Chapter 1330: Failed Solidification

"You needn't worry; we received a letter from the Yan tribe saying their Fire Spirit Elder recently broke through the Eight-Star Dou Saint and has stabilized. Our strength has already grown considerably, and moreover the Soul Clan's hidden Death Realm Array can no longer appear. If we fight the Soul Clan, who will win or lose is still uncertain."

After a long while, Gu Yuan immediately rallied his spirit and comforted the many Ancient Clan Elders in the hall: "Moreover, we still have Tian Mu, an ancient relic left by a Dou Emperor. If it truly comes to that, we can move the Gu Di Dong Fu directly into Tian Mu. In that case, even if the Soul Emperor possesses eight pieces of Tuo She Gu Di jade, he still cannot open the cave dwelling."

"Having obtained the cave dwelling, we gain the initiative and can gradually wrest back the Tuo She Ancient Emperor, opening the Gu Di Dong Fu ourselves. Alternatively, we can study the Gu Di Dong Fu slowly, seeking a way to enter without the eight jade pieces. In that case, everything the Soul Emperor is doing now is merely making a wedding dress for our Ancient Clan."

When he said that, Gu Yuan's mouth twitched upward, revealing a confident smile.

After all, with a great enemy before us, we cannot lose morale.

Therefore, even though Gu Yuan has no certainty in his heart, at this moment he must show superiority in his expression.

"The Fire Spirit Elder has advanced to Eight-Star Dou Saint?!"

Upon hearing the news, the many Ancient Clan Elders in the hall instantly lit up, then each showed a delighted smile.

Normally, if they learned that the Yan tribe's strength had further increased, they would be extremely displeased.

But now, with a great enemy before us, they share a common foe, the Soul Clan, alongside the Yan tribe.

After learning this, they were not angry at all; on the contrary, they were very happy.

After all, each increase in our strength adds another ounce of hope for seizing the Tuo She Ancient Emperor's cave dwelling from the Soul Clan.

Thinking of this, the furrowed brows of those Ancient Clan strongmen relaxed considerably.

"The clan leader is right; no one needs to worry. As long as we keep the Soul Clan under our heel, once the Soul Emperor and his followers locate the Gu Di Dong Fu, we will seal it in Tian Mu. Even if they possess a few Tuo She Gu Di jade pieces, they still cannot open that cave dwelling."

Shortly after Gu Yuan finished speaking, an Ancient Clan elder immediately stepped forward to agree.

The other elders, hearing this, exchanged glances, all nodded, and their hearts steadied somewhat.

After all, thinking this way, their chance of victory is actually not small.

However, while the expressions of those Ancient Clan Elders shifted from displeasure to delight, Gu Yuan on the main seat was extremely gloomy.

Thus his daughter, lately, has been doing who knows what, always acting mysterious.

And that girl, not long ago, ran away from the Ancient Realm.

Because he hadn't paid attention before, and now he must hold his post in the Ancient Realm, unable to leave.

So he doesn't even know where his own daughter has gone.

Of course, Gu Yuan would never think that his daughter's sudden departure from the Ancient Realm was actually to avoid him.

After all, if the former suddenly discovered she had become a cheap grandfather.

Moreover, the seed she carries in her womb is Lin Feng's; who knows what she might do.

Therefore, considering the safety of the child in her womb, Gu Xun'er had to leave the Ancient Realm to seek Lin Feng.

However, what she did not anticipate was.

When she arrived in the Lin Realm, she discovered that the father of the child in her womb had long since disappeared.

Facing this situation, Gu Xun'er had no choice but to stay in the Lin Realm temporarily to nurture the fetus.

After all, the life signs of the child in her womb are becoming increasingly evident.

Returning to the Ancient Realm would surely be discovered by her father, Gu Yuan.

By then, her child would likely be doomed!

After all, whether it's her father's concern for his own reputation, or the discord between Lin Feng and the Ancient Clan.

