Fire Elder

The next day, after attending the entrance ceremony, Xiao Yun hurried to the Alchemy Department building, eager to choose his class schedule and alchemy mentor, as well as collect the department's textbooks.

As soon as he arrived at the Alchemy Department, he saw the mentor who had guided him yesterday standing at the entrance. The mentor's face lit up when he saw Xiao Yun. "Hahaha, Xiao Yun, thanks to you, I gained quite a few benefits this time."

"?" Xiao Yun was utterly baffled, having no idea what nonsense he was talking about.

Seeing Xiao Yun's expression, the mentor was not surprised. He explained, "Yesterday, I gave your information to Fire Elder of our Alchemy Department. Fire Elder was very satisfied with you and told me to wait here. Once you arrived, I was to bring you to see him."

Oh... so he had sold me off and was counting the money. No wonder he was so happy.

Xiao Yun understood. That Fire Elder had taken a liking to him—cough, cough, to his talent—and intended to take him as a disciple. Xiao Yun was more than happy with that. Just when he needed a pillow, one was delivered to him. Having a master to guide him was undoubtedly far better than blindly figuring things out alone.

Although Fire Elder had only made a brief appearance in the early part of the original story and vanished entirely afterward, making him little more than a minor character, this was now a real world.

On the Northwestern Continent, Fire Elder was a Fifth-Tier Alchemist with the strength of a Dou Wang, making him a major figure in his own right. He was more than qualified to teach Xiao Yun at this stage. As long as Xiao Yun could enter Fire Elder's tutelage, he would at least have no need to worry about alchemy resources in the early stages.

The mentor led Xiao Yun to the outside of a pill room and lightly knocked on the door.

"Come in." An aged voice sounded from within. The mentor patted Xiao Yun on the back, signaling for him to enter alone.

Xiao Yun pushed open the door. Before he even stepped inside, a surging, blazing aura rushed toward him. In the center of the pill room stood a medicinal cauldron, and an elderly man with white hair sat before it, his gaze fixed on the flames within.

Xiao Yun closed the door. Seeing that Fire Elder had no intention of acknowledging him, he remained silent and quietly stood to the side watching.

After a long while, Fire Elder rapidly formed a series of hand seals. Before Xiao Yun could clearly see the movements, all the flames in the cauldron were drawn into Fire Elder's hands. Then he flipped both palms downward, and the flames instantly dispersed.

"You are young, monstrously talented, and so steady-minded. Little one, your future will be extraordinary." Fire Elder finally turned to Xiao Yun. Though Xiao Yun was sweating heavily from the heat, there was not the slightest trace of impatience on his face. Fire Elder immediately felt a measure of approval and appreciation.

"I had thought that achieving so much at such a young age would surely make you arrogant and contemptuous of everyone under heaven. I intended to use this chance to temper your temperament, but I did not expect you to lack those common flaws of geniuses. That was my mistake." Fire Elder explained and apologized for having ignored Xiao Yun just now.

"I would not dare. This student bears no resentment."

Fire Elder stood up and leaned closer to inspect Xiao Yun. The more he looked, the more satisfied he became.

With one glance, he could tell that Xiao Yun was not the One-Star Dou Zhe listed in his enrollment records. He had already broken through to become a Two-Star Dou Zhe. Moreover, he possessed the talent of an alchemist. With such outstanding cultivation talent, even if Xiao Yun's alchemy talent were somewhat lacking, his future achievements would still far surpass Fire Elder's own.

I never expected to encounter a monster seen only once in a century today. Hahaha, since that is the case, I shall follow the will of heaven and take this disciple. Fire Elder thought happily.

"This old man is named Huo Lie. I am a Fifth-Tier Alchemist and an elder of the Alchemy Department. Are you willing to take me as your master?"

"I am willing. Xiao Yun greets Teacher." Just as Xiao Yun had expected, Fire Elder had indeed taken notice of his talent, and it suited Xiao Yun perfectly. He immediately bowed to take him as his master.

"Hahaha, good, good. Disciple, this old man has no sons or daughters, and you are my only disciple, so there are not many rules. There is only one: you must not rely on your high cultivation to commit wicked deeds. Otherwise, this old man will cleanse the sect. Can you do that?" Fire Elder stroked his grizzled beard with satisfaction and chuckled.

"Rest assured, Teacher. This disciple is absolutely not someone who would commit evil."

