Second-Rank Qi Gathering Pill

The blazing sun hung high in the sky. In the sweltering summer heat, the scorching ground burned beneath their feet, making quite a few people with less than three segments of Dou Qi curse loudly in pain.

Xiao Yan trudged forward with heavy steps, breathing in a steady rhythm.

Each time his foot came down, it left behind a solid, clearly visible footprint.

With Heavenly Flames protecting his body, such ordinary heat naturally could not affect him in the slightest.

Yet he was still drenched in sweat, and the back of his clothes had long since been soaked through.

The reason was naturally the Heavy Profound Ruler strapped to his back.

With the aid of the pills refined by Old Yao, the Heavy Profound Ruler's pressure on Xiao Yan's body did not hinder his growth. Instead, it stimulated his physical development. In just half a month, he had shot up to one meter seventy.

This was good news.

Because Xiao Yan could finally carry the Heavy Profound Ruler in a relatively comfortable position.

When he had been just over one meter sixty, he had no choice but to strap the Heavy Profound Ruler higher on his back so it would not drag along the ground.

But that created a problem. The lowest end of the Heavy Profound Ruler's hilt happened to line up with the top of Xiao Yan's head, making it look from afar as if a twenty-centimeter iron rod had grown out of his skull.

It had looked utterly ridiculous...

But even now, Xiao Yan still drew plenty of strange looks as he walked down the road. If nothing else, this journey had greatly thickened his skin!

"Teacher, it is fortunate that I am cultivating an Earth Tier technique. If I had started cultivating the Burning Art now, I estimate that after another few hundred meters, I would collapse on the ground without the strength to move."

Feeling the Dou Qi within his body being suppressed to an extremely sluggish state, Xiao Yan spoke with some relief.

"While that does have something to do with your cultivation technique, more importantly, your willpower is strong enough and your adaptability is excellent. That is why you can manage this much."

Old Yao's voice sounded in Xiao Yan's heart, his words making no attempt to hide his admiration for Xiao Yan.

"Teacher, please do not praise me. I cannot stand being praised."

Xiao Yan replied helplessly.

"Hehe, though we have only been together for half a year, I can tell that you are not the arrogant, self-satisfied sort. If you do well, what is wrong with praising you a little? But if you make a mistake, I will not hold back when I scold you either."

Old Yao's laughter echoed through Xiao Yan's heart.

Xiao Yan nodded at this, then slightly turned his head and glanced from the corner of his eye at the Heavy Profound Ruler behind him, looking thoughtful.

Although he had adapted to it over the past half month, under the Heavy Profound Ruler's suppression, his current combat strength was probably only comparable to that of a Three-Star Dou Zhe.

Furthermore, the Heavy Profound Ruler's ability to suppress Dou Qi made it impossible for others to discern his true strength. For someone traveling alone, this was a good thing.

After all, in such unfamiliar territory, concealing some of his strength might allow him to catch someone off guard and save his own life!

Speaking of which, Xiao Yan had not originally needed to spend half a month traveling.

But according to Old Yao's plans, he needed to pass through several towns and mountain ranges along the way, searching for medicinal ingredients and attempting to develop his own pill formulas.

This was a skill every alchemist had to possess.

Ordinary alchemists usually had to immerse themselves in pill refinement for several years before they could test out a decent formula.

However, with an alchemy grandmaster like Old Yao teaching him, coupled with Xiao Yan's already exceptional talent for alchemy, he could begin trying to devise his own formulas despite having only been an alchemist for a short time.

This was also one of the reasons Old Yao had come to admire Xiao Yan more and more.

When ordinary male alchemists tried their hand at creating formulas, they would usually choose aphrodisiacs.

Xiao Yan, on the other hand, had gone straight for a Qi Gathering Pill that could raise one's strength.

According to Old Yao's assessment, this Qi Gathering Pill was difficult to refine even among second-rank pills.

Though Xiao Yan had developed the formula, he was not yet capable of refining it.

But if it succeeded, Xiao Yan estimated that the Qi Gathering Pill could allow a Dou Zhe to immediately raise their strength by one star after taking it.

