is true or false, Teacher only needs to keep watching. Your task for now is to refine pills for me first."

Xiao Yan gently shook his head. With his current bit of strength, he could not even use Soul Power to impart a Secret Art. Otherwise, simply passing on a high-level soul cultivation Secret Art to Yao Lao would greatly increase his strength.

"So be it. This old man has nowhere else to turn now. It seems I have no choice but to believe in you, little fellow."

Yao Lao gave a bitter smile and extended his aged palm. A pale white flame rose from it, immediately lowering the temperature in the room considerably. It was the Bone Chilling Flame.

"First three parts flame, then four parts flame, and then..."

The low temperature made Xiao Yan's frail little body shiver. He took a thin blanket from beside him and wrapped it around himself, staring at the Bone Chilling Flame as he slowly recited a fire-control formula.

Upon hearing the formula, a sharp gleam shot from Yao Lao's eyes.

"You worked out this fire-control formula yourself? Your skill in controlling fire has actually reached such a level?"

This fire-control process appeared simple, but in reality, this one method alone had stumped most Alchemists below Rank 7. Only masters extremely familiar with the art of fire control could accomplish it.

For an Alchemist, fire-control techniques were foundational skills. Experts recognized the subtleties, and merely from this section of the formula, Yao Lao could tell just how far Xiao Yan's mastery over flames had reached.

"Hehe, as the disciple of Venerable Yao, what are such basic skills worth?"

Xiao Yan grinned. Tens of thousands of years later, he had been the greatest master of fire in this universe. These fire-control techniques were nothing more than children's teaching materials he had casually created after Becoming Emperor, for educating his own children.

If he were not worried that Yao Lao would be unable to learn it anytime soon, he would have at least found him a Heavenly Sovereign-level fire-control art to study.

"It seems that I truly took in an excellent disciple in the future."

Yao Lao was in unusually good spirits. With a sweep of his palm, he drew several medicinal ingredients into the air at once, refining them one after another.

Following the fire-control formula Xiao Yan had given him, he extracted the essences from the various medicinal ingredients and Magic Cores in sequence before finally taking out the Earth Heart Spiritual Milk from the Jade Bottle.

The so-called Earth Heart Spiritual Milk was somewhat similar to the Earth Core Body Tempering Milk Xiao Yan had obtained at Jia Nan Academy in his previous life. Both were Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures containing traces of the power of earth.

The power of earth was deep and heavy, capable of containing and neutralizing all things. Naturally, neutralizing several medicinal effects was no challenge.

A drop of Earth Heart Spiritual Milk fell into the medicinal solution, instantly changing its color and causing it to surge violently. Though Earth Heart Spiritual Milk could balance medicinal effects, poor control still carried the danger of an explosion.

Fortunately, Xiao Yan possessed the complete formula, and Yao Lao was there to help as an Alchemist master. Thus, their first attempt at refining this pill went exceptionally smoothly.

An hour later, a drop of jade-like green liquid slowly floated above Yao Lao's palm.

Foundation Establishment Divine Liquid, complete!

Once the Foundation Establishment Divine Liquid had been successfully refined, Yao Lao casually dripped the jade-like medicinal liquid into the Wooden Basin Xiao Yan had prepared beforehand.

The moment the drop entered, the entire basin of clear water turned the color of emerald.

"From now on, I will be cultivating here again."

Looking at the basin of medicinal liquid, a trace of reminiscence appeared in Xiao Yan's eyes. In his previous life, had he not begun with just such a basin of medicinal liquid, climbing step by step to the pinnacle of this world?

"Teacher, please refine the remaining portions of medicinal ingredients as well. Oh, and the final two portions only need to be made into Foundation Establishment Spirit Liquid."

Xiao Yan removed his clothes and jumped naked into the basin of medicinal liquid.

The Foundation Establishment Divine Liquid was a medicine he had created in his previous life to lay foundations for children within his own faction. Its medicinal effect was far stronger than the Foundation Establishment Spirit Liquid, after all, and the cost was there for all to see.

The improved Foundation Establishment Divine Liquid could temper the body, nourish Dou Qi, and strengthen the meridians. It could even slightly improve one's cultivation talent. Though it was a Third Grade Pill, its fire-control method alone could stump Alchemists below Rank 6.

Thus, the Foundation Establishment Divine Liquid should naturally cost more than ten times as much as the Foundation Establishment Spirit Liquid. Moreover, the pill was simply too conspicuous, so Xiao Yan had no intention of selling it.

As for ways to gather wealth, they were far too easy for him and Yao Lao. Once his strength had recovered to the level of a Dou Wang or Dou Emperor in the future, it would not be too late to sell it openly.

"You brat, you really are not afraid of making this old man work hard."

Yao Lao lightly rolled his eyes at Xiao Yan, but did not say anything else.

Refining pills of this level naturally posed no difficulty to him, an Alchemist grandmaster.

Pale firelight flickered in the quiet little room. Amid that silent stillness, the old man and the youth seemed to be brewing their future.