Battle Through the Heavens: Xiao Yan, who was kidnapped to another world

Liu Ling responded first, laughing loudly at Xiao Yan and the little princess. Then, she lightly touched the ground, her body rushing to the edge of the platform. She glanced at the huge square below, and with a leap, she jumped straight down amidst countless surprised boos from the VIP seats.

His body plummeted rapidly, and just before he hit the ground, two visible pillars of battle qi suddenly shot out from Liu Ling's heels. Using the force of the battle qi pillars to deflect the impact, he landed on the ground unharmed. Then, amidst the fervent gazes of the crowd, he smiled and quickly walked to the center of the square.

The top ten alchemy stations from the closed beta were placed in the very center of the plaza, making them some of the most prominent positions among all the alchemy stations.

"This guy...does he think he's the only one who can dance?"

Watching Liu Ling leap down and become the center of attention, the little princess pouted. With a leap, she also flashed off the platform, her body gliding down gracefully like a falling leaf, her beautiful posture like that of a celestial maiden.

"Hehe, old man Jia, I didn't expect you to have even taught this little girl your 'Flying Floss' technique? Speaking of which, I've said before that your movement and fighting skills are more suited to women." Fa Ma turned to old man Jia and laughed as he watched the little princess float down, completely defying gravity.

"She's only scratched the surface of this fighting technique. She's only focused on aesthetics, which will make her an easy target in actual combat." Jia Xingtian shook his head with a smile. Although he said this, the smile on his face clearly showed that he was very satisfied with the little princess's skills.

"Hey, it's your turn..." Seeing Jia Xingtian's smug expression, Hai Bodong subconsciously turned his head, wanting to urge Xiao Yan, but only at this moment did he notice that Xiao Yan's seat... was already empty?

"Mr. Yan Xiao is already at his alchemy table," Yao Ye, sitting next to Xiao Yan, pointed to the center of the square, noticing the surprise on Hai Bodong's face.

Following the direction Yao Ye pointed, Xiao Yan, dressed in black robes and completely lacking the demeanor of a master, stood calmly in front of the alchemy platform, looking as if he was waiting for the alchemist conference to officially begin.

"Why doesn't this guy have any youthful spirit?" Looking at the composed Xiao Yan, Hai Bodong couldn't help but click his tongue.

“Although Mr. Yan Xiao is about the same age as Liu Ling, he is still a fifth-grade, almost sixth-grade alchemist,” Fa Ma said with a helpless smile, glancing at Hai Bodong, who looked displeased. “All the alchemists below the stage are just children to Mr. Yan Xiao. How could Mr. Yan Xiao possibly be motivated when facing a group of children?”

"You don't understand..." Hai Bodong pursed his lips, but he knew that Xiao Yan used a pseudonym because he didn't want to be in the limelight. After muttering a sentence, he simply closed his eyes and looked like he was sunbathing, amidst the expectant gazes of the VIPs.

The sight of Hai Bodong resting with his eyes closed made the VIPs grit their teeth, but those who knew Hai Bodong's identity dared not say anything. They were equally intrigued, but unable to hear what was to come, Jia Xingtian gave Hai Bodong a hard slap on the back.

Standing in front of the alchemy platform, Xiao Yan casually picked up a second-grade pill formula from the platform.

This pill formula was handwritten; it was so carelessly copied that the quantities of medicinal herbs and other details were simply copied onto the paper. It was far from a proper pill formula made with soul power, and it didn't even resemble a pill formula made by a normal alchemist.

After casually glancing at the pill formula, Xiao Yan tossed it aside. It was just a second-grade Bone-Growing Pill; he could refine it directly even without a cauldron.

On the huge square, apart from a few well-prepared or confident contestants, all the other contestants held thin sheets of paper and read them carefully with various expressions on their faces. For a moment, the entire square was completely silent.

Five minutes later, a clear bell rang out in the square.

As the bell tolled, Fama, whose eyes had been slightly closed, opened them. His gaze swept across the crowd below, and a calm voice rang in everyone's ears—

"I'm sure you've all figured something out. This first round of testing requires you to refine the finished pills according to this incomplete prescription. Each person has two chances. If the pills are not successfully refined after two attempts, the jade mirror on the blue stone platform will automatically light up red. When the red light flashes, the person will be eliminated."

"On the opposite wall, there is a huge hourglass. That is the time for the competition. Anyone who has not refined the pill before the hourglass runs out of sand will also fail."

