The copper furnace in the Xiao Clan's alchemy room billowed with white vapor. Xiao Feng stared at the green medicinal liquid roiling inside the furnace, his brows knitted tight. The corners of the Yellow-Tier Pill Recipe Collection spread across the stone table had curled up. On one page, the proportions for the "Qi Gathering Pill" were circled in cinnabar. The Xiao Clan alchemists from three hundred years ago clearly hadn't known that mixing Fire Spirit Grass with Ice Silkworm Fluid at a ratio exceeding 7:3 would produce corrosive flocculent matter.
"System, redeem the periodic table of chemical elements." He murmured the words in his mind. A flash of blue light flickered across his palm, and a transparent virtual screen appeared, element symbols dancing across his retina. Xiao Feng calculated the proportions, took purified Fire Spirit Grass essence from the system space, and used a pipette to control the drops with precision.
"Third Brother, what are you doing?" Xiao Yan pushed open the door and came in, his nose twitching. "Why does it smell different from usual?"
"Improving the Qi Gathering Pill." Without looking up, Xiao Feng slowly added three drops of Ice Silkworm Fluid to the furnace. "The traditional recipe has too many impurities. I'm trying to separate the wheat from the chaff."
The boy crouched nearby, watching curiously as Xiao Feng performed a flame test with a glass test tube. When the medicinal liquid turned from cloudy to clear, then finally congealed into five pills glimmering with purple light, Xiao Yan cried out, "Five-Star Qi Gathering Pills! You can actually refine high-grade pills?"
Xiao Feng chuckled and put the pills into a jade bottle. "I just got lucky. Xiao Yanzi, help me give these to the younger members of the clan. Just say... Father told you to hand them out."
Xiao Yan raised an eyebrow. As he took the jade bottle, his fingertips brushed the "Xiao" Clan Mark engraved on it. Suddenly, he lowered his voice. "Third Brother, are you... hiding something from me?"
Their gazes met. In those clear eyes, Xiao Feng saw a sharpness that didn't belong in a child. He was about to speak when a sudden commotion erupted outside the alchemy room. The Great Elder barged in with two gray-robed elders, followed by Xiao Zhan, his expression grave.
"Xiao Feng, do you know your crime?" The Great Elder swept his sleeve and shouted angrily, his gaze falling on the chaos in the alchemy room. "You dared to alter the clan's ancestral pill recipe on your own! What if something had gone wrong and cost a clan member their life?"
Xiao Feng rose and saluted. From the corner of his eye, he glanced at the Alchemist Badges at the gray-robed elders' waists. They were unmistakably three-star alchemists from the Alchemist Guild of the Jia Ma Empire. It seemed the news had already reached the outside world.
"Great Elder, I only felt that the old pill recipe was too inefficient." He spoke calmly, taking out an improved Qi Gathering Pill. "This pill has had the impurities removed from the Fire Spirit Grass, and a small amount of Wind Spirit Fruit added to balance it. It not only speeds up absorption, but also reduces the backlash from Dou Qi."
One of the gray-robed elders took the pill. After probing it with Dou Qi, his pupils shrank. "It's as pure as water! This refining method... could it be the legendary 'Liquid Phase Separation Technique'?"
Xiao Zhan's gaze darkened. Though he knew nothing about alchemy, he could see the faint blue flame left on his son's fingertips. It wasn't the Xiao Clan's Flame Control Art; it looked more like an even more advanced technique for controlling flames.
"Impudent!" The Great Elder mistakenly thought the gray-robed elder was accusing Xiao Feng. "How could a mere child master a high-grade alchemy technique? He must have secretly learned another clan's cultivation method!"
He reached out to grab Xiao Feng's wrist, but Xiao Zhan stepped in front of him. "Father, Feng'er is a member of the Xiao Clan. If he's done something wrong, I should be the one to punish him."
As the atmosphere grew tense, the pill furnace suddenly began to hum. Xiao Feng turned around and saw the remaining medicinal liquid congealing on its own inside the furnace. It formed three more pills, this time gleaming gold. They were unmistakably Sixth-Grade Breakthrough Pills!
"Six... Sixth-Grade Pills?" The other gray-robed elder's voice trembled. "These are high-grade pills that only a Five-Star Dou Emperor can refine! Who are you, exactly?"
The system prompt rang out at just the right moment:
Ding! The host has refined a Sixth-Grade Pill for the first time. Check-in reward triggered: acquired ×1 incomplete volume of the Origin of Alchemy True Explanation.
Xiao Feng's fingertips trembled as a flood of alchemy knowledge surged into his sea of consciousness. He forced down his joy and turned to Xiao Zhan. "Father, I once stumbled upon a fortuitous encounter in the library and learned a few crude purification techniques. If we can mass-produce these pills, the Xiao Clan's cultivation speed could increase by more than thirty percent."
Xiao Zhan stared at his son. Only after a long while did he slowly nod. "Good. Starting today, Feng'er will be in charge of the alchemy room. Great Elder, our two honored guests from the Alchemist Guild have come from far away. Why don't we go to the front hall for tea?"
After watching everyone leave, Xiao Yan suddenly grabbed Xiao Feng's sleeve. "Third Brother, are you... like me, someone who doesn't belong in this world?"
The boy's gaze burned brightly. Xiao Feng's heart jolted. The system's alarm blared, and he immediately circulated "Soul Movement Three Thousand" to screen off their surroundings before he dared answer in a low voice. "Xiao Yanzi, I'll tell you some things later. For now, just remember—"
He put a hand on Xiao Yan's shoulder and said solemnly, "The Xiao Clan won't let people bully us anymore. I promise."
