The Strange Flame Rekindles in Battle Through the Heavens

Chapter 62: Refining the Life-increasing Pill

The platform was more than ten meters above the plaza below, and it had more than a dozen seats. Fa Ma and Gu He were already seated on it. Yao Ye and Nalan Yanran did not sit down, but stood there upright, their gazes fixed on the location where Xiao Yan and the other two were.

"This medicine cauldron is quite good! It's at least grade three or higher." Xiao Yan found a stone platform, looked at the medicine cauldron on it, and couldn't help but think to himself.

"Hehe, this is where the fifth-grade alchemist assessment is held! Sooner or later I will also become a fifth-grade alchemist and come to this place for the actual assessment." Princess Yaoyue said with a smile.

Although Yao Yue was happy, Liu Ling beside him had a gloomy expression.

"Hmph! Although you have a high talent for alchemy, you are only a second-grade alchemist after all, while I can refine third-grade pills. Just wait! I will make everyone know that I am stronger than you!" Liu Ling held a folding fan and swept her cold gaze at Xiao Yan.

Seeing Liu Ling staring intently at him like a venomous snake, Xiao Yan shook his head helplessly, thinking to himself, "Liu Ling has good talent in both cultivation and alchemy, but his controlling and possessive nature is too strong, and he's too jealous! I guess Nalan Yanran has noticed this, which is why she only treats him as a friend!"

"Simp, simp, you'll end up with nothing!" Xiao Yan sighed helplessly, hoping this pointless charade would end soon.

"Since you're all ready, let's begin!" Fama stood up, walked to the front of the stage, and said with a light laugh.

Although Fa Ma's voice wasn't loud, it still reached the ears of Xiao Yan and the other two.

"Such powerful soul manipulation!" Xiao Yan exclaimed inwardly.

In the center of the Alchemist Guild's bluestone plaza, Xiao Yan, Liu Ling, and Princess Yaoyue each occupied a bluestone platform, on which were placed a medicine cauldron and the medicinal materials needed to refine pills.

After the competition began, Princess Yaoyue stretched out her fair hand, and a ball of azure flame instantly rose from the palm of her hand. Ripples like water waves spread around the flame, making it look extremely extraordinary.

"She actually used beast fire. It seems that Princess Yaoyue also really wants to get those prizes! But to be able to subdue beast fire, her strength is not simple!" Xiao Yan thought to himself.

While beast fire is much weaker than exotic fire, it is far stronger than ordinary flames and can also increase the success rate of alchemy. Otherwise, with the three of them currently possessing the strength of a Dou Zhe (Battle Master), refining high-grade pills would be quite difficult. Liu Ling and Yao Yue were able to reach the second-grade alchemist level so early purely because they were fed a massive amount of medicinal herbs. Ordinary alchemists can only reach the Dou Shi (Battle Master) level to become second-grade alchemists. Otherwise, the terrifying failure rate could bankrupt them.

The first three ranks of alchemists mainly test alchemy skills and flame control techniques, and do not require such high soul perception. Reaching the level of Dou Zhe is sufficient. Even if one's Dou Qi is insufficient, there are still Qi-restoring pills, right? In the original work, Xiao Yan also consumed a lot of Qi-restoring pills in the early stages due to his cultivation technique.

"This flame... could it be the Azure Water Flame of the Surging Wave Dragon Beast?" On the high platform, looking at the beast fire summoned by the little princess Yaoyue, Fa Ma turned to look at Yaoye standing behind him.

When Yao Ye saw Fa Ma looking over, he simply smiled and didn't say anything more.

Seeing that Yao Ye refused to speak, Fa Ma naturally didn't ask any more questions, since it involved the secrets of the royal family.

"Princess Yaoyue already possesses beast fire, so your disciple Liu Ling's flames can't be ordinary flames either!" Fa Ma said to Gu He.

"Nothing can escape the eyes of Guild Master Fa Ma. Some time ago, I invited many powerful individuals to help me hunt down a fifth-tier magical beast and obtain a beast fire from its body," Gu He said with a smile. Although he offered many benefits for having someone subdue the beast fire, his disciple Liu Ling also suffered quite a bit before successfully subduing it.

Not long after Gu He finished speaking, a ball of brown flame appeared in the palm of Liu Ling's right hand below the stage.

After summoning her beast fire, Liu Ling looked in Xiao Yan's direction with a seemingly provocative gaze. Those on the high platform also focused their attention on Xiao Yan, wanting to see what kind of flame he could summon.

