Grandson Xiao Yan, Xiao Yan's death

[Year 57: After spending some time with you, Xiao Yan once again could not wait to leave home to train.

You had no intention of stopping him. After all, Xiao Yan's strength had already surpassed yours.

You cultivated peacefully at home and created new Artifact Formulas, only occasionally asking around for news of Xiao Yan and learning that his cultivation had advanced a little further.

At just seventeen, Xiao Yan's cultivation had already surpassed that of most people on the continent, yourself included.

You were not discouraged. You felt that relying on your adopted son Xiao Yan to enjoy a life of leisure in this lifetime would be rather nice, giving you more time to study Artifact Refining.

As a profession long lost on the Dou Qi Continent, Artifact Refiners differed most significantly from alchemists in that the equipment they refined could be used repeatedly rather than being single-use consumables.

Once someone had purchased a set of protective equipment, they generally would not buy new equipment for a very long time. This meant Artifact Refiners typically earned their money from a single wave of sales, and you were no exception.

Your Charged Medicine Cauldrons, for instance, always sold spectacularly upon release, only for sales to grow increasingly sluggish afterward.

You felt that you ought to change your approach to Artifact Refining.

You thought of your life on Earth and the things you had purchased. The more easily products broke, the easier it was for their manufacturers to survive. Conversely, the sturdier the products and the longer they lasted, the more likely their manufacturers were to go out of business.

You concluded that to keep the market running better, you ought to reduce sales of durable goods.

Having established your goal, you began researching disposable Medicine Cauldrons.

After three months, you successfully developed an Artifact Formula for a disposable Medicine Cauldron. This cauldron could withstand only one pill-refining session, but it could provide tremendous assistance to alchemists, and you set its price at just the right level.

The medicinal products went on sale, but the drawback of only being usable five times made many alchemists balk.

At the same time, however, some alchemists saw the Medicine Cauldrons' low price and considerable assistance and were tempted into buying them.

You had not fabricated the cauldron's effects. During that single pill-refining session, it could indeed provide tremendous assistance to an alchemist. With your Medicine Cauldron's help, one Rank 7 Intermediate Alchemist successfully refined a seventh-grade high-level pill.

Once word of this example spread, alchemists across the continent quickly began scrambling to buy your Medicine Cauldrons, and they became a runaway success.]

[Year 58: Your Medicine Cauldrons continued to sell steadily. Because they could only be used five times, those alchemists frequently returned to buy more, and would even come to blows when they could not get their hands on the Medicine Cauldrons you refined.

You kept earning money. Although each sale brought in much less than a normal Medicine Cauldron, the accumulated earnings far exceeded what you made selling normal cauldrons.

Other Artifact Refiners discovered this and began following your example, devoting their attention to refining disposable equipment.

Disposable protective equipment, disposable weapons, and disposable Medicine Cauldrons were gradually spread throughout the continent by Artifact Refiners.

With low prices paired with powerful effects, disposable equipment naturally took the continent by storm, even replacing enhancement pills in their niche.

Meanwhile, durable equipment was not phased out and still had a considerable audience.

You had not warped the Artifact Refining profession; you had merely opened a new path for Artifact Refiners to make money.

Your reputation spread across the Dou Qi Continent.]

[Year 59: With the money you earned selling equipment, you bought many pills and raised your cultivation to One-Star Dou Zun, barely entering the ranks of the continent's powerhouses. You were already thoroughly satisfied.

You even stopped insisting on improving your cultivation and simply continued studying the path of Artifact Refining.

Your Artifact Refining skills continued to improve.]

[Year 60: You continued studying alchemy.]

[Year 63: You refined the finest eighth-tier equipment. Your Artifact Refining proficiency was equivalent to the alchemical proficiency of an Eighth-Tier Nine-Colored Alchemist.

Your name grew even more renowned, and people respectfully called you the Myriad-Forging Venerable.]