When night fell, Xiao Feng sat on the roof of the alchemy room, the blue light of the Plane Shop illuminating his profile. He swiped across the screen, his gaze stopping at modern instruments like a "centrifuge" and an "electronic balance." In the end, he selected the "Elemental Analyzer."
Ding! Redeeming the Elemental Analyzer will consume 1,000 system points.
The instrument condensed in his palm, its metallic surface cool and real to the touch. Xiao Feng suddenly remembered the white lab coat he'd worn in the laboratory on Earth, and a bitter smile curled his lips. He'd never imagined that one day he'd use HPLC—high-performance liquid chromatography—to analyze the compounds in Dou Qi herbs.
Inside the alchemy room, Xiao Zhan looked at the Five-Star Qi Gathering Pills on the table, his fingertips resting on the jade pendant bearing the Xiao Clan emblem. Xiao Feng's murmuring came from the next room, with strange words like "molecular formula" and "catalytic reaction" faintly audible. With a soft chuckle, Xiao Zhan shook his head and pushed open the door. "Feng'er, there's something I need to tell you."
Xiao Feng turned and saw his father take a roll of parchment from the jade pendant. The moment it was unfurled, an ancient wave of Dou Qi swept through the alchemy room. The parchment clearly depicted the terrain of the Xiao Clan's ancestral grounds, with a spot marked in cinnabar: "Dou Emperor Bloodline Seal."
"Your grandfather gave this to me before he died." Xiao Zhan's voice was low. "He said that when someone in the clan awakened a special ability, they could go to the ancestral grounds. Feng'er, your wind attribute Dou Qi and your talent for alchemy may be the keys to opening the seal."
Xiao Feng's pupils contracted. The system prompt rang out almost at the same time:
Warning! Detected energy fluctuations from the Dou Emperor Bloodline. A Soul Clan transmigrator is heading toward the Xiao Clan's ancestral grounds!
"Father, where are the ancestral grounds?" he asked urgently. The Elemental Analyzer in his palm suddenly sounded an alarm. A high concentration of Soul Clan energy was drawing near.
Xiao Zhan had just opened his mouth when the roof of the alchemy room exploded! A shadow swooped down like a vicious bird, the Blood Soul Hall tattoo on his black robe grotesquely visible. Xiao Feng's pupils reflected the Soul Clan secret art in the attacker's palm, but at the critical moment, he spotted the smartwatch peeking out from the man's sleeve. He was a subordinate of Hun Dan!
"Hand over Xiao Xuan's keepsake!" the black-robed man roared as Soul Insects surged out like black mist. With a wave of his hand, Xiao Feng used the wind pressure of "Heavenly Demon Wings" to sweep Xiao Zhan into a safe area. At the same time, he activated "Burning Heaven Purple Flame," but deliberately used only the strength of a Dou Ling.
"That all you've got?" the black-robed man sneered, condensing the Soul Clan's signature "Soul Hand Seal" at his fingertips. Xiao Feng pretended to be outmatched and retreated step by step. But when he backed up beside the pill furnace, he suddenly hurled the Elemental Analyzer at the man's face.
"What the hell is that?" The black-robed man jerked back. The metal instrument scratched his face, leaving a bloody gash. Xiao Feng seized the chance to fling an improved "Explosive Flame Pill." The special pill, laced with potassium nitrate, burst in midair, its flames turning the entire training ground scarlet.
When the smoke cleared, the black-robed man had vanished without a trace. Only a bloodstained fragment of a smartwatch remained on the ground. Xiao Feng picked it up. The name "Hun Dan" was faintly visible on the screen, and the system prompt rang out:
Ding! Transmigrator's technological item seized. Devour System triggered: acquired ×1 "Quantum Acceleration Talisman."
Xiao Zhan hurried forward to check whether he was hurt. "Are you all right? That man's aura... seems like it came from a branch of the Soul Clan."
Xiao Feng nodded, his gaze falling on the ancestral grounds marked on the parchment: the Star Fall Mountain Range. Wasn't that where Xiao Yan obtained the Fallen Heart Flame in the original story? Could Xiao Xuan have foreseen that his descendants would one day form a bond with Heavenly Flames?
"Father, I want to visit the ancestral grounds." He clenched the parchment. "Maybe we can find a way to revitalize the Xiao Clan there."
Xiao Zhan gazed at his son, suddenly remembering that Xiao Xuan had worn the same expression thirty years ago, before his attempt to become a Dou Emperor—unyielding as iron, burning with undying fighting spirit. He gave Xiao Feng's shoulder a heavy slap. "We leave tomorrow. I'll go with you."
Late that night, Xiao Feng stood outside the alchemy room, looking toward the light in Xiao Yan's room. The "gift return" function on the system panel began pulsing again. He took out the smartphone he'd redeemed from the Plane Shop and tossed it over the wall.
Ding! The host has given away a smartphone. Multibillionfold return triggered: acquired ×1 "Space-Time Locator."
"Xiao Yanzi, the road ahead... may be treacherous." He murmured, his fingers brushing the Dou Saint Experience Card in his system space. "But your Third Brother will clear the obstacles for you and help the Xiao Clan stand once more at the peak of the Douqi Continent."
In the distance, a streak of purple lightning flashed in the direction of the Star Fall Mountain Range. Xiao Feng narrowed his eyes. That was a system fluctuation from Hun Dan—it seemed the villain was getting restless too. He raised a hand and called back "Burning Heaven Purple Flame." The purple flames gathered into a vortex in his palm, reflecting the blazing fighting spirit in his eyes.
"Hun Dan, do you think you can win for sure with your knowledge of the original story and your system? Too bad for you—you've run into a transmigrator armed with modern technology. In this battle across time and space, the Xiao Clan will be victorious!"
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