Hatred for Ma Xiaotao, Light Magic Assists Alchemy

After mastering two more Beast Flames, Xiao Changge immediately began refining pills to test his alchemy skills. He had already studied many alchemy techniques in the Pharmacopoeia, so he decided to give it a try first.

Although it was already very late, it did not matter. After becoming a Soul Master, even first-rank Soul Masters needed very little sleep. Going without sleep for a day was no problem at all; at most, one would feel a little tired, but it was still manageable.

"Alchemy... really is interesting." As Electrolux watched his disciple, Xiao Changge, refine pills, he too became interested in the alchemy system.

"I'm currently around level 27, but I originally had Innate Full Soul Power at level 30. I still haven't completely recovered my initial level. It's all Shrek's fault." As Xiao Changge refined the pill, the thought filled him with fury.

Originally, with Innate Full Soul Power at level 30, if he cultivated diligently, he would sooner or later become a Limit Douluo before the age of seventy. He might even have ascended to godhood earlier than Sea God Tang San and Huo Yuhao.

But now? Because of Shrek, he had been forced to help Ma Xiaotao resolve her Martial Soul problem and provide her with Soul Power. Otherwise, he would already have been an unparalleled genius.

"That Ma Xiaotao..." Xiao Changge became furious whenever he thought of her. He had clearly done nothing wrong, yet he had been forced into becoming a sacrifice to help Ma Xiaotao solve her Evil Fire problem. Worse still, Ma Xiaotao took it for granted and did not think she had done anything wrong. She had completely treated Xiao Changge as a cultivation tool to be drained dry and discarded whenever his value was exhausted.

"When I return to Shrek, I'll make Ma Xiaotao taste my suffering too."

Xiao Changge had already made up his mind. No matter what, Ma Xiaotao had to pay the price. So did those old Shrek elders, everyone in Shrek, and all its higher-ups. He had to make them taste his suffering.

If Electrolux and the system had not appeared, Xiao Changge understood that his life might have been ruined.

"Enough. Focus on your alchemy. Aren't you refining pills right now?"

"Yes." Following the pill-refining method recorded in the Pharmacopoeia, Xiao Changge first attempted to refine a first-grade pill. Though it was only a first-grade pill, it was still very difficult for him.

This was not the Dou Qi Continent, and the materials were difficult to gather. Although he was now a Soul Master and had traveled to many places, collecting enough materials to refine a first-grade pill, no one was there to assist or teach him.

Electrolux could create a super divine artifact and was a demigod from another world, but he did not understand alchemy. Electrolux was a necromancer. Although he had once studied Light Magic, he was now the Holy Necromancer.

After all, he had never studied alchemy. Though he knew some things about herbs and the like, he still did not understand pill refinement. That required a professional.

Thus, Xiao Changge focused intensely on refining this first-grade pill, afraid that the cauldron would explode.

This pill cauldron was not a specialized alchemy cauldron, nor was it one used by alchemists of the Dou Qi Continent. It was merely a medicinal cauldron used by people in the Douluo Continent who studied medicine to prepare herbs, decoctions, and the like. But he had no choice now and could only make do with it.

Xiao Changge ultimately did not possess the immense wealth needed to create an exclusive alchemy cauldron, so he could only settle for this and try it.

"It's already slowly taking shape. It already has the form of a pill," Electrolux said.

"Let me give you a hand. I may not understand alchemy very well, but Light Magic should be able to help you."

Then, Electrolux began to use his long-unused Light Magic.

Light Magic had originally come from his faith in the light, but after being betrayed, he chose to believe in himself and worship only himself.

Therefore, he had not used Light Magic for a long time. But using Necromantic Magic now did not mean he could not use Light Magic. Even after becoming the Holy Necromancer, he could still use Light Magic.

"Let me see whether I can help you." Electrolux then released Light Magic. Xiao Changge immediately felt more energized, as if he had received power and someone else's assistance.

The pill inside the cauldron slowly took shape, and the flames became gentler, more suitable for refining pills. Before long, the pill was successfully refined.

"A first-grade pill... It can instantly restore energy and physical strength, and it can heal injuries. On the battlefield, if this pill were given to a powerful Titled Douluo, it could allow that Titled Douluo to perform even better in battle."

After all, if a Titled Douluo became exhausted or injured in battle, it would be detrimental to the fight. If there were a pill that could help a Titled Douluo recover physical strength, injuries, and energy, it would be of enormous assistance in battle.