Her father Gu Yuan certainly does not wish for the child to be born safely.

As for the few concubines who stay in Lin Feng's household within the Lin Realm, they are also very helpless about Gu Xun'er's arrival.

However, considering this woman's strained relationship with her own husband, they did not dare to drive her away.

Moreover, now that most people in the Lin Realm have left, there are no particularly unsavory secrets left.

Thus, even if Gu Xun'er resides here, she cannot cause any real harm.

All things considered, Gu Xun'er thus temporarily settled in the Lin Realm.

Turning his gaze back to the north of Gu Nanfang Dalu, the sky above is filled with golden flames like countless stars, having burned continuously for several days.

During this period, the rolling heat waves sweeping the sky never cease for a moment.

Under this relentless scorching, the terrifying high temperature turns the mountains and earth veins within dozens of miles.

What was once verdant has turned to withered yellow.

Only some robust plants, relying on protective shields or their own innate talents, have survived to this day.

In front of those golden "starlights," Lin Feng maintains his previous posture, using soul power to continuously sense the condition of the medicinal herbs within the flames.

As for Xiao Ling, the girl still sits in his arms, quietly controlling the temperature of those exotic flames.

Of course, this girl was originally very mischievous, constantly rubbing her body against Lin Feng's chest.

However, after Lin Feng, provoked by fire, struck her and left her buttocks red and swollen, she became very obedient.

After all, she doesn't want to keep getting beaten.

Of course, this condition can only last for a short time.

Once the injury on her buttocks heals, the girl will quickly forget the pain, resume her mischief, and the cycle repeats.

"It seems we can almost fuse now."

After refining for several more hours, when the sun in the sky tilted westward toward distant mountain peaks, the long‑silent Lin Feng suddenly lifted his head and murmured to himself.

Immediately after, he patted the round, plump buttocks of Xiao Ling in his arms, signaling her to start working.

Xiao Ling, receiving the signal, instantly made an affirmative gesture.

At the same time, the temperature of those distant golden flames dropped sharply.

After all, now that the herbs have been refined, igniting a large fire would risk evaporating the extracted essence.

Thus, the potency of the herbal essence would be compromised, and this refining could be halted.

While Xiao Ling reduced the firepower, the vast soul power also radiated outward from Lin Feng's mind.

Immediately, that tangible soul power split into tens of thousands of fragments, enveloping all the distant flames.

Immediately, Lin Feng's thought stirred, and his soul power instantly pushed the dense golden fire clusters in the distance, beginning to converge toward the center.

Under Lin Feng's push, the early stage was actually quite smooth.

However, as those fire clusters drew ever closer, they began to sense each other's presence.

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

The next moment, a large amount of energy shockwaves, produced by the mutual repulsion of various medicinal ingredients, erupted like firecrackers across the sky, quite lively.

Of course, for Lin Feng, who was in the process of fusing these medicinal ingredients, that was very bad.

Now he, because of those constantly exploding energy shockwaves,

even the soul power controlling those approaching fire clusters began to become highly unstable.

That intermittent soul power likewise caused the speed at which the medicinal ingredients approached to be significantly affected.

After all, the power of these shockwaves is such that even strong ones can severely injure or even fell a four-star Dou Sheng.

And with so many shockwaves erupting almost simultaneously,

their immense power and the difficulty of controlling them can be imagined.

Seeing this, Lin Feng quickly increased his soul power output, stabilizing those golden fire clusters to prevent them from being blown away or damaged by the energy shockwaves.

At the same time, he also pushed the lagging medicinal essences forward, keeping them at the same distance and speed as the other fire clusters.

After all, for the fusion of the nine‑grade golden pill to succeed, all the medicinal ingredients must fuse almost simultaneously.

Otherwise, those later medicinal ingredients could not possibly merge into the already‑synthesized energy liquid. After all, the energy liquid formed from fusing so many medicinal ingredients contains an energy concentration that is truly too high.

