After agreeing to Ye Zhong’s request, Xiao Yan’s time had undoubtedly become rather tight. In the short span of two months, he needed to practice and improve his alchemy skills as much as possible. He had to face the outstanding alchemists from all over the continent and stand out among them. Even someone like Xiao Yan felt a bit pressured. This kind of competition was completely different from a usual battle; it was a contest in another realm. The difficulty of this contest was much more demanding than simply charging forward with a burst of fighting spirit. After all, alchemy required not just a single burst of effort but a calm and steady hand, and a precise control over everything within the medicinal cauldron!
As for improving his alchemy skills, another way to put it would be burning through money—burning through medicinal ingredients. Regardless of how talented an alchemist may be, practical practice is the most important. To practice alchemy, one cannot do without medicinal ingredients. At Xiao Yan’s level, even the ingredients used for practice were no ordinary items. If he didn’t have a strong power supporting him, he would truly appear lacking.
Fortunately, even though the Ye Family had fallen, their collection over the years was quite impressive. They had genuinely prepared to place all their hopes on Xiao Yan. Therefore, they did their best to meet all his needs. Under Ye Zhong’s orders, precious medicinal ingredients were continuously sent to Xiao Yan. At a time like this, if the Ye Family still held back, they might really be in trouble. With the Ye Family’s full support, Xiao Yan was spared the trouble of searching for medicinal ingredients himself. All he had to do was refine pills. Whether successful or not, every attempt would give him some experience. This experience was a unique treasure for any alchemist. As this experience accumulated, it would eventually erupt, bringing about a qualitative change.
Looking at the alchemist masters on the continent, none of them were armchair theorists. They all had abundant experience that few could match. In the alchemy world, talent was important, but experience was also indispensable. Over the years, no matter how tight Xiao Yan’s schedule was, he never stopped refining pills. Additionally, the rich legacy left by the Pharmacist Elder had laid a smooth path for him. This allowed him to go further than ordinary alchemists in the same amount of time.
Of course, Xiao Yan knew that although his starting point was not low, there must be other excellent alchemists on the continent with similar conditions. Some might even have a higher starting point than him. To surpass these people at the gathering would definitely not be an easy task. Therefore, in the next two months, he had to put in enormous effort and focus entirely on refining pills!
In the spacious secret chamber, scorching heat permeated, making the chamber feel like an oven. For an ordinary person, staying in here for just ten minutes would make breathing difficult. The entire secret chamber was built with a red rock called magma stone, taken from inside volcanoes. Not only was it extremely hard, but it also had a special thermal insulation effect, making it ideal for building pill-refining chambers.
Inside the secret chamber, there were no gaps at all, as if it had been hollowed out directly from a massive piece of magma stone. Piled up in the secret chamber were many jade boxes, from which a dense herbal fragrance faintly wafted, becoming even stronger after being evaporated by the surrounding high temperature.
In the center of the secret chamber, a stone platform could be seen. On the stone platform, a thin figure sat cross-legged. In front of him, a scarlet medicinal cauldron floated in mid-air. Inside the cauldron, green flames blazed fiercely, and the high temperature was spreading from within the cauldron.
The figure sitting there, naturally, was Xiao Yan, who was diligently practicing alchemy. Since feeling the urgency of time, he had almost spent all his time here. Whenever he had a free moment, he would start refining pills. Although it was exhausting, the hardships were worth it for the sake of the Three Thousand Lotus Heartfire.
Inside the cauldron, the green flames surged, and amid the raging flames, a faint silhouette of a pill could be seen. A faint pill aroma wafted out.
Under the flames’ heat, the pill gradually became rounder. About an hour later, Xiao Yan’s tightly closed eyes suddenly opened. He snapped his fingers, and the lid of the cauldron flew off. A green beam of light shot out from the cauldron, automatically landing in Xiao Yan’s hand.
The pill that landed in Xiao Yan’s hand was a thumb-sized perfectly round pill. Despite its small size, if auctioned outside, it would definitely attract many envious glances. The pill was called Instant Energy Pill, a type of consumable pill, barely reaching the rank of a low-grade seventh-grade pill. Its function was to quickly restore fighting spirit. Even a Peak Battle Sect would find it effective. If both parties in a battle were exhausted, consuming this pill could potentially turn the tide. Therefore, many strong experts, especially those with considerable strength, would usually carry one. However, the cost of making such a pill was quite high, and not every expert could afford to use it casually.
