Breakthrough to Fourth-Grade Alchemist

After a while, a somewhat hurried set of footsteps approached. Gu Ni entered and handed Xiao Yao a crystal card. "Sir, this crystal card is a VIP card of the Mite'er Family. As long as you hold this card, you will receive VIP treatment at any auction house under the Mite'er Family. At the same time, the auction tax rate will be reduced from five percent to two percent."

Xiao Yao reached out and accepted the crystal card, noticing that the Mite'er Family crest was engraved upon it.

At that moment, a maid ran in from outside carrying a tray. On it were a Storage Ring and a green card.

"Sir, this Storage Ring contains twenty sets of the medicinal ingredients you listed earlier. The other green card contains the 1.53 million gold coins earned from this auction. This includes the proceeds from the twenty bottles of Foundation-Building Spiritual Liquid you previously sold to the auction house. After deducting the two percent tax, the cost of the ingredients, and the Storage Ring, the remainder has all been deposited onto this green card."

After taking the card, Xiao Yao put on the Storage Ring and said in a low, deep voice, "If there's nothing else, I can leave now, right?"

"Hehe, of course, sir. If you need any resources in the future, you can come to our Mite'er Family. We will do our utmost to find whatever you need. And if you ever need to auction any pills, please remember to favor the Mittel Auction House!" Gu Ni said with a smile as he stroked his beard.

"Mm." Xiao Yao answered casually, then left the appraisal room and headed toward the auction house entrance.

Watching Xiao Yao's departing back, the middle-aged man asked quietly, "Master Gu Ni, judging by the ingredients he needed, could he be planning to refine a Fourth-Grade Pill?"

Gu Ni withdrew his gaze, glanced at the middle-aged man, and said, "Mm. His alchemist rank is at least Fourth Grade. It is normal for him to purchase such ingredients. Remember, you must never offend someone like him. Otherwise, even the Mite'er Family won't be able to protect you." With that, he turned and left.

After the auction ended and Xiao Yao had successfully obtained the ingredients, he returned to his small courtyard. He considered whether to refine the Flame Grass first or begin refining the Fourth-Grade Qi-Gathering Powder.

The little girl in green walked over. Looking at the smiling and adorable Xun'er before him, he said with a smile, "Girl, why are you back? Has the auction ended?"

"Yes. Before it ended, I saw someone wearing a black cloak. That person's back looked especially like someone's. Brother Xiao Yao, who do you think it was?" As she spoke, Xun'er's eyes curved slightly like a pair of beautiful crescent moons.

After hearing this, Xiao Yao laughed awkwardly. "Haha, I didn't expect that even after disguising myself so thoroughly, you would still recognize me, girl. Xun'er, you didn't tell anyone else, did you?"

Xun'er said with a smile, "Brother Xiao Yao, to be honest, you were the one who refined the Fighter Pills and Qi Gathering Pills that appeared at the auction, weren't you? You don't need to hide it from Xun'er. After all, Xun'er has watched you refine pills all these years."

"Um... fine. I was the one who gave those pills to the auction house to sell," Xiao Yao said helplessly.

Seeing Xun'er smiling, Xiao Yao walked to one side and sat down cross-legged. He said to her, "Xun'er, I plan to start refining a new pill. Keep watch for me and don't let anyone disturb me."

Xun'er looked curious and patted her chest. "Leave it to me, Brother Xiao Yao. Refine in peace. But can you tell Xun'er what kind of pill you plan to refine?"

"I plan to try refining a Fourth-Grade Qi-Gathering Powder and see whether I can succeed," Xiao Yao replied.

Xiao Yao took out a set of ingredients from his Storage Ring. Four fifty-year-old Inkleaf Lotuses, two ripe Snake Saliva Fruits, a roughly twenty-year-old Spirit-Gathering Grass, and a water-attributed second-tier Magic Core appeared beside him. He then took out the Earth-Tier Replica Black Demon Cauldron that the system had rewarded him earlier.

Supporting her chin, Xun'er was stunned when she saw the Medicine Cauldron Xiao Yao had taken out. She hurriedly asked, "Brother Xiao Yao, could that Medicine Cauldron be the Black Demon Cauldron, ranked eighth on the Heaven Cauldron Ranking?"

