Chapter 135: The Pill Is Formed

"Do not disturb me while I am refining alchemical pills." Qin Feiyang instructed the Wolf King, then flicked his wrist. The Netherworld Demon Flame surged through the air and hovered beneath the furnace.

With a mere thought, the flames rose, and the temperature inside the ancient castle soared instantly. The Wolf King hurriedly retreated to a corner, its pupils contracting as it eyed the Netherworld Demon Flame with considerable wariness.

In an instant, the lid of the furnace turned bright red, and heat began to billow outward. Refining pills with one's own alchemical flame was a completely different matter compared to borrowing someone else's. Back in the alchemy room, Qin Feiyang had to use his spiritual power to grow accustomed to the high heat and gradually merge with the flame before he could even control it. Now, with the Netherworld Demon Flame, all he needed was a single thought. This undoubtedly saved a great deal of time.

*Hum!*

A surge of spiritual power erupted from the top of his head, lifting an herb and slowly placing it into the furnace. However, the moment it entered, the herb turned to ash amidst a puff of black smoke.

"What happened?" Qin Feiyang frowned. He had refined healing pills over a hundred times. His control over the flame was, if not masterful, certainly not prone to mistakes. He remembered clearly that the first ingredient required thirty percent of the flame's intensity. He had set it to exactly that, so why had it burned to ash?

Suspiciously, he reached his hand toward the furnace but yanked it back like lightning. "Why is the temperature inside so high?"

He pondered for a moment and realized the truth: the grade of the Netherworld Demon Flame was undoubtedly higher than that of the Alchemy Hall's fires. There was a temperature difference, and he would have to readjust his approach.

Having realized this, he adjusted the flame to twenty percent intensity, but the herb still turned to ash. He tried ten percent, and it still burned to ash.

"Not even ten percent?" Qin Feiyang was stunned. The grade of the Netherworld Demon Flame exceeded his expectations. He tried five percent—this time, he successfully extracted the spiritual essence.

"The first ingredient used to require thirty percent intensity, but now it only needs five percent. For the second ingredient, which usually requires forty percent, does it now only need ten percent?" A quick test confirmed this was indeed the case.

Emboldened, he proceeded to extract the remaining spiritual essences. The third ingredient took ten percent, the fourth fifteen percent. Soon, eight drops of spiritual essence were ready. The final two steps—merging the eight essences and adding the solidification agent to form the pill—were completed in one smooth, unbroken motion.

Once the pill was out, Qin Feiyang grabbed it impatiently and examined it closely. His body trembled, and a brilliant light ignited in his eyes. The healing pill was encircled by a ring of clear, distinct pill patterns, radiating a faint, precious glow. It looked as if the pill had been adorned with a halo.

This was a true top-grade pill. Qin Feiyang was ecstatic. The alchemical flame was indeed the key factor affecting the quality of the pills. Without the Netherworld Demon Flame, he could never have refined such a perfect pill. He was now truly worthy of the title "Master Alchemist."

"Don't get carried away. A top-grade pill is not the end goal. I must keep striving."

He muttered to himself, calmed his excitement, and began to refine the bone-mending pill.

Time slipped away. Two nights later, a round, plump figure climbed through the window, looking shifty. It was Fatty! Seeing the room empty, he whispered, "Boss Jiang, Fatty is here. Come out."

*Whoosh!*

Qin Feiyang appeared out of thin air and smiled. "I've been waiting for you for a long time."

"Waiting for me?" Fatty was taken aback.

"Do you think I dare go to the Pill King Hall to find you now?" Qin Feiyang gave a bitter smile. He would likely be captured before he even reached the gates. That was why he stayed in such a conspicuous place—so that everyone in the city knew where he was, and if Fatty had business, he would know where to come.

Fatty pondered this and understood. "This is too troublesome. We need to get our hands on some image crystals as soon as possible."

"Are you kidding? Image crystals are expensive. Are you paying?" Qin Feiyang asked.

Fatty chuckled. "Even if you sold me, you wouldn't make enough gold coins, so you'll have to figure that out, Boss Jiang."

Qin Feiyang rolled his eyes and scanned the room. "Where is Shi Zheng?"

"Drinking alone downstairs," Fatty pointed downward.

"Good, as long as he didn't see you. Did you get the herbs?" Qin Feiyang asked.

"Is there anything Fatty can't do?" Fatty gave him a dissatisfied glare and tossed him a storage bag. Qin Feiyang grabbed the bag, grabbed Fatty, and in the next instant, they were inside the ancient castle.

"Hey, Brother Wolf," Fatty said, reaching out to greet the Wolf King enthusiastically.

"Your meat must be quite succulent. It's been a few months since Brother Wolf had a taste of flesh..." The Wolf King bared its blood-red maw, staring at him with malicious intent. Before it could finish, Fatty shivered and hid behind Qin Feiyang like a frightened piglet.

"Useless," the Wolf King scoffed, looking at him with disdain before lowering its head to go back to sleep.

Qin Feiyang checked the herbs; there were exactly three portions of each. As he organized them, he asked, "Fatty, a question."

"Go ahead!"

"Do you already know my true identity?"

Fatty chuckled. "Then tell me, who is your true identity?"

Qin Feiyang said calmly, "You didn't show even a hint of surprise, so it's as I suspected. Fatty, since you know I am Qin Feiyang, why do you still associate with me?"

"What? You're Qin Feiyang?" Fatty looked at him, stunned and wide-eyed.

Qin Feiyang looked up at him. "Keep acting, and I'll let the White-Eyed Wolf eat you."

"Awooo!" The Wolf King cooperated, baring its fangs and growling.

Fatty shrank his neck and hurriedly said, "Alright, alright! I knew you were Qin Feiyang. I stayed close to you because I guessed you had a powerful background