Yang Fan was already sweating profusely...
He hadn't expected that a small Sixth-Tier Green Nether Longevity Pill would be so difficult.
Refining all night... no results!
Normally, he could summarize experience from failures, but this time what he accumulated was only frustration.
Because no matter how he tried to refine it, he couldn't enter the pill condensation process.
This meant he still had a long way to go before successfully refining the Green Nether Longevity Pill.
Was it him?
Logically, his soul realm had already entered the High Mortal State, and his soul power fully met the conditions for refining Sixth-Tier pills.
But he just couldn't find the rhythm he had when refining pills before.
At this moment...
The air in the room twisted slightly.
Yao Lao floated lightly in mid-air, stretching his waist and letting out a long yawn.
"How's it going?"
Yao Lao lazily glanced at the pill formula Yang Fan had placed on the table, then looked at the situation inside the Crimson Flame Furnace.
Instantly revitalized!
"Damn brat."
"Who told you to refine this thing?"
After all, Yao Lao had been inseparable from Yang Fan for over ten years. After speaking, he already understood his beloved disciple's intentions.
"Silly boy!"
"Do you know why some pills of the same grade require demonic cores and extremely precious medicinal materials, while others only need ordinary herbs?"
Yang Fan pondered briefly...
"Different effects!"
"Pills that use demonic cores usually provide greater improvement for cultivators."
Yao Lao nodded slightly at this explanation.
"Right... and also not right!"
"The Spirit Ascension Pill formula on the table is for level advancement, and the Green Nether Longevity Pill formula is for extending lifespan. You can't say which of these two pills provides greater improvement for cultivators."
"The Spirit Ascension Pill uses, besides the demonic core, sixth-order magical beast essence blood. In comparison, the medicinal materials for the Green Nether Longevity Pill seem too ordinary."
"Yet they are both Sixth-Tier pills!"
At this point, Yang Fan suddenly realized.
It was because of refining difficulty!
Making delicious food from high-end ingredients was very simple, but making delicious food from everyday things that people would eat was not so simple.
"Understand now?"
Yao Lao could tell from Yang Fan's enlightened expression that he understood.
"So..."
"Let's put this Green Nether Longevity Pill refining aside for now. This belongs to advanced Sixth-Tier pills and isn't suitable for you yet."
Yao Lao didn't take back the pill formula.
In his eyes, everything he had now could be shared with Yang Fan, including his own soul.
"This Spirit Ascension Pill you chose is good."
"After refining it, you can immediately become an eight-star Dou Ling."
Yao Lao's intention was very clear.
Just refine this!
Use the soul bone to P2W.
Yang Fan picked up the Spirit Ascension Pill formula and looked over the required medicinal materials again.
Pressure maxed out!
After all, refining the Spirit Ascension Pill required him to take out a hundred-thousand-year soul bone.
Such a hundred-thousand-year soul bone, if directly absorbed, could at least raise two levels and grant two powerful skills.
But…
The attributes of the hundred-thousand-year Soft Bone Rabbit soul bone weren't suitable for Soul Breaking Spear soul masters.
More importantly, a soul master's body ultimately only had six positions that could absorb soul bones.
Xiao Wu's was a left arm soul bone, which conflicted with the Titan Giant Ape soul bone he had already absorbed.
So the only use for such a precious hundred-thousand-year soul bone was pill refining.
This was a good thing!
Ordinary soul masters could only enjoy the blessing of six soul bones in their lifetime, but he could unlimitedly utilize soul bones through the refining method.
While thinking…
Yang Fan had already prepared all the materials for refining the Spirit Ascension Pill.
Blood Python Branch, Clear Heart Fruit, Sky Azure Bull Python essence blood...
Ignite fire, preheat!
A two-colored Heavenly Flame, Ice-Fire Dragon Flame, rose from Yang Fan's palm.
The success probability of pill refining was affected not only by the quality of the pill furnace but also by the flame.
Yang Fan had calculated before…
Using Heavenly Flames to refine Fifth-Tier pills could increase the probability by at least twenty percent.
However, this probability was provided by the Ice-Fire Dragon Flame.
After multiple attempts, he found that the Hellfire, with its overly strong killing aura, wasn't suitable for refining pills.
At this moment…
Yang Fan had already successively put all the medicinal materials for refining the Spirit Ascension Pill into the Crimson Flame Furnace.
What remained was only the pink hundred-thousand-year soul bone in his hand.
"Farewell, rabbit!"
The remaining soul bone of Xiao Wu had already exerted its full value.
It made indelible contributions to the deaths of the Sky Azure Bull Python and Titan Giant Ape.
And now…
This was the final burning of Xiao Wu soul bone's value.
Yang Fan seized the pill refining opportunity and threw the hundred-thousand-year soul bone into the Crimson Flame Furnace.