"Mm." Fire Elder nodded and waved his hand. The lid of the medicinal cauldron beside them flew open, and red light shot out. In an instant, a rich medicinal fragrance drifted out with the light and filled the entire room.

"This is a pill formula I obtained in my early years, called Fire-Worship Ointment. Its grade should be that of a Fourth-Tier Pill. It can help people below the Da Dou Shi level increase their cultivation speed. The higher one's level, the weaker its effects become. However, with your current cultivation, it should double your cultivation speed."

Dark-red liquid flowed within the medicinal cauldron. Fire Elder turned his hand over and took out more than a dozen jade bottles specially made for storing pills. He collected all the liquid, placed it into his Storage Ring, then tossed the Storage Ring to Xiao Yun.

"Take it. This ointment is for external use. Apply it to your upper body once a day when you cultivate.

"The Storage Ring also contains cultivation techniques, Dou Techniques, and my alchemy insights prepared for you. Aside from those, there are some low-tier medicinal ingredients, pill formulas, and a medicinal cauldron.

"I will give you four days to memorize textbooks such as the Encyclopedia of Medicinal Materials. Come find me again after four days, and I will formally teach you alchemy."

"Thank you, Teacher!" Xiao Yun's eyes lit up, and joy appeared on his face. He accepted the Storage Ring, bowed to Fire Elder, and then left the pill room.

After returning to the private dormitory prepared by the academy, Xiao Yun could not wait to see what treasures his master had given him.

Using his Soul Power to examine the Storage Ring, Xiao Yun discovered that Fire Elder was truly generous. Even the Storage Ring he had given him was a mid-tier one, with a space of dozens of cubic meters—far beyond what a low-tier Storage Ring could compare to.

Aside from the Fire-Worship Ointment Fire Elder had just put inside, the Storage Ring contained several books, a small fiery-red cauldron, and some medicinal ingredients Xiao Yun did not recognize. Ignoring everything else for now, Xiao Yun took out all the books, arranged them neatly, and began reading through them one by one.

An Earth Tier low-grade cultivation technique, Nine Splendors Fire Art; a Xuan Tier high-grade Dou Technique, Flowing Flame Fist; a Xuan Tier mid-grade Dou Technique, Scarlet Flame Palm; a Xuan Tier mid-grade movement Dou Technique, Flame Cloud Chasing the Sun; and three pill formula scrolls, all first-tier formulas: Qi-Boosting Powder, Flame-Congealing Pill, and Injury-Healing Pill.

He had only read through half the books when Xiao Yun was already practically drooling, his heart burning with excitement. Every one of these treasures was stronger than the best cultivation technique of the Xiao Clan, and they all matched Xiao Yun's Dou Qi attribute. If he had not become Fire Elder's disciple, how could the current Xiao Yun ever have gotten his hands on them?

"Where else could I find such a good teacher? As expected of a Fifth-Tier Alchemist—his family fortune is truly deep. Every book is at least Xuan Tier mid-grade. Let's see what other treasures are among the rest!" Xiao Yun eagerly reached for the remaining books.

Encyclopedia of Medicinal Materials, Fundamentals of Alchemy Techniques, On Flame Control, Pill Identification... Xiao Yun silently took back every word of praise he had just given Fire Elder.

After that, Xiao Yun no longer had the mood to look through the remaining items. He put all the books into the Storage Ring, leaving only the Encyclopedia of Medicinal Materials as he lay on the bed and carefully studied it.

Over the following days, Xiao Yun buried himself in his books. He even skipped classes at the Teaching Department several times, forcing Xu Ning to personally visit his residence to ask what was going on. After learning that Xiao Yun had been accepted as Fire Elder's disciple and had spent the past four days memorizing books to complete Fire Elder's task, Old Xu was left completely speechless.

He did not dare go to Fire Elder to demand an explanation. He could only tell Xiao Yun that he did not need to attend class, but his cultivation must not fall behind. Xu Ning was still counting on Xiao Yun to take first place in the final assessment.

Four days later, after Xiao Yun finished a class at the Teaching Department, he headed straight for the Alchemy Department building, ready for his first alchemy lesson.

Upon entering the Alchemy Department building, Xiao Yun followed the route the mentor had taken him along last time and quickly found Fire Elder's pill room.