Thus, those stray medicinal essences at the back would be unable to exert their proper function, leading to a failed pill refinement.

"Boom! Boom!"

As time passed, the tens of thousands of medicinal ingredients in the sky drew ever closer, and the resulting energy shockwaves became even more formidable.

Faced with this grim scene, Lin Feng could only desperately use his soul power to cancel out those shockwaves and maintain the stability of the medicinal essences.

However, while continuously releasing soul power to counteract the shockwaves, bean‑sized sweat droplets uncontrolledly streamed down from his forehead, tracing his face and falling from his chin like rain onto the ground below.

Now the repulsion between those medicinal ingredients also makes Lin Feng, a Divine‑realm soul and late‑stage eight‑star Dou Sheng expert, feel somewhat troublesome.

After all, pill refinement is not like fighting an enemy; in battle you only need to unleash all means to kill the opponent and be done.

But when refining pills, you cannot do that.

You must even strictly control your own Dou Qi output, carefully tend to each medicinal essence, and manage the fire properly.

Otherwise, a single oversight—such as the medicinal essence being damaged by energy shockwaves, your flame temperature being too high, the fusion being delayed, or impurities in the essence not being fully removed—could easily cause the pill refinement to fail.

Otherwise, Lin Feng would not even take these shockwaves seriously.

Meanwhile, while Lin Feng was wholeheartedly refining the pill, Xiao Ling in his arms earnestly wiped the sweat from his face.

After all, in her heart she and her master have done everything except the final step.

Speaking of which, she is now practically the half‑step heroine of Xiao Nine, so naturally she has the duty to take good care of her man.

Hmm, although Xiao Nine might not acknowledge it, in Xiao Ling's heart that is exactly how it is.

As for Xiao Nine, who is in seclusion devouring the thunder dragon, he naturally does not know that the blond woman who constantly annoys the thunder in his eyes is...

... now he is already scheming to make her call him "master mother."

And if she were to find out, she would probably break down immediately.

"Boom!"

As Xiao Ling wiped Lin Feng's sweat, the distant tens of thousands of blossoms that had nearly coalesced into a massive golden fireball suddenly emitted the most formidable energy shockwave yet since the refinement began.

This shockwave is so powerful that even a six‑star Dou Sheng seeing it would have to desperately flee.

As for Lin Feng, facing this situation, he immediately mobilized his vast soul power to stabilize the huge fire cluster on the verge of successful fusion.

After all, at this critical moment, failure is most likely.

Therefore, he absolutely cannot be careless.

"Boom!"

However, one wave had not yet subsided when another arose; just as Lin Feng was intently stabilizing that golden fireball, the tens of thousands of medicinal essences within, having weathered various crises, finally succeeded in fusing.

Seeing this, Lin Feng couldn't help but curl the corner of his mouth, revealing a grin of wild joy.

Immediately afterward, he patted Xiao Ling's buttocks again to signal her to adjust the fire temperature.

Xiao Ling, too, dared not be careless in this situation and immediately raised the flame temperature.

At the same time, Lin Feng quickly sensed the condition of the brilliantly colored energy liquid.

After all, now that the fusion succeeded, the next step is to temper this energy liquid, solidifying it into a pill prototype.

After a short while, having undergone Lin Feng's extremely meticulous inspection, he finally confirmed the state of this energy liquid.

Immediately thereafter, he directed Xiao Ling to continually adjust it so that the energy liquid remained at the perfect fire temperature.

However, even with Lin Feng being so careful, after half a day passed and the pill was about to begin solidifying, a strange energy fluctuation suddenly came from within.

"Bang!"

Immediately afterward, the distant golden fireball, several hundred zhang in size, suddenly exploded violently.

In an instant, the terrifying energy shockwave comparable to a seven‑star Dou Sheng's self‑detonation surged wildly out of the fireball.

