The square was filled with a wave of astonished murmurs as everyone gazed at the sudden spectacle in the sky. A bright green fire dragon emerged from Xiao Yan’s body, and this fire was actually not afraid of the other’s Different Flame, indicating that it too was a sort of Different Flame, and its position on the rankings was likely even higher than the deep blue flame wielded by Old Bone-chaser. The roar of the emerald green fire dragon was clearly aimed at Old Bone-chaser, hence the other alchemists didn’t suffer too much disturbance. Nevertheless, when the dragon roared, they still felt their own flames in the cauldrons become more violent. Their expressions changed, and they were quite helpless against a Different Flame, the lord of all fires.
On the high platform, Xuan Kongzi and others looked at the summoning of the emerald green fire dragon by Xiao Yan, eyes filled with surprise. After a moment, eyebrows furrowed with slight confusion: “If I’m not wrong, the Different Flame of that black-clothed man should be ranked fifteenth, the Sea Heart Flame. But Xiao Yan’s emerald green Different Flame should have a higher rank; why is it so unfamiliar to me?”
“It does seem a bit off. Among the first fifteen different flames, although there are those with similar colors, upon closer comparison, one can find notable differences.” The beautiful woman nodded slightly, then added, intrigued, “Could it be that this little fellow found a new kind of Different Flame?”
The vastness of the earth and sky contained countless mysteries, and the Different Flames, creations of the heavens and earth, were especially mysterious. While the Different Flame Rankings carried great authority, it was impossible to claim that these were the only kinds of Different Flames in the world. Thus, the beautiful woman had such thoughts.
“Not very clear, but in the emerald green flame, I detected a hint of the Azure Lotus Earth Core Flame. But the ranking of the Azure Lotus Earth Core Flame is lower than the Sea Heart Flame; how could the Sea Heart Flame possibly be afraid of it?” The swarthy old man also fell into a contemplative expression.
“Ha, it seems this little fellow has a lot of secrets. This Alchemy Conference is getting more and more interesting. The battle of Different Flames hasn’t been seen for many years,” Xuan Kongzi smiled lightly, not delving too deeply into it.
Hearing this, the beautiful woman and the dark-skinned elder gradually nodded.
“Hmph!” Old Bone-chaser glanced at the deep blue flame that returned to his hand, then stared grimly at the distant Xiao Yan before coldly snorting and withdrawing his gaze. He flicked his finger, and the flame entered the medicinal cauldron in front of him. There was no time to bother with Xiao Yan now. After completing all the tasks, he would personally ‘take care’ of this detestable fellow.
With a minor setback given to Old Bone-chaser, Xiao Yan also smiled slightly, finally drawing back his gaze. Raising his hand, the crimson-colored Beast-Capturing Cauldron appeared in front of him. Lightly waving his sleeve, the emerald green fire dragon shot down from the air and plunged directly into the medicinal cauldron. The raging flames quickly warmed the cold cauldron.
As the temperature inside the medicinal cauldron gradually increased, Xiao Yan’s hand swept through the void, and one after another, medicinal ingredients flew out from the storage ring, floating around the stone platform. A rough count indicated there were at least a hundred varieties. The complexity of refining the Bone-Rebirth and Blood-Melting Pill was extremely horrific. If one’s soul control was insufficient, just looking at so many medicinal ingredients would make them dizzy, let alone refining them in such a precise manner.
After retrieving these auxiliary materials, Xiao Yan waved his hand, and three jade boxes flashed out, hovering gently in front of him. Inside the jade boxes were the three essential ingredients for refining the Bone-Rebirth and Blood-Melting Pill!
With everything prepared, Xiao Yan’s expression gradually became serious. The Bone-Rebirth and Blood-Melting Pill was the highest-grade pill he had ever refined, and also the most difficult one. Even the slightest mistake could result in the direst outcome. After all, in alchemy, failure often occurred in a single thought, plunging one from heaven to hell.
In his mind, the method of refining the Bone-Rebirth and Blood-Melting Pill flowed like water, and every detail needing attention was firmly etched in his heart.
Taking a deep breath, Xiao Yan’s narrowed eyes suddenly opened, a sharp light passing through his pitch-black pupils. Waving his sleeves hard, the numerous medicinal ingredients swirling around separated, and several were thrown head-first into the cauldron one after another.
