Word Count: 2,750 Words
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Xiao Yan smiled upon hearing this, then slightly furrowed his brows and said slowly, "Han Feng hasn't fled? He's still in the Black-Corner Region?"
"Of course. He controls the entire Feng City and has managed it painstakingly for years. He wouldn't be willing to leave." Su Qian's eyes narrowed slightly as a faint cold glint flashed across them. The incident from two months ago, when Han Feng gathered numerous experts to attack the Inner Academy, remained vivid in his memory.
"Hehe, that's good then." Xiao Yan interlocked his fingers and smiled.
Although there was no deep grudge between Xiao Yan and Han Feng, and Xiao Yan hadn't confirmed Han Feng's guilt in seeking justice for the ring's previous owner, the greed Han Feng had shown in wanting to hunt him always left Xiao Yan feeling unsettled.
Xiao Yan knew Han Feng had always been eyeing his Flame Mantra. As the saying goes, it's not the thief who steals that's frightening but the one who keeps thinking about stealing. And Han Feng was precisely that thief.
Who knew what Han Feng might secretly do to him? Xiao Yan wasn't one to show undue mercy. He believed in striking first to gain the upper hand, lest he suffer later.
He was determined to eliminate these hidden dangers before leaving Jia Nan Academy.
Moreover, Jia Nan Academy's hatred toward Han Feng was no less than his own. Back then, Han Feng had gathered many Dou Kings and Dou Emperors from the Black-Corner Region to attack the Inner Academy, and some elders had fallen in that battle.
Su Qian pondered for a moment before saying, "While you were in the earth's core refining the Fallen Heart Flame, Han Feng remained in Feng City without leaving."
"But you also know that although Han Feng's strength is only at the peak of Dou Emperor, and Feng City doesn't have many strong experts, he is nearly a 7th-tier alchemist. You're an alchemist yourself, so you should understand what that represents."
The influence of an alchemist!
Just like Xiao Yan himself. When he was attacked, Hai Bodong, the Jia Ma Imperial Family, and even Medusa, who had sought pills from him earlier, had rushed to protect him.
Back then, he was only approaching a 6th-tier alchemist, yet wielded such influence. Han Feng had been operating in the Black-Corner Region for many years and was close to becoming a 7th-tier alchemist; his influence would only be greater.
Xiao Yan frowned slightly, his fingers gently tapping the table. After a moment, he said softly, "With my improved Spiritual Strength and cultivation, perhaps I can also use medicinal pills to counter those factions from the Black-Corner Region."
Xiao Yan revealed a sly smile as he raised his eyebrows and looked at the First Elder. Even Su Qian couldn't help but feel a chill down his spine when Xiao Yan stared at him like this.
"What are you planning?" Su Qian asked warily.
"First Elder, don't you want to get even?" Xiao Yan smiled.
A fierce glint flashed in Su Qian's eyes as he said vehemently, "How could I not? The Inner Academy's reputation cannot decline on my watch. Moreover, elders have been killed. How will I explain this to the Headmaster when he returns?"
"Hehe, the most Han Feng can offer his helpers is probably a Mighty Huang Pill. Although I'm only a low-grade 6th-tier alchemist and haven't refined a Mighty Huang Pill before, I did successfully refine a high-grade tier 6 Ground Spirit Pill previously. And my abilities now are much greater than before," Xiao Yan said with a grin as he looked at Su Qian.
The First Elder was momentarily stunned. He suddenly remembered that this monster had previously refined a high-grade tier 6 pill!
Although Xiao Yan's success rate with high-grade tier 6 pills wasn't high back then, that was half a year ago. At that time, Xiao Yan was only a Dou Spirit. Now, he was a 5-star Dou King, and his Spiritual Strength had also increased significantly!
Most importantly, the Flame Mantra had advanced to quasi-Tian Class! His fire control abilities would definitely not be inferior to those of a 7th-tier alchemist, perhaps even stronger.
One could say that what Xiao Yan currently lacked in refining tier 6 pills was just experience.
"You mean you want the academy to provide medicinal ingredients so you can refine Mighty Huang Pills to recruit experts from the Black-Corner Region to oppose Han Feng?" The First Elder frowned slightly as he looked at Xiao Yan.
"I believe the First Elder understands how dangerous Han Feng, as an alchemist, is to the Inner Academy," Xiao Yan said. "He knows there's a life-or-death enmity between himself and Jia Nan Academy, with no room for compromise. I'm not asking for the medicinal ingredients for free. If the pills are successfully refined, we can split them fifty-fifty. The academy won't lose out." Xiao Yan showed his teeth in a cunning smile.
Su Qian fell into deep thought. Alchemy wasn't guaranteed to succeed, especially for someone like Xiao Yan attempting to refine higher-tier pills from a lower alchemist rank.
However, he had witnessed Xiao Yan's alchemy skills firsthand. He had succeeded in refining high-grade tier 6 pills before. Even if his success rate wasn't very high now, it shouldn't be too low either.
Moreover, if the medicinal ingredients couldn't be refined into pills, their value would greatly diminish. What Xiao Yan said made sense.
