After putting away the Medicine Gang's pills, Xiao Fan and Xiao Yan paid them no further attention.
"Then let's get started."
As those words fell, Xiao Fan and Xiao Yan's expressions gradually settled into calm focus. Yao Lao kept nodding in approval as he watched from the side. Restlessness was an Alchemist's greatest enemy, and from what he could see, both his disciples were doing quite well.
Xiao Yan had benefited from his constant guidance, but Xiao Fan was only about the same age as Xiao Yan. That he had made such enormous strides in cultivation yet still stayed true to himself came as a great surprise to Yao Lao.
Xiao Yan summoned the Green Lotus Core Flame and gently warmed his Medicine Cauldron, then prepared to begin refining the medicinal ingredients.
Beside him, Xiao Fan hesitated for a moment before deciding against using the Chaos Flame. It was not that he distrusted Yao Lao or the others, but sometimes, a secret was only a secret when just one person knew it.
Apart from Xiao Fan himself, no one knew about the Chaos Flame within him. Even the Eagle Protector, the only other person who had seen it, merely believed it was Mo Shang's exclusive flame.
Speaking of Mo Shang, ever since the Eagle Protector had taken him away, Xiao Fan could only vaguely sense his location. He could not maintain both sets of thoughts at once. It seemed their memories could only be synchronized when the two came into contact again.
As for betrayal, Xiao Fan was not worried in the slightest. Both were simply himself. Put another way, Xiao Fan now had two lives: if one died, the other would become the new Xiao Fan.
If one died, the Soul Origin within him would revert to its most