Aside from the initial stretch that was rather exhausting, Xiao Yan quickly returned to a more leisurely pace. The long hours of refining pills turned out to be beneficial in solidifying his spiritual energy, so he didn't find the lifestyle entirely intolerable. Of course, if someone expected him to slave away like a laborer day and night, that was absolutely out of the question.
Besides, as someone who hailed from Earth, Xiao Yan understood the concept of scarcity marketing all too well. With the current overwhelming demand for Grandmaster-grade spiritual pills, it only made sense not to oversupply. Rarity brought value—if Grandmaster-grade pills were as common as ordinary ones, their price wouldn't be nearly as sky-high.
Now that he had some free time, Xiao Yan settled his mind and began researching spiritual pill formulas of his own. Back on the Dou Qi Continent, Yao Lao had once said that any high-level alchemist would eventually create their own pill formulas. If one only relied on replicating the knowledge of others without innovating, their future path would be limited.
Xiao Yan agreed wholeheartedly. After all, a formula crafted specifically for oneself would always be more suitable than one borrowed. More importantly, given his current cultivation level, he could already refine high-grade Grandmaster pills. The only problem was that he didn't have a fitting formula—thus, he had no choice but to devise one himself.
When Qing Tan came to find him, she saw Xiao Yan seated before the medicinal cauldron, with dozens of jade bottles arranged in front of him. The ground was strewn with sheets of discarded parchment, each covered in failed ingredient lists. When he saw her, he merely glanced up before continuing his focused work.
Although their relationship had subtly changed, their mode of interaction remained largely the same. Watching him immersed in his research, Qing Tan sighed lightly and said, "I didn't expect you to be this capable. In less than a month, you've managed to organize this entire place so efficiently."
"Just luck," Xiao Yan replied flatly. He didn't think managing a faction was something worthy of praise. Though he wasn't fond of managing a superpower, it didn't mean he couldn't. He simply lacked the inclination. What puzzled him more was why Qing Tan had sought him out—was it to bring up the incident from before?
"I've advanced to Seventh Grade Sovereign," Qing Tan said calmly, sitting down beside him and watching his movements.
Xiao Yan was slightly surprised. He recalled that she had only been at the peak of Fourth Grade Sovereign previously. Now she had leapt straight to the Seventh Grade? Could it be—
"Yes, it's because of that dual cultivation method," she confirmed. A faint blush tinged her cheeks, betraying the calmness of her tone. "Xiao Yan, I want to become stronger... so I need your help to cultivate."
Xiao Yan's hand, which was adjusting his ingredients, trembled slightly. He looked at Qing Tan, whose cheeks were flushed but whose gaze remained fixed on him. After a moment of silence, he muttered, "That kind of method doesn't necessarily yield the results you expect. You can't count on it alone to grow stronger."
"I know, but it will definitely speed up my cultivation compared to normal training," she replied with utmost seriousness. "Don't misunderstand. There's no emotion between us. This is purely for cultivation. Once Jing'er and the others arrive, you go your way, I'll go mine—no debts owed, no ties remaining."
Hearing her say something so bluntly and righteously left Xiao Yan speechless. This girl really had a knack for saying scandalous things with a straight face…
Still, given their recent camaraderie—and out of his generous, altruistic nature—Xiao Yan reluctantly agreed to her request. Sometimes, he really wondered if he was too kind for his own good. He hadn't even considered charging her a fee, which was completely unlike his usual modus operandi.
After that little interlude, Xiao Yan found it difficult to resume studying his pill formulas. Alchemy required a tranquil mind, and though he could use the Demonic Heart Scripture to force himself into temporary calm, it wouldn't be effective for actual research. He might as well turn his attention to other matters first.
Following his "daily good deed" with Qing Tan, Xiao Yan plunged into the Heavenly Tomb and pulled out the corpses he had previously absorbed using the Black Dragon Devouring Spirit Hand. He stripped them of all possessions and extracted their memories. Originally, he had intended to turn the corpses into puppets to guard the tomb, but the discovery of Spiritual Deity Liquid prompted a change of plan.
According to Mandala, Spiritual Deity Liquid was condensed from the spiritual energy of Earth Sovereigns after death, over long periods of time. Because of these stringent conditions, such a resource was extremely rare even in the Great Thousand World—typically found only in ancient battlefields or ancient ruins.
But for Xiao Yan, obtaining it wasn't too difficult. He had both the Heavenly Tomb and the Time Ancestral Symbol at his disposal. By placing the corpses inside the tomb and accelerating time with the Time Ancestral Symbol, he could fulfill the exact conditions Mandala had described.
While the Time Ancestral Symbol was no longer as potent as it had been on the Dou Qi Continent—due to the differing laws of the Great Thousand World—it still functioned freely within the Heavenly Tomb, which belonged to Xiao Yan alone. After all, hadn't he once reversed ten thousand years to resurrect Xiao Xuan inside the tomb? Repeating the process to fast-forward time and produce Spiritual Deity Liquid was well within his ability.
At the Earth Sovereign level, even refining tens of millions of Sovereign Spirit Liquids might not yield substantial progress. This was especially true for Xiao Yan, whose breakthroughs were far more difficult than most. Thus, he had set his sights on the vastly more potent Spiritual Deity Liquid. With enough of it, progressing within the Earth Sovereign realm would become far less arduous.
However, before beginning the refinement, there was another important matter to handle—he needed to extract the Sacred Flood Dragon Flame from Lu Heng's body. If the fire's essence was lost due to time acceleration, he'd have nowhere to cry.
Although Xiao Yan hadn't interacted with the flame directly, based on the battle between Lu Heng and the Ice Spirit Clan elder, its power was indeed formidable—perfect for serving as a new fusion material for his Flame Emperor Flame.
(End of Chapter)
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