Refining the Seventh-Tier Dragon Transformation Pill

"Careful! That python has already reached the seventh rank. It's extremely dangerous!"

Yao Lao's urgent warning rang out in his mind.

Clearly, he too had not known that the Magical Beast Mountain Range concealed such a powerful existence, one comparable to a Dou Zong.

Hearing this, Xiao Yan's expression abruptly turned grave. He adopted a fighting stance and called out:

"I am Xiao Yan, a seventh-tier alchemist. I mean you no offense. I came to the Magical Beast Mountain Range only to seek allies and build a faction. What do you think?"

The Nether Snake King fell silent for a moment. Feeling the dull ache of his wound, he called back:

"Very well, but I have one condition. I need you to refine a seventh-tier healing pill. Otherwise, there's nothing to discuss!"

Xiao Yan was taken aback, but quickly recovered and cupped his hands in greeting. "That can be arranged, but are you familiar with the rules of alchemy?"

The Nether Snake King nodded. "Of course. I provide the medicinal ingredients, regardless of success or failure. If there's a lightning tribulation, I'll fend it off myself!"

With that, the Nether Snake King swept his tail, splitting the barren mountain across from him and drawing out a collection of spiritual herbs rich with medicinal fragrance.

Xiao Yan looked up. "Holy Spirit Fruit, Dragon Blood Wood, Ten-Thousand-Year Mystic Heart Grass... You want to refine a middle-grade seventh-tier pill, the Dragon Transformation Pill!"

The Nether Snake King nodded. "Correct. Are you confident you can do it?"

Xiao Yan, however, held a cupped fist to his lips, looking somewhat troubled. "I can, but it will consume a great deal of my soul power, and I'm not familiar with your character..."

Xiao Yan's meaning was clear: he could refine the pill, but he didn't trust the Nether Snake King and feared he might launch a sneak attack afterward.

The Nether Snake King snorted coldly. An ancient scroll shot from between his brows and landed in Xiao Yan's hands. He sneered:

"This is a True Contract formed from my Soul Origin. As long as you sign it, I will keep my promise and never go back on my word!"

Xiao Yan took the ancient scroll and examined it closely. After discussing it with Yao Lao in his mind for a moment, he found nothing wrong with the rules written on it and signed his name without hesitation.

Once the contract took effect, it dissolved into a faint glow and entered Xiao Yan and the Nether Snake King, linking the two from that moment on.

"Since you..."

Xiao Yan bowed slightly to show his respect, but before he could finish, the Nether Snake King interrupted him.

"No need for formalities. Just call me the Nether Snake King!"

He waved his tail, indicating that Xiao Yan should begin as soon as possible.

Seeing how eager he was, Xiao Yan suddenly recalled what the map said about him and understood a little more.

Looks like Yun Shan wounded this fellow badly back then!

But that old man never expected this, did he? Because of something from his past, he ended up pushing a Dou Zong expert into my camp. Looks like there'll be a good show when the three-year agreement comes around!

Xiao Yan laughed to himself, suddenly looking forward to how things would unfold.

Now that things had come to this, the young man said no more and surrendered control of his body entirely. His eyes turned white as he let Yao Lao take over.

After all, at this point, he and Yao Lao had only just met. If he suddenly displayed seventh-tier alchemy skills, he would surely arouse the other party's suspicions.

"It's been a long time since I felt what it was like to have a body. It really is nice!"

Yao Lao carefully moved his fingers and flexed his joints, a satisfied smile on his face. Then he reached out and took the pill formula from the Nether Snake King.

After briefly familiarizing himself with the method for refining the Dragon Transformation Pill, Yao Lao got to work.

But wealth was best kept out of sight, so Yao Lao did not summon the Black Demon Cauldron. Instead, he used fire as a cauldron, flipping his wrist to produce a ball of Bone Spirit Cold Flame and shaping it into a medicinal cauldron.

He beckoned, gathering up all the spiritual medicines of various colors piled in the air and tossing them into the cauldron in one go to be refined.

The Nether Snake King stared at the sight, dumbfounded.

As far as he knew, an alchemist was supposed to add ingredients one at a time and proceed step by step when refining a pill. Who ever heard of throwing them all into the pot at once?

