Two and a half months later.
Inside Xiao Yan's room in the Xiao family residence.
Heaven and earth spiritual energy surged wildly toward Xiao Yan. Soon, a blood-red glow emanated from his body. After a wave of fluctuating energy, his aura stabilized at the level of a Three-Star Dou Fighter.
After meeting Yao Lao, Xiao Yan had entered a state of seclusion. Even when Xun Er came to visit, he politely declined her invitations, explaining that his cultivation had reached a bottleneck and he couldn't accompany her for the time being.
For the sake of his future, Xiao Yan spent a full half-month stabilizing his realm and successfully switched his Cultivation Method. Over the remaining two months, he advanced from a One-Star Dou Fighter to a Three-Star Dou Fighter.
Additionally, Xiao Yan fed the Ten Thousand Beast Spirit Fire with his own Soul Blood once a month to aid its growth.
Thus, although the Ten Thousand Beast Spirit Fire was still in its infancy, it had already become a complete Heavenly Flame. Nourished by Xiao Yan's Soul Blood, its affinity for him had greatly increased. While Xiao Yan's crude fire control technique was far from making the flame move as effortlessly as his own limbs, at least he could wield its power without being hindered by inexperience.
However, for the Ten Thousand Beast Spirit Fire to grow stronger and reach maturity, it required more Magical Beast souls and Magical Beast blood.
Therefore, Xiao Yan had already made up his mind to venture into the Magical Beast Mountain Range for training once the time was right.
"Not bad. With this Spirit Flame Tempering Qi Technique, your cultivation speed is exactly as I expected. Now that your cultivation is on the right track, I can confidently teach you something new, such as..." Yao Lao's figure flew out from the Storage Ring on Xiao Yan's finger, nodding with satisfaction. Then, under Xiao Yan's eager gaze, he uttered three words: "Alchemy!"
Immediately after, Yao Lao continued:
"Feeding a Heavenly Flame with your own Soul Blood is highly effective, but your strength is too weak, and your body cannot withstand such consumption. At most, within half a year, the physical depletion caused by feeding the Heavenly Flame with Soul Blood will become apparent. Therefore, we must prepare in advance by refining some Elixirs that greatly replenish qi and blood, as well as those beneficial to the Soul.
Moreover, although I have awakened, I am still far from recovering my peak state. I also need the help of some medicinal herbs. However, from what I've learned these past few days, it seems the entire Jia Ma Empire is unlikely to have many herbs that can significantly aid me. This matter can only be approached gradually.
But replenishing your body must be prioritized."
Hearing this, Xiao Yan naturally understood Yao Lao's meaning and directly asked, "Master, what herbs are needed?"
"Soul-Nourishing Flower, Crimson Blood Ginseng, Yang Origin Grass..." Yao Lao listed a long string of herb names, making Xiao Yan's head spin.
"In addition, I need you to purchase a large quantity of basic herbs: five hundred stalks of Blood Coagulating Grass, six hundred Bone-Growing Flowers, five hundred Poppy Flowers, and five hundred Vitality Fruits. These are for you to practice with—the more, the better."
Before Xiao Yan could react, Yao Lao made such an extravagant demand that Xiao Yan was left speechless.
"Teacher, I don't have that much money. Right now, I'm just the young master of a small family, not some wealthy heir!"
Xiao Yan said with a bitter tone.
"Ah, I don't have any gold coins in this Storage Ring either. People have always come to me with Cultivation Techniques and Dou Skills or Natural treasures, begging me to refine elixirs for them. It's been many years since I last used something like gold coins!"
Yao Lao sighed helplessly upon hearing this.
"Teacher, do you have any low-level formulas? Let's refine a batch of low-level elixirs first to earn some startup funds, then gradually expand and grow stronger. How about that?"
Xiao Yan gave up thinking and reused his old formula.
"I do, but that thing isn't really useful for you. It's a bit of a waste. Alright, go prepare three complete Purple Leaf Orchid Grasses—the older, the better. Also, two Bone Cleansing Flowers—the age doesn't matter for these. Lastly, one wood-attribute level one Magic Core."
