While Xiao Yan was refining the Green Lotus Core Flame, thousands of miles away at Canaan Academy, this year's Inner Academy Competition had already begun.
Xiao Yixian, having already broken through to the Dou Wang realm, naturally secured second place without a doubt.
Although both were Dou Wangs, Xiao Yixian still couldn't defeat the physically abnormal little loli, Zi Yan, without using poison.
Xiao Xun'er ranked third, easily crushing the other students before losing to Xiao Yixian and Zi Yan.
However, Xiao Yixian clearly felt that Xun'er hadn't used her full strength during the competition.
Moreover, even though Xiao Xun'er easily crushed the other students, Xiao Yixian couldn't discern her true strength.
But since Xun'er intentionally hid her abilities, she didn't say anything.
Xiao Yixian estimated that Xiao Xun'er was likely also a Dou Wang, or at least very close to it.
Qing Lin, this time, made it into the top fifty, but was still a bit short of the top ten.
In the past six months, although Qing Lin's cultivation speed wasn't slow, she only managed to advance to the low-tier Dou Ling level.
To secure a top ten spot, one would need to be at least a mid-tier Dou Ling.
For a low-tier Dou Ling to make it into the top fifty was already enough to surprise most people in the Inner Academy.
After all, exceptional cases like Xiao Yan, a three-star Dou Ling who broke into the top ten of the Strong Ranking, were extremely rare.
Such an anomaly, transcending ranks, would likely not appear a second time.
However, it was absolutely certain that Qing Lin would enter the top ten next year.
Xiao Yixian, being a Dou Wang, should have theoretically graduated from Canaan Academy.
However, in order to wait for Qing Lin to break through to Dou Wang with the help of the Blazing Sky Refining Tower, and for Xiao Xue, who didn't know when she would emerge from seclusion, Xiao Yixian chose to remain at the academy.
She cultivated at Canaan Academy as a "graduated student," while also running a medical clinic to treat the students' fire poison.
After breaking through to Dou Wang, Xiao Yixian slowed down her Dou Qi cultivation somewhat, dedicating herself to studying alchemy and her own Woeful Poison Body.
She remembered her teacher, Xiao Xue, once saying that before reaching Dou Wang, she shouldn't rely on pills to advance, but should focus on Dou Qi cultivation.
If she relied entirely on pills for advancement, the Woeful Poison Body would almost certainly go out of control upon reaching the Dou Zun realm.
However, if she first established a certain level of cultivation and then gradually activated the Woeful Poison Body, the probability of it going out of control would be much lower.
Therefore, after breaking through to Dou Wang and having a certain cultivation as a foundation, she could try to activate a portion of the Woeful Poison Body.
That way, even if she didn't actively cultivate, her advancement speed would only be faster, not slower, than before, simply due to the unique nature of the Woeful Poison Body.
Xiao Yixian activated a portion of her Woeful Poison Body, and then slowly increased her cultivation by refining the fire poison she collected from running her medical clinic.
The toxicity of this fire poison was not strong; it was mainly difficult to remove once it entered the body.
So, using it for advancement wouldn't cause her cultivation to skyrocket too quickly.
Xiao Yixian also knew the unique nature of her physique and dared not frantically consume pills to advance.
The specific situation would have to wait until her teacher emerged from seclusion, to follow her teacher's arrangements.
She, on the other hand, devoted the time she previously used for Dou Qi cultivation to studying alchemy.
Xiao Yixian remembered that her teacher, Xiao Xue, had a wager with Pill King Gu He.
The content of the wager was whether she could defeat Gu He's disciple at next year's Alchemist Grand Meeting.
Although she was already a Dou Wang and barely twenty years old, her alchemy skill was only at the high-grade third-tier.
Compared to Pill King Gu He's disciple, this level was probably not enough.
But Xiao Yixian didn't want her teacher to lose.
Therefore, for the next year, she planned to focus on improving her alchemy skills.
As the saying goes, "The master leads the way, but the cultivation is up to the individual."
Although Xiao Xue hadn't taught Xiao Yixian much before.
However, at the third and fourth-grade levels, those fundamental things were the most important.
Once the basic skills were proficient and solid, and the strength of her soul power increased, coupled with a certain amount of practice.
The breakthrough in such low-tier alchemy would come naturally.
Only after the seventh-grade, when soul power is needed to "bestow spirit" upon pills, would guidance make a significant difference.
For example, if Xiao Yan hadn't learned the "Spirit Ascension" method left by Yao Lao, he would certainly have missed out on the Pill Tower championship.
