Chapter 645: Refining Pills Again

The next day.

In a secluded courtyard on the southern side of the market district, the gate was tightly shut and a Spiritual Array hovered in the sky above the courtyard. Its spiritual light surged as it isolated the prying eyes of the outside world.

Inside the courtyard, Xiao Ming stood looking up at the sky beyond as he smiled, "It seems these little rats don't dare to make a move yet."

Behind him, Qing Yanjing nodded and calmly said, "It is quite normal for them not to dare make a move. The market district is crowded and too many eyes are watching."

"Since they aren't making a move, let's start the alchemy," Xiao Ming said as he shook his head. Then, with a sweep of his right hand, numerous medicinal ingredients appeared in the air, densely filling the entire courtyard and diffusing a rich medicinal fragrance that instantly turned the secluded courtyard into an ocean of herbal scents.

At the forefront was a fruit no larger than a palm, dark yellow in color with tree-like patterns on its surface. It was the Withering Luxuriant Divine Fruit.

Xiao Ming extended his right hand and brought the fruit before him. In an instant, a fresh fragrance that belied the fruit's withered appearance enveloped him. This fragrance overpowered the scent of the other herbs and cleared his senses.

'Those thirty million Sovereign Spiritual Liquids were well spent,' Xiao Ming couldn't help but think as he sensed the medicinal power within the fragrance. Such high-grade medicinal ingredients were almost impossible to find in the Dou Qi Continent. Only in the vast and spiritually rich Great Thousand World could such divine fruits so readily emerge.

Xiao Ming's gaze intensified after his praise. He extended his left arm, and a faint rosy glow emanated from his body. In an instant, a continuous stream of multicolored flames burst forth from him and converged toward the sky above.

Now, after absorbing the Greenstone Azure Flame, the Emperor Flame had deepened in color and become more substantial. Its current power could only be described as terrifying. In Xiao Ming's view, even without cultivating a Sovereign Celestial Body, he could overpower a Heavenly Sovereign-level powerhouse just by relying on the Emperor Flame!

Of course, this was under the condition that his Spiritual Energy conversion was completely successful. Otherwise, lacking enough Spiritual Energy to combat a Heavenly Sovereign would be too great a disadvantage.

This was especially true for those Heavenly Sovereigns with Divine Pulses, whose Sovereign Celestial Bodies and so-called Spiritual Pulse Divine Abilities were extraordinarily powerful!

However, once he obtained the Stellar Origin Fruit in ten days, he would be able to restore his strength, and then, even those Heavenly Sovereigns of the same level would no longer pose a threat.

As the Emperor Flame writhed and shifted in the air, a huge and incomparable multicolored fire cauldron coalesced.

Gathering fire into a cauldron!

The cauldron was three meters in size and bore intricate fire patterns. These patterns seemed to sketch out dozens of differently shaped flames that, upon closer inspection, appeared to be actually burning.

The flickering flames appeared so vivid and lifelike.

Upon witnessing this scene, Qing Yanjing and Qing Tan retreated a few steps to maintain a safe distance.

The fire cauldron hovered in the air as Xiao Ming's right hand slowly revealed a wisp flame of the Emperor Flame that enveloped the Withering Luxuriant Divine Fruit within.

Swiftly, under Xiao Ming's control, the heat of the Emperor Flame caused the Withering Luxuriant Divine Fruit to rapidly melt into a fist-sized, crystalline golden liquid.

A small portion of this golden liquid was separated out and, with a swoosh, dropped into the multicolored cauldron floating in the air. Xiao Ming then casually took out a jade bottle and stored the remaining liquid.

The essence of the Withering Luxuriant Divine Fruit needed to refine the medicinal pill to heal Qing Yanjing's injuries wasn't much. The leftover was enough for Xiao Ming to refine a Spiritual Transformation Pill.

The golden essence that fell into the cauldron floated silently. Then, one by one, Xiao Ming introduced more herbs into the cauldron. Immediately, flames leaped up to engulf these herbs entirely.

