Reaching the pinnacle from Doupo

Chapter 566 Teachings, from All Sides

Half a month later, at the back mountain of Tianyou Valley.

In an instant, two enormous beams of light, one white and one red, shot out and shot straight into the sky!
Where the beam of light swept past, a vast expanse of clouds suddenly appeared, then rapidly gathered. In just a few blinks of an eye, a thundercloud a hundred meters in size condensed and, amidst violent churning, transformed into two intertwined blue and silver thunderclouds.

The sky was vast, with two two-colored thunderclouds hovering in the sky, and thunder rumbled through the heavens, emanating a vast and powerful thunderous aura.

On the distant lightning-lit blue stone, a clear-eyed figure sat cross-legged with his eyes closed, his aura merging with the surrounding world.

As if startled by the thunder, Lin Yuan's eyebrows twitched, and he withdrew from his state of oneness with nature that had lasted for several days. He opened his eyes and glanced indifferently at the thunderclouds in the distance.

"Eight grades and two colors, not bad!"

He murmured something, then waved his sleeve. The two golden puppets standing in front of him stomped on the ground and instantly transformed into two streaks of light, flying directly into the two two-colored thunderclouds.

After a series of crackling sounds, the lightning dissipated, and soft sunlight once again streamed down from the sky...

Two streaks of light flew out from the valley and headed towards the mountain where Lin Yuan was located.

Before long, two vibrant young girls stood gracefully in front of Lin Yuan, each holding a pill in their hands. A faint spiritual mist swirled around them, vaguely coalescing into the shapes of a rabbit and a fox.

"Master, I succeeded!" Dan Chen looked at the pill in her hand, her delicate face filled with joy—this was the first grade eight pill she had refined.

"Hehe, I'd like to trouble you to give me some pointers, my dear senior brother, Medicine Master..."

Beside her, Cao Ying could not hide the excitement in her eyes as she looked at Lin Yuan with a smile, the corners of her mouth slightly raised, outlining a proud arc like that of a phoenix.

Working with Dan Chen to refine medicine inspired her fighting spirit and potential, enabling her to refine her first grade eight elixir.

Lin Yuan took the pill and examined it for a moment. A smile appeared on his lips, and he nodded in satisfaction: "You guys did a good job... very good!"

Then, he pointed to the three Heavenly Demon Puppets not far away.

"These are a few puppets that I casually made while you were refining pills these past few days. Each of you take one."

"Although their combat strength is average, only at the level of a six-star Dou Zun, their potential is quite good. They are also excellent at resisting and absorbing pill lightning. If you use them gradually, you won't have to worry about pill lightning before you advance to the ninth rank."

"Chen'er, your senior sister Xinlan is in seclusion breaking through her cultivation. You can keep her puppet for now and give it to her after she comes out of seclusion."

Upon hearing this, Dan Chen and Cao Ying were overjoyed.

This kind of puppet, which can strengthen itself with Dan Lei, is extremely useful for high-level alchemy!
While a six-star Dou Zun level combat power is nothing to the half-saint Lin Yuan, it is still a terrifyingly powerful existence for them who are currently only Dou Zong.

The two women suppressed their excitement, bowed in gratitude, and each put the puppet into their storage rings.

"You have indeed successfully refined an eighth-grade pill this time..." Seeing them accept the puppet, Lin Yuan changed the subject and said, "But your refining process was not perfect, and there are still flaws that need to be improved."

At this point, his eyes narrowed slightly, and his serious gaze fell on Dan Chen.

"Dan Chen, during the process of merging the pill, your soul power experienced two minor disturbances, which caused a slight defect in the medicinal effect. I will pass on a secret soul technique to you. You should cultivate it diligently to strengthen your control over your soul power."

"Remember, the higher the grade of the pill, the smaller the margin of error allowed during refining. Complete control over your own power is the most fundamental thing."

"I understand, Master!" Dan Chen nodded emphatically and said solemnly.

As a young woman with a penchant for medicine, she is always extremely serious and meticulous when it comes to matters related to alchemy.

Seeing this, Lin Yuan nodded slightly and shifted his gaze to the demoness beside him.

