One month later.
At the Broken Stone Plaza, Lin Yuan sat cross-legged upon a stone platform in the sky, his eyes firmly locked onto the interior of the medicinal cauldron.
After nine days of fusion, a round, egg-sized sphere was now suspended within the flames rising from the Ten Thousand Beasts Cauldron.
This round sphere was the embryonic form of the Transformation Pill, formed from the fused essence of eighty-eight different medicinal ingredients.
The Transformation Pill was a high-grade Seventh-Grade medicinal pill. As one of the rarest pills in the magical beast world, it was slightly inferior to the Beginning Venerable Pill in rank, but in terms of difficulty of refinement, it was in no way inferior.
Now that the embryonic pill had taken shape, the most difficult stage of ordinary pill refinement had already passed. Yet Lin Yuan did not dare relax in the slightest.
On the contrary, compared with his usual state, his expression was even more solemn, and his mind was even more focused.
Because for Zi Yan, he was about to accomplish something even more difficult: raising the pill's rank.
The three stages of alchemy were extraction, fusion, and nourishment.
Extraction and fusion were closely related to the pill formula. Widely circulated pill formulas had all been refined through countless improvements. Especially for a renowned pill like the Transformation Pill, generations of masters had already perfected its formula to the utmost degree.
Even Lin Yuan could not improve these two stages within a short period of time.
For him, only the nourishment stage was something he could truly exert his abilities upon. It was also the field in which he possessed an advantage thanks to his Heavenly Flames and Spirit Realm soul.
After one's alchemy reached the Eighth-Grade, the upper and lower limits of the nourishment stage became extremely vast because of differences in spiritual energy and flame quality.
Even when refining the same Eighth-Grade pill, different alchemists could produce vastly different-colored pill lightning, resulting in enormous differences in pill quality.
For an Eighth-Grade alchemist, the standard of pill nourishment was one of the factors that best reflected their alchemical attainments.
Lin Yuan's eyes suddenly sharpened.
As his hand seals changed, his face abruptly flushed red. Immediately afterward, he spat out a mouthful of blood, which shot directly into the medicinal cauldron.
"Blood Guidance: Spirit Infusion!"
With a low shout, the seals in Lin Yuan's hands suddenly changed.
The azure flames inside the cauldron unexpectedly took on a faint blood-red hue. As they swirled and flowed, they transformed into a flame lotus interwoven with azure and crimson, enveloping the embryonic Transformation Pill within.
At the center of the lotus, a blood-colored "mist" lingered around the embryonic pill. A large amount of spiritual energy gathered toward it and, using the blood mist as a medium, fused into the pill.
Under the tempering of the Heavenly Flame and the nourishment of spiritual energy, the embryonic pill gradually became more and more rounded.
At the same time, an energy fluctuation that even Lin Yuan found astonishing began to take shape. As time passed, this fluctuation gradually surpassed what an ordinary seventh-tier pill should possess.
"Everything is going smoothly. There's hope!"
Seeing this, Lin Yuan felt a surge of joy in his heart, and his confidence in raising the Transformation Pill to the Eighth-Grade grew stronger.
He cast aside all distracting thoughts and firmly maintained his state of mind.
Immediately afterward, the seals in Lin Yuan's hands changed once more. His immense soul power surged out from between his brows and poured entirely into the Ten Thousand Beasts Cauldron, precisely controlling everything within it while carefully nourishing the gradually forming medicinal pill.
At the edge of the Broken Stone Plaza stood a pavilion.
Xiao Yixian cultivated the Heavenly Heart Soul Art while remaining vigilant of the surrounding area and protecting Lin Yuan.
The area beneath the stone platform was exceptionally quiet.
Zi Yan sat on the steps, stuffing pills into her mouth while glaring fiercely at anyone who passed by. In front of her stood a huge sign bearing several large words:
"Keep quiet, or get beaten up."
Enticed by the Transformation Pill, the normally restless Zi Yan was actually taking her duty of protecting Lin Yuan seriously.
Time passed quickly.
In the blink of an eye, five days had gone by.
As time passed, more and more gazes within the Inner Academy gathered toward Lin Yuan.