Of course, it also had drawbacks. First, only the first Qi Gathering Pill was effective. Forcing down a second one would not only yield no effect, but would also send one's Dou Qi into turmoil. A moment of carelessness could cause one's meridians to rupture and result in death.

Second, during the two months after taking a Qi Gathering Pill, progress in cultivating Dou Qi would become exceptionally slow. If one did not cultivate at all, their Dou Qi would even dissipate on its own.

For those with mediocre talent, the Qi Gathering Pill was absolutely a fine medicine.

For a genius like Xiao Yan, it was completely useless.

Yet a First-Rank Alchemist had managed to come up with a genuine second-rank pill formula. Such talent truly left Old Yao speechless.

After walking beneath the blazing sun for an entire day, Xiao Yan finally arrived at his destination, Green Mountain Town, around dusk.

Green Mountain Town stood beside the Monster Mountain Range and was also known as Monster Town.

The largest group in town was naturally the mercenaries who lived with their lives on the edge of a blade. They gathered in groups, linking arms as they spat wildly through the streets, brazenly discussing which women in town had the most flavor, where the strongest liquor could be found, and which magical beasts were the fiercest...

Walking along the bluestone-paved street, Xiao Yan, carrying a giant ruler utterly disproportionate to his build, naturally attracted many peculiar looks. However, he paid them no mind. Wiping the sweat from his forehead, he continued down the street at an unhurried pace.

There were many shops on both sides of the street, and thanks to the area's advantageous location, business was booming. Xiao Yan's gaze swept with interest across the brightly lit stores.

Then he headed directly toward a medicinal herb shop called the Ten Thousand Medicine Pavilion.

He had not come for the medicinal ingredients. With his knowledge and ability, he could obtain all the ingredients sold in the Ten Thousand Medicine Pavilion himself.

He mainly wanted to see whether there were any clues about Xiao Yi Xian here.

As he entered the spacious shop, Moonlight Stones hanging on the walls illuminated the interior as brightly as day. Although the sky had darkened, there was still no shortage of customers, and the shop assistants were extremely busy, with no time to attend to new arrivals.

But Xiao Yan had not come to buy anything in the first place. He wandered leisurely through the shop, his gaze slowly passing over the transparent display counters. When his eyes landed on a small jade box, he paused slightly.

"Healing Medicine?"

Staring at the description written beneath the little jade bottle, Xiao Yan was momentarily stunned.

This should have been made by Xiao Yi Xian, right?

"It is merely something made by mixing several hemostatic and anti-inflammatory herbs. Its effects are not even as good as Blood Coagulation Powder. It should not be the work of an alchemist."

With a sweep of his soul power, Old Yao directly analyzed every ingredient in the Healing Medicine. His voice was calm, carrying a hint of boredom.

Healing medicine of this level was simply far beneath his notice!

After making a round of the shop, Xiao Yan was somewhat disappointed.

Though he had not held much hope to begin with, the medicinal ingredients here were truly too ordinary. There was not a single one that caught his eye.

"Young brother, are you interested in this Healing Medicine? You have a fine eye indeed. This is the best-selling medicine in all of Green Mountain Town!"

A one-armed middle-aged man dressed as a shop assistant approached with a smile.

"Oh? What is so special about this Healing Medicine?"

Xiao Yan raised a brow and asked with a faint smile.

With his soul power, it was not difficult for him to see that this middle-aged man was a Six-Star Dou Zhe. Though one of his arms had been crippled, he was working here in the Ten Thousand Medicine Pavilion as a mere shop assistant?

Something was not right!

The one-armed middle-aged man smiled and said:

"This Healing Medicine was personally prepared by Xiao Yi Xian, the physician specially hired by our Ten Thousand Medicine Pavilion. There are only five bottles left. If you miss this chance, you will have to wait another week!"

Xiao Yan nodded and took a small pouch containing one hundred gold coins from his Storage Ring, handing it to the one-armed shop assistant.

"Pack them all up for me."

"Right away!"

After putting away the Healing Medicine he had bought, Xiao Yan was about to leave and find somewhere to stay when he noticed a sudden commotion at the entrance of the medicine shop.