Chapter 716

Xiao Yan stomped down, instantly suppressing the entire Dou Qi Continent; the might of a Dou Emperor surged across millions of kilometers in an instant.

After all, earlier Xiao Yan had been teaching, focusing on explanation and instruction, but in truth, many things cannot be conveyed through words alone; effort can only reach ninety-nine percent, never one hundred.

The moment Xiao Yan acted, he revealed the pinnacle of alchemy on the Dou Qi Continent.

With a single hand seal, the Emperor Flame—forged from the fusion of twenty-two Strange Fires—ignited; within a single thought, the entire ten-thousand-zhang Refining Heaven Ancient Formation was filled with flame, turning the sky into a sea of fire!

"Such immense power! Even standing this close, I can't feel any rise in temperature!" Old Yao's expression was stunned—he was a fire-control expert himself, and a Sage Emperor, yet he saw Xiao Yan's flames spreading across ten thousand li of sky, yet not a single degree of heat leaked out; this was fire control beyond his imagination.

"This is the power of a Dou Emperor! The power, the fire control, the soul power of a Dou Emperor!" Hun Xu Zi felt his mind go blank, filled only with despair—he could never reach such power.

"Sigh, he's not just hardworking—fortune and talent both stand on his side." Shen Nong Old Man shook his head helplessly; precisely because their own alchemy was also extremely high, they understood the difficulty involved.

After activating the Refining Heaven Ancient Formation, Xiao Yan directly tossed in all the medicinal materials—he wasn't just refining multiple Nine-Tier Golden Core Pills at once, but also extracting every single medicinal material simultaneously!

"Are you insane? Different medicinal materials require different temperatures—how can you just throw them all into the Sea of Fire?!"

Seeing Xiao Yan instantly dump all the medicinal materials into the Sea of Fire, many were stunned—no one had ever refined pills this way; the extraction temperature for each material differed, and even the sequence was critical.

When to add which herb, when to raise the temperature—this was highly precise; one misstep could destroy the elixir.

Now Xiao Yan, of all people, had even thrown in the energy core—this was simply outrageous.

Yet no one thought Xiao Yan was acting recklessly.

The Emperor Flame, forged from twenty-two Strange Fires, was the hottest thing on the Dou Qi Continent—no medicinal material could withstand its burning; even a Dou Emperor would be incinerated.

Suddenly, a crackling, popping sound echoed from the sky, like wood burning.

This was the medicinal materials being incinerated by the extreme heat.

"I feel like His Majesty Xiao Yan is just burning firewood to cook a meal."

"I feel the same."

"Is His Majesty Xiao Yan really refining Nine-Tier Golden Core Pills?"

"Actually, when I refined Two-Rank and One-Rank Pills, I did it exactly like this," a Six-Grade Alchemist suddenly spoke up.

At these words, everyone around drew a sharp breath—refining Nine-Tier Golden Core Pills as if they were One-Rank or Two-Rank Pills?!

Hai Bodong exclaimed in astonishment: "I thought Xiao Yan succeeded in refining an Imperial Grade Pill because it was originally a Primitive Pill. But now it's clear—he has fully reached the level of an Emperor Alchemist!"

Many believed Xiao Yan's alchemy was at the peak of Nine-Tier Golden Core Grand Master, not true Emperor Alchemist status, and that he couldn't yet refine Imperial Grade Pills, since his refinement of the Emperor Pill wasn't from scratch.

But now it was obvious—Xiao Yan wasn't unable to refine Imperial Grade Pills due to insufficient power; he simply lacked sufficient materials!

Xiao Yan's extraction speed was absurdly fast—once the medicinal materials entered the Refining Heaven Ancient Formation, they were instantly incinerated by the Emperor Flame's extreme heat; and his fire control had reached an unimaginable level—he could perfectly regulate the temperature within, even ensuring each medicinal material received its own precise heat within the same flame.

That's why not a single degree of heat leaked out during Xiao Yan's refining—he controlled it perfectly!

When Xiao Yan originally refined the All-Beings Break Emperor Pill, he had memorized the properties of nearly every medicinal material available on the Dou Qi Continent; his alchemy wasn't just confident—it was enlightened by the Bodhi Ancient Tree.

The reason refining takes so long is mostly because medicinal materials must be extracted slowly; now, Xiao Yan had shortened the time by countless times!

"The noise has stopped."

"Kuang! The medicinal properties are starting to fuse?!"

"What?! Already finished extracting?!"

When Xiao Yan first taught alchemy, everyone had been utterly entranced—watching his refining was intoxicating, lost in his alchemy technique, mesmerized by the seamless, fluid motions, every gesture filled with beauty—even non-alchemists could understand the meaning behind each movement.

But now, when Xiao Yan stopped holding back, no longer caring whether others could comprehend, and unleashed his full refining power, everyone was stunned.

Even though he didn't deliberately hide his alchemy technique, and the Refining Heaven Ancient Formation was ten thousand zhang wide, allowing clear viewing of the refining process, they were still bewildered.

In less than an hour, Xiao Yan had extracted all ten thousand medicinal materials. For the All-Beings Break Emperor Pill, Nine-Tier Golden Core Pills were simply too easy!

Xiao Yan's eyes narrowed slightly; his Imperial Soul instantly spread out, transmitting a voice: "Open the realm barriers."

