Taking Medicine Elder as Master

At dawn, a ray of morning light filtered through the window, warm sunlight falling over him. Xiao Yan opened his sleepy eyes and saw an elderly figure standing beside the bed, smiling at him.

"Holy shit! Who are you? What are you doing here?" Xiao Yan jumped in fright at the sight of the somewhat transparent, white-bearded old man before him. Anyone would be scared if they woke up and saw something like a ghost.

"Hehe! Don't worry about who I am. I won't harm you, that's all you need to know. Sigh! After all these years, I finally found someone who meets the requirements. It wasn't easy! Still, I should thank you for your offerings over the past three years. Otherwise, I probably would have remained asleep."

"So you're the one behind the disappearance of my Dou Qi over the past three years?"

When he had just awakened, his head had been muddled, and he had not realized that Medicine Elder had awoken. He had thought he had truly encountered a ghost. But after Xiao Yan came to his senses and learned that this old man was Medicine Elder, he could not help feeling excited. Still, to avoid giving himself away, he put on an angry expression.

"Enough! Stop pretending! You discovered my existence long ago, didn't you?" The old man rolled his eyes.

Xiao Yan's eyes darted around as he said with a grin, "Hehe, I only knew that the disappearance of my Dou Qi wasn't due to my cultivation talent. As I grew older, my soul perception became stronger, and the speed at which I absorbed Dou Qi also increased. Yet the Dou Qi I cultivated always vanished for no reason. That was why I guessed something had to be absorbing my Dou Qi, but I didn't know you were the culprit."

"Hehe! You are clever, but how did you notice that the problem lay with the Ring on your hand?"

Xiao Yan had thought his actions were flawless. When bathing, he had casually taken off the Ring, believing that would keep Medicine Elder from noticing. But how could Xiao Yan's little trick possibly fool the experienced Medicine Elder?

"Hehe! I was just checking from the outside first! Out of everything on me, this Ring is the only thing that's a little unusual," Xiao Yan said with a smile.

"You didn't just discover it yesterday, did you?"

You must have awakened long ago, you bastard! Xiao Yan grumbled inwardly. Still, he casually made something up. "Not that early. I only discovered it two years ago!"

Damn it! I've known since I was born! What, can you guess that? Can you tell I'm a transmigrator too? Other than how many hairs you have on your body, I know everything else. Xiao Yan rolled his eyes inwardly.

"Then why didn't you take it off earlier? That way, you wouldn't have had to endure people mocking and ridiculing you every day."

"That was because I learned that becoming a Dou Zhe too early isn't necessarily a good thing. I only discovered that after becoming a Dou Zhe. The disappearance of the Dou Qi Vortex actually made me feel relieved," Xiao Yan explained calmly.

"Hehe, you are clever indeed! Many people think the earlier one becomes a Dou Zhe, the better. Yet when they reach a certain realm and find themselves unable to advance for the rest of their lives, only then do they regret it beyond measure!"

"Hehe! That still doesn't erase the fact that you absorbed my Dou Qi for three years! Tell me, how are you going to compensate me?" Xiao Yan said with a cold laugh.

"Hehe, that's true. Do you want to become an Alchemist?"

"An Alchemist? I can?" Xiao Yan asked excitedly. After coming to the Dou Qi Continent, he had been confident about becoming strong, but he was less certain about becoming an Alchemist. An Alchemist not only needed fire-attributed Dou Qi, but also a trace of wood affinity mixed into that fire affinity. A person's attributes were determined directly by their soul, and he was not the Xiao Yan from the original story. He did not know whether he possessed a fire affinity. Only after the coming-of-age ceremony, when choosing a Dou Qi cultivation method, would his Dou Qi attributes be tested.

"Mm! You barely meet the requirements," the old man said somewhat insincerely.

Xiao Yan rolled his eyes. Barely? It reminded him of every homeroom teacher's timeless saying back in high school: "You are the worst class I have ever taught!"

"You can teach me? You're an Alchemist too?" Xiao Yan asked, pretending to be confused.

"Hehe! Of course. Do you want to learn or not?"

