Time passed, and after a full half hour, Xiao Yan slowly sat up.
"No good, still too weak," he thought, feeling far less powerful than before. With a helpless sigh, Xiao Yan admitted his weakness.
"But once I devour this Azure Lion Demon Flame, this cultivation technique should improve somewhat," he thought to himself as he summoned the alchemy cauldron again.
With a snap of his fingers, the cyan flames rose once more. Xiao Yan casually gestured, and many medicinal ingredients flew out of his storage ring and into the cauldron.
"Still missing one demon core," he muttered, tossing in a white demon core.
The roaring cyan flames began fiercely refining the ingredients. After about half an hour, just as the pill was about to form, the cauldron suddenly made a "boom" sound.
"Am I so weak now that I can't even refine a fourth-grade pill?"
Wiping the sweat off his forehead, Xiao Yan felt his control over his Dou Qi was no longer as smooth as before due to the severe drop in both its quality and quantity.
"Good thing this is only a fourth-grade pill," he said, taking a deep breath to calm himself. He then carefully circulated his Dou Qi a few times, making sure his control was nearly restored before reigniting the flames.
The fourth-grade ingredients: Ice attribute level-four beast demon core, jade mushroom, vitality grass, evergreen flower…
Dozens of medicinal materials quickly purified under the roasting Azure Lion Demon Flame, some turning to powder, some turning into crystal-clear liquid. The central demon core was burned down into a cluster of ice attribute energy.
"Time for the final step," Xiao Yan focused his mind as the purified ingredients were methodically merged into the central ice energy cluster.
A swirl of colors mixed, quickly turning the originally clear ice energy into a thick paste. But as the flames slowly roasted it, the paste soon hardened into a snowy white, fist-sized mass.
Next was pill condensing. Motionless, Xiao Yan used his powerful soul force to control the unstable Dou Qi inside him.
The cyan flames inside the cauldron continued to blaze higher, eventually forming the shape of a lion's head, enclosing the pill's embryonic form in its mouth.
About half an hour later, a gleam flashed in Xiao Yan's eyes. The lion head formed by cyan flames suddenly shrank, wrapping the pill tightly inside.
Moments later, a crystal-clear snowy white pill appeared in the cauldron.
A fourth-grade pill: Ice Heart Vein Protecting Pill!
This was an essential medicine for refining demon flames.
After finishing the pill, Xiao Yan wiped the sweat off his brow again.
Back in the day, he could have refined ten of these pills in a row without feeling this exhausted.
"I have to hurry and devour this beast flame." He swallowed a Six-Flavor Earth Emperor Pill, then meditated for half an hour to ensure full recovery.
Next up: devouring the beast flame!
A flicker of anticipation shone in Xiao Yan's eyes. He had gone through great lengths to learn this technique from Teacher Yao Chen, even sacrificing levels to become weaker, all for this moment.
If he could successfully devour the foreign flame, everything would be worth it. And if he could obtain the inheritance of the ancient Tuoshe Emperor, what would it matter?
"Glug." Xiao Yan swallowed the Ice Heart Vein Protecting Pill.
As soon as the pill entered his mouth, it melted into a snowy white liquid that flowed down his throat.
The sensation was like drinking an ice-cold beer on a 38.6°C summer day, causing a shiver to run through him.
"Awesome!" he exhaled a breath of cold air. The surface of his meridians had formed a thin crystal layer.
Now it was time to devour the Azure Lion Demon Flame!
Xiao Yan closed his eyes and looked inward. Inside, his vast Dou Qi sea circled somewhat shakily. Within the sea was a cluster of cyan flames, forming a small winged lion that swam around.
"Stop playing around." With a thought, Xiao Yan pulled the little lion out of the Dou Qi sea.
"Awooo!" The little lion struggled a bit, but was instantly shattered by Xiao Yan's soul power into a pile of cyan flames, which were then wrapped in Dou Qi into a long thin fiery thread that entered the "Burning Technique" meridian pathway.
As the cyan flames entered his meridians, Xiao Yan felt a sharp burning pain—but in reality, the Azure Lion Demon Flame did no real harm to him.
After all, this beast flame had been refined as his core beast flame since he was ten years old, and his Crimson Flame Demon Body itself was tempered by the Azure Lion Demon Flame. His resistance was terrifying.
Plus, even weakened, Xiao Yan was still a Star Dou Emperor with powerful Dou Qi; without the Ice Heart Vein Protecting Pill, there would still be no real danger.
But Xiao Yan's nature was all or nothing. Since he decided to refine this beast flame, he was going all in.
Of course, the benefit of the pill was soon obvious—it greatly reduced the burning pain caused by the Azure Lion Demon Flame.
The original level seven or eight pain dropped directly to levels three or four. Though still uncomfortable, it was bearable.
As his Dou Qi wrapped the Azure Lion Demon Flame and circulated in the "Burning Technique" meridian, Xiao Yan noticed something strange: a thread of Dou Qi and a thread of the Azure Lion Demon Flame began to merge!
No, not just merge—more like the Azure Lion Demon Flame was being gradually devoured by the Dou Qi of the "Burning Technique!"
"Holy crap, this is awesome!" Xiao Yan felt a surge of joy, continuing to control his Dou Qi to envelop the Azure Lion Demon Flame and push it forward.
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Only now could he be sure: this so-called "Burning Technique" cultivation method truly had miraculous evolutionary effects!
After a full cycle of circulation, the two were nearly completely fused. The originally pale yellow Dou Qi had been dyed with a faint demonic cyan.
On the surface of the cyan Dou Qi, faint cyan flames flickered—but these flames no longer harmed the meridians!
"My Dou Qi has finally become a bit tougher, but it's still not strong enough." Xiao Yan kept his eyes closed, sensing the growing vigor of his Dou Qi.
"It's evolved from low-level Yellow Stage to high-level Yellow Stage." He sighed softly.
Beast flames were good, but they still lagged far behind foreign flames.
Even the ninth-rank beast flames paled in comparison to the bottom-tier foreign flame Xuan Huang Flame. Only by fusing massive quantities of beast flames into the Ten Thousand Beast Spirit Flame could one slightly suppress it.
Looks like next, I'll have to head to the northwest continent to hunt for foreign flames. Just the Azure Lotus Earth Flame and the Falling Heart Flame alone will be enough to restore me to the Ground Stage, maybe even help me break through the Dou Sect!
Besides, my female leads should already be waiting for me.
Thinking of the many beauties on the northwest continent, Xiao Yan felt his heart burn and couldn't help but smile.
"Heh heh!"
Three days later.
"Teacher, I'm leaving." Xiao Yan glanced at the messy-haired Yao Chen in front of him, suddenly feeling a pang of pity. The old man was already a bit crazy, having pushed himself toward a half-Saint breakthrough.
"Leaving?" Yao Chen shook his disheveled hair and frowned. "Where are you going? You are a once-in-a-century alchemy prodigy, and I am the continent's top alchemist!
You are destined to be forged by me into the most brilliant alchemist of the Dou Qi continent!!"
(End of Chapter)
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