This time, the amount of time Lin Yuan spent refining the pill was actually even longer than when he had refined the peak Seventh-Grade Beginning Venerable Pill.
Although there were exceptions, in most circumstances, the amount of time an individual spent refining a pill could, to a certain extent, reflect the pill's rank.
Therefore, everyone had already formed a vague guess in their hearts.
And this guess caused everyone, including Elder Huo, to have increasingly fervent expressions as they waited to witness a historic moment for Jia Nan Academy!
On the stone platform.
At a certain moment, Lin Yuan, who had been sitting cross-legged, finally slowly opened his eyes and rose to his feet.
Instantly, countless gazes seemed to teleport toward him.
At this moment, his refined face appeared somewhat pale. Yet the corners of his mouth were slightly raised, and his eyes were filled with confidence.
Lin Yuan paid no attention to everyone's gazes. His eyes remained firmly fixed on the Ten Thousand Beasts Cauldron.
After taking a deep breath, he gently waved his sleeve.
"Rise!"
"Clang!"
A metallic sound suddenly swept out from within the cauldron.
Although the Ten Thousand Beasts Cauldron blocked it, an enormous energy fluctuation still broke through and spread outward. Powerful waves of energy swept across the surroundings.
In the next instant, under countless shocked gazes, a gigantic azure pillar of light suddenly shot out from the Ten Thousand Beasts Cauldron and soared straight into the sky!
The enormous pillar of light could be clearly seen within a radius of a hundred miles.
Within the pillar of light, the powerful energy fluctuation that faintly permeated the surroundings caused all the elders of the Inner Academy to feel astonished, while the students trembled in fear.
On a mountain peak in the rear mountains of the Inner Academy.
"This fluctuation an Eighth-Grade pill has been born!"
The figure of Yao Lao floated out from the Bone Flame Ring. With a trace of astonishment, he looked toward the pillar of light.
"Lin Yuan's alchemy has indeed entered the Eighth-Grade. Now, we just have to see how many colors of pill lightning he can summon."
"Eighth-Grade?"
Xiao Yan murmured, his gaze fixed firmly on the end of the pillar of light.
At the distant sky above the end of the pillar, strange mist rapidly gathered.
After a while, it condensed into enormous thunderclouds, and a heavy pressure poured downward!
At this moment, the students of the Inner Academy had a vague realization.
Today's pill lightning was different from usual. They might be about to witness something extraordinary.
Thus, everyone, especially the alchemists of Jia Nan Academy, looked toward Lin Yuan on the stone platform with faintly reverent expressions.
They looked at the medicinal cauldron before him and at the rolling thunderclouds in the sky.
Under everyone's gaze, the thunderclouds churned.
Then, two colors, azure and silver, slowly emerged!
"Azure and silver? Why are these thunderclouds so strange? They actually have two colors!"
"Huh? Pill lightning can have multiple colors too?"
"That's because you're ignorant. My family is from the Central Plains, so I've heard the elders of my clan talk about this before. Multicolored thunderclouds are a sign of an Eighth-Grade medicinal pill! My heavens, Elder Lin Yuan really is an Eighth-Grade alchemist? I'm not dreaming, am I?"
"To have the fortune of witnessing an Eighth-Grade medicinal pill being born with my own eyes. Choosing to study at Jia Nan Academy was truly the right decision!"
As they stared at the colors of the thunderclouds, exclamations of astonishment immediately erupted from every corner of Jia Nan Academy. From time to time, the sound of people drawing in sharp breaths could be heard.
"Good heavens, it's actually a two-colored thundercloud! An Eighth-Grade medicinal pill!"
Elder Bai Lie's astonished voice drifted faintly through the air.
A gray shadow flashed, and the figures of the Qian Mu and Bai Lie Elders suddenly appeared beside Su Qian, Elder Huo, and Hu Gan.
"Elders, you came too?"
Seeing the astonished expressions on the two elders' faces, Su Qian chuckled, his mood becoming even more pleasant.
"How could I not come for something this significant?"
Qian Mu shook his head and spoke solemnly. Looking at the dense thunderclouds that obscured the sky, he sighed with emotion.
"Two-colored pill lightning I haven't seen it in several decades. What a magnificent sight!"
