First Successful Pill Refinement!

After leaving the herbal shop, Xiao Tianci made several turns along the broad streets before finally slipping into a medium-sized market district in the southern part of the city.

According to his memories, Wutan City had several such medium-sized market districts, each controlled by one of the city's three major clans.

The one Xiao Tianci had come to now was under the control of the Xiao Clan.

Xiao Tianci entered through the market's gates, where two guards stood to either side.

Perhaps Xiao Tianci's presence was simply too inconspicuous, because the two guards actually failed to recognize him.

Following the crowded flow of people, Xiao Tianci made his way toward the depths of the market.

Along the way, several light-fingered people noticed how young Xiao Tianci was and that he had come to the market alone. They boldly tried to steal the gold coins from his clothes.

With Xiao Tianci's soul strength, he naturally noticed them with ease. Combined with his current strength, a seemingly casual slap was often enough to send those reaching hands retreating in embarrassment, their owners clutching their palms and sucking in cold breaths.

The reason he had come this deep into the market was naturally because Magic Cores were precious and rarely appeared in the outer areas.

Before long, Xiao Tianci spotted the Magic Core he wanted at a stall.

After some haggling, Xiao Tianci successfully talked the price of the first-tier metal-element Magic Core down by a hundred gold coins.

After buying the Magic Core, Xiao Tianci wandered around a little longer and bought the most basic kind of pill cauldron.

Since the cauldron was the most basic grade, Xiao Tianci still had two hundred gold coins left after buying it.

He had originally wanted to see whether he could buy a Storage Ring, but the price made him click his tongue in astonishment, and he could only give up in the end.

Cradling his purchases in his arms, he jogged all the way back to the Xiao Clan.

"Next comes pill refinement."

Though he had considerable confidence in his current comprehension and talent, a trace of unease still appeared in Xiao Tianci's eyes when he placed the pill cauldron before him.

After all, these ingredients would only allow him to fail once. If he failed twice, he would truly go broke.

The cauldron's surface looked somewhat rough, without any patterns, plain and unadorned. Around its middle were two fire ports.

Xiao Tianci had actually seen cauldrons with more fire ports, but their prices were several times higher as well.

He stretched out his hand and touched one of the fire ports, closing his eyes slightly. The emerald-green vortex within his body stirred, and streams of pale-green Dou Qi surged forth.

Once the Dou Qi reached his palm, it paused slightly before seeming to be sucked in by a fierce force. It burst from his palm, passed through the fire port, and rushed into the cauldron.

"Psh."

At once, the pale-green Dou Qi transformed into flames, burning continuously within the cauldron.

Fortunately, Xiao Tianci had prepared himself mentally beforehand, so he did not react excessively.

Then, Xiao Tianci easily found the trace of wood-element energy within his body. He extended one finger and gently pressed it against the other fire port.

A stream of green energy slowly flowed into it.

The flames inside immediately seemed to undergo some kind of chemical reaction, suddenly calming down. After the power of wood balanced them, the flames became more enduring and easier to control than before.

Then, following the recipe provided by the system, he took out an Iron Branch Flower and dropped it into the cauldron.

The flames within the cauldron were just about to surge up when Xiao Tianci easily suppressed them.

By sensing the condition of the Iron Branch Flower, Xiao Tianci quickly found the temperature it could tolerate.

Before long, he extracted the flower's medicinal essence, turning it into black powder.

"Seems like it's pretty simple."

Xiao Tianci raised an eyebrow slightly.

With his first success, Xiao Tianci's confidence surged.

He then followed the steps for refining a Body Tempering Pill in an orderly manner, extracting and fusing all the ingredients.

Time slowly passed.

The paste within the pill cauldron gradually condensed into pill-shaped pellets under his control.

"Whew."

Xiao Tianci let out a long breath. Refining pills continuously for several hours had still taken quite a toll on him in his current state.

Yet there was not the slightest trace of fatigue in his eyes. Instead, they were filled with intense excitement.

Because his first attempt at pill refinement had been a complete success!

Xiao Tianci abruptly lifted the lid of the pill cauldron.

A rich pill fragrance immediately billowed out, spreading throughout his room.

He took out the still-warm pills and placed them in a small jade bottle he had prepared in advance.

This batch of Body Tempering Pills had produced a full ten pills!

For Xiao Tianci, this was undoubtedly an unexpected delight.

At the same time, the system's voice appeared in his mind, as though it were congratulating Xiao Tianci.

"Congratulations, Host. You have completed the task: Balance Work and Rest. You have received 1,000 experience points."

"Congratulations, Host. You have successfully completed your first pill refinement. You have received 300 experience points."

"There's even an unexpected reward!" Xiao Tianci raised his eyebrows.

Adding the two hundred experience points granted by the system, he could now draw twice.

"Draw!"

Xiao Tianci spoke.

Then, the roulette wheel before him began to spin.

In the end, it stopped on the Dou Technique category.

The roulette wheel vanished, and a book appeared before him.

"Immortal Kneeling Sword?"

Xiao Tianci subconsciously read the name of the Dou Technique aloud, and excitement appeared in his eyes.

Just from the name alone, this Dou Technique had to be incredibly powerful!

After reading Immortal Kneeling Sword from beginning to end, Xiao Tianci's eyes filled with burning eagerness.

Once Immortal Kneeling Sword was unleashed, it could make Dou Qi resemble sword energy, ignoring defenses and possessing extreme sharpness!

"Ignoring defenses is a little insane." Xiao Tianci clicked his tongue, already impatient to begin cultivating it.

But then he remembered that he still had one more chance to draw. He might as well use it now; there was no point saving it.

"Draw!"

The book gradually disappeared, turning back into the form of a roulette wheel. With a thought from Xiao Tianci, the wheel began spinning rapidly.

Then, the roulette wheel gradually slowed and stopped on the medicinal pill category.

"A third-grade medicinal pill, the Meditation Pill."

As he looked at the pill's description, a strange expression appeared in Xiao Tianci's eyes.

First a Dou Technique, then a medicinal pill. His luck was a little too absurdly good.

Most importantly, aside from enhancing strength and improving comprehension, this pill also provided a boost to his Azure Emperor Longevity Body.

"So I drew a matching pill, huh?"