Shen Haoran was completely unaware of the conspiracy brewing elsewhere in the Medicine Hall. At this moment, he was staring at the Elixir in the Alchemy Furnace, his gaze fixed and unmoving.
THUD...
A moment later, a dull thud echoed from within Shen Haoran’s Pill Furnace. Immediately after, the once-stable Essence of Spiritual Medicine suddenly shattered, turning into a pile of residue that fell to the bottom and drifted out of the Pill Furnace.
Watching the Essence of Spiritual Medicine turn to dust, a shadow of disappointment fell over Shen Haoran’s face. He let out a bitter laugh. ’Is it still not working?’
The Elixir Shen Haoran was currently refining was the Blood Miasma Breaking Demon Pill, the most Low Level of all Seventh Grade Elixirs. For the past few days, Shen Haoran had clearly felt his Spiritual Thought reach the Peak of a Sixth Grade Alchemist. He had been trying to achieve a breakthrough but was always blocked by that final barrier.
The Spirit Medicines required for a Seventh Grade Elixir were extremely precious. Even with the full resources of the Burning Flame City Medicine Hall, they had only managed to gather two sets for Shen Haoran. He had used the first for a practice run, and back then, he had clearly felt that barrier. He had thought his second attempt at Alchemy would allow him to shatter it, but it had ended in failure once more!
’It feels like something is always missing!’ Shen Haoran’s brows furrowed. Whenever he prepared to break through that barrier, he always felt that something was lacking in his Spiritual Thought. But no matter how hard he thought, he couldn’t figure out what it was.
’Sigh, it seems I was too hasty!’ Shen Haoran thought with a bitter smile. Alchemy was something that required steady, gradual progress. Being too anxious would only throw him off. As the saying goes, haste makes waste. That was exactly it.
’Time to get some fresh air!’ Shen Haoran stood up and stretched his whole body, releasing a series of cracking sounds from his bones. He had been cooped up in here for over half a month; it was time to go out for a walk.
RUMBLE RUMBLE RUMBLE... The doors to the Alchemy Room slowly swung open. A rich Pill Fragrance drifted out from within, instantly rousing Xiaorui, who was waiting outside. Her eyes went wide with curiosity as she peered into the Alchemy Room, but all she could see was swirling mist; the rest was completely obscured.
"Big Brother, what were you doing?" Seeing Shen Haoran emerge, Xiaorui threw herself into his arms and asked with curiosity. For some reason, Xiaorui loved how Shen Haoran smelled; she would dart into his embrace any chance she got.
Shen Haoran picked up Xiaorui. When he saw the increasingly distinct Lotus insignia in her eyes, he smiled and nodded. Before entering seclusion, he had given Xiaorui a Cultivation Technique specifically for the Heaven-Reaching Saint Eye. After half a month of Cultivation, her Heaven-Reaching Saint Eye seemed to show signs of awakening. He stroked her head and said dotingly, "Big Brother was doing Alchemy!"
"You mean the little candy beans?" Xiaorui asked, putting her finger in her mouth as she looked at Shen Haoran with anticipation.
"That’s right. Go take this ring to Grandmaster Feng!" Shen Haoran smiled and nodded, then handed a Storage Ring to Xiaorui. Inside the ring were the fruits of his labor from the past half-month. He figured Feng Li would be ecstatic when he saw it.
"Okay!" Xiaorui nodded, obediently took the ring from Shen Haoran, and ran toward Feng Li’s office. Watching her retreating figure, Shen Haoran chuckled lightly before his figure flickered and vanished.
A short while later, a burst of wild laughter erupted from Feng Li’s office. The Storage Ring Shen Haoran had sent over left him utterly stunned. It was piled high with Elixirs of various sizes, nearly all of which were Fifth and Sixth Grade Elixirs, with a heap of Fourth Grade Level Elixirs besides. But without a single exception, every Elixir had formed a Pill Pattern—even those at the Sixth Grade. What an absurdly high success rate! With all these Elixirs, the cost of the Spirit Medicine provided to Shen Haoran was completely negligible in comparison.
Shen Haoran had expected Feng Li’s excitement, so he didn’t dwell on it. The Vermilion Bird Wings spread from his back, and he flew toward the outskirts of Burning Flame City. He needed to find a quiet place to carefully consider the matter of his breakthrough to Seventh Grade Alchemist. After all, if he wanted to take first place in the battle for Pill Emperor, breaking through to Seventh Grade Alchemist was a must.
Shen Haoran soon found a forest and plunged right into it. The mountain forests were the place closest to nature and the most conducive for contemplation.
Shen Haoran sat down cross-legged. His Heart Spirit entered his Sea of Consciousness, taking a seat high above it. He gazed intently at the roiling sea below, as if searching for some kind of anomaly.
RUMBLE RUMBLE...
Massive waves of Spiritual Thought constantly churned in his Sea of Consciousness. The manifestation of his Heart Spirit hovered there for five full days, but even after all that time, Shen Haoran had discovered nothing. He couldn’t help but grow dejected. As far as he could tell, the Spiritual Thought in his Sea of Consciousness had truly reached a saturation point. A breakthrough should have followed naturally, but for the life of him, he couldn’t find the way forward.
’Where exactly is the problem?’ Shen Haoran’s brows knitted tightly. But no matter how he racked his brain, he couldn’t come up with a single clue.
"Shen the kid, it looks like you’ve run into some big trouble!" Just then, a familiar voice sounded by Shen Haoran’s ear, and an illusory figure slowly materialized before him.
"Elder Yan!" Seeing the figure, Shen Haoran’s face lit up with joy, and he cried out. The last time, when the spatial rift had shattered, Elder Yan had completely exhausted his power protecting him. Fortunately, Shen Haoran still had some Energy stored away in his Sea of Consciousness, and Elder Yan had used that to reawaken.
"Looks like you really need me, huh!" Elder Yan said with a teasing look, observing Shen Haoran.
"Elder Yan, you’ve woken up at the perfect time!" Shen Haoran was so relieved he almost ran over and hugged Elder Yan’s legs. In his past life, Elder Yan’s rank as an Alchemist was surely above Seventh Grade. He might know how to break through.
"You’re trying to break through to Seventh Grade Alchemist?" Hearing Shen Haoran’s explanation, Elder Yan had a look of astonishment on his face. He glanced down at Shen Haoran’s churning Sea of Consciousness, and understanding dawned on him. The little fellow who once didn’t even know what an Elixir was had now grown into a genuine Alchemy Master!
"In truth, the key to breaking through to Seventh Grade Alchemist isn’t the accumulation or even the sheer amount of Spiritual Thought. It’s about quality. In other words, you need to improve the quality of your Spiritual Thought, not just blindly hoard it!" After a moment of contemplation, Elder Yan began to explain the secrets of the Seventh Grade Alchemist to Shen Haoran...
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