"Wait, that's not right. The thunderclouds are still churning. Another color is appearing!"
The exclamations had barely begun when Elder Huo stared at the faint trace of color within the thunderclouds and suddenly cried out in surprise.
Hearing this, everyone was startled and hurriedly focused their attention on the rolling thunderclouds high in the sky.
Sure enough, beneath the azure and silver colors, a faint red hue gradually began to emerge.
After a while, that trace of red spread outward, dyeing a portion of the thunderclouds a pale crimson.
"Th... Three-colored thunderclouds! My heavens!"
Looking at the lightning clouds that eventually settled into three distinct colors and slowly stopped churning, wave after wave of gasps echoed throughout the Inner Academy.
At this moment, Bai Lie's brows furrowed as he stared solemnly at the enormous three-colored lightning clouds. He could sense an extremely terrifying amount of energy contained within them. That energy was already on the verge of erupting, and even he was not confident that he could completely withstand it.
"Be careful. The Pill Lightning is coming."
"Eighth-grade Pill Lightning possesses terrifying power! Old Qian, let's prepare ourselves in advance. If anything goes wrong, we'll immediately intervene!"
Before his voice had even faded, the three-colored lightning clouds began to churn violently. Brilliant bolts of lightning faintly flashed across the sky with a sharp crack, illuminating the entire region as brightly as daylight.
"Is it coming?"
Lin Yuan smiled, calmly looking down at the three-colored lightning clouds in the sky. He casually raised his hand, and the Storage Ring on his finger flashed with a faint light.
Immediately, a silver figure tinged with gold appeared before him.
It was the Earth Demon Puppet.
After breaking through to the Spirit Realm, Lin Yuan had refined two more Beginning Venerable Pills before refining the Transformation Pill for Zi Yan.
As a result, the puppet had undergone the baptism of Pill Lightning twice more. Its strength had risen from the Eight-Star Dou Ancestor level to the Nine-Star Dou Ancestor level, while quite a large portion of its body had also turned golden.
At this moment, it was already capable of withstanding three-colored Pill Lightning.
"I wonder if this round of Pill Lightning can help the Demon Puppet advance to the level of a Sky Demon Puppet?"
A trace of anticipation flashed through Lin Yuan's eyes. He chuckled softly.
"Demon Puppet, let these three-colored Pill Lightning become your nourishment..."
As soon as his voice fell, the Demon Puppet followed Lin Yuan's will and slowly advanced toward the three-colored lightning clouds.
As if it had heard Lin Yuan's provocation, the three-colored lightning clouds churned violently. Deep thunder rumbled continuously, while lightning bolts as thick as a man's arm weaved through the clouds.
Then...
"Crack!"
The lightning clouds suddenly contracted violently.
A three-colored bolt of lightning as thick as a water barrel shot out from the clouds, tearing through space and producing a terrifying crackling sound as it fiercely descended toward the Thousand Beast Cauldron and Lin Yuan.
"Go."
Looking at the finally descending Pill Lightning, a smile flashed through Lin Yuan's eyes as he spoke softly.
Upon receiving the command, the Demon Puppet stomped heavily against the void. Its body shot forward like a cannonball and collided head-on with the powerful lightning bolt, erupting with dazzling light.
"Boom!"
"Boom!"
"Boom!"
Thunderous explosions continuously resounded through the sky.
One after another, the three-colored lightning bolts descended without pause, striking the Demon Puppet's body in midair and enveloping an area within a hundred feet around it in dazzling lightning.
The terrifying spectacle made everyone's scalps tingle.
The lightning surrounding the Demon Puppet's body transformed into countless tiny electric snakes that continuously seeped into its body.
As the power of the lightning entered its body, the Demon Puppet's bones and flesh rapidly strengthened under the tempering. Strands of dazzling golden color were refined out, while its aura continued to rise step by step.
Seeing this, Lin Yuan finally relaxed completely.
After undergoing the tempering of Pill Lightning repeatedly, the Demon Puppet's adaptability to lightning elements had also been continuously increasing.
"Perhaps before I refine a ninth-grade pill, I won't need to worry about dealing with Pill Lightning anymore!"
With a soft chuckle, Lin Yuan casually placed his hands behind his back and calmly appreciated the rare "beautiful scenery" before him.
