Xiao Yan, first-tier alchemy mastered

"What the heck? Shameless old man, so desperate to save face."

"My performance was clearly as good as it could possibly be, but you just had to call it average. What a letdown..."

Of course, Xiao Yan only dared think these words to himself. He certainly didn't dare say them aloud.

Meanwhile, Yao Lao caught Xiao Yan's speechless look and felt a little embarrassed himself. At the same time, a sense of helplessness welled up inside him.

"Alas, it seems having a disciple who's too talented isn't necessarily a good thing!"

Yao Lao sighed, his face full of resignation.

As a teacher, he naturally hoped his disciple could surpass him.

But when someone was too outstanding, even he couldn't handle it!

At that thought, Yao Lao shook his head and said to himself, "No, this can't go on."

"I have to regain my dignity in the field I'm best at!"

Yao Lao made up his mind and spoke:

"All right, now that you've learned the Dou Technique you were practicing, I can rest easy. However..."

He paused, then changed the subject.

"Now we come to the main event. I'm going to teach you the basics of alchemy."

Hearing this, Xiao Yan's eyes lit up, and he exclaimed, "Wow, really? Thank you, teacher!"

As an old hand at this, Xiao Yan had long since mastered the art of pretending to be a pig to eat the tiger.

The harder Yao Lao laughed now, the harder he would cry later.

In his previous life, Xiao Yan had been an Emperor-Grade Alchemist.

When it came to alchemy, Yao Lao was inferior to him.

"Tsk, tsk, then I'll wait and see!"

A smile of anticipation appeared on Xiao Yan's face as he looked at the illusory old man not far away, secretly reveling in the thought.

"Haha, having some accomplishments in Dou Techniques alone is nothing but child's play."

"Only by mastering powerful alchemy can you do as you please across the continent."

Yao Lao snorted softly. His legs turned illusory, and he once again became a wisp of a ghost, floating over to the young man.

He stood with his hands behind his back and tapped his brow, taking the Black Demon Cauldron out from his mind.

He placed the medicine cauldron in front of him and said calmly:

"Xiao Yan, watch closely this time. I'll only demonstrate it once!"

As he spoke, Yao Lao beckoned with his hand.

The ancient black ring in Xiao Yan's hand shone again, instantly shooting out hundreds upon thousands of streaks of light.

The lights landed on the ground and revealed their forms.

They were a densely packed mass of low-tier medicinal ingredients.

Seeing this, Yao Lao smiled.

Without hesitation, he clenched his right hand. The ghastly white Bone Spirit Cold Flame immediately poured from his palm and fiercely enveloped the Black Demon Cauldron.

Stimulated by the Heavenly Flame, the center of the medicine cauldron suddenly collapsed, forming a violent vortex that forcefully sucked the medicinal ingredients off the ground and into it.

Yao Lao had decided to show some of his real skill and completely conquer Xiao Yan's frivolous heart.

Seeing this, Xiao Yan's expression also grew solemn.

It seemed that after being provoked by him so many times, Yao Lao was close to losing his composure. Xiao Yan quipped:

"Teacher, are you making such a big show just to scare your disciple?"

The young man blinked his large eyes and thought to himself:

"But, teacher, you've miscalculated this time."

A mocking smile curved Xiao Yan's lips, as if victory were already in his grasp.

As time passed, the medicinal ingredients in the Black Demon Cauldron gradually melted, soon becoming a pool of liquid energy brimming with boundless vitality.

The mysterious liquids flowed through the cauldron, repeatedly intertwining, merging, and brewing, before long bursting into dazzling colors.

Yao Lao slowly raised both hands, and several streams of differently colored liquid floated out of the medicine cauldron.

They circled in the air, then, under the old man's meticulous control of his soul, merged drop by drop in the proper proportions.

"Ha-!"

Yao Lao shouted and brought his palms together.

Under his guidance, the combined liquid gradually solidified, finally shedding the last of its impurities and moisture.

When the light faded, streams of pale white medicinal powder fell from the air, returning to the center of the Black Demon Cauldron.

"Teacher, what kind of pill is this? Why is it a powder?"

Xiao Yan pretended not to understand and asked in confusion.

"This is called Blood Coagulation Powder. It's a very basic first-tier pill, and it couldn't be more suitable for a beginner like you."

Yao Lao explained with a smile, a gleam of pride flashing in his eyes. Clearly, he was very pleased with what he had just done.

"I'll give you the formula in a moment. Try making it yourself with the flame in your dantian and see if you succeed."

"Remember, failure isn't important. What matters is accumulating experience and learning from your mistakes. Only then can you keep improving."

"Even I didn't succeed on my first attempt."

"So even if you fail, don't feel discouraged. Do you understand?"