“Cao Ying, you were somewhat lacking in fire control during the pill-forming process, which lowered the quality of the pills somewhat.”

"So what you need to do is improve your fire control skills."

"I will teach you a fire control technique. Then take my handwritten book to the Heavenly Fire Venerable and have him teach you the Five-Ring Fire Control Technique..."

As soon as he finished speaking, he didn't hesitate at all. He reached out and lightly touched the center of Cao Ying's forehead with his fingertips. A strange soul rippled outwards, and a vast torrent of information surged into Cao Ying like a tide.

After an unknown amount of time, when Cao Ying came to her senses, a profound manual called "The Secret Manual of Origin Fire" appeared in her mind.

"What exactly is this fire control technique?"

The girl in the black dress stared intently at Lin Yuan, her bewitching eyes now filled with a mixture of curiosity and excitement—this fire control technique was far more sophisticated than the one her teacher had taught her.

"No need to worry about its origin; I obtained it by chance during my travels," Lin Yuan said calmly, waving his hand.

"Your soul power is remarkable, and you are only one step away from the intermediate level of the Spirit Realm. Once you have mastered the Origin Fire Secret Manual and the Five-Wheel Fire Separation Technique, and acquired a high-quality flame, you will have the potential to become an eighth-grade intermediate alchemist and compete for a place in the top ten of this Pill Gathering."

To ensure the dignity of the Pill Tower during this Pill Gathering, Xuan Kongzi put in considerable effort, and the training of his disciples far surpassed that of Zeng Qian.

Not only did he collect soul cultivation techniques, but he also gathered many rare and precious materials to help Cao Ying enhance her soul power.

Thanks to Lin Yuan's earlier suggestion, the Pill Tower strengthened its ties with alchemist guilds in various countries, which led to a large number of alchemists from border regions coming to the Pill Tower for further studies.

These alchemists were all wealthy and powerful in the borderlands, and their arrival brought with it a wealth of resources and information.

Thanks to this, Saint Pill City has become increasingly prosperous in the past year or two, with a much richer supply of resources. Even rare soul-related natural treasures are now circulating in the market, and there are even rumors related to different flames...

As one of the three giants of the Pill Tower, Xuan Kongzi had countless people who wanted to get close to him, and naturally benefited greatly from it.

Over the past year, he has collected many soul-related treasures, which he used to train Cao Ying, resulting in her progress being more significant than that of Dan Chen.

After all, Lin Yuan had been away from Dan Chen for a long time, and the latter still had to nurture the soul seed.

Hearing Lin Yuan's words, Cao Ying frowned slightly and asked in a deep voice, "Even an eighth-grade intermediate alchemist can only compete for the top ten this time?"

In previous alchemy competitions, barring any unforeseen circumstances, a single Rank 8, Rank 2 pill was enough to secure the championship. After all, each person could only participate in the alchemy competition once in their lifetime, and most of the older grandmasters were too ashamed to participate.

Lin Yuan chuckled lightly, saying meaningfully, "This Pill Gathering will not only have the Medicine Clan participating, but also a Strange Flame as a reward, making the competition far more intense than we can imagine!"

The average level of the younger generation of the Medicine Clan is quite high.

Regardless of the Yao siblings, Yao Tian and Yao Ling, even Yao Xingji, one of the top five young members of the Yao clan, was clearly an eighth-grade intermediate alchemist when the ancient clan's coming-of-age ceremony was held, and he showed no fear of Xiao Yan, who had refined an eighth-grade five-colored pill.

If we take this as the basis for analysis, Yao Xingji of that period possessed alchemy skills at least at the level of the eighth grade and the fifth or sixth grade.

Although it was nearly three years before the Pill Gathering, since the Medicine Clan made an exception to participate in the Pill Gathering this time, they would certainly invest no less resources in the participants in order to maintain their dignity in front of the world.

It is quite possible that the younger generation of the Medicine Clan will reach the level they would reach several years later in the original timeline by the time of the Pill Gathering.

Besides, this alchemy gathering offers a rare flame ranked seventeenth as a prize, which might tempt some veteran masters to participate. The allure of rare flames to alchemists is something those who understand know!

