You two are absolute geniuses

All right, all right, you're the greatest, old man.

Xiao Mo grumbled silently to himself. Of course, he did not dare say that aloud.

Yao Lao was positively exhilarated, especially under the admiring gazes of his two disciples. He felt as though he were floating among the immortals.

"All right, I've demonstrated the entire process for you. Now let's see how much the two of you understood."

With that, he stepped aside and let them go over to refine the pills themselves.

"You two will work together. Xiao Yan, your main task is to imitate what I just did. Put these herbs in one at a time, then refine them all together."

"Xiao Mo, wait a moment. During the refining process, help him regulate the heat. Use your Dou Qi to help him control the size of the flames. Understood?"

After speaking, Yao Lao fell silent and stood to one side, quietly waiting to see what they would do next.

Xiao Yan nodded and quickly approached the Alchemy Furnace. He tried to follow his master's movements as he placed the herbs inside one by one.

Xiao Mo stood by, ready to help.

Soon, their first batch of pills emerged.

Looking at the dozens of black pellets inside the Alchemy Furnace, all reeking of burnt herbs, Yao Lao rubbed his temples and barely managed to keep himself from shouting.

"My disciples can't possibly be this hopeless. Try again."

Xiao Yan nodded, suppressing his unease as he carefully thought back over Yao Lao's movements once more.

When the second batch came out, it looked much better than the first. However, some of the herbs inside had not dissolved at all and were even still in their original form.

Those dozens of pills had gone to waste as well.

Anxiety immediately welled up in Xiao Yan's heart. The sight of Yao Lao's frustration at his failure only made him feel more guilty.

He had just destroyed nearly half their herbs. If this continued, he was no longer sure whether he could actually refine any pills.

Watching this, Xiao Mo sighed.

A strict master might produce outstanding disciples, but a master who was too harsh would only make his disciples timid, just as was happening now.

He stepped forward and gently patted Xiao Yan on the shoulder.

"Don't be nervous. I'll do this with you."

Then he had Xiao Yan continue adding herbs according to the procedure, standing beside him to weigh out each amount in grams together.

Soon, after the first batch of herbs went in, Xiao Yan immediately condensed a Dou Qi flame and began heating the Alchemy Furnace.

As the herbs inside tumbled incessantly, Xiao Mo suddenly acted. A wisp of cold energy from his hand instantly covered the surface of the Alchemy Furnace.

The temperature, which had been climbing sharply, quickly dropped a little.

"The temperature's too high. If I sensed it correctly earlier, Master's temperature was slightly lower than yours is now."

"Don't be nervous, junior brother. At worst, we'll ruin a few batches of herbs. I believe you can do it."

With that, he slowly adjusted the area covered by the ice, keeping the pills inside at the right temperature so they could take shape as quickly as possible.

Seeing him control the ice so effortlessly and regulate the pill furnace's rotation, Xiao Yan gradually calmed down.

As he relaxed, he nodded and slowly recalled his master's movements, carefully heating the contents bit by bit at the same level of heat his master had used.

Watching their movements from the side, Yao Lao's face filled with gratification.

"I knew I hadn't misjudged them. These two are a match made in heaven. Either one is impressive on his own, but still has shortcomings. Put them together, though, and refining these pills becomes a breeze!"

"Xiao Yan is rash, but he's naturally gifted and possesses formidable strength. Most importantly, he has a special constitution. He'll certainly achieve something exceptional with fire Dou Qi in the future."

"As for Xiao Mo, that boy has a mind that sees every angle, and he's meticulous enough to fill in many of the gaps Xiao Yan overlooks. The two of them really are a match made in heaven."

Yao Lao clicked his tongue.

"What a pity. If only they were of different sexes, I'd insist on pairing them up."

At that thought, Yao Lao suddenly raised his hand and slapped himself across the face.

"You shameless old fool! What nonsense do you keep thinking about?"

Seeing his master suddenly slap himself, Xiao Yan felt his heart leap back into his throat just as he had begun to relax.

"Did I get something wrong again?"

He swallowed nervously. Seeing this, Xiao Mo turned and shot Yao Lao a fierce glare.

Couldn't this old man stop acting crazy when there was nothing wrong?

The two of us were refining perfectly well, and he suddenly slapped himself. Had he only just realized how talented we were and regretted not teaching us sooner?

Even so, there was no need to hurt himself.

He hurried forward and laid a hand on Xiao Yan's shoulder. At the same time, a wisp of frost flowed from his palm into Xiao Yan's shoulder.

Xiao Yan's restless anxiety quickly subsided under that wisp of Ice.

"Don't be nervous. That shameless old master of ours probably started thinking about something else. He's not saying our refining failed."

"You're doing very well, and I can feel that the pills are almost formed. We're going to succeed this time."

Hearing this, Xiao Yan immediately nodded.

His confidence soared, and his hand movements grew increasingly practiced.

Once faint popping sounds came from their Alchemy Furnace, the two promptly began drawing their Dou Qi back in gradually.

At the same time, Xiao Mo quickly covered the furnace with Ice, sealing all the hot air within the Alchemy Furnace.

Several pills spun incessantly inside the furnace. The scorching Dou Qi rapidly heated them until they glowed red, and soon a layer of dark red radiance appeared on their surfaces.

Moreover, that radiance seemed to contain a few wisps of icy blue.

Once the rotating pill furnace came to a complete stop, the two hurriedly called Yao Lao over to inspect the pills they had refined.

Yao Lao walked over to the pill furnace, reached out to lift its lid, and leaned in to admire his two disciples' work.

But when he saw what was inside, his back abruptly stiffened. He froze on the spot, seemingly unable to move for a long time.

Unease immediately rose in Xiao Yan's heart.

"Master, is there something wrong with the pills I refined?"

He nervously rubbed his palms together. Sure enough, he had been too conceited. He had thought that with his senior brother's help, he would surely succeed, only to end up disappointing his master again.

But the next second, Yao Lao suddenly straightened, his face instantly lighting up with wild delight.

"Damn, you two lads are something else! These pills look like they're a whole grade higher than the ones your master refined. You two are absolute pill-refining geniuses!"