[Year 66: Xiao Yan returned home with his wife, who was none other than Gu Yue'er, whom you knew.

Unsurprisingly, this battle-loving man and woman had ended up together.

They had a son and named him Xiao Yan.

Xiao Yan said that he still preferred a life of constant battles outside, and Gu Yue'er felt the same.

After discussing it, the couple decided to leave Xiao Yan in your care.

You only felt that this scene seemed familiar. Worried, you refined plenty of normal and disposable protective equipment for Xiao Yan, telling him that when danger struck, he must not linger in battle. He should leave when it was time to leave and not follow Xiao Huo down the same old road.

Xiao Yan told you not to worry; he would not be so reckless.

You now had a grandson.]

[Year 69: Three-year-old Xiao Yan began cultivating. His talent was somewhat inferior to his father's, but he still qualified as a genius.

You did not care about Xiao Yan's talent. You had enough resources anyway; even if you had to pile resources onto him, you could pile him into a powerhouse.

Because Xiao Yan broke through to Dou Qi Second Stage.]

[Year 70: You began researching equipment that could accelerate cultivation at the Dou Qi stage, devoting all your energy to it.

The meridians of those at the Dou Qi stage were too fragile. Any introduction of external energy beyond a certain limit would cause their meridians to rupture and kill them, and that limit was extremely difficult to control.

But as a top eighth-tier Artifact Refiner with extraordinary talent for researching new equipment, you quickly found an approach.

At the end of the year, Xiao Yan maintained his cultivation pace and broke through to the fourth stage of Dou Qi.]

[Year 71: After a year of research, you finally achieved some results.

Through repeated attempts, you refined equipment that could accelerate Dou Qi cultivation. Sitting on it while cultivating could double cultivation speed, and you named it the Gathering Qi Futon.

The Gathering Qi Futon's enhancement was weaker than that of the Foundation Establishment Spirit Liquid Yao Lao would refine in later years, but its advantage lay in its stability, and it could be passed down to descendants in the future.

You gave the Gathering Qi Futon to Xiao Yan, doubling his cultivation speed.

At the end of the year, Xiao Yan raised his cultivation to the Seventh Stage of Dou Qi.]

[Year 72: Xiao Yan broke through to the Ninth Stage of Dou Qi. You gave him a portion of Qi Gathering Powder, and he successfully broke through to Dou Zhe. His speed in reaching Dou Zhe matched that of his father, Xiao Yan.

You began training Xiao Yan and discovered that he actually had the talent to become an alchemist.

You taught Xiao Yan a cultivation method and personally instructed him in alchemy.

Although you lacked an alchemist's talent, you possessed the Fire Cloud Water Flame and an extremely powerful Fire Control Technique. At your current realm, you were fully capable of refining some low-grade pills.

Meanwhile, the various kinds of knowledge in your mind made your theoretical instruction unmatched.

After discovering that you could even refine pills, Xiao Yan admired you immensely.]

[Year 73: Under your instruction, Xiao Yan became a first-grade alchemist and built an exceptionally solid foundation.

You also taught Xiao Yan the countless pill formulas in your mind without holding anything back.

When Xiao Yan learned that his son had become an alchemist, he made a special trip back to congratulate him. He even brought a Heavenly Flame from somewhere for his son to absorb: the Fallen Heart Flame, ranked fourteenth on the Heavenly Flame Ranking, though it was still in its juvenile stage.

Aside from that, Xiao Yan also brought you a fruit that could enhance soul power.

After you consumed it, your soul power broke straight through from the Late Spirit Realm to the Early Heaven Realm.

You marveled that you truly had not raised that boy Xiao Yan in vain.]

[Year 74: After your soul power broke through to the Heaven Realm, you gained the ability to imbue refined objects with the power of heaven and earth, just like alchemists.

You now had the foundation for refining ninth-tier equipment.

Unfortunately, your cultivation was too low, and your reserves of Dou Qi could not sustain the refinement of ninth-tier equipment.