If Yao Lao heard that, he would definitely jump out and say that the real Black Demon Cauldron was with him.

Looking at Xun'er's astonished expression, Xiao Yao smiled. "This Medicine Cauldron was modeled after the real Black Demon Cauldron. Look, it has two fewer fire vents than the genuine one."

After speaking, Xiao Yao closed his eyes. In his mind appeared the required flame temperatures and timing for extracting the essence from the ingredients of the Fourth-Grade Qi-Gathering Powder.

After a while, Xiao Yao opened his eyes. It was time. With his left hand, he grabbed an Inkleaf Lotus and tossed it into the cauldron, carefully using the flames to slowly extract its essence. The Inkleaf Lotus gradually turned into a mass of inky-black liquid, which slowly rolled within the flames and reflected a faint sheen.

Upon seeing this, Xiao Yao immediately increased the flame temperature. Yet at that moment, because his control over the temperature was not steady enough, most of the liquid turned directly into black impurities.

Xiao Yao expelled the useless impurities from the Medicine Cauldron and took out another Inkleaf Lotus. This time, he finally controlled the temperature properly and refined it into a deep-black liquid only the size of his thumb.

Xiao Yao stopped refining it further and threw in the other three lotuses. He refined them all into deep-black liquid, then merged the four drops into one larger drop before continuing to temper it with flames until it returned to its original size.

Finally, he tossed the two ripe Snake Saliva Fruits into the flames, where they turned into an emerald-green liquid. After removing the impurities from it, he layered the liquid over the earlier mass of dark-green liquid. As the two liquids merged, a series of crackling sounds rang out. Under the tempering of the flames, they gradually formed a pill embryo with a rough surface.

Finally, he threw in the roughly twenty-year-old Spirit-Gathering Grass and the water-attributed second-tier Magic Core together. He tempered them with flames, removed the impurities, and at the critical final moment formed them into a pill.

Xiao Yao looked at the pill and felt its quality was lacking, so he continued refining. During this process, he wasted several sets of ingredients. In the end, after using up the remaining dozen or so sets, Xiao Yao successfully refined five pills of superior quality. The rest were all lower-quality pills.

Xiao Yao placed the five slightly emerald-green pills, each carrying a faint trace of pale blue, into jade bottles he had prepared beforehand. He put the remaining pills into lower-quality jade bottles. Since their quality was not very good, he decided to auction them off.

Ding! Congratulations to the host for successfully refining a Fourth-Grade Pill and obtaining the "Fourth-Grade Alchemist" achievement. Reward: all Fifth Grade pill formulas and Fifth Grade medicinal ingredient mastery attribute.

Ding! Congratulations to the host for successfully completing the third mission: reach Fourth-Grade Alchemist before the age of eleven. The system has placed the Fallen Heart Flame in the System Space.

Ding! Congratulations to the host for obtaining the "Alchemy Mastery" achievement. Reward: Dou Technique, Traveling Secret.

Xiao Yao saw two flames floating in the air within the System Space, one blue and one red. Once my cultivation improves a little more, I'll refine one of them first.

Xiao Yao stretched lazily, then rose and moved his body as though shaking off every trace of exhaustion. His movements were smooth and powerful, revealing an indescribable confidence and composure.

He turned, his gaze landing on Xun'er. Xun'er was supporting her chin and watching him intently, as though she were pondering something important. Her eyes were bright and deep, as if they could see through everything in his heart.

Xiao Yao walked over and gently patted her shoulder. "Xun'er, what are you thinking about?" His voice was gentle and warm, making one feel incomparably comfortable and at ease.

Xun'er raised her head, looked at Xiao Yao, and smiled as she shook her head. "Nothing. I was only thinking about how far Brother Xiao Yao will be able to go in the future. I wonder whether Xun'er will be able to keep up with you."

Her voice was soft and pleasant, making one unable to resist wanting to be closer to her.

Looking at her smile, warmth surged through Xiao Yao's heart. He took out a bottle of superior-quality Qi-Gathering Powder and handed it to Xun'er. "This is for you. When you can break through to become a Dou Zhe in the future, use it for your breakthrough," he said in a low, magnetic voice.