The difficulty of refining the Mighty Huang Pill ranked among the top for tier 6 pills. Although classified as high-grade tier 6, calling it a peak tier 6 pill wouldn't be an exaggeration.
After all, this was a medicinal pill that could directly increase a Dou Emperor's strength by one star. Moreover, compared to the Dou King Pill, which could only be taken once per person, the Mighty Huang Pill could be taken twice.
Apart from the Zong Breaking Pill, which could increase the chances of breaking through to Dou Ancestor, and the Emperor Heaven Pill, which allowed a 9-star Dou King to break through to Dou Emperor with 100% certainty, the most precious among tier 6 pills were the Mighty Huang Pill and the Little Soul Black Purple Pill, which could directly increase one's cultivation or Spiritual Strength.
"Alright! Since you're interested, our Inner Academy will play along with you!" Su Qian heavily slapped the table and laughed heartily. With this exceptionally powerful fellow Xiao Yan joining, coupled with his alchemy skills, he wouldn't hesitate.
He was determined to bring down this so-called Medicine Emperor!
"Then, two months from now. Two months should be enough," Xiao Yan put away his playful smile and showed a serious expression.
With sufficient medicinal ingredients, one or two months should be enough for him to refine several Mighty Huang Pills. And even if there weren't enough ingredients for the Mighty Huang Pill, he possessed recipes for many high-grade tier 6 pills. Refining other high-grade tier 6 pills could likewise win people's hearts!
Suddenly, Xiao Yan thought of something and asked, "By the way, I heard the First Elder mention during that battle that Han Feng has a Master called Venerable Yao. Could the First Elder tell me more about this Venerable Yao?"
A strange light flashed in Xiao Yan's eyes as he looked at Su Qian. If his guess wasn't wrong, the owner of the mysterious storage ring he had inherited from his mother should be this Venerable Yao.
No wonder there were so many treasures inside; it turned out to be the inheritance of a Dou Venerate, and this Dou Venerate was even an alchemist above tier 8!
Su Qian sighed inwardly when he heard Xiao Yan mention that legendary figure. A hint of regret flashed across his eyes.
"You don't need to worry about Han Feng's Master coming to seek revenge, because Venerable Yao fell many years ago," Su Qian said slowly. He felt it was a great pity that such a legendary figure had fallen.
Xiao Yan frowned and asked, "How did he die?"
Su Qian shook his head. "No one knows for certain. Back then, Venerable Yao's death shocked the entire Dou Qi Continent. His direct disciple Han Feng announced that Venerable Yao suffered Qi Deviation during alchemy and was blown apart. No one believed such a statement—after all, this was Venerable Yao we're talking about. But even Venerable Feng, Venerable Yao's closest friend, couldn't discover anything, so this matter became an unsolved mystery."
"What kind of person was he?" Xiao Yan asked softly.
"What kind of person?" Su Qian furrowed his brows, then shook his head. "I don't really know much about Venerable Yao personally. I only heard that he was kind to others, generous in guiding them, and wholeheartedly pursued the path of alchemy."
"With the abilities of a 7th-tier alchemist, he once refined a perfect tier 8 pill, defeating geniuses of the Pill Tower like Xuan Kong Zi and Old Monster Huo. He won the championship at the Pill Gathering and became famous throughout the Central Plains."
"He was truly a genius alchemist worthy of his reputation."
Xiao Yan fell into deep thought upon hearing this.
…
For the next two months, Xiao Yan was like a madman, obsessively refining pills every day. Even when he became scruffy with an unkempt beard and disheveled hair, he didn't care in the slightest.
He had already reached the rank of a low-grade 6th-tier alchemist. With the Black Demon Cauldron's help, refining middle-grade tier 6 pills wasn't an issue at all. Moreover, with the evolution of the Flame Mantra and his formidable Spiritual Strength, he no longer needed to rely on the Black Demon Cauldron and could achieve an eighty percent success rate in refining middle-grade tier 6 pills after just a few days.
The First Elder truly spared no effort in supporting Xiao Yan. Not only did he provide all the tier 6 medicinal ingredients from the Inner Academy's medicine warehouse for Xiao Yan to refine pills and hone his skills, but he also took out precious herbs from the hidden treasury for Xiao Yan's alchemy practice.
Furthermore, the Inner Academy spent a massive amount of funds sweeping through numerous medicinal shops in the Black-Corner Region. Even the largest medicinal shop there, the Thousand Medicine House, had its entire stock bought out by the Inner Academy.
Everyone thought the Inner Academy was trying to prevent Han Feng from refining pills to counter Jia Nan Academy, but only they knew that the Inner Academy was also refining pills.
Even with long hours dedicated to intensive alchemy practice, Xiao Yan's cultivation slowly advanced from the peak of a 5-star Dou King to a 6-star Dou King within a month.
After more than a month, he no longer needed to borrow the Black Demon Cauldron's power to smoothly refine high-grade tier 6 pills.