As the ingredients entered the medicinal cauldron, they rapidly withered under the terrifying temperature of the Flowing Willflame. Under the exceedingly robust soul control of Xiao Yan, in just over ten minutes, the medicinal ingredients were respectively refined into pure medicinal powders. Then, with a mere thought, Xiao Yan made the refined powders float gently in the corners of the cauldron.
Extracting the first batch of refined medicinal powder at the fastest speed, Xiao Yan’s expression remained unchanged. With waves of his hands, one by one, the medicinal ingredients began to continuously enter the cauldron. No matter how varied the number of ingredients, it did not cause Xiao Yan any panic. Moreover, the advantages of ascending to the rank of an Eighth Grade Alchemist gradually began to show. When refining the medicinal ingredients, Xiao Yan could clearly feel that, with just a thought, the heat would change, and the ingredients would be refined to the purest form.
What was most surprising to Xiao Yan, however, was that the medicinal ingredients he had extracted seemed to have a faint strand of spiritual energy mingled within them. Though this spiritual energy was very faint, it quietly improved the quality of the refined medicinal powders considerably.
“An Eighth Grade Alchemist, truly extraordinary.”
Noticing this, Xiao Yan couldn’t help but feel a sense of joy. These faint strands of spiritual energy were not to be underestimated. The pills refined using these medicinal powders would definitely be of a higher quality than those refined by a Seventh Grade Alchemist, more than just by one level.
Under Xiao Yan’s swift refinement, one-third of the medicinal ingredients were refined into the required powders and liquids in just over an hour.
Refining so many medicinal ingredients, Xiao Yan’s expression remained calm. He exhaled a breath, and his gaze shifted to the three jade boxes in front of him, a look of solemnity passing through his eyes. Other medicinal ingredients could be handled loosely, but for these three main ones, they had to be treated with utmost care.
Snapping his fingers, the lid of one of the jade boxes flew away, revealing a section of an emerald green withered vine. Thick vitality seeped out from it, and this item was one of the necessary materials for refining the Bone-Rebirth and Blood-Melting Pill, the Thousand-Year Spirit Vine.
Glancing at the withered vine, Xiao Yan hesitated for a moment, then threw it into the medicinal cauldron. Focusing his mind, he controlled the heat.
Inside the cauldron, the flames raged. The seemingly fragile Thousand-Year Spirit Vine showed no change under the high temperature. If one looked closely, they would see a faint glow emanating from the withered vine, isolating it from the heat.
All things endowed with natural spirituality had self-protective functions, and Xiao Yan was not surprised by this. It was a stalemate, and as long as he persisted, the Thousand-Year Spirit Vine would eventually be completely refined.
Maintaining the heat, Xiao Yan closed his eyes. Refining the Thousand-Year Spirit Vine would take a considerable amount of time. As expected, it took nearly half a day for the Thousand-Year Spirit Vine to start breaking, droplets of green sap occasionally appearing in the cracks.
After the surface of the Thousand-Year Spirit Vine ruptured, the rest was much easier. About an hour later, the Thousand-Year Spirit Vine was completely transformed into a lump of green liquid, suspended in the flames, moving slowly as if it had life.
Seeing the green liquid, Xiao Yan relaxed. Swinging his hand, the numerous medicinal powders and liquids floating in the corners of the cauldron swiftly converged, plunging into the green liquid under his focused control.
The first fusion step was done rather perfectly. After about an hour, a clump of viscous substance floated above the emerald green flames.
The first stage of refining was a complete success, which even Xiao Yan found somewhat surprising. He understood, however, that this was mainly due to his soul entering the Spiritual Realm in Dan World. Otherwise, it would not have been as smooth as it was now.
After completing the first stage, Xiao Yan took a brief rest and then fully concentrated on the more complex steps of the refining process.
Above in the sky, numerous stone platforms hovered, and in each, the contestants focused seriously on controlling the heat to refine the medicinal pills in their cauldrons. The entire arena and its surroundings were quite quiet, with countless gazes converging on the busy figures in the sky.
They were waiting, waiting for the last day to arrive. For that was when the true climax of the Alchemy Conference would occur! And the champion of the Alchemy Conference would appear on that day!
Though the wait was tedious, everything was worth it for what might be the most spectacular moment of their lives!
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