Xiao Yan Refines Medicine, His Talent Shocks Yao Lao

Gu Ni opened the jade vial, and a pill the size of a longan rolled out, jade-green in color.

"Quality: perfect!"

The moment the jade vial was opened, a rich fragrance wafted out.

Gu Ni and Ya Fei exchanged glances, their expressions turning solemn.

Ya Fei beckoned, whispered a few words to a maid, then parted her red lips and said with a radiant smile:

"Your medicine-refining skill has truly opened my eyes, sir. I cannot help but admire you deeply."

"May I boldly guess that you have reached the realm of a fifth-tier alchemist?"

Yao Lao merely smiled noncommittally and did not answer.

Ya Fei did not probe any further and simply waited with a smile.

After sitting quietly for over an hour, a pretty maid finally entered from outside, carrying a small silver tray in both hands. Resting on it was a pale red ring.

Taking the silver tray, Ya Fei personally handed it to Xiao Yan and smiled. "Sir, the medicine cauldron and medicinal ingredients you requested are all inside this Storage Ring."

Xiao Yan reached out and picked up the ring, sending his soul perception inside. He then nodded, and Yao Lao's voice sounded. "Everything is here. I am very satisfied."

Ya Fei smiled. "As long as you are satisfied. Should you need anything in the future, sir, you may come to the Mitel Auction House."

At the same time, a trace of doubt surfaced in her heart. What kind of person was beneath that black robe? His voice was ancient, yet his hands were as fair as a young man's.

"Alright, there is no need to see me off. I can leave on my own."

Waving his hand, Xiao Yan rose to his feet and walked out of the auction house without looking back.

After leaving the auction house, Xiao Yan cautiously turned left and right. Only after sensing that no one was following him did he remove his black cloak in an empty alley, revealing his true appearance.

Afterward, Xiao Yan strolled casually through Wu Tan City as if nothing had happened, slowly making his way toward the Xiao Clan.

Xiao Yan did not return home. Instead, he changed direction and headed to the Xiao Clan's back mountain.

Sneaking into a concealed cave, Xiao Yan impatiently took the ring from his robes and sent a strand of Dou Qi into it. The pale red ring flickered faintly, and then a crimson medicine cauldron about half a meter tall appeared out of thin air within the cave.

The most conspicuous part of the cauldron was its base, where there were two snake mouths. The mouths formed interconnected fire channels, winding and twisting within, concealing profound mysteries.

"Those snake mouths are the fire vents. Two snake mouths mean that this cauldron is a two-vent cauldron."

At that moment, Yao Lao floated out of the black ring and explained.

"Try placing one hand over one of the fire vents, then circulate the Dou Qi within your body and send it inside."

Yao Lao sat cross-legged atop a massive boulder in the cave, instructing Xiao Yan.

Nodding, Xiao Yan pressed his right hand against the fire vent and slowly closed his eyes. The pale yellow Dou Qi vortex within him began to rotate, and a stream of pale yellow Dou Qi surged forth, casting a faint yellow glow over his palm.

Once the pale yellow Dou Qi reached his palm, the formation within the fire vent produced a fierce suction force and drew it in. It was then transformed into pale yellow flames that churned and burned continuously.

Seeing the flames suddenly appear, Xiao Yan was not alarmed. Instead, he felt a sense of familiarity.

He had fused with the Myriad Flame Emperor Body. As an emperor among flames, fire could not harm him; rather, it benefited him.

As he looked at the flames, he could control them at will.

"Not bad. You were not even frightened. The first time I used a fire vent to create flames, I was startled myself."

Approval appeared in Yao Lao's eyes as he continued his instruction.

"Now calm your mind and control that trace of wood attribute within your body. Then send it into the fire vent as well."

An alchemist's Dou Qi attribute needed to contain wood within fire. The wood attribute was not only crucial for neutralizing the violent energy of flames, but also essential for forming pills.

Wood represented vitality. It could activate the inherent medicinal effects of ingredients and eliminate the repulsion between different medicinal liquids.

With Xiao Yan's powerful soul perception, he found the faint wood energy within his body after two and a half minutes.

An extremely faint stream of green energy slowly flowed through the hand pressed against the fire vent and entered it.

The originally somewhat violent flames instantly calmed down, becoming easier to control and more enduring.

"Good!"

Yao Lao nodded and tapped a finger against Xiao Yan's forehead, passing him a prescription for a healing medicine.

Then, following the information in his mind, Xiao Yan began refining medicine for the first time.

Blood Coagulation Powder: one stalk of Blood Coagulation Grass, one Vitality Fruit, and half a poppy flower.

Xiao Yan's soul power entered the medicine cauldron and controlled the burning flames. It was as though there were a switch; he reduced the flames and lowered the temperature.

Yao Lao revealed a trace of surprise at the sight. He had not expected Xiao Yan's flame-control skill to be so proficient. Being able to reach this point meant that medicine refinement was already half successful.

For the moment, he said nothing and merely watched in silence.

After controlling the flames, Xiao Yan tossed a stalk of Blood Coagulation Grass into the medicine cauldron.

The Blood Coagulation Grass hovered above the flames as Xiao Yan slowly adjusted the flame intensity and temperature, beginning to temper it.

The moisture in the leaves evaporated, and the outer layer of grass was first burned into ashes, revealing the white core within.

Under the continued tempering of the flames, the white core gradually turned into a small pinch of white powder.

With a movement of Xiao Yan's soul power, he wrapped the white powder and drew it out, placing it into a jade box he had prepared in advance.

"Teacher, did I succeed?"

Xiao Yan asked uncertainly.

Yao Lao's mouth twitched several times, but he could not bring himself to say anything discouraging.

Faced with Xiao Yan's astonishing talent, Yao Lao felt deeply struck as well.

It seemed that his disciple possessed peerless talent in every aspect.

Even the medicine-refining talent he had always been proud of seemed inferior to Xiao Yan's.

With a soft sigh, Yao Lao said, "You succeeded. You have great talent for refining medicine."

Hearing Yao Lao's answer, Xiao Yan relaxed, a trace of joy rising in his heart before quickly fading.

He possessed a Spirit State soul and the flame-control ability of the Myriad Flame Emperor Body. If he could not even master such basic medicine refinement, he might as well smash his head into a block of tofu.

Afterward, Xiao Yan continued tempering stalk after stalk of Blood Coagulation Grass into white powder. Of course, he did not succeed every time; one out of every ten stalks failed.

After all, refining medicine for extended periods consumed an enormous amount of Dou Qi.

No matter how powerful his flame-control ability was, he was only a one-star Dou Zhe, and his Dou Qi was not abundant.

For every two hours of medicine refinement, he needed to rest for half an hour.

Each time he exhausted his Dou Qi and then recovered it through meditation, his Dou Qi grew somewhat stronger.

At the same time, his soul power also grew slightly stronger through medicine refinement. However, since his soul power had already reached the early Spirit State, this degree of improvement was nearly negligible—practically no improvement at all.

This was also the primary method by which most alchemists strengthened their soul power: refine more medicine.

After tempering all five hundred stalks of Blood Coagulation Grass into white powder, Xiao Yan began tempering and extracting the other two ingredients.

With the experience from the Blood Coagulation Grass, he was already well practiced.

He extracted tiny black granules from the Vitality Fruit.

He extracted a pale red liquid from the poppy flower.

Yao Lao said, "The necessary ingredients have all been extracted. Now comes the process of fusing them together, the most important step in medicine refinement."

This step was also the one that required the most experience.