Word Count: 2,974 Words
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"I don't care about 'born in woe, dying in woe.' Even if this is a fate decreed by the heavens, today, I, Xiao Yan, will give her a second ending!" Xiao Yan stood up, a hint of madness flashing in his eyes. He roared loudly, and the Flame Mantra within him circulated frantically!
"Merge the Heavenly Flames, break the fate decreed by the heavens!"
Xiao Yan shouted loudly. Instantly, among the three Heavenly Flames enveloping Little Fairy Doctor, the Yin-Yang Twin Flame and the Bone Chilling Flame transformed into streams of light and flew back into his body, leaving only the Ghostly Poison Flame behind!
He had no other options left. This was his only chance to completely resolve the Woeful Poison Body!
The Woeful Poison Body was a physique that endlessly absorbed poison to grow stronger. This physique was like a curse from the heavens; even if one could solve it temporarily, one couldn't solve it for a lifetime.
It was predestined by the heavens: the Woeful Poison Body was born in woe and would die in woe.
Xiao Yan had even asked Hun Huzi, and his answer was the same. Although a possessor of the Woeful Poison Body had indeed once created the Poison Pill Method, that person's Poison Pill ultimately couldn't last. When that individual's Woeful Poison Body reached the Dou Saint realm, they still died because of it.
In the end, to avoid bringing disaster upon a region, that person hid away and died silently. No one knew where they were buried.
Even the creator of the Poison Pill Method ultimately died from the Woeful Poison Body. That was why Xiao Yan had hesitated to tell Little Fairy Doctor about the Poison Pill Method, because this method could not completely solve the problem of the Woeful Poison Body.
He feared that the greater the hope, the greater the disappointment.
Special physiques were decreed by the heavens; no one could defy them. It was just like Qi Methods and Dou Techniques. The 'Tian' (Heaven) in the Tian Class already made it very clear: the strength of the Qi Method or Dou Technique depended on how much power of heaven and earth it could borrow and control.
If anyone could go against the heavens, it would only be a Dou God.
No matter how powerful Xiao Yan was, even as an 8th-tier alchemist, he had no way to defy the heavens.
But! Since that previous owner of the Woeful Poison Body could create the Poison Pill Method, then he, Xiao Yan, could build upon that foundation and create a new 'Poison Pill Method'!
The Heavenly Flame Poison Pill Method!
The Heavenly Flame Dou Techniques he created used Heavenly Flames as the foundation, borrowing their power to forge entirely new Dou Techniques.
Now, he intended to use the Heavenly Flames created by heaven and earth, borrowing their power to oppose the power of heaven and earth itself!
It was like a paradox. Could an omnipotent god create a stone it couldn't lift?
"Merge into the pill!" Xiao Yan swiftly formed a hand seal. The Ghostly Poison Flame within Little Fairy Doctor's body seemed to gain consciousness, flowing like a small stream through her meridians, organs, and viscera before merging into the Poison Pill!
The Ghostly Poison Flame itself was a bizarre Heavenly Flame with dual attributes of poison and fire; it was both flame and poison.
The Poison Pill's function was to gather all subsequently absorbed poisons together. Naturally, the Ghostly Poison Flame could also be integrated!
Once Xiao Yan merged the Ghostly Poison Flame into it, the Poison Pill instantly transformed. It resembled a Flame Pill, and in an instant, the entire Book Collection Hall was enveloped in a dark green poisonous miasma.
Xiao Yan knew this was the medicinal fragrance of the Poison Pill! It was a special, odorless fragrance!
Ordinary medicinal fragrances made people feel refreshed in body and mind, but the Poison Pill's fragrance had the opposite effect. If Little Fairy Doctor wished, this fragrance could poison to death all living beings within its range!
Buzz!!!
Countless clouds gathered in the sky above Jia Nan Academy. When the clouds amassed into what seemed like a vast ocean, a vortex finally appeared in the sky directly above the locked space of the Book Collection Hall. Thunderous sounds emerged from within that pitch-black vortex, growing louder and louder!!
"Those are thunderclouds! It's Pill Lightning!"
"Senior Brother Xiao Yan succeeded!"
