A Year to Dou Wang and Sixth-Rank Alchemist, Yellow Mysterious Flame

Hearing Old Man Shennong's words, Yao Xuan was briefly stunned, but he quickly realized that Old Man Shennong intended to take him as a disciple!

Yao Xuan truly had not expected the great opportunity he had once imagined would really fall into his hands.

Thus, without the slightest hesitation, Yao Xuan immediately nodded and agreed.

"Junior is willing!"

Old Man Shennong nodded, but his tone shifted. "Kid, there is no need to get too excited..."

"I have always been a lone cultivator. Though I possess some skill in alchemy, I have no desire to be drawn into the conflicts of the Central Plains Continent..."

"Therefore, I will only give you one year. What level you can comprehend within that year will depend on your own fortune..."

Old Man Shennong was not lying. He had lived for an exceptionally long time and remained secluded in the Shennong Mountain Range for so many years, yet there had never been any word of him taking in disciples. Even his own name rarely appeared in public.

Now that he was willing to teach Yao Xuan for a year, it was indeed an enormous opportunity for the current Yao Xuan...

Yao Xuan solemnly said, "Thank you, Senior!"

"Receiving your guidance is already the greatest honor..."

As Old Man Shennong looked at the respectful and steady-tempered Yao Xuan, a trace of satisfaction flashed through his cloudy eyes.

Having lived in seclusion in the Shennong Mountain Range for countless years, Old Man Shennong had seen innumerable young alchemists of extraordinary talent. Yet only Yao Xuan before him possessed top-tier temperament, comprehension, and perseverance.

He was worth the effort of guidance and cultivation. That was why Old Man Shennong had made an exception and agreed to instruct him for a year.

The next moment, Old Man Shennong raised his five fingers slightly, and two streaks of light flew from his sleeve, hovering steadily before Yao Xuan.

One was an ancient, yellowed jade tome. Faint spiritual light brimming with vitality lingered within the patterns on its pages, while a gentle aura of spiritual consciousness flowed indistinctly around it.

The other was a round pill that was crimson throughout, its medicinal fragrance vast and rich. Its pill patterns were intricate and interwoven, its spiritual glow heavy and restrained, and its medicinal power far surpassed that of any fifth-rank pill.

"This is the Origin-Returning Spirit Art, a cultivation method dedicated to the soul. It nourishes spiritual consciousness, stabilizes the soul foundation, and tempers the soul's origin. It is most suitable for your current Late-Level Mortal Realm soul state. It will allow you to improve steadily without any risk of cultivation deviation."

"This Sixth-Rank spiritual pill, the Scarlet Origin Marrow-Washing Pill, was personally refined by me. It is a sacred medicine for improving one's constitution. It can cleanse the tendons and marrow, remove the accumulated impurities and turbid qi from the body's meridians, broaden the channels for Dou Qi, and reshape one's cultivation foundation. It will bring endless benefits to both your future cultivation and alchemy."

Old Man Shennong had already seen that although Yao Xuan was highly talented, his bones and meridians did not match that talent. That was why he had given him a pill specifically meant to cleanse his marrow and improve his constitution.

After all, Yao Xuan was merely a branch member of the Yao Clan. Those marrow-cleansing pills and medicinal liquids were privileges reserved for the main branch. A disregarded branch member like Yao Xuan naturally could not enjoy them.

That was why Yao Xuan's bones and meridians were somewhat frail—indeed, far too poor!

Yao Xuan was deeply shaken. He solemnly accepted the jade tome and pill with both hands.

The instant his fingertips touched the jade tome, Yao Xuan sensed the vast profundities of the soul path contained within!

From then on, Yao Xuan remained within the independent space Old Man Shennong had created and began a year of bitter cultivation and training.

Naturally, the first step of Yao Xuan's cultivation was to consume the Scarlet Origin Marrow-Washing Pill.

The medicinal power of a Sixth-Rank pill was vast, gentle, yet incomparably overbearing. The current Yao Xuan was only a Dou Spirit; logically speaking, he should not have been able to consume such a high-grade Sixth-Rank pill.

But Yao Xuan had no other choice. He could only take the risk.

The instant the pill entered his stomach, it transformed into rolling currents of heat that washed through the meridians and flesh throughout Yao Xuan's body.

Countless minute impurities accumulated over the years, as well as the turbid qi left behind by cultivation, were completely washed away and stripped from his body...

His bodily foundation was thoroughly reinforced, and the shackles on his cultivation were greatly reduced.

After stabilizing his foundation, Yao Xuan began comprehending the Origin-Returning Spirit Art day and night.

