Refining the Strength-Gathering Pill

"Not bad! I didn't expect you to truly defeat the combined assault of five Magical Beasts." Medicine Elder floated out of the Ring and spoke approvingly.

"Don't even mention it! I nearly died." Xiao Yan curled his lip, then smashed open the Giant Lizard's head to see whether it contained a Magic Core.

"Aren't you perfectly fine?" Medicine Elder said with a smile.

"It really has a Magic Core!" Xiao Yan pulled a crystalline core from the Giant Lizard's skull and exclaimed in delight.

"Mm, not bad! This is something we Alchemists cannot do without," Medicine Elder said.

"Oh, right! When I was surrounded by those five Magical Beasts, I suddenly felt my Qi Sea grow hot, and the poison seemed to vanish. Why was that?" Xiao Yan asked in confusion.

"Haha! The Yin-Yang Twin Flame within your body is the bane of all poisons in the world. What does a little poison like that amount to? You possess such a rare treasure, yet you still got beaten into that state. How embarrassing!" Medicine Elder stared at Xiao Yan disdainfully, looking as though he hated to see iron fail to become steel.

"How was I supposed to know it could detoxify poison? If anyone is to blame, it's you for not telling me earlier. You make me discover everything on my own." Xiao Yan curled his lip.

"If I had to tell you everything, what would be the point? All right, you've collected quite a few Magic Cores and medicinal herbs lately. It's time for you to learn alchemy. Your strength has improved well enough, but alchemy is just as important." Medicine Elder looked at Xiao Yan.

"Fine! I'll check whether the other four Magical Beasts have Magic Cores first, then I'll start refining medicine." Xiao Yan immediately agreed upon hearing this.

During this period, Xiao Yan had focused entirely on fighting Magical Beasts, while his alchemy had not improved at all. It was time to work on it.

Xiao Yan cut open the heads of the other four Magical Beasts. He found an ice-attributed Magic Core inside the Ice Serpent, a wind-attributed Magic Core in the Demon Wolf's skull, and an earth-attributed Magic Core in the Rock-Armored Giant Elephant's head. Even the weakest Flame Hound had yielded a fire-attributed Magic Core.

"My luck is incredible today! Usually, I'd only find one Magic Core after killing two or three Magical Beasts, but today I got five at once." Xiao Yan said with a smile.

"Hehe, that's because these Magical Beasts were all fairly strong, basically at least mid First-Rank. The stronger a Magical Beast is, the greater the chance it will produce a Magic Core." Medicine Elder was also quite pleased to see Xiao Yan obtain five Magic Cores at once.

"I need to make a cave quickly so I can refine medicine!" Xiao Yan looked at the Magic Cores in his hand, unable to wait any longer.

Xiao Yan looked around and discovered a cliff face to the east, which was just right for use as a place to refine medicine. He headed over there and soon reached the end of the cliff face.

Xiao Yan moved lightly as he searched the cliff for a suitable location. Refining medicine required an extremely quiet environment. If he was disturbed carelessly, at best the refinement would fail; at worst, his soul could suffer severe damage, or he might even die outright.

After searching for quite some time, Xiao Yan finally found a steep cliff face nearly a hundred meters above the ground. Unless it was a Flying Magical Beast, it would be difficult to reach. With a wave of his hand, black-and-white flames appeared in his right palm. Xiao Yan controlled the flames and burned out the outline of a cave. Under the searing heat of the Heavenly Flame, the cliff face melted like plastic. Before long, a small cave appeared before Xiao Yan.

Xiao Yan looked at his handiwork and nodded in satisfaction. As his trump card, Xiao Yan generally would not use the Heavenly Flame lightly, even in battle. Once he used it, it was practically cheating. Forget First-Rank Magical Beasts—even Second-Rank Magical Beasts were nothing before the Heavenly Flame. If he relied on it all the time, his training would become completely meaningless.

After the temperature inside the cave dropped, Xiao Yan stepped inside. However, it was already afternoon, and the sun had moved westward, making the cave quite dim. Xiao Yan took several Moonlight Stones from his Storage Ring and embedded them into the cave walls. They emitted a faint glow, driving away the darkness within.

Once the cave was as bright as day, Xiao Yan returned to the entrance, removed the black greatsword from his back, and slashed at the boulders on the cliff. He used the fallen rocks to seal the entrance, leaving only narrow gaps for ventilation.

Xiao Yan sat cross-legged inside the cave, took the Medicinal Cauldron from his Storage Ring, and gently placed it before him.

"Teacher, what pill should I refine now?" Once everything was ready, Xiao Yan asked Medicine Elder.

Seeing Xiao Yan being so cautious, Medicine Elder nodded approvingly and said with a smile, "The minimum standard for a First-Grade Alchemist is being able to refine at least one pill-form medicinal pill. The Blood-Coagulating Powder you refined before also counts as a first-grade medicine, but that was merely for practice."

"This is the formula for the Strength-Gathering Pill. It is one of the simplest first-grade pill-form medicines, as well as one of the formulas used in the First-Grade Alchemist examination. Try refining it first."

Medicine Elder lightly tapped Xiao Yan's brow with his finger, and Xiao Yan immediately felt a stream of information flood into his mind.

"Strength-Gathering Pill: first-grade medicinal pill. It can increase a person's strength to a certain extent. Required ingredients: one Azure Spirit Grass, one Purple Essence Fruit, and one Purple Mystic Flower."

The ingredients required for the Strength-Gathering Pill were all low-grade medicinal herbs, and Xiao Yan had gathered quite a few before. During these past dozen days of training, Xiao Yan had not only fought Magical Beasts, but also learned to identify the herbs in the Warcraft Mountains and how to gather them. The Warcraft Mountains were exceptionally rich in medicinal herbs. In only a dozen days, Xiao Yan had filled an entire Storage Ring with them.

Xiao Yan took out all the ingredients needed to refine the Strength-Gathering Pill from his Storage Ring and arranged them beside him. After counting carefully, he found that he had more than fifty sets of ingredients.

Xiao Yan recalled the information about the Strength-Gathering Pill formula that Medicine Elder had just given him. After familiarizing himself with the temperatures required to refine each herb and the refining techniques, he prepared to begin refining medicine.

Xiao Yan extended his right hand and began drawing upon the Yin-Yang Twin Flame within his body. Born from the void of the universe, the Yin-Yang Twin Flame consisted of black and white flames entwined together, swimming like the twin fish of yin and yang. Yin and yang were natural laws, the origin that gave birth to all things in the world. The Yin-Yang Twin Flame, born from that origin, was one form of flame manifested by it, filled with the dual powers of life and death. Yang Fire saved people and gave life without end; Yin Fire killed people and left no bones behind.

Refining pills with Yang Fire could not only improve their quality, but also grant them a certain healing effect and other wondrous properties.

Xiao Yan extended his right hand, and a cluster of white flames immediately appeared in his palm. This white flame was the Yang Fire within the Yin-Yang Twin Flame. It was precisely because of the Yang Fire that Xiao Yan could recover completely no matter how severe his injuries were. The properties of this Heavenly Flame had also greatly strengthened both his body and his bloodline.