Upon hearing Chen Xuanling's words, the three people present immediately showed surprise, especially the burly man, whose eyes contained a hint of doubt.
He was already aware of Xiao Yan's experience in Pill City today, but since he hadn't witnessed it himself, he naturally didn't take Chen Xuanling's words to heart.
Yuwen Zong and Ji Yao exchanged a glance, the latter's bright eyes flickering slightly, and she said:
"We've never seen Xiao Yan use his Spiritual Strength, but judging from the soul fluctuations within him, he should be Tier Seven High-Level Alchemist, not much different from Huoxun Mingcheng. If we add the element of Heavenly Flames, the two would be evenly matched."
"Hmph, it's just relying on the advantage of the Heavenly Flames. To refine an eighth-grade pill, it can't be done with external forces alone."
The burly man seemed somewhat disdainful.
Although the Heavenly Flames is powerful, the competition between alchemists is not just about the intensity of the flame. The strength of Spiritual Strength, the control over the flame, and the understanding of alchemy are the keys to victory.
"Hehe, I do have a slightly different opinion..."
Chen Xuanling smiled faintly and continued:
"The reason I was able to sense the anomaly in the city earlier was because someone broke the Great Dao of Space set up by that Yuan Zun. And according to my judgment, what Xiao Yan used at that time was a kind of Soul Technique..."
The burly man curled his lip upon hearing this and said:
"It's obvious, it was just that kid using a high-level Soul Technique."
Upon hearing this, Chen Xuanling smiled and spoke, but the words he uttered instantly froze the expression on the burly man's face.
"Although we have the advantage of Dou Technique, with the power of the Yuan Zong, no one within my Pill Tower has yet been able to break through the Dao Transforms Heaven and Earth technique."
In the blink of an eye, Xiao Yan had been in the secret chamber for more than ten days. During this time, Xiao Siyu and the others naturally dared not disturb him. Fortunately, the gradually surging aura emanating from the secret chamber confirmed to them that Xiao Yan was now probably safe and sound.
"Call..."
As Xiao Yan's chest heaved in the secret chamber, he slowly exhaled a breath of turbid air. He opened his eyes, a flash of fire appearing deep within his pupils, and his aura returned to its peak.
The encounter with the Ghost Gate member that day caused considerable damage to Xiao Yan's body, and his Spiritual Strength was also somewhat affected. Fortunately, he had a large number of pills stored in his Storage Ring, which allowed him to recover in such a short time.
Recalling those events, even now, he still feels a lingering fear.
After a long silence, Xiao Yan finally cleared his mind of all the chaotic thoughts. He looked at the tightly closed stone door in front of him, hesitated for a moment, then raised his hand and waved it. The light of the Storage Ring on his finger flashed, and then a huge body appeared in the huge secret chamber, almost filling the entire space.
It was the corpse of Giant Rock Horned Rhino Beast.
As Xiao Yan's injuries gradually improved over the days, he became increasingly concerned about this item, and he couldn't help but worry about the condition of the embryo in the corpse's belly. If it were to fail, his idea of refining the Creation Pill would probably have to come to an end.
With a thought, Xiao Yan's vast Spiritual Strength swiftly condensed into an invisible hand, gently covering his abdomen, carefully sensing the wisp of life within him. However, after a moment, Xiao Yan's brows furrowed in worry.
In just over ten days, the wisp of life within the corpse's abdomen had become much weaker, to the point that it was difficult to detect unless one deliberately probed it with their Spiritual Strength.
This caused Xiao Yan's emotions to tighten instantly. His gaze towards the giant beast's body became more resolute. With a flick of his finger, a cluster of flames shot out and rose into the air. After some transformation, it condensed into a fire blade. Under the control of the soul's hand, it slowly approached the abdomen of the beast, preparing to open it up and remove the embryo.
Now that things have come to this, Xiao Yan has no time to hesitate any longer regarding the condition within this body. The embryo's vitality is so weak that it might completely dissipate if left any longer. At that point, even if the sharp corners take shape, all that will be left is a dead object, no different from a stone on the ground.
"Laugh!"
As the fire blade pierced the abdomen of the giant beast's corpse, Xiao Yan's tense heart immediately jumped into his throat, and his breath caught in his throat. This matter concerned the Pill Gathering; whether he could take this first step depended entirely on this one strike.
As the fire blade slowly sliced across the corpse's abdomen, the wound hissed under the intense heat of the flames, and plumes of acrid smoke rose up only to be scorched into nothingness by the Heavenly Flames on the blade.
To prevent the embryo in his womb from being affected by the Heavenly Flames, Xiao Yan was extremely careful in controlling the fire blade. So much so that it took him several minutes to carefully open the blade, which was less than a zhang long.
"Gurgle..."
Accompanied by a strong, fishy stench, the fire knife quickly dissipated, and from the wound opened by the knife, an oval object more than a meter long, reddish-yellow in color and resembling crystal, suddenly slid out from the giant beast's belly.
