Fourth-Rank Alchemist

At this critical moment, Xiao Yan picked up one herb from the third batch of ingredients and tossed it into the medicinal cauldron.

Not only were the non-alchemists dumbstruck, even the Alchemy Department students stood frozen in place. It took them a long while to recover, and every one of them scoffed at Xiao Yan's approach.

"Every formula is created by an alchemist through countless experiments. Not to mention a long-inherited formula like the Beast-Strength Pill, which was created by senior alchemists of old—the combination of ingredients is absolutely perfect. Xiao Yan is altering the formula on his own; it is nothing but drawing legs on a snake!"

"More than that! The ingredients for a fourth-rank pill are being destroyed so frivolously. Xiao Yan is simply wasting heavenly treasures!"

"I think Xiao Yan is courting death. If the cauldron explodes later, because he added extra herbs, the explosion's power will double and blow him straight to death."

The Alchemy Department students nodded deeply in agreement. Those who had experienced their medicinal cauldrons exploding more than once knew that power better than anyone.

Even explosions from first- or second-rank pills had left them grimy and battered, seriously injured. If a fourth-rank pill caused a cauldron explosion, they could only hope someone would be able to gather a whole corpse afterward.

Thinking that Xiao Yan was about to bring about his own destruction, they stopped pursuing the matter of his wasting medicinal ingredients.

Xiao Yan paid no attention whatsoever to what others thought. Not long after adding the first herb, he continued by tossing a second herb into the medicinal cauldron.

To him, alchemy had never followed any especially rigid formula.

Take the Foundation Establishment Spirit Liquid, for example. Its effects could originally only work during the Battle Qi stage, and even then, only through the first few levels. By the final stage, its effects became negligible.

To address this, Xiao Yan used herbs with greater age to enhance its medicinal effect, using them to fill the gap in the Battle Qi stage. With even better ingredients added, he had made its effects extend to the Dou Practitioner and Dou Practitioner stages.

Increasing the age of the herbs and increasing the quantity of herbs had always been Xiao Yan's two methods for pursuing stronger medicinal effects.

Just now, Xiao Yan had realized that the Beast-Strength Pill he had refined into a failed product lacked sufficient medicinal strength. At once, he found a way to successfully refine it.

Now, he had no way to increase the herbs' age, so naturally, he could only increase their quantity.

The flames within the cauldron split into two. Xiao Yan's palms flew like butterflies; one hand controlled the flames to stabilize the ingredients that were fusing, while the other refined the newly added herbs in the cauldron, extracting their essence and carrying it into the great mass of ingredients.

Within the medicinal cauldron, a patch of golden fire-clouds held up a lump of multicolored paste. Outside that paste was a golden sphere glimmering with strange light within, spinning around it at a rapid clip.

Each time the golden sphere made a circuit, the essence of the ingredients within it seeped into the paste. Under the sphere's roasting, the multicolored paste did not increase in volume. It even shrank slightly.

When all the essence had fused into the paste, the golden sphere vanished. More herbs were tossed into the cauldron, and a new golden fireball appeared.

As this repeated over and over, the multicolored paste shrank further and further, yet Xiao Yan made another startling move.

He directly tossed the failed pill into the medicinal cauldron.

The entire audience erupted in uproar. Han Xian believed Xiao Yan no longer had any hope, and in his delight, he gradually managed to refine some of the ingredients.

He did not seek to refine anything exquisite. As long as it bore even a trace of the Beast-Strength Pill's form, his task would be complete.

One proceeded cautiously, seeking stability; the other refined with bold abandon. Their speeds unexpectedly became evenly matched.

Under the watchful eyes of the entire crowd, Xiao Yan's medicinal cauldron was the first to show an anomaly. A violet-red pill fragrance wafted from it, spreading throughout the entire plaza.

As the people in the plaza inhaled that refreshing fragrance, they all felt clear-headed and invigorated, while the Battle Qi within their bodies circulated somewhat faster. Cultivating in such an environment would greatly benefit them.

Pills were essentially collections of immense energy. The pill fragrance they emitted mixed with the energy of heaven and earth, naturally making that energy exceptionally pure and becoming ideal cultivation energy.

Thus, once a pill was formed, it was usually placed into a jade bottle at once and carefully preserved, lest its medicinal potency diminish.

Hu Gan asked in surprise, "This fragrance is rather unusual. Could it be about to succeed?"

Generally speaking, before a fourth-rank pill took shape, it would produce a special pill fragrance. The more restrained and rich the fragrance, the higher the rank of the pill being refined. But it had failed last time.

Old Man Huo suddenly slapped his thigh. "He actually used the failed pill as a Magic Core! What a bold little brat!"

Watching Old Man Huo leap up in alarm, Hu Gan shook his head. The young one's actions were crazy, and the old one was not normal either. An alchemist's train of thought was not something ordinary people could keep up with.

Xiao Yan removed the violet-red pill and placed it into an exquisite jade bottle.

At this moment, a sharp, pungent odor rose from Han Xian's medicinal cauldron, swiftly covering the pill fragrance that had filled the plaza and making everyone cover their noses and cough.

Han Xian was intensely focused at the moment and noticed none of it. He took a violet-red round ball from the cauldron. It had the shape of a pill, but it was as large as a fist.