It instantly struck the surrounding golden strange fire, leaving not a trace.

At the same time, Lin Feng in the distance instantly turned ashen‑faced.

"Sigh"

But soon he let out a helpless sigh.

Regarding this pill‑refining failure, he knows it is quite normal and had already braced himself mentally.

But now, having personally witnessed the energy liquid he had painstakingly refined for nearly ten days explode into nothing, he inevitably feels a sense of loss.

Seeing this, Xiao Ling immediately turned around, pressed Lin Feng's head into her ample bosom, and then comforted him: "Master, it's fine; this time it's definitely my fault for not controlling the temperature well. Let's try again—maybe if I get the temperature right this time, we'll succeed in refining the pill."

As soon as the words fell, the girl's eyes shifted, and she cleverly said: "Master, you like playing games, right? This time Xiao Ling will help you."

While speaking, Xiao Ling immediately released Lin Feng's head, then bent her body, and her little head dove in.

"You girl, who would have thought you usually seem carefree, but at critical moments you're quite good at comforting people."

Lin Feng felt the warm sensation gradually spreading, and he immediately gave a wry smile as he stroked the girl's smooth golden hair.

As the alchemist himself, he naturally knew that this failure was entirely due to his insufficient experience in refining a Nine‑rank Golden Pill.

When the energy liquid was baked and solidified, he was guiding Xiao Ling to switch temperatures when he happened to see the energy liquid spurting out impurities.

Finally, the fluctuation of the energy liquid spurting impurities affected Xiao Ling's switching.

This caused her to inadvertently fluctuate while controlling the temperature, making the energy liquid overheat unevenly and explode, resulting in a failed alchemy.

So, the main reason for this failure was his mistake as the observer.

And after a while, the prone Xiao Ling suddenly sat up, and her slender jade neck writhed a few times.

Next, the girl licked her lips, leaned in Lin Feng's embrace, and asked with a smiling squint: "How about it, Master, feeling better?"

"If not, we can try a few more times. Of course, if you like, having a child is also possible."

While speaking, a hint of anticipation also arose in the girl's golden eyes.

"Hehe, don't worry, I'm fine."

Hearing that, Lin Feng immediately placed his hand on Xiao Ling's elastic waist, then firmly embraced her and whispered.

However, I must say, Xiao Ling's body, similar to that of an eighteen‑year‑old human, has ample elasticity and softness, making her very comfortable to hold.

However, Lin Feng felt a strange sensation arise in his heart.

He and Xiao Yixian had produced a normal human, while he and Cai Lin had produced a human with magical beast blood.

But if he were to have a child with Xiao Ling, what would the offspring be?

Flames?

Or a fire person?

Or perhaps a human?

Well, this complicated problem truly leaves one baffled.

"Forget it, if we get a chance to experiment ourselves we'll know. As for now, refining pills is more important."

Thinking that he still needed to perfect that half‑finished Nine‑rank Golden Pill to boost his strength, Lin Feng shook his head and cleared his mind of distractions.

Soon after, he patted Xiao Ling's perky butt and said, "All right, little girl, let's continue refining pills. This time we must pay attention to the impurity spurt when the Nine‑rank Golden Pill condenses its nascent core."

While speaking, he also released Xiao Ling's waist, and his gaze gradually grew solemn.

"Don't worry, Master, this time I'll be careful and won't be affected by that thing again."

Hearing that, Xiao Ling confidently patted her own chest.

After all, that time was only because she didn't know that thing would also spray stuff, leaving her utterly unprepared, so she was affected when switching temperatures.

Now that she has experience, relying on her Strange Fire Spirit's precise flame control, she absolutely cannot make that mistake again!

——

I still have five thousand to make up tomorrow morning; I had said it would be ten thousand daily, but I didn't expect something to come up today, and I also caught a cold, slowing my writing speed, so I couldn't finish.

(End of chapter)