For a moment, the Nether Snake King regretted it.

When he had seen Xiao Yan striding through the air, he had actually believed the other party's nonsense and thought him an alchemist.

Now it was clear that the other party was a fraud!

The Nether Snake King cursed inwardly, but he also knew it was too late. All he could do was silently pray for a miracle.

Sizzle, sizzle, sizzle!

Under Yao Lao's precise control, the Bone Spirit Cold Flame instantly split into countless tiny flames that burrowed into the ingredients, refining their pure medicinal power from the inside out.

Each flame had a different temperature, corresponding to the heat needed for its respective ingredient, so that their medicinal power would all finish burning at the same time.

Refining a seventh-tier pill was an extremely lengthy process.

Many ingredients possessed formidable medicinal power, yet were extremely delicate and would burn to ruin at the slightest mistake.

The Holy Spirit Fruit, for example, had to be roasted for a week at a temperature comparable to molten lava before it could be completely transformed into medicinal liquid.

The Dragon Blood Wood, on the other hand, had to be embedded whole into the core of the pill during the final pill-forming stage to achieve its maximum medicinal effect.

Then there was the exceedingly fragile Ten-Thousand-Year Mystic Heart Grass. At the slightest mistake, whether the temperature was too high or too low, nearly all its medicinal power would be lost, rendering it completely useless.

Thus, refining a seventh-tier pill always took an extremely long time: a few days at the shortest, half a month at the longest, or even longer...

But as the foremost alchemy grandmaster known to the public in the Central Plains, Yao Lao naturally had a wealth of knowledge and plenty of ways to shorten the time needed to refine the ingredients.

Even when certain ingredients had to be burned for a fixed period before their essence could be extracted, Yao Lao still had a solution.

He could use medicinal mixtures to temporarily alter the properties of an object and thereby achieve his goal.

Before anyone noticed, three days had quietly passed.

As the sun set on the fourth day, Yao Lao gripped the medicinal cauldron with both hands and fiercely poured soul power into it. "Open, cauldron!" he shouted.

As his voice faded, the medicinal cauldron slowly dissipated, finally revealing a pill the size of a longan.

The pill was crimson all over, and its medicinal fragrance seeped into the heart and soul, leaving one intoxicated. The Nether Snake King was so entranced by its scent that he could not draw himself away, repeatedly exclaiming that Xiao Yan was truly a divine man!

But good fortune was always accompanied by danger.

The moment the pill was completed, fierce winds suddenly swept across the sky. Black clouds gathered for several miles around, with flashes of lightning flickering within them, a terrifying sight.

This was the heavenly phenomenon that accompanied a seventh-tier pill: a large-scale lightning tribulation that had not formed naturally.

"Get back, quickly!"

Seeing this, the Nether Snake King hurriedly roared a warning for Xiao Yan (Yao Lao) to put the pill away, while he himself resisted the lightning tribulation.

After finishing the pill, however, Yao Lao had already returned control to Xiao Yan and told him to withdraw to the side and watch.

Rumble!

With a deep, explosive roar, a bolt of purple lightning half a zhang thick shot viciously down from the dark clouds, striking straight toward Xiao Yan.

Seeing danger, the Nether Snake King hastily bared his fangs and shot a streak of dark light from his mouth, instantly corroding the lightning just before it reached the young man.

He followed with a sweep of his massive tail. An invisible shock wave roared into the depths of the dark clouds, dispersing some of them.

But the lightning tribulation still did not change its target and continued to strike around Xiao Yan.

Seeing this, the Nether Snake King realized that the lightning tribulation was looking down on him.

He flew into a rage. His body swayed, and he transformed into a streak of black wind that swept swiftly behind the young man.

The Nether Snake King opened his gaping maw once more and swallowed the mass of lightning on the spot, keeping it in his belly to digest.

Venom churned in his stomach. He opened his mouth and spat out a cloud of poisonous mist, which swiftly formed a sturdy fortress around him.

The young man was sheltered at its center, safe and sound.

Xiao Yan nodded slightly, a trace of admiration flashing in his eyes. "Not bad, Nether Snake King. You really are more quick-witted than those two fellows before you."