Perhaps because he had already failed many times, even throwing a hundred-thousand-year soul bone into the pill furnace at this moment didn't cause too much fluctuation in his heart.
Heart as still as water!
Just like when he refined ordinary pills.
"Focus your mind!"
"You now need to divert part of your soul power to control this hundred-thousand-year soul bone."
"This is because soul bones produced by high-quality spirit beasts will hide the emotions the beast had in life."
"This hostility can hide in the soul bone for many years, and once burned by fierce flames, it will explode."
Yao Lao finally made a move.
If it were an ordinary pill failure, that would be fine, but if a hundred-thousand-year soul bone shattered, he couldn't afford it either.
Yang Fan nodded while taking time out.
Fortunately, there was Yao Lao!
If Yao Lao hadn't reminded him at this moment, he might have foolishly refined it like before.
...
Time passed minute by minute…
Yang Fan had thought that what he accumulated when refining the Green Nether Longevity Pill was only frustration.
But he was wrong!
The accumulation of experience had always been subtle.
When he truly began refining the Spirit Ascension Pill, he discovered that the failures with the Green Nether Longevity Pill had already paved the way for him.
"Very good!"
"Keep it up like this."
"We've now passed the most difficult step of core fusion. Next, we just need to extract the essence from several medicinal materials..."
With Yao Lao guiding step by step beside him, Yang Fan felt he could completely act as a machine.
The refining process was surprisingly smooth!
...
After who knew how much time had passed...
The pill refining finally came to the last process: pill condensation.
This was the final process, and also the most important one.
As long as the pill condensation succeeded, it meant the pill refining was successful.
"Don't deliberately control it!"
"Naturally condensed pills will only have better effects for cultivators."
Instantly…
A powerful energy broke through the furnace and rushed out of the entire room.
Pill condensation complete!
Yang Fan removed the lid above the pill furnace, and in an instant, dense pill qi rushed toward him.
Just smelling this specially fragrant aroma already made Yang Fan feel the Dou Qi mass in his body surging.
"Sixth-Tier Alchemist?"
Yang Fan looked at the pill in his palm—brown as the main color, inlaid with pink special patterns.
A smile appeared on his face!
"Dream on?"
"Wait until you can independently complete the refining of Sixth-Tier pills before calling yourself a Sixth-Tier Alchemist."
Yao Lao admitted Yang Fan had extraordinary talent, but he really couldn't be considered a Sixth-Tier Alchemist yet.
A normal Sixth-Tier Alchemist could achieve at least a fifty percent success rate when refining Sixth-Tier pills.
Yang Fan obviously hadn't reached that yet!
What he needed to do was practice more with Sixth-Tier pills.
"Half-step Sixth-Tier!"
Yang Fan laughed heartily, very satisfied with this self-appointed title.
What was the next step after successfully refining the pill?
Of course, consuming it!
Yang Fan directly stuffed the Sixth-Tier Spirit Ascension Pill into his mouth while he was still energetic.
Instantly…
He felt a warm current explode from his mouth, then flow down his throat.
The Dou Qi mass in his body, sensing this warm current, began to stir restlessly.
Like a volcanic eruption!
Dou Qi flowed through his body at a nearly terrifying speed under the stimulation of the Spirit Ascension Pill.
The Dou Qi mass was also being transformed at a speed perceptible to the body.
Refining pills is hard, consuming pills is easy!
In just about an hour, Yang Fan had completely melted the effects of the Sixth-Tier Spirit Ascension Pill.
"Eh... hey!"
"Master!"
"I... I'm a f*cking nine-star Dou Ling."
Yang Fan could hardly believe his eyes, but he had indeed become a nine-star Dou Ling.
Wasn't this an unexpected surprise?!
However…
Yao Lao, who had experienced great storms and waves, appeared exceptionally calm at this moment.
"That's normal!"
"You were already seven-star Dou Ling for several months, and this time you used a hundred-thousand-year soul bone to refine the Spirit Ascension Pill..."
Even so!
For Yang Fan, this was still quite a surprise.
This meant he was already at the doorstep of Dou Qi forming wings.
"Not bad!"
"You'll soon become a Dou Wang."
"But wanting to advance from Dou Ling to Dou Wang isn't as easy as you imagine."
Yao Lao saw through Yang Fan's current inner thoughts.
Dou Wang!
This was the most important watershed in the entire Dou Shi cultivation system.
Like Soul Saint in the soul master cultivation system, but even more important than Soul Saint.
"Master... tell me more!"
Yang Fan really enjoyed listening to Yao Lao tell him those little-known things about Dou Shi cultivation.
This wasn't just interesting stories, but also crucial experience for his cultivation.
"Actually, there's nothing much to say."
