In the boundless depths of the mountains, where human footsteps seldom tread, the only dominant color is the endless verdant hue. Occasionally, the roar of a demonic beast echoes through the forest, startling countless birds that were resting. Midway up a cliff, there protrudes a massive stone from the mountain wall. Due to constant exposure to wind and rain, the surface of the stone is extremely smooth and even faintly glows. However, at this moment, a black-robed youth stands steadily on the stone, his feet like ancient tree roots, firmly anchoring him to the rock, so that his body remains motionless.
The black-robed youth is, of course, Xiao Yan, who left Maple City. He knew that awakening Pharmacist Elder would likely cause quite a commotion, so he naturally couldn’t do it in a place like Maple City, where there were too many prying ears and eyes. After bidding farewell to Nalan Jie, he and Medusa entered the deep mountains once more. In these endless mountains, even the loudest noise would be swallowed by the dense, layer upon layer of peaks.
Xiao Yan scanned the steep cliffs on either side. The silence was so profound that even the chirping of birds could hardly be heard. Satisfied, he nodded and looked up, shouting loudly towards the peak: “Cai Lin, please make sure nothing disturbs me.”
His voice echoed up, and faintly, one could see a graceful figure standing atop the mountain, but she ignored Xiao Yan’s shout, not even deigning to reply. Such an attitude from Medusa was something Xiao Yan had long become accustomed to, so he didn’t react with any surprise. He knew that although this woman was lazy in her words, she always fulfilled her promises without fault. With her guarding, Xiao Yan could almost completely relax.
Sitting cross-legged on the smooth stone, Xiao Yan slowly closed his eyes. After a while, when his breathing and heartbeat had both settled into a steady rhythm, he flicked his fingers, and the crimson-colored medicine cauldron plummeted down with a loud thud, landing heavily on the stone and causing it to tremble slightly.
Gazing at the crimson medicine cauldron, Xiao Yan’s expression grew serious. A faint glow emanated from the Nether Sea Ring on his finger, and soon, a variety of medicinal herbs appeared, floating in mid-air around him as if they were being guided by some unseen force.
These herbs all had a rather peculiar appearance, but the strange yet pleasant scent they emitted gave the soul a comforting feeling, like being bathed in a warm spring. Sniffing the peculiar aroma, Xiao Yan’s smile grew wider. These herbs indeed had a significant effect on the soul.
With a flick of his fingers, a wisp of Seaheart Lotus flame darted out, flitting around his fingers like a fire spirit, agile and swift.
“Go.”
At his command, the wisp of Seaheart Lotus flame shot out and entered the medicine cauldron through the fire hole, where it suddenly expanded and turned into a roaring flame, rising up inside the cauldron.
As the flames roared within the cauldron, after a short while, Xiao Yan’s slender fingers gently struck a floating herb, and a clever force propelled it into the cauldron. As soon as the herb entered, it was enveloped in emerald flames. Yet, despite the intense heat, it did not immediately succumb, instead, it began to emit a faint, white light, attempting to shield itself from the temperature.
Xiao Yan was not surprised by the herb’s resistance. He knew that such rare medicinal herbs, which could heal soul injuries, often possessed an instinctive ability to resist external harm. For example, the “Snow Jade Bone Ginseng” he had just thrown into the cauldron, although it was called ginseng, its shape more closely resembled a bone, and it was as hard as steel. Its resistance to fire was also extremely strong, and using ordinary flames to refine it would likely take at least half a year, if not more.
Therefore, he was not surprised that it could withstand the heat of the Seaheart Lotus flame. Refining such a herb required patience, and gradual progress was the key. As he watched the roaring flames in the cauldron, Xiao Yan closed his eyes, knowing that even with the strength of the Seaheart Lotus flame, refining the “Snow Jade Bone Ginseng” would take at least a few days.
Despite his expectations, Xiao Yan was still astonished on the third day when he saw the bone ginseng finally begin to melt. These soul-healing herbs truly differed from ordinary ones. Could this kind of hardness even be considered medicinal?
As Xiao Yan patiently refined the herbs, by the fifth day, the unyielding Snow Jade Bone Ginseng had finally melted into a pool of white, viscous liquid. Placing the liquid in a cooler part of the cauldron, Xiao Yan continued to add other herbs, starting another round of tedious refinement.
Time passed like flowing water as each herb was gradually transformed into various colored medicinal liquids in the cauldron. After nearly a month, all the herbs were finally refined, and it took nearly another seven days to merge the liquids into a single batch.
…
On the cliff, Xiao Yan gazed at the thick, glowing liquid in the cauldron, finally exhaling a sigh of relief. This was the longest time he had ever spent in front of the cauldron. An entire month had passed, sitting motionless, constantly channelling his Dou Qi to maintain the flames in the cauldron. If it weren’t for his current status as a Dou King and the “Flame Decree” technique having evolved to the low-grade Earth stage, his Dou Qi would have been exhausted, and he might have fallen off the cliff.
“Finally, it’s done…”
Wiping the sweat from his forehead, Xiao Yan grinned, revealing a set of gleaming white teeth. His month-long effort had been fruitful, not just in merging the medicinal liquids, but also in improving his control over the combined hetero-flames in his body.
This process, though monotonous and exhausting, greatly enhanced his control over the flames.
After fusing the medicinal liquids, Xiao Yan rested for about ten minutes before regaining his focus. He then turned his gaze to the ancient, black ring on his finger, hesitated, and slowly removed it. Holding the ring in his palm, he gritted his teeth, and with a flick, sent it into the cauldron, where the emerald flames engulfed it.
As the black ring entered the cauldron, the emerald flames rushed toward it, but just as they were about to reach it, an invisible force emerged from the ring, blocking them.
“Automatic defense? Seems like Teacher’s ring is no ordinary object.”
Watching the ring’s reaction, Xiao Yan smiled, then flexed his fingers, causing the colorful medicinal liquid to surround the ring.
For these soul-healing medicinal liquids, the black ring made no resistance and allowed itself to be enveloped.
Seeing the successful encapsulation, Xiao Yan smiled. Changing his hand seal, the emerald flames, which had been weak, suddenly surged, engulfing the colorful medicinal liquid. The intense heat caused the surrounding space to distort, despite the isolation provided by the cauldron.
Under Xiao Yan’s control, the medicinal liquid did not resist the emerald flames. Small bubbles began to form on its surface, and as they burst, wisps of invisible smoke, compressed by the high temperature, seeped into the medicinal liquid, and silently merged with the black ring.
As time passed, the palm-sized medicinal liquid gradually shrank. The medicinal essence, intended to heal the soul, was evaporated under the intense heat and seeped into the ring, repairing the sleeping soul within.
As the medicinal liquid grew thinner, a faint, life-giving glow began to appear on the surface of the black ring.
“Teacher, you’ve slept for two years. It’s time to wake up…”
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