Once Yang Xiao was alone in the bedroom,
He got to work.
First, he fetched a basin of water.
Then, he dug up some dirt and took a piece of gold from his money pouch.
Of these three items, Yang Xiao first placed the gold into the water to soak.
After finishing, he closed his eyes and began to meditate.
About a quarter of an hour later, he walked over to the basin where the gold was soaking.
He submerged his hand in the water, sensing it carefully. Suddenly, with a slight flick of his hand inside the basin, a single water droplet landed on his palm.
This water droplet was extremely strange, for it was shimmering with a Golden Light.
"Metal generates Water. It worked!"
Yang Xiao smiled, took out the Thousand-year-old Red Blood Orchid, and with a gentle flick, dripped the droplet onto its dark purple-streaked root.
In an instant, this orchid-shaped Spirit Medicine, already as fiery red as blood, turned an even more intense shade of crimson.
The crimson color began to spread toward the root.
It was as if the plant intended to assimilate this last trace of impurity.
"Water generates Wood, Wood flourishes, and Fire is born!"
Yang Xiao smiled faintly, took out the dirt he had prepared earlier, and planted the now somewhat strange Thousand-year-old Red Blood Orchid in it.
Before long, the Thousand-year-old Red Blood Orchid became even more intensely red until finally, even its root had turned a solid crimson.
Only then did Yang Xiao smile in satisfaction. 'It worked! The reverse generation of the Five Elements, inverting the cycle of creation and destruction. Wood generates Fire, dissolving its own wood nature. Now, this Thousand-year-old Red Blood Orchid has become a purely fire-attribute Spirit Medicine!'
Seeing that the Thousand-year-old Red Blood Orchid was now a uniform crimson without a trace of impurity, he could even faintly sense the world's Fire Elemental Power gathering toward it.
It was as if it was about to condense a True Flame at any moment.
If any Great Pharmacists were to witness this, they would surely be astounded and view him as a Celestial Being.
Any Great Pharmacist could have seen that the Thousand-year-old Red Blood Orchid, originally composed of eight parts Fire Elemental Power and two parts Wood Elemental Power, had been transformed into pure Fire Elemental Power. Moreover, its medicinal potency had suffered almost no loss; in fact, it seemed to have been slightly enhanced.
'The reverse generation method of the Five Elements is as useful as ever,' he thought. 'Now, let's see to what level this Spirit Medicine can elevate the fire seed within me.'
Picking up the Spirit Medicine, which was already growing hot to the touch, Yang Xiao swallowed it in a single gulp while it was on the verge of erupting with power.
The moment he swallowed, a terrifying wave of heat surged from his mouth straight into his chest and abdomen.
Yang Xiao's entire body turned bright red, like a cooked prawn.
His qi and blood boiled, and veins bulged on his skin. His whole body began to swell slowly, like an overinflated balloon on the verge of popping.
'This body is a bit weak... It can't even handle this much medicinal power. Sigh...'
Despite the dangerous situation, Yang Xiao wasn't the least bit worried. He even had the presence of mind to lament his body's weakness.
If anyone outside were to find out, they would likely be left completely dumbfounded.
Utterly horrified.
After all, ordinary Martial Artists wouldn't dare to consume even a First-Grade Spirit Medicine so carelessly.
They would either refine it into a pill, brew it into a decoction, or cut off a small piece to ingest. While this would cause some of the medicinal properties to be lost, it was the only way to safely absorb its potency.
For someone like Yang Xiao to swallow an entire Fourth-Grade Spirit Medicine whole was simply inconceivable. An ordinary person who tried this wouldn't be able to absorb a single shred of its potency.
Instead, their body would explode on the spot, resulting in immediate death.
At that moment, Yang Xiao also felt the medicinal potency running rampant through his body. As his qi and blood churned, some of his blood vessels had already burst.
However, he felt no tension, no pain—only anticipation.
His own remnant soul had taken over this body, merging with its original, fragmented soul. But that wisp of Innate Origin Fire was hidden somewhere within, its location unknown.
It was far too weak.
But Spirit Medicine was its favorite food.
Such a massive amount of berserk medicinal power was sure to lure it out.
As for his body exploding, he was confident he could prevent that with his current Spirit Will.
'It's coming!'
Yang Xiao's Heart Spirit trembled.
Sure enough, it wasn't long before a flame so dim it was nearly transparent drifted out from his heart. Yang Xiao's eyes instantly lit up.
Although the rampaging medicinal potency was causing him immense discomfort,
and his body had already sustained numerous internal injuries,
as long as he could lure out the Innate Origin Fire, it was all worth it.
Yang Xiao immediately focused his will upon the Innate Origin Fire, controlling it, guiding it downward until it finally entered and settled within his body's Qi Sea.
The Essence Qi there was completely withered.
This was the root cause of the body's previous owner's inability to cultivate.
But as soon as the Innate Origin Fire appeared, a trace of vitality instantly emerged in that dead, silent space.
Simultaneously, Yang Xiao used all his strength to merge the medicinal potency into his qi and blood. His Qi Blood Power, already at the Martial Disciple Peak, instantly swept up the immense medicinal potency and surged into the Qi Sea, pouring into the wisp of Innate Origin Fire.
The Innate Origin Fire began to glow brighter.
On the verge of dissipating just moments ago, it now grew steadily more brilliant.
Its color also began to gradually change.
It shifted from transparent and colorless to a pale red, as if tinged with blood. But Yang Xiao knew this wasn't the color of blood; it was the first form of a Heaven and Earth Origin Flame.
The Red Flame Realm.
...
With such a good start, the rest of the process unfolded naturally.
A massive amount of medicinal potency flowed into the Innate Origin Fire, and a ball of crimson flame gradually took shape.
Finally, after an unknown amount of time, once the Spirit Medicine's potency within him was completely exhausted, the ball of crimson flame finished coalescing and stabilized.
'Just the Red Flame Realm? And only the Mid-stage Red Flame at that, not even the Great Success of the Red Flame Realm... This medicinal potency is truly pathetic.'
Yang Xiao was far from satisfied.
However, he also knew that in his current state, a Fourth-Grade Spirit Medicine was the best he could hope to acquire. To find something better...
It would be difficult.
Far too difficult.
'Still, it was a success in the end. Time to try out the feeling of cultivation.'
Yang Xiao smiled.
He sat cross-legged and began to absorb the Fire Elemental Power from the heavens and the earth.
He didn't use a Cultivation Technique. No, he didn't need one. A Heaven and Earth Origin Fire possessed the innate ability to control and absorb Fire Elemental Power.
Its speed surpassed that of any Cultivation Technique.
Thus, in a mere instant, all the Fire Elemental Power from the surrounding ten li was absorbed into Yang Xiao's body.
But all this Fire Elemental Power wasn't even enough to deepen the color of the crimson flame inside him by the slightest shade.
Yang Xiao's expression changed at once.
'It seems the Fire Elemental Power in this world is even sparser than I imagined. At this rate, it will take at least several months of just absorbing Fire Elemental Power to reach the Great Success of the Red Flame Realm.'
Too slow.
Far too slow.
He knew that the Red Flame Realm was only the first stage of a Heaven and Earth Origin Fire, belonging to the level of Mortal Fire.
To break through this single realm required one Fourth-Grade Spirit Medicine plus several months of non-stop cultivation. Yang Xiao found such a pace utterly unbearable.
'Looks like I'll have to find more Spirit Medicines. Maybe I should check out the Spirit Medicine Marketplace? I might find something unexpected there.'