"Did you manage to get everything you need?"
Chen Linlin jerked her small body and turned to her side, watching as Xue Hui returned from his little trip to the servants' medicine room.
Earlier,
While examining the contents of all the interspatial rings, he was shocked beyond belief when he discovered an unrivaled treasure hidden within a little girl's interspatial ring.
Who would have thought that he would find a Misty Herb Leaf in a little girl's interspatial ring, of all places?
Although the majority of people in Glory City were unaware of its existence, it was a treasure that had caused countless powerful experts to lose their lives in pursuit of it.
The Misty Leaf herbbwas a treasure capable of changing one's fate after consuming it.
Even a Black Gold Rank Demon Spiritualist would gain enormous benefits from it.
Its a rare plant capable of gathering and storing vast amounts of pure spiritual energy.
Because of this unique property, it served as a perfect catalyst for breaking through to the next realm.
Earlier, when Xue Hui asked Chen Linlin how she had obtained such a precious herb,
she revealed that it had been gifted to her by her grandfather.
And everything suddenly made a lot of sense to Xue Hui.
Her grandfather doted on her greatly, to the point it was excessive, so it was not surprising that she would receive such a precious gift from him.
Originally, the Misty Leaf herb had been securely stored within her grandfather's secret treasure vault.
When news spread that she possessed the Nine Crystal Yin Physique, her grandfather was the most excited of all.
Without a second thought, he took out his most treasured possession and gifted it to Chen Linlin in hopes that one day it would help her break through to the Legend Rank.
"It seems your grandfather truly loves you. Even after you lost your ability to cultivate, he still allowed you to keep this treasure."
Xue Hui was not referring solely to the matter of the Misty Leaf herb when he spoke those words.
In his previous life, Chen Linlin's grandfather, Chen Shenxin, had died at the hands of a Legend Rank demon beast.
He had ventured alone into its nest to seize a treasure herb. It was rumored that consuming it could heal all kinds of ailments.
Aside from Chen Linlin's parents, Chen Shenxin was the one most deeply affected by the worsening condition of his granddaughter.
He spent most of his remaining years traveling across the outside world, desperately searching for a way to heal her illness.
In the end, his care and boundless love for his granddaughter became his own downfall.
So it was no surprise that even in this lifetime, the great Grand Elder of the Divine Family did not have the heart to take back the Misty Leaf herb from his beloved granddaughter.
Xue Hui had asked Chen Linlin repeatedly if she was truly willing to part with her grandfather's gift.
And every time, she would simply nod and answer yes, telling him that if it could help him carry out his plan to heal her, then it was fine for him to use it.
With her approval, Xue Hui left her room for a while to gather all the necessary items needed to create an elixir from the Misty Leaf herb.
Back to the present.
"Yep, I gathered everything. Except for a pill cauldron.
I'll just have to improvise and get a little creative," Xue Hui answered as he pushed all the furniture to the side, creating an open area he could work in.
After closing the door, he immediately took out a small bowl made out of clay.
Chen Linlin stared at the tiny empty container and quickly grew curious about it.
She was about to ask what it was for when she suddenly saw Xue Hui pull out a small knife.
Without hesitation, he made a small incision on his left palm, allowing blood to drip into the empty cup.
"W-what are you doing, Hui-Hui?!"
Terrified by what she had witnessed, Chen Linlin let out a cry. Fear crept into her heart as she worried that he might bleed himself to death.
"Don't worry, Linlin. It's just a shallow cut. Look."
He thrust his hand forward, showing her his palm. Other than a few traces of dried blood and the faint mark left by the cut, his hand looked perfectly fine, which eased her worries.
"I need to erect a protective array to contain the aura around me while I refine the elixir. Without it, the aura leaking from the herb would undoubtedly alert every expert nearby, including your parents, and that would ruin my plan," Xue Hui explained.
Chen Linlin nodded, understanding only half of what he had said.
"With my blood as the base, combined with other materials such as fine powdered demon spirit crystals, I can create spiritual ink, which I can use for inscribing arrays."
With practiced movements, Xue Hui began refining his blood into spiritual ink.
Once he was finished, he swiftly used the spiritual ink to draw an inscription array in the center of the room, large enough for him to work within.
By then, Chen Linlin had stopped responding altogether.
She was stunned, utterly fascinated by how smooth and effortless Xue Hui's every movement was.
Stepping into the inscription array, Xue Hui formed a series of hand seals.
The inscriptions around him lit up, glowing with a soft light and illuminating the room with a lilac radiance.
Chen Linlin's breath hitched as she watched the array come to life.
Earlier, although she had agreed with everything Xue Hui had told her,
it was only because he was her friend and she trusted him completely, even if she remained skeptical about some of his claims.
But now, seeing how skillfully he worked with arrays, even the smallest trace of doubt in her heart vanished completely.
