"Fortune had finally turned in my favor. This unlucky bastard had become a lucky king—this burst of luck was impossible to stop. I finally have an Earth-Tier Dou Technique."
Mu Chen laughed wildly for quite a while before finally calming down. He then took the newly acquired Earth-Tier Dou Technique light orb from his inventory.
Heavenfire Judgment, Level: Low Earth Tier, Purple Quality, Value: None. Effect: Gather the energy of heaven and earth from all directions through a unique hand seal, forming a fire diagram that condenses powerful fire meteors to rapidly strike a designated target. The best-compatible attribute is the Fire Attribute. Using Fire Attribute Dou Qi grants a partial power bonus. Dou Qi of other attributes can also activate it, but receives no additional bonus. Drawback: Using this Dou Technique requires resonance with one's own Dou Qi, placing tremendous demands on the purity of the Dou Qi and the user's physical body. Forcing its use may lightly result in shattered tendons and bones, or heavily result in immediate death.
"Whew, it really is incredibly powerful. Unfortunately, my Dou Qi might be fine, but my body clearly hasn't met the requirements to use this technique yet."
After calming his excited emotions, Mu Chen immediately absorbed the purple light orb. Just like Blazing Prairie Hundredfold Slashes before it, he automatically gained absolute proficiency in this Dou Technique.
1000 Points!
That was the number of points required for the next draw.
After leaving the roulette world, it was already late, so Mu Chen did not disturb Xiao Yi Xian.
Sitting cross-legged on the ground, Mu Chen closed his eyes and immersed himself in cultivation. His cultivation technique operated at full force, rapidly drawing in the energy of heaven and earth from the valley. Combined with Mu Chen's Dou Qi, it continuously washed over and tempered his body. Before long, the cave seemed to have transformed into a world shrouded in energy mist.
Time always slipped away unnoticed, and in the blink of an eye, ten days had passed.
Over those ten days, after Mu Chen shamelessly pleaded with her, Xiao Yi Xian finally agreed with a flushed face to let him hold her while they cultivated for an hour every day.
As a result, the Poison Attribute Space within Mu Chen's body also expanded rapidly. Awakening the Poison Attribute was now just around the corner.
Of course, Mu Chen also gathered medicinal herbs in the valley during the day to refine pills for daily use. For essential pills such as Qi-Replenishing Pills, he additionally set aside time to help Xiao Yi Xian become more familiar with using Dou Qi.
During the remaining time, he spared no expense of Dou Qi, using special pills and spiritual liquids to madly temper his physical strength.
To master Heavenfire Judgment as soon as possible, Mu Chen gritted his teeth and worked hard.
Inside the cave.
Crack, crack. It was as though the sound of a barrier breaking echoed within his body. Mu Chen opened his eyes and slowly exhaled a stream of white air, delight appearing on his face.
Although Mu Chen had used most of his Dou Qi over the past ten days to temper his body, his relentless cultivation still allowed him to break through by one star.
"I'm a Two-Star Dou Master now. As the Poison Attribute gradually awakens, the amount of Dou Qi I need to advance in cultivation has increased quite a bit. After doing the math, my cultivation speed has slowed somewhat.
"Still, although breaking through requires more Dou Qi, it also means that my Dou Qi reserves will far surpass those of others at the same level."
Bang!
A platinum-colored medicinal cauldron appeared out of thin air and crashed onto the ground.
Reviewing alchemy after cultivation had also become part of Mu Chen's daily routine. Since absorbing that strand of soul power within the Purple Cloud Wings, and after days of continuous pill refinement, his soul realm had finally broken through to the Intermediate Mortal Realm.
In terms of soul power alone, Mu Chen was now qualified to refine Fifth-Grade Pills. However, the process of refining Fifth-Grade Pills was far too complicated, and Mu Chen could not gather the necessary medicinal ingredients at present. More importantly, his Dou Qi reserves were nowhere near sufficient to support him in refining Fifth-Grade Pills.
"If I can't refine Fifth-Grade Pills, Fourth-Grade Pills should be no problem, right?"
Mu Chen muttered to himself. The Points Shop refreshed once every seven days. Without any surprises, he spent all his remaining 600 points, receiving a huge pile of alchemy materials in return.
"Blue Heart Pill," Fourth-Grade Pill. Effect: Restores thirty percent of expended Dou Qi within three breaths after consumption.
"Unfortunately, the Blue Heart Pill's thirty percent recovery effect is limited to those below the Dou Wang realm. Above the Dou Wang realm, its effects are greatly reduced. Otherwise, it would never be merely a Fourth-Grade Pill."
In an evenly matched battle, the Blue Heart Pill's thirty percent Dou Qi recovery would be enough to turn the tide.
