The injuries he had suffered today had actually mostly healed, which only deepened Tang Yan's interest in the Heaven-Earth Creation Cauldron.
This mysterious cauldron could not only absorb spiritual energy and grow spirit herbs, but now it could heal injuries too?
Yet no matter what Tang Yan tried, he could not coax the slightest reaction from the Pill Cauldron. He sighed. It seemed he would need more time to unravel the Heaven-Earth Creation Cauldron's secrets.
When Xiao Cui returned with a cartload of medicinal ingredients, an eager gleam flashed in Tang Yan's eyes. He carried everything into the Pill Room and plunged into pill refining.
Selecting ingredients, tempering, extracting, Pill Shaping, nurturing the pills... he performed each step with practiced ease.
Whenever he finished a batch, he packed the pills into porcelain bottles.
Whenever his true qi ran dry, he swallowed a First Spirit Pill.
Tang Yan repeated this process over and over. Only after bottling another batch did he realize that he had refined every last ingredient!
Just as he was about to relax, a sudden disturbance stirred in his dantian.
Tang Yan's expression turned peculiar. This was clearly a sign of an impending breakthrough. Could I really advance just by refining pills?
With no time to think it over, he hurriedly sat cross-legged, swallowed a First Spirit Pill, and steadied his breathing, concentrating on his cultivation.
Time ticked away. The First Spirit Pill, which had dissolved the moment it entered his mouth, was gradually absorbed into his body. The circulating true qi swelled ever thicker within his meridians. Finally, Tang Yan gave a deep shout, and a crack rang out inside his dantian as he broke through the barrier at last!
Origin Tier Ninth Grade!
But Tang Yan did not stop there. He discovered that the true qi within him still had the momentum to charge onward.
Surely I'm not about to break through again? After a brief moment of distraction, Tang Yan cast aside his stray thoughts and continued guiding the true qi through his body.
After all, he had experienced consecutive advancements before, so he was not overly shocked.
Like a raging flood or a savage beast, his true qi swept forward as though splitting bamboo, slamming hard into his dantian once more.
Before long, a bang sounded within his dantian. Tang Yan's body jolted, and the Heaven-Earth Creation Cauldron inside shook violently!
Tang Yan felt his dantian changing continuously, as though something were about to burst out of it.
Even with his exceptional composure, Tang Yan felt a tremor of fear. What the hell has appeared in my perfectly fine dantian now? Has something gone wrong with my cultivation? Am I about to suffer qi deviation?
While Tang Yan was still puzzling over it, a Youlan flame suddenly flared to life inside his dantian.
Tang Yan was greatly alarmed. Despite his wealth of experience, he had never heard of anything so bizarre as a dantian catching fire.
Yet after quite some time, the Youlan flame merely felt a little warm. Only after confirming that nothing else was amiss did Tang Yan finally relax completely.
"Supreme Pill Canon, Fire Control Technique!" Another stream of information flowed from the Heaven-Earth Creation Cauldron.
After carefully examining this information, Tang Yan's eyes lit up with wild joy!
It was actually the heaven-earth creation flame!
Not only could this flame greatly improve his success rate in pill refining, but he could also draw it outside his body and wield it as a powerful weapon.
"Come out!" After thoroughly absorbing these memories, Tang Yan willed it forth, and a Youlan flame danced playfully in his palm.
Wanting to test whether the flame truly had the power to burn, Tang Yan directed it toward a medicinal ingredient.
Without making the slightest sound, the herb instantly evaporated without a trace!
"Holy shit!" Tang Yan stared, dumbstruck by what he had just witnessed. This flame is actually that powerful?
Unwilling to believe it, he directed the flame at another medicinal ingredient. Once again, without the slightest sound, it instantly burned to dust.
Tang Yan's dantian abruptly emptied. His legs gave way, and he landed on his backside.
Those two brief uses of fire control had actually drained every last bit of true qi from his body!
Tang Yan realized that while the heaven-earth creation flame was indeed immensely powerful, it also consumed an enormous amount of true qi. I'm already at Origin Tier... huh? I've already reached Yellow Tier First Grade!
