Chapter 663: Xiao Yan, the Slightly Clever One

The others were also skilled Alchemists; the remaining three had no intention of using an Alchemy Furnace, instead summoning their Unique Fires to serve as their cauldrons.

Hun Xu Zi's figure flashed once, appearing atop a black fire cauldron, then sat cross-legged; with a sweep of his sleeves, countless medicinal materials surged forth like a tidal wave from within, instantly filling heaven and earth with a rich herbal aroma.

As each began their work, Elder Wanhuo from afar also condensed the Nine Underworld Wind Flame into a fire cauldron; at their level, Alchemy Cauldrons were nearly superfluous, for they could effortlessly form the finest cauldrons simply by gathering their Unique Fires.

Of the four, the most magnificent display was not Xiao Yan or Hun Xu Zi—but the Divine Farmer Elder.

Above his head, a sea of liquid-green flame rapidly spread outward, while his figure sat cross-legged within that sea of fire; with a sweep of his wide sleeves, numerous medicinal seeds emitting strange fragrances rained down, landing upon the flames, then, under countless stunned gazes, those seeds rapidly sprouted and grew at breakneck speed amid the roaring flames.

The Divine Farmer Elder smiled as he watched the medicinal materials grow swiftly, flicked a finger, and the sea of fire rippled; soon, it condensed into countless drops of extremely pure green liquid, within which faint flames flickered, exuding a potent aura of life.

These green liquids hovered above the many medicinal materials, then gently descended; as the fiery liquid touched them, the herbs accelerated like they'd been doused in a catalyst, their growth spiking wildly—within mere minutes, each seed had transformed into a unique, rare medicinal herb; soon, countless fresh herbs rose gently from the green sea of fire, swaying joyfully within it.

"No wonder it's the Flame of Life—this truly is the Unique Fire Alchemists dream of."

"He can control the growth and age of medicinal materials, using the most perfectly matched age for pill refining."

Far away, Xiao Yan, witnessing this miraculous scene, couldn't help but exclaim in admiration; aside from its weak combat power, the Flame of Life was truly the Unique Fire every Alchemist longed for—this ability to accelerate medicinal growth was a true Divine Weapon if it fell into the hands of the Dan Tower or Yao Clan; though he knew such growth manipulation must drain the user immensely.

But even Xiao Yixian couldn't cultivate medicinal materials of the ideal age, because the Alchemist was Xiao Yan himself—only Xiao Yan knew precisely which age of medicinal material his pills required, and to what stage they must grow to be perfectly suited.

At the level of Nine Rank Dan Yao, even the tiniest variation affects the final outcome; after all, a Nine-Treasure Pill requires tens of thousands of medicinal materials, and if each one has even a slight influence, the cumulative effect becomes enormous—and could ruin the final pill.

The Flame of Life perfectly avoided all this.

After his admiration, Xiao Yan regained his focus, waved his hand, and a dense swarm of medicinal materials flew out of his storage ring, swirling around his fire cauldron; the sheer variety and quantity likely exceeded ten thousand kinds—so vast a number left many Alchemists gaping; compared to the scale of these four, even the Nine Color Pill Thunder summoned by Yao Tian felt like a dwarf beside a giant.

Some of these materials were even gifts from Hun Tian Di for Xiao Yan and Xun Er's wedding, including several Nine Rank Pill Formulas.

"How the hell does he cultivate?"

"He's not much older than us, yet he's already earned the right to compete with Elder Wanhuo."

Below the Guang Chang, many young members of the Yao Clan clustered together, yet these once-arrogant youths now stared at the sky with stunned, crushed expressions; though their hearts burned with resentment, the gap between them and Xiao Yan was so vast it extinguished even envy.

Beside Yao Tian, Yao Ling—surrounded by adoring crowds, her face as cold as ice—also fixed her beautiful eyes on the calm, youthful figure in the sky; this was the first time in her life she'd seen a peer of such youth capable of matching Elder Wanhuo in Alchemy; such an achievement, even for a prodigy like her within the Yao Clan, compelled genuine admiration.

"They all seem to be aiming for Nine Grade Profound Pills," Yao Tian, who had once refined a Nine-Treasure Pill, narrowed his eyes; whether by the quantity of materials or the energy fluctuations within the cauldrons, this far surpassed the level of a Nine-Treasure Pill.

Without doubt, Xiao Yan, the Divine Farmer Elder, and Hun Xu Zi—all three would no longer settle for Nine-Treasure Pills; each intended to refine a Profound Pill!

