Reborn into the Xiao Clan, Starting with Xiao Xuan's Inheritance - Chapter 31

Bone Spirit Cold Flame contracted, twisting that mass of mixed medicinal vapor into a spiral.

The furnace trembled slightly, and the ancient pill patterns on its surface glowed faintly. A series of soft crackling sounds could vaguely be heard.

"This is a sign that the medicinal potency is becoming concentrated under the tempering of the cold flame."

Yao Lao suddenly gave a low shout, pressing two fingers together and pointing forward. "Condense!"

Bone Spirit Cold Flame surged violently, then withdrew in an instant. The medicinal vapor within the furnace seemed to be kneaded by an invisible hand, instantly gathering into a smooth, round pill.

The pill was pale cyan, with a thin golden glow flowing over its surface. Upon closer inspection, fine veins could be seen slowly writhing within it. With every movement, they seemed to draw in the surrounding spiritual energy. It was precisely the unique spiritual-rhyme manifestation of the Meridian Spirit-Rhyme Pill.

The furnace lid popped open on its own, and a pill wrapped in a wisp of cold air leaped out. With a flick of Yao Lao's finger, it lightly landed in his palm.

"Although the Meridian Spirit-Rhyme Pill is a fourth-grade pill, its refining process is fairly simple..."

"The only thing to watch out for is controlling the heat when fusing the Condensation Flower and the beast core at the end..."

As Yao Lao finished speaking, the pill in his hand slowly drifted into Xiao Yi's hand under the control of his soul force.

Feeling the pill fragrance emitted by the fourth-grade pill in his palm, Xiao Yi could not help wanting to swallow it immediately.

Just as Xiao Yi was about to speak, an invisible force removed the pill from his palm.

"Brat, don't be impatient!"

"You still have a task! There are still medicinal ingredients here, so start refining! You have a pill now, but Xiao Yan still doesn't!"

Xiao Xuan looked at Xiao Yi calmly and spoke softly.

Xiao Yi smacked his lips. "Ancestor, Xiao Yan hasn't even reached the Dou Practitioner stage yet. It won't be too late to refine it for him once he does..."

Xiao Xuan said, "It's always better to prepare the pill in advance..."

Xiao Yi spread his hands. "Ancestor, refining pills requires a medicinal furnace. I don't have one of those either..."

As soon as Xiao Yi finished speaking, Yao Lao slowly tossed out a bronze medicinal furnace and said in a deep voice, "Here. A medicinal furnace isn't all that important during pill refinement. Once your realm is high enough, you may not even need a furnace when refining pills!"

Xiao Yi still tried to make excuses. "What about fire? I don't have a Heavenly Flame..."

Xiao Xuan shot Xiao Yi a fierce glare. "Are your fire-attributed Dou Qi for nothing? Among so many alchemists, how many possess Heavenly Flames?"

After Xiao Xuan spoke, Yao Lao also said slowly in a deep voice,

"When alchemists first learn pill refinement, they all use flames transformed from Dou Qi. Besides, I can see that there is a heart flame condensed from your own power deep within your soul. That can be used for refining pills as well..."

Looking at the two floating souls beside him, Xiao Yi knew very well that he had no choice but to refine this pill today.

Left with no alternative, Xiao Yi sat down cross-legged on the spot and followed Yao Lao's earlier demonstration.

The first step was to condense the Meridian-Unblocking Vine into medicinal vapor.

The moment he threw the Meridian-Unblocking Vine into the bronze furnace, Xiao Yi immediately activated the Dou Qi within his body, transforming it into flames and continuously burning the vine.

Because Xiao Yi's flames contained the heart flame condensed from the Scarlet Sun Heaven-Burning Art, they were stronger than flames formed from ordinary Dou Qi.

Although he was not as fast as Yao Lao, Xiao Yi still successfully condensed it into wisps of medicinal vapor.

Seeing this, both Xiao Xuan and Yao Lao could not help nodding.

Yao Lao in particular was shocked.

Seeing Xiao Yi's talent, Yao Lao could not help thinking of his "good disciple," Han Feng, whom he had regarded as his own son.

In Yao Lao's eyes, Han Feng's talent for pill refinement was already one in ten thousand.

Yet Xiao Yi's talent was even more terrifying than Han Feng's!

"The second step is also the simplest. You only need to refine the Purple Salvia into it..."

Yao Lao spoke in a deep voice as he nodded, guiding Xiao Yi through the next step.

Xiao Yi nodded at his words.

As the Purple Salvia was added, Xiao Yi increased the intensity of the flames as well.