"It worked, I did it!" Han Xian cradled the medicinal lump in delight, overwhelmed with excitement. Through his unremitting efforts, he had actually refined and fused the ingredients together.

For someone who had only just reached the third rank to refine a fourth-rank pill, it was truly an enormous achievement.

"What exactly did you make?" Seeing him act like a madman, seemingly mentally unwell, Old Man Huo barked sharply.

That shout was wrapped in Battle Qi and shot directly into Han Xian's ears, striking him like a clap of thunder.

Han Xian's body trembled, and he awoke as if from a dream. Raising the medicinal lump in his hand, he said, "This student has finished refining. Please, Old Man Huo, appraise it."

The pungent smell assaulted his face. Old Man Huo rubbed his nose. "It was no easy task for you to purify and fuse the ingredients to this degree. If—if it were called a Beast Pill, then your pill could be said to be perfect."

Though there was a hint of teasing in his words, Han Xian still felt that it was a very high evaluation. After all, Xiao Yan...

Looking at the violet-red pill poured from Xiao Yan's jade bottle, Han Xian's jaw nearly dropped. When had this fellow succeeded? How had he succeeded?

Old Man Huo looked at the pill floating above his palm and nodded with great satisfaction. "It combines three batches of ingredients. This pill can be called a superior Beast-Strength Pill. Its efficacy likely does not fall short of an ordinary fifth-rank Dragon-Strength Pill."

"Have you refined it before?" Old Man Huo raised his head and asked.

"Me?" Xiao Yan raised a hand and pointed at himself.

"I really am muddleheaded." Old Man Huo smiled and shook his head. So what if Xiao Yan had refined it before? Would that not only prove that his talent was exceptional?

Old Man Huo raised the pill high above his head and declared loudly, "I announce that Xiao Yan is the victor of this competition!"

After a brief silence, the plaza erupted with waves of astonished exclamations.

They had accepted the proof of Xiao Yan's Battle Qi strength and believed that he possessed some talent in alchemy. Yet in so short a time, Xiao Yan had refined a fourth-rank pill.

Moreover, he had used three batches of ingredients to refine a superior pill, with a success rate even higher than that of someone who had just entered the ranks of Fourth-Rank Alchemists. This was an improvement even beyond the rumored third-rank level, and it was truly shocking!

Even across the entire Black-Corner Region, there were not many Fourth-Rank Alchemists, much less one who was only twelve years old.

Xiao Yu was greatly shocked. "In just over two years, Xiao Yan has actually become a Fourth-Rank Alchemist. Even Gu He, the Pill King of the Jia Ma Empire, did not grow at such a pace back then."

Xiao Xun'er murmured to herself, "If Brother Xiao Yan entered the Pill Tower, it seems he would not need much time to become an eighth-rank alchemist."

Han Xian had never imagined that Xiao Yan could truly refine a fourth-rank Beast-Strength Pill. He stood there stupidly, rooted to the spot.

Old Man Huo took the opportunity to instruct them. "In truth, the medicinal cauldron, flames, formula, and ingredients are all merely aids. They cannot guarantee success in alchemy. One ability an alchemist must master is adapting to changing circumstances.

"Every alchemist strives to create formulas of their own. Beyond displaying their Alchemy Art, the true meaning behind it is actually adapting to one's environment."

The Alchemy Department students listened with rapt attention, while those who could not refine pills also focused completely, deeply curious about the connection between alchemy and one's environment.

Old Man Huo said solemnly, "Herbs may one day vanish from the world, and Magic Beasts may one day go extinct. Alchemists continually create new formulas according to their environment and the ingredients they can obtain, so that all kinds of miraculous pills may continue to be passed down.

"Xiao Yan's talent is extraordinarily high. That is innate and difficult to replicate. But his spirit of making full use of everything available in order to refine a pill is something every student of our Alchemy Department can grasp."

Xiao Yan lifted a hand and rubbed his nose. He had only wanted to win and claim the reward; it was not nearly as lofty as Old Man Huo had made it sound.

Some people seemed to gain an insight. Han Xian tossed the failed product in his hand away and let out a long sigh. "I lost."

Xiao Yan caught the ball in his hand and smiled. "If Senior Han does not want it, then give this pill to me. After all, it was refined from fourth-rank pill ingredients."

"Hmph. Be careful it does not poison you to death. I do not offer after-sales service." Han Xian stared at Xiao Yan with reddened eyes, snorted coldly, put away his medicinal cauldron, and walked out of the plaza.

Xiao Yan stored the oversized pill in a jade box and thought, Beast Pills are naturally for beasts to eat. I will not take it, so how could it poison me to death?

Old Man Huo looked at Han Xian's retreating back and shook his head faintly. This student had good talent, but his temperament was somewhat lacking. He hoped this matter would offer him some enlightenment.

"Xiao Yan, according to our earlier agreement, you may choose two items from my collection. Come with me." Old Man Huo waved his arm, causing the stone platform to slowly descend and become level ground once more.

Xiao Yan's heart stirred. He had gone to great lengths to refine the pill precisely because he was very interested in Old Man Huo's collection. What good things might it contain?