(Have you guys watched the anime adaptation of Peerless Tang Sect? What did you think?)
Yao Lao toyed with the two crystal-clear Soul Bones, his brows tightly furrowed. Clearly, he was pondering something.
Huo Yuhao stood beside him, nervously watching his expression.
He did not know whether the energy aggregates inside Soul Beasts that Yao Lao had mentioned were Soul Bones. If they were not, he would have to put more effort into searching.
After a while, Yao Lao's brows finally relaxed. A smile touched his lips as he glanced at Huo Yuhao beside him and said, "Kid, you've been worried sick, haven't you?"
"How could I not be nervous, Teacher? I went to a lot of trouble to extort these two Soul Bones from Ma Xiaotao. It would be such a waste if we couldn't use them," Huo Yuhao said with a miserable expression.
"The path of cultivation has its gains and losses. If you can only accept gains but cannot accept losses, problems are bound to arise in your state of mind," Yao Lao said solemnly. "Only by maintaining balance in your heart can you avoid straying onto an evil path..."
At this point, Yao Lao seemed to remember something, and his expression grew bleak.
Huo Yuhao knew that Yao Lao was thinking of his former disciple, Han Feng.
Han Feng had been an orphan whom Yao Lao had rescued, growing up showered in his affection. Yet after reaching adulthood, his wolfish ambition drove him, under the enemy's instigation, to murder the teacher who had raised him, crushing his bones and scattering his ashes, all to seize a cultivation method called the Flame Mantra.
"Oh, Teacher, I know all that already. But can these Soul Bones be used to refine pills or not? You're really killing me with suspense!"
Huo Yuhao deliberately acted like a wheedling child, grabbing Yao Lao's illusory soul arm and swinging it back and forth. His somewhat childish behavior interrupted Yao Lao's recollections, and the old man shook his head with a helpless smile.
"You little brat. You're so shrewd that I hardly need to lecture you about lofty principles. Fine, I'll tell you. These Soul Bones can indeed be used to refine medicine, and they're even more effective than the magic cores from our world," Yao Lao explained.
"Soul Bones are not merely condensed from pure energy. They also contain the laws of heaven and earth, which is why they can grant Soul Masters those so-called Soul Skills. Of course, it's too early to explain all that to you. You only need to know that the presence of those laws is a great help in refining pills."
Huo Yuhao nodded and rubbed his hands together excitedly. "Then, Teacher, can you refine the Origin Pill now?"
"Mm, we have all the main ingredients, but we still need some essential supplementary materials. My knowledge of your world's medicinal herbs is still lacking, so I need to study them systematically. Go to the academy library tomorrow and find a sufficiently comprehensive book on medicinal herbs to consult," Yao Lao said with a nod.
"All right, I'll go to the academy library tomorrow at noon and look through the books," Huo Yuhao readily agreed.
"But there's one more thing you need to do." Yao Lao raised the two Soul Bones in his hand. "This green, wood-attribute Soul Bone can be used to refine the Origin Pill. As for this water-attribute Soul Bone, I intend to use it to refine a Blood Lotus Pill. You'll need it after you find the heavenly flames."
"After you take a Blood Lotus Pill, a strange energy blood scab will form over the surface of your body. This blood scab can withstand the scorching heat of extremely high temperatures. Only with its help will you have a chance to approach the heavenly flames at close range and seek an opportunity to devour them."
"So?" Huo Yuhao asked, his expression stiffening.
"Besides this water-attribute Soul Bone, refining a Blood Lotus Pill requires two medicinal herbs: blood lotus essence and ice spirit flame grass. After consulting the books tomorrow, if you can find these two herbs or heavenly treasures that can replace their effects, you'll need to start preparing to buy them as well."
"But as for the price of those two herbs... hmm... all your teacher can say is, work hard and earn plenty of money."
Huo Yuhao now wanted to cry but had no tears. At first, he had only wanted to obtain some materials for learning to refine medicine and to cast a Medicine Cauldron. That was why he had opened this barbecue stall.
But after he had finally managed to swindle some money out of Xu Sanshi, Yao Lao had suddenly told him that refining pills required Soul Bones, treasures of the Soul Master World, plunging his finances back into the red.
Then, through careful planning and precise timing, he had found Ma Xiaotao and staged a shakedown, successfully resolving the Soul Bone problem.
Yet now Yao Lao was telling him that he was short of money again and needed to work himself to the bone to earn enough to buy medicinal ingredients.
Everyone else who transmigrated to another world got some badass identity-a king, an immortal emperor, a smirking Dragon King. Why did a top assassin like me have to work himself to death after transmigrating?
If all else fails, I should just find a rich woman. I don't want to work hard anymore...
Rich lady, hungry, feed me.
"Yuhao, there's no need to worry. Once you reach rank twenty, I'll take you to the Far North Ice Plains to obtain your second Soul Ring and second Martial Soul. As for the heavenly flames you mentioned, I remember their location perfectly. Once we get to the Far North Ice Plains, I'll take you to find those heavenly flames."
At that moment, Brother Sky Dream, unwilling to stay out of the conversation, also offered Huo Yuhao encouragement from within the Sea of Consciousness.
The wonderful prospect of evolving the Flame Mantra immediately dispelled some of Huo Yuhao's resentment at being a miserable wage slave. Nodding lightly, he asked Yao Lao, "Teacher, what else do I need to devour the heavenly flames? You might as well tell me everything now so I can start preparing. After all, I'm already rank eighteen, not far from becoming a Soul Grandmaster."
"The Blood Lotus Pill is essential for approaching the heavenly flames. Without its protection, they will reduce you to a pile of ashes in an instant."
"The second material is called ice spirit cold spring. If the Blood Lotus Pill protects the surface of your body, then ice spirit cold spring protects your insides. It can keep that destructive heat from burning you into nothingness while you refine the heavenly flames."
"There's no need to worry about that. If Yuhao successfully obtains his second Martial Soul, the heavenly flames won't be able to harm any part of his insides, even without this so-called ice spirit cold spring," the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm said.
"Hmm, since you're so confident, I'll take your word for it for now." Yao Lao chuckled.
"The final material is called spirit nucleation. It can open up a special little space inside your body, a space used to store the heavenly flames. After all, given their nature of incinerating heaven and earth, if you haven't completely refined them, anything other than this sort of void space will be burned away instantly-including your body."
"Spirit nucleation?" Huo Yuhao said with a bitter smile. "I've never even heard of it. Where am I supposed to find this spirit nucleation?"
"You don't need to worry too much about spirit nucleation. Back when I was searching for heavenly flames, I happened to prepare a tiny bit extra. So the only thing you're still missing now is money," Yao Lao said with a smile.
"Making money, making money..." Suddenly, Huo Yuhao's eyes lit up, and he took a red card out of his Storage Soul Tool.
This card had been left behind by the original owner of the Storage Soul Tool ring, who had also owned the Shrek Grace Token that had secured his admission to Shrek Academy: a powerful expert from the Body Sect named Yu Chuan, who had lived thousands of years ago.
"I'll visit a bank in Shrek City tomorrow and see whether this card can still be redeemed for Soul Coins!"
Before you continue