Master and Disciple Depart, Xiao Yan Refines Pills, Evolution Is About to Begin

After explaining everything to Nalan Yanran, Xiao Yan left directly.

Nalan Yanran still needed his Heavenly Flames to save her grandfather, Nalan Jie, so it was nearly impossible for her to defy his instructions.

Thus, Xiao Yan was not overly worried.

After leaving the prison, he went to find Medusa.

Inside the Snake-People Tribe's main hall, Medusa reclined lazily upon a soft cushion.

Because of her battle with him, she needed to heal her injuries and restore her condition before beginning her Heavenly Flame evolution.

Xiao Yan did not offer Medusa any healing pills.

The extent of their relationship was what it was.

Medusa would inevitably worry that he might tamper with the pills and would certainly refuse them, so there was no need for him to invite trouble.

However, the Snake-People Tribe possessed abundant resources, so it would not take long to nurse Medusa back to health.

Once he understood this, he left.

Afterward, the Snake-People Tribe sent Yue Mei to remove the seal within Yun Yun's body, successfully restoring Yun Yun's strength to that of a Three-Star Dou Emperor.

What puzzled Xiao Yan was that after the seal was removed, Yun Yun seemed unwilling to speak to him. She appeared somewhat embarrassed, though he had no idea why.

He did not dwell on it, merely telling Yun Yun not to exhaust herself too much searching for special flames for him after returning to the Misty Cloud Sect.

Yun Yun agreed. It seemed she knew she was not particularly clever and did not want to cause any more trouble.

However, according to her, she had still obtained several Beast Flames and was waiting to give them to Xiao Yan when he attended the Alchemist Conference.

Xiao Yan's eyes immediately lit up.

If he absorbed several Beast Flames, even if they did not bring a massive improvement, raising his cultivation by one or two stars would not be difficult.

Along with the Green Lotus Core Flame he was going to absorb, as well as other opportunities, breaking through from Dou Wang to Dou Emperor no longer seemed so far away.

After saying all this, Yun Yun bid him farewell and left.

Xiao Yan did not see her off, because Nalan Yanran had already emerged from the prison and reunited with Yun Yun.

Both had received Xiao Yan's instructions, so neither of them mentioned him.

At the same time, both tacitly looked forward to the Alchemist Conference. One anticipated reuniting with Xiao Huo, while the other hoped Yan Xiao would save her grandfather.

After the two women left, everything proceeded according to Xiao Yan's original plan.

He settled down among the Snake-People Tribe and, midway through, had someone send word to his eldest and second brothers in distant Stone Desert City, telling them not to worry.

During the two days Medusa spent recovering, he began fulfilling part of their agreement by helping the Snake-People Tribe refine their medicinal ingredients into higher-value pills.

Given Xiao Yan's current flame power and alchemy ability, refining pills below the Sixth Tier did not take much time.

He could even divide his attention and refine several batches at once when making pills below the Fifth Tier.

Medusa spent a week recovering, completely healing her injuries and restoring herself to peak condition.

Meanwhile, over those few days, Xiao Yan refined a large number of first-, second-, and third-tier pills, along with quite a few fourth- and fifth-tier pills.

However, the Snake-People Tribe truly possessed vast wealth. Since there were no Alchemists within the tribe, their accumulated medicinal ingredients were extraordinarily abundant.

Even with Xiao Yan barely resting and continuously refining pills for seven days, the medicinal ingredients in the Snake-People Tribe's treasury did not seem to decrease much.

Still, this was an extremely comfortable arrangement for Xiao Yan.

Not only could he hone his alchemy skills, but Medusa's promise also entitled him to one-third of the medicinal ingredients.

Refining low-tier pills from these ingredients was of little use to him personally, but he could sell them to exchange for the high-rank Beast Flames and other fire-element treasures he needed.

After dealing with matters in the Jia Ma Empire, he planned to head for the Black-Corner Region.

First, he wanted to obtain the opportunities from the original story, enter Jia Nan Academy, form a good relationship with the little princess of the Ancient Void Dragon Clan, and make plans for her essence blood.

