Back Mountain of the Xiao Clan – A Quiet Cave
After sending Xiao Yan away, Xiao Bai made his way to the secluded cave alone. As for the auction, he had no interest in attending.
In the original story, the only valuable item in this auction was a High-level Xuan Class cultivation technique, Wind Scroll Technique, which was eventually bought by the Jia Lie Clan.
Other than that, there was Yao Lao's so-called "inferior" Tier 2 pill—the Foundation Elixir.
Since he had no use for either, there was no point in going. He'd rather spend his time refining medicine to gain experience.
Sitting on his usual cultivation boulder, Xiao Bai felt a tinge of excitement as he took out the Blackwood Cauldron and placed it on the ground. Then, he retrieved his medicinal ingredients, carefully sorting them one by one.
Alchemy required meticulousness and patience. There was no room for haste. As he arranged the ingredients, Xiao Bai's emotions gradually settled, and his mind entered a state of tranquility.
Once everything was prepared, he carefully reread the foundational alchemy knowledge and pill formulas that Yao Lao had given him, contemplating where to begin.
After all, he wasn't using a conventional alchemy method.
But after pondering for a while, Xiao Bai realized that, given his current understanding of alchemy, no amount of thinking would produce results. He had no choice but to use the simplest method:
Trial and error!
There was an old saying—"What is learned from books remains superficial; only through practice can one grasp the truth."
Only through hands-on experience would he truly understand the problems that might arise in the process. If difficulties came up, he would tackle them one step at a time. Otherwise, as a complete novice in alchemy, simply reading about it wouldn't get him anywhere.
Once Xiao Bai decided on a course of action, he acted swiftly. Though he preferred careful planning, once his mind was set, he wasted no time.
The first step in alchemy was extracting the medicinal essence from the ingredients.
Xiao Bai channeled a wisp of Yang Thunder of Bing Fire into the Ebony Cauldron to maintain a steady flame. Then, using his soul power, he carefully picked up a Purple Sun Fruit and placed it into the cauldron, slowly guiding it toward the flickering flames.
"Crackle!"
The moment the Purple Sun Fruit touched the Yang Thunder of Bing Fire, it was instantly scorched black. Xiao Bai quickly retrieved it, holding it in his palm. With a gentle squeeze, the charred fruit crumbled into powder, scattering from his fingertips.
This wasn't a medicinal essence—this was charcoal!
Xiao Bai's face darkened. That was already the smallest amount of Yang Thunder of Bing Fire he could control, yet even a trace of it completely incinerated the fruit. If that was the case, how was he supposed to refine pills?
He recalled the alchemy basics mentioning that when using Dou Qi to generate flames within the cauldron, one should introduce wood-attribute energy to balance the fire, making it more stable and sustainable.
Deciding to try a second time, Xiao Bai placed another Purple Sun Fruit into the cauldron. This time, he first channeled a trace of Yang Thunder of Bing Fire, then carefully introduced a wisp of Daoist Righteous Thunder of Yi Wood to merge with it.
However, the moment the two energies met, their intensity doubled. The wood element fueled the fire, making the Yang Thunder of Bing Fire even more violent and uncontrollable.
Seeing this, Xiao Bai immediately dispersed the thunder energy before it touched the cauldron.
If he had gone through with it, the result would have been obvious—an even blacker pile of charcoal instead of a refined medicinal essence.
"What's going on?"
Xiao Bai stroked his chin in confusion, deep in thought.
He could understand if ordinary Dou Qi flames were weak enough not to burn the ingredients. But Heavenly Flames were immensely powerful—yet they could still be used in alchemy without turning everything into ashes.
Why was his thunder fire producing a different result?
"Could it be that my control over lightning isn't precise enough?"
He summoned a trace of Yang Thunder of Bing Fire to dance around his fingertip, watching the flickering lightning thoughtfully as he muttered to himself.
At this moment, Xiao Bai was in no hurry to continue refining medicine. He realized he needed to adjust his method of controlling thunder first.
Previously, whenever he controlled the lightning in his body, his approach had always been to maximize its power. Since he hadn't fully refined the Yang Thunder of Bing Fire yet, he had never carefully studied this type of thunder energy.
But now, it was clear that using such a crude method for alchemy simply wouldn't work. In simple terms, his technique was too rough.
Unleashing his Late Mortal Realm soul power, he extended his perception into the wisp of Yang Thunder of Bing Fire at his fingertip. His soul power remained unharmed.
Instead, he felt a tingling, warm sensation coursing through the part of his soul that made contact with the flame. It was oddly pleasant.
Xiao Bai carefully examined the Yang Thunder of Bing Fire, wondering if he could separate the fused Bing Fire Qi and thunder energy. If he could, refining medicine would become much easier.
However, after several attempts, he found it was impossible. The two elements had already merged at their core, forming a single origin. Given his current strength, separating them was simply beyond his capability.
"If I can't separate them, then I'll try suppressing the thunder at the center while keeping the Bing Fire Qi on the outside!" Xiao Bai thought to himself.
He attempted to use a portion of his soul power to push the thunder energy inward while guiding the Bing Fire Qi outward. This way, he wouldn't need to split the Yang Thunder of Bing Fire apart but could still use its outer Bing Fire for alchemy.
At first, he struggled. This technique required extremely precise soul control, essentially multitasking on three fronts: managing the thunder attribute, controlling the fire attribute, and maintaining overall balance.
But as time passed, he became more proficient.
Now, the Yang Thunder of Bing Fire at his fingertip appeared to be a swaying crimson flame. Upon closer inspection, a small red thunder orb could be seen floating within its core, creating a mesmerizing sight.
Occasionally, faint streaks of lightning flickered across the outer flames. This wasn't due to a lack of soul control—it was simply because the two elements were inherently fused. The lightning within the flame couldn't be completely suppressed, just as the central thunder orb couldn't be turned into a silvery-white lightning. Reaching this level of control was already his limit.
Though he had achieved his goal, Xiao Bai didn't feel particularly happy. Instead, he felt somewhat helpless.
To maintain this state, he had to sustain his three-way control at all times, which was an immense strain on his mind. He knew he wouldn't be able to hold it for long.
And during the alchemy process, he would also need to use his soul perception to monitor the ingredients—meaning he'd have to multitask on four fronts. Who the hell could handle that?!
Moreover, refining medicine wasn't a quick task. It required prolonged fire control and constant observation of the ingredients' state, all of which placed an enormous burden on his mental focus.
"What should I do?"
Xiao Bai's mind raced, searching for a solution.
But after racking his brain for a while, he still couldn't figure out where to start.
"If only the Yang Thunder of Bing Fire could maintain this state on its own..." he muttered after a long period of fruitless thinking.
Just then, he sensed an unusual movement within his body. Startled, he quickly focused inward.
To his surprise, the Yang Thunder of Bing Fire in his heart seemed to respond to his thoughts—or perhaps it had sensed the state of the wisp at his fingertip—and had begun to change on its own.
"Could it actually transform into the same state as the one on my fingertip?"
Xiao Bai was delighted, watching with anticipation as he maintained the controlled flame at his fingertip and silently encouraged it:
"Little Bing, good child, keep going!"