Cauldron Explosion

On the way to the pill room, Luo Lan stayed at Xiao Yan's side, chattering nonstop.

"That Luo Qing is the best in our clan at the art of pill refinement. His temper is even stranger than Elder Qin's, and his eyes are on top of his head. Who knows how many of the clan's young alchemists he's scolded to tears... When he heard you were coming to use his pill room, his face turned black. Don't talk back to him later..."

"And Elder Luo Yan's illness-Luo Qing treated him for three months without curing him. A lot of people in the clan say he stopped outsiders from intervening because he thought it would make him lose face. Once granduncle spoke up, though, he couldn't object..."

Xiao Yan listened quietly, nodding now and then. "Hehe, I'll keep that in mind," he said with a smile. He knew that this batch of pills would be refined under the eyes of everyone in the Luo God Clan, from top to bottom. If he succeeded, he would have truly gained a foothold in the clan. If he failed... Xiao Yan gazed calmly at the small hill ahead, glowing faintly in the light of Spirit Marks. Then he would refine them again.

The Luo Shen Residence's pill room had been built inside a small hill on the western side of the residence.

When the heavy bronze doors were pushed open, a wave of scorching heat rushed out to meet them.

The pill room was exceptionally spacious. Dense Spirit Marks covered all four walls, converging from every direction like glowing rivers toward the very center of the room. There stood a three-legged bronze Pill Cauldron, a coiling water dragon engraved on its body.

Beneath the Pill Cauldron, a ball of dark blue flame burned silently.

The flame was not fierce; it even looked somewhat gentle. Yet as soon as Xiao Yan stepped into the pill room, the newly formed tenth of his Spiritual Energy trembled slightly.

"This is the Luo River Spirit Flame." The person who had led him in was a middle-aged man in green alchemist's robes named Luo Qing, the chief alchemist of the Luo God Clan's pill room. He stood to one side with his hands behind his back and said mildly, "This flame is condensed from the spiritual Qi of the earth veins beneath the Luo River, drawn in by the Spirit Arrays on the four walls. It is gentle and enduring, making it ideal for refining pills that heal injuries or neutralize poisons. All the clan's alchemists use it."

He paused and glanced at Xiao Yan, his gaze partly appraising and partly dismissive. "But this flame must be guided with Spirit Marks. If someone who doesn't know how to control fire with Pill Patterns tries to force it, the flames will run out of control."

Xiao Yan nodded slightly but said nothing more. He simply walked up to the Pill Cauldron and quietly studied the dark blue flame.

Quite a few people had gathered at the entrance to the pill room: several of the Luo God Clan's alchemists, young clan members who had come after hearing the news, and a few elders.

They had all heard that the clan leader had brought back a young man from a Lower Plane, whom he had met in the outer city. With a single pill, the young man had cured a Luo Pill Pavilion guard of Blood Fiend poison, and now he intended to refine a pill for Elder Luo Yan, who had suffered from it for three months.

Some were curious, some were skeptical, and even more had come to watch the spectacle.

"What would someone from a Lower Plane know about the art of pill refinement?"

"I heard the pills he refined didn't even have Pill Patterns..."

"Even Master Luo Qing was helpless against the Blood Fiend poison. He thinks he can cure it? I'd say he's just playing to the crowd."

Snatches of whispered conversation drifted in, but Xiao Yan acted as though he heard nothing. His entire attention was fixed on the Luo River Spirit Flame.

He extended a finger slowly and lightly toward the flame, as if testing an unfamiliar beast. Luo Qing frowned slightly and was about to warn him, but Xiao Yan's finger stopped three inches above the flame and went no farther. An exceedingly faint wisp of Soul Power emerged from his fingertip and touched it.

The flame flickered slightly, like a startled little beast, then settled down again.

Xiao Yan closed his eyes.

In his perception, the dark blue flame was entirely different from any flame he had encountered before. It had neither the violent will of Heavenly Flames nor the savage wildness of Beast Flame. It was docile, tamed, like a horse held by a bridle. That bridle was the dense network of Spirit Marks on the four walls of the pill room; to control the flame, he had to take hold of it.

Xiao Yan's Soul Power followed the flame, slowly climbing onto the Spirit Marks on the four walls. Their paths, the flow of their power, and the placement of their nodes appeared in his mind one by one, each corresponding to what he had learned over the past few days from the Thirty-Six Forms of Pill Pattern that Elder Qin had sent him. A moment later, he opened his eyes.

"The medicinal ingredients," Xiao Yan said calmly. Luo Qing glanced at him, then, without another word, waved his hand. An apprentice hurried forward carrying a jade tray, on which more than a dozen medicinal ingredients were neatly arranged. They were the very ones Xiao Yan had listed the day before.

Xiao Yan's gaze swept over the ingredients one by one: Scarlet Yang Vine, Blood Spirit Ganoderma, Nine-Leaf Ice Heart Grass, Black Tortoise Shell, Purple Flame Fruit...