With this level of competition, even the second and third-grade eighth-rank pills that could win the championship in the past probably wouldn't even qualify for the top ten this time... And Cao Ying, this proud demoness of the Cao family, would probably suffer a major setback in the Pill Gathering if she didn't put in a lot of effort.

However, considering that she was an outstanding talent in the Pill Tower and had been entrusted by Xuan Kongzi, Lin Yuan didn't mind giving her a hand.

"Go!" He placed the pills refined by Cao Ying and a letter to Venerable Tianhuo in the latter's hands.

"Thank you very much, I'll take my leave now!"

Cao Ying also noticed the seriousness in Lin Yuan's voice, and her eyes hardened. She then abandoned any unnecessary politeness, put away the pills and letters, and left Tianyou Valley.

She couldn't resist trying out the exquisite fire control techniques recorded in the "Origin Fire Manual" in her mind.

"Put away the pills and prepare to cultivate!" Watching her departing figure, Lin Yuan turned to look at his disciple and said calmly, "I know you are a little tired after refining the pills, but this is the best time to cultivate."

As he spoke, he flicked his finger, and a blue lotus throne emerged from his storage ring, landing not far in front of Fang Danchen.

Dan Chen nodded, carefully put away the pills, and then sat cross-legged on the Azure Lotus Platform as instructed; Lin Yuan stepped forward, stretched out his hand, and touched Dan Chen's brow with his fingertips.

The two exchanged a glance, then simultaneously closed their eyes and began to circulate the Demon Soul Holy Technique.

Before long, a strange fluctuation arose in the space around the two of them. A vast amount of spiritual energy, which most grandmasters could not see in their entire lives, gathered from all directions and, under Lin Yuan's guidance, poured into Dan Chen's brow.

When a soul at the late stage of the Heavenly Realm operates the Demon Soul Saint Technique, the spiritual energy it gathers is so vast that even a Dan Chen at the early stage of the Spirit Realm cannot absorb it all at once.

However, Lin Yuan did not waste it, but instead channeled it all into the soul seed.

Nourished by spiritual energy, the soul seed began to circulate gently, further condensing and purifying the spiritual energy before slowly merging into Dan Chen's soul body.

Nourished by the abundant spiritual energy, Dan Chen's brows relaxed slightly, and an undisguised look of intoxication appeared on her face. The concentration of spiritual energy within her soul body steadily increased at an almost visibly rapid pace...

With a late-stage Heavenly Realm soul and top-tier soul cultivation techniques, the cultivation speed of someone in the early Spirit Realm is unimaginably fast.

Of course, only Dan Chen, who possesses the ability to devour souls, can cultivate in this way.

Ordinary people who casually devour the energy of the powerful will suffer the far-reaching side effects of the soul imprint, enough to bring them eternal regret!

In any world, the power of devouring is an extremely noble power.

On the other side, after gathering enough spiritual energy, Lin Yuan saw that Dan Chen had entered a deep cultivation state. With a thought, he extracted a slice of his soul from his natal soul core and injected it into the soul seed to continue assisting Dan Chen in his cultivation.

Then, he withdrew his palm and gently flipped it over, setting up a barrier to isolate the noise, before turning and leaving the secluded mountain peak.

The advancement plans for the Natal Soul Pill and Natal Blood Pill still need final confirmation and refinement!
Starfall Pavilion, behind the mountain.

High in the sky, a massive four-colored thundercloud stretched across the heavens, with colorful lightning bolts darting about, exuding an incomparably fierce thunderous power.

"The four-colored lightning...it's a success?!"

Xiao Yan, who appeared more composed than before, shifted his gaze from the Black Demon Cauldron in front of him to the four-colored thunderclouds in the sky, and murmured absentmindedly.

On a high mountain not far away, Yao Lao and Qinghua Laoguai stood side by side.

"Tsk, no matter how many times I see it, I still find it unbelievable... Directly upgrading the pill's grade after it's formed, from an eighth-grade, two-color pill to an eighth-grade, four-color pill... Old man Yao, your 'Spirit Ascension Method' is just too outrageous!"

