Medicine Formula

At dawn, a thin mist shrouded the summit of the back mountain. A breeze swept through, carrying wave after wave of howls that sounded anything but human.

Within a secluded grove atop the back mountain, Xiao Yan sat cross-legged on the ground, palms and soles facing the sky. Cold sweat streamed down his forehead, while pale red welts covered his bare upper body.

Beside Xiao Yan, Yao Chen sat cross-legged atop a huge boulder, watching the grimacing youth with a stern expression. With a flick of his hand, a pale red Dou Qi whip shot forth and struck Xiao Yan's shoulder, leaving behind a long bruise.

"Awooo!!!" Xiao Yan let out a wolfish howl. His shoulder throbbed with pain, and a numbing sensation spread from it through his body. He nearly failed to maintain his cross-legged cultivation posture.

"Quit screaming and hurry up, circulate your cultivation art!" Yao Chen picked at his ear and looked at Xiao Yan disdainfully. "You can't take this already? Anyone who didn't know better would think little Xiao Yan had gone weak at such a young age. Want your master to refine some pills to build you back up?"

"Hiss—" Xiao Yan gritted his teeth, circulated the Heavenly Cycle Art, and swallowed the curse that had nearly escaped his lips. He roared, "Who said I can't take it? Again!"

Yao Chen looked at Xiao Yan with satisfaction. You asked for this, so don't blame your master... Ah! How miserable! He silently mourned for him while his hands moved even faster.

After a long while, Yao Chen finally stopped. "That's enough. We'll end it here for today." At those words, Xiao Yan's taut nerves relaxed. His body went limp, and he fell backward.

"Awooohohoho!!!"

The instant Xiao Yan's back touched the ground, he sprang up and flipped over.

"Ah, how cruel." Yao Chen shook his head with a mournful expression. "Stop hopping around. When your emotions settle from intense excitement into calmness is the best time to cultivate the Spirit Condensation Formula."

A series of footsteps approached. Huo Yuhao entered the grove carrying a medicinal cauldron on his shoulder, his storage ring stuffed full of herbs.

"Teacher, I bought all the ingredients needed to refine the Foundation Establishment Elixir and Bloodburn."

"Perfect. Give me the ingredients for the Foundation Establishment Elixir first. Ordinarily, with Xiao Yan training like this, if he doesn't soak in the Foundation Establishment Elixir immediately to disperse the bruised blood, there'll be lasting repercussions."

Xiao Yan's expression changed drastically. He leaped up from the ground and was about to rush over and grab Yao Chen by the collar. Huo Yuhao set down the cauldron and reached out to pull him back. "Don't panic. Let Teacher finish."

As Yao Chen refined the Foundation Establishment Elixir, he explained to Xiao Yan, "This Heavenly Cycle Art is truly ingenious. Normally, one can't cultivate a cultivation art at the Dou Qi stage. The meridians aren't strong enough then; even the Dou Qi of a Yellow-tier cultivation art would damage them. Yet the Dou Qi cultivated through the Heavenly Cycle Art during the Dou Qi stage does not increase in power. Instead, it focuses on improving restorative ability. That way, even if circulating it too quickly damages the meridians, they'll immediately heal."

After taking a breath, Yao Chen continued, "So right now, you only have superficial injuries. You don't even need treatment. The medicinal bath is for your cultivation."

Xiao Yan scratched his head. "Haha, so that's how it is. Oh right, Master, I've always wanted to ask—what rank is the Heavenly Cycle Art?"

Seeing Huo Yuhao staring at him as well, with a rare hint of curiosity on his face, Yao Chen pondered for a moment before shaking his head. "Hard to say. After reaching Dou Zhe, the power this cultivation art displays is merely at the low Xuan tier. Its reserves are average as well, but its Dou Qi recovery speed is even faster than some Earth-tier cultivation arts. Together with its unique restorative power and ability to refine foreign energies, it can be considered high Xuan tier in its initial stages."

"That's not especially high. Master, what were you so amazed about?"

Yao Chen gave him a sharp knock on the head. "I wasn't finished! This cultivation art is an unprecedented all-attribute cultivation art!"

"All-attribute?" Xiao Yan asked curiously. "Isn't it attribute-less? And I've never seen Yuhao use any attribute other than ice."

"Not the sort of all-attribute you're thinking of." Huo Yuhao said solemnly, "When it was created, the hope was that it could... In any case, whatever attributes you possess, it transforms into a cultivation art of the corresponding attributes. It can also draw upon the power of the stars in the heavenly cycle to gradually improve the quality of those attributes."

"That's right." Yao Chen took over. "For example, Xiao Yan, your primary attribute is fire. If you cultivate it deeply enough, the fire of your own Dou Qi may even rival Heavenly Flames. So it can be considered an evolving cultivation art."

