Battle Through the Heavens: Obtaining the Extraction System at the Start

As he walked through the passage, illuminated by Moonlight Stones, Xiao Ling looked toward its end by the moonlight.

There, he saw a Secret Chamber lined with shelves, upon which various items had been placed.

From left to right, the shelves held pills, medicinal herbs, Cultivation Techniques and Combat Skills, and Artifact Refining Materials.

Seeing this, Xiao Ling muttered inwardly, The layout is quite orderly. Hai Bodong is a rather particular man.

After entering the Secret Chamber, Hai Bodong said to Xiao Ling, "Master Xiao Ling, please wait here for a moment. I'll fetch the ingredients needed to refine the Po E Dan."

With that, Hai Bodong walked toward the shelf where the medicinal herbs were stored. Xiao Ling, meanwhile, sat at a table with Qing Lin and Zi Yan and began chatting with them.

Before long, Hai Bodong came over to the table. With a wave of his hand, a huge pile of medicinal herbs landed before Xiao Ling.

Since Hai Bodong had brought over the ingredients, Xiao Ling turned his attention to the large pile on the table. Every one of these herbs could be considered rare. A few of them could even fetch a high price of no less than five hundred thousand Gold Coins at an auction. Even so, they were items with a price but no market. After all, anyone with even a little knowledge would not put such rare herbs up for auction. If they happened to encounter an alchemist who needed them someday, that would be an exceptionally satisfying deal.

After carefully inspecting the many ingredients and finding nothing missing, Xiao Ling nodded slightly. He looked up at Hai Bodong, who was watching him intently, and smiled. "Elder Hai, I'm sure you know that pill refinement always carries a chance of failure. Before I begin, let me say something unpleasant... I have some confidence in refining this Sixth-grade Pill, but I cannot guarantee success. So, if the refinement ultimately fails for some reason, then the responsibility..."

"I know, you won't be held responsible, right? Aren't all you alchemists like this? If you fail, could I really force you to stay?" Hai Bodong waved his hand and smiled bitterly.

Xiao Ling nodded and said with a smile, "Since Elder Hai understands, that is naturally for the best."

As though remembering something, Hai Bodong said with an amused smile, "When I first met you, I didn't know much about your identity. Over the past few days, I made a few inquiries. If I hadn't looked into it, it would have been fine—but once I did, I was thoroughly shocked. The Jia Ma Empire's Number One Genius. You began cultivating Dou Qi at four, advanced to Dou Zhe at eight, and then joined Jia Nan Academy, after which no further news of you emerged. Until not long ago, when you returned to the Jia Ma Empire as a Dou Wang and a Sixth-grade Alchemist."

Hai Bodong smacked his lips and said emotionally, "If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, I truly wouldn't have believed that the Jia Ma Empire had produced a genius like you."

Walking up to Xiao Ling, Hai Bodong patted him on the shoulder and said with a smile, "As long as you aren't deliberately trying to harm this old man, with your level of Alchemy Art, I think you should succeed in one go."

This old man is putting me on a pedestal before I've even started refining. Is he trying to morally pressure me? If I fail, won't he blame me for not taking the refinement seriously? Xiao Ling grumbled inwardly after hearing Hai Bodong's words.

Ah, whatever. I never planned to cheat this old man anyway. I'll still need the Ice Emperor to work for me in the future—the position of head steward of the Xiao Family was specially reserved for Hai Bodong. Thinking this, Xiao Ling stopped dwelling on such irrelevant matters. Right now, focusing on refining the pill was what mattered.

Xiao Ling stored the large pile of herbs on the table in his Storage Ring, then nodded slightly to Hai Bodong and said calmly, "Don't worry, Elder Hai. I'll do my utmost to refine this Po E Dan for you. Before long, you'll be able to recover your Dou Emperor cultivation."

After looking around and finding no suitable place for pill refinement in the Secret Chamber, Xiao Ling asked Hai Bodong, "Could you prepare a quiet room for me? While I remain inside, no one can disturb me—not even Elder Hai himself."

"Follow me." Hai Bodong nodded and walked toward a side door, with Xiao Ling following closely behind.

Beyond the side door was a corridor. The lighting in it was somewhat dim. Xiao Ling followed Hai Bodong for a while until they stopped outside a door at the end of the corridor.

Hai Bodong pushed the door open, and soft light spilled out. Perhaps because it was cleaned regularly, the room appeared quite neat. It was not bad as a temporary place to stay while refining pills.

After telling Qing Lin to cultivate diligently, Xiao Ling walked into the room.

Once inside, Xiao Ling looked around and nodded with a smile.

