The True Alchemist

"Teacher, this medicinal pill can currently only be refined by me. It requires extremely high flame temperatures, so perhaps the Soul Tool Department needs to develop a corresponding soul tool."

"I will instruct Lin'er's Soul Tool Department to handle this matter; you need not worry." Mu En waved his hand with a smile.

Xiao Yi nodded slightly. After requesting that the academy provide medicinal herbs and grant him access to the highest level of the Library Pavilion, he took his leave. He was somewhat impatient; there were many good things in the academy's herb repository. Last time he visited, Elder Yao had guarded against him like a thief, but now, with the permission of the Sea God Pavilion Master, he would not be so polite.

Elder Yao watched Xiao Yi's skipping, bouncing back toward the herb repository and couldn't help but twitch his mouth. That little brat.

"Let the child go. Perhaps we might witness the birth of a new miracle," Mu En said to Elder Yao with a smile. Naturally, the man who had guarded the herb repository for decades was not happy about it being ransacked.

"That is true. This little fellow's martial soul is truly miraculous." Elder Yao shook his head and chuckled.

On the other side, Xiao Yi arrived at the academy's herb repository. Beyond cultivating various herbs, it also housed a collection of medicinal materials rarely seen in the outside world.

Most people usually consumed these like a cow chewing a peony—swallowing them directly. After all, many medicinal materials were difficult to dissolve with ordinary flames or were easily reduced to ashes.

However, such issues did not exist for Xiao Yi; his Exotic Flame was simply unreasonable in this regard.

Especially now that it had become his martial soul. In his original world, he would have needed to carefully control the temperature to ensure different herbs received the correct heat, a skill that required diligent practice.

After becoming a martial soul, that was no longer necessary. It was just like a person's own hands; grabbing, kneading, and pinching with both hands—it was simply effortless.

Upon entering the herb garden, Xiao Yi was like a mouse that had fallen into a rice bin. His eyes shone, and he wished he could pack everything away without leaving a single stalk behind.

"This is Spirit Essence Grass, said to be able to purify martial soul bloodlines, though its medicinal properties are too intense for direct consumption. I didn't expect so much of it. And this is Crimson Flame Candle Ling, which can strengthen fire attributes, but its energy is too violent; for fire-attribute soul beasts, it's a great tonic, but if a human eats it, they'd likely be burned to ashes by the berserk fire elements. And this is Nether Snow Flower, and this is Cold Marrow Ice Stamen Flower..."

Looking at the dazzling array of rare flowers and herbs, Xiao Yi wandered around, feasting his eyes and quickly matching them to the herbal knowledge he had long since memorized. Among them were many medicinal materials of extremely high age and quality, and even a few immortal herbs of lower age. While these things were rare, they weren't exclusive to the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well; the continent was vast, and one could always find some.

It was just that most of them could not be consumed by humans; their medicinal effects were too tyrannical.

When he reached the center, Xiao Yi noticed a strange plant. It was a small tree composed of a giant blue vine, no thicker than a bowl, yet the soul power fluctuations it emitted were not low.

"This is? Dark Blue Silver Grass?" Xiao Yi's voice sounded with uncertainty. Only Dark Blue Silver Grass had these characteristics, but why was there no soul beast aura? It was just a simple plant.

As Xiao Yi felt puzzled, an aged voice came from behind him.

A red figure slowly approached from behind.

"This is indeed a Dark Blue Silver Grass, but it is extremely rare." Xiao Yi bowed to Elder Yao, who had walked up, waiting for what was to come.

"This Dark Blue Silver Grass is very special. It should have transformed into a plant-type soul beast when its age was sufficient, but it only grew its cultivation without ever birthing intelligence. You could call it a special type of Blue Silver medicinal herb," Elder Yao said with a smile. He had been truly astonished the first time he saw it.

Seeing Xiao Yi lost in thought, he snorted coldly. "You brat, you're thinking of trying to refine this into a pill for that little girl from the Tang Sect, aren't you?"

Having his thoughts laid bare, Xiao Yi didn't feel awkward and admitted it quite honestly.

"That's right, Elder Yao, I did have that thought; it might just help her Blue Silver Grass undergo a transformation." Xiao Yi cupped his hands in a salute. He had indeed thought of Tang Ya in that instant, and helping her resolve her martial soul issues was already part of his plans.

Directly awakening the Dark Blue Silver Grass was one method, but if there were other ways, they were naturally better.

Some of the evil soul masters during the Douluo II era did not possess inherently evil martial souls; the one who cultivated by absorbing soul beast blood was a classic example. Of course, he didn't know what that person did after joining the Holy Spirit Cult.

Many of these so-called evil soul masters were simply labeled as such by Shrek. Naturally, the current Xiao Yi was not worried that Tang Ya would be labeled an evil soul master after awakening.

He was the personal disciple of the Sea God Pavilion Master, and in a way, half a son-in-law to the Sea God—though Tang San would probably want to kill him if he knew.

Moreover, the Dark Blue Silver Grass was not inherently an evil martial soul; the connection between the Blue Silver Saintess of his past life and the external interference of the Holy Spirit Cult had been significant.

But now that there was a better method, Xiao Yi wouldn't take the risk. There were always risks, and one had to be careful. If the Dark Blue Silver Grass truly affected her sanity, it would be a disaster. He couldn't exactly send her to the Holy Spirit Cult for advanced studies.

"Decide for yourself. The Pavilion Master said you may take whatever herbs you need from here. After all, most of them are useless just sitting here; it's better to let you try refining them into pills to create new value."

Xiao Yi nodded earnestly. That was a fair point. One could tell from the scale of this repository that many were just kept as ornamental flowers. In a world where medicinal materials were only eaten raw, some herbs were destined to have no connection with soul masters.

But don't worry, alchemy has arrived in Douluo, and your King is here!

"However, the academy cannot provide unilaterally. You may keep the pill formulas you research, but after the soul tool for alchemy is developed, you must teach a batch of students who can refine medicine." This was also something he would have to rack his brains over. Although it only required generating Extreme Fire or even higher temperatures within a very small range, that was no simple matter.

"That is naturally no problem; it is what this disciple should do." Xiao Yi had no objections. He had intended to do this anyway. Giving a man a fish is not as good as teaching him how to fish. The academy had treated him well, and he was certainly not an ungrateful person.

Furthermore, alchemy was not something that should be kept secret. If a new profession could emerge in the Douluo Continent, it would be a great achievement, or perhaps even... a faith. God of Alchemy? Why did that sound a bit off? Though it wouldn't be that simple; the threshold to become an alchemist alone was not low, and the techniques would need to be optimized.

Besides, there was nothing more impressive than being the founder of a new system. Just thinking about it made his brain tremble.

Xiao Yi never forgot his original intention: showing off was the ultimate goal. Last night's events had temporarily made his other pursuits lose their appeal.

"If there is anything you don't understand, come find me at the entrance. This old man is going to study the pill-forming method you provided." Although Elder Yao was advanced in years, he still possessed great enthusiasm for the path of alchemy.

And judging by Xiao Yi's operations, the development prospects of alchemy were no less than those of soul tools.

He had to seize the opportunity; even the elderly could chase the new waves of the era.