Spirit-Merging Pill, the Queen Appears, Memories Clarified

At the Nalan Clan, Xiao Yan withdrew the Heavenly Flame after Nalan Jie's body had reached its limit.

"Thank you, little brother Han Li. I can feel that the Brand Poison in my body has lessened considerably."

Nalan Jie wiped the bead-sized drops of sweat from his forehead. The excruciating pain brought by each poison-cleansing session had made him wish for death.

Yet, sensing the diminished Brand Poison within him, he smiled and spoke gratefully.

"It is merely a mutually beneficial arrangement."

Xiao Yan chuckled softly, though inwardly he was delighted.

The Brand Poison was a nightmare to others, but to him, it was an unexpected windfall.

This cleansing session had removed roughly two-tenths of the Brand Poison, since Nalan Jie had endured far longer than before.

Xiao Yan could hardly wait to return and refine this Brand Poison. It would likely raise him another star.

"Little brother Han Li, you have worked hard these past two days. Hehe, if you need any materials for Alchemy, just say the word. The Nalan Clan still has some stockpiled supplies."

Standing beside the bed, Nalan Su looked at the old man's reddened complexion with gratitude in his eyes as he spoke generously to Xiao Yan.

"Then I shall not stand on ceremony."

Xiao Yan considered it for a moment, then smiled and took out paper and a pen, swiftly writing out a long list of medicinal ingredients.

Nalan Su accepted the list and casually glanced over it. Though there were many ingredients listed, they were all common mid- to high-grade medicinal materials that should be available in the storeroom.

He summoned a maidservant and gave her the order.

Xiao Yan had not originally planned to ask for any ingredients. The benefits he had gained from cleansing the poison were already substantial. But thinking of how Nalan Yanran ate his food and lived in his space, he decided to consider it interest.

The three sat down in the hall to wait for the maidservant to retrieve the ingredients. The moment they were seated, servants brought them fragrant tea.

"Little brother Han Li, you came to the imperial capital this time to participate in the Alchemy Master Tournament, did you not?"

Nalan Jie took a sip of hot tea and asked with a smile.

Xiao Yan shook his head and said,

"I have no plans to participate."

Nalan Su looked puzzled upon hearing that. After all, the Alchemy Master Tournament was a grand event for all Alchemy Masters.

Not only were the rewards generous, but those who achieved outstanding results could become famous throughout the country.

For young Alchemy Masters, such an allure was undoubtedly enormous.

"What a pity. With little brother Han Li's mastery of Heavenly Flame, you would certainly shine brilliantly at the tournament.

I heard that the champion's reward is even a sixth-rank pill formula."

Nalan Jie was also puzzled as to why Xiao Yan would not participate in the Alchemy Master Tournament. Still, everyone had their own choices, and it was hardly something unconventional.

"A sixth-rank pill formula?"

Xiao Yan's pupils contracted. The reward for winning this tournament truly was generous.

However, with Medicine Elder around, Xiao Yan did not greatly desire a sixth-rank pill formula. It was not enough to move him.

Thinking Xiao Yan had been tempted, Nalan Su added from the side,

"I heard it is a pill formula called the Spirit-Merging Pill, a medicinal pill that allows the soul and body to merge. Its effects are somewhat niche.

But for a soul body, it is an exceptional sacred medicine. Not only can it rapidly restore soul power, it can also completely heal injuries the soul has once suffered."

"Little Yan, you must participate in this Alchemy Master Tournament."

"Brat, get that Spirit-Merging Pill formula for me. In the future, I will not kill you!"

The instant Nalan Su finished speaking, two soul voices rang out in Xiao Yan's mind.

The first was Medicine Elder's voice.

The second carried a trace of seductive charm. It was unexpectedly Queen Medusa's voice.

"Queen wife, you're awake?"

Overjoyed, Xiao Yan transmitted through his soul.

After asking the question, however, he received only silence. The Queen did not respond.

Xiao Yan frowned slightly. It seemed his Queen wife's soul had not yet recovered and had been suppressed again by Xiao Cai's soul.

It looked like he would have to participate in the Alchemy Master Tournament, obtain the Spirit-Merging Pill, and refine it for his Queen wife.