Xiao Yan quickly focused his gaze and, through the thin outer layer of energy keratin, could see a rhinoceros calf with a pinkish body and all four limbs curled up in the center of the crystal. Especially noteworthy was the small, milky-white horn, a few inches long, standing upright like white jade on the calf's head.
Within this sharp horn lies the very ingredient essential for refining the Creation Pill: Rock Rhino Horn Marrow!
"Ha!"
Seeing this, Xiao Yan couldn't help but let out a sharp shriek. All the excitement in his heart was now on his face, and the tense muscles in his body finally relaxed completely.
Having seen this item, Xiao Yan's current major problem has been solved. After that, all that remains is the competition at the Pill Gathering!
Looking at the Rock Rhino Horn Marrow so close to the crystal, Xiao Yan's face became even more radiant. He couldn't help but step forward and gently stroke the surface of the crystal with his hand. As his palm slowly slid along the cub's body, the expression on Xiao Yan's face gradually froze.
"No, this... why is the aura of this cub weakening instead of increasing!"
Suddenly realizing this, Xiao Yan's heart tightened again. Upon closer inspection, his gaze suddenly stopped on the young beast's pink skin. If one looked closely, one could see that various tissues within the young beast's body were faintly visible beneath the pink skin. Although the skin texture was already quite delicate, it seemed that it was still a little bit away from being fully formed.
In other words, the Giant Rock Horned Rhino cub inside the oval crystal is not yet mature. If it were to impulsively break open the crystal shell at this moment, the cub inside would also perish completely, and the Rock Rhino Horn Marrow, which is only one step away from being fully formed, would become useless!
"Call!"
Realizing this, Xiao Yan couldn't help but take a few deep breaths and rub his face vigorously with both hands to calm the turbulent emotions in his heart. At the same time, he felt extremely fortunate. If he hadn't carefully investigated again, he probably would have already opened the outer crystal. If that had happened, it would have been too late for regrets.
Of course, the reason why he looked at it again and again was because Xiao Yan noticed that after the Giant Rock Horned Rhino Beast was born, its body skin was grayish-white like rock. Even the body of the young beast was only slightly whiter than that of the adult Giant Rock Horned Rhino. However, the color of the body of the young beast inside the embryo was much different.
This is something that cannot help but raise suspicions.
Once he regained his senses, Xiao Yan frowned, his gaze sweeping back and forth across the oval crystal, carefully observing it in search of a way to remedy the situation.
At this moment, he dared not make the slightest unnecessary movement, for fear that he might accidentally ruin the Rock Rhino Horn Marrow that was so close at hand.
After a long while, Xiao Yan finally realized that the crystal on the outer layer of the embryo was formed from the energy within the mother's body, which was constantly circulating in order to provide energy for the young beast inside the embryo. Now that the mother was dead, this energy could no longer be controlled and could no longer help the young beast absorb and refine it. After the energy solidified, it only trapped the young beast to death in this state.
If Xiao Yan wants to obtain the Rock Rhino Horn Marrow, he will probably have to find a way to revive the young beast.
After much deliberation, Xiao Yan hesitantly raised his hands. With a thought, two flames of different colors rose from his palms with a soft "poof".
His left palm held a ball of purplish-black flame, while his right hand held a ball of emerald-green, liquid-like flame.
It was none other than the Three Thousand Burning Flame and the Life Spirit Flame.
Both of these Heavenly Flames are known for their ability to repair injuries and prolong life. If these flames were used to protect the young beasts, there might be a sliver of hope for success.
Of course, even Xiao Yan, who had a considerable understanding of Heavenly Flames, could not guarantee whether the rhinoceros cub could survive with Heavenly Flames help. But for now, it was the only way Xiao Yan could try to salvage the situation.
After hesitating for a moment, Xiao Yan finally gritted his teeth, clapped his hands together, and merged the two Heavenly Flames, turning them into a stream of dark green, water-drop-like flames that adhered to his palms.
He then concentrated his immense Spiritual Strength at his fingertips, forming a fire needle as thin as a hair. Under Xiao Yan's focused gaze, he slowly approached the crystal. After a tense infusion, he finally succeeded in integrating the flame into the crystal and allowing it to seep into the rhinoceros calf's body.
The originally fierce Heavenly Flames emitted a gentle temperature under Xiao Yan's control, and the vast life energy contained in both quietly spread within the rhinoceros calf's body. Only when he felt the life energy gradually merging with the calf's body did Xiao Yan, who had been holding his breath, carefully exhale.
As the life force within the crystal quietly permeated, the rhinoceros cub's body twitched slightly in Xiao Yan's delighted gaze. The originally rock-hard energy crystal shell began to circulate with wisps of pure, liquid energy, which lingered around the cub's body and was then slowly absorbed into its body.
Thus, it won't be long before the energy within the crystal is completely absorbed, and the cub of the Giant Rock Horned Rhino will take shape and be born. At that time, the purest Rock Rhino Horn Marrow will appear before Xiao Yan.