"Teacher, your disciple Xiao Yun requests an audience." Standing at the door, Xiao Yun bowed.

"Good disciple, come in."

Xiao Yun pushed open the door and entered. Fire Elder was sitting upright in the center of the pill room. "Teacher, I have memorized all the books you gave me." Xiao Yun first bowed to Fire Elder, then stated that he had finished all the textbooks. He looked at Fire Elder eagerly, anticipating his instruction in alchemy.

Seeing Xiao Yun's gaze, Fire Elder could not help but laugh. "Since you are already familiar with the textbooks, I will naturally teach you alchemy. But before that, I must first explain some basic knowledge about alchemy." Having his little thoughts seen through by his teacher, Xiao Yun scratched his head awkwardly.

"To refine pills, one must first have a medicinal cauldron. To an alchemist, a medicinal cauldron is like a weapon in a warrior's hand—indispensable."

"Medicinal cauldrons are also divided into grades. Generally speaking, the more fire vents a cauldron has, the higher its grade. Take out the medicinal cauldron from your Storage Ring."

Xiao Yun hurriedly took out the red medicinal cauldron Fire Elder had given him and placed it before them.

"Look, your medicinal cauldron is a three-vent cauldron. For you, a three-vent cauldron will be sufficient for a long time." Fire Elder pointed to the three vents on the red medicinal cauldron as he spoke to Xiao Yun.

"Do not think that fire vents are simply holes punched into the cauldron. The mysteries within are impossible for outsiders to perceive. The fire vents are the essence of a medicinal cauldron. Every vent must be polished with extreme precision. The slightest error will render the entire cauldron useless.

"The more fire vents there are, the greater the assistance they provide during pill refinement. Of course, that also requires powerful Soul Power to control them. At your current level, controlling two fire vents is probably your limit." Seeing Xiao Yun's puzzled expression, Fire Elder somewhat dissatisfiedly tapped him on the head and explained.

"Besides a medicinal cauldron, flames are also crucial to an alchemist. Ordinary alchemists use flames catalyzed by Dou Qi to refine pills. The higher the grade of the pill being refined, the higher the required Dou Qi cultivation.

"Even the lowest ungraded medicinal pellet requires the cultivation of a Dou Zhe. But you are already a Dou Zhe, so you need not worry about that."

As he said this, Fire Elder smiled. After all, Xiao Yun's cultivation talent was truly exceptional.

"Of course, some medicinal ingredients are so hard that flames catalyzed by Dou Qi alone cannot melt them. At such times, we can borrow fire from heaven and earth."

"Borrow fire? Teacher, do you mean Heavenly Flames?"

"Correct! In this vast world, there are certain Heavenly Flames. They may be a spark carried within the heart of a meteorite fallen from the heavens, or Earthfire lava tempered for hundreds or thousands of years deep within a volcano... These Heavenly Flames are even more powerful than flames catalyzed by Dou Qi.

"When used for alchemy, they can even increase a pill's medicinal potency. However, these Heavenly Flames are all extremely violent. It is difficult to encounter them by fate, and even upon finding one, it is exceedingly difficult to make it one's own."

"Many alchemists search their entire lives for Heavenly Flames and never get what they desire. After all, to control a Heavenly Flame, one must draw it into one's own body.

"And Heavenly Flames are all violent, destructive things. Even metal as famous for its toughness as Demonic Gold Diamond cannot withstand their burning, much less the frail flesh of a human.

"Such an act is no different from playing with fire and burning oneself. Thus, only a very small number of lucky people can, through fortunate circumstances, refine a small cluster of Heavenly Flame and nurture it into their own fire seed. Without exception, such people are all outstanding figures in the alchemy world..." Fire Elder's eyes revealed his longing for Heavenly Flames.

"However, even if one cannot obtain Heavenly Flames, other flames can serve as substitutes. For example, Beast Flames are also quite effective."

As he spoke, Fire Elder extended his palm, and a ball of purple flame appeared above it. The air around the flame twisted, and Xiao Yun, seated nearby, could feel the terrifying heat contained within.

"See that? This is a Beast Flame. Do not envy your teacher. Once you become an alchemist, your teacher will find you a high-tier Beast Flame."

Seeing Xiao Yun staring fixedly at his flame, Fire Elder said irritably, "Enough. I have told you everything you need to know. Put away the medicinal cauldron and come with me to the pill-refining room to get some practice."