Eight-Star Dou Practitioner and Pill Refining Again

"Ha ha, it worked." Looking at the Golden Flame rising from Lin Ming's hand, Master Toso said with a smile. Both old men were smiling happily for Lin Ming.

"Test its power." Clan Leader Tengshan of the Mittel Clan took out a dark brown wooden stake and placed it on the ground. Then he said to Lin Ming, "This is an Ironwood Stake. Though this old man could destroy it with one strike, it is more than enough for you to test yourself on."

"Alright, Clan Leader." Lin Ming replied, then wrapped his right palm in Flame Gold Flame and struck the Ironwood Stake. Half of his palm sank into the stake.

"Ha ha, not bad. As expected of the beast flame of the Sixth-Order Magical Beast Golden Flame Python. Even in the hands of a mere Dou Zhe like you, it drove half a finger's depth into the Ironwood Stake. Even those five- or six-star Dou Masters can only manage that much." Clan Leader Tengshan sighed.

"Hehe." Hearing Clan Leader Tengshan's words, Lin Ming grinned foolishly.

After a while, Clan Leader Tengshan looked at the still-grinning Lin Ming and said, "Alright! You've refined the Flame Gold Flame, so this old man will be leaving. I'm old now, no longer useful."

Lin Ming bowed to Clan Leader Tengshan, who left as soon as he finished speaking.

"Alright, you brat should head back too! This old man needs to rest as well," Master Toso said to Lin Ming.

"Well, I'm afraid I can't leave just yet." Lin Ming scratched his head and spoke to Master Toso somewhat awkwardly.

"Hm? Do you have something else to do?" Master Toso asked doubtfully. He had already been preparing to leave when Lin Ming suddenly said he could not go.

"I feel like I'm about to break through, so I'm preparing to advance to Seven-Star Dou Zhe right away." Lin Ming spoke to Master Toso very seriously. Before refining the Flame Gold Flame, he had already been a Seven-Star Dou Zhe—not newly advanced, but at that level for over twenty days. After refining the Flame Gold Flame just now, it had continuously released fire-attribute energy. He could now feel that he had met the conditions for a breakthrough, so he wanted to advance while he could.

"A breakthrough? You refined a flame and managed to break through too? You really are a freak." Master Toso spoke unwillingly. Back when he had refined a beast flame, he had suffered serious injuries and needed half a month to recover. That flame had not even been as powerful as Lin Ming's, yet many Alchemists had envied him for it. Now, it was his turn to envy Lin Ming. Refining a flame so easily was one thing, but breaking through another star along the way? Ah, people truly had to be compared before they could be thrown away.

"Break through. I'll watch over you." Hearing Master Toso speak, Lin Ming did not dwell on why he had paused just now. He immediately sat down cross-legged and began his breakthrough.

Calming himself, Lin Ming sank his consciousness into his Dantian. The red fire-attribute side of the rotating vortex had nearly turned into the golden color of Flame Gold Flame. The cyan-and-gold vortex slowly rotated. Without dwelling on it, Lin Ming circulated his cultivation method and began using Dou Qi to break through.

Pop. About an hour later, a sound like a bursting bubble entered Lin Ming's consciousness. He slowly withdrew his awareness. This breakthrough had been completed without the slightest danger. Lin Ming was now an Eight-Star Dou Practitioner. There were still nearly two months until year-end. He wondered whether he could reach Nine Star Dou Practitioner before then.

Lin Ming rose and bowed to Master Toso. After the two exchanged a few more words, Lin Ming set off for home.

After returning home, he simply washed up. Though he had been busy all night, he did not feel particularly tired after his breakthrough, so he began cultivating.

The next day, at the Medicine Refinement Hall.

Inside the Alchemy Room, Master Toso took back the Medicinal Cauldron Lin Ming had been using, then brought out a bronze-colored cauldron.

"A Two-Fire-Mouth Cauldron is fine for learning pill refining. But it is too slow for refining Second-Grade Pills and above. This Bronze Medicine Cauldron is a Three-Fire-Mouth Cauldron. Don't think that one extra fire mouth makes little difference—the efficiency rises by more than fifty percent. Lin Ming, use this Bronze Cauldron from now on! It will be perfect for familiarizing yourself with Flame Gold Flame." Master Toso took out the Bronze Medicine Cauldron and explained.

"Alright, then I'll familiarize myself with both the flame and the cauldron together," Lin Ming replied.

He pressed his palm against one of the fire mouths of the Bronze Cauldron. Dou Qi wrapped around Flame Gold Flame, flowed through his meridians into his hand, then entered the cauldron through the fire mouth.

Whoosh! Golden flames surged up within the cauldron. Lin Ming continuously adjusted the amount of Dou Qi he fed in, slowly sensing how different amounts affected the size and temperature of the flames inside.

After roughly half an hour, Lin Ming stopped supplying Dou Qi, and the flames inside the cauldron instantly went out. Having gained a rough sense of it, Lin Ming decided to begin pill refining. After all, sensing could only provide an approximation and could never be completely precise. True understanding still required practice.

"I'll refine First-Grade Pills first. Once I'm familiar with them, I'll move on to Second-Grade Pills. After all, I've only refined Second-Grade Pills once. Trying to refine them while unfamiliar with both the flame and the cauldron would most likely just waste medicinal materials." With that thought, Lin Ming began with the Strength-Accumulating Pill he knew best.

