Myriad Dragon Divine Sovereign

In the days that followed, Wen Qingye focused on consolidating his cultivation. He also prepared medicinal baths for Xiaxia and Gao Yuerou. Aided by the baths and pills, Xiaxia broke through directly to the Eighth Level of Qi Cultivation, and Gao Yuerou reached the First Level of Refining Essence.

On this day, Xiaxia went to the Alchemy Pavilion to continue her menial tasks. From time to time, she would sneak into an Alchemy Room to practice alchemy for a bit.

BOOM!

Suddenly, the sound of an explosion echoed through the Alchemy Pavilion. Xiaxia was already used to it. She knew it was the sound of someone failing at alchemy, the ingredients in their Pill Furnace having exploded.

Xiaxia kept her head down and continued with her work.

BOOM!

A moment later, another sound of an exploding Pill Furnace came from that room. Xiaxia shrugged.

But over the time it took for an incense stick to burn, three more explosions rang out from that room in succession. Xiaxia couldn’t help but find it strange. Exploding a furnace meant wasting a lot of valuable medicinal ingredients, and if the Pill Furnace itself was destroyed, you had to pay for it.

Xiaxia slowly walked to the door of that Alchemy Room. Faint, clattering sounds came from within.

Xiaxia gently pushed open the Stone Gate. The temperature inside was incredibly high. Searing flames roared and churned, and Xiaxia quickly shielded herself with her Primordial Qi.

In the middle of the room, a fire burned continuously beneath a Pill Furnace, which was trembling faintly with a dangerous power.

Xiaxia thought to herself, ’Oh no. This thing is definitely about to blow again.’

BOOM!

Sure enough, a moment later, the Pill Furnace let out a huge roar. The Medicinal Essence inside had clearly dissipated completely, turning into useless dregs.

Yann Xiangyang’s brow was furrowed tightly. Looking at the few remaining ingredients before her, she felt a pang of despair. ’I’ve been trying for so long, and I’ve failed four or five times already. Why can’t I successfully refine this Fourth-Grade Mola Pill?’

’If I just had one bottle of Mola Pills,’ Yann Xiangyang thought, ’I’m confident I could break through to the Sixth Level of Refining Essence before the Four Mountains Martial Arts Gathering. I’d even have a shot at placing in the top three.’

But this string of explosions had all but shattered her confidence.

Xiaxia saw Yann Xiangyang frowning in the distance. She had identified the reason for the explosions at a glance and was about to go over and tell her, but the moment she realized who it was, she immediately dismissed the idea.

Yann Xiangyang forced herself to pull it together. Steeling her resolve, she turned her eyes to the Pill Furnace, preparing for one last attempt.

Xiaxia couldn’t help but scoff. ”Doing it like that, you could try a hundred times and you’d still just blow up the furnace.”

Yann Xiangyang sighed and said, ”I know, but I still want to try.”

Xiaxia opened her mouth, then closed it, unsure of what to say. In the end, she said nothing and simply stood to the side, watching Yann Xiangyang perform her alchemy.

Xiaxia was actually quite surprised. ’So Yann Xiangyang is a Third-Grade Alchemist,’ she thought. ’I bet not many people in the entire Outer Courtyard know about this.’

Yann Xiangyang began the alchemy process step-by-step: warming the furnace, releasing her Primordial Qi to fuel the Pill Fire, and adding the medicinal ingredients.

Yann Xiangyang grit her silvery teeth, beads of sweat starting to form on her forehead.

Xiaxia pouted, but still couldn’t resist offering a tip. ”You’re adding too much Pogui. Half that amount is enough.”

Hearing Xiaxia’s words, Yann Xiangyang, for some reason, subconsciously trusted her. She slowly pulled back her hand, withdrawing the remaining Pogui.

As time went on, a unique fragrance slowly began to drift from the Pill Furnace before Yann Xiangyang.

Yann Xiangyang’s heart pounded with excitement as she murmured, ”Am I... am I going to succeed?”

A moment later, the Pill Furnace opened. Seeing several Mola Pills, as smooth and lustrous as jade, lying inside, Yann Xiangyang was overjoyed.

