Chapter 42: Yellow-Class Advanced Trial

"Achieving Great Completion can elevate the Spiritual Soul to the Spirit Realm!"

The Spiritual Soul realm is a crucial metric for Alchemists.

Advanced Alchemists require precise fire control, making Soul Force absolutely vital; especially for high-level Alchemists, whose fire control must reach particle-level precision—refining Advanced Medicinal Materials is like finding a needle in a haystack, picking one out of a hundred million.

The first requirement to become an Eight Grade Alchemist is reaching the Spirit Realm in Spiritual Soul.

Xiao Yan learned from alchemical texts in his storage rings that the Spiritual Soul realm has four tiers: Common Realm, Spirit Realm, Heavenly Realm, and Emperor Realm; Eight Grade Pills are called Spiritual Pills because they possess a certain degree of sentience.

To imbue a Pill with sentience, the Alchemist's Spiritual Soul must reach the Spirit Realm.

Xiao Yan knew he had come to the right place—the rare Soul Cultivation Technique was right before him! And it was a Heavenly Grade Advanced Technique; mastering it could carry him into the Spirit Realm!

This Technique was incredibly important to Xiao Yan! As an Alchemist, he absolutely had to strengthen his Spiritual Soul; he knew well that innate spiritual strength granted only early advantages—if he didn't strive to improve, he would eventually become another Shang Zhongyong on the Dou Qi Continent.

"A Heavenly Grade Advanced Technique requires one thousand Soul Points, and you must have a Heavenly Grade rating to qualify for exchange."

"Heavenly Grade..."

Soul Points can be slowly earned by selling Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures or hunting Magic Beasts for their Magic Cores, but this rating absolutely requires Heavenly Grade status.

"I'm sixteen, an Eight Star Dou Zhe; opponents in Yellow Grade Low trials are either my equal or weaker, Yellow Grade Mid trials might be slightly stronger, at most One Star Dou Shi—I can handle that. Yellow Grade High trials should be Low or Mid Dou Shi, but for Heavenly Grade, I'd need to fight across at least one full rank to have a chance."

Xiao Yan recalled his battle with Lü Xing from the Xuan Jie Class a few days ago; though he won, it wasn't easy. Lü Xing lost mainly because his Dou Technique and Cultivation Method were too weak.

He won largely because of his powerful Soul Force and the Great Completion of Eight Extremes Collapse, plus the Earth Grade Dou Technique Flame Division: Devouring Wave Ruler—these two high-grade techniques erased the cultivation gap.

In other words, Xiao Yan won only because Lü Xing's Dou Techniques were weak and poorly cultivated. But the Soul Palace is far stronger than Jia Nan Academy—it even has Soul Techniques; overcoming a full rank would not be simple.

"I still have to try. Once I break through to Dou Shi, challenging a Grand Dou Shi will be suicide! Now, as a Dou Zhe, is the best time." Xiao Yan understood inwardly: the later he waited, the less likely cross-rank challenges would be—he must achieve Heavenly Grade status as soon as possible!

Xiao Yan gritted his teeth, clenched the Soul Token, and said: "I'll continue to challenge Yellow Grade Mid Trial!"

A moment of mental dizziness—the Soul Token flashed white before his eyes; the next second, when the white light vanished, Xiao Yan returned to the original Trial Grounds.

"Was I just in Soul Body form?!" Xiao Yan noticed frost on his clothes—his body had remained motionless on the spot; because of this Soul Token, his Spiritual Soul had temporarily left his body, entering the passage behind him to reach the Treasure Hall!

Xiao Yan hadn't expected the Treasure Hall to be inside the Soul Realm. Only Soul Bodies carrying a Soul Token could pass through the Soul Realm passage—that's why the Treasure Hall had been empty.

Like a phone receiving a signal, except this was a Spiritual Soul signal; the Soul Realm, existing in Space, could receive Spiritual Soul signals from across the entire Dou Qi Continent via the Soul Token.

The Soul Realm is unfathomably deep!

Xiao Yan shook his head, suppressing all these thoughts, and resolutely walked toward the next teleportation portal.

As Xiao Yan had expected, the opponents in Yellow Grade Mid Trial were Eight Star and Nine Star Dou Zhe; the final trial was still a Magic Beast just reaching Second-Tier.

To Xiao Yan, it was merely more troublesome—not a threat.

"Eight Extremes Collapse!"

Xiao Yan leapt vertically down from a high mountain, piercing through the valley's white mist, using his powerful Soul Perception to lock onto the target within the mist, then descended with a punch straight onto the body of a ten-meter-tall Sea Giant Python beneath the cliff.

Sssssss!!! The eight layers of hidden force from Eight Extremes Collapse slammed against the Python's hard scales; each punch sent out ripples, and the scales scattered the impact.

"Yellow Grade High Trial is indeed tough—even a direct hit from Eight Extremes Collapse did nothing!"

The Python hissed, gritted its teeth, and whipped its tail violently—a massive column sweeping toward him. *Clang! * Xiao Yan hastily pulled out the Black Weighted Ruler from his storage ring and blocked the strike before him.

Sparks flew as the scales clashed against the Black Weighted Ruler, flinging Xiao Yan backward.

In midair, he spun and landed steadily on both feet. Xiao Yan had already cleared all Yellow Grade Mid trials and was now challenging Yellow Grade High—the opponent was a Second-Tier Black Steel Sea Giant Python, a relatively advanced Second-Tier Magic Beast.

Sssss—The Python retreated instead of pressing the attack, slowly dissolving into the mist. The Black Steel Sea Giant Python was a land creature; its nature was ambush—striking with lethal force when the enemy was utterly unprepared.

Xiao Yan gripped the Ruler's handle tightly, cautiously guarding all around. The thick white mist offered almost zero visibility—only a blinding white expanse.

"Snakes sense prey through thermal detection—this environment is terrible for me."

*Whoosh! * A dark shadow surged toward him; Xiao Yan leapt high, dodging the Python's tail strike.

*Boom! * At that instant, the ground split open—a massive dark shape erupted upward; the Black Steel Sea Giant Python had feinted with its tail and buried its head underground!

Its gaping maw opened wide, aiming to swallow Xiao Yan whole!

"Damn!"

Xiao Yan instantly clutched the Black Weighted Ruler, curling into a ball, using the Ruler as a shield. *Crack! * The Black Steel Sea Giant Python bit down hard on the unyielding Ruler—protected by the Ruler, the Python couldn't crush Xiao Yan to death.

The Python's head snapped sideways, hurling the Ruler with a *Boom! * into the mountainside; boulders tumbled down, burying Xiao Yan alive.

The Black Steel Sea Giant Python vanished again into the mist, its inverted triangular eyes gleaming with mockery.

In its eyes, Xiao Yan was like a bright flame—it saw him sneak out from the mountainside and now hide behind a massive boulder nearby, waiting for an ambush opportunity.

The Black Steel Sea Giant Python silently crept above the boulder, its tongue flicking—it knew today's dessert was ready!

Sssss!! The Black Steel Sea Giant Python let out a cry and lunged toward the heat source—but at the moment of biting, it froze! Where was the human? Only a burning piece of clothing remained!

Where was he?! No heat signature anywhere—had he died?!

As the Black Steel Sea Giant Python puzzled and searched frantically, *Boom! * The ground beneath it exploded—Xiao Yan burst upward, appearing right at the Python's vital seventh inch.

"Foolish snake, I'm an Alchemist—don't you know about the Two-Rank Elixir, Ice Heart Pill?"

"Eight Extremes Collapse!"