Half an hour later, three jade bottles had been placed beside Lin Ming. Inside were the Strength-Accumulating Pills he had just refined. Lin Ming had refined four batches. During the First Refinement, he had been unfamiliar with both the flame and the cauldron, causing the temperature to spike too high during a transition and burn the materials, resulting in failure. However, the next three attempts all successfully produced finished Strength-Accumulating Pills. The final pill even developed a Pill Pattern.

Looking at the three bottles of pills beside him, Lin Ming thought, Good flames and cauldrons really improve an Alchemist's efficiency tremendously! When I used a Two-Fire-Mouth Cauldron before, the flames were generated and transformed from Dou Qi through the cauldron. Even if every attempt succeeded, half an hour could at most produce two Strength-Accumulating Pills. But now, with Flame Gold Flame and a Three-Fire-Mouth Bronze Medicine Cauldron, I still refined three pills despite failing once. No wonder Alchemists all want Heavenly Flames. The increase in efficiency is truly enormous.

Over the next two days, Lin Ming refined seven or eight different First-Grade Pills in rotation. In the end, Pill Patterns appeared on all of them.

"That should be enough. Time to refine Second-Grade Pills! I'll start with the Ice Heart Pill again this time. Let's see how long this Second-Order Wood-Attribute Magic Core can hold out!" Lin Ming muttered to himself. Clearly, he still held a grudge over how the Second-Order Wood-Attribute Magic Core had nearly drained all his Dou Qi during his last Ice Heart Pill refinement.

Before long, Lin Ming returned from the medicinal materials area carrying two sets of ingredients for Ice Heart Pills.

After preheating the cauldron, Lin Ming waited until the temperature inside had stabilized, then picked up an Ice Mark Grass and tossed it into the cauldron. He abruptly increased the flames. In an instant, everything in the Ice Mark Grass except the needed ice marks was burned away. A moment later, Lin Ming drew out the refined ice marks with his palm and placed them into a jade bottle for later use in merging the pill. At that moment, Lin Ming once again sighed at how efficient good flames were, especially when handling medicinal materials with demanding temperature requirements. After sighing, he continued extracting the other medicinal materials.

In the time it took to drink a cup of tea, all the medicinal materials needed for the Ice Heart Pill had been refined. Next came the Second-Order Wood-Attribute Magic Core. Let's see how long you can resist in my hands this time, Lin Ming thought fiercely. He then tossed the Second-Order Wood-Attribute Magic Core into the cauldron. The instant it entered, golden flames wrapped around it and fiercely tempered it.

Within the Golden Flame, a dark cyan Magic Core rolled about. Around it was a cyan Energy Shield resembling a halo, resisting the scorching flames and preventing them from burning into its interior. Lin Ming remained expressionless as he watched the Magic Core struggle. He knew that even though Flame Gold Flame was stronger, it was impossible for the Magic Core to be refined instantly without any time to resist. He was in no hurry at all. He merely maintained the flow of Dou Qi and kept the Second-Order Wood-Attribute Magic Core continuously tempered.

In less than half the time it took to drink a cup of tea, Lin Ming sensed the Magic Core's Energy Shield weakening. He knew it was about to fail. Lin Ming sneered inwardly. You're already giving out? Weren't you so arrogant before? You nearly made me collapse from exhaustion, but now I've only used one third of my Dou Qi.

If the Magic Core had consciousness and knew what Lin Ming was thinking, it would definitely curse loudly, "You shameless bastard! If you have the skill, don't upgrade your equipment before fighting me one-on-one! We agreed to peacefully farm minions in the top lane and decide the victor after reaching level eighteen with full builds. But you shamelessly went to support the bottom lane, joined a team fight, got a quadra kill, gained two levels, went home to buy equipment, then broke our agreement and came to PK me before I could even return home for equipment. Where's your shame? Where's your integrity..."

And Lin Ming would definitely say, "I don't care. We're doing it now. I just killed four of your teammates. I wonder if the window for a pentakill has passed yet. Ah, whatever. Even if it has, a fake pentakill will do." So Lin Ming increased his Dou Qi output, making the flames within the Medicinal Cauldron blaze even more fiercely.

A moment later, a crack sounded from the cauldron. Hearing the Energy Shield shatter, Lin Ming was delighted. Now that your shield is broken, take my killing blow! Demacia! Flames enveloped the Magic Core. Shortly afterward, the surface of the Magic Core turned to ash and fell away, revealing a dark green, paste-like Energy Orb within.

"Ha ha, pentakill secured. Pah! Magic Core extraction complete."

Perhaps it was because extreme joy bred sorrow. In any case, Lin Ming would never admit that he had failed to honor the agreement to peacefully develop in the top lane, got repeatedly ganked by the enemy top laner calling for help, watched his teammates die over and over, and then had his own base destroyed. A voice announced defeat, and the screen closed.

Lin Ming made a mistake during the subsequent pill-merging process, and this refinement failed.

After summarizing the cause of the failure, he meditated to recover his Dou Qi and began a new refinement.

In less than half an hour, a pale cyan pill with a smooth luster and a slightly greenish hue appeared in Lin Ming's hand. Fortunately, there were no mistakes during his second refinement of the Ice Heart Pill, and it was successfully completed.

"Ha ha, I'm a Second-Grade Alchemist now," Lin Ming said.