Soul-Nourishing Pill

Jia Nan Academy,

After refining the Qi Gathering Powder Xiao Zhan had requested, Xiao Qing left the dormitory.

He casually found a student who looked agreeable and had him deliver the jade bottle containing the Qi Gathering Powder to Xiao Ding.

The student had initially been somewhat unwilling, but upon hearing that a Second-Grade Qi-Boosting Powder would be his reward, he immediately agreed.

Watching the student's delighted departing figure, Xiao Qing smiled and shook his head.

To him, a Qi-Boosting Powder was merely a pill he could refine at will.

If it could save him some time for cultivation, he was more than happy to spend it this way.

Without lingering, Xiao Qing soon returned to his dormitory.

Sitting cross-legged on the bed, Xiao Qing sensed the Dou Crystal within his body.

After some thought, he decided not to take the Three-Stripe Green Spirit Pill Fire Elder had prepared for him in his Storage Ring.

Not long had passed since he broke through to Six-Star Da Dou Shi, and the Dou Qi in his body still carried some of the instability caused by his recent breakthrough.

If he rashly took the Three-Stripe Green Spirit Pill to raise his cultivation, he might need even more time afterward to temper it.

Xiao Qing shook his head and waved his hand, taking a medicinal cauldron and various herbs out of his Storage Ring. Green Spirit Flame surged into the cauldron as he began refining pills.

Tempering his Dou Qi and stabilizing his cultivation did not necessarily require sitting still with his eyes closed.

Pill refining could accomplish the same thing.

Through the constant cycle of consumption and recovery, his unstable Dou Qi could gradually become more solid.

One month later,

Inside the somewhat spacious dormitory, Xiao Qing sat solemnly before a medicinal cauldron.

This time, he was refining a Fifth Grade Soul-Nourishing Pill.

The Soul-Nourishing Pill formula was one of Fire Elder's many collections. It was said that he had discovered it in some ruins when he was young.

It could strengthen one's foundation, replenish one's essence, and nourish the soul.

This pill was far more difficult to refine than the Wind-Walking Pill, so Xiao Qing did not dare relax in the slightest.

Xiao Qing took a deep breath, his gaze sharpening as his mind controlled the heat within the cauldron. With a flick of his fingers, rare medicinal herbs were continuously tossed into it.

The emerald flames radiated terrifying heat, scorching the many herbs within the cauldron, yet they produced no visible change.

Xiao Qing had expected this. His expression remained unchanged as he slowly closed his eyes to rest his mind.

As time slowly passed, the herbs in the cauldron gradually shed their impurities and were burned by the flames into clusters of pure, multicolored medicinal liquid.

Sensing this, Xiao Qing opened his eyes and poured several Third-Grade Qi-Replenishing Pills from a jade bottle at his side into his mouth, preparing for any shortage of Dou Qi.

Then his gaze hardened as he began controlling the crystalline clusters of medicinal liquid, fusing them together.

Every medicinal herb possessed different properties, and the properties produced by combining different herbs also differed.

Thus, during this process, Xiao Qing not only needed to control the temperature of the flames, but also the order in which the medicinal liquids fused.

If the order went wrong, whether what formed would be a Soul-Nourishing Pill or a poison pill was anyone's guess.

The fusion process was delicate and lengthy. Gradually, fine beads of sweat covered Xiao Qing's forehead.

The Dou Qi within his body was continuously consumed and had begun to run dry.

Xiao Qing swallowed the Qi-Replenishing Pills in his mouth. As their medicinal power spread, his depleted Dou Qi began to recover.

The entire process lasted for most of the day. As the medicinal liquids fused, a round, plump pill slowly took shape within the emerald flames.

A violent ripple spread from the flames, striking the medicinal cauldron like waves and producing several thunderous booms.

At the same time, a rich medicinal fragrance spread through the room, showing signs of drifting outside.

Xiao Qing was somewhat surprised. Though both were Fifth Grade pills, the phenomenon created by the Soul-Nourishing Pill before him was far greater than that of the Wind-Walking Pill.

However, recalling the difference in their refining difficulty, Xiao Qing understood. Fifth Grade pills also varied in rank.

Not to mention that the Wind-Walking Pill he had refined before was not of particularly high quality, while this Soul-Nourishing Pill had already developed pill patterns!

Looking at the ring of emerald ripples on the Soul-Nourishing Pill, Xiao Qing's face filled with amazement.

I never expected the jade tube left behind by that Seventh-Grade Alchemist to improve me this much!

Over the past month, while refining pills to temper his Dou Qi, he had also continuously studied the contents of the jade tube.

Though he had vaguely sensed that he was improving, he had never expected to refine a Soul-Nourishing Pill with pill patterns!

Even as he marveled, Xiao Qing did not forget to maintain the heat, using Green Spirit Flame for the final nurturing.

About the time it took to drink a cup of tea later, the phenomenon slowly faded, and a crystalline pill drifted out of the cauldron.

Xiao Qing beckoned it over. After examining it, he stored it in a jade bottle to prevent the medicinal power from dissipating.

After placing the jade bottle into his Storage Ring, Xiao Qing slowly closed his eyes and began recovering the Dou Qi consumed during pill refining.

One hour later, Xiao Qing opened his eyes again, full of vigor.

He stood and stretched his limbs before walking to the bed and sitting cross-legged upon it.

After a month of pill refining, the Dou Qi in his body was no longer as unstable as it had been right after his breakthrough.

It's time to take the Three-Stripe Green Spirit Pill.

Xiao Qing turned his palm over, and a jade bottle containing a Three-Stripe Green Spirit Pill appeared in it.

As the mouth of the bottle tilted slightly, an azure pill the size of a longan rolled out.

Three rings—one emerald, one yellow, and one red—were arranged in perfect order across the surface of the round pill.

The three rings represented the three kinds of flames used when refining the Three-Stripe Green Spirit Pill.

They represented Xiao Qing's Green Spirit Flame, Fire Elder's Dou Qi flame, and the Bloodflame Fire he controlled.

Feeling the surging energy contained within the pill, Xiao Qing took a deep breath and placed it in his mouth.

The Three-Stripe Green Spirit Pill melted upon entering his mouth. Before Xiao Qing could react, it swiftly transformed into waves of pure energy, each stronger than the last, pouring down his throat and into his meridians.

The instant the three streams of energy entered his meridians, they erupted with a searing temperature comparable to flames.

Feeling the pain coursing through his body, Xiao Qing frowned and circulated his cultivation technique to rapidly refine the three streams of energy.

As the refinement deepened, streams of pure energy flowed through his meridians and into his Dou Crystal.

The Dou Crystal refused nothing, greedily devouring the pure energy gained from refining the Three-Stripe Green Spirit Pill like a black hole.

After an unknown amount of time, accompanied by a surging roar, the aura Xiao Qing emitted suddenly rose by an entire level.

Rumble!

Seven-Star Da Dou Shi... Eight-Star Da Dou Shi...

As the aura radiating from Xiao Qing reached the realm of Eight-Star Da Dou Shi, the medicinal power of the Three-Stripe Green Spirit Pill was also about to run out.

Sensing this, Xiao Qing frowned.

By his calculations, after taking the Three-Stripe Green Spirit Pill, he should have broken through to Nine-Star Da Dou Shi.

Looks like this is as far as I can go.

Xiao Qing felt somewhat regretful, but he still took out the jade bottle containing the Soul-Nourishing Pill from his Storage Ring.

He poured out the Soul-Nourishing Pill and swallowed it.