After much coaxing, Xiao Yan finally managed to figure out Zi Yan's current situation. After breaking through to the Dou Huang realm, she was indeed capable of transforming into her previous mature form, but she could only maintain it for a short period of time—and the toll it took on her body was enormous. If she wanted to sustain that form for longer, she would either need a sufficient supply of energy or have to further elevate her cultivation level.
Having confirmed this, Xiao Yan sent Zi Yan back to her room to rest. Though she insisted she didn't need it, Xiao Yan casually threatened to withhold future energy pills. Faced with that, she obediently lay down, and the moment her head touched the pillow, her eyelids began to droop, quickly dragging her into a peaceful slumber.
"Whew…" Gently closing the door behind him, Xiao Yan couldn't help but chuckle wryly. 'What kind of mess have I gotten myself into this time…'
Upon returning to the secret chamber, just as he was about to resume training, he was surprised to discover that his physical strength had improved significantly. After thinking it over carefully, he realized there were two main reasons. One part likely came from the residual medicinal power of the Dragon Saliva Flame Grass he had absorbed from Zi Yan's body. The other, more unexpected, reason came from Zi Yan herself.
After all, her true form was the legendary Ancient Void Dragon. The blood of such a creature had natural body-refining properties, able to strengthen one's bones and flesh. Xiao Yan had come into contact with a great deal of her blood and had unknowingly absorbed it during their recent... intense encounter. As a result, his physique had been tempered and strengthened.
Realizing this, Xiao Yan couldn't help but laugh helplessly. 'It's a good thing my body got stronger, but if I told anyone how it happened, they'd probably just give me blank stares…' Shaking his head, he pushed away those distracting thoughts, then sat upon the Green Lotus Platform and began refining the last remnants of medicinal and blood energy from within his body.
Having successfully cultivated the Nine Revolutions Spirit Refinement, Xiao Yan had already condensed his Soul Flame Seed. Though the process had been excruciating, his soul power had grown by leaps and bounds. Given his recent breakthroughs, he estimated that his soul had now officially reached the Spirit Realm, which meant he was qualified to refine Tier Eight Pills.
However, Xiao Yan was no fool. Even though he had the power to refine Tier Eight Pills, he had never even formally refined a Tier Seven Pill. Jumping straight to Tier Eight would result in an unacceptably low success rate. Not to mention, in a place like the Black-Corner Region, gathering the ingredients needed for Tier Eight Pills was no easy feat. Even Tier Seven ingredients were exceedingly rare. If it weren't for his near-complete looting of the resources in the Fallen Grounds, and over a year's worth of gathering by Xiao Sect, he wouldn't even have two or three full sets of Tier Eight materials.
Not willing to waste them, Xiao Yan decided to refine some Tier Seven Pills first to hone his skills. Before beginning, he used the Dou Huang corpses he'd acquired from the Fallen Grounds to refine a few Puppets using a technique he'd learned in his previous life from Flame Demon Valley. There were three levels of these puppets, and he refined the lowest grade, which only required a Dou Huang's body, soul fragments, and a Tier Six Monster Core.
Though Xiao Yan didn't hold such puppets in high regard, they had one particularly useful trait: the ability to absorb lightning. That meant they could help him deal with Pill Lightning, a useful feature even though Xiao Yan himself didn't fear it. Using the materials he had on hand, he created a few of them to serve as both guards and lightning shields during pill refinement.
Once everything was ready, Xiao Yan finally began refining pills. With his current soul power and flame control, the only thing he lacked was experience. After a few early failures, his success rate rapidly increased. Before long, pill thunder rumbled constantly above Xiao Sect, causing many onlookers to wonder if their sect master had offended the heavens.
During this period, Xiao Yan almost never left his chamber. Focused entirely on alchemy, his skills improved at a startling pace. He could now refine basic Tier Seven Pills with a 70–80% success rate. For mid-grade ones, he succeeded one in every few attempts, and even high-grade Tier Seven Pills had been successfully refined once or twice. A big part of this success was thanks to the Spirit of the Deep Sea, the cauldron he'd obtained—ranked tenth on the Heavenly Cauldron List. It provided a significant boost to both Tier Seven and Tier Eight refining. While the cauldron he'd found in Han Feng's Sea Abyss Ring was decent, it still couldn't compare.
Once he placed the final pill into its jade bottle, Xiao Yan ceased his refining. It wasn't because he wanted to stop—but because he had run out of materials. This disappointed him greatly. He felt that if he could've continued at this pace, he'd be ready for Tier Eight Pills in no time. Now, however, he had to put everything on hold.
"Looks like you've burned through your ingredients," Zi Yan teased from where she sat on the bed, smiling brightly.
Seeing her, Xiao Yan sighed deeply. Though he had been secluded in his chamber refining pills, he still took occasional breaks. And during those rare moments of rest, either Zi Yan or Qing Lin—or sometimes both—would sneak in to pester him. A month ago, he only had one loli to worry about. Now, there were two.
And their relationship had changed too. What once was a simple sisterly bond had now become… master and disciple. Qing Lin was the master. Zi Yan, the disciple. After learning what had happened between Xiao Yan and Zi Yan, Qing Lin had even taken out her personal stash of "little booklets" and shared them enthusiastically, explaining everything in detail…
Xiao Yan had lost count of how many times he regretted telling Qing Lin to be her "true self." 'How could I have known that her true self was like this…?'
Of course, the "you're too young" excuse he'd used on Qing Lin didn't work on Zi Yan. Her actual age was far above his current one, even if she looked like a little girl. So now he was left resorting to the laughable excuse of "I'm the one who's too young," just to avoid ending up bound and carted off by this little dragon girl.
Still, Xiao Yan wasn't actually annoyed by them. As troublesome as the two girls were, they at least knew their boundaries. When he was focused on pill refinement, they never dared disturb him. And during downtime, having two cute girls buzzing around him like playful spirits… well, it did wonders for lifting one's mood.
If it had been Hai Bodong who came to talk the moment he finished refining, he'd have kicked the old man out on the spot.
(End of Chapter)
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