Phenomenon

Early the next morning, a light drizzle was falling from the sky.

In front of the Zhao Clan's gates, a crowd had gathered to see Zhao Li, Li Ling, and the others off.

Zhao Li looked at his own father.

"Father, Danxia Mountain isn't that far from here. You can get there in two hours. Don't act like this is a parting of life and death."

"You little brat, if you don't know how to talk, then keep quiet. No one asked you. It's just that you haven't really left home much, and your mother is worried about you."

Zhao Lingxiao laughed it off.

"Everyone, please head back. Danxia Mountain welcomes you all as guests."

Elder Wu said this to the crowd, then led Zhao Li and the others onto the flying Magical Beast and headed toward Danyuan Sect.

On Danxia Peak, Thunder Clouds sealed the sky, and Heavenly Might surged vast and boundless.

Within the sect, the elders and disciples who sensed this Heaven and Earth Phenomenon all felt their own insignificance, like mayflies between heaven and earth, like grains of millet in the vast sea.

Seeing that this was somewhat different from the usual Pill Lightning, as though a hint of color had been added to the dark clouds, someone said to the person beside him, "I feel like this Pill Lightning is stronger than any before. I wonder what kind of divine pill the Sect Master has refined this time. If only I had the chance to eat one too."

Seeing his yearning expression, the person beside him threw cold water on him.

"Wake up. It's broad daylight—what are you dreaming about? You'd be better off thinking about how to earn more Contribution Points and exchange them for a Purple Heart Barrier Breaking Pill to raise your Cultivation Level."

"The Sect Master's Alchemy Technique seems to have improved again. Why don't I have the talent to be an alchemist..."

Meanwhile, inside the small cabin on the flying Magical Beast's back, Zhao Li looked at the mountains rushing backward outside the window. Zhao Li knew this Magical Beast was extremely fast, yet he could not feel any shaking, which was rather amazing.

"Screech~"

Suddenly, the flying Magical Beast let out a terrified cry, and immediately after, Zhao Li felt a rush of weightlessness.

After the initial panic passed, Zhao Li circulated his Dou Qi and protected himself.

Elder Wu was a Dou Emperor expert, after all. At the very first moment, he had already circulated his Dou Qi and supported everyone. Seeing Zhao Li's reaction, he praised inwardly, "So young, yet calm in the face of danger. Such temperament is excellent."

It was easier to see a person's truest self in small details. Clearly, he likewise felt Zhao Li was quite good.

"No need to panic. This Magical Beast was startled by the Thunder Clouds drawn over by the Sect Master's pill refining. This old man will take you back."

Elder Wu had naturally sensed the phenomenon on Danxia Peak. After calming everyone, he condensed his Dou Qi Wings and brought Zhao Li and the five others into a streak of light, sweeping toward the mountain.

After Elder Wu brought everyone back to the sect, he brought Zhao Li alone to Alchemist Square. Looking at the Pill Lightning his senior brother had drawn over, he felt a little sour inside.

"I'm still lingering at the threshold of the seventh rank, yet Senior Brother has already touched the path to the eighth rank. Why is the gap between people so huge?"

Zhao Li did not know what Elder Wu was thinking. Looking at the white-haired old man in the square who was resisting the Pill Lightning while dividing his attention to condense the pill, his heart felt sour.

All these years, his master had treated him like his own grandson, yet he only thought of his master when something came up, and never came to visit when nothing was happening.

Zhao Li thought of the lonely, childless elders left behind that people spoke of in his previous life, and inwardly cursed himself.

Pill Lightning fell one bolt after another. Seeing the beads of sweat seeping from his master's forehead, Zhao Li was somewhat worried as well.

"If only there were a Heavenly Demon Puppet. It could absorb Thunder Tribulation and even upgrade itself. I wonder if Old Ghost Yan Mo has obtained the refining method at this point."

Zhao Li thought of Huo Huo's Tribulation Crossing Artifact. Not only could it withstand Pill Lightning, it could even use its energy to evolve.

As the medicinal pill took shape, the Pill Lightning also knew it could no longer do anything to it and gradually dispersed.

After putting the Ascension Venerable Pill into a box, Lin Lan laughed heartily.

"Hahaha, an unexpected joy! The pill refined this time actually reached the eighth rank."

Zhao Li let go of the heart he had been holding up and congratulated his master.

"Congratulations, Master, on advancing your Alchemy Technique once again."

"Since you refined an eighth-rank pill this time, Senior Brother, I'm afraid you'll become a Rank 8 Alchemist very soon, won't you? Congratulations, congratulations."