And to be honest, Xiao Xue practiced water-attribute alchemy, while Xiao Yixian practiced fire-attribute alchemy.
Therefore, in terms of fire control, Xiao Xue actually couldn't teach Xiao Yixian much.
The guidance from the elders of Canaan Academy's alchemy department would probably be more suitable for Xiao Yixian.
And facing such a young, infinitely potential Dou Wang, the elders of Canaan Academy were also happy to cultivate her.
After all, which of these old fellows dared to say that they hadn't been infected by the fire poison of the Fallen Heart Flame?
Fire poison was extremely difficult to remove, and even they needed to expend a lot of effort to refine some high-grade detoxification pills to remove it.
This approach was time-consuming and laborious.
Moreover, the medicinal ingredients for detoxification pills were not cheap.
Now, merely guiding a talented junior could easily remove fire poison. Why wouldn't they do such a win-win thing?
Therefore, Xiao Yixian also reached a cooperation with the alchemy department elders and got the guidance she desired.
Actually, Xiao Yixian didn't need to be so nervous at all.
Because Gu He's disciple, Liu Ling, was only a third-grade alchemist at the Alchemist Grand Meeting in the original novel.
His ability to refine a fourth-grade pill in the finals was entirely a gamble he took to win.
The gamble paid off, and he barely managed to cross into the fourth-grade realm.
Otherwise, given Liu Ling's arrogant personality, always wearing a second-grade alchemist badge everywhere, afraid that others wouldn't know;
If he could have passed the fourth-grade alchemist assessment, he would definitely have worn the badge and even shown it to everyone he met.
And Xiao Yixian, a year later, even with her eyes closed, could reach fourth-grade alchemy, or even higher.
What's more, Xiao Xue had also prepared a Heavenly Flame for her, waiting for her to refine it.
After an alchemist refines a Heavenly Flame, their alchemy skills will be strengthened in all aspects.
Therefore, even if Gu He fiercely trained Liu Ling to win the wager, Liu Ling would still not be able to defeat Xiao Yixian.
Speaking of which, Gu He and Liu Ling truly deserve to be master and disciple.
Yun Yun and Nalan Yanran are master and disciple, and Gu He is Yun Yun's simp, while Liu Ling is Nalan Yanran's simp... One set his sights on the Sect Master of the Misty Cloud Sect, the other on the Young Sect Master of the Misty Cloud Sect. This could be considered a unique form of inheritance.
It's just that their master and disciple duo, born in this era, are ultimately a tragedy.
On the other side, in the Tagor Desert, at the Snake-People Tribe's stronghold.
Xiao Yan helped the Snake-People Tribe refine pills (actually, it was Yao Lao who took action) and traded some medicinal ingredients with them.
Although the Snake-People Tribe was previously in the desert, an empire's inventory was still quite substantial.
Not to mention, Medusa had just visited the Northern Cold Land not long ago.
Therefore, the Snake-People Tribe actually had a stock of materials needed to refine the Green Lotus Pill, such as sixth-tier water-attribute magic cores.
Xiao Yan, or rather, Yao Lao, refined several pills for the Snake-People Tribe as an exchange, obtaining magic cores and medicinal ingredients, and then refined a Green Lotus Pill for Xiao Yan.
Then, Xiao Yan consumed the Fiery Dragon Flame with the Green Lotus Pill, elevating his Fen Jue to the Earth-tier and his cultivation to an eight-star Dou Shi.
The Fiery Dragon Flame and the Green Lotus Core Flame were also successfully merged by Xiao Yan into a new Heavenly Flame.
The merged Heavenly Flame, in appearance, was a green lotus with a loess-colored dragon coiling around it.
Its power was no less than that of the Ninth Dragon Thunder Gang Flame, which ranked twelfth, and was second only to Yao Lao's Bone Chilling Flame.
In the original novel, the Heavenly Flame formed by Xiao Yan merging the nineteenth-ranked Green Lotus Core Flame with the fourteenth-ranked Fallen Heart Flame caused the Burning Flame Valley's Ninth Dragon Thunder Gang Flame to retreat.
Even the eleventh-ranked Bone Chilling Flame couldn't elicit such a violent reaction from the Ninth Dragon Thunder Gang Flame, which was only second to it.
This indicated that its power far surpassed the Ninth Dragon Thunder Gang Flame.
Therefore, it was within the normal range for the eighteenth and nineteenth-ranked Heavenly Flames to possess power comparable to the Ninth Dragon Thunder Gang Flame after merging.
Afterward, Xiao Yan bid farewell to the Snake-People Tribe and prepared to head to Canaan Academy.
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