"Do you understand?" Fama smiled.

"Yes!" From the plaza below, thousands of voices boomed like muffled thunder.

"In that case... the first round of assessment shall now begin!"

Slowly raising his palm, Fama smiled and then suddenly slashed down. At that moment, thousands of flames suddenly appeared on the huge square, like fireworks, creating a spectacular scene that made people's blood boil!

After a moment of thought, Xiao Yan suddenly took out the Black Demon from the Awakening Flame Ring. At the same time, a new strange fire formed by the fusion of two strange fires slowly rose in Xiao Yan's hand.

As the emerald green flames rose, the temperature in the square suddenly increased, and at the same time, the various flames that had been leaping and jubilant in the hands of all the alchemists instantly withered.

A gentle breeze suddenly swept by, and the strangely colored flames suddenly tilted slightly. The tilt of these flames all pointed towards Xiao Yan, who was in the center of the arena, or more precisely... towards the emerald green flame in Xiao Yan's hand.

This strange sight resembled a courtier paying homage to a king.

"A different flame appears, and all other flames submit..."

Gazing at the spectacular scene in the square, Fa Ma sighed softly from the high platform. He had seen such a magnificent scene once when he was young, but he never expected to see it again, especially not in the first round of the Alchemist Conference.

"It's just the first round of elimination... Is it really necessary to take it so seriously?"

Muttering to herself, Yao Yue was a little annoyed. She really didn't expect that Yan Xiao, a fifth-grade alchemist, would use a strange fire in the first round. Even the medicine cauldron in front of him was a mysterious shape that she had never seen before.

“Mr. Yanxiao…you’re really serious.”

In the VIP section, Vice President Chemir chuckled dryly. It's just refining a second-grade pill, is there any need to be so serious?

"It feels like he's trying to finish this quickly and leave as soon as possible..." Hai Bodong said with a strange expression as he watched Xiao Yan throw all the medicinal herbs into the black cauldron in one go.

“That’s true,” Chemir finally found an excuse for Xiao Yan’s serious behavior after seeing this. “Even a fifth-grade alchemist would find it difficult to refine all the medicinal herbs in one go. It’s normal to use the best cauldron and flame.”

Chemir said something he himself didn't believe. After all, that was a strange fire. If he really wanted to refine all the medicinal herbs in one go, using a battle qi flame would be the best choice, right?

Those in the surrounding VIP seats, including Hai Bodong, nodded thoughtfully, showing no doubt about Chemir's words.

With his soul power gathered, the medicinal herbs thrown into the Black Demon were instantly refined. Refining second-grade pills was no problem for Xiao Yan. In just a few minutes, he had collected several pills into his jade bottle.

Is it finished?

Yao Yue and Liu Ling, who had just started refining medicinal herbs, looked up at Xiao Yan in surprise.

Xiao Yan ignored the stares around him, his fingers brushing across the Awakening Flame Ring. Dozens of medicinal herbs suddenly appeared on the alchemy table. Fa Ma, who had been watching Xiao Yan's movements, suddenly stopped. If he remembered correctly...

'Those are... the medicinal herbs needed to refine the Soul Rejuvenation Pill?'

Xiao Yan deliberately paused for a moment, and after Fa Ma's soul power stopped fluctuating, the emerald green flames in the medicine cauldron reignited. However, this time, Xiao Yan did not throw all the medicinal herbs in at once as before. Instead, he took it one step at a time, as if waiting for someone to see clearly, and sent the first medicinal herb into the Black Demon Cauldron.

The Alchemist Competition only has three rounds of competition. Xiao Yan wasn't sure if Fa Ma could truly understand every step if he only refined the Heavy Soul Pill in the last round. Therefore, last night, Xiao Yan came up with a brilliant plan—

In each of the three matches, he refined a Soul-Replenishing Pill, slowing down each step and waiting for Fa Ma to catch up with his operations little by little.

Chapter 195 Luck

The emerald green flame in the medicine cauldron in front of Xiao Yan was clearly a strange fire, but the emerald green color made Fa Ma somewhat confused.

He also knew about the strange flames on the Strange Flame Ranking. Apart from the unknown flame ranked first, none of the subsequent flames seemed to have a bright green color. The only two that came close were the blue of the Azure Lotus Earth Core Flame ranked nineteenth and the green of the Netherworld Poison Flame ranked twentieth.