This magnificent scene naturally attracted the attention of everyone in Jia Nan Academy. Many people had heard that Xiao Yan was refining pills, and they all knew the legendary tale of him refining the peak tier 6 Emperor Heaven Pill within the academy.
Therefore, the moment they saw the thunderclouds appear, everyone knew that Xiao Yan must be refining a pill!
"So this is tier 7 Pill Lightning? How spectacular! Why do I feel like these thunderclouds are even vaster than the Inner Academy itself?"
"Indeed, this is a tier 7 medicinal pill. So impressive."
"It's blotting out the sun and covering the sky! The day has turned dark."
Xin Lan, who had grown up in the Pill Region of the Central Plains, looked up at the vast thunderclouds now covering the entire Inner Academy. Doubt flickered in her beautiful eyes before shock overtook her!
"This... this isn't ordinary tier 7 Pill Lightning!" Although her clan had declined, it still had 7th-tier alchemists. How could the thunderclouds attracted by a tier 7 medicinal pill be this immense!
"Tier 8!" Xin Lan exclaimed in shock, suddenly running out of the hall.
Xiao Yu's heart trembled beside her. She also quickly walked out into the courtyard, murmuring, "He's actually refining a tier 8 medicinal pill!"
First Elder Su Qian, Hu Gan, and other Inner Academy experts flew into the sky one after another. They were all dumbfounded as they looked at the shockingly enormous thunderclouds.
"No wonder that brat wanted to borrow the Book Collection Hall!" Su Qian felt exasperated. Tier 8 Pill Lightning was comparable to a Dou Venerate's attack! How could Xiao Yan's little body withstand it!
"All Inner Academy Elders, listen to my command! Form a formation! Help block as much as you can for him!" Su Qian shouted using spiritual transmission.
"Yes! First Elder!"
…
Inside the Book Collection Hall, Elder Qian and Elder Bai looked at each other with wry smiles. Tier 8... Although they had speculated about it, after some thought, they still felt a peak tier 7 medicinal pill was the most likely outcome for Xiao Yan. Unexpectedly, they had still underestimated him!
"This kid is truly astonishing."
"Stop wasting words. Activate the Guardian Grand Formation. Otherwise, if this Pill Lightning strikes down, the entire Book Collection Hall will be destroyed."
However, Elder Qian and Elder Bai had still underestimated Xiao Yan.
A tier 8 medicinal pill was the limit of their imagination, not Xiao Yan's limit!
Xiao Yan's expression grew increasingly solemn as he watched the Heavenly Flame Poison Pill gradually take shape, because he realized it wasn't enough!
A mere ordinary tier 8 medicinal pill would not do!
Not enough!
The problem with the Poison Pill wasn't fundamentally about its quality, but the fact that the Woeful Poison Body would continuously grow. Merging a Heavenly Flame into the pill had indeed raised its quality, but it was still not enough!
What he needed was a Heavenly Flame Poison Pill that could grow endlessly, just like the Woeful Poison Body!
And medicinal pills that could continuously grow did exist!
Pill Beasts!
The higher the quality of a medicinal pill, the stronger its spirituality. It possesses Pill Qi that could condense into a spirit. Depending on the pill's quality grade, the Pill Qi could condense into different beast forms. Moreover, tier 8 medicinal pills that had experienced Pill Lightning of eight colors or more could even transform into tangible Pill Beasts. These Pill Beasts fed on medicinal pills, preferring to eat pills of tier 6 and below. Within this grade range, the higher the grade of the pill, the more the Pill Beast liked to eat it. Furthermore, if a Pill Beast was well-fed, it might even advance to become a tier 9 medicinal pill in the future!
If this Poison Pill could become a Pill Beast, then as the Woeful Poison Body grew continuously, it too would grow continuously. Then, there would be no worries for the future!
Moreover! What Xiao Yan had merged into the Poison Pill was a Heavenly Flame! There was also the concept of a Heavenly Flame Spirit. While Xiao Yan could not currently refine a high-grade tier 8 medicinal pill, as long as the Heavenly Flame could form a spirit, just like the Fallen Heart Flame did back then, that would also work!
This was Xiao Yan's true Heavenly Flame Poison Pill Method! To form a Pill Beast! To create a Heavenly Flame Spirit!
A Poison Pill that could grow alongside the Woeful Poison Body!
