Alchemy

Not long after Ye Xiu left, the door to the VIP room opened.

A woman in a red dress walked in. It was Ya Fei. Smiling, she asked, "Master Gu Ni, I heard a senior just recognized a third-tier pill. Where is he?"

Gu Ni smiled wryly and shook his head. "He's already left."

Ya Fei blinked. "Left? Did you find out anything?"

Gu Ni hesitated, then lowered his voice. "That senior is very likely a third-tier Alchemist, and he doesn't want anyone to know his background. It's best if we don't investigate someone like that. If we offend him, we'll be in serious trouble."

Ya Fei raised an eyebrow and asked with a smile, "What was that senior's name? Do you know?"

Gu Ni thought for a moment, then answered, "Ye Xiu."

Ya Fei nodded and tucked the name away.

There was a mountain behind Wutan City, and Ye Xiu found a secluded cave there.

He took out the large cauldron and set it in front of him. After taking a deep breath, he flipped his palm, and a red flame of Dou Qi shot into the cauldron.

He was going to refine a third-tier Fire-Element Pill. The pill could increase the cultivation speed of Fire Attribute practitioners. If he ever ran into someone he couldn't beat, it would at least give him another way to escape.

The Dou Qi flames burned inside the cauldron as Ye Xiu concentrated, using his spiritual power to sense the changing temperature within. He hadn't yet condensed a true flame, so he could only rely on his Fire Attribute Dou Qi to form flames inside the cauldron.

But he was a Nine-Star Great Dou Master, and he cultivated the High Xuan Tier technique, the Burning Heaven Sword Art. His Dou Qi was far purer than most people's. He could easily refine third-tier pills, and even fourth-tier pills were well within his capabilities.

When the temperature inside the cauldron was about right, Ye Xiu flicked a finger, sending a red primary ingredient flying into it.

Ye Xiu had bought all the ingredients for the Fire-Element Pills at the auction.

With a hiss, the ingredient tumbled in the flames and quickly melted into a mass of red liquid. Ye Xiu used his spiritual power to envelop it, peeling away the useless impurities bit by bit until the remaining liquid grew purer and purer.

He couldn't afford to be careless at this stage. If his spiritual power wavered even slightly, the entire ingredient would be ruined.

Sweat began to bead on Ye Xiu's forehead, but he didn't stop. He continued tossing the auxiliary ingredients into the cauldron one by one, refining each into liquid.

The auxiliary ingredients had different medicinal properties and required different temperatures. He had to control them precisely with his spiritual power. If anything went wrong with even one of them, the entire batch would be ruined.

Time passed, and the various medicinal liquids were soon ready inside the cauldron. The next step was the most crucial—fusion.

Ye Xiu took a deep breath and unleashed his spiritual power, carefully guiding the several masses of liquid toward one another. When they touched, they initially resisted each other. Ye Xiu didn't rush. He gently pressed them together with his spiritual power, allowing them to fuse little by little.

This process tested patience and technique above all else. Ye Xiu was using a fusion method from the memories of the Innate Medicine Body. It wasn't especially profound, but he had mastered it through practice.

The several masses of liquid slowly fused and gathered together, gradually taking on the shape of a pill. Its surface was still somewhat pitted, but it was already seventy percent complete.

Ye Xiu didn't let up. He continued enveloping the nascent pill with his spiritual power while increasing his Dou Qi output, making the flames burn hotter. The final step was condensing the pill.

The flames continued to temper the nascent pill, slowly smoothing out its pitted surface until it grew rounder and rounder. A faint medicinal fragrance began drifting from the cauldron.

Another incense stick's worth of time passed. Ye Xiu felt it was about ready, and gave a sharp shout. "Rise!"

He slapped the Medicine Cauldron. The flames instantly died out, and the lid flew up. Fire burst from all five openings as three red pills, each the size of a dragon's eye, shot out of the cauldron.

Ye Xiu reacted quickly, snatching up a jade bottle and catching all three pills in midair.

He lifted the bottle toward the light at the cave entrance. The three pills were round, with smooth, lustrous red surfaces and an intoxicating fragrance.

Success!

Ye Xiu nodded in satisfaction and put the jade bottle into his Storage Ring. With these pills, even if he ran into a Dou Ling-level expert, he'd have a good chance of escaping even if he couldn't win!

"Still, even though this Medicine Cauldron is good enough for now, refining pills with flames made from Dou Qi is always less effective..."

If he used a Heavenly Flame, he was confident he could refine five Fire-Element Pills from a single set of ingredients—and make them even higher quality!

Ye Xiu went on to refine several more batches of Fire-Element Pills.

Night deepened, and the moon hung high.

Ye Xiu had just put away the Medicine Cauldron and was getting ready to leave when he suddenly sensed someone approaching outside. They were moving quickly, too.

He had just darted to the cave entrance when a dark figure blocked the way.

It was a boy dressed in black, who looked about fifteen. Yet he was already a Three-Star Dou Zhe.

