"What did you say!?" Xiao Yan suddenly grabbed Xiao Ting's wrist, his eyes burning with anticipation.
"You discovered a Heavenly Flame?" Yao Lao asked in disbelief. "What Heavenly Flame? What rank on the Heavenly Flame Ranking? How did you find it?"
Three questions in a row showed how unsettled Yao Lao was inside.
This was a Heavenly Flame!
He, Yao Chen, at his peak was a peak Dou Venerate and an eighth-tier alchemist with many friends. Yet in his entire life, he had only ever discovered one Bone Chilling Flame. Why hadn't he let Han Feng cultivate the Flame Mantra back then? Because with him as teacher and foster father, and with Han Feng's cultivation and alchemist talent trained to the top, as long as he cultivated step by step, the worst outcome was becoming a Dou Venerate with a chance to become a Dou Saint. There was no need to cripple his own foundation and switch to the Flame Mantra, which required enormous effort, luck in collecting Heavenly Flames, and carried huge risks to grow stronger by devouring them. Why was he letting Xiao Yan cultivate the Flame Mantra now? Because he, Yao Lao, was left with only a soul and needed three Heavenly Flames to revive himself. And Xiao Yan had missed his golden development period. To catch up from behind, he needed to take an alternative path and put in even more effort to have any chance of winning the three-year agreement.
In short, whether it was Yao Chen or Xiao Yan, they were both gambling—and they had no choice but to gamble. They had reasons they had to gamble. But being willing to gamble didn't mean they lacked reason. The objective fact that Heavenly Flames were extremely rare and hard to find was right there. Yet they had only just told Xiao Ting about the Flame Mantra, and a few days later he had brought back accurate information.
"It was also thanks to good luck." Xiao Ting grinned and recounted the events in detail. "The Heavenly Flame I discovered is the Green Lotus Core Flame, ranked 19th on the Heavenly Flame Ranking."
"It was located in the lava world beneath the desert near Rock Desert City, where Big Brother and Second Brother established their mercenary group."
"Xun Er has the Gold Emperor Incinerating Heavenly Flame in her body and sensed the Heavenly Flame's aura."
"We snuck into the lava world and looked around—and there it was."
Master and disciple: "..."
They didn't know whether to say Xiao Ting had good luck or that the two of them had good luck.
"The Green Lotus Core Flame is excellent." Yao Lao rubbed his hands together and let out a hearty laugh. "With Xiao Yan's current strength, a too-powerful Heavenly Flame would be impossible for him to subdue and refine anyway."
"The Green Lotus Core Flame is divided into the Green Lotus and the Earth Core Flame. As long as we make sufficient preparations in advance, this old man will help suppress the Heavenly Flame. Xiao Yan can just sit on the Green Lotus and refine it."
"After successful refinement, the Flame Mantra's tier should increase significantly, and Xiao Yan's strength will skyrocket."
Xiao Yan's blood boiled with excitement. He immediately said, "Teacher, then let's set off right away."
"No need to rush!" Yao Lao raised his hand and patted Xiao Yan's head. "At the very least, reach the late Dou Practitioner stage first. Also prepare the pills in advance so your Battle Qi consumption is barely sufficient."
"Besides that, we still need to refine the Snow Lotus Pill, find the Acceptance Soul, and obtain the Ice Spirit Cold Fountain..."
Yao Lao hadn't expected a Heavenly Flame to be waiting for Xiao Yan to refine so soon. None of the preliminary preparations had been done.
"These problems aren't big." Xiao Ting smiled. "Once Brother Yan and I both become first-tier alchemists, the family will definitely support us strongly. Acquiring some ordinary herbs won't be an issue."
"I can ask Xun Er to help get the Acceptance Soul. Then Brother Yan, you'll owe him a favor. I'll only be responsible for asking on your behalf."
"As for the Ice Spirit Cold Fountain, I already got it."
"You got it!?" Master and disciple were shocked once again.
"It's like this..." Xiao Ting smiled as he explained how he had encountered Queen Medusa, made a deal with her, and conveniently asked for some Ice Spirit Cold Fountain.
"So in other words, in just a few days out, you not only found a mature Heavenly Flame but also tricked a peak Dou Emperor into being your bodyguard and thug, and even got her to give you Ice Spirit Cold Fountain."
Xiao Yan confirmed in disbelief. Even the protagonists in storybooks didn't have it this smooth and satisfying, right?
"Just luck, just luck." Xiao Ting smiled calmly.
