Chapter 30: Alchemy
Waterfall cave.
The moonlight stones embedded in the stone walls emitted a soft, bright glow, dispersing the darkness of the cave and making it as clear as daylight.
Splash, splash~
Near the entrance, water splashed in occasionally, causing Ling'er to dart left and right to avoid it. Clearly, the little one didn't like water—but she was playful, and was having a great time regardless.
In contrast to Ling'er's mischief—
Yao Yan was immersed in cultivation, absorbing the gains from his recent battle.
His entire body was submerged in the juice of the Vajra Fruit. With hands forming seals, he used the blood circulation method recorded in the Indestructible Vajra Body technique to absorb the medicinal power, while supplementing it with a sixth-grade Body Tempering Pill to rapidly enhance the strength of his physique.
The overbearing medicinal power surged throughout his body, bringing waves of stinging pain like razors cutting his flesh—an unbearable sensation.
Fortunately, Yao Yan had long grown used to this pain. Compared to what Hun Xuzi had done to him in the past, the pain from body tempering was nothing. Besides, every bit of pain brought with it a gain in strength, making it easy to endure.
After a long while—
Yao Yan lifted his head from the now-transparent medicinal liquid. A faint golden flame flickered within his eyes, and formless soul power surged from between his brows, scanning his entire body, allowing him to sense the changes. As his blood surged, his skin once again turned to bronze—darker than before, now speckled with silvery gleams.
He frowned slightly and murmured, "The second level of the Indestructible Vajra Body is much harder to cultivate. Reaching mastery may take several years. As for the third level… it could take decades."
In that moment, he realized he had underestimated the difficulty of this body refinement technique. Maintaining his previous speed of progress was no longer possible.
At least not through bitter cultivation alone.
He also understood that the reason he had been able to master the first level so quickly was thanks to devouring the Dou Di bloodline of a core member of the Stone Tribe. With that power, he achieved a breakthrough. But from here on out, he would have to rely on himself—unless he used the Spirit Devouring Clan's innate ability to absorb the blood and Qi of others again.
Of course, if the target were a core member of a Dou Di family, that would be ideal.
The three great magical beast clans would do as well...
At this thought, Yao Yan closed his eyes. When he opened them again, his gaze was clearer. He scooped water into his hands and washed his face. He felt he had gone a bit too far—his mind filled with thoughts of devouring others to hasten his cultivation. Indeed, taking shortcuts was the instinct of all living beings.
If someone could cheat or skip steps, who would choose to suffer through bitter cultivation?
But if he couldn't fully control that power, he would become a slave to it—completely consumed by madness, turning into a demon ruled by the bloodline of the Spirit Devouring Clan, slaughtering everything in sight.
Thinking of what had happened when he devoured that member of the Stone Tribe, Yao Yan took a deep breath and suppressed the restlessness in his heart. He then leaned back against the edge of the bath, closed his eyes, and emptied his thoughts, letting the natural energy flow into him as the soul crystal within his spirit gradually released spiritual energy.
His Dou Qi was already beginning to crystallize. He was close to breaking through to Da Dou Shi.
He knew—
This period of seclusion and rapid strength gain had made him increasingly impatient, almost like he didn't even want to eat beef anymore.
His past life's influence was gradually fading.
Ying ying~
Suddenly, a soft and pleasant sound rang in his ears. As he opened his eyes, he saw a small, adorable green-furred fox. Its furry ears drooped on either side of its head, and its fur was wet with droplets, making it look like a soaked little kitten. Its emerald eyes stared at him pitifully.
Seeing Ling'er, Yao Yan's mood calmed down considerably. He reached out and patted her head, chuckling, "Hungry? Don't worry, I'll refine something for you soon."
Cultivation shouldn't be about pursuing power alone—the journey itself mattered.
Like the people and things one encountered.
He planned to focus on alchemy for a while, to temper his state of mind and organize the knowledge Hun Xuzi had passed down to him.
Ying ying~
Upon hearing there would be food, Ling'er's ears perked up instantly. She nuzzled against Yao Yan affectionately, not caring whether he was still wet.
Sometimes he really doubted his eyes.
Yao Yan laughed inwardly at the sight. Who would've thought that the legendary Flame of Living Beings would look like this?
He cleaned himself off and draped on a thin shirt. With a wave of his hand, he summoned his cauldron from his storage ring—a six-tiered alchemy cauldron of dark yellow hue, gifted to him by Yao Nong. It could withstand a portion of the explosive force of sixth-grade pills.
Boom!
The three-legged cauldron landed steadily.
Yao Yan then took out a mat and sat cross-legged. Raising his hand, he lit the cauldron with Illusionary Gold Flame and maintained it with his Dou Qi. He pulled out various medicinal ingredients and tossed them in, burning away impurities and refining the essence. Finally, he used his soul power to condense the purified material into pills.
Soon, one by one, the medicinal pills formed from concentrated essence took shape and floated out under his control.
Whoosh~
A green blur flashed past—Ling'er pounced at the pills mid-air. But she was quickly caught and suspended in place by Yao Yan's soul power, her little paws flailing helplessly.
"They just came out. What's the rush?"
Yao Yan laughed, amused.
Realizing she couldn't break free, Ling'er looked at him with pitiful eyes and whined softly.
Yao Yan chuckled and gently set her down. Then he directed the pills into prepared bottles. After filling ten of them, he handed one to Ling'er and stored the rest in his ring. Ling'er, dissatisfied, began circling him with a full bottle in her mouth.
"They're all yours. I'll give you more once you're done."
Yao Yan patted her head to comfort her.
Hearing this—
Ling'er finally gave up and leapt into his arms, curling up in a comfortable spot and starting to enjoy her "feast."
Yao Yan stroked her head, then after a moment's thought, pulled out the storage rings from Mu Xiao and the mercenaries. His soul power flowed into them as he began searching for valuable items. Soon, he retrieved a large number of medicinal ingredients and Dou Technique scrolls, along with many miscellaneous goods that would need sorting.
He quickly skimmed through the Dou Techniques. The highest among them were only Mysterious Tier High-Grade—of little value to him.
With Dou Techniques, quality mattered more than quantity.
Even in the original tale, Xiao Yan used a fire lotus all the way into the Great Thousand World.
His attention shifted to the miscellaneous items. Many were maps collected by the mercenaries—marking dangerous areas and rare herbs within the Shennong Mountain Range. These maps were hard-earned and thus quite valuable.
But he wasn't in the mood to sort them for now.
Yao Yan categorized and stored the items in his ring, then turned his focus to the medicinal ingredients. He planned to refine them all into pills—
To settle himself down and temper his foundation.
(END CHAPTER)
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