Chapter 284: Observing Alchemy

One kilometer.

Five hundred meters.

One hundred meters!

A gale howled as it swept over, sand and stones dancing in the sky, making it nearly impossible to keep one's eyes open. If this were an ordinary person, let alone one hundred meters, they would have been swept away by the gale from five hundred meters out.

Yet Qi Heng's legs were like wooden stakes driven deep into the ground; he let the gale rage, his body as steady as Mount Tai, with only his clothes snapping loudly in the wind.

He slowly closed his eyes.

Seeing the Black Feather Eagle's claws, each the size of a truck cab, less than ten meters above his head.

"Flame Blade!"

A thunderous roar erupted from him.

A layer of raging flames actually ignited on the fiery red long blade in his hand, and immediately after, a massive, three-meter-tall fiery red blade qi slashed fiercely toward the Black Feather Eagle above.

"Screech!"

The Black Feather Eagle seemed to sense a fatal danger and wanted to dodge, but it was already too late.

In just an instant, the fiery red blade qi cut through its head and part of its torso as easily as a hot knife through butter; scorching hot blood splattered out, a piercing, incomparable scream came from the Black Feather Eagle's throat, and then, it crashed headlong onto the Wasteland.

And that fiery red blade qi, after piercing through the Black Feather Eagle's body, flew forward a few more meters before gradually turning into wisps of heat and dissipating into the air.

Everything happened too quickly; if the Black Feather Eagle's corpse were not lying right before their eyes, and if the severed parts were not still emitting the aroma of roasted meat, one would truly suspect that the attack just now was merely an illusory dream.

"Brother Qi." Zhang Xue's face was full of the terror of having survived a disaster. "Are you alright?"

Among Elite-level Fierce Beasts, the flying types are the most troublesome—fast and with high attack power. Engaging them head-on, one might lose their life if even slightly careless.

"I'm fine." Qi Heng hurriedly took out a Pill and quickly stuffed it into his mouth.

It looked incredibly cool to kill the Black Feather Eagle in one strike, but in reality, the True Qi in his body was already completely exhausted.

If two more such Fierce Beasts came, his life would likely be in danger.

"This guy's body is too big; my Space Item can't fit it. If I carry it while traveling, it will be troublesome if we encounter more Elite-level Fierce Beasts. I can only cut off its head, wings, and claws to take with us," Qi Heng said with a smile.

"Let me do it," Zhang Xue said hurriedly. "Brother Qi, you should take this opportunity to Regulate Breath and recover your True Qi as quickly as possible."

"Mm, then I'll trouble you." Qi Heng sat down on the spot and slowly closed his eyes.

There was still a distance to go before reaching Yongan City; he had to maintain his peak state.

Fortunately, compared to the troubles encountered before, this situation was still relatively easy to handle.

A few minutes later, the two set off again. Not long after they left, several Fierce Beasts nearly 10 meters long arrived at the spot.

Approaching nine o'clock, the two looked at the city built against the mountain not far away, their faces simultaneously revealing smiles of relief.

"Brother Qi, that's Yongan City ahead," Zhang Xue said.

"Let's go." Qi Heng took firm steps and walked forward with large strides.

The two soon arrived at the Yong'an City Association. Upon receiving the news, Song Tian hurried over to them.

"T-two seniors..." He was so nervous that he stuttered.

The famous Flame Blade Qi Heng was standing right before him; one had to know that the other's strength could rank in the top five among the more than twenty Pulse Refining Realm Martial Artists in the entire Association!

Qi Heng waved his hand and said with a smile, "Alright, let's skip the pleasantries. You know the purpose of our visit—where is the person?"

"The p-person, oh!" Song Tian slapped his forehead hard. "Brother Lu must be so engrossed in Alchemy that he forgot the time. Two seniors, please sit in my office for a moment; I will go notify Brother Lu and bring him over right now."

"Alchemy?" The two looked at each other, both revealing expressions of surprise.

"He can also perform Alchemy?" Zhang Xue asked in astonishment.

In the Association, the status of an Alchemist is extremely high.

Let alone Pulse Refining Realm Martial Artists like them, even the True Essence Realm Martial Artists like the President treat Alchemy with great respect.

"Y-yes," Song Tian said with an awkward expression. "He's just messing around with it."

"How about this," Qi Heng said. "You take us directly to him; the assessment can be conducted anywhere anyway."

"Alright." Song Tian hesitated slightly, but still agreed.

"Knock, knock, knock, knock." A crisp knocking sound suddenly rang out.

Lu Yu, who was concentrating fully on refining a Pill, couldn't help but frown slightly.

Whether it is Alchemy or martial arts, being rashly interrupted by the outside world is truly displeasing.

Just then, Song Tian's voice came through: "Brother Lu, is it convenient for you to come out? People from headquarters have arrived. Brother Lu?"

Upon hearing this, Lu Yu felt a jolt in his heart—had the time already come?

He hurriedly reached out to pick up the phone beside him, unlocked it, and took a look; sure enough, it was already September 2nd, nine o'clock sharp, and a brand-new month had already begun.

"It seems I wronged the President," Lu Yu couldn't help but smile bitterly.

He had been wondering, the President is a reasonable person, so why would he come to interrupt knowing he was performing Alchemy?

It must be a matter of extreme urgency. As for Xu Jie and the others, it was even less likely they would come to disturb him.

"People from headquarters have come; this batch of Pills will likely have to be scrapped," he sighed helplessly.

One must know that once Alchemy begins, it must never be interrupted.

Otherwise, even if the Pills could eventually be refined, their quality would definitely be greatly reduced.

"I only have myself to blame for being too focused; I should have set an alarm," he thought to himself, already walking quickly to the door, pressing the switch, and the door slowly opened.

The person appearing before him was, naturally, Song Tian.

Seeing him come out, the latter's face immediately showed an expression of relief.

"Brother Lu, these two seniors were sent by headquarters to conduct your assessment. Let me introduce them; this is..."

Lu Yu followed Song Tian's gaze and looked at Qi Heng.

Qi Heng smiled slightly, waved his hand, and kept his eyes fixed on Lu Yu, asking, "No rush, you are in the middle of Alchemy, right?"

"That is correct." Lu Yu nodded with a calm expression, neither humble nor arrogant.

The two exchanged a glance; they were both surprised by Lu Yu's composure and could not help but feel a sense of admiration.

One must know, usually those Martial Artists at the middle stage of Vein Refining were all trembling with fear when they saw them, a sight that truly left them feeling somewhat helpless.

Yet this young man before them could be so calm and collected, which was indeed extraordinary.

"Then you continue refining; it will not be too late for us to conduct the assessment after you finish this furnace of Pills," Qi Heng said with a smile. "You do not mind if we observe from the side, do you?"

Upon hearing this, Song Tian's face revealed an expression of being unable to laugh or cry.

Senior Qi is certainly considerate and very patient. However, Brother Lu has only just begun refining pills, so is there really anything to see?

Lu Yu was also somewhat surprised. Observe? Does that mean they will be standing by his side watching him refine pills in a moment?

If that is the case, the fact that he can refine Top-grade Blood Qi Pills will no longer be able to be hidden.