For example, if the Titled Douluos of the Star Luo Empire had such concerns, then even if they were injured or lacked Soul Power in battle, they could rely on this kind of pill to restore their Soul Power and heal their injuries. In that case, no matter how formidable the Soul Engineers of the Sun Moon Empire were, as long as the pills remained, the Star Luo Empire could withstand them. At the same time, it could counterattack the Sun Moon Empire's invasion and reclaim many of its territories.

It could be said that this pill was truly formidable. Though it was only a first-grade pill, on the Douluo Continent, it already counted as military supplies—and the highest-grade military supplies at that. Many people would definitely be willing to spend a great deal of money on such pills. Even Titled Douluos would be willing to pay for them.

Moreover, this pill was of good quality. Electrolux's Light Magic had helped Xiao Changge successfully refine it, making it highly useful. It seemed that Light Magic could indeed help alchemists refine pills.

"It seems that the Light Magic of the Holy Demon Continent can help alchemists refine pills. At first, I was worried that the powers of mages from two different continents—Light Magic—might not be able to assist alchemists in refining pills.

But after seeing your Light Magic help me successfully refine this first-grade pill, Teacher, I think that although the systems of the two continents are different, some aspects are interconnected. For example, Light Magic can help alchemists refine pills more effectively.

This pill is the best proof."

At first, Xiao Changge believed that his alchemy techniques and methods came from the world of Battle Through the Heavens. The pill-refining methods of Battle Through the Heavens belonged to the system of another author's book.

The magic system of the Holy Demon Continent belonged to the same author's Douluo Universe. Thus, he had thought that the systems of two different works were different, and that it should be impossible to use magic to help alchemists refine pills. Yet now, it had truly succeeded.

"It seems there are indeed similarities," Xiao Changge said.

(The Light Magic of the Holy Demon Continent could not directly replace the core requirements of Battle Through the Heavens alchemy: "Heavenly Flames + fire-wood attributes + soul power."

But as auxiliary support, it could clearly increase the success rate of certain stages and improve pill quality—it was icing on the cake, not timely help.)

This was Xiao Changge's thought, but it should also be correct.

The hard thresholds of the Battle Through the Heavens alchemy system—things Light Magic could not replace.

First, the three essentials for alchemy established by Yao Lao were absolute standards:

Core Flame: Dou Qi flames, Beast Flames, or Heavenly Flames, with Heavenly Flames being optimal. They were responsible for catalyzing the fusion of medicinal properties and stabilizing pill patterns;

Fire containing wood: one's innate attribute had to be fire containing a trace of wood energy, serving as a catalyst;

Soul perception: reactions inside the pill furnace could not be seen with the naked eye, so one relied entirely on the soul to finely adjust temperature, viscosity, and proportions.

In the Holy Demon system, Light Magic was a high-frequency particle wave, inclined toward healing, purification, defense, countering darkness, and the like. It was not an attribute of "fire containing wood," nor could it produce the fundamental catalytic force of Heavenly Flames. Therefore:

If a Light Mage directly followed a Battle Through the Heavens pill formula and started the furnace without Heavenly Flames, fire-wood attributes, and soul power, the furnace would still explode. Light Magic could not save the core.

What Light Magic could help with: peripheral enhancements.

With the premise that an alchemist already possessed Heavenly Flames and soul power, Light Magic could truly be useful in the following stages:

Medicinal ingredient preprocessing: purification and refinement.

Light Magic such as "Light of Purification" and "Holy Light" could remove insect damage, dispel yin filth, and eliminate lingering curses. For heavenly treasures contaminated with blood fiendish energy, corpse qi, or poisonous marshes in Battle Through the Heavens, it was equivalent to an additional impurity-removal process and could reduce backlash caused by impurities during refinement.

Protecting the environment: barriers and stabilization fields.

Light barriers could block dark energy, undead creatures, and external interference. When refining high-grade pills that drew pill lightning, placing a wall of light outside could reduce sudden disruptions from powerful onlookers or Soul Hall-style villains trying to seize the pill.

Compensating for soul power depletion.

Alchemy consumed enormous amounts of soul power. Although Light Magic restoration or blessing spells could not directly replenish one's Battle Through the Heavens soul realm, they could ease the caster's mental fatigue and physical overexertion, functioning like an endurance cheat.

Finishing the product: dispelling darkness and increasing stability.

