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Huang Tao immediately started with the medicinal ingredients for a Grade 6 pill formula, ruining several batches, which made Yan Mu's heart ache and his tail twitch.
This also made him realize that Huang Tao was not the Alchemist Master he initially thought he was; he was indeed a novice, but he met all the conditions to become an Alchemist and picked things up incredibly fast.
After Yan Mu's guidance, Huang Tao quickly compensated for his foundational shortcomings, and on his fifth attempt at alchemy, he finally succeeded once.
Moreover, what he refined was the "Dou Spirit Pill," a famous Grade 6 medicinal pill, whose effect was to raise a Dou King's level by one.
"That's enough..." Huang Tao nodded at Yan Mu, indicating that he had mastered the basic knowledge.
Yan Mu felt a surge of emotion; in just half a day, another person had surpassed his lifelong efforts, reaching a level he could never hope to achieve.
However, deep down, he also felt a little smug; he had, after all, guided an Alchemist Master, a feat he could brag about for the rest of his life!
After familiarizing himself with the basics, Huang Tao finally began using the medicinal ingredients collected by the White Snake Tribe to formally refine the "Heaven Soul Blood Bone Pill," required for the advanced secret technique.
This was a Grade 7 medicinal pill!
Huang Tao threw the medicinal ingredients one by one into the fire cauldron, spreading his hands wide, embracing the cauldron, as wisps of golden flame continuously entered the cauldron from his palms, refining the ingredients within.
Seeing this, Bai Qing's eyes flickered. She looked at the Tribe Leader, Bai Lin, and gestured with her eyes, asking what to do next.
When an Alchemist refines pills, he needs to control the degree of refinement of the medicinal ingredients and the temperature of the flames with his spirit power, dedicating his entire being to the process; otherwise, a single slip-up could lead to the pill's destruction and even death.
Therefore, alchemy is very sensitive to disturbances, and an Alchemist in the midst of refining pills is often at his most vulnerable and least guarded.
Watching the killing intent in Bai Qing's eyes, Bai Lin fell silent. She hesitated, unsure whether she should take a risk and launch a sneak attack at this moment.
Was Huang Tao truly dedicating his entire being to alchemy? Didn't he know how vulnerable an Alchemist was at this time?
Would he be so careless as to expose his back to us without any defense?
But this is the last chance; if I don't take a risk, then I will be forced to undergo evolution, either dying from the burning of the Heavenly Flame or dying in the thunder tribulation.
However, if the sneak attack fails, it will likely bring disaster upon the entire tribe... Now that Bai Qing is in the tribe, even if the tribe loses me, it can still avoid decline... I cannot gamble the lives of the entire tribe on a low-probability event!
After a long internal struggle, Bai Lin finally shook her head, signaling Bai Qing to endure.
Huang Tao 'tsk'ed and slowly withdrew his outstretched arms, saying to her in a very annoying tone:
"Heh, you actually managed to resist attacking... I was actually quite looking forward to it."
As expected, he had been maintaining his guard all along and had not focused his attention on refining pills at all! There was no surprise in Bai Lin's eyes.
Bai Qing, on the other hand, felt her hands and feet turn cold... Thankfully, Her Majesty the Queen acted prudently; otherwise, the entire tribe would likely have fallen into eternal damnation.
Yan Mu also sensed that the atmosphere seemed a bit off; the man in front of him and the Tribe Leader might be enemies rather than friends. But he still couldn't help but frequently shift his gaze to the fire cauldron.
As an Alchemist, he cherished medicinal ingredients immensely, not to mention that the ingredients in the fire cauldron were for the "Heaven Soul Blood Bone Pill," which concerned the future of their Snake-People!
He wanted to speak up many times, wanting to say that leaving the medicinal ingredients unattended like this would lead to refining failure. But the slightly solemn atmosphere made him hesitate to speak.
Bai Lin forced a smile and spoke Yan Mu's unspoken thoughts: "Is it really okay to ignore the medicinal ingredients? We can't afford such a loss... The materials for the 'Heaven Soul Blood Bone Pill' have been collected by the tribe for so many years, and there are only three sets."
She said to Yan Mu: "Elder Yan, you've worked hard, please go down first."
Yan Mu gave Huang Tao a deep look, bowed respectfully to Bai Lin, and retreated.
"Who said I wasn't paying attention to alchemy? Isn't this something anyone with hands can do?"
The Golden Emperor Sky Burning Flame formed the cauldron, and the other Heavenly Flames within the cauldron refined the medicinal ingredients. They all had Amon's consciousness and could act independently.
It seemed like Huang Tao was refining the pills, but in reality, the Heavenly Flames were doing the refining; Huang Tao was just putting on a show.
And now, he wasn't even putting on a show anymore!
Let the flames refine themselves!
But you're not even moving your hands now... Bai Lin opened her mouth, unsure what to say for a moment.
She fell silent, quietly awaiting the result of the alchemy.
The refining of Grade 7 medicinal pills required a considerable amount of time. Even though Huang Tao distributed the task of refining the medicinal ingredients to different Heavenly Flames, allowing them to refine simultaneously in the cauldron, it still took almost half a day.
After all the medicinal ingredients were refined, the Living Spirit Flame demonstrated its unique properties.
All the medicinal ingredients, burned by the flames and transformed into liquid, merged together. The wood-attribute flame stimulated the medicinal properties within the ingredients, and the pill slowly took shape.
