"Elder Fa, I've Learned My Lesson!"

Dawn had just begun to break, and traces of chill still lingered in the air. Yet the streets of the Jia Ma Imperial Capital were already bustling with traffic, as people had risen early to toil for their daily livelihoods.

From above, the dense stream of pedestrians resembled nothing less than a massive colony of ants at work.

Yet within a high-class private room of the Alchemist Guild, there was a stark contrast to the noisy world outside. The silence was almost chilling.

Strangely, however, two people stood within this private room. Why was that?

Before the enormous Six-Orifice Cauldron, Lin Feng had sat with his eyes closed, regulating his breath for a full quarter of an hour, determined to bring himself to his peak condition.

"Phew..."

Once he sensed that his aura was complete and perfectly under control, Lin Feng slowly exhaled a breath of turbid air and opened his eyes.

"Brat Lin Feng, are you ready?"

Seeing that Lin Feng had finished adjusting his breathing, Fa Ma could no longer suppress his excitement. It was as though he, rather than Lin Feng, was the one about to achieve a breakthrough in alchemy.

That was right. Lin Feng was about to refine a Fifth-grade Pill—the Seven Star Spirit Wood Pill.

Seven Star Spirit Wood Pill: a Fifth-grade Pill. Its primary effect was to stabilize the meridians of Wood Attribute cultivators and enhance their perception of the Wood Attribute. Its main ingredients were one Fifth-tier Wood Attribute Demonic Core, one Fifty-year Seven Star Grass, one Hundred Year Spirit Wood Heart...

Two months had passed since Lin Feng returned from the Magical Beast Mountain Range. Aside from occasionally spending some time shopping with Xiao Yi Xian, he had devoted most of his time to improving his alchemy.

Of course, other than resting properly on the night he returned from the Magical Beast Mountain Range without cultivating, Lin Feng had used cultivation in place of sleep every night, constantly honing his Dou Qi, even though he had already reached the point where he could advance no further.

But continuous cultivation could not only improve his control over Dou Qi and make his Dou Skills flow more smoothly; perhaps he might even sense an opportunity to break through to the Dou Wang realm during such cultivation.

Back in the alchemy room, Lin Feng's expression was solemn. Advancement at every level of alchemy could not be treated carelessly.

With a wave of his hand, he took out three sets of materials for refining the Seven Star Spirit Wood Pill. After checking them once more, Lin Feng hesitated no longer, and the Sixth-tier Beast Fire, Azure Flame, appeared in his palm.

Boom...

Dou Qi surged into the flames as fuel, causing them to blaze fiercely.

Next, following the method described in the pill formula and the experience Fa Ma had taught him, Lin Feng first tossed the easiest ingredient to refine, the Seven Star Grass, into the Medicine Cauldron.

The properties of the Seven Star Grass flashed through his mind. Using his Soul Force, Lin Feng maintained the flames inside the Medicine Cauldron at a stable temperature, continuously roasting its exterior while merely heating the juices within.

After refining it for some time, Lin Feng successfully extracted the Seven Star Grass, but there was no joy on his face.

"As expected of a Fifth-grade Pill. Even the Seven Star Grass, said to be the easiest ingredient to refine—if a Fourth-grade Alchemist refined it, even if they succeeded by luck, the resulting juice still wouldn't meet the requirements for pill refinement."

After silently sighing to himself, Lin Feng did not feel much pressure. He immediately tossed the remaining medicinal ingredients into the Medicine Cauldron one after another, continuously extracting the substances needed for the final fusion.

The flames kept burning within the Medicine Cauldron, producing sizzling crackles. By now, Lin Feng had finished refining every ingredient, including the Fifth-tier Wood Attribute Demonic Core. More than a dozen light clusters of varying sizes and colors floated within the cauldron.

Without taking time to regulate his breath, Lin Feng swept out his hand. Using the energy cluster formed from the Rank 5 Demonic Core as the core, the other light clusters began to slowly revolve around it.

As their rotation accelerated, smaller light clusters occasionally merged into the central Demonic Core light cluster under Lin Feng's control of his Soul Force.

As time passed, when only one large and two small energy clusters remained in Lin Feng's perception, his expression became terrifyingly grave.