Aside from the wrong color, the temperature of the emerald green flame that Fa Ma's soul power could perceive did not seem to be lower than the temperature of the bone spirit cold fire he had seen not long ago.

The jumbled thoughts vanished the moment Xiao Yan's first medicinal herb touched the flame, and Fa Ma watched Xiao Yan's actions intently.

Inside the Black Demon Cauldron, emerald green flames burned fiercely. Under Xiao Yan's control, the temperature of the flames was suppressed to a rather low level. The flames appeared fierce, but they did not burn the medicinal herbs that were put in to ashes.

As the herbs were roasted by the flames, they gradually withered, and fine green droplets of water seeped out from them, then slowly condensed above the flames, rolling around incessantly.

As time went by, the pure medicinal power of the first herb was completely extracted, and its original form was utterly turned into a pile of useless waste.

With a light wave of his hand, the useless medicinal herbs were swept out of the cauldron and landed on a stone platform to the side. The moment they landed, they turned into a pile of gray ashes and scattered with the wind.

The extraction process for the first medicinal herb was very slow, and Fa Ma had previously refined this herb on behalf of Yao Lao, so Fa Ma was even more aware of the gap between himself and Xiao Yan—

That day, when he was extracting the medicinal herb, the herb was completely burned. It didn't mean that the flame he controlled was particularly fierce. After all, no matter how powerful the beast fire was, it couldn't compare to the strange fire. Even if Fa Ma didn't know the name of the strange fire Xiao Yan used, the fact that he burned the herb only meant that his control over the flame hadn't reached a level of perfection.

After the medicinal power was extracted, the next step was to remove impurities. As the first medicinal herb needed for the Soul Rejuvenation Pill, removing impurities from its body was not difficult. About ten minutes later, when Liu Ling and the little princess had finished refining the medicinal herbs needed for the Bone Regeneration Pill, Xiao Yan put the liquid from the first medicinal herb into a jade bottle next to him.

Noticing Xiao Yan's unusual method of preservation, Liu Ling, Yao Yue, and Fa Ma were all somewhat surprised. However, after sensing the faint film of flame at the mouth of the jade bottle with their soul power, they paused for a moment, as if they had suddenly realized something.

"This way, the medicine can be kept pure, but it requires a higher level of control over the flame. If the jade bottle is not heated properly and explodes, the refined medicine may be completely ruined."

"It's just a simple trick," Xiao Yan casually explained after sensing the confusion of the group. Then, he waved his hand again and sent the second medicinal herb into the cauldron.

Because Xiao Yan had already experienced all the extraction methods for the medicinal herbs needed to refine the Soul Rejuvenation Pill, he completely slowed down the process for the first herb, but then he refined all the subsequent herbs one by one at a steady pace.

"clang!"

At one point, a crisp sound of a cauldron being struck rang out across the square.

Aside from Xiao Yan, the first person to complete the refining of the Bone-Growing Pill was Liu Ling, who was standing to the side. However, after grabbing the perfectly round pill in her hand, Liu Ling did not leave her position immediately, but instead kept a close eye on Xiao Yan.

"clang!"

Another crisp sound rang out. This time, Yao Yue had finished refining the pill. But, just like Liu Ling, Yao Yue did not leave her position. She just stared straight at Xiao Yan.

"Clang, clang, clang..."

Following those two sounds, as if a chain reaction had occurred, the lids of the cauldrons were launched, and hundreds of pills of various shapes were ejected from the cauldrons, flying into the sky, and then excitedly grabbed by their owners.

Is it almost time?

Glancing at the hourglass across from him, which was about to run out of sand, Xiao Yan sighed. Even though he was the creator of the Soul Rejuvenation Pill, it was still too much to complete the refining of a sixth-grade pill within two hours under the circumstances of deliberately slowing down the extraction of medicinal materials.

"We need to speed things up. Whether you look at the later steps is up to you."

After a casual reminder, the temperature of the emerald green flames in the Black Demon Cauldron suddenly increased, reaching a terrifying level almost instantly. Only then did Liu Ling, Yao Yue, and Fa Ma, who were watching from the sidelines, fully feel the terrifying temperature of the strange fire.

However, even at such a high temperature, the flames inside the cauldron still managed to refine the sixth-order wood-type magic core into a pile of azure powder.

