A True Alchemist

"Teacher, I'm currently the only one who can refine this pill. It requires an extremely high flame temperature, so the Soul Tool Department may need to research a suitable Soul Tool."

"I'll have Lin'er's Soul Tool Department take care of it. Don't worry about it." Mu En waved a hand with a smile.

Xiao Yi nodded slightly. After asking the Academy to provide medicinal ingredients and grant him access to the highest floor of the Library Pavilion, he took his leave. He could hardly wait—the Academy's medicinal storehouse had plenty of good stuff. The last time he went, Elder Yao had watched him like a hawk guarding a thief. Now that he had the Sea God Pavilion Master's permission, he could help himself without holding back.

Watching Xiao Yi bounce off toward the medicinal storehouse, Elder Yao's mouth twitched. That little rascal.

"Just let the boy go. We might even get to witness the birth of a new miracle." Mu En smiled at Elder Yao. The other man had guarded the medicinal storehouse for decades, so naturally he wouldn't be happy to see it get ransacked.

"True enough. That little fellow's Martial Soul really is extraordinary." Elder Yao shook his head with a rueful laugh.

Meanwhile, Xiao Yi arrived at the Academy's medicinal storehouse. Besides growing herbs, it also housed a great many medicinal ingredients rarely seen elsewhere.

Usually, people made crude use of them, mostly just swallowing them whole. After all, many medicinal ingredients were difficult to dissolve with flames, or else burned all too easily into a heap of ash.

But that wasn't a problem for Xiao Yi. In this regard, Heavenly Flames simply didn't play by the rules.

Especially now that they had become his Martial Soul. In his original world, he would have needed to carefully control the temperature, making sure different ingredients were heated to different degrees. That took a lot of practice.

But after becoming a Martial Soul, none of that was necessary. It was just like using a person's hands: the left hand could knead and the right could pinch. It wasn't exactly difficult.

Xiao Yi was like a mouse that had fallen into a rice jar as he entered the medicinal garden, his eyes shining. He wished he could cart every last thing away.

"This is Spirit Essence Grass. They say it can purify a Martial Soul's bloodline, but its medicinal properties are too potent to take directly. I didn't expect there to be so much. And this is Crimson Flame Candle Ling. It can strengthen fire attributes, but its energy is too violent. It's a great tonic for fire-attribute Soul Beasts, but if a person ate it, the rampaging fire element would probably burn them straight to ash. And this is Nether Snow Flower, and this is Cold Marrow Ice Stamen Flower..."

As he gazed at the dazzling array of rare flowers and herbs, Xiao Yi wandered around, feasting his eyes on them. He quickly matched them to the medicinal knowledge he had long since memorized by heart. Among them were quite a few ingredients of exceptional age and quality, and even several younger Immortal Herbs. Though rare, they weren't found only in the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Well. The continent was vast; there were bound to be a few elsewhere.

Most of them, however, were impossible for humans to consume. Their medicinal effects were simply too domineering.

When he reached the center, Xiao Yi noticed an unusual plant. It was a small tree made of enormous blue vines, no thicker than a bowl, yet it gave off a powerful Soul Power fluctuation.

"Is this... Blue Silver Grass?" Xiao Yi's uncertain voice rang out. Blue Silver Grass was the only thing with these characteristics, but why did it have no Soul Beast aura? It seemed to be nothing more than an ordinary plant.

Xiao Yi was puzzling over it when an elderly voice came from behind him.

A red figure slowly approached from behind.

"This is indeed Blue Silver Grass, but it's exceptionally rare." Xiao Yi bowed to Elder Yao as he came closer, waiting for him to explain.

"This Blue Silver Grass is unusual. It should have transformed into a plant-type Soul Beast once it reached a sufficient age, but it only grew in cultivation and never developed intelligence. You could say it's a special kind of Blue Silver medicinal herb." Elder Yao smiled. When he'd first seen it, he had been quite astonished himself.

Seeing Xiao Yi fall into thought, Elder Yao gave an annoyed snort. "You little rascal. You're thinking of refining it into a pill for that little girl from the Tang Sect, aren't you?"