In a dump like Wutan City, the only young male Dou Practitioner of that age had to be that former good-for-nothing from the Xiao Clan.

"Xiao Yan?" Ye Xiu stopped and looked at him with an amused smile.

Xiao Yan's heart tightened.

He hadn't expected this man to recognize him at a glance. Yet he couldn't see through the other man's strength at all. If Yao Lao hadn't warned him earlier and provided concealment, he wouldn't even have known someone else was there.

Worse, this was the back mountain of the Xiao Clan. No one ever came here, so there had to be a reason this man was lurking around in the middle of the night.

"Who are you? What are you doing in the Xiao Clan's back mountain?" Xiao Yan asked. Dou Qi was already circulating through his body, and he was ready to fight at any moment.

"I'm a wandering cultivator," Ye Xiu replied casually. "I was just passing through. I didn't know this was the Xiao Clan's territory."

A wandering cultivator?

Xiao Yan's brows furrowed even tighter. People whose backgrounds were unknown were often the most dangerous.

Just then, an old voice sounded in his mind. "Be careful, Xiao Yan-zi. This guy is a Nine-Star Great Dou Master."

What?!

Xiao Yan's eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets.

A Nine-Star Great Dou Master??

This guy looked about the same age as him, yet he was a Nine-Star Great Dou Master? What kind of joke was this!

Wait!

A Nine-Star Great Dou Master, who had wiped out the Jialie Clan's upper ranks overnight and was vicious as hell...

A piece of news that had been spreading like wildfire through Wutan City these past few days suddenly flashed through Xiao Yan's mind.

The Jialie Clan had been wiped out by a Nine-Star Great Dou Master!

Could this be the man who did it?!

And now he was on Xiao Clan territory. Could it be that he had his sights set on the Xiao Clan too?!

Xiao Yan's expression changed at once, and his body tensed. In a solemn voice, he said, "As a Nine-Star Great Dou Master, if you've come to discuss something with the Xiao Clan, the clan will surely welcome you as an honored guest!"

Ye Xiu glanced at him. He hadn't revealed his cultivation level, and Xiao Yan couldn't possibly have figured it out on his own. It seemed likely that Yao Lao was responsible.

Ye Xiu said coolly, "You know about what happened to the Jialie Clan?"

"I've heard a little," Xiao Yan replied quickly.

"I did it."

Xiao Yan froze.

He hadn't expected Ye Xiu to suddenly reveal that. What was he trying to do?

I know too much, so he's planning to kill me to keep me quiet?

Please, brother, don't play games like this!

"Senior..." Xiao Yan took a deep breath, trying his best to stay calm. "The Jialie Clan was at odds with the Xiao Clan. Since you wiped them out, the Xiao Clan should be thanking you with a generous gift!"

Ye Xiu looked at him and suddenly smiled.

That smile made Xiao Yan feel even more uneasy.

"I have no interest in the Xiao Clan," Ye Xiu said calmly. "I told you, I was just passing through."

With that, he started to leave.

"Senior, wait!" Xiao Yan called out instinctively, then immediately regretted it.

Ye Xiu stopped and looked back at him.

At that glance, every hair on Xiao Yan's body stood on end. He felt as if some ferocious beast had fixed its gaze on him.

"Are you trying to stop me?" Ye Xiu's voice remained calm.

Xiao Yan's palms were sweaty, but he still didn't retreat.

After a moment, Ye Xiu looked away and shook his head. "Relax. I really have no interest in doing anything to the Xiao Clan."

With that, he vanished in a flash.

Xiao Yan stood where he was. Only after the man had disappeared completely did he let out a long breath and realize that his back was drenched in sweat.

"Teacher, what kind of person is he...?" he asked inwardly.

Yao Lao was silent for a while before answering slowly. "That kid is no ordinary person. A Nine-Star Great Dou Master at just fifteen—there are hardly any with that kind of talent in the entire Jia Ma Empire. Stranger still, there's a peculiar aura about him..."

"What kind of aura?"

"I can't say." Yao Lao's voice was tinged with uncertainty. "But his constitution definitely isn't ordinary. Xiao Yan-zi, if this man turns against the Xiao Clan, you'll be in serious trouble. But he said he has no interest in the clan, so he probably wasn't lying."

Xiao Yan smiled bitterly. "Teacher, I'm only a Three-Star Dou Practitioner right now. If a Nine-Star Great Dou Master wanted to kill me, he would've done it just now."

"That's true." Yao Lao thought it over. "This man is strange. Maybe... he really was just passing through?"

Xiao Yan looked in the direction where Ye Xiu had disappeared, mulling it over.

"He wiped out the Jialie Clan and killed Liu Xi too. By rights, he's done the Xiao Clan a huge favor. I should thank him."

"Don't overthink it," Yao Lao said. "He's a Nine-Star Great Dou Master. What do you have that you could offer him as thanks?"

Xiao Yan nodded awkwardly. "You're probably right."