Previously, Yao Xuan's soul breakthroughs had all relied on the insights and accumulation gained through alchemy. He had never possessed a systematic method for cultivating the soul.

Now, with this soul cultivation method to support him, Yao Xuan calmed his mind each day to nourish his soul and temper his spiritual consciousness. Combined with the insights from alchemy that nourished his origin, his soul power steadily surged at a visible rate.

In just a few months, Yao Xuan's soul had completely stabilized at the Late-Level Mortal Realm. He continued to advance, and he vaguely felt as if he were nearing the peak of the Late-Level Mortal Realm.

At the same time, the alchemical knowledge Old Man Shennong imparted to him abandoned the rigid conventions of the mundane world. He taught Yao Xuan the supreme truth of refining pills according to natural momentum and borrowing the vitality of heaven and earth, causing Yao Xuan's alchemy to improve by leaps and bounds!

Under Old Man Shennong's meticulous guidance, the nourishment of top-tier cultivation methods, and the support of a perfect physical foundation, Yao Xuan's talent in alchemy finally bloomed completely.

From that day onward, Yao Xuan immersed himself in alchemy day and night. Starting with the refining techniques for high-grade fifth-rank pills, he gradually began attempting to refine low-grade and mid-grade Sixth-Rank pills...

In less than a year, Yao Xuan had firmly entered the ranks of Sixth-Rank Alchemists. His alchemical skill was exquisite, and his techniques had reached perfection...

While his alchemy advanced, Yao Xuan's cultivation progress was even more astonishing.

With his bones and meridians improved through marrow cleansing, his pure soul power assisting his control of Dou Qi, and the many top-tier pills provided by Old Man Shennong...

Yao Xuan's Dou Qi cultivation seemed to have no limits.

Starting as a Three-Star Dou Spirit, his cultivation advanced with irresistible momentum—Four-Star and Five-Star Dou Spirit—until he reached the barrier of Dou Wang.

After exactly one year of bitter cultivation, he finally stabilized at the level of a Three-Star Dou Wang!

A year of seclusion passed in the blink of an eye...

At this moment, Yao Xuan's temperament had become completely different.

The youthful awkwardness of the past had faded away. His aura was steady and profound, his Dou Qi condensed and majestic, and his spiritual consciousness deep and restrained...

He possessed both the gentle composure of a Sixth-Rank Alchemist and the overwhelming pressure of a Dou Wang expert...

Old Man Shennong had witnessed all of Yao Xuan's changes over the past year.

He was extremely satisfied. "In one year, you went from Dou Spirit to Dou Wang and attained the level of a Sixth-Rank Alchemist..."

"I truly do not understand it. With talent like yours, if the Yao Clan had been willing to devote some resources to properly nurture you, your achievements would surely not have been low. Yet they actually expelled you from the Yao Clan..."

Yao Xuan smiled faintly. "That was also thanks to your guidance, Teacher. Only then was this junior able to grow so quickly..."

Old Man Shennong waved his hand. "It has been a year. There is no need to remain so polite..."

"Now that the year has passed, our agreement has also come due. It is time for you to leave this place..."

As Old Man Shennong spoke, a flash of light flickered at his fingertips. A jade-green Storage Ring then emerged from the void and landed in Yao Xuan's palm.

"Within this Storage Ring are some pill formulas and medicinal ingredients that you may need when traveling through the Central Plains..."

Hearing that Old Man Shennong had even prepared such things for him, Yao Xuan was deeply moved. He bowed deeply three times toward Old Man Shennong. "I will never forget Teacher's kindness for all eternity!"

Old Man Shennong gave Yao Xuan one final look before speaking solemnly again. "Very well, very well..."

"Since you and I share such deep fate, I shall grant you one final opportunity..."

Old Man Shennong then pointed with his finger, and a green light wrapped around a map before flowing into the jade-green Storage Ring once more.

"This is a map showing the emergence location of the Yellow Mysterious Flame, ranked twenty-third on the Heavenly Flame Ranking..."

"Though it is a Heavenly Flame near the bottom of the ranking, it is still a Heavenly Flame. Whether you have the fate to subdue it will depend on you."

After Old Man Shennong finished speaking, he gave Yao Xuan no chance to respond. With a light wave of his hand, a green-glowing spatial passage appeared behind Yao Xuan. Streams of energy surged out from within and directly carried Yao Xuan into the passage, away from the Shennong Mountain Range...

At this very moment.

In the distant Jia Ma Empire of the Northwest Continent, within the Xiao Household of Wu Tan City.

An elderly voice rang out with a hint of disdain.

"Xiao Yan!"

"Dou Qi Stage, third level!"

"Low grade!"