Refining an ordinary Poison Pill could hardly be called a challenge for Xiao Yan. However, refining a spiritually aware Poison Pill, one that could grow together with the Woeful Poison Body, was the true test of his abilities as an alchemist!
Because this did not just test his creativity in pill recipes, it also tested his alchemy skills. It was, moreover, a 'graduation exam'!
Xiao Yan let out a loud shout as his Dou Qi surged skyward. With a wave of his large hand, the remaining eight kinds of Heavenly Flames instantly appeared.
Even the thunderclouds in the sky paused their rumbling the moment the eight Heavenly Flames appeared, as if the heavens themselves wanted to see what other tricks Xiao Yan had up his sleeve!
The eight Heavenly Flames each occupied their own space, surrounding the cross-legged Little Fairy Doctor at the center.
The eight Heavenly Flames were not randomly positioned. Xiao Yan had gained some understanding of Heavenly Flame formations after cultivating the Five Ring Flame Expelling Technique. The eight Heavenly Flames resembled an Eight Trigrams Formation, forming something akin to an Eight Trigrams Furnace, each guarding its respective position.
Instantly, Xiao Yan stomped his foot on the ground. The eight Heavenly Flames erupted: a green lotus swayed, ten thousand beasts rose and fell, black and white twin fish swam about. In that moment, relying on his powerful fire control ability and the Tian Class Flame Mantra, Xiao Yan connected with heaven and earth, borrowing the power of the world.
The world's energy surged frantically from all directions.
"Why is the natural energy boiling!" Elder Qian exclaimed in shock, suddenly startled.
"Is it Xiao Yan? Isn't that fellow about to complete the pill?!" Elder Bai looked utterly baffled. Why did it seem like Xiao Yan was about to perform some technique now, actually stirring up the natural energy in this space!
At this moment, it was as if all the natural energy within the Book Collection Hall was being utilized by Xiao Yan. Cooperating with the power of the eight Heavenly Flames under the circulation of the Flame Mantra, he reached his peak state in a short time!
"Heavenly Flames Gathering Spirit!"
Xiao Yan instantly switched Qi Methods. The Soul Training Method, Spirit Heart Gathering Soul Technique, began to circulate. Aided by the Eight Trigrams Formation of the eight Heavenly Flames, he frantically gathered the soul light motes from the air. These light motes then uncontrollably surged entirely into Little Fairy Doctor's Poison Pill!!
The thunderclouds in the distant sky, however, suddenly began to churn violently again, as if pulled by some unseen force!!
Once, during the Pill Gathering, a genius alchemist had relied on his madness to create a special Secret Method, seizing the championship in one fell swoop.
Now, after many years, the young man inheriting that genius alchemist's legacy brought this Secret Method back to light!
"Ascend, Spirit!!" Xiao Yan roared fiercely.
Whether it was Heavenly Flames or Spiritual Strength, Xiao Yan unleashed his most powerful state at this moment. The Poison Pill within Little Fairy Doctor's body shook incessantly, as if something was about to be born!
Instantly, the terrifying Ghostly Poison Flame erupted endlessly from Little Fairy Doctor's body. The originally dark green Ghostly Poison Flame now actually mixed with the gray of the Woeful Poison Body, as if something was taking shape!!
The Ghostly Poison Flame seemed to emerge from the Nine Nethers, appearing extremely terrifying. The protective barriers around the secret chamber were instantly corroded by the horrifying poisonous power. If Xiao Yan had not used the eight Heavenly Flames to protect the area, the entire Book Collection Hall would have been destroyed, not by the Pill Lightning, but by this poisonous power.
Boom boom boom!!!
Suddenly, without any warning, the entire Jia Nan Academy shook violently once!
"What happened?" All the students, elders, and instructors in Jia Nan Academy were stunned for a moment. They did not know what had happened inside to cause such a sudden earthquake.
And why was this earthquake so strange? It just shook once and then stopped!
"Quick, look at the thunderclouds in the sky! How come these thunderclouds seem to have changed!"
"What the hell? Weren't they colored just now? Why have the colors disappeared now!"
Everyone noticed only then that the vast thunderclouds in the sky had actually shrunk! The incredibly vast thunderclouds gradually and continuously contracted, shrinking until they were only the size of those for an ordinary tier 7 medicinal pill's Pill Lightning.