"Master Xiao Ling, is this place satisfactory?" Hai Bodong asked with a smile. After seeing Xiao Ling nod, he continued, "In that case, please refine the pill here. I'll stand guard outside the corridor. During this time, you will have all the peace and quiet you need. No one will disturb you."

"It's quite good. Thank you." Xiao Ling nodded with a smile.

"Then I'll take my leave. The rest is up to you." After leaving those words behind, Hai Bodong exited the room.

Once he was the only one left inside, Xiao Ling walked over to the table in the middle of the room.

His finger lightly brushed across his Storage Ring, and the ingredients Hai Bodong had given him earlier immediately appeared on the table.

With another wave of his hand, a Medicine Cauldron appeared beside the table. Although it was not a cauldron from the Heavenly Cauldron Ranking, it was more than sufficient for Xiao Ling's current needs.

Holding the prescription that recorded the refining method for the "Po E Dan," Xiao Ling began reading the method written upon it.

In the original story, even Yao Chen, the Continent's Number One Alchemist, had made a mistake once while refining the Po E Dan and wasted some ingredients.

Though that had been because he was merely in a soul state and far weaker than in life, the fact that even Yao Chen, with his wealth of experience in Alchemy Art, had failed once showed that the Po E Dan's refining method was far from simple.

After committing the contents of the prescription to memory, Xiao Ling took a deep breath and calmed his emotions.

Walking up to the Medicine Cauldron, Xiao Ling raised his arm and pressed his hand against its fire vent.

With a thought, the Golden Emperor Burning Heaven Flame within his Dou Crystal emerged and traveled through the meridians in his body before leaping into the Medicine Cauldron.

The moment the Golden Emperor Burning Heaven Flame appeared, scorching heat filled the room.

After using the Golden Emperor Burning Heaven Flame to heat the cauldron once, Xiao Ling beckoned with his hand. His palm swept rapidly over the nearby table, grasping one priceless medicinal herb after another and feeding them into the Medicine Cauldron.

Once all the ingredients had been placed into the cauldron, Xiao Ling withdrew his hand. His expression remained calm, while his fair hand suddenly moved as swiftly and gracefully as if plucking flowers and leaves. With every flick of his fingertips, the blazing golden flames within the Medicine Cauldron obediently divided into several small clusters, wrapping around the herbs that had been placed inside.

In order to successfully refine the Po E Dan in one attempt, Xiao Ling focused with utmost concentration, demanding perfection from every step.

Within the quiet room, golden flames danced inside the Medicine Cauldron, while a faint medicinal fragrance permeated the air.

Jia Ma Empire, Wutan City.

A carriage bearing the emblem of the Jia Ma Empire's royal family entered Wutan City through the city gates.

Behind the carriage followed more than fifty royal guards clad in light armor. The murderous aura emanating from every soldier showed that they were all battle-hardened veterans.

Inside the carriage, Yao Yue extended a slender wrist and lifted a corner of the curtain, surveying Wutan City's buildings with interest.

Could this be where that Jia Ma Empire's Number One Genius, Xiao Ling, lived as a child? I wonder if I'll come across anything interesting here. Yao Yue muttered inwardly.

At the time, she had still been studying Alchemy Art under Vice President Mitchell at the Alchemist Association when her elder sister came looking for her, asking her to make a trip to Wutan City.

Yao Yue had originally intended to refuse. Wutan City? She had never even heard of it. What remote little city was that?

However, she then heard her sister say that it was the birthplace of the Jia Ma Empire's Number One Genius, Xiao Ling, and that this trip was meant to escort members of Xiao Ling's clan to the Imperial Capital to live there.

As the little princess of the Jia Ma Empire, Yao Yue naturally knew about Xiao Ling. Thus, she became somewhat interested in the place where he had been born.

Moreover, Xiao Yan—the one his teacher mentioned from time to time—seemed to be from the Xiao Family of Wutan City as well. When the time came, she could go take a look and see just what kind of strange person he was, for even her teacher could not discern the problem within him.

Under the reverent gazes of Wutan City's residents, the Royal Guard arrived before the Xiao Family estate and came to a halt.

The middle-aged officer at the head of the group gestured to a subordinate beside him. The man dismounted and approached the Xiao Family guard, saying, "Hello, we are the royal guard, here to escort members of the Xiao Family to the Imperial Capital."

This Guard Captain of the Xiao Family had long since received word from within the clan that the Jia Ma Empire's guard would arrive within the next few days.

The Guard Captain replied to the soldier, "I'll notify the Patriarch first. Please go to the Reception Hall and rest for a while; the Patriarch will be here shortly."

After speaking, he muttered a few instructions to a guard beside him before heading toward the Patriarch's Office.

That guard then led the royal guard to the Xiao Family's Reception Hall.