As for whether his Queen wife would kill him after taking the Spirit-Merging Pill, recovering her soul power, and taking control of the Seven-Colored Heaven-Swallowing Python's body, Xiao Yan was not worried in the slightest.

Once he obtained the Seven-Colored Spirit Saliva and Medicine Elder's soul power reached the Mid-Spirit Realm, Medicine Elder could possess him and unleash the strength of a Dou Ancestor.

And a high-star Dou Ancestor at that, enough to suppress his Queen wife, who had only just broken through to the Dou Ancestor realm.

"Teacher, do you need this Spirit-Merging Pill?" Xiao Yan asked through soul transmission.

"The effects of the Spirit-Merging Pill are special. Perhaps when I obtain a new body in the future, I may have use for it," Medicine Elder said.

"In that case, I shall participate in the Alchemy Master Tournament."

At that moment, the maidservant who had gone to the storeroom returned carrying a silver tray. Since there were many medicinal ingredients, more than ten maidservants carrying similar silver trays followed behind her.

Each silver tray held between two and five medicinal ingredients.

Xiao Yan brushed his hand over each tray in turn and stored everything in his Storage Ring.

"Elder Nalan, I happen to need the Spirit-Merging Pill formula, so I intend to try participating in the Alchemy Master Tournament.

Therefore, the poison-cleansing sessions may have to be delayed. My apologies."

Xiao Yan spoke with slight regret.

"Hehe, after two poison-cleansing sessions, I have already crossed the gates of hell. It will not be too late for little brother to cleanse my poison after the Alchemy Master Tournament."

Nalan Jie said with a smile.

Xiao Yan smiled at those words, then rose to bid farewell.

With Nalan Jie and Nalan Su seeing him off together, Xiao Yan left the Nalan residence.

After returning to the inn, Xiao Yan entered the Portable Space. After "driving" Medicine Elder off the lotus platform, he began refining the Brand Poison within his body.

More than two hours later, Xiao Yan advanced to become a Six-Star Grand Dou Master.

Xiao Yan stretched lazily, feeling utterly refreshed.

Suddenly, his expression froze.

The moment he advanced to a Six-Star Grand Dou Master, his soul power rose slightly, reaching twenty times that of an ordinary person.

Though he was still at the Late Mortal Realm, he had reached a critical threshold.

Xiao Yan's memories became clearer.

Many memories sealed deep within his mind awakened.

He had lived four lives, and the memories of all four now surfaced clearly in his mind.

The people he had seen, the things he had encountered, and the books he had read throughout those four lives were all excavated from the depths of his memories and became crystal clear.

In his first life, on Earth, he was Yan Yinglong, an ordinary worker who lived to thirty-eight before dying suddenly from overwork and transmigrating into Xiao Yan.

In his second life, on Blue Planet, he was Xiao Yan, an LV5 author. While using a tablet to browse a mysterious website, he made a choice in a multiple-choice question, then was reborn into the Battle Qi Continent.

In his third life, on Earth, he was Li Hu, a boy from Sichuan. While surfing the internet at an internet cafe, he encountered an earthquake and was reborn into the Battle Qi Continent.

In his fourth life, on the Battle Qi Continent, he was Yan Yinglong plus Xiao Yan. He devoured Li Hu and became Xiao Yan.

Thus: the memories of four lives merged as one, restoring his true self and attaining the Dao as the Flame Emperor.

Xiao Yan slowly exhaled. Clarity filled his eyes, which shone like stars.

With a flash, he exited the Portable Space directly.

Then he headed straight for the Alchemy Masters' Guild.

Since he had decided to participate in the tournament, he naturally needed to learn about it first and register while he was at it.

Very soon, Xiao Yan arrived at the Alchemy Masters' Guild.

As the Alchemy Masters' Guild of the imperial capital, it had been built with majestic grandeur and occupied an enormous area.

Xiao Yan had changed into an Alchemy Master's robe and pinned on the badge of a Third-Rank Alchemy Master.

Therefore, when he reached the entrance, the guards respectfully ushered him inside.