At this moment, she wholeheartedly believed in Xue Hui and his promise to help her regain her life.
As he continued to work, Xue Hui's demeanor completely changed. The aura he exuded was not that of a child his age. Instead, he carried the bearing of an old master.
His every movement was precise and calculated, as though he had spent years mastering inscription arrays. His small face carried a solemn expression, and the sight caused Chen Linlin's heart to race uncontrollably.
Inside the protective array, Xue Hui took out all the materials he needed to concoct the elixir, lining them up neatly.
He then closed his eyes and took several long, steady breaths, calming both his mind and soul as he prepared himself.
Concocting elixirs was a meticulous and demanding process.
Without sufficient mental strength and physical endurance, it was impossible to achieve good results.
Naturally, with Xue Hui's current strength of only five points of soul force, he should not have possessed the qualifications to concoct an elixir.
However, with Xue Hui's vast knowledge and supreme mastery of alchemy,
both accumulated through countless years of study within the space of the [CREATION ORIGIN ANCESTRAL MANUAL], he could easily work around his lack of soul strength.
By utilizing the protective array, he could extract and convert half of the spiritual energy contained within the Misty Leaf herb into energy he could directly control.
Part of this spiritual energy would be stored as a reserve to replenish his spiritual force, which he could draw upon throughout the refinement process.
This allowed Xue Hui to avoid exhausting his own limited spiritual energy.
The remaining portion would be transformed into alchemy flames.
Using this method, even though he would lose half of the Misty Leaf herb's medicinal strength, he would still be able to successfully refine an elixir and use it to increase his own strength.
Compared to the common method of brewing the Misty Leaf herb into medicinal tea, the elixir he was about to create would fully optimize the herb's medicinal potential.
Even after losing half of its spiritual energy, the elixir's effects would still be many times stronger than those of medicinal tea.
Picking up the Misty Leaf herb with his left hand, Xue Hui then took out several Black Gold Rank demon spirit crystals, items that had also been found within Chen Linlin's interspatial ring.
Without a doubt, they were yet another precious gift she had received in the past.
With a flick of his finger, an inscription array formed around the Misty Leaf Herb, causing it to release rhythmic pulses of spiritual energy.
Using the tiny amount of spiritual energy that leaked out, Xue Hui tossed the two Black Gold Rank demon spirit crystals into the air.
As they soared upward, he immediately formed another set of hand seals, enveloping the crystals in inscription arrays.
Fine cracks soon spread across their surfaces, and crackling sounds echoed as sparks danced around them.
At the same time, Xue Hui forced the Misty Leaf Herb to release even more spiritual energy.
The surge of spiritual energy violently bombarded the interior of the protective array, threatening to break through its concealment.
Xue Hui's face turned pale as he was affected by the enormous power, yet he persevered, his focus never wavering.
He guided part of the overflowing spiritual energy into his soul realm, while the remaining energy surged toward the demon spirit crystals, shattering them completely.
WOOSSH!
Just before the exploding demon spirit crystals could unleash their destructive force, Xue Hui activated an alchemy array, transforming the violent energy into a blazing alchemy flame.
Sensing the familiar heat of the alchemy flame, a triumphant grin appeared on Xue Hui's face.
Despite his extensive experience in concocting elixirs, this was the first time he had ignited an alchemy flame outside the [CREATION ORIGIN ANCESTRAL MANUAL], and it had gone perfectly.
Throughout the entire process, Chen Linlin could only stare in stunned fascination.
Her eyes widened, and her jaw dropped.
Watching Xue Hui ignite an alchemy flame and make it dance before him was an unbelievable sight to behold.
One by one, Xue Hui tossed all the ingredients into the alchemy flame, allowing them to refine slowly within it.
If anyone else were to witness this scene, even an alchemy grandmaster, they would undoubtedly lose their minds.
Forget the absurdity of a six- or seven-year-old boy performing alchemy.
The truly unbelievable part was the refinement technique he was using.
It was not that using an alchemy flame to directly concoct elixirs had never been done before.
Rather, this refinement method had become lost knowledge tens of thousands of years ago.
Because of that, his use of alchemy flames was truly unique in the current era.
Five hours passed.
Both the protective array and the alchemy flame began to show signs of weakening, their light dimming and their flames flickering.
With lightning-fast speed, Xue Hui moved his arm and snatched three ice-blue, marble-sized pills hovering above the dying flame.
Forming another hand seal, both the alchemy flame and the protective array vanished completely without leaving behind a single trace.
Exhausted, Xue Hui took a long, deep breath.
He looked down at the pills in his hand, inhaling their medicinal aroma and sensing the aura they emitted.
A satisfied smile spread across his immature face.
"One at eighty percent purity, and two at ninety percent purity... Not bad for my first alchemy refinement outside the [CREATION ORIGIN ANCESTRAL MANUAL]. Not bad at all."
End of Chapter 9