After refining the medicinal herbs and magic cores, the next step is to eliminate the incompatibilities between the herbs and the magic cores and gradually fuse them together. This step is often the most arduous. Generally speaking, the fusion of a sixth-grade pill takes at least several hours. Now, there are only ten minutes left before the end of the first competition.

Just when everyone thought Xiao Yan would save the fusion process for the second competition, he opened the jade bottle containing several refined medicinal liquids and poured them into the medicine cauldron.

In the square, everyone who knew that Xiao Yan was refining the Soul Rejuvenation Pill widened their eyes in surprise. They never expected that the fifth-grade alchemist "Yan Xiao" would be so irrational at this final moment. Even if the test of the Bone Regeneration Pill's properties would not take long, it would still affect the refining of the sixth-grade pill, right?

Xiao Yan had no time to guess what the audience was thinking. Under the scorching heat of the flames, the rudimentary shape of an irregularly shaped emerald green pill gradually appeared in the cauldron.

"This……"

Even though he had heard Xiao Yan say, "We need to speed things up. Whether you watch the later steps or not is up to you," the fact that the prototype of the Heavy Soul Pill had appeared in less than ten minutes still made Fa Ma stare wide-eyed in disbelief.

The fusion of medicinal herbs that day was not his job, but he, who was closest to the old master, clearly remembered that a full three hours had passed since the herbs began to fuse and the rudimentary form of the pill appeared!

And now, it's been less than ten minutes...

Feeling the sudden fluctuations in the surrounding天地能量 (heaven and earth energy), Fa Ma was completely certain that the prototype of the Heavy Soul Pill had indeed appeared in the medicine cauldron in front of Xiao Yan.

Completely unaware of the shock his exaggerated speed had caused Fa Ma, Xiao Yan continued to manipulate the flames, gradually refining the prototype of the Heavy Soul Pill. With two or three minutes left before the time was up, it was about enough for him.

Just as the last grain of sand in the hourglass was about to fall, a thunderous explosion suddenly rang out, and then a beam of emerald green light, two zhang thick, shot out from the medicine cauldron in front of Xiao Yan and into the sky.

Staring dumbfounded at the enormous pillar of light soaring into the sky, Fa Ma couldn't help but take a deep breath. Even though this scene was happening right in front of him, he still couldn't believe that someone could refine a sixth-grade pill in just two hours!

In a secluded pavilion in the distant Yunlan Sect, Gu He suddenly raised his head, his gaze fixed on the Jiama Imperial City, or more precisely, the location of the energy eruption.

"This is... the fluctuation that only occurs when a sixth-grade pill is successfully formed, right?" Gu He couldn't help but mutter to himself. "Is that the Jiama Imperial City over there? Is that Guild Master Fa Ma? Just recently, that mysterious alchemist demonstrated the refining of the Heavy Soul Pill in front of him..."

"No, that's not right. Today is the opening day of the Alchemist Conference. Guild Master Fa Ma doesn't have any extra time to refine sixth-grade pills."

However, Furukawa quickly dismissed his own conjecture.

“Yan Xiao… no, that’s not right either. He’s participating in the Alchemist Conference. Even if he’s going to refine a sixth-grade pill, it shouldn’t be at this time,” Gu He sighed. “So… is it still that Yao Yan? Refining a sixth-grade pill for Xiao Yan?”

He couldn't help but shake his head. Although Nalan Yanran had become a Dou Ling after emerging from the forbidden area as Yun Yun had predicted not long ago, given Yao Yan's doting attitude towards Xiao Yan, perhaps Xiao Yan would also appear at the Yunlan Sect as a Dou Ling in ten days or so.

"Forget it, why think so much?" After a long while, Gu He sighed softly. "Let's think about our own affairs first... In the end, where did Elder Yun get the soul pill formulas for the Imperial Extreme Pill and the Breaking Sect Pill?"

In the square of the imperial city, everyone stared in shock at the towering pillar of light until it gradually dissipated. Only then did those with knowledge realize what this strange sight represented.

"Congratulations, Mr. Yan Xiao."

Standing to the side, Liu Ling looked at Xiao Yan and offered her heartfelt congratulations. Although she had known from the beginning that she could not catch up with "Yan Xiao", Liu Ling still had a faint expectation in her heart. However, after witnessing Xiao Yan refine a sixth-grade pill in two hours, Liu Ling was finally completely convinced.

"It was just luck," Xiao Yan chuckled casually. "I never expected it would actually succeed."