Elder Wanhuo, watching Xiao Yan and the others begin extracting materials, clenched his teeth, a cold, sharp gleam flashing in his eyes—he too would refine a Nine Grade Profound Pill!

Seeing Elder Wanhuo also aim for a Nine Grade Profound Pill, Yao Dan slowly shook his head; he knew Wanhuo's strength—though Wanhuo could already refine Nine-Treasure Pills with ease and had begun attempting Profound Pills, over the years he had never once succeeded.

Seeing Xiao Yan and the others all aiming for Profound Pills, Wanhuo had no choice but to challenge himself once more.

Naturally, Yao Dan had little faith in Wanhuo; normally, he himself should have been the one to compete, but now, with hidden currents stirring across the Dou Qi Continent and every faction harboring secret agendas—even the Lei and Yan Clans maintained vigilance toward the Yao Clan.

No one trusted anyone else, so the Yao Clan ultimately decided to send Wanhuo—so if he lost, they could still claim justification and preserve the Yao Clan's status as the First Alchemist lineage.

Across the entire sky, all four intended to refine Nine Grade Profound Pills; their combined medicinal materials exceeded one hundred thousand, each herb floating in the heavens, dense and overwhelming like a sky-blocking curtain, filling the entire Guang Chang with herbal fragrance.

"Incredible—so many medicinal materials."

"Yes, and many are Seven-Grade or even Eight-Grade."

To refine a Nine Grade Profound Pill, Eight-Grade herbs are merely auxiliary; those few Nine-Grade main ingredients glowed brilliantly, like the moon among countless medicinal stars, drawing every eye.

Yao Dan glanced briefly and murmured: "Wanhuo knows only one Nine Grade Profound Pill formula—his main ingredient clearly indicates the Nine-Turn Life Restoration Pill. The Divine Farmer Elder's is the Silver Jade Heavenly Fragrance Pill, which can boost a Sage Emperor's cultivation speed a hundredfold. Hun Xu Zi's is likely a Soul Sovereign-exclusive formula—appears to directly enhance cultivation realm."

Even among pills of the same rank, there are distinctions in quality; generally, healing pills are easiest, followed by special-purpose pills like those aiding cultivation, while the most difficult are undoubtedly those that directly raise cultivation realm.

Judging purely by pill type, Hun Xu Zi's is the most difficult.

"Xiao Yan's main ingredients: Nine Rank Fire Dragon Eye Honey, Ten-Thousand-Year Deep-Sea Blood Coral Worm Dry, Ancient Dragon Heavenly Fragrance Saliva, and Netherworld Camellia Seeds—only four top-tier Nine Rank medicinal materials; this must be a healing-type Nine Grade Profound Pill, likely the easiest."

Logically, Xiao Yan is the youngest and has trained in Alchemy the shortest time; refining the simplest Nine Grade Profound Pill is perfectly reasonable—better to safely refine the easiest than risk failure on a high-difficulty pill.

After all, Nine Grade Profound Pills are no easy feat—even Yao Dan himself isn't certain he could succeed.

But this is Xiao Yan—Yao Dan didn't believe Xiao Yan would willingly fall behind.

Yet, not long after, Yao Dan's doubt vanished.

On the Guang Chang, countless Alchemists watched the fluid, effortless Alchemy techniques in the sky, their faces filled with rapture, their eyes blazing with fervor.

This extraction of medicinal materials lasted about a week; Xiao Yan was the first to open his eyes, since the level of his Profound Pill was the simplest, his extraction speed was naturally the fastest.

Gazing at the Bodhi Tree within the Refining Heaven Ancient Formation, its branches hung thick with leaves, Xiao Yan exhaled deeply, formed a hand seal, and roared: "Heaven and Earth Power, obey my command!"

"Gather Heavenly Power!"

Xiao Yan formed his hand seal, unleashing his half-Emperor-grade Soul Force; his terrifying Soul Power and cultivation realm manipulated the Heavenly Energy within hundreds of miles.

Suddenly, fierce winds howled across the land; boundless Heavenly Energy surged from all directions, converging upon Xiao Yan's Refining Heaven Ancient Formation, then entirely swallowed by his Soul Force.

This terrifying absorption eventually formed a mottled Energy Storm, roaring furiously across the sky before being fully devoured.

Eight-Grade pills condense Spiritual Energy; Nine-Grade pills condense Heaven and Earth Power—these distinctions are clearly defined.

When Xiao Yan refined the Thunder Tribulation Pill, he also gathered Heaven and Earth Power—those Nine Mystical Golden Thunder were manifestations of condensed Heavenly Energy.

A Nine Grade Profound Pill absolutely requires Heaven and Earth Power to form.