"Yes! I do!" Xiao Yan hurriedly replied.

"Then hurry up and acknowledge me as your master!"

Xiao Yan performed the apprenticeship ceremony with great solemnity, and the old man accepted it just as seriously. Clearly, he placed great importance on such formalities.

"My name is Medicine Elder. As for my background, I cannot tell you yet, lest it distract you. You only need to know that under my guidance, not only will you become a powerhouse on the continent, but you will also become a respected Alchemist!" Medicine Elder said calmly.

"Now that I've acknowledged you as my master, shouldn't there be some sort of apprenticeship gift? A Heaven Tier cultivation method or battle skill would do. I'm not picky," Xiao Yan said with a smile, scratching his head.

"Heaven Tier cultivation methods and battle skills? With your Third Duan Dou Qi, could you even cultivate them if I gave them to you?" Medicine Elder rolled his eyes.

"Hehe, then a Profound Rank battle skill should be fine, right?" Xiao Yan had only been joking when he asked for a Heaven Tier battle skill.

"That can be considered. What kind do you want?" Medicine Elder said calmly as he stroked his beard.

"Do you have any offensive ones?" Xiao Yan asked awkwardly, scratching his head.

"I'll take a look." Medicine Elder rubbed his forehead with a finger and slowly began searching.

As Xiao Yan watched Medicine Elder search for a battle skill, he was ecstatic, feeling as though he were drawing a lottery prize or opening a delivery package.

"Found one."

Medicine Elder moved his finger away from his forehead and, beneath Xiao Yan's wildly delighted gaze, lightly tapped his forehead.

When his forehead was tapped, Xiao Yan's head swelled slightly as a great amount of information flooded into it. Only after a long while did he gradually regain his senses.

"Blazing Fire Palm: Profound Rank Low Grade. It can create powerful wind pressure!"

"Blazing Fire Palm?" Xiao Yan looked somewhat disdainful. He had thought it would be something like Eight Extremes Collapse.

"Hehe! You only have Third Duan Dou Qi right now. This is about the only thing you can cultivate. The creator of this technique was a blacksmith. He spent his entire life forging iron, and because he needed furnace fire, he somehow created this fire-blowing battle skill..." Medicine Elder teased as he looked at Xiao Yan's somewhat stiff expression.

Blazing Fire Palm was not difficult to learn, and its Dou Qi circulation route was simple. Under Medicine Elder's guidance, Xiao Yan quickly learned it and initially grasped its essential trick.

Standing in the room and facing the half-open window, he circulated the Dou Qi within his body along the pathways of Blazing Fire Palm.

Blazing Fire Palm!

A faint gust of wind pressure arose from Xiao Yan's palm, causing the window to tremble slightly.

Pfft!

Seeing that Xiao Yan's Blazing Fire Palm was about as powerful as a fart, Medicine Elder could not stop himself from bursting into laughter.

Xiao Yan pursed his lips and glared at Medicine Elder. Was it really that funny?

"Enough! Enough! I'm done joking. Although I absorbed your Dou Qi for three years, it also made your foundation exceptionally solid. In Dou Qi cultivation, one's foundation is the most important thing. You will naturally learn in the future just how much benefit these three years of declining strength have brought you. Your strength is still too low, and you need to improve it first. But cultivating step by step is a little too slow," Medicine Elder said seriously.

"Teacher means I can use external assistance?" Xiao Yan asked somewhat doubtfully.

"More or less! However, with the toughness of your meridians as they are now, you cannot withstand the impact of the energy from any medicinal pill." Medicine Elder smiled faintly.

"Then do you have any good methods?" Xiao Yan asked, though he already knew the answer.

"Tomorrow, prepare three whole Purple Leaf Orchids, the older the better, as well as two Bone-Washing Flowers. Their age does not matter. Oh, right, you will also need a first-tier wood-attributed Magic Core. These are all low-grade medicinal ingredients, so I assume you can handle them... Someone is coming. I'll return to the Ring first. Remember, do not tell anyone of my existence, not even those closest to you." After giving his instructions, Medicine Elder turned into a streak of white light and entered the Ring.