Early the next morning, Xiao Tian arrived at the Xiao Family's Dou Qi Pavilion. Patriarch Xiao Zhan was already waiting at the entrance. Seeing his son approach, he waved his hand, and the guards pushed open the heavy black gates.
"Tian-er, test your attribute first," Xiao Zhan said.
Xiao Tian stepped forward and placed his hand on the testing crystal. A brilliant silver and green light erupted, with arcs of lightning, flame, and wood elemental energy dancing wildly across the surface. The moment he withdrew his hand, the crystal sphere shattered with a crisp crack.
Xiao Zhan's eyes flashed with surprise, but he quickly recovered his posture. "Good. Go inside. Follow the passage matching your attribute and choose a suitable cultivation method."
"Yes, Father."
As Xiao Tian entered the dimly lit pavilion, his powerful soul perception swept across the dark corners. He could clearly sense numerous hidden guards watching his every move.
He casually browsed the scrolls, deliberately breaking through a simple barrier before picking up a random technique. He settled on a Yellow-rank Mid-grade Lightning Art.
After registering at the exit, the heavy doors closed behind him. Xiao Zhan patted his shoulder firmly. "Go back and cultivate well."
After leaving the Dou Qi Pavilion, Xiao Tian went straight to the market and purchased a large quantity of medicinal herbs. On his way back, he stopped at Xiao Xun'er's courtyard and knocked gently.
When the door opened, the young girl looked at him curiously. "Xiao Tian Gege, why are you looking for me?"
"Xun'er, I'm going into seclusion for a while. One month at the shortest, three months at the longest."
Xiao Xun'er's eyes widened slightly. "Why so suddenly? Is it because of the cultivation method you got from the Dou Qi Pavilion today? What did you pick?"
Xiao Tian took out the Yellow-rank Mid-grade Flame Art and handed it to her.
Xun'er glanced at it, then flicked her slender wrist. A silver-white scroll appeared in a flash of light. "Xiao Tian Gege, when you first start cultivating Dou Qi, the higher the grade of the technique, the greater the benefits for your future path. A Yellow-rank Mid-grade is a bit too low. This is a Profound-rank High-grade Flame-type technique, the Rushing Flame Art. Take it and cultivate with this instead."
Xiao Tian took back his Yellow-rank scroll but refused the new one.
Seeing his reluctance, Xun'er became anxious. "Xiao Tian Gege..."
He leaned down and whispered softly into her ear, "I know your background is very mysterious, Xun'er. You can casually offer a Profound-rank High-grade technique. Precisely because I know how special you are... and because I want to marry you one day, I won't cultivate a simple Yellow-rank technique."
"Xiao... Xiao Tian Gege! What nonsense are you talking about? Who wants to marry you?!" Xun'er stammered, her face flushing as red as a ripe apple.
Seeing her blush so intensely it looked like blood might drip from her cheeks, Xiao Tian stopped teasing her. He condensed a wisp of Dou Qi in his palm and extended it toward her.
"I already converted my cultivation method long ago. Feel it for yourself."
Xun'er, still red-faced, carefully extended her spiritual perception to sense his Dou Qi. Her eyes widened in genuine astonishment.
Though Xiao Tian was actually using a far more supreme technique, he deliberately masked its true aura to disguise it as an Earth-rank Low-grade technique.
"It seems Xiao Tian Gege is also full of secrets..." Xun'er whispered in realization. "You're actually cultivating an Earth-rank Low-grade technique. No wonder you didn't want my scroll."
After chatting with her for a while longer, Xiao Tian bid her farewell and headed toward the secluded stone forest behind the mountain.
He blocked the entrance with heavy boulders, took out all the medicinal herbs he had purchased, and sat down cross-legged.
It was time to begin his journey as an alchemist.
Xiao Tian had already merged with a piece of shape-shifting Cloud Dream Immortal Gold, wearing it as a permanent bracelet on his wrist. With a thought, he reshaped the immortal gold into a durable alchemy cauldron. He waved his palm, summoning a gentle wisp of the green Life Spirit Flame—one of the legendary Heavenly Flames—which began to slowly heat the cauldron before him.
He started with the basics. Throwing a single stalk of Blood Coagulation Grass into the cauldron, he carefully managed the temperature. Under the steady baking of the emerald flame, the herb slowly dissolved into a fine white medicinal powder.
Xiao Tian carefully collected the powder into a prepared jade box and grinned broadly.
"Hahaha! I really do have a natural gift... succeeded on my very first try!"
After a brief rest, he continued refining the remaining Blood Coagulation Grass, White Orchid Fruit, and Blood Ginseng.
Time flew by in complete focus.
One month later.
Xiao Tian sat in the quiet stone forest, his face slightly weathered from constant concentration. Arranged neatly in front of him were dozens of porcelain bottles filled with successfully refined Blood Replenishing Pills. Beside them lay a small pile of black ash—the charred remnants of herbs that had been burned to cinders whenever his control flickered during the critical pill-forming stage.
"Being an alchemist is indeed an expensive path," he muttered to himself.
He picked up a freshly refined Blood Replenishing Pill, admiring the crisp, clear pill patterns carved across its surface, and smiled with deep satisfaction.
After meditating to recover his depleted Dou Qi, Xiao Tian prepared to step up his craft by attempting second-grade pills: the Marrow Cleansing Pill and the Youth Preservation Pill.
The Marrow Cleansing Pill required Bone Forging Grass, Blood Essence Grass, and Marrow Cultivating Root. Meanwhile, the Youth Preservation Pill required Rainbow Skirt Grass, Jade Muscle Flower, Body Cleansing Grass, and Red Leek Fragrance.
With steady breath and a refined flame control born of relentless practice, Xiao Tian placed the new herbs into the shimmering cauldron, ready to conquer the second rank of alchemy.
---
Would you like to continue directly into the second-grade pill refinement, or shift to the next event in his seclusion?