Second, he wanted to see Xiao Xun'er.

Now that he had gained this unexpected windfall, he could refine it all into pills and would have no trouble selling them in the Black-Corner Region. The resources there were far beyond anything the Jia Ma Empire could compare to.

Xiao Yan felt that even if he could not buy Seventh-Rank Beast Flames, obtaining Sixth-Rank Beast Flames would absolutely not be a problem.

With his status and alchemy ability as a Sixth-Rank Alchemist, he would certainly achieve the most rapid growth there.

Oh, no.

After absorbing the Green Lotus Core Flame, the several Beast Flames Yun Yun had prepared, and other opportunities, as his strength increased further, he might very well truly step into the realm of a Seventh-Rank Alchemist.

A Seventh-Rank Alchemist would be an honored guest of a major power even in the Central Plains.

By using alchemy to nurture his physique, soul power, and Dou Qi cultivation, his rate of advancement at higher realms might not necessarily be slower than at lower realms.

Xiao Yan's sleeping quarters.

The open space at the center.

The Black Demon Cauldron stood in the middle, while Xiao Yan sat cross-legged before it, holding the crimson Myriad Beast Spirit Flame in one hand and the white Bone Chilling Flame in the other.

Within the medicine cauldron, stalk after stalk of medicinal ingredients melted into medicinal liquid, then condensed into pill pellets under his control.

At a certain moment, the pill pellet fully took shape, and a pillar of energy light shot into the sky from within the cauldron.

When the pillar of light faded, a warm pill floated out from the cauldron and dropped into the Jade Bottle Xiao Yan had prepared.

Yao Lao's soul transmission rang out in his mind. "Brat, are you done using my Bone Chilling Flame?"

Xiao Yan immediately replied with a grin, "Done, done. Teacher, your Bone Chilling Flame really is easy to use. It deserves its high ranking on the Heavenly Flame Ranking. Its temperature and power are incredible."

Yao Lao proudly stroked his beard. "Of course. Back then, your teacher spent no small amount of effort obtaining this Bone Chilling Flame."

Xiao Yan finally revealed his true intent. "Yes, yes, Teacher, your Bone Chilling Flame is wonderful. You have to lend it to me more often in the future. A Tier 6 Medicinal Pill that would normally take several days to refine was completed in just one day this time."

Yao Lao rolled his eyes. "You brat, you really know how to mooch off your elder."

"But if you want to use it, take it. The pills you refine now are even more effective than maintaining my Soul Body."

"The fact that you managed to shorten the time for refining a Tier 6 Medicinal Pill to one day is not merely due to my flame. Your alchemy skills and cultivation have improved as well."

Xiao Yan nodded in agreement. "That is true. After breaking through to Dou Wang, my Dou Qi reserves increased, allowing me to increase the output during refinement and raise the flame's temperature. The refinement speed has indeed improved considerably."

Yao Lao said, "All right, now that the pill is out of the cauldron, hurry up and handle the important matter."

"This pill, refined with your own blood as the main ingredient to increase Medusa's chances of successful evolution, cost you quite a bit of effort."

Xiao Yan smiled faintly. "Helping her is helping myself. Helping her evolve successfully is also for that bit of her essence blood. Besides, most of the medicinal ingredients came from the Snake-People Tribe's treasury. I did not really lose anything."

"Make fewer enemies and more friends."

"So long as it does not harm my own interests, I do not mind showing some goodwill."

Yao Lao looked at him with complicated eyes. "It seems your teacher has discovered another one of your strengths. Your breadth of vision is something even I admire."

Xiao Yan did not respond, instead saying, "All right, Teacher. Queen Medusa finished preparing everything for her evolution last night. She is only waiting for this pill from me to begin. I'll head over first instead of wasting time talking to you."

Elsewhere.

Above a pool completely filled with Ice Spirit Cold Spring, Queen Medusa sat with her eyes closed, waiting for the Heavenly Flame evolution to begin.