"I was merely lucky enough to touch the threshold. I'm still far from it." Lin Lan replied to his junior brother, then looked toward Zhao Li and said irritably, "You little brat, you've got quite the nerve. I gave you Qi Gathering Powder in hopes that it would make it easier for you to break through to Dou Zhe, but no one told you to break through in that kind of place. Don't think that saying a few nice words will make me let you off."

Zhao Li listened to his master's caring words, then looked at him stroking his beard, his face full of smiles, happiness, and relief. He only chuckled.

"It is this disciple who is unworthy. In the future, while following Master, I will still need Master to polish and teach me more."

"I'll have to trouble Junior Brother to take more care of the sect."

Seeing Zhao Li grinning cheekily, Lin Lan smiled helplessly and said this to Elder Wu. Then he called Zhao Li over.

"Let's go. I haven't visited you in a long time. I wonder whether you took to heart the pharmacology and Medicinal Ingredients identification I told you to learn. If you fail the assessment later, you'll have plenty to cry about."

Zhao Li followed his teacher away. As for the assessment, Zhao Li had not been slacking off these years.

Halfway up the main peak of Danxia Peak, a grand hall was built against the mountain.

Inside the hall, Lin Lan was testing Zhao Li. As Zhao Li identified one Medicinal Ingredient after another, with the age, attributes, and pharmacology all accurate without error, Lin Lan felt deeply gratified.

"Gifted with extraordinary talent, yet still able to study seriously. He truly is a rare good seedling for an alchemist."

After a long while, Zhao Li set down the final medicinal ingredient and asked Lin Lan, "Teacher, did I get any of them wrong?"

"You brat, stop showing off. The greatest taboo in refining pills is being impatient and restless."

Lin Lan looked at his disciple's proud expression and said it with a smile.

Zhao Li stopped messing around and grew serious. "Teacher, don't you trust me? Now you can finally rest easy and go get some sleep, right?"

"Heh, if you really cared, would you have gone so long without coming to see your teacher?"

Lin Lan chuckled, took out a cultivation method, and said to Zhao Li, "I noticed you don't seem to have started cultivating a cultivation method yet, and your Dou Qi still hasn't been converted into an attribute compatible with you. Cultivate this Earth Tier Low Grade cultivation method, Blazing Fire Burning Heaven, first. Convert your Dou Qi attribute into the cultivation method's attribute. When you're able to transform it into flames, you'll be able to formally attempt refining pills as well."

As he spoke, he added an explanation.

"Don't aim too high, either. High-tier cultivation methods can very easily trigger a Dou Qi riot. With the physical constitution and control over Dou Qi of someone at the Dou Zhe stage, you simply can't control rampaging Dou Qi. One careless mistake could even damage your own body. So when first beginning cultivation, the highest you should go is Earth Tier."

Zhao Li accepted the cultivation method and thanked his teacher. Seeing that his teacher had finally gone to rest, he also let out a sigh of relief.

Refining pills was already extremely draining on the mind, to say nothing of the fact that today's Pill Lightning had been at the Eighth Grade level. At the time, he had seen the beads of sweat seeping from his teacher's forehead, so he naturally knew that resisting the Pill Lightning had not been easy for him.

After returning to his residence, Zhao Li thought about what his teacher had just said, about converting the Dou Qi inside his body into Dou Qi of the cultivation method's attribute. He focused and sensed the Dou Qi within him, then suddenly understood.

So the Dou Qi inside a cultivator's body was attribute-less—or rather, it was Chaos Dou Qi containing all attributes. But because a person had attributes they were compatible with, and because cultivating a corresponding cultivation method not only sped up the absorption of Dou Qi of that compatible attribute but also made it easier to control after the Dou Qi was converted.

Zhao Li, however, did not convert it. Instead, he carefully comprehended the Chaos-attribute Dou Qi within his body.

He wanted to separate his Dou Qi. With National Martial Arts Body Cultivation, his control over himself was now almost meticulous down to the finest detail.

After a long while, a wisp of Dou Qi appeared at Zhao Li's fingertip. With a thought, that originally attribute-less Dou Qi turned into Fire Attribute. Then, under Zhao Li's control, it was metal one moment and wood the next...

Watching the Dou Qi before him cycle through the Five Elements, Zhao Li also tried converting it into mutated attributes like ice, lightning, and wind, but for the moment, he was unable to succeed.

Zhao Li once again sank into thought...