Even Xiao Yan himself had never carried such a pill before. First, because of its high rank, and second, due to the rarity and complexity of the required ingredients, it couldn’t be consumed like beans…
Taking out a jade bottle from his storage ring, Xiao Yan placed the Instant Energy Pill inside. There were already six identical pills in the bottle, all his gains from nearly twenty days of work. In the past half-month, Xiao Yan had hardly left the secret chamber. Once the medicinal ingredients ran out, someone would bring more. His entire focus was on refining pills. Working day and night, he had made significant progress. He had successfully refined many low-grade seventh-grade pills and even succeeded in refining a mid-grade seventh-grade pill once.
Through such almost frenzied pill refining, Xiao Yan could clearly feel that his alchemical skills had improved somewhat. Of course, even the elder of pharmacy had to admit that Xiao Yan’s natural talent for alchemy was exceptional. Before the elder left, Xiao Yan could only refine fifth-grade pills, but now, through his own efforts, he could refine seventh-grade pills. While his hard work was a factor, his innate talent played a crucial role as well.
However, what left Xiao Yan somewhat surprised was that during these twenty days of intense pill refining, he discovered that his fighting spirit was slowly increasing. Upon reflection, he realized that pill refining was a highly consuming process, not just in terms of fighting spirit but also mental energy. During this period, when his internal fighting spirit was depleted, he would immediately enter a cultivation state. After recovering, he would continue working tirelessly. In this cycle of consumption and replenishment, it was not surprising that his fighting spirit had strengthened.
Sitting cross-legged on the stone platform, Xiao Yan took a moment to recover his fighting spirit. Letting out a long breath, he muttered to himself, “With my current alchemy skills, the success rate of refining low-grade seventh-grade pills is quite good. For mid-grade seventh-grade pills, the success rate is a bit lower, but it’s still acceptable. It’s definitely better than many ordinary seventh-grade alchemists, but it’s still not enough…”
To stand out at a Dan Assembly and enter the top ten, relying solely on mid-grade seventh-grade pills would be extremely challenging. According to Xiao Yan’s estimation, he needed to be able to refine high-grade seventh-grade pills to secure a place in the top ten.
“High-grade seventh-grade…”
His hand slowly clenched, and a hint of determination flashed in Xiao Yan’s eyes. High-grade seventh-grade? He didn’t believe he couldn’t do it!
With this fierce thought, Xiao Yan grabbed a jade box filled with medicinal ingredients and swung it over. With a wave of his hand, the herbs inside floated up, and a strong fragrance filled the air.
Xiao Yan exhaled lightly, snapping his fingers. The herbs flew into the cauldron. As he changed his hand seals, the green flames inside the cauldron flared up intensely once more.
Ye Zhong and others were somewhat worried about Xiao Yan’s intense focus, but they also sighed. Xiao Yan’s achievements at such a young age were indeed not without reason. Compared to his intensity, the younger generation of the Ye Family seemed like complete failures.
Xiao Yan’s intensive pill refining continued for a full month. During this time, he never left the secret chamber. Under this madness, the results he achieved were quite remarkable. The number of successfully refined low- and mid-grade seventh-grade pills increased, and even the high-grade seventh-grade pills, which he had failed to refine many times, were gradually becoming easier for him to handle. It looked like, given the right conditions, he might soon succeed in refining a high-grade seventh-grade pill.
Just as Xiao Yan was preparing to continue his arduous training after the month-long period, an urgent bell sound suddenly rang out in the secret chamber. The sudden ringing of the bell broke Xiao Yan’s concentration. His face changed slightly as he realized that the bell was an emergency signal from the Ye Family.
“The Ye Family is in trouble?” Frowning, Xiao Yan quickly stood up and opened the door of the secret chamber. Since he had promised the Ye Family, he couldn’t ignore them if they were in trouble, especially since he had used so many of their resources. He knew the Ye Family pinned all their hopes on him.
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