Imperial Capital

Xiao Yan placed the white flame in his palm into the medicinal cauldron, using his soul perception to control its temperature within an appropriate range. He took out a portion of the Strength-Gathering Pill ingredients from beside him and tossed them all into the medicinal cauldron at once.

Since Xiao Yan had experience refining thousands of portions of Blood-Coagulating Powder and could freely control the temperature of any part of the flame, refining all three ingredients at once was effortless for him.

Under the scorching heat of the Heavenly Flame, the three ingredients were refined at a visible speed. Xiao Yan continuously observed their condition through the Ice Mirror of the medicinal cauldron. The Azure Spirit Grass and Purple Mystic Flower gradually turned into liquid, while the Purple Essence Fruit was refined into black powder.

After the preliminary refinement was complete, Xiao Yan adjusted the flame's temperature again and continuously scorched the three ingredients within the medicinal cauldron. After being roasted by the Heavenly Flame for a long time, impurities gradually began to emerge from them.

Xiao Yan continuously expelled those impurities with his soul perception until no more impurities appeared in the refined ingredients.

Once all the ingredients had been refined, Xiao Yan once again used his soul perception to control the fusion of the three materials. After they merged, a lumpy, uneven pill appeared inside the medicinal cauldron. Xiao Yan controlled the flame and continuously nurtured it. Before long, the pill's rough form became a crystal-clear medicinal pill.

Xiao Yan continued nurturing it with the Heavenly Flame for a while longer. The pill became rounder and smoother, and it gave off a faint fragrance. He extinguished the flame in the medicinal cauldron and slapped it, sending the pill flying out instantly.

With a beckoning gesture, the pill landed in Xiao Yan's hand. Feeling the slightly hot pill in his palm, he could not help but feel delighted. This was the first medicinal pill he had ever refined.

"Not bad! You actually succeeded on your first try. Congratulations. From today onward, you are also an alchemist," Medicine Elder said with a smile.

"Of course! Who do you think I am? Refining a pill like this is a piece of cake!" Xiao Yan said somewhat smugly.

"Oh? Say you're fat, and you start huffing and puffing! What are you showing off for after refining a low-grade pill? You possess a Heavenly Flame and have powerful soul perception. Even an idiot could succeed at refining pills with those two things!" Medicine Elder said disdainfully.

Xiao Yan casually tossed the Strength-Gathering Pill in his hand into his mouth. After swallowing it, the pill immediately transformed into a mass of pure energy that spread throughout his limbs and bones.

Xiao Yan felt full of vitality from head to toe, and his strength increased considerably. Though that small increase was negligible to him, what Xiao Yan lacked right now was exactly this kind of pill that could restore his stamina.

The cultivation technique within Xiao Yan's body could operate and cultivate on its own, and it restored Dou Qi quickly. But Xiao Yan was still flesh and blood, so he would naturally grow tired. Now, with the Strength-Gathering Pill, Xiao Yan had truly become a battle machine.

While his enthusiasm was still high, Xiao Yan continued refining pills. Only after refining more than fifty portions of ingredients into Strength-Gathering Pills did he nod in satisfaction. After storing the pills in jade bottles, Xiao Yan stretched lazily. Yet he did not feel particularly tired; instead, he was full of energy.

"Teacher, are there any other pills I can refine? I want to keep refining for a while," Xiao Yan asked with a smile.

"Hehe, you brat. Other people find pill refining dull and tedious, but you're getting more energized the more you refine," Medicine Elder said with a laugh.

"What's so boring about pill refining?" Xiao Yan said indifferently.

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You've never been on Earth. Working twelve-hour shifts was normal there, and some were even longer. Pulling all-nighters was common too. Other than meals, there was basically no time to rest during work. Even bathroom breaks had time limits, and going overtime meant getting fined. Compared to that kind of workload, what did pill refining amount to? Xiao Yan thought disdainfully.

"Hehe, since you don't mind the fatigue, I can't dampen your spirits. Here is the formula for the Flame-Congealing Pill. Its refining method is much more complicated than the Strength-Gathering Pill's, so give it a try," Medicine Elder said, transmitting the Flame-Congealing Pill formula to Xiao Yan once more.

After receiving the method and required ingredients for refining the Flame-Congealing Pill, Xiao Yan searched through his Storage Ring again for the necessary materials. The Flame-Congealing Pill was a little more advanced than the Strength-Gathering Pill, so there were not as many ingredients—only a little over thirty portions.

After taking out the ingredients, Xiao Yan continued refining. Other than failing once at the beginning because the technique was somewhat complicated, he did not fail again.

Looking at the more than thirty pale-red pills in his hand, Xiao Yan revealed a satisfied smile. This pill truly deserved its reputation for increasing the absorption efficiency of fire-element energy for fire-attribute cultivators. Merely smelling it made Xiao Yan feel extremely comfortable.

Xiao Yan casually took one and put it into his mouth. After swallowing it, he felt that the fire-element energy around his body had become much denser, and the efficiency of refining Dou Qi had increased considerably.

"Not bad! My cultivation speed has increased by quite a bit again." Xiao Yan nodded in satisfaction.

Although Xiao Yan's cultivation technique could operate on its own and allow him to cultivate twenty-four hours a day, Medicine Elder estimated that Xiao Yan could raise his strength by one star every month. This cultivation speed was already terrifying, but who would ever complain that their cultivation was progressing too quickly?

Xiao Yan stood up and stretched. After loosening his muscles and bones, he put away the medicinal cauldron on the ground, walked to the cave entrance, and unleashed a Cloud-Discharging Palm, blasting all the massive rocks blocking the entrance away.

Xiao Yan walked out of the cave. The glaring sunlight shone on his face, making him narrow his eyes. Shielding the sun with his right hand, he beckoned with his left, drawing a vine into his palm. Then, following the vine all the way down, he returned directly to the ground and continued his training journey.

Xiao Yan trained only in the outer region of the Warcraft Mountains, where the strongest Magical Beasts were Second-Rank Magical Beasts.

With Xiao Yan's strength, although he could not defeat a Second-Rank Magical Beast, escaping from one was easy enough. However, he would flee immediately only when he encountered a high-level Second-Rank Magical Beast. If he encountered one that had just entered the Second Rank, he would fight it to the death.

A newly advanced Second-Rank Magical Beast was far stronger than a First-Rank Magical Beast, but Xiao Yan's recovery speed for both injuries and Dou Qi was extremely fast. With the Strength-Gathering Pill supporting his stamina, he could wear them down. But these Magical Beasts were not like game bosses that would fight to the bitter end. They were highly intelligent, and upon seeing how troublesome Xiao Yan was, most would simply flee.

If a Second-Rank Magical Beast truly wanted to escape, Xiao Yan had no way to stop it. Even the Dragon-Grasping Hand would not work, because Second-Rank Magical Beasts were already enormous, and Xiao Yan's current strength was still insufficient to pull them in.

Xiao Yan fought Magical Beasts during the day to improve his strength, then refined pills at night to improve his alchemy skills.

Xiao Yan continued walking in one direction along the Warcraft Mountains. Three months later, he arrived at the capital of the Jia Ma Empire—the Imperial Capital.