Rapid Progress

Xiao Yang closed his eyes and focused, contemplating for about five minutes.

Then, he opened his eyes.

His soul power began guiding the trace of wood attribute energy within his body toward his hand.

A thread of green airflow flowed from Xiao Yang into the medicinal cauldron.

As that thread of green airflow entered, the originally somewhat violent flames immediately became gentler.

Xiao Yang could clearly feel that the flames inside the cauldron were now easier to control!

Not only that, but he could also feel that he could maintain such flames for longer!

No wonder alchemists needed both a fire attribute and a trace of wood attribute.

If one possessed only a fire attribute, it was still possible to refine medicine, but it would require an enormous amount of time and effort to practice fire control.

Even so, alchemists with only a fire attribute would find it difficult to go far on this path.

No matter how well they controlled fire, alchemists with only a fire attribute could not control flames as well as those with a trace of wood attribute.

The higher the grade of a pill, the more important flame control became during refinement.

He remembered that Burning Flame Valley in the Central Plains had a pure fire-attribute alchemist.

However, that person's alchemical ability was far inferior to that of other alchemists.

As Xiao Yang familiarized himself with the medicinal cauldron and its flames, a trace of astonishment flashed across Yao Lao's face.

He had not expected Xiao Yang to integrate the wood attribute into the flames so quickly.

Back when Yao Lao had first attempted it, it had taken him nearly half an hour to succeed.

This showed that Xiao Yang's soul perception was exceptionally strong, and that he was quite gifted at controlling fire.

"Very good!"

Yao Lao looked at the gentle flames inside the cauldron and nodded in satisfaction.

"Next, I will pass on a formula for a healing medicine I concocted myself. You can give it a try."

"I will guide you from the side on controlling the flame temperature and extracting the medicinal properties of the ingredients."

As he spoke, Yao Lao tapped Xiao Yang's forehead.

The next moment, a stream of information flooded into Xiao Yang's mind.

[Blood Coagulation Powder Formula (Level 1): Records the refining method for Blood Coagulation Powder.

Refining method: Requires one Blood Coagulation Grass and one Vitality Fruit...

Completeness: 100%

Owner: Xiao Yang

Can be enhanced: Yes]

Xiao Yang took a look. Blood Coagulation Powder could only barely be considered a first-grade pill.

It could even be called an unranked medicinal product.

After all, Blood Coagulation Powder itself was actually a medicinal liquid.

Ordinary physicians simply could not perfectly combine the ingredients within those medicinal liquids.

Besides the formula for Blood Coagulation Powder, Xiao Yang also received some methods for controlling fire.

[Basic Fire Control (Level 2)...]

Xiao Yang did not intend to upgrade it right now.

He was only a beginner. This basic fire-control method was the most suitable for him.

He would upgrade it later when the need arose.

Following Yao Lao's method, he infused his soul power into the medicinal cauldron and began trying to control the flames within.

After getting used to it for a while, Xiao Yang prepared to put it into practice.

Practice was the most important thing for an alchemist. If one only knew the theory, one would never be able to refine a true pill.

With a thought, a dark-red Blood Coagulation Grass appeared in Xiao Yang's hand.

He tossed it directly into the special ingredient slot on the cauldron lid.

The moment the Blood Coagulation Grass entered the cauldron, before Xiao Yang could even react, the flames surged up and instantly burned it into a pile of ashes.

The ashes were expelled through a special mechanism within the cauldron.

Looking at the ashes, Xiao Yang smiled awkwardly at Yao Lao.

"Normal. Continue."

Yao Lao's expression did not change in the slightest, nor did he blame him. He merely spoke calmly.

Hearing this, Xiao Yang took out another Blood Coagulation Grass.

This time, however, he had learned his lesson.

He did not immediately place it into the medicinal cauldron.

Xiao Yang activated his soul power and lowered the temperature of the flames within the cauldron.

Only then did he toss the Blood Coagulation Grass into the cauldron again.

Under the scorching flames, the leaves of the Blood Coagulation Grass slowly shriveled and turned yellowish-brown.

However, the process was extremely slow.

"The temperature is too low. If this continues, the medicinal properties will be destroyed, and less than one-tenth of the medicinal potency will remain in the powder."

Yao Lao merely took one glance before speaking calmly.

Xiao Yang hurriedly raised the flame temperature.

Yet the next moment, this Blood Coagulation Grass followed in the footsteps of the previous one.

"Continue."

Xiao Yang kept tossing in stalk after stalk of Blood Coagulation Grass.

Each time, he first lowered the flame temperature, which better prevented the Blood Coagulation Grass from being instantly incinerated.

After twelve attempts and the waste of twelve Blood Coagulation Grasses, he finally managed to roughly grasp the most suitable flame temperature for the herb.

When he placed another Blood Coagulation Grass inside, Xiao Yang used his soul perception to tightly restrain the flame temperature. Without blinking, he watched the herb within through the observation window.

Gradually, the Blood Coagulation Grass began shedding its outer layer, while the juice within its leaves turned into tiny specks of pale white powder under the effects of the flames.

As the last trace of moisture vanished, the essence of the Blood Coagulation Grass was finally fully extracted.

Yao Lao looked at the powder inside the medicinal cauldron and nodded in satisfaction.

"Not bad. The flame temperature was a little too low at the beginning, otherwise the extracted essence would have been purer."

"Continue extracting it a few more times to get a feel for it, then start trying to extract new ingredients."

Xiao Yang nodded and continued extracting Blood Coagulation Grass.

After spending around three hours and extracting thirty-one portions of Blood Coagulation Grass powder, he finally could not hold on any longer.

At this moment, beads of sweat covered Xiao Yang's forehead, his clothes had long been soaked through, and his face had turned somewhat pale.

Refining medicine for a long time not only consumed a great deal of battle qi, but also took a considerable toll on the mind.

After all, Xiao Yang was still a novice. He had to remain focused at all times.

It was only because his talent was fairly formidable and his physique far stronger than that of an ordinary person that he could persist for so long.

Yao Lao could also tell that Xiao Yang had reached his limit.

"Rest for a while first."

The moment he heard those words, Xiao Yang, who had already reached his limit, instantly relaxed.

His body fell backward, and he lay cross-legged on the ground, which had been warmed somewhat by the flames.

He gasped for breath, his chest heaving violently.

His entire body was weak now, and he could not even be bothered to move a single finger.

"This is when cultivation is most effective."

Yao Lao looked at Xiao Yang and spoke calmly.

Xiao Yang hesitated for a moment. After letting out a miserable groan, he still forced himself upright and formed hand seals with trembling hands, then closed his eyes and began cultivating.

As he watched Xiao Yang begin cultivating, a trace of amusement flashed through Yao Lao's eyes.

Before him sat thirty-one jade boxes arranged in neat rows.

Each jade box contained pale white powder.

Yao Lao could clearly see that, from left to right, the pale white powder in the jade boxes became increasingly pure in color!