What was even more bizarre was that the originally immense sea of lightning within the thunderclouds, large enough to blast apart the entire Inner Academy, had also shrunk. It originally possessed several vibrant colors, with thick bolts of lightning dancing wildly within.
Now, the colors seemed to have faded away, disappearing completely!
All the colors had vanished!
"Why have the colors of the Pill Lightning faded? Did Cousin Xiao Yan fail in his alchemy?" Xiao Mei gazed at the Pill Lightning in the sky. She was knowledgeable enough now to understand that for a tier 8 medicinal pill, the more colors the attracted Pill Lightning had, the better.
Now that the thunderclouds had receded and the Pill Lightning's colors had faded, didn't that mean Xiao Yan had failed his refinement?
Thud!
Xin Lan's face changed drastically when she saw the Pill Lightning's colors fade. She looked as if she had seen a ghost, collapsing onto the ground in fright, her body trembling as she pointed at the Pill Lightning in the sky.
Xiao Yu's heart tightened when she noticed Xin Lan's strange reaction. She hurriedly asked, "Xin Lan, what's wrong? Did something happen?"
"Gray... gray Pill Lightning... That's not Pill Lightning... That's Heavenly Punishment!" Xin Lan shrieked. The once brilliantly radiant Pill Lightning seemed as if it had been drained of color, turning into a hazy, gloomy gray, incredibly dim!
"What Heavenly Punishment?!" Xiao Yu's heart tightened as she hurriedly asked.
"For medicinal pills, the stronger the Pill Lightning they experience, the higher their quality becomes. This is especially true for pills above tier 8; the more colored Pill Lightning they are baptized by, the more precious the medicinal pill becomes. Therefore, for medicinal pills, Pill Lightning is actually a kind of blessing from the heavens," Xin Lan explained.
"The Pill Lightning for a tier 7 medicinal pill is silver. For tier 8, the minimum is two colors. Starting from silver, it progresses through the seven colors of the rainbow, finally reaching white Pill Lightning, making a total of nine colors. If it can attract the black Black Demon Lightning, that indicates a tier 9 medicinal pill. These colored Pill Lightnings are also blessings from the heavens, proving that the medicinal pill has gained the heavens' acknowledgment."
"But..." Xin Lan couldn't help but recall a passage she had once seen in an ancient book belonging to her clan. Her body trembled slightly as she continued, "But, just as there are medicinal pills acknowledged by the heavens, there are naturally those that are not."
"When the colors of the Pill Lightning completely fade, turning into a hazy gray, and when the thunderclouds become gloomy as if the heavens are enraged, it means the medicinal pill refined by this alchemist violates heavenly principles. It fails to gain the heavens' acknowledgment, and having even incited their anger, Heavenly Punishment will descend."
Xin Lan's teeth chattered slightly as she said, "This kind of medicinal pill, unacknowledged by the heavens and summoning gray Pill Lightning, is a Forbidden Pill."
"Forbidden Pill!" Xiao Yu and the others' pupils dilated as they looked up at the thunderclouds in the sky, from which gray Pill Lightning could descend at any moment.
"This kind of gray Pill Lightning not only fails to raise the quality of the medicinal pill, but it will destroy the medicinal pill, and it will also... also kill the alchemist!"
!!!!!!!!!!!
At this moment, Su Qian and the other elders felt their scalps explode upon sensing the terrifying gray Pill Lightning!
They were not students; they would not judge its strength based on the thunderclouds shrinking. How could it have weakened? It had clearly grown much stronger!
Inside the Book Collection Hall, Elder Qian and Elder Bai were stupefied. They had thought the eruption of the Fallen Heart Flame was the limit of Xiao Yan's trouble-making, but he proved them wrong with his actions: his capacity for causing trouble knew no bounds!
Whoosh. Xiao Yan removed his alchemist robe and draped it over Little Fairy Doctor, who was still undergoing the final Spirit Ascension. A massive black ruler appeared in his hand with a thud.
He stepped in front of Little Fairy Doctor, gazing up at the raging vortex in the sky. Rubbing his nose, he gave a wry smile and said, "So, you don't play fair, do you?"