She began the long, painstaking extraction process.
First came the Void-Bound Grass.
Yilan raised her left hand, her fingers forming a delicate orchid seal.
A thread of azure fire wrapped around the dark purple herb, suspending it inches above the cauldron's rim.
Instead of blasting it with raw heat, her flame pulsed in rhythmic, breathing intervals, alternating between intense heat to burn away the fibrous impurities and gentle warmth to preserve the fragile spatial properties within.
Within minutes, the herb dissolved into a shimmering, violet liquid droplet that drifted safely into a waiting crystal cup.
Next, she introduced the Soul-Nourishing Lotus.
This herb was notoriously fragile, a single temperature spike would cause its delicate spiritual veins to shatter, turning the medicinal essence to useless ash.
Yilan's dark blue eyes focused sharply.
She split her azure flame into six microscopic fire-filaments, weaving them through the petals like glowing silk threads.