Seeing everyone's gazes turn to him, Xiao Yan shook his head helplessly, reached out his right hand to touch the medicine cauldron, and poured his battle qi into it. A pale yellow flame began to appear inside the cauldron.

Upon seeing the flames emerging from Xiao Yan's medicine cauldron, Liu Ling and Yao Yue used their soul perception to investigate and discovered that the flames in Xiao Yan's medicine cauldron were just ordinary flames that had been transformed.

Liu Ling said disdainfully, "It's just ordinary flame! It seems that the pills we made before were probably not made by him. If he could make so many second-grade pills with ordinary flame, we wouldn't deserve to be called alchemists."

Yao Yue was puzzled when she saw that Xiao Yan had only summoned ordinary flames. Logically speaking, given Xiao Yan's status and position, he shouldn't be without beast fire! Although beast fire was rare, it wasn't anything special to people like them.

Xiao Yan naturally heard Liu Ling's disdainful words, but what would he use if not ordinary flames? Could it be a strange flame?

Even Gu He coveted the Strange Flame, and the Nalan family desperately needed it. If Xiao Yan were to use it, he would face endless troubles.

"Could it be that he used ordinary flames to refine those magical pills?" Gu He asked Fa Ma with a hint of doubt.

"Hehe, probably!" Fama replied with a smile.

Guhe chuckled twice upon hearing Fama's somewhat ambiguous answer, then turned his gaze back to the three people below the stage.

After the flames were lit, each of the three people picked up a medicinal herb from the stone platform, put it into the cauldron, and began to refine it.

Because Liu Ling and Princess Yaoyue were using beast fire, their speed was naturally much faster. In no time, most of the medicinal herbs on the stone platform had been refined.

Xiao Yan's efficiency in refining medicinal herbs was naturally not as good as Liu Ling's and Yao Yue's. In addition, there were many more medicinal herbs on the stone platform than there were to begin with, so he was far behind.

During a moment of leisure, Liu Ling glanced at Xiao Yan's stone platform and saw that Xiao Yan had only refined one-third of the medicinal herbs. Immediately, a disdainful expression appeared on her face.

"The pill refined by Princess Yaoyue should be a Grade 3 pill called the Nourishing Spirit Pill. If taken when breaking through to the Battle Master level, it can greatly increase the success rate! It seems that the little princess has been hiding her true strength!" Fa Ma said to Chemir, who was sitting on the left.

"Hehe, this little girl is just messing around. Although the success rate can be increased slightly with the help of the beast fire, there is only a one-third chance of her succeeding!" Chemir was scolding Princess Yaoyue on the surface, but he was actually very happy inside.

"The Fire Essence Pill refined by your disciple Liu Ling is also a third-grade pill. It can enhance the power of fire attribute techniques by 30% in a short time. It is also a very good medicine for breaking through realms. It seems that he has been hiding his strength!" Fa Ma looked at the pill refined by Liu Ling and said to Gu He with a smile.

"That was just the kid messing around!" Gu He also criticized Liu Ling a couple of times, but he couldn't hide the pride and smugness in his tone. Gu He naturally knew the level of Liu Ling's alchemy skills; Liu Ling had now barely reached the third-grade alchemist level. Although the success rate of refining third-grade pills was not high, with the addition of beast fire, there was a high probability that he could still refine them.

"Brother Nie Feng's pills seem to be much more complex than the other two's; you can tell just by looking at the ingredients. However, I've been observing him for a long time, but I still can't figure out what kind of pills he's making," Gu He said, turning to Fa Ma.

"I didn't recognize what kind of pill he was making, but judging from the medicinal properties of the ingredients, it seems to be a pill that can increase lifespan," Fa Ma said calmly.

"It can increase lifespan? Pills that can increase lifespan are extremely rare, at least third-grade pills are required. It seems that Brother Nie Feng has won." Chemir said in shock.

"I was just guessing. Pills that can increase lifespan are extremely complicated to make. How could this little guy possibly be able to make them? It seems my pill formula has gone down the drain." Fa Ma shook his head helplessly.

"Don't be discouraged! Although the possibility is small, it's not impossible. What if a miracle happens?" Chemir comforted him. However, despite his words of comfort, he didn't really believe that Xiao Yan could refine it. After all, he had never heard of a pill of that grade being lower than fourth rank. If Xiao Yan could refine it, it would be too terrifying.

(End of this chapter)