Seeing Xiao Yan manipulate Heaven and Earth Power, Yao Dan instantly understood his intent; he slammed his thigh in awe and exclaimed: "Brilliant kid! So that's why he chose the simplest Nine Grade Profound Pill!"

Seeing Xiao Yan's Soul Force nearly cover the entire Yao Realm's Shan Mai, the other three instantly grasped his original intent.

This land simply could not supply enough energy for four Nine Grade Profound Pills!

From the start, Xiao Yan knew even the Yao Realm couldn't simultaneously refine four Nine Grade Profound Pills—the Heaven and Earth Power was far too scarce, especially since this wasn't a place like the Void Thunder Pool.

Even the Void Thunder Pool, such a treasure, was drained dry by just one Nine Grade Profound Pill—imagine how immense the Heavenly Energy required for one truly is.

So Xiao Yan had planned from the outset: finish extracting materials first, then move faster than anyone else to begin gathering Heaven and Earth Power—while the others were still extracting, he would seize the energy to complete his pill.

Without sufficient Heaven and Earth Power, even if they could refine Nine Grade Profound Pills, it would be useless!

Hun Xu Zi and the others stared, dumbfounded, frozen in shock.

You little bastard, you played dirty!

Yao Dan's expression turned peculiar, gazing at the silver-robed youth in the sky with admiration.

This guy uses his brain to refine pills!

"If none of the others can complete a Profound Pill, even the weakest one becomes first? This guy…" Yao Dan sighed helplessly, shaking his head; yet he had no recourse—past Dan Canon records showed only one person ever refining a Profound Pill at a time; never had all four attempted it simultaneously.

This amount of Heavenly Energy is certainly insufficient.

Clearly, when the others realized it, it was already too late.

Hun Xu Zi and the Divine Farmer Elder, though highly skilled in Pill Alchemy, have a certain success rate in refining the Nine Grade Profound Pill, but the difficulty of their elixirs is high, so the time required is longer.

Yao Wanhuo's elixirs are simpler, but his Pill Alchemy skill is lower, so his speed is not fast either.

For a moment, the other three could only watch helplessly as the clever Xiao Yan began to monopolize the Heavenly Energy.

"Hehe, it seems the three Senior Brothers don't need the Heavenly Energy anymore—I won't be so polite then." Xiao Yan grinned slyly, pretending to bow respectfully to the three.

Even the Divine Farmer Elder now wanted to strangle Xiao Yan.

Xiao Yan truly made no concessions; his Soul Force surged to its limit, controlling his Soul Power to capture the special Heavenly Energy hidden within the Heaven and Earth, drawing it all into the Alchemy Furnace and channeling it into the Bodhi Ancient Tree.

Seeing Xiao Yan frantically seizing the Heavenly Energy, the other three gritted their teeth and, regardless of consequences, accelerated their refinement of the Medicinal Materials.

Even though they had realized it, they were inevitably several steps behind Xiao Yan; two days later, Hun Xu Zi and the other two finally completed the refinement of the Medicinal Materials and immediately unleashed their Soul Power, beginning to compete with Xiao Yan for the Heavenly Energy.

"Gather the Heaven and Earth Power!"

"Heaven and Earth Power, condense!"

"Clan Mark appears—gather!"

Yao Wanhuo was forced to even activate the Tribe Pattern Power of the Yao Clan.

In an instant, the entire Sky of the Yao Realm seemed torn apart—these three's Soul Forces were all at Heaven Realm Great Perfection, and Hun Xu Zi's Soul Force was even on par with Xiao Yan's; the scene of the four battling for Heavenly Energy was unimaginable.

Boom! Boom! Boom!!! The Heavenly Space Xiao Yan had monopolized was instantly flooded with three terrifying Soul Forces; the entire Heaven and Earth was ripped apart as all four recklessly seized the power within this realm.

The Sky of the Yao Realm shattered in an instant; the entire Guang Chang erupted into a violent Soul Storm!

"Activate the Protective Barrier!!"

Yao Dan waved his hand, and with a hum, a protective barrier rose over the spectator seats, shielding the audience from the chaos.

On the Guang Chang, countless Alchemists gazed at the Energy Storm roaring with thunderous crashes in the sky—their hearts were overwhelmed with awe; all four were refining the Nine Grade Profound Pill and competing for Heavenly Energy!

Such a scene had not been seen in nearly ten thousand years!

"Holy crap, they're really insane!"

"Xiao Yan is so clever—did he already foresee this happening?"

"No wonder young minds think this way."

"I'm done—I feel my scalp itching. Am I growing a brain?"

(End of Chapter)