Battle Through the Heavens: Top Talent

Chapter 7 First Time Making Medicine

Inside the alchemy room, purple flames, like fire spirits, soared in the Fire Elder's hands, illuminating the entire room.

Elder Huo calmly watched the rapidly rising purple flames in the medicine cauldron, continuously taking out medicinal herbs from his storage ring and throwing them into it. Under the engulfment of the flames, each herb turned into powder or liquid essence, remaining in the medicine cauldron.

Xiao Yun stared intently at the flames inside the medicine cauldron. Although the flames were burning fiercely, he could feel that the temperature of the flames had been suppressed to an extremely low level by his teacher. Therefore, although the flames seemed extremely fierce, they would not damage the essence of the medicine. Instead, they would continuously refine and purify it.

Originally, alchemists should not be disturbed by anyone during the alchemy process, otherwise the furnace will explode and the pill will be destroyed. However, Elder Huo, as a fifth-grade alchemy master, was making a first-grade pill that was suitable for alchemy novices like Xiao Yun to observe. Therefore, Elder Huo seemed very relaxed and even explained each step of the alchemy process to Xiao Yun.

Soon, the medicinal essence inside the cauldron fused together, forming a pill with a pitted surface.

Under the scorching heat of the flames, liquid continuously repaired the large and small pits on the surface. After the repairs, a round, red rudimentary pill finally slowly took shape in the cauldron.

The moment the pill took shape, Elder Huo used his battle qi to collect it, put it into a jade bottle, and threw it to Xiao Yun.

"This is a first-grade Qi-restoring pill, which can restore a small amount of battle qi. Did you see clearly how I refined this pill just now?"

"I see clearly, teacher."

"Very good. Come over here and familiarize yourself with the medicine cauldron. Place your hand on the fire and then circulate your internal fighting energy into it." Elder Huo made way for him and sat down to the side.

Following Elder Huo's instructions, Xiao Yun placed his hand on the medicine cauldron and circulated his battle qi into his palm. A fiery red glow appeared on his palm, which was then absorbed into the medicine cauldron and transformed into a fiery red flame.

Seeing flames erupting from his palm, Xiao Yun was startled and almost reflexively pulled his hand back. However, when he realized that his palm was not burning hot, he was relieved.

Looking at the flames churning inside the medicine cauldron, Elder Huo nodded in satisfaction. "Now, use your soul power to sense that trace of wood energy within your body and lure it into the flames."

Upon hearing this, Xiao Yun closed his eyes, calmed his mind, and used his soul power to search for that trace of wood energy. After more than ten minutes, he finally found that trace of wood energy in his body.

A faint green aura appeared on Xiao Yun's palm, which he slowly poured into the medicine cauldron. As soon as the green aura entered the cauldron, it immediately intertwined with the flames.

The flames that had been churning calmed down. Although they didn't look as turbulent as before, Xiao Yun knew that with the help of this trace of wood energy, the flames were more stable and lasted longer than before.

"To find the wood element in such a short time, it seems my disciple's soul power is very strong."

Elder Huo opened his mouth in surprise. Back when he first tried to refine medicine, it took him a full hour to find that wisp of wood energy. Even so, his teacher still praised him as a genius at refining medicine.

It seems that my disciple not only has extraordinary talent in cultivation, but also one in ten thousand talent in alchemy. I have actually taken this unparalleled genius under my wing.

Elder Huo was overjoyed, but he quickly calmed down and said seriously, "Now that we've found it, let's follow the steps I just demonstrated."

Xiao Yun nodded. He already had the ingredients for refining the Qi-restoring pill in his storage ring. With a flick of his left hand, a bright green herb with a trumpet-like shape appeared in his hand. Controlling the flame, Xiao Yun carefully placed the herb into the medicine cauldron.

Wow!

As soon as the medicinal herbs entered the cauldron, flames quickly enveloped them. Before Xiao Yun could react, the originally emerald green herbs turned into a pool of dark brown liquid and were discharged by the cauldron's special device.

Looking at the pool of liquid, Xiao Yun felt a pang of heartache. Although it was just a first-grade medicinal ingredient, it still cost a lot of gold coins to buy, and he had burned it in an instant.

"Continue, don't worry about the loss of medicinal herbs," Elder Huo said calmly.

Xiao Yun remained silent, his expression becoming even more focused as he watched the flames in the medicine cauldron. He then took out more medicinal herbs from his storage ring and placed them back in.

After burning more than a dozen medicinal herbs, Xiao Yun finally grasped the flame temperature that the emerald green herbs could withstand and used his soul power to suppress the flame temperature.

Moments later, under the scorching heat of the flames, the outer skin of the emerald green medicinal herbs peeled off one by one, eventually turning into powdery medicinal essence.

Xiao Yun didn't understand much when he watched Elder Huo refine medicine before, but after he tried it himself, he realized that being an alchemist was not an easy job.

Wiping the sweat from his forehead, Xiao Yun continued to take out other medicinal herbs from his storage ring and put them into the medicine cauldron...

After an unknown amount of time, Xiao Yun sensed that his internal fighting spirit was about to be exhausted, and dozens of pools of black liquid had appeared next to the medicine cauldron. Finally, he extracted all the medicinal essence.