Wummmmm!! The Xiao Realm, the Snake Emperor Empire, the Ancient Realm, Dragon Island, the Sky Phoenix Clan's Tree World, Xiao Dan Ta, and all other Holy Lands and Little Worlds opened their protective barriers.

The next instant, under Xiao Yan's Imperial Soul Force, not only the Heavenly Energy from these places, but nearly the entire Dou Qi Continent was drawn in—Heavenly Energy surged like a tide from every corner of the world toward the Black Horn Region!

"Kuang!"

"The tide of Heavenly Energy!"

"Is that Imperial Soul Force?!"

When Xiao Yan originally refined the Nine Mystical Golden Dragon, he hadn't yet possessed Imperial Soul Force; refining a single Nine Grade Profound Pill had required most of the Yao Realm's Heavenly Energy. To refine multiple Nine-Tier Golden Core Pills, even draining the entire Dou Qi Continent might not be enough.

That's why Xiao Yan had warned everyone in advance—he needed vast amounts of Heavenly Energy, and asked them to open their realm barriers.

Whooshhhhh!! The Heavenly Energy solidified into tangible form—an endless ocean of energy surged like waves from all directions!

From afar, it looked as if a ten-thousand-zhang apocalyptic tidal wave had risen on the horizon, as if ready to drown the world.

Xiao Yan changed his hand seals; under his absolute soul control, the Heavenly Energy formed into countless tornadoes that rushed into the Refining Heaven Ancient Formation, purified and refined by the formation, transforming into the purest energy, which then merged within.

Wum!! Suddenly, an Ancient Tree radiating immense Life Force appeared within Xiao Yan's Refining Heaven Ancient Formation; though this Bodhi Ancient Tree was constructed from the array, after absorbing Heavenly Energy, it released Life Force as genuine as a real Bodhi Ancient Tree!

"Bodhi Ancient Tree?!"

"This seems to be His Majesty Xiao Yan's alchemy technique—called the Bodhi Hundred Lifetimes Refining Method."

"I'm actually witnessing an Emperor Alchemist refining a pill!"

Xiao Yan stood atop the Refining Heaven Ancient Formation, controlling the array to refine the pill; from below, he looked like a god—countless alchemists couldn't help but kneel and prostrate themselves.

This was already worship.

As the Heavenly Energy from the entire Dou Qi Continent continuously flowed in, the Bodhi Ancient Tree within the Refining Heaven Ancient Formation continuously emitted emerald-green life light, a sensation that made one feel as if ascending to immortality.

The fusion stage took longer—even Xiao Yan couldn't accomplish it instantly. Days passed; on the third day, the Heavenly Energy suddenly ceased surging!

The sky began to warp, as if something was coalescing.

Xiao Yan, who had been sitting cross-eyed and closed, suddenly opened his eyes and stood up; at that moment, the endless Sea of Fire within the Refining Heaven Ancient Formation slowly dimmed, revealing the Bodhi Ancient Tree inside.

"Fallen leaves return to roots; a hundred lifetimes fuse the pill."

As Xiao Yan spoke, the world within the Refining Heaven Ancient Formation accelerated—as if time itself had been sped up; the once-lush Bodhi Ancient Tree began to age and wither, the entire world within the formation rapidly experiencing the passage of ages.

Leaves turned yellow, then drifted down; the once-green, leaf-laden Bodhi Ancient Tree became bare, undergoing reincarnation.

"This alchemy technique contains the Heavenly Dao Reincarnation!"

Snap! Xiao Yan snapped his fingers, and the extinguished Sea of Fire blazed back to life at once, instantly igniting the already withering Bodhi Ancient Tree.

"Is this… the Sage Emperor's Bathing Flame Elixir?!"

Boom! Boom! Boom!! The thunderclouds above took shape at this moment, far larger than the ones that had formed when Xiao Yan forged the Nine Mystical Golden Dragon.

Of course, no matter how vast or powerful the Nine Mystical Golden Thunder might be, it was still merely a being of the Sage Emperor realm—Xiao Yan now paid it no mind whatsoever.

With a sweep of his hand, the golden dragon, now a tattoo on his arm, shot upward toward the thunderclouds; the Nine Mystical Golden Thunder opened its massive mouth and frantically devoured the golden thunder above. To further strengthen itself, the golden dragon could only consume lightning—and across the entire Dou Qi Continent, the Nine Mystical Golden Thunder was the highest-grade Lei Dian.

Gradually, the flames within the Refining Heaven Ancient Formation began to weaken; the entire Bodhi Ancient Tree was fully reduced to ash. Xiao Yan exhaled gently, and instantly, ash filled the sky, every particle carried by the wind to every corner of the Dou Qi Continent.

When the ash was blown away, countless round, gleaming Pills emerged from within the ashes—not only Nine-Star Golden Pills, but also Mystical Pills and Precious Pills. These Mystical Pills and Precious Pills were refined by Xiao Yan from the residual medicinal properties left after melting the main Pills, akin to byproducts or companion Pills.

With Xiao Yan's Pill Alchemy skill and power, he could absolutely avoid wasting even the tiniest fraction.

Others refine one Pill at a time; Xiao Yan refines a pile! Of course, this was only possible when refining low-grade Pills—if he attempted to refine an Imperial Grade Pill, it would be utterly impossible.

"Huh? Where are they headed?" At this moment, some people noticed that many within the Black Horn Region had taken to the skies, flying toward the distance.

(End of Chapter)