Yao Chen paused, a complicated look flashing through his eyes as he said to Xiao Yan, "Actually, this cultivation art is much safer than the Burning Incantation, and its potential is no worse. Xiao Yan, you..."

"What are you saying, Master? Didn't we agree?" Xiao Yan interrupted him with a grin. "If I kept cultivating Yuhao's cultivation art, how could I surpass him? Once I fuse with several Heavenly Flames, I'll definitely boil his ice into water!"

"Hehe, seventh stage Dou Qi." Huo Yuhao looked at Xiao Yan with a mocking smile.

"That's only because I wasted a year! Otherwise, I wouldn't be worse than you!"

"I'm already a nine-star Dou Zhe. Can you recover to Dou Zhe before I break through, you tiny seventh-stage Dou Qi?"

"You—you just wait! Thirty years east of the river, thirty years west of the river. Never mock a poor youth!"

Watching the two bicker, Yao Chen rubbed at the corner of his slightly moist eye and snapped, "Enough nonsense. Xiao Yan, go soak in the Foundation Establishment Elixir. Yuhao, tell your master about this cauldron. Low-tier alchemists have no use for such a large medicinal cauldron."

"Ohohoha—!" Xiao Yan made monkey noises in the Foundation Establishment Elixir. Accompanied by his cries, Huo Yuhao explained the functions of the Soul Tool medicinal cauldron to Yao Chen.

"This is truly an interesting idea. Temperature control, extraction, and pill condensation can all be assisted by core formation arrays. No wonder you said that even those without fire attributes can refine medicine. With this cauldron, even those physicians could become alchemists. If this were spread..."

Yao Chen did not continue that topic. Instead, he began examining the ingredients Huo Yuhao had brought for refining Bloodburn.

Huo Yuhao took out several scrolls whose ink had yet to dry and handed them to Yao Chen.

"Teacher, these are some pill formulas I studied before."

"Oh? Let me see. Mysterious Water Pill, enhances talent. Qi-Recovery Pill... pfft, what kind of ridiculous name is that? Spirit-Restoring Pill, seems to restore the soul? Heaven-and-Earth Creation Pill... heh, quite the boast..."

Yao Chen skimmed the names of the various pills and confirmed that they were all pills he had never heard of. He then began carefully studying the contents of the pill formulas.

The medicinal liquid became clear. Xiao Yan finished cultivating and raised his head, rubbing his eyes carefully as though he had just woken up.

"Did I transmigrate again? Why has Master turned into a monkey?"

Yao Chen was leaping and hopping about, then hurriedly moved close to Huo Yuhao. "Did you create this yourself, Yuhao? This kind of system..."

When he heard Huo Yuhao deny it, he let out a long breath.

"This is at least the inheritance of several generations—a new alchemical system! A genius idea! When we alchemists derive pill formulas, we only focus on medicinal properties. Why did we never think that we could completely discard the limitations of medicinal ingredients and refine pills solely through their medicinal properties?"

Coming back to himself, Yao Chen tossed the formula for the Heaven-and-Earth Creation Pill back to Huo Yuhao.

"This pill formula won't do. It merely piles up precious materials and has no value. Yuhao, do you have any more pill formulas that use medicinal properties so flexibly?"

"No. I only remembered these few."

"Ah!" Yao Chen's face was full of regret as he put away the pill formulas. Then his expression shifted, and he became smug again.

"Haha, I am the continent's number one alchemist. I'll master this system soon enough. You two keep cultivating. I'm going out to find some materials." With that, Yao Chen flew away with the Ancient Flame Ring.

Xiao Yan stared blankly in the direction Yao Chen had flown, dipped a finger in the water, and flicked it at Huo Yuhao.

"Hey! You fooled Master into running off!"

A vein bulged on Huo Yuhao's forehead as he pointed at Xiao Yan's basin.

"Aah!" In half a day, Xiao Yan had completed multiple species transformations. One could only marvel at the wonders of evolution!

"Huo Yuhao, you..." After jumping out of the basin, Xiao Yan pounced at Huo Yuhao, determined to avenge the freezing he had just suffered.

"Brother Xiao Yan, where have you been these past two days? Uncle Xiao is looking for you."

Xun'er suddenly entered the grove and saw Xiao Yan bare-chested and tangled up with Huo Yuhao. A blush spread all the way to her ears.

"Brother Xiao Yan, Brother Yuhao, what are you doing?"

Huo Yuhao instantly vanished from before them, leaving Xiao Yan to hurriedly pull on his clothes. Embarrassed, he said, "Ah, we were... wrestling!"

"Wrestling?"

"That's right. It's a secret art passed down in New Nippori. Once I master it, I'll be able to beat up alchemists."

"Brother Xiao Yan is saying strange things again. But why do you want to beat up alchemists?"