What Medicine?

"What's wrong? You don't believe me?"

Yao Wan was not angered by his words, merely asking in return.

"It's not that I don't believe you. It's just... how should I put it? It's too shocking, isn't it?"

Xiao Yan sighed and shook his head. "Miss Wan has been with the Xiao Family for a year, so you must know that the highest-tier Dou Technique in our clan is only Profound Tier Mid-grade."

"This Suction Palm may look plain and unremarkable, but once truly used, it must be a Profound-tier Dou Technique."

"Rather than saying I doubt it, I'd rather say that I'm simply lamenting how people should be compared to death, and goods should be compared and thrown away."

Yao Wan shook her head. "Do you like belittling yourself that much?"

"Just learn what I teach you without worry. I've never asked you for any reward."

Xiao Yan fell silent for a moment.

Actually, I'd rather you asked me for more in return.

The thought surfaced in his mind for no reason, but Xiao Yan did not say it aloud. Otherwise, he might end up getting himself into trouble.

"Forget it... let's not talk about that. Let's talk about something else instead. Like... the move Miss Wan used just now was clearly Eight Extremes Collapse, right?"

Xiao Yan could not help asking, "Of course, I believe that with Miss Wan's character and vision, you would never do something like secretly learning someone else's Dou Technique. But... well, that makes it hard to explain, doesn't it..."

"Explain?"

Yao Wan shook her head. "I don't need any explanation. I could do it, so I did it. It's that simple."

"Seeing how Dou Qi circulated throughout your body, then sensing the way you released the Dou Technique at the end—once I knew the cause and result, wasn't it simple to infer the process?"

Yao Wan explained calmly.

"You can even do something like that...?"

"Everyone has their own talents. There's no need for you to envy her, kid."

Old Yao spoke up at just the right moment.

Yao Wan and Xiao Yan both turned their heads.

A wave of pill fragrance drifted over with the wind, refreshing the heart and mind. A dark-red pill appeared in Old Yao's hand. It was presumably the Blood Lotus Pill he had mentioned earlier, the one that had to be prepared before attempting to subdue Heavenly Flames.

"Looks like the pill is complete. Congratulations, Old Yao."

Yao Wan smiled.

"You're too polite, girl. If not for the abundant resources here, before searching for the Heavenly Flames, I would have needed to spend even more time just gathering the ingredients for the Blood Lotus Pill."

"Still, Xiao Yan's cultivation is a little lacking. I plan to have him travel and gain experience all the way to the border, raising his cultivation as much as possible before heading to the Cloud Empire."

Yao Wan explained.

"Oh? That would be good as well. Still, you and I both understand that haste makes waste."

Old Yao was surprised that this girl seemed somewhat steadier than she had been in the Xiao Family. At least she was no longer so eager for quick success. Whether in cultivation or pill refining, seeking quick gains was always the greatest taboo.

"Mm. Then let's keep going."

Along the way, Xiao Yan also told Old Yao how Miss Wan seemed to have roughly grasped the method of using Eight Extremes Collapse after merely watching it once.

"I actually noticed that just now."

Old Yao said.

"Then what does Teacher think?"

"To be honest, I have never seen a freakish genius like this girl before. She truly cannot be described by common sense."

"Besides, this girl will probably come up with plenty of strange and bizarre things in the future. You'd better prepare yourself mentally first, brat."

"Prepare myself mentally?"

Traveling west would bring them into the territory of the Cloud Empire.

Along this road, Yao Wan deliberately slowed their pace, leading Xiao Yan onward as he gained experience and gradually grew stronger.

The youth, who had once gasped for breath just carrying the Heavy Black Ruler, gradually adapted to the tremendous pressure on his body. At first, even moving had been a problem, but his speed slowly increased until he could stride as swiftly as the wind.

Over the course of the journey, Xiao Yan's cultivation soared from One-star Dou Zhe to Three Star Dou Zhe.

Even now, he still showed great momentum for continued rapid advancement.

Yet both Yao Wan and Old Yao felt that Xiao Yan had no need to make any mistakes just to chase temporary achievements.

On the path of cultivation, one must avoid rushing for quick success.

Moreover, Xiao Yan had begun preparing for his first attempt at pill refining.

Since it was his first time refining pills, Old Yao and Yao Wan naturally did not want him to refine anything overly demanding.

However, Xiao Yan seemed to have already made plans regarding what medicine he wanted to refine.

"Do you need any help?"

Yao Wan could not help asking.

"Don't worry. I've studied under Teacher for so long, after all. This first attempt isn't anything difficult. Just leave it to me."

After saying that, Xiao Yan took out the Medicine Cauldron Old Yao had given him and opened the furnace to refine pills.

He circulated his Dou Qi into flames and fed them into the various fire ports of the Medicine Cauldron. His spiritual perception spread out completely, like a great net enveloping the entire cauldron, allowing him to immediately observe even the slightest changes during the refining process.

Then, Xiao Yan began throwing several medicinal ingredients from his Storage Ring into the Medicine Cauldron.

Refined by the high temperatures of the Dou Qi flames, the medicinal ingredients within the cauldron quickly left behind only their essences.

Yet a step that Old Yao and Yao Wan could both complete with effortless ease became cumbersome and troublesome in Xiao Yan's hands.

"Hah... huff..."

As the refining process gradually dragged on, Xiao Yan's consumption of Dou Qi increased as well. As the Dou Qi within his body grew depleted, controlling the Dou Qi flames became more and more difficult.

Even his fingertips began to tremble slightly, but Xiao Yan ignored the sweat dripping from his forehead. He gritted his teeth and maintained the flames, silently speeding up the refining process at the same time.

Another incense stick's worth of time passed. The three medicinal ingredients had been fully refined, and now he only needed to fuse them together.

Xiao Yan took a deep breath and added one final burst of fire beneath the Medicine Cauldron.

Within the high heat, the essences of the medicinal ingredients fused together.

At the final moment, Xiao Yan used Dou Qi to open the Medicine Cauldron. A white medicinal powder flew out and fell into a bottle.

Hm? What was that?

Yao Wan blinked.

It didn't look like a healing pill either. Did the refining fail?

But it didn't seem like that, either.

Thinking of this, Yao Wan could not help wrinkling her nose slightly and taking a deep breath, yet she did not smell any particularly distinctive medicinal fragrance.

How strange... I hadn't paid attention to which ingredients Xiao Yan used earlier, and now I don't even know what medicine he refined.

Yao Wan looked toward Old Yao with curious eyes, only for him to lower his head and cough, avoiding her questioning gaze.