He had learned of all these ingredients from the Record of the Spiritual Properties of Herbs. The book stated clearly that Scarlet Yang Vine was supremely yang and particularly effective against yin poison; Blood Spirit Ganoderma replenished blood and regenerated flesh; Nine-Leaf Ice Heart Grass calmed the mind and protected the meridians... With his decades of experience refining medicine on the Dou Qi Continent, it was not particularly difficult to combine them according to their properties and refine a pill to neutralize the Blood Fiend poison.

He hesitated no longer. Taking a deep breath, he put all those questioning gazes out of his mind and waved his sleeve, sending the medicinal ingredients flying into the Pill Cauldron.

Then he pressed both hands against the cauldron. A wisp of pale golden Spiritual Energy flowed from his palms into it, connecting with the lines of the water dragon engraved on its surface. With a slight nudge of his Soul Power, the dark blue Luo River Spirit Flame rose obediently, like a horse whose bridle had been taken up, and licked at the bottom of the cauldron.

At the entrance, a flicker of surprise passed through Luo Qing's eyes. His hands, clasped behind his back, tightened involuntarily. This young man has gained control of the Luo River Spirit Flame on his very first try?

Inside the Pill Cauldron, the medicinal ingredients slowly began to melt under the flame's heat, releasing wisps of fragrance. Xiao Yan immersed his entire attention in the cauldron, using his Soul Power to sense the changes in each ingredient. The Scarlet Yang Vine became a scarlet medicinal liquid, the Blood Spirit Ganoderma a dark red liquid, and the Nine-Leaf Ice Heart Grass a pale blue liquid... Everything was under his control.

That familiar sensation made him feel as if he had returned to the Dou Qi Continent, to the days when he had competed against countless top alchemists in the Pill Tower.

But the instant he began to fuse the medicinal liquids, something unexpected suddenly happened.

The moment the scarlet Scarlet Yang Vine liquid came into contact with the others, it abruptly began to boil. Its supremely yang power was more than ten times as violent as Xiao Yan had anticipated. Like a wild horse that had broken free of its reins, it charged wildly about the Pill Cauldron and slammed into the pale blue Ice Heart Grass liquid. One yin and one yang, the two forces clashed madly inside the cauldron.

Xiao Yan's expression changed abruptly. He hurriedly mobilized his Soul Power, trying to suppress the two medicinal forces, but their violence far exceeded his expectations. Even with his Emperor Realm Soul Power, he could only barely hold them down for an instant.

"Boom!"

With a tremendous bang, a violent wave of force blasted the Pill Cauldron's lid off, sending it crashing into the domed ceiling. Flame and thick smoke shot up from the cauldron's mouth, and a burnt smell instantly filled the entire pill room.

The blast drove Xiao Yan back several steps before he managed to steady himself. His face was coated in black soot, and part of his sleeve had been scorched, leaving him looking rather disheveled.

The entrance to the pill room fell silent for a moment. Then an irrepressible burst of laughter rang out.

"It blew up! Haha, he blew up the cauldron!"

"I told you, what could someone from a Lower Plane know about the art of pill refinement..."

"He even managed to blow up a cauldron using a flame as gentle as the Luo River Spirit Flame. Tsk, tsk..."

Luo Qing stood to one side, looking at the Pill Cauldron pouring out thick smoke. He did not laugh, but the dismissal in his eyes grew a little stronger. "Scarlet Yang Vine and Nine-Leaf Ice Heart Grass are yin and yang; their medicinal properties clash. The properties of the Great Thousand World's medicinal ingredients are far fiercer than those of a Lower Plane. If they aren't separated with Pill Patterns and are forced to fuse, an explosion is inevitable. That's basic knowledge for a beginner in the art of pill refinement. If you can't do it, young friend Xiao, there's no need to force yourself. We'll find another way to treat Elder Luo Yan's illness."

His words were polite, but everyone could hear what he meant. Luo Lan, standing at the entrance, stamped his feet in anxiety. He wanted to say a few words for Xiao Yan, but when he opened his mouth, he didn't know what to say. He could only glare fiercely at the clan members laughing the loudest.

Xiao Yan stood before the smoking Pill Cauldron and gazed at the charred residue inside. There was no trace of dejection on his face; instead, he wore a look of peculiar concentration. He reached into the residue, picked up a small pinch of blackened medicinal ash, and rubbed it gently between his fingertips before bringing it to his nose for a sniff.

A gleam immediately appeared in his eyes.

"So that's how it is..."

He murmured to himself, then turned to Luo Qing with a calm expression. "Master Luo Qing, I would like to borrow the pill room for one more night. Also, I don't need the whole Scarlet Yang Vine, only its rootlets. As for the Ice Heart Grass, I only need its ninth leaf. And there are a few things I don't understand about the seventeenth form of the Thirty-Six Forms of Pill Pattern, the Yin-Separating Mark. I would like to ask for your guidance."

Luo Qing was slightly taken aback. As he looked at the young man with soot all over his face, the dismissal in his eyes gave way to a trace of surprise for the first time.