Old Monster Qinghua withdrew his gaze from Lei Yun, turned to look at the smiling Elder Yao beside him, and clicked his tongue in amazement.

Upon hearing this, the old doctor remained calm on the surface, but was secretly delighted.

The method of ascending to higher realms was one of his proudest achievements.

More importantly, this technique is extremely difficult to execute, yet Xiao Yan was able to use it at such a young age, which is undoubtedly a testament to his exceptional talent. It also shows that he has adjusted his mindset and emerged from the shadow of his previous defeat.

This hot-blooded disciple of their own family seems to be very susceptible to the "enemy-friend" tactic. After exchanging ideas with Nalan Yanran that day, he quickly adjusted his mindset.

Looking at the young man below who had released the puppet, the old monster Qinghua was filled with emotion.

"Judging from that kid's rate of progress, I estimate that by the time the Pill Refining Competition starts, he will be able to refine rank eight pills of five or six colors."

"At this level, they should be able to achieve good results at the Danish Games."

"To have such a level of alchemy skills at such a young age, he truly deserves to be your disciple, old man... It's a pity that if this year's Alchemy Competition hadn't been so unusual, he could have continued your glory as his teacher and achieved the legendary feat of both master and disciple becoming champions of the Alchemy Competition."

Having witnessed Lin Yuan and Yao Lao jointly refining a Grade Nine Treasure Pill, Qinghua Old Monster naturally understood that such an existence was definitely not an opponent that Xiao Yan could defeat.

The old apothecary waved his hand dismissively: "It's alright, just go and broaden your horizons!"

Yao Lao had long anticipated that Xiao Yan would not be able to win the Pill Gathering. Although he felt some regret, he could not accept it.

Regarding next year's Dan Conference, Yao Lao is mostly just looking for fun, to see the Yao Clan have some fun!

These days, as he recalled his joint training with Lin Yuan, he became certain of one thing—the other party had been completely at ease from beginning to end, and it was impossible to see through his true strength.

The old master Yao could conclude that as long as the older generation of the Yao clan did not participate in the competition, the younger generation would not be able to defeat Lin Yuan.

If Lin Yuan can give that arrogant clan a resounding slap in the face at this alchemy gathering, Elder Yao will be quite pleased – after all, Lin Yuan's rise to power is inextricably linked to him, Yao Chen, and he has helped out in some way!

While pondering, Xiao Yan finished dealing with the pill lightning and flew to Yao Lao's side with the pills and the Black Demon Cauldron.

"I no longer need the Black Demon, so I'm passing it on to you. Don't disgrace it!" Just as Xiao Yan was about to return the cauldron to Yao Lao, the latter's gentle voice rang in his ears.

"Take a few days to adjust, then go into seclusion to break through to the Dou Zun level... Here are some useful pills."
-
Half a month ago, in the pharmaceutical industry, at Yaoshan.

In a single instant, a powerful energy surge emanated from the plaza at the center of Medicine Mountain, and moments later, a nine-colored thundercloud appeared in the distant sky...

　Regarding the medicine, the author's writing is somewhat disjointed.

　　During the Demon Flame Space, he was a one-star Dou Sheng at the late stage of the Heavenly Realm. He mocked Yao Lao, who was at the mid-stage of the Heavenly Realm, saying that he had refined ninth-grade pills.

　　When it came to the Medicine Clan's Pharmacopoeia, in order to highlight Xiao Yan, Yao Tian sat at a table with the younger generation again and refined an eighth-grade, nine-colored pill, which made the elders extremely happy.

　　With a different kind of fire, late-stage Heaven Realm, and Dou Sheng, what's so exciting about refining an eighth-grade nine-color weapon?

　　There's a disconnect between the beginning and the end. In my opinion, the setting will follow the situation of the Demon Flame Space, which will make the logic smoother.

　　The same goes for Nalan Yanran's age issue; sigh, it's an old problem. Potato's writing is quite emotionally driven, and sometimes, for the sake of emotion, he writes inconsistencies in the established settings.
　　
　
(End of this chapter)