A roughly dragon-eye-sized pill prototype, with a rough surface, had already condensed. After the final nurturing, the pill's surface became smooth, with yellow and purple intertwined, forming Ah Yin-yang fish pattern.
The fire cauldron slowly opened, and a rich medicinal fragrance emerged from within.
Following this was a series of thunderclaps in the sky. Heavy dark clouds gathered above White Snake City, and the world grew dim. Such an unusual phenomenon made everyone in White Snake City look towards the palace where Bai Lin resided.
"It actually succeeded?" Having personally witnessed Huang Tao's indifferent attitude after initially holding the fire cauldron, Bai Lin hadn't held much hope for this alchemy session.
But the medicinal fragrance and the sudden surge of lightning-attribute energy in the air now all indicated that the alchemy had not failed!
The white-haired, fiery-red Snake-Person, Yan Mu, looked at the lightning in the sky, a strange light shining in his eyes.
The emergence of high-grade medicinal pills would trigger celestial phenomena; this thunder tribulation was what Alchemists like them pursued their entire lives!
"So beautiful..." Yan Mu murmured.
In his eyes, the thunderclouds in the sky, filled with destructive power, were not terrifying, but rather possessed a captivating beauty.
A silver-white lightning bolt struck down from the sky. The power of the lightning was not strong, but Huang Tao felt waves of phantom pain.
A flame burst through the roof, soaring towards the lightning in the sky.
Heavenly Flame list Rank 11, Nine Dragons Thunder Flame!
The flame transformed into a dragon and swallowed the lightning in one gulp.
It soared into the sky, flying into the clouds, and a strong suction force suddenly erupted from its mouth. The power of lightning within the clouds rapidly surged towards the fire dragon, and in an instant, the dense lightning was completely devoured.
The dark clouds dispersed, sunlight streamed down, and White Snake City was once again illuminated by light.
The fire cauldron dissipated, transforming back into a flame and returning to Huang Tao's body.
Bai Qing then noticed that Huang Tao had more than one Heavenly Flame on him! Besides the golden Heavenly Flame used to form the pill cauldron, there was also the Heavenly Flame that devoured the lightning.
Huang Tao spread his palm, and in his hand were two pills, yellow and purple intertwined, forming Ah Yin-yang fish pattern, exuding a rich fragrance!
He refined two pills in one go!
Normally, unless it was an extremely high-level Alchemist refining some low-grade pills, it would be impossible to refine two at once. This was because the mental effort required was far more than simply double.
Huang Tao put the pills into a jade bottle and handed it to Bai Lin: "I have fulfilled my promise. Now it's your turn, choose a Heavenly Flame."
Bai Lin subconsciously took the pills, her mind automatically translating his words into: Choose a way to die.
She handed the pills to Bai Qing, then gave some secret instructions that only a Tribe Leader would know, and finally, she solemnly said:
"The White Snake Tribe will be entrusted to you from now on. Nurture the new 'Queen Medusa' well. With better secret techniques to nourish her, she should be even more outstanding than me.
"Go and seal off the palace surroundings. Don't let anyone in to disturb me, and don't tell anyone I was forced. Just say I chose the path of evolution myself.
"Also, the three Elders went on a mission. After about a year or so, you can say they went missing..."
Bai Lin took a deep breath, turned to face Amon, and said: "I've thought it over, I choose the Living Spirit Flame!"
Among all the Heavenly Flames, the Living Spirit Flame was the most gentle and carried a rich life force, making it the most likely to allow her to survive the evolution.
"As you wish."
A flame, white at the bottom, emerald green at the top, like liquid, with layers of mist swirling around it, flew out from Huang Tao's palm and slowly burned in the main hall.
Bai Lin cast a lingering glance at the sky outside and the neatly arranged buildings in the city. She adjusted her mindset, her snake tail swaying, and approached the flame.
She gently raised her hands, her sleeves naturally sliding down, revealing a pair of fair arms.
Bai Lin paused slightly, then said: "Lower the flame's temperature a bit more."
Huang Tao snapped his fingers, and the Living Spirit Flame automatically lowered its temperature slowly: "Listening to you, just tell me when it's right, and I'll stop."
"Stop..."
The flame's temperature stopped decreasing, and Bai Lin said again: "I'm not sure how much time the evolution will take. Do you have enough Dou Qi? Can you keep the flame at this temperature without changing it?"
Huang Tao chuckled and said: "Maintaining it for ten days to half a month is no problem... Whatever heat level, whatever doneness you want, I can adjust it for you... I've also seen another 'Queen Medusa' evolve before, she only took about half a day..."
What heat level, what doneness... Do you think you're making steak? Bai Lin complained inwardly.
"Did she succeed?"
"She succeeded... She used the wild Azure Lotus Core Flame, entirely on her own... She wasn't as extravagant as you, able to freely choose the flame and have someone help control the temperature," Huang Tao replied.
This example gave Bai Lin some confidence; compared to that 'Queen Medusa,' her conditions were much better.
It seemed she might not necessarily die!
Bai Lin's gaze became resolute; she had to succeed!
She began to form strange hand seals, roughly similar to when Queen Cai Lin evolved, but with subtle differences.
The Living Spirit Flame was drawn and moved closer to Bai Lin.
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