[Through your previous deployment experiences, you discovered that important figures tended to appear around you.
In this era, the Xiao Clan did not even exist yet, so you had reason to suspect that the person beside you was the future Dou Di of the Xiao Clan.
Of course, this was only a guess. You could not be certain.
You decided to take the initiative to befriend Xiao Huo, within certain limits.
Xiao Huo had no reason to reject an artifact refiner's overtures. Your relationship quickly grew closer, soon reaching the point where you could call each other brothers.
You refined artifacts for him, while he searched for materials and medicinal ingredients for you, as well as natural treasures that could improve your aptitude. Progress was slow, however.]
[Year thirty-five: The Central Plains were vast and rich in resources. Through your artifact refining skills, you accumulated considerable wealth.
Your cultivation barely rose to Four-Star Dou Ling, and your artifact refining improved enough for you to just manage to refine Fifth-Tier Artifacts.
Xiao Huo's aptitude far surpassed yours. Though ten years younger than you, he was already a Peak Dou Emperor.
Moreover, he possessed a special constitution that made him stronger the more he fought. The stronger his opponent, the more his body would automatically absorb Dou Qi to temporarily increase his strength. After each battle, some of that Dou Qi would remain, raising his cultivation.
Over a few years, the gap between you steadily widened, and your relationship grew somewhat distant.
You gradually abandoned the idea of cultivating a close relationship with Xiao Huo.
With different aptitudes, different ceilings, and different levels of standing, you naturally had little common ground in conversation.
A Fifth-Tier Artifact Refiner was no weakling, but there was still a considerable gap between you and Xiao Huo.
You slowly resigned yourself to your fate.
You knew that your surest path was to raise your cultivation slowly, gaining a little strength whenever you accumulated some resources, and simply go as far as you could.]
[Year thirty-six: Your sect was destroyed because it had offended a major power. Fortunately, only a handful of people, including the sect master and the supreme elder, died. Thanks to your fifth-tier artifact refining skills, you were recruited into a Half-Saint power called the Flame Flame Sect, becoming an unremarkable artifact refining elder there.
Unlike your previous sect, the Flame Flame Sect had more complete promotion and contribution systems.
With enough contributions, you could exchange them not only for artifact refiner legacies, but also for all kinds of pills, including top-grade eighth-tier pills. Pills of that caliber were enough to change your aptitude.
You felt that being worked like an ox or a horse was not entirely out of the question.
You began refining artifacts for the Flame Flame Sect day and night to earn contribution points.
You discovered that in this era, the medicine cauldrons used by alchemists were still at the most basic stage. Aside from gathering flames, they had no special functions.
You felt that this was an enormous market, so you devoted much of your time to researching medicine cauldrons.]
[Year thirty-seven: You broke through to Five-Star Dou Ling and also created a special medicine cauldron.
Refined using a fire-attribute magic core paired with beast flame, it allowed alchemists to summon beast flame to assist them while refining pills. They only needed to replace the magic core once its energy ran out. You named the medicine cauldron you had created the Charged Medicine Cauldron.
The Charged Medicine Cauldron became highly sought-after as soon as it appeared. Even some sixth-tier alchemists came to buy your cauldrons, earning you a handsome sum.
After making that money, you chose to submit the artifact formula for the fifth-tier Charged Medicine Cauldron you had developed to the sect, earning a large amount of contribution points.
You understood that medicine cauldrons would not wear out anytime soon. Once you had sold a batch, you could forget about making another fortune in the short term. It was better to submit the formula to the sect in exchange for contributions and grow stronger quickly.]
[Year thirty-eight: You exchanged your contributions for many pills that could raise your cultivation and accelerate your cultivation speed, then entered seclusion to improve your cultivation.]
[Year thirty-nine: You finished absorbing all the pills, raising your cultivation to Eight-Star Dou Ling.
You lamented how slowly your cultivation rose. Your aptitude truly was terrible.
Even without taking pills, those geniuses could gain more cultivation in a year than you did.
Xiao Huo, for example, still occasionally sought you out to catch up. Your relationship was neither close nor distant, but at least it had not been severed.
Over these past few years, his cultivation had already risen to One-Star Dou Zun, placing him firmly among the continent's true powerhouses. Even the master of your Flame Flame Sect was only a High-Star Dou Zun.
After leaving seclusion, you looked at your empty Storage Ring and resumed refining artifacts day after day.
The Charged Medicine Cauldron you had created had caused a small stir in alchemical circles, but it had long since been forgotten. It had merely drawn many artifact refiners' attention toward medicine cauldrons, and quite a few cauldrons with special effects had appeared across the continent. Still, the Charged Medicine Cauldron remained the simplest and most practical.]
[Year forty: You finished absorbing the medicinal power remaining in your body, raising your cultivation another star to Nine-Star Dou Ling.
At the end of the year, you learned of a heavenly flame and planned to investigate.
Heavenly flames were an enormous aid in pill refining, allowing alchemists to refine pills beyond their tier. They were equally helpful to artifact refiners.
If you could find a heavenly flame, you were confident that you could refine Sixth-Tier Artifacts with Dou Ling cultivation.
You returned to your homeland, the Northwest Continent, where the news of the heavenly flame had originated.
In the Northwest Continent, your standing as a Fifth-Tier Artifact Refiner was noticeably higher.
Using artifacts you had refined, you hired several Dou Wangs to help you obtain the heavenly flame.
You traveled to an unusual mountain range. The entire range was shrouded in flames, yet strangely, fiery-red clouds above it constantly shed hot rain.
You and the Dou Wangs you had hired entered the mountain range and reached a valley at its heart, where you encountered a Sixth Rank magical beast and the heavenly flame it guarded: the Fire Cloud Water Flame, ranked seventeenth on the Heavenly Flame Ranking, though the Heavenly Flame Ranking did not seem to exist yet.
You asked the Dou Wangs to hold off the Sixth Rank magical beast while you took the heavenly flame. They remained unmoved. When you promised to double their payment, they nodded in agreement and began surrounding and attacking the Sixth Rank magical beast.
During the melee, you successfully took the Fire Cloud Water Flame. Roaring that it would tear you apart, the Sixth Rank magical beast spat a jet of flame that struck you, but the thirteen layers of fifth-tier protective gear you wore blocked it, leaving you completely unharmed.
After the battle ended, you fulfilled your promise, then found a deserted place to absorb the Fire Cloud Water Flame.
Despite your thorough preparations, absorbing the Fire Cloud Water Flame still nearly cost you half your life. With the help of its energy, you also broke through to Dou Wang cultivation.
Now, your confidence in refining Sixth-Tier Artifacts grew considerably, and you even began fantasizing about refining Seventh-Tier Artifacts.
After returning to the Central Plains, you refined a Sixth-Tier Artifact and created the artifact formula for the Sixth-Tier Charged Medicine Cauldron.
You refined Sixth-Tier Charged Medicine Cauldrons and made another handsome profit, then once again submitted the Artifact Formula in exchange for resources.
Your standing within the Flame Flame Sect rose.
That same year, when Xiao Huo met with you, he introduced you to his newborn son.
Only then did you learn that he had actually had a fleeting affair with a woman and accidentally hit the jackpot, resulting in this child.
You asked Xiao Huo his son's name and learned that he had named him Xiao Yan.]
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