Cold sweat began to form on his forehead. It was not because the energy fluctuations had exceeded his control, but because his refinement process seemed to have deviated. The energy clusters showed no sign of merging; instead, they seemed on the verge of an Exploding Cauldron.

Boom...

Sure enough, the instant Lin Feng attempted to fuse the energy cluster formed from the final Spirit Wood Heart into the Demonic Core, it seemed to meet the conditions for some reaction. A violent energy fluctuation erupted, and before he could react, it exploded.

Bang...

Fa Ma acted with swift eyes and hands. His palm, infused with powerful Dou Qi, slammed fiercely onto the Medicine Cauldron, forcefully dispersing the energy fluctuation that had seemed about to blow the cauldron apart just as it reached its peak.

"Elder Fa..."

Coming back to his senses, Lin Feng called out to Fa Ma with a dejected expression. He still seemed unable to believe it. This was his first Exploding Cauldron—there was no need to mention the strange things he had refined in the past.

"Hahaha, brat Lin Feng, are you discouraged already?" As though he had long expected this scene, Fa Ma stroked his beard and laughed. There was not a trace of doubt in his expression over Lin Feng's failure, as though he had long known Lin Feng would not succeed.

"Brat Lin Feng, when this old man first refined this pill, no one taught me. Guess how many times I had to refine it before I succeeded?"

Seeing that Lin Feng seemed to be doubting himself, Fa Ma quickly spoke to redirect his attention. He narrowed his eyes slightly, stroked his beard, and asked.

"This... Elder Fa, what do you mean?"

Lin Feng did not answer Fa Ma directly. He knew that as an experienced Fifth-grade Peak Alchemist, Fa Ma would not ask such an irrelevant question at this moment. There had to be some profound meaning behind it.

"Eight times. Brat Lin Feng, this old man failed a full eight times." Fa Ma spread his five fingers and slowly said to Lin Feng, "And that wasn't even this old man's limit. If the Alchemist Guild had not possessed only those Ba Fu Medicinal Ingredients at the time, this old man could have failed even more times."

Not understanding Fa Ma's meaning, Lin Feng could only listen quietly.

Seeing that Lin Feng appeared to have recovered from the blow, Fa Ma could not help but praise him inwardly. Such setbacks were the most devastating to geniuses. If Lin Feng, who had always succeeded so smoothly, had become unable to recover because of this, it would not have been surprising.

Of course, that was only because Fa Ma did not know what Lin Feng had experienced. After all these years of hardship, he would not be knocked down so easily. Still, unlike his usual easy success at pill formation, this time the cauldron had exploded, so he could not help feeling somewhat frustrated.

"This old man won't beat around the bush," Fa Ma said, stroking his beard. "This may be the last lesson I can teach you."

"Elder Fa?"

Seeing the moved expression on Lin Feng's face, Fa Ma waved his hand slightly, signaling that Lin Feng need not worry. It was not what he imagined.

"You little brat, once you enter the fifth grade, what will this old man have left to teach you?"

"Listen carefully." Fa Ma's expression turned serious. "After pills reach the fifth grade, you can no longer simply refine them according to the descriptions in the pill formula. It only provides a general direction."

"At this level, you must understand how to fully harmonize the properties of the medicinal ingredients and make them match the fluctuations of heaven and earth energy."

"This is also why Fifth-grade Pills produce such immense energy fluctuations after forming!"

Upon hearing Fa Ma's words, Lin Feng felt as though he had been enlightened, and everything suddenly became clear.

His tightly furrowed brows instantly relaxed, and thoughts poured into his mind like a spring. He immediately understood why the pill had not condensed into form earlier and had instead exploded.

"So that's it!"

Clapping his hands together, he said to Fa Ma with a hint of excitement, "Elder Fa, I understand now. Let's continue!"

"Brat Lin Feng, this old man will teach you another lesson. When facing matters—" Fa Ma's expression did not change. Instead, he narrowed his eyes slightly and said sternly to Lin Feng, "—calm yourself first!"

Hearing this, Lin Feng was visibly stunned. After quite a while, he seemed to truly come to a complete realization. He bowed slightly to Fa Ma and said with wholehearted conviction.

"Elder Fa, I've learned my lesson!"