For healing pills, such as those that restore vitality, heal injuries, or regenerate flesh, Light Magic blessings could add a layer of "purifying evil," improving their appearance and market value. But they might not be suitable for poison pills or yin pills—light would counter their medicinal properties.

Experiments with special pill formulas.

If a Battle Through the Heavens alchemist wanted to attempt hybrid formulas such as the Holy Light Rejuvenation Pill across worlds, Light Magic would become a necessary coupled energy, similar to light elements activating medicinal properties in other Western fantasy worlds.

Of course, Light Magic could also be more of a hindrance in some cases.

When refining yin-attribute, poison-attribute, corpse-flame, or Soul Hall-type pills, Light Magic would directly neutralize the medicinal properties, making things worse than not using it at all.

Using Light Magic to replace Heavenly Flames for heating: light was not fire, and the temperature-control curve would be wrong. The medicinal liquid would not fuse; it would merely be "cooked" by illumination.

If a low-level Light Mage forcibly intervened in high-level alchemy, mismatched soul frequencies could instead disrupt the alchemist's fine soul control.

Overall assessment...

For ordinary first- to fourth-grade pills, Light Magic purification and barriers could slightly increase the success rate, especially when the medicinal ingredients were impure;

For fifth- to seventh-grade pills, soul power and Heavenly Flames were the bottlenecks, leaving Light Magic with only environmental protection value;

For eighth-grade and higher sentient pills or ninth-grade Mystic Pills, souls at the Spirit Realm or above carried the laws of heaven and earth. Ordinary Light Magic would basically be unable to interfere, unless it was a god-level Light Magic forbidden spell and both sides' energy laws were compatible.

In a single sentence: Holy Demon Light Magic was like a Battle Through the Heavens alchemist's "high-grade clean bench + protective shield + pre-operation sterilization." It could let the same alchemist suffer fewer explosions and use ingredients more efficiently with the same Heavenly Flames and soul power, but it would never turn someone without fire-wood attributes into an alchemy grandmaster.

Therefore, Light Mages of the Holy Demon Continent could indeed help Dou Qi alchemists refine pills, but they mainly provided peripheral assistance and handled certain special matters. They could not offer comprehensive help, because the systems were different to begin with. Moreover, the strongest experts of the Holy Demon Continent—those gods who had transformed into laws—might not even be able to defeat a Dou Zun.

They might provide some assistance when helping low-level alchemists refine pills, but when assisting high-level alchemists, it would be difficult for them to help unless they were peak experts, such as those gods who had become laws themselves.

"Now that you can refine such a good pill, don't tell me you plan to sell it? That would indeed make sense. This pill is truly excellent. Even in the Holy Demon Continent, pills of this quality would be precious treasures, stored away by top factions or only used at critical moments."

That was how Electrolux evaluated the pill.

"It seems this pill really is impressive in your eyes, Teacher."

"This pill can heal experts at the Titled Douluo level and restore physical strength and energy. That is already very impressive. Though according to you, this pill is not top-tier, it is still very good and counts as important supplies."

"I only refined this pill to improve my alchemy skills. I hope to become better."

Xiao Changge was telling the truth. He had not expected this pill to be so formidable. At first, he had only refined it to improve his alchemy or confirm his current level of skill, since he was merely a beginner. He had also thought that if he succeeded, he could keep it for use when needed.

But he had not expected Electrolux to rate this pill so highly, and it did make sense. Since this pill was effective even for Titled Douluos, it would be vital military supplies in wars between nations on the Douluo Continent.

Used by top experts, this pill could greatly improve their sustained combat ability, allowing Titled Douluos to fight for much longer.

It was like finally beating a boss until it was badly injured, only for that boss to swallow a healing potion and instantly recover much of its combat strength, energy, and injuries. The battle would suddenly become even more difficult, and one would have to start all over again to deal with the boss.

It was like the Sun Moon Empire and the Star Luo Empire going to war. The Sun Moon Empire's Soul Tools had originally expended tremendous power to injure the Star Luo Empire's many Titled Douluos, only for the Star Luo Empire to use this pill and render all the Sun Moon Empire's efforts useless. They would have to fight all over again.

The Sun Moon Empire's Soul Tools, especially high-grade ones, required vast amounts of Soul Power. Soul Engineers who had exhausted their Soul Power could not use Soul Tools.

Thus, one could better understand just how practical and terrifying this pill was.