Yann Xiangyang looked at the pills in her hand and said excitedly, ”I did it! I really refined a Fourth-Grade Pill, the Mola Pill!”

Xiaxia rolled her eyes, silently cursing herself for her big mouth.

Yann Xiangyang looked at Xiaxia gratefully. ”Thank you. If it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t have been able to refine the Mola Pill. May I ask your name?”

”My name is Xiaxia,” she said, then turned to leave.

Yann Xiangyang was startled. ”Wait, you’re Wen Qingye’s disciple?”

Ever since Wen Qingye had single-handedly blocked East Mountain, Xiaxia’s name had become famous throughout the Outer Courtyard of Qig Mountain Academy. Most of the students from East Mountain would take a detour whenever they saw her.

’Wen Qingye’s disciple was able to guide me?’

Xiaxia raised an eyebrow. ”What about it?”

An unnatural smile touched the corners of Yann Xiangyang’s mouth. ”It’s nothing. I just wanted to thank you. Thank you for your advice just now. Otherwise, I still wouldn’t have been able to refine this Mola Pill.”

”My damn mouth,” Xiaxia grumbled unhappily.

Yann Xiangyang asked cautiously, ”I heard you’re learning the Alchemy Dao from Wen Qingye?”

”Yeah, why?”

”And Wen Qingye taught you everything you know about the Alchemy Dao?”

”That’s right.”

Seeing Xiaxia nod, Yann Xiangyang was shocked. ’Could it be that Wen Qingye is a genius in alchemy? His disciple gave me one casual pointer today, and I managed to refine the Fourth-Grade Mola Pill.’

Still skeptical, Yann Xiangyang asked, ”Have you seen someone else refine this Mola Pill before?”

Xiaxia said impatiently, ”Let me tell you, my master’s Alchemy Dao is incredible. I’ve never seen anyone else refine this Mola Pill, alright? Are you satisfied now?”

Yann Xiangyang nodded, then fell silent.

”Hmph. Just consider my advice an act of pity.”

Xiaxia glanced at the silent, head-bowed Yann Xiangyang, then turned to leave.

”Wait. I wouldn’t have been able to refine these Mola Pills without you. Here, take these three.”

As she spoke, Yann Xiangyang tossed three Mola Pills to Xiaxia. Before Xiaxia could refuse, she got up and left the Alchemy Room.

After leaving the Alchemy Pavilion, Yann Xiangyang looked at the Mola Pills in her hand, her feelings in turmoil. She sighed melancholically, and after a long moment, she grit her teeth and muttered, ”Wen Qingye, you truly have some talent. It’s just a shame you were born in the same era as Wen Tongyu, in the same family. At the Four Mountains Martial Arts Gathering, you’ll learn just how cruel the world of geniuses can be. As for being the Wen Family Patriarch... as long as Wen Tongyu is around, you’re destined to have no chance.”

In reality, Yann Xiangyang had no idea that Wen Qingye had been cast out by the Wen Family long ago, or that he couldn’t care less about the position of Patriarch. Her thoughts were likely just wishful thinking, or perhaps based on some rumor she’d heard about Wen Qingye and Wen Tongyu competing for the Patriarch’s seat.

........

Xiaxia looked at the Mola Pills in her hand, smiled, and grumbled, ”What’s the hurry? It’s not like I was going to refuse. Still, you’re pretty stingy, giving me only three Mola Pills.”

Yann Xiangyang had left too quickly to hear Xiaxia’s words; one could only imagine how she would have reacted. This was an exceptional performance for her, successfully refining the Fourth-Grade Mola Pills. A single furnace batch had only yielded ten pills, so giving Xiaxia three was already quite generous.

After all, Yann Xiangyang had spent a considerable amount of time and effort just to gather the ingredients for the Mola Pill, wasting countless medicinal herbs in the process.

Xiaxia walked out happily, holding the Mola Pills. She said in a low voice, ”With these pills, I’m sure I’ll be able to reach the Qi Cultivation Ninth Layer Heaven soon.”

’No, I’ll give them to Master. Maybe they can help his cultivation improve a little more.’ At this thought, a happy smile spread across Xiaxia’s face.