The guild's interior was immense and was roughly divided into three main hall areas.

The trading area, the exchange area, and the high-grade area guarded by sentries.

Xiao Yan headed directly toward the trading area. There seemed to be a fortuitous encounter waiting for him there.

As he slowly walked past stall after stall, Xiao Yan felt as though his horizons had been broadened.

These stalls sold all sorts of rare medicinal ingredients, high-grade magic cores, medicinal pills, pill formulas, and more.

Xiao Yan even spotted several ingredients needed to refine the Purple Spirit-Restoring Pill. After asking about the price, he shook his head.

The stall owners did not accept gold coins. They either wanted medicinal ingredients they needed in exchange or medicinal pills, and those pills could not be below the fourth rank.

He would leave the headache of medicinal ingredients to Hai Bodong. Xiao Yan had no intention of being taken for a fool.

Xiao Yan continued looking around slowly, extending his soul power beyond his body to sweep across the stalls one by one.

Suddenly, a strange ripple flashed through his soul perception.

This was the end of the trading area, where there was a crude stall that could barely even be called a stall.

That was because its owner had merely spread a piece of black cloth on the ground.

The stall owner was a delicate-looking youth. Some ordinary medicinal ingredients and miscellaneous odds and ends were laid out on the black cloth.

Xiao Yan stopped and crouched before the black cloth. His gaze swept over the several dozen items upon it before quickly settling on a broken black jade fragment.

That strange ripple had come from the black jade fragment.

"Sir, is there anything you need?"

Seeing Xiao Yan's Third-Rank Alchemy Master badge, the delicate-looking youth asked respectfully.

The youth was called Han Wuwu and wore the robes of an Alchemy Master's apprentice.

Because his talent for Alchemy was poor, no one had taken him as a disciple.

He had learned Alchemy on his own through trial and error. After cultivating for many years, he was still only an apprentice.

Xiao Yan picked up the broken black jade fragment and asked with a smile,

"How do you wish to sell this?"

Han Wuwu was stunned. He had no memory of this black jade fragment and had even forgotten where he had obtained it.

He scratched his head and cautiously said,

"Sir, I would like to exchange it for a third-rank medicinal pill."

"Done."

Xiao Yan smiled as he placed the broken jade fragment into his Storage Ring. Then he took out two items and said,

"This is the third-rank medicinal pill you wanted: three Marrow-Cleansing Pills. I will also give you a first-rank healing pill formula."

Han Wuwu blankly accepted the Marrow-Cleansing Pills and the pill formula. Watching Xiao Yan's departing back, he then heavily kowtowed, tears filling his eyes.

This lord truly was a good person. Not only had he not bargained, he had even voluntarily raised the price. He gave three third-rank medicinal pills and even included a pill formula.

With these Marrow-Cleansing Pills, Han Wuwu could advance from a Dou Practitioner to a Dou Master.

And with this healing pill formula, he could refine healing pills to accumulate cultivation resources.

Many years later, when Xiao Yan attained the Dao and became the Flame Emperor, Han Wuwu learned that this lord had actually been the Flame Emperor. By then, he himself was already a Seventh-Rank Alchemy Master.

In Han Wuwu's eyes, Xiao Yan was a good person.

But in Xiao Yan's eyes, he had gained an enormous bargain.

Because the black jade fragment contained the Three Profound Changes of Heavenly Flame.

After obtaining the black jade fragment, Xiao Yan returned to the center of the hall and asked a receptionist for the office of the Black Rock City branch of the Alchemy Masters' Guild.

The receptionist was a young and beautiful woman. A name badge was pinned above her rather impressive chest, and her name was Yang Li.

Yang Li had been lost in her fantasies when Xiao Yan interrupted her. Seeing his Third-Rank Alchemy Master badge, she was startled and pointed her slender jade finger toward the quiet western area.

"Sir, that is the office area for the various branches throughout the Jia Ma Empire."

"Thank you."

Xiao Yan chuckled softly.

Yang Li let out a breath and tapped her head with her delicate hand.

"Idiot Yang Li, you need to be more serious at work. If you offend an Alchemy Master, you'll lose this high-paying job."