Master and disciple: "..."
We also want to get lucky once.
"Do you know how punchable you look right now?" Xiao Yan raised his hand and lightly punched Xiao Ting in the chest.
"I'm just telling the truth." Xiao Ting shrugged helplessly. "Before Queen Medusa comes to find me, I'll have to stay in the family the whole time."
"Perfect. For the next period of time, I'll learn alchemy together with you and Elder Yao Lao."
"Speaking of alchemy, have you been studying the books properly lately?" Yao Lao stroked his beard. "Xiao Yan has been working very hard. He may not match you in cultivation talent, but alchemy is another story."
"We can't let the younger brother be better at everything, right?" Xiao Yan said seriously. "In the future, Xiao Ting will handle things outside, and I'll stay in the rear refining pills and providing support."
Xiao Ting's gaze suddenly became mysterious as he said, "Elder Yao, why don't you test me?"
…
Bang!
A quarter of an hour later. Xiao Yan plopped down onto a stool, looking utterly drained. "How did it turn out like this?"
"It really is a bit discouraging." Yao Lao didn't know how to comfort his closed-door disciple either. Should he also officially take Xiao Ting as a disciple and let him become the closed-door disciple?
Xiao Ting's mastery of knowledge and basic theory was already above Xiao Yan's. Yao Lao had told Xiao Yan that in another ten days he could attempt his first pill refinement. But Xiao Ting could start attempting it right now.
"Haha, I just have a slightly better grasp of theoretical knowledge. In actual practice later on, I definitely won't be able to compare with you, Brother Yan." Xiao Ting comforted Xiao Yan with a sincere face. "After all, you have innate dual fire-wood attributes, while I rely on the thunder-fire familiarity inside my body. I barely meet the standard for refining pills."
"Every time I refine a pill I have to split my attention to isolate the thunder-attribute power. It's quite troublesome. I'm afraid I won't go far."
"Thanks. I feel comforted again." What Xiao Ting said was true, but Xiao Yan somehow felt the result wouldn't turn out as he wished.
"Tonight this old man will first let you perform your first pill refinement. Let's see if you can successfully refine pills using that flame of yours and become an alchemist." Yao Lao's eyes were filled with curiosity.
…
[Discovered that my foundational knowledge is more solid. Brother Yan is discouraged.]
[Tonight I will begin my first practical session. I'll soon know whether I can use the Purple Beast Flame to refine pills and become an alchemist.]
…
After adjusting his state, Xiao Ting entered a secret room, put on the Bone Flame Ring, and began refining pills. One hour later, he looked at the formed, decent-quality crimson-red liquid in the medicinal cauldron before him and smiled.
…
[Worth recording good news: The Purple Beast Flame can be used to refine pills.]
[My soul power is powerful. I succeeded on my first attempt at pill refinement, and the quality is not bad.]
[The expression on Elder Yao's face shows that even he finds my results unbelievable. That's good.]
…
"You..." Yao Lao didn't even know how to evaluate Xiao Ting anymore. There was actually such a monster in this world, and he had encountered him.
"Looks like this kid performed pretty well."
Xiao Ting smiled. "I should be able to compare with some of the alchemy geniuses from the Central Plains, right?"
If Yao Lao still had a physical body, his old face would definitely have turned red: "..."
Compare?
In the future, those Central Plains geniuses would probably all live in your shadow, just like Xiao Yan. This is not human!
Xiao Ting laughed inwardly and wrote the matter into his Journal.
…
[Brother Yan took eight years to become an eighth-tier alchemist. With the Journal, I'll steadily aim for five years.]
[If I perform too brilliantly, I'll have to worry about being targeted by that little Witch Cao Ying.] [She might hug my thigh and beg to become my alchemy maid.]
[Since she's a genius, I'll reluctantly agree at that time.]
[Being too outstanding just brings these kinds of troubles.]
…
The girls: "..."
This guy is getting more and more narcissistic. Especially in his Journal—he doesn't even bother acting.
…
Cao Ying: ! Am I that superficial, that easily defeated, or that willing to lower myself?
…
[If she really does that, then I'll train her to defeat Yao Clan's Yao Ling.]
[At that time, the expressions on the faces of everyone in the Yao Clan—an Ancient Clan—will definitely be very interesting.]
…
Cao Ying: If you put it that way, I might be able to accept it. But who is Yao Ling!?
…
PS: Support me and read advanced chapters at patreon.com/AbsoluteCode