With his thoughts exposed, Xiao Yi wasn't embarrassed in the least. He readily admitted it.

"That's right, Elder Yao. I was thinking that it might help her Blue Silver Grass undergo a transformation." Xiao Yi cupped his hands. The instant he saw the plant, he had thought of Tang Ya. Helping her solve her Martial Soul problem had been part of his plans from the start.

Awakening the Dark Blue Silver Grass directly was one option, but if there were other ways, they'd be better.

During the Douluo II era, some Evil Soul Masters hadn't been born with evil Martial Souls at all. The Martial Soul of that fellow who cultivated by absorbing Soul Beast blood was a typical example. Of course, Xiao Yi didn't know what he had done after joining the Holy Spirit Cult.

Many so-called Evil Soul Masters were people Shrek had branded as such. Xiao Yi had no reason to worry that Tang Ya would be labeled an Evil Soul Master if she awakened her Martial Soul now.

He was the Sea God Pavilion Master's personal disciple, after all—and practically half a son-in-law to the Sea God. Though Tang San would probably want to kill him if he found out.

Besides, the Dark Blue Silver Grass wasn't inherently an Evil Martial Soul. In his previous life, the Blue Silver Saintess's connection to the Holy Spirit Cult had a great deal to do with outside interference.

But now that he had a better method, Xiao Yi wasn't about to take that risk. There was always a chance something could go wrong. What if the Dark Blue Silver Grass really affected her mind? He couldn't exactly send her to the Holy Spirit Cult for a spell of advanced training.

"Do as you see fit. The Pavilion Master said you can use any of the herbs here. Most of them are no use sitting around, so you might as well try refining them into pills and create something of value."

Xiao Yi nodded seriously. Elder Yao had a point. The size of the medicinal storehouse made it clear that many of the plants were only good to look at and had no practical use. In a world where people only knew how to eat medicinal ingredients raw, some herbs were destined to be beyond the reach of Soul Masters.

But there was no need to worry. Douluo alchemy—your king had arrived!

"Still, the Academy can't be the only one contributing. You can keep the pill formulas you come up with, but once the Soul Tool for alchemy has been developed, you'll need to train a group of students who can refine pills." This was another problem he'd have to think about. Creating Ultimate Fire—or an even higher temperature—within a small area might sound simple, but it wasn't.

"Of course. It's only right for me to do that as a disciple." Xiao Yi had no objection. He'd already intended to do so. It was better to teach a man to fish than to give him a fish. The Academy had treated him well, and he wasn't the sort to repay kindness with ingratitude.

Besides, alchemy was never something that should be kept to oneself. If a new profession could emerge on Douluo Continent, it would be a great achievement—and perhaps even inspire faith. God of Alchemy? Why did that sound so awkward? Of course, it wouldn't be that easy. The bar for becoming an alchemist was already high, and the techniques still needed to be improved.

What's more, nothing was more impressive than becoming the founder of an entirely new system. Just thinking about it made his brain tremble.

Xiao Yi never forgot his original purpose: showing off was the ultimate goal. Last night's events had temporarily dulled the appeal of his other pursuit.

"If there's anything you don't understand, come find me at my door. I'll go study the pill-condensing method you gave me." Though Elder Yao was already advanced in years, he still had a tremendous passion for alchemy.

And judging from Xiao Yi's methods, alchemy had just as much potential as Soul Tools.

He had to seize the opportunity. Even an old man could chase the latest tide of the times.

(This chapter contains a lot of alternate-universe worldbuilding. I wanted to write some things that differed from the original. Douluo Continent's cultivation system was already bizarre to begin with. Take some Soul Beasts, for example: they could cultivate for a thousand years and have ten thousand years of cultivation. You can't explain everything with bloodlines, can you? Surely there were special medicinal herbs, too. And the idea that Immortal Herbs only grew in the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Well is absurd. Even if they were native to the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Well, it wouldn't be strange for there to be inferior varieties elsewhere. After all, even the Speed Clan had a Crystal Blood Dragon Ginseng in Douluo I.)