This pill was essentially an upgraded version of the Qi-Replenishing Pill. Its refinement difficulty was not particularly high among Fourth-Grade Pills, barely reaching the level of a low Fourth-Grade Pill. Mu Chen mainly valued its powerful Dou Qi recovery effect.
"It requires Blue Zhi Flower Leaves, Vitality Fruit, and Origin-Restoring Herb as the main ingredients, along with one Second Tier Wood-Type Magic Core and eight supplementary herbs...
"Other than the Blue Zhi Flower Leaves and the Second Tier Wood-Type Magic Core, which are comparatively precious, the Vitality Fruit, Origin-Restoring Herb, and other medicinal ingredients can be found in the valley.
"I prepared three sets of materials. I wonder if I can successfully refine it."
Just as Mu Chen recalled the specific steps and precautions for refining the Blue Heart Pill, light footsteps sounded from the cave entrance.
Turning his head, Mu Chen immediately smiled. Xiao Yi Xian was walking toward him with graceful steps.
When Xiao Yi Xian saw the medicinal cauldron before Mu Chen, she immediately covered her cherry lips in surprise.
"Big pervert, you really are an alchemist? I thought you made it up to fool me."
Having prepared medicine for so long, Xiao Yi Xian merely took a light sniff with her delicate nose and immediately detected the lingering scent of burned medicinal herbs from the cauldron.
Xiao Yi Xian's arrival surprised Mu Chen slightly, but he quickly adjusted himself.
Mu Chen chuckled. "I know your wish is to become an alchemist. Believe me, I'll definitely make you an alchemist in the future."
Xiao Yi Xian said nothing. She sat on a stone some distance away, resting her jade hand against her rosy cheek as she quietly watched Mu Chen.
Xiao Yi Xian took Mu Chen's words merely as comfort. After all, everyone knew that the innate requirement for becoming an alchemist was not only possessing the Fire Attribute, but also having a trace of the Wood Attribute to catalyze the flames.
Xiao Yi Xian only possessed the Fire Attribute. Moreover, because her Woeful Poison Body had awakened, even that Fire Attribute had begun to fade, replaced by a pure Poison Attribute.
Mu Chen knew that Xiao Yi Xian definitely would not believe him. At present, he truly could not grant her the Wood Attribute, but he believed those problems could be resolved in the future.
Taking out the medicinal ingredients one by one, Mu Chen's gaze sharpened as he entered a state of complete focus. This was also one of the benefits brought by his Divine-Grade Talent.
After warming the cauldron, Mu Chen withdrew the ordinary orange-yellow flames. With a light press of his palm, the Xuan Huang Flame slowly entered the medicinal cauldron.
With a flick of his hand, he tossed all eight supplementary herbs into the cauldron at once. This move made Xiao Yi Xian look at Mu Chen suspiciously.
Even if she had never eaten pork, she had at least seen pigs run! Didn't alchemists extract medicinal essences with the utmost care?
Under the refinement of the Xuan Huang Flame, all eight supplementary herbs had their essences perfectly extracted in just around five minutes. Mu Chen slapped the cauldron, dividing his attention as he used part of his soul power to wrap the supplementary essences and move them to the edge of the cauldron. Then he began refining the main ingredients.
When it came to the main ingredients, Mu Chen became even more focused. Under his concentrated control, the extraction was completed very smoothly.
"Next comes the most important step: pill condensation."
Mu Chen increased the strength of the Xuan Huang Flame. He perfectly grasped both the amount and timing for fusing the various medicinal essences, while the alchemy experience in his mind displayed a terrifying effect that left one speechless.
Mu Chen was like a grandmaster who had immersed himself in the Dao of alchemy for decades, even centuries. Every deviation that arose during pill condensation was perfectly corrected by him.
Half an hour later, a pill fragrance that seeped into the lungs and heart wafted from the medicinal cauldron. Simply smelling it refreshed the spirit and cleared the mind.
"Pill fragrance overflowing—the Fourth-Grade Pill, Blue Heart Pill, is complete."
With a soft shout, Mu Chen slapped the cauldron lid. A streak of blue light flew out from the cauldron. He wrapped it in Dou Qi and suspended it above his palm before handing it to Xiao Yi Xian, who had come closer.
Curiously, Xiao Yi Xian took the pill from Mu Chen's hand. It was about the size of a longan, pure blue in color, with a full ring of pill patterns imprinted upon its surface. It continuously gave off a pill fragrance that made one feel refreshed and at ease.
"So this is a pill? As expected, it's nothing like the crude medicinal pellets I made by burning herbs with ordinary flames and roughly kneading them together."
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