Sensing the state of his dantian, a glimmer of amusement flashed in Tang Yan's eyes.
Less than two months had passed since he crossed into this world, yet he had gone from a destroyed dantian to Yellow Tier First Grade. His advancement had been so swift that no one would likely believe him if he told them.
But Tang Yan was not satisfied. Until he possessed absolute strength, his fate would remain in the hands of the powerful. His dignity as a Pill Emperor would not permit such a thing.
He stretched, took a bath, and changed his clothes before heading toward the Drill Grounds.
After a month together, the Tang Family guards' attitude toward this young master with his unsavory reputation had changed dramatically.
Throughout that month, Tang Yan had increased his training load every day. His demands on himself could no longer be called merely diligent-they were downright brutal, leaving these guards, who considered themselves hardworking, deeply ashamed.
Spurred on by Tang Yan, they trained even more seriously. Each was determined not to be outdone by this normally pampered young master.
When Tang Yan arrived at the Drill Grounds, all the guards greeted him with smiles.
Tang Yan smiled and answered them one by one. Glancing aside, he spotted a burly man who seemed to be hemming and hawing, wanting to speak but holding himself back.
Tang Yan remembered this man vividly. He was Chang Tie, who had stepped forward to voice his defiance the first time Tang Yan addressed them.
Seeing the normally forthright man acting like this, Tang Yan teased him with a laugh. "Old Tie, why are you acting like a woman, giving me that perverted smile? Let me tell you, I'm not interested in anyone with a dick."
"So Old Chang has that kind of taste! No wonder he gives us those strange looks when we bathe in the river."
"Exactly! Last time we sparred, he even took the chance to feel me up. So he was molesting me! Old Chang, you'll have to pay for that!"
"..."
"Hahahaha..." With Tang Yan getting the ball rolling, the atmosphere immediately grew lively.
"Hehe, Young Master, I advanced last night. I'm at Yellow Tier First Grade now. Do those terms you mentioned before still stand?" Chang Tie rubbed his hands together, grinning foolishly.
"Yellow Tier?" Tang Yan paused, then smiled. "Throw a few punches and let me see!"
"You got it!" Chang Tie answered, then performed a set of fist techniques in the grounds. His punches were fierce and powerful, forming a faint aura around his fists. True qi spilling outside the body was precisely the sign of entering Yellow Tier!
"How much are you paid each month?" Tang Yan asked directly once Chang Tie finished his routine.
"We all get the same pay-fifty taels of silver a month," Chang Tie answered hurriedly.
"Starting this month, Chang Tie's monthly pay will be two hundred taels of silver!" Tang Yan announced loudly.
"Thank you, Young Master! Thank you!" Chang Tie exclaimed delightedly.
"Furthermore, since Chang Tie was the first to reach Yellow Tier, he'll receive another five hundred taels of silver as a reward!"
At Tang Yan's words, everyone's eyes turned red with envy.
"Old Chang, you're treating us tonight!"
"Old Chang, it has to be the Many Blossoms Tower tonight! We're not going home sober!"
"..."
Chang Tie had not expected an additional reward either. Five hundred taels of silver was almost what he would have earned working for a year without spending a penny on food or drink. Grinning from ear to ear, he kept saying, "Thank you, Young Master!"
"Don't thank me. If you want to thank someone, thank yourself! You reap what you sow. Those who put in the effort will receive the rewards they deserve. Keep working hard. Within Yellow Tier, every grade you advance will add another hundred taels to your monthly pay. If you reach Profound Tier, we'll discuss your compensation again!" Tang Yan smiled and patted Chang Tie's shoulder.
"I'll definitely work hard!" Chang Tie thumped his chest in promise.
After patting Chang Tie's shoulder in encouragement, Tang Yan discreetly looked over the others. Every one of them seemed fired up to achieve a breakthrough. He cleared his throat lightly and said, "From now on, whenever any of you breaks through, report directly to Captain Mo Yanjun. Train hard!"
After dismissing everyone, Tang Yan was about to begin training when Mo Yanjun approached him quietly.
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