Your previous desire to coast along vanished, and you once again began looking for ways to improve your cultivation.

You remembered the Gathering Qi Futon you had refined for Xiao Yan and felt that equipment like this could certainly be enhanced.

After spending half a year on it, you made some progress.]

[Year 75: You created a higher-tier Artifact Formula for the Gathering Qi Futon, which could accelerate the absorption of Dou Qi.

But you still felt that this alone was not enough.

You recalled the Fallen Heart Flame's automatic cultivation effect, which could temper Dou Qi continuously.

You borrowed a Child Flame of the Fallen Heart Flame from Xiao Yan and refined a special Gathering Qi Futon. Not only could it accelerate your absorption of Dou Qi, but it could also generate heart fire within you to temper your Dou Qi continuously. It could be used indefinitely as long as you replenished its Magic Cores.

You knew that the Gathering Qi Futon's effects were too powerful and would certainly cause a tremendous stir, so you did not sell it. You only refined two Gathering Qi Futons, one for yourself and one for Xiao Yan.]

[Year 79: With the Gathering Qi Futon's help, you broke through to become a high-star Dou Zun.

Xiao Yan broke through to Dou Ling. His speed could not match his father's, but it was already quite impressive.

After all, there was no second talent like his father's on the entire continent at present. The only person you could think of who reached such a level was Xiao Xuan of later years, and even he had the support of a Dou Di Bloodline.

Besides, you did not believe that faster cultivation necessarily meant a higher ceiling. The path of cultivation tested far more than cultivation speed.

The future Flame Emperor Xiao Yan's early cultivation speed could even be considered slow by the standards of the Central Plains, yet he later overturned the odds all the way to becoming the Flame Emperor. That alone offered a glimpse of the truth.

Xiao Yan had a talent for alchemy and might yet overtake his father in the later stages.]

[Year 80: You attempted to refine ninth-tier equipment. The abundant Dou Qi of a high-star Dou Zun allowed you to sustain the entire refinement, and the ninth-tier equipment was successfully completed. At the same time, a lightning tribulation descended from the sky: Black Devil Lightning, just like that summoned by a Ninth-Grade Treasure Pill.

Your strength was insufficient, and only by consuming a great deal of protective equipment did you barely withstand the Black Devil Lightning.

After this incident, you felt that you ought to find a way to resolve this problem.

You recalled the Heavenly Demon Puppet of later years. This kind of puppet seemed born to absorb pill lightning, capable of absorbing pill lightning above its own level while also possessing considerable combat strength. It suited you extremely well.

You began researching puppet refinement.]

[Year 81: Your research bore fruit, and you gained a certain degree of mastery over puppet-refining techniques.

At the same time, however, you discovered that no matter how you refined the puppets, none could gain the ability to absorb pill lightning and grow stronger.

After pondering for a long time, you recalled how the Heavenly Demon Puppet was refined in the original story, and everything suddenly became clear.

You had only used special metals in your refinement, without using a Magical Beast's Magic Core or the body and soul of a human powerhouse, naturally leaving out many possibilities.

You felt little burden over it. You simply found a sect in the Central Plains whose crimes were piled to the heavens, killed its sect master outright, and brought back both his body and soul, killing a Magical Beast along the way as well.

Following the Heavenly Demon Puppet's refinement method from the original story, you used a human body as the foundation, added a soul and Magic Core, filled it with special metals, and finally refined it into a puppet.

You successfully refined a puppet, and it possessed the ability to absorb pill lightning, continually tempering its body and growing stronger.

Perhaps because you found it amusing, or perhaps to verify something, you named your puppet-refining method the Heavenly Demon Puppet refinement method.

You also refined a Heavenly Demon Puppet for Xiao Yan.

After all, Xiao Yan had already broken through to Dou Wang cultivation and could refine Sixth-Grade Pills, so he was no longer far from refining seventh-grade pills capable of summoning pill lightning.]