Under the flames, all the medicinal essences fused together, eventually forming a pitted pill. Xiao Yun quickly withdrew his hand and used his limited Dou Qi to take out the pill and hand it to Elder Huo.

"Haha, how does it feel to refine pills?" Elder Huo smiled as he took the pills, examined them carefully, and then sniffed them.

"Hmm, not bad. Although this pill has a pitted and uneven appearance and doesn't have much of a fragrance, it's already considered a successful pill. The Qi-restoring Pill is a mid-grade first-class pill, and it's truly remarkable that you were able to refine it like this on your first try."

Pale-faced and panting, Xiao Yun shook his head with a wry smile. He had originally thought that alchemists were all elegant and refined, able to summon flames with a wave of their hands to refine the pills that people were obsessed with.

He appeared carefree and relaxed. But now that he's actually making the pills himself, he realizes how much mental and physical effort it takes, far more tiring than mining coal.

"Alright, you're already this tired after just refining one first-grade pill."

Don't think that just because you've refined a first-grade pill, you're a first-grade alchemist. The quality and success rate of your pills are too low right now; you're not a true alchemist at all.

Elder Huo waved his hand, and a pile of medicinal herbs and dozens of jade bottles appeared on the ground. The dregs of the medicine that Xiao Yun had destroyed earlier also disappeared.

"If your fighting spirit is depleted, take a Qi-restoring pill. If you're tired, meditate and cultivate. Continue refining this batch of medicinal herbs. Come find me again when you're finished."

"No, teacher, could you please make a smaller batch of herbs?"

"No! You must refine them all. If you dare to deliberately ruin them, don't blame me for making things difficult for you!"

Elder Huo put down the medicinal herbs and left, leaving Xiao Yun alone in the empty alchemy room with a mournful face.

……

Becoming an apprentice of Elder Huo has indeed brought about tremendous changes to Xiao Yun's alchemy career. The good news is that Elder Huo is very wealthy, so Xiao Yun no longer has to worry about the resources for alchemy.

The bad news is that Elder Huo is a bit too extravagant.

After that, Xiao Yun's life became more regular. He went to the teaching department for classes in the morning, and was forced by Elder Huo to refine medicine in the afternoon. Even at night, Xiao Yun was not idle. He replaced sleep with cultivation and worked overtime to cultivate his battle qi.

Xiao Yun had always felt a sense of crisis, which came from his memories. In the future, the Soul Emperor, the mortal enemy of the Xiao Clan, had been plotting for a thousand years, and it was unlikely that everything would necessarily develop in the original timeline.

It's impossible for Soul Emperor and Void Devouring Flame, two nine-star Dou Sheng, to just stay foolishly in the Soul Clan and do nothing.

Moreover, when the former breaks through to Dou Di, he might refine all the living beings of the entire Dou Qi Continent to aid his cultivation. Xiao Yun cannot place all his hopes on Xiao Yan.

In the Dou Qi Continent, the law of the jungle prevails, and strength is the only true principle. If you want to avoid being refined in the future, the only way is to become stronger!

From then on, Xiao Yun spent his days attending classes and refining medicine, and his nights cultivating Dou Qi. Occasionally, he would seek answers from Elder Huo if he had any questions about cultivation or medicine refining. After all, as a Dou Wang expert and a fifth-grade alchemist, Elder Huo could easily answer Xiao Yun's difficult questions.

Time flies like an arrow, quietly slipping away in Xiao Yun's disciplined life.

Six months later, in the alchemy room of the outer academy of Canaan Academy.

Xiao Yun sat in front of a red medicine cauldron, his hands constantly moving, forming various complex hand seals. As his fingers danced, the dark blue flames in the cauldron surged and churned, continuously refining the medicinal herbs within.

He skillfully took a medicinal herb from the side and threw it into the medicine cauldron. Under the heat of the flames, it quickly shed its outer skin and became the essence of the medicine.

Now, after half a year of rigorous training from Elder Huo and the supply of countless medicinal herbs, Xiao Yun is no longer the novice who struggled to even refine medicinal herbs.

"Condense!" As he watched the medicinal herbs in the cauldron transform into their essence, Xiao Yun's eyes narrowed. He focused his mind on the cauldron, constantly changing hand seals and using his soul power to control the flames, forming a sphere to envelop all the medicinal essence.

At the same time, his soul power also probed into the sphere, sensing the reaction caused by the fusion of different medicinal essences, and then induced them to fuse together by adjusting the flame.

Before long, a rudimentary pill appeared in the cauldron. As the pill rudimentary pill appeared, the energy in the cauldron became restless, constantly repairing the pitted and uneven surface, making it smooth and round.

Refining, solidifying, and forming the pill! These three steps constitute the entire process of refining medicine. Xiao Yun has now reached the final step. If even the slightest mistake occurs, the pill will become a useless pill, and all his efforts will be in vain.

However, Xiao Yun had already refined countless first-grade pills in the past six months and was thoroughly familiar with the process. He simply used his soul power to control the flames to start rotating, and the repair work on the surface of the pill became faster. Soon, it turned into a fiery red pill, while emitting a fragrant aroma.

"My success rate in making pills is now around 80%, and I'm confident I can make even high-grade first-rank pills by 60%. It's time to take the alchemist exam and become a real alchemist." Xiao Yun caught the flying pill and sealed it in a jade bottle.

(End of this chapter)