In an instant, he refined the Purple Salvia and fused it with the medicinal vapor of the Meridian-Unblocking Vine.

Having already completed two steps, Xiao Yi did not feel any difficulty at all. He even found it somewhat easy.

Seeing his expression, Yao Lao merely smiled.

"Kid, begin the next step!"

"Fuse the hundred-year Condensation Flower and the second-tier beast core. Remember, this is an especially crucial step. You must control the heat properly!"

"The Condensation Flower cannot withstand fierce burning. It must be refined carefully and cautiously. This requires powerful control over the flames!"

Yao Lao spoke softly, but his eyes remained fixed on the ingredients inside the furnace and the intensity of Xiao Yi's flames.

Hearing this, Xiao Yi carefully controlled the strength of the flames.

Flame control looked easy, but actually doing it was far from simple.

Xiao Yi, who had found things easy moments ago, now began to feel the pressure.

In only a short while, beads of sweat covered his forehead.

"The fire is too strong! The Condensation Flower can't endure such scorching heat!"

Yao Lao constantly monitored the ingredients from the side, guiding Xiao Yi.

When Xiao Yi reduced the flames, Yao Lao said in a deep voice again, "Too weak, too weak! How can such flames extract the medicinal potency from the beast core?"

Xiao Yi frowned tightly. Dou Qi surged around him as he continuously adjusted the intensity of the flames.

Yet no matter what he did, he could not find the right level of heat.

Yao Lao merely smiled at the sight, as though everything had gone exactly as he expected.

"The reason the Meridian Spirit-Rhyme Pill is a fourth-grade pill is not only because of its obvious effects. This major difficulty in refining it is also one of the reasons..."

"To extract the medicinal potency from the Condensation Flower and beast core at the same time, then fuse it into the medicinal vapor of the Meridian-Unblocking Vine, you must find the most suitable flame intensity..."

Hearing this, Xiao Yan looked at Xiao Yi's pained expression and could not help asking in a low voice, "Is this step really so difficult? Brother Yi looks like he's in a lot of pain. Why does it seem so easy for you, Teacher?"

Yao Lao merely smiled. "This is Xiao Yi's first time refining pills, after all. It's normal for him to struggle with controlling the flames..."

Xiao Xuan, however, said nothing. He only stared at Xiao Yi with furrowed brows, seemingly lost in thought.

At that moment, Xiao Yi was doing everything he could to control the flames transformed from his Dou Qi.

He tried to find the most suitable flame temperature.

No one knew how much time had passed. Xiao Yi was already drenched in sweat from head to toe.

Finally, Xiao Yi seemed to find within his spiritual sea the temperature most suitable for extracting the Condensation Flower and beast core.

The next moment, the red flames around Xiao Yi that had originally been transformed from Dou Qi all changed into scarlet flames.

The flames were no longer formed from Dou Qi. They were the heart flames condensed through Xiao Yi's cultivation art!

The moment the heart flames appeared, the Condensation Flower and beast core within the furnace gradually melted, transforming into golden mist that entwined with the earlier medicinal vapor.

Seeing this, shock instantly appeared on Yao Lao's face.

"How is this possible!"

"This boy's talent is even more terrifying than I imagined. He's a natural genius at pill refinement!"

Yao Lao muttered inwardly, then glanced faintly at Xiao Xuan beside him.

He secretly pondered that the fallen Xiao Clan would most likely rise again!

Xiao Xuan showed little expression at Xiao Yi's performance. After all, he knew something of Xiao Yi's talent.

"Xiao Yi, hold on! You've reached the final step—condense the pill!"

Yao Lao could not help speaking up, reminding Xiao Yi to focus his mind.

Although pill condensation was the final step of refinement, it was also the most important one.

If something went wrong during pill condensation, all the earlier effort would be wasted!

By now, Xiao Yi had long since exhausted his strength. But with victory so close at hand, there was no way he would give up.

Xiao Yi exerted himself once more, releasing every last bit of his heart flame and remaining Dou Qi.

The two flames fused together, forming a massive flaming hand that reached toward the medicinal vapor within the furnace.

Though this method looked somewhat crude, it was indeed one way to condense a pill.

"Condense for me!"

Xiao Yi shouted, and the flaming hand inside the furnace clenched fiercely.

The next moment, the flames faded, and a pill slowly appeared within the furnace!

"It worked!"

Seeing the pill inside the furnace, Xiao Yi cried out uncontrollably.

After all, it was a fourth-grade pill. On his very first attempt at pill refinement, he had successfully refined a fourth-grade pill!