"Xiao Zhang, what are you writing?" Qiangu Yunying asked curiously.
After finishing up, Yin Zhang showed her the pill formula and said, "This is a pill formula I saw in the Heaven Dou Imperial Treasury. The main ingredient is the Cockscomb Phoenix Sunflower. My memory's pretty good, so I memorized it and wrote it down afterward."
Hearing this, Qiangu Yunying couldn't help but worry. "Is that really okay? What if you get discovered?"
Yin Zhang smiled calmly. "That formula was basically just a display piece in the treasury. Besides, if we don't say anything, no one will ever know."
Aside from the pill formula, the other item Yin Zhang had chosen in the treasury was a dragon horn. It looked plain at first glance, but it held an irresistible appeal for him.
That choice had also triggered a system prompt. After making his decision, Yin Zhang obtained a pill furnace as well.
From the system's information, he learned that the dragon horn was the essence of a fallen Vicious Beast–level true dragon. By keeping it with him and refining it over time, it could enhance the Dragon Bloodline within his martial spirit.
Once his Dragon Bloodline was strengthened, he might be able to comprehend additional dragon-type spirit abilities. Even if he couldn't, simply increasing the purity of his Dragon Bloodline would still greatly boost his combat power.
As for the pill furnace, it was clearly something the system had prepared—an indispensable tool for refining the Fire Phoenix Pill.
Now the question was, who would refine it?
There was only a single Cockscomb Phoenix Sunflower, and Yin Zhang wasn't willing to gamble by refining it himself.
The first person he thought of was Dugu Bo.
Dugu Bo had spent many years refining medicines and had even dabbled in alchemy. Compared to Yin Zhang, his chances of success were far higher. Moreover, the pill formula contained extremely detailed instructions, so with that in hand, success should be all but guaranteed.
After the Elite Tournament concluded, the teams that failed to place in the top three had already left Heaven Dou.
As for the Spirit Hall Academy team led by Yin Zhang, Tang Zhen and Qiangu Yuan had yet to return. For safety reasons, they had to remain in the city and wait for them.
During this period, they were free to enjoy themselves in Heaven Dou City.
After returning to the hotel, Yin Zhang and Qiangu Yunying didn't do anything else. Like everyone else, they chose to get a good night's rest. After all, the Elite Tournament had left everyone mentally exhausted.
Late that night, Qiangu Yunying quietly opened the door to Yin Zhang's room, slipped under the covers, and fell asleep beside him.
The next morning, both of them looked a little short on sleep, but after washing up, their energy quickly returned.
Yin Zhang went to find Dugu Bo and took out the newly written pill formula.
"Brother Bo, take a look at the ingredients and the refinement process. If I can gather all the materials, can you refine it?"
Dugu Bo studied it carefully for quite some time before exclaiming in surprise, "I didn't expect this to be an actual pill formula. Legend says that in ancient times, there was once a sect famous for alchemy. But on today's Douluo Continent, no new alchemists have appeared for hundreds of years. The main reason is that pill formulas like this—and many of the medicinal herbs—have long since vanished."
"If you can gather all the ingredients listed here, I have a ninety percent chance of successfully refining this Fire Phoenix Pill. However…" He paused. "I'll also need a suitable pill furnace. The one my family uses has been refining poisons for hundreds of years. Ordinary medicinal herbs would be contaminated the moment they enter it."
Yin Zhang nodded with a smile. "I expected that. Brother Bo, take a look at this."
As he spoke, Yin Zhang lightly touched the gold bead chain around his neck. With a surge of spirit power, a pill furnace appeared before Dugu Bo.
With a heavy bang, the furnace landed on the ground. Dugu Bo examined it closely, clicking his tongue in amazement.
"This pill furnace must weigh at least five hundred jin. And these intricate patterns—just looking at them makes me feel like my alchemy success rate has gone up."
Yin Zhang looked at it as well.
The furnace had dragon heads at each of the four cardinal directions, each one holding a dragon pearl in its mouth. Around the body of the furnace, four dragon forms were tightly entwined, giving it a powerful and majestic beauty.
This was the Dragon Flame Venerable Furnace.
Next, Yin Zhang took out the Cockscomb Phoenix Sunflower and the Vermilion Lotus. The Vermilion Lotus had only been briefly mentioned in the original records and never brought up again—but now, it finally had a use.
Dugu Bo nodded slowly. "As for the remaining medicinal herbs, I'll find a way to obtain them. Hopefully, it won't take too long."
Yin Zhang wasn't in a rush. He still needed several months at the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well to fully absorb the medicinal power of the Octagonal Mysterious Ice Grass and the Fiery Apricot Cactus.
As for the remaining ingredients in the Fire Phoenix Pill formula, he couldn't help feeling a little uneasy. Many of the herbs were unfamiliar to him, and given the age of the formula, some might have been renamed—or truly gone extinct.
All he could do was trust Dugu Bo.
After Dugu Bo left, Yin Zhang took out a round stone from the system inventory. It looked ordinary, yet delicate patterns covered its surface.
This was the reward he had obtained after winning the Elite Tournament, when the system had once again issued a prompt and he made his choice.
The task tied to it was simple: battle a Titled Douluo and hold out for one minute.
To Yin Zhang, lasting one minute wasn't a problem at all.
The only question was—against which Titled Douluo?
Dugu Bo was an option, but Yin Zhang had another thought.
Inside his gold bead chain was the Qiluo Tulip.
He intended to use it to trade with the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile School.
It was no exaggeration to say that the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile School was wealthy enough to rival a nation. In the original events, during the Spirit Hall's Soul Hunting Operation, the sect fled in panic. There was no way they could have taken all their accumulated wealth with them—just imagining how much Spirit Hall profited back then was enough to be amusing.
Bone Douluo Gu Rong was a level 94 Titled Douluo. Compared to the sect's other guardian, Sword Douluo Chen Xin, his offensive power was far weaker.
Gu Rong specialized in defense—and Yin Zhang had plenty of methods to deal with that. With items like the Holy Grail and Overlord Reboot in hand, he didn't need to worry about injuries or running out of spirit power.
He also wielded a Famous Blade, so death itself wasn't a concern.
Even if Chen Xin intervened, Yin Zhang still had a way to escape. Besides, with Dugu Bo present to oversee the battle, there was no chance Gu Rong would dare to play dirty.
As for whether trading the Qiluo Tulip to Ning Fengzhi would be "aiding the enemy"?
That didn't matter.
Either Ning Fengzhi would absorb it himself, or he would give it to Ning Rongrong. In the current situation, neither outcome posed any disadvantage at all.
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