Once the Guard Captain had made his report, Patriarch Xiao Zhan immediately brought several elders to formally welcome the royal guard.

The two sides settled the itinerary. At dawn the next day, everyone would set out for the Imperial Capital.

On this final night before leaving Wutan City, Xiao Zhan invited the leaders of all the major and minor factions in the city to the Xiao Family for a banquet.

The patriarchs of Wutan City's other two great families—Jia Lie Bi of the Jia Lie Family and Ao Ba Pa of the Ao Ba Family—naturally received Xiao Zhan's invitation as well.

The patriarchs of the three families, once somewhat hostile toward one another, now drank heartily at the banquet because the Xiao Family was about to leave Wutan City.

While the banquet was underway, Xiao Yan was wandering around the Xiao Family estate alone. As the Third Young Master of Xiao Family, he naturally had the right to attend the banquet, but after eating alone, he found sitting in the hall unbearably dull, so he left early.

He plucked a foxtail grass from the roadside and held it between his teeth, savoring its faint bitterness as he walked to the pond in the Xiao Family's rear courtyard. He lay down in the grass and enjoyed the cool evening breeze.

Just then, the sound of footsteps drew closer and entered Xiao Yan's ears.

Xiao Yan looked toward the source of the sound. A young girl was walking along the bluestone path toward the pond.

The newcomer wore a purple dress embroidered with silver patterns. Her delicate features, refined by her upbringing within the royal family, carried a faint air of innate nobility. A purple sash cinched her slender waist, perfectly accentuating its graceful curve. She did not seem very old, appearing to be about the same age as Xiao Yan. A faint smile rested on her lovely face, giving her an elegant and tranquil air. Yet whenever her gaze swept over her surroundings, Xiao Yan noticed a mischievous glint flash through her watery eyes. Clearly, this girl was not as fond of quiet as her outward appearance suggested.

This young girl was Yao Yue, the royal family's little princess.

As a royal princess, Yao Yue naturally would not lower herself to attend a banquet hosted by these minor figures of Wutan City.

The main purpose of this visit was to demonstrate the royal family's regard for the Xiao Family and to win over Xiao Ling, that young Sixth-grade Alchemist.

Thus, Yao Yue did not attend the banquet. Instead, she sent the Dou Ling-level Army Commander to ingratiate himself with Xiao Zhan.

She herself wandered around the Xiao Family estate, intending to take a look at the place where Xiao Ling had lived as a child.

Just earlier, the guard secretly protecting Yao Yue had transmitted his voice to inform her that a youth with only the cultivation of three stages of Dou Qi was lying in the grass by the pond not far ahead.

Upon hearing about that youth at the third stage of Dou Qi, Yao Yue's eyes lit up. Wasn't that the Xiao Yan her teacher had mentioned?

He had begun cultivating Dou Qi at the age of four and advanced to Dou Zhe at eleven. Though he was not as monstrous as Xiao Ling, he was still the youngest Dou Zhe in the Jia Ma Empire aside from Xiao Ling, and he was also the fiancé of Nalan Yanran, the Miss of Nalan Family.

This matter had become a popular topic among the influential figures of the Jia Ma Empire. With the talents of Xiao Ling and Xiao Yan, the Xiao Family would surely rise to glory once the two of them matured.

Yet when Xiao Yan was twelve, his Dou Qi fell to the third stage of Dou Qi, and his cultivation could no longer advance. He became nothing more than a useless cripple in cultivation, leaving everyone stunned.

Afterward, the Xiao Family used a prescription to hire Mitchell, the Vice President of the Alchemist Guild, to examine Xiao Yan's body.

In the end, Mitchell made the long journey to Wutan City, yet he too could not determine what exactly was wrong with Xiao Yan's body.

Thinking of that strange constitution that even her teacher could not resolve, Yao Yue decided to see it for herself and headed toward Xiao Yan.

When Xiao Yan saw the young girl approaching him, he hurriedly rose from the grass, clasped his hands in salute, and said to Yao Yue, "Her Highness the Princess, is there something you need from me? If you wish to look around the Xiao Family estate, I can show you the way. I'm quite familiar with this place."

When the royal guard had entered the Xiao Family earlier, Xiao Zhan had brought Xiao Yan along to greet them, so he had naturally seen Yao Yue.

However, Xiao Zhan and the elders had been quite surprised as well. They had never expected the royal princess to come in person. It made them understand even more clearly the true value of Xiao Ling, a young Dou Wang and Sixth-grade Alchemist.

Yao Yue did not answer Xiao Yan's question. Instead, she looked him up and down with curious eyes.

Seeing the little royal princess staring at him without stopping, even the now mentally mature Xiao Yan felt a little embarrassed.