Yao Lao instructed him in a stern voice.

Most alchemy apprentices trained to get a feel for it this way at first.

Only through constant exploration could they gain anything.

As long as they made a conscious effort to improve, the more medicinal ingredients they burned, the more experience they accumulated in alchemy, and the higher their pill success rate would be.

Xiao Yan nodded. "I understand, teacher!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the young man sat cross-legged and released his Dou Qi, drawing the Black Demon Cauldron over from nearby.

He then reached out and enveloped the medicine cauldron. A seven-colored fire dragon immediately flew out of his dantian, coiling around the cauldron and burning it.

Soon, a suction force emerged from the cauldron, sweeping up another portion of the medicinal ingredients from the ground and sending them inside to be refined.

The Blood Coagulation Grass, poppy flowers, and Blood Ginseng Root were instantly swallowed by the fire dragon and began to break down.

As pitch-black impurities were extracted, the medicinal ingredients gradually became viscous, giving off wisps of medicinal fragrance. Soon, they turned into a thick liquid.

As the Flame Emperor in his previous life, Xiao Yan naturally had an abundance of alchemy experience. With practiced movements, he soon began merging the streams of liquid in the proper proportions.

Hiss, hiss, hiss...

Flames rose, and the divine dragon spun ceaselessly within the cauldron, giving off cries of a dragon.

Then the divine dragon suddenly raised its head and shot a beam of colored light from the center of the cauldron's bottom.

The next moment, all the medicinal liquids shot into the air.

They hovered in midair, converging, merging, evaporating, and solidifying...

In only a moment, the medicinal liquid became a small pinch of pale white Blood Coagulation Powder.

Judging by appearance and color alone, it was almost identical to Yao Lao's finished product.

"Ah, he actually succeeded on his first try!"

Yao Lao watched Xiao Yan, his eyes filled with shock and disbelief.

Alchemy, after all, was delicate work.

To do it well required not only extremely precise control of the flames, but also tremendous concentration and extensive knowledge.

Otherwise, the slightest mistake could leave impurities in the medicinal ingredients that were difficult to remove completely, or the ingredients might simply be burned to a pile of useless dregs by poorly controlled flames.

Ordinary people would experience failure to some degree or another the first time they practiced alchemy.

Even Yao Lao himself had failed over a hundred times before barely reaching the threshold of first-tier pills.

At that moment, the illusory old man floated to the back and stared at the young man's back, drawing a sharp breath:

"Could it be... he really is a genius-?!"

Only now did Yao Lao finally begin to question his life.

This Xiao Yan was simply a monster!

First he learned a Xuan Class Dou Technique at a glance, then he learned an Earth Class Dou Technique, and now...

He had actually succeeded on his first attempt at alchemy.

With comprehension like that, could he be a reincarnated Dou Di?!

Xiao Yan sat in meditation, slowly circulating the Flame Mantra to restore his depleted Dou Qi.

Suddenly, he raised his head slightly and, pretending to be a child, asked Yao Lao in a childish voice:

"Teacher, how did I do?"

On hearing him, Yao Lao floated unhurriedly to the center of the Black Demon Cauldron.

He reached into the cauldron and rubbed some of the powder between his fingers a few times, judging the value of the medicine.

Light and fine, like yellow sand, with an even color...

This batch of Blood Coagulation Powder could be said to contain no impurities at all.

To put it more broadly, it was simply the finest of first-tier pills, even comparable to some low-end second-tier pills.

An ordinary first-tier pill would take at least ten days to heal a seriously injured Dou Zhe.

But the medicine Xiao Yan had refined would take at most three days.

Yao Lao's fingers trembled slightly, but he still refused to concede, sneering, "Just a lucky break. Nothing to be proud of."

Xiao Yan: "..."

The young man was speechless and grumbled vehemently in his heart:

"Can't you just tell a little bit of the truth, old man?"

"On my first attempt at alchemy, I turned a first-tier pill into a second-tier pill. If that's not awesome enough, how is it just luck?"

Once the thought arose, the more he dwelled on it, the angrier he became. A little figure appeared in his mind, fiercely denouncing Yao Lao before him:

"Fine, fine, fine. That's how you want to play?"

"Then I'm done putting on this act!"

Xiao Yan's heart churned like rivers and seas, but on the surface he remained unperturbed.

Dou Qi surged around him as he gripped the Black Demon Cauldron with both hands and actually began refining medicine again.

Before long, a second, third, and fourth batch of pills came out of the cauldron in succession.

In the face of the facts, Yao Lao's doubts instantly fell apart on their own.

The young man looked up again and asked curiously:

"Teacher, how many times did you fail when you first tried alchemy?"