Although the power of the Black Demon Cauldron was formidable and could forcibly enhance one's alchemy skills, it could cause dependency. Xiao Yan dared not use it for extended periods unless absolutely necessary.
…
Two months later.
"Pill formed!"
BOOM!!!!
A towering pillar of energy surged out from the Black Demon Cauldron. The terrifying energy caused even the First Elder to display an expression of shock.
Inside the medicinal cauldron, the colorless and formless Fallen Heart Flame was wildly dancing. The moment the pill embryo formed, Xiao Yan clearly sensed the surrounding natural energy suddenly fluctuate. It was as if a giant rock had been thrown into a calm lake, causing huge waves to surge.
If the First Elder hadn't set up a barrier in advance, this terrifying pillar of medicinal mist would have undoubtedly attracted the attention of the Black-Corner Region and Han Feng.
"This is too exaggerated..." Elder Huo stared dumbfounded at the astonishing scene before him. He had once been the top alchemist elder of the Inner Academy, a middle-grade 6th-tier alchemist.
But in just one short year, not only had his title as the strongest alchemist been taken, but he had been surpassed by an enormous margin.
In two months, Xiao Yan could not only smoothly refine high-grade tier 6 pills, but his success rate for pills like the Mighty Huang Pill was also extremely high. Today, he was attempting to challenge the pinnacle of tier 6 pills—one of the supreme pills on par with the Zong Breaking Pill—the Emperor Heaven Pill!
Everyone's eyes were fixed on the jade-green pill within the light pillar. All the Dou King elders, even Zi Yan, couldn't help but swallow their saliva.
"Heavens, Xiao Yan is such a monster... That's the Emperor Heaven Pill! A pill that would drive 9-star Dou Kings crazy!"
"Damn... If I remember correctly, the value of a single Emperor Heaven Pill already surpasses that of an ordinary Low Di Class Dou Technique."
"Indeed."
At the very moment when the jade-green pill had just formed, the sky above the Inner Academy suddenly darkened rapidly. Thick layers of dark clouds swiftly gathered, and silver lightning could be seen slithering around like silver snakes within them.
This sudden spectacle gave everyone a huge fright.
"What the...?! Pill Lightning???" Even the First Elder couldn't help but exclaim, momentarily losing his composure.
"No, although the Emperor Heaven Pill is a peak tier 6 pill, infinitely close to tier 7, it's still not a tier 7 pill and cannot trigger Pill Lightning." Elder Huo, worthy of being the former top alchemist elder, quickly noticed the anomaly.
Sure enough, the dark clouds soon dispersed. They had only gathered, but no Pill Lightning descended.
"The quality of his pill is exceptionally high," Elder Huo said as he stroked his beard. "It has already surpassed an ordinary Emperor Heaven Pill and is infinitely close to tier 7, which is why it caused such a phenomenon."
Xiao Yan's powerful Spiritual Strength burst forth from his body. With a beckoning gesture, the jade-green pill swayed and flew into the jade box he had prepared in advance.
He couldn't help but let out a long sigh of relief when he saw the successful completion of the pill. Refining the Emperor Heaven Pill was no simple task. Even now, he still needed to borrow the power of the Black Demon Cauldron, and there was quite a bit of luck involved.
Originally, he hadn't planned to refine the Emperor Heaven Pill. The pills he had prepared to win people over were already sufficient, and he was ready to launch a counterattack on Feng City. But unexpectedly, someone from the Black-Corner Region had sought him two days ago to refine a special tier 6 healing pill, and the payment was actually the main ingredient for the Emperor Heaven Pill. He had managed to gather a set unexpectedly.
"Perfect."
Xiao Yan couldn't help but reveal an excited smile. Although he was only a 6-star Dou King, still far from the Dou Emperor realm, one shouldn't forget his identity as an alchemist.
As long as he advanced to an 8-star Dou King, he could use a Dou King Pill to reach 9-star, then directly use the Emperor Heaven Pill to break through to the Dou Emperor realm!
In other words, Xiao Yan was now only two stars away from becoming a Dou Emperor!
Although he had just advanced a star not long ago, he had not only refined the Essence Flame of the Fallen Heart Flame but also possessed a quasi-Tian Class Qi Method.
In just three or four months, Xiao Yan could break through to an 8-star Dou King and then advance to the Dou Emperor realm in one go!
"Stop pouting. Here, these are for you." Xiao Yan saw Zi Yan's craving expression and drooling face, and took out several round pills from the medicinal cauldron.
These weren't medicinal pills but candy pills he had made by mixing sugar with the extra medicinal powders from refining the Emperor Heaven Pill.
Although they were just leftover materials, they were from the Emperor Heaven Pill after all. The energy contained within might be unbearable even for a Rank 6 magical beast.
Zi Yan caught the pill bottle Xiao Yan tossed over and immediately beamed with a delightful smile. "That's more like it, hee hee hee."
"You'll have to give it your all tomorrow," Xiao Yan laughed.
Zi Yan waved her tiny fists, putting on a fierce yet childish expression. "Of course! I'll help you beat up all those bad guys tomorrow!"
Wherever there was a fight, there would be Zi Yan!