The bombardment of the three-colored lightning clouds lasted for a full half an hour before gradually coming to an end.
During that half-hour, hundreds of terrifying bolts of lightning had descended and struck the Demon Puppet.
Fortunately, these lightning bolts had not caused any damage to the Earth Demon Puppet. Instead, they had caused half of its body to completely turn golden.
"Peak Dou Ancestor? Sure enough, it isn't that easy."
After sensing the condition of the Demon Puppet, a trace of disappointment flashed through Lin Yuan's eyes. It soon turned into acceptance, however.
"The gap between a Dou Venerate and a Nine-Star Dou Ancestor is ultimately an enormous chasm. It truly isn't something that can be crossed so easily."
"To completely advance the Demon Puppet into a Sky Demon Puppet, it will need to undergo at least three more baptisms from eighth-grade, three-colored or higher Pill Lightning."
"There is no need to rush this. We'll take it slowly..."
At the same time, the energy fluctuations within the three-colored lightning clouds gradually weakened, and the thick layers of lightning clouds slowly dispersed under everyone's watchful gazes.
As the lightning clouds disappeared, the golden-bodied Earth Demon Puppet stamped its foot against the ground.
Space distorted, and with a sharp sound, it appeared before Lin Yuan.
Then, like the most loyal guard, it stood silently by his side.
"A Peak Dou Ancestor guard. Not bad."
Lin Yuan knocked on the Demon Puppet's head.
A series of crisp "clang, clang" sounds rang out, and the corners of his lips curled upward.
Just then, a purple rainbow suddenly shot out from the Beast Cauldron like lightning.
It had just attempted to flee into the distance when Lin Yuan clenched his hand.
An invisible force of wind instantly bound it firmly in place.
After the purple radiance dissipated, a pill shrouded in faint spiritual mist hovered in midair.
A faint spiritual aura lingered around the pill, vaguely condensing into the image of a small purple dragon.
An Eighth-Grade pill already possessed its own spirituality. Such pills were known as Living Pills, or Spirit Pills, and were capable of manifesting their own forms.
Lin Yuan waved his sleeve, casually dispersing the purple dragon form of the Eighth-Grade Transformation Pill. He then drew it into his palm and placed it inside a jade bottle, carefully examining it.
Feeling its extraordinary spirituality and sensing the surrounding Heavenly Energy continuously flowing toward it, Lin Yuan nodded in satisfaction.
Once a pill reached the Eighth-Grade level, the quality of its energy was no longer the most important factor.
What mattered most was its spirituality.
A pill possessing spirituality could automatically absorb energy from the heavens and earth to replenish itself.
Therefore, spirituality was the most important factor determining the quality of an Eighth-Grade pill. Increasing a pill's spirituality was the core of Eighth-Grade alchemy.
There were many factors that could limit a pill's spirituality, including the alchemist's soul, flame, the pill's own grade, and so on.
The factor limiting Lin Yuan this time was the pill's own grade.
"Eighth-grade, three-colored. Although this isn't my limit, it is already the limit that the Transformation Pill can support."
"After all, the grade of the Transformation Pill itself is limited, so the grade it can be elevated to is naturally limited as well."
As Lin Yuan pondered, Zi Yan also rushed up from the stone steps and landed before him.
Looking at Zi Yan, who was staring eagerly at the Transformation Pill in his hand, Lin Yuan smiled lightly and casually tossed the jade bottle containing the Transformation Pill to her.
"Zi Yan, this is the Transformation Pill I promised you!"
Zi Yan hurriedly caught the jade bottle with both hands. She gave him a coquettish roll of her eyes before happily examining the pill in her hands.
Seeing how excited she was, Lin Yuan solemnly reminded her,
"Don't take this pill recklessly."
"This is an Eighth-Grade pill, and the energy contained within it is far too enormous. After taking it, it will definitely help you complete your advancement and allow you to advance several steps within the seventh grade."
"Let me first help you regulate the energy within your body. After that, find a suitable place to enter seclusion and take it."
"Hehe, I understand, Big Brother!" Zi Yan replied happily.
----
For additional chapter's
Join pateron.com/Translaterappu