After a moment of contemplation, Yao Lao directly gave him the formula for the Foundation Establishment Spirit Liquid.
Xiao Yan fell silent, feeling a headache coming on.
With his Talent and his father being the clan leader, the benefits the family provided him were not low. But even so, he had only saved up five hundred gold coins.
That was barely enough to buy a Magic Core.
Hmm...
Xiao Yan's eyes lit up as a plan suddenly came to mind, one that could surely turn the current situation around.
"Teacher, have you ever tricked anyone?"
Xiao Yan put on an innocent, harmless smile.
"Hmm?"
Seeing Xiao Yan's expression that seemed ready to scam someone without remorse, Yao Lao raised an eyebrow.
"You little rascal, what are you scheming?"
Yao Lao couldn't figure out what Xiao Yan was thinking and asked curiously.
"Hehe!"
Xiao Yan chuckled without answering.
...
One day later, on the street, Xiao Yan gazed at the massive auction hall at the end of the road. Wearing homemade height-increasing insoles, wrapped in a thick cotton coat, and draped in a black robe to make himself appear bulkier and taller, he slowly made his way toward the hall.
If his cultivation level weren't so low, Xiao Yan wouldn't have gone to such trouble.
At this moment, Xiao Yan looked like a burly man over 1.7 meters tall from the outside. Even if Xun Er were standing right in front of him, she likely wouldn't see through his disguise at a glance.
His hand brushed against the still-warm white jade bottle in his chest pocket as Xiao Yan slowly stepped out of the alley and headed toward the auction hall at the end of the street.
Under the wary gazes of several fully armed guards at the entrance, Xiao Yan walked straight into the hall without stopping.
Upon entering the hall, the sweltering heat seemed to peel away from his body. The cool sensation gave him a strange feeling of stepping into another world.
Scanning the spacious, opulent hall, Xiao Yan headed toward a side room. On the door were three glittering golden characters: "Treasure Appraisal Room."
Pushing the door open, he found the room somewhat empty. Only a bored appraiser sat in a chair beside a table. Hearing the door open, the appraiser looked up, his brow subtly furrowing at the figure completely shrouded in a black robe before quickly putting on a professional smile.
"Sir, are you here to have a treasure appraised?"
"Yes."
From beneath the black robe came a dry, aged voice—Yao Lao's voice.
Xiao Yan took two steps forward, casually pulled out the white jade bottle from his chest pocket, and gently placed it on the table.
"What is this?" The appraiser blinked in confusion, carefully picking up the white jade bottle. He sniffed lightly at the mouth of the bottle, and after a moment, his expression changed slightly. When he looked at Xiao Yan again, there was an additional trace of reverence in his gaze. "Sir, are you an Alchemist?"
"Yes." The aged voice responded once more.
"May I ask, what kind of Elixir is this? What effect does it have?"
Hearing this, the appraiser inquired respectfully again.
"Foundation Establishment Spirit Liquid. It can increase the cultivation speed of Dou Disciple, but it is only effective for those below the Dou Fighter level."
"It can increase the cultivation speed of Dou Disciple?"
Upon hearing this, the appraiser was visibly moved. It was common knowledge that Dou Disciple could only be cultivated through conventional means. Moreover, the meridians of cultivators at this stage were extremely fragile. If the medicinal potency was too strong, it could lead to the tragic outcome of severed meridians and death...
"My Spiritual Liquid has no side effects, and its medicinal potency is extremely gentle. It will not cause such a result, so you can rest assured."
As if understanding what the appraiser was thinking, the aged voice slowly explained.
His expression changing once more, the appraiser carefully placed the white jade bottle back on the table and said respectfully, "Sir, could you please wait a moment? I need to invite our auction house's Master Gu Ni to appraise the Spiritual Liquid!"
"Alright, be quick."
Waving his hand, Xiao Yan did not stand on ceremony and sat down on a nearby chair, closing his eyes to rest.