"It's actually just like when you condensed your Dou Qi vortex before. Condensing the Dou Qi vortex was becoming a true Dou Shi, while advancing to Dou Wang is the first step to becoming a powerful expert."
"On the Dou Qi Continent, many Dou Shi can never soar in the high sky in their lifetime."
"Pills can indeed increase your probability of advancing to Dou Wang, but equally important is that you need to find that doorstep opportunity yourself."
Yao Lao temporarily stopped here.
After all, although he was only one step away from Dou Wang, that step would take at least several months to kick out.
"Dou Qi forming wings, Dou Qi forming wings..."
Yang Fan thought about how he would soon soar in the sky above the Douluo Continent.
An inexplicable excitement had already risen in his heart!
This excitement was even greater than when he became a Soul Douluo.
After all, becoming a Soul Douluo didn't fucking let him fly, but becoming a Dou Wang would.
After the excitement…
Yang Fan only then realized his stomach had started cursing at some point.
He opened the door...
The innkeeper, staff, and soul masters staying here all stared in his direction.
Obviously!
The pill aroma that burst out after pill condensation had attracted the attention of these fellow travelers, but because they didn't understand the situation inside, they didn't dare to go in and investigate.
"Is everything alright?"
The one who walked over was precisely Dean Bing from Sky Water Academy.
The surrounding soul masters didn't dare to make a move also because of Sky Water Academy.
Although Sky Water Academy wasn't a first-rate power, it was still somewhat famous on the Douluo Continent.
Especially not long after the Continental Advanced Spirit Master Academy Elite Tournament ended, when this wave of popularity hadn't completely passed.
Seeing that Sky Water Academy was watching from outside, naturally no one wanted to be the first to stick their neck out.
"Thank you for your concern, senior."
"I'm fine!"
Dean Bing didn't ask anything more upon seeing this.
Her usual teaching philosophy for students was to see less and ask less, so one could live longer on the Douluo Continent.
Although the other soul masters were curious, not a single one came forward to investigate.
The outer town of the spirit beast forest was an extremely sensitive place. The philosophy of "not daring to cause trouble is mediocrity" simply didn't work here.
The old hands who had been in the outer towns for years first needed to preserve their lives.
...
On the other side.
Yang Fan had just sat down and asked the innkeeper for some hot food to fill his stomach when Shui Yue'er from Sky Water Academy quietly sat beside him.
"Boss!"
"Add another serving of beef for my old classmate."
"My treat."
Shui Yue'er stared intently at Yang Fan, lightning seeming to burst from her eyes.
Suddenly—!
She leaned forward, moving close to Yang Fan's body, and whispered: "Were you refining pills inside just now?"
When the pill aroma burst out earlier, Dean Bing had guessed this.
So... she wanted to verify it!
"Yeah."
Nothing that couldn't be admitted.
The entire Douluo Continent knew the Breaking Clan was in the pill refining business.
"Impressive!"
"I didn't expect you not only have strength beyond your peers, but also such high pill refining skills."
An expression of envy appeared on Shui Yue'er's face.
Truly envious!
If not for the help of sisters like Shui Bing'er, her cultivation wouldn't even reach the mediocre level among her peers.
"You guys haven't left yet?"
"There's a blizzard!"
Their Dean Bing had a rule: absolutely do not enter the Frozen Forest during blizzard weather.
She didn't quite understand before.
But after hearing Dean Bing tell Yang Fan about the Bone Spirit Fruit yesterday, she had some guesses.
"Hey—"
"How about I be your girlfriend?"
"I'm very suitable!"
Yang Fan's expression suddenly became complex, his brain starting to spin rapidly.
Not sincere at all!
If he said "okay" at this moment, he would definitely be teased on the spot by Shui Yue'er.
"You want me to take you into the Frozen Forest to hunt for soul rings, right."
"Isn't this what a boyfriend should do?"
As expected!
His wit immediately saw through Shui Yue'er's scheme.
"How many people have you said this to?"
"That's very mean of you to say. I'm very faithful."
Yang Fan smiled.
The night before pill refining, she had said she would come to his room to attend to his bed, making him wait for over half an hour.
"Forget it."
"I know there's no chance between us."
"But I still want to remind you—the Extreme North is very dangerous. No soul master dares to step into that place."
When Shui Yue'er said the last sentence, she was extremely serious.
For those soul masters who hadn't come to the Frozen Forest, perhaps there was no concept, but for people like them, that place was a forbidden zone for humans.
However…
After one second of seriousness, Shui Yue'er became playful again.
"I'll tell you another secret... our big sister has always had a crush on you."
Yang Fan didn't know if Shui Yue'er was here to promote herself or to find a mate for Shui Bing'er.
Anyway, he was numb!
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