[Year 82: With the Heavenly Demon Puppet, you no longer needed to handle lightning tribulations personally.

At the same time, the Heavenly Demon Puppet's formidable combat strength also compensated for your lack of practical combat ability.]

[Year 84: Xiao Yan broke through to Dou Emperor and refined his first seventh-grade pill, summoning a bolt of silver pill lightning.]

[Year 87: Time slipped by unnoticed. You broke through to Half-Saint, and as time passed, your soul power also broke through to the Heaven Realm Middle Stage.

Xiao Yan broke through to Dou Zong. With the help of the soul cultivation method you taught him, his soul power broke through to the Spirit Realm, and he became an eighth-tier alchemist.

His father had long since broken through to Dou Sheng, and his cultivation continued rising steadily. It seemed that breaking through to Dou Di was only a matter of time.

You could sense that Xiao Yan seemed to have been thinking all along about avenging his father, Xiao Huo.

The person who had killed Xiao Huo back then was a prodigy of an Emperor Clan. That prodigy was now a Five-Star Dou Sheng with a divine-grade bloodline and had hopes of breaking through to Dou Di in the future.

Fortunately, your relationship with Xiao Huo had not been widely known back then, and it was even less known that Xiao Yan was Xiao Huo's son, so this Emperor Clan prodigy had not targeted Xiao Yan.

You knew that this vengeance would not be easy to exact. There truly was a Dou Di behind that Emperor Clan prodigy. Even if Xiao Yan killed the prodigy, he could never escape that Dou Di's pursuit.

But you could hardly advise Xiao Yan to abandon his vengeance. You could only tell him to accumulate more strength and keep his composure until he had absolute confidence in securing the kill.

As for yourself, you continued studying Artifact Refining, hoping to refine higher-tier equipment and lend some assistance to Xiao Yan's vengeance.]

[Year 91: You broke through to Intermediate Half-Saint. Xiao Yan broke through to Dou Zun, and his soul power broke through to the Late Spirit Realm, allowing him to refine eighth-tier high-level pills.

His father's cultivation broke through to early Five-Star Dou Sheng, while that Emperor Clan prodigy had already broken through to Late Five-Star Dou Sheng.

Xiao Yan did not act to take revenge.]

[Year 95: You broke through to high-level Half-Saint, and your soul power broke through to the Heaven Realm Middle Stage.

Xiao Yan broke through to first-revolution Dou Zun, and his soul power reached the perfection of the Spirit Realm.

Your Artifact Refining skills improved considerably, but hampered by insufficient cultivation, you remained unable to refine higher-tier equipment.

That same year, his father broke through to Late Five-Star Dou Sheng, while that Emperor Clan prodigy broke through to Early Six-Star Dou Sheng.]

[Year 99: Relying on pills, you broke through to One-Star Dou Sheng.

Xiao Yan broke through to third-revolution Dou Zun, and his soul power broke through to the Early Heaven Realm. He attempted to refine a Ninth-Grade Treasure Pill and succeeded after three failures, becoming a Ninth-Grade Treasure Pill Grandmaster. This owed much to the Fire Control Technique and alchemy you had taught him.

You could no longer teach him alchemy hands-on, but your theoretical knowledge remained extensive, still giving Xiao Yan the illusion that he could never learn it all.

Your theoretical knowledge was enough for Xiao Yan to study all the way to the Ninth Grade Golden Pill level.

You felt that life was quite good this way. You steadily improved your cultivation and Artifact Refining, while Xiao Yan steadily improved his cultivation and alchemy.

His father also steadily improved his cultivation. That year, he entered a secret realm and gained some opportunities. After assimilating his gains, he broke through to Early Six-Star Dou Sheng.]

[Year 100: Xiao Yan killed the Emperor Clan prodigy and was slain by the clan's Dou Di, leaving neither corpse nor bones.]