The quality of these herbs was nothing compared to the Withering Luxuriant Divine Fruit. In a matter of moments, the Emperor Flame extracted the essence of the herbs with its terrifying power. Then, under Xiao Ming's meticulous control, the potency of these essences was maximized.

Typically, only a single drop of spiritual liquid could be extracted from each herb, and these drops, filled with highly precise Spiritual Energy fluctuations, shimmered like dazzling pearls as they emitted a soft glow.

Standing nearby, Qing Yanjing watched Xiao Ming's skilled alchemy techniques with a gleam of admiration in her eyes. Although she was not an alchemist herself, her background as a member of one of the Five Ancient Clans provided her with extensive knowledge. Alchemy was no simple matter; it required a greater investment in growth than her specialization as a Spiritual Array Master, which also contributed to the scarcity of high-ranking alchemists. Moreover, due to the high costs involved, many alchemists were extremely cautious when refining pills, fearing that the slightest oversight could waste the precious ingredients they had painstakingly gathered.

Yet, watching Xiao Ming's fluid and seemingly effortless movements, she saw none of that typical cautiousness. Instead, she found his process thoroughly pleasing to the eye.

This was not because the pill was of a low grade. A healing medicine fit for a Perfected Earth Sovereign could not possibly be of low grade. Since it wasn't the grade of the pill, the only other explanation was that Xiao Ming's alchemy skills far surpassed the grade of the medicinal pill he was refining!

'Xiao Ming must be at least a Spirit Grade Grandmaster Alchemist!' Qing Yanjing thought, a little shocked in her heart. A Spirit Grade Grandmaster Alchemist would be welcomed with high regard everywhere, even the Ancient Buddha Clan was no exception!

'Even if such a young Spirit Grade Grandmaster Alchemist were to unite with me, my clan wouldn't be too opposed, right?' Qing Yanjing muttered to herself. Suddenly realizing what she was thinking, a faint blush rose on her cheeks, and she felt a slight embarrassment. 'Oh, Yanjing, what are you thinking...'

Qing Tan remained composed. She was quite familiar with her Master's alchemy skills, having seen him refine several medicinal pills in front of her back in the Tian Xuan Continent. As such, she had a certain immunity to the spectacle that was unfolding before her.

…

Time flew swiftly during Xiao Ming's alchemy.

Between the setting of the sun and the rising of the moon, nine days passed.

In the courtyard, many extraordinary phenomena often occurred. The boiling Spiritual Energy made even the empty space tremble, and visions of dragons soaring and tigers leaping seemed to fill the air with an overwhelming divine might.

Although the Spiritual Array prevented these phenomena from reaching the outside world, the nearing completion of the medicinal pill drew massive amounts of Spiritual Energy from the surrounding area, which the array did not block.

This flow of Spiritual Energy spread throughout the entire market district. As a result, the entire area could sense the disturbance.

In both overt and covert ways, numerous prying eyes were directed towards the small courtyard. Many were wondering. When had another Master Alchemist arrived in the market district?

Only those who had secretly followed Xiao Ming after the auction knew that he and his companions were residing there.

However, they were also secretly surprised and wondered which one of the three was the Master Alchemist. The people of the Fire Spirit Clan, especially, were astounded. After much deliberation, Huo Mo concluded that the injured Earth Sovereign among them must be the Master Alchemist.

He was sure that the pretty boy who participated in the auction was just a front, and the items he purchased confirmed this. An alchemist bidding for a Divine Flame and the Withering Luxuriant Divine Fruit would use these for healing through alchemy. Perhaps this Perfected Earth Sovereign would regain her strength once the pill was successfully refined.

However, Huo Mo remained unflustered even after reaching this conclusion. He had investigated the trio's background. They were unknown outsiders with no local power to rely on. Given this, even if this Perfected Earth Sovereign fully restored her strength and was also a Master Alchemist, so what? Old Yan was a strong figure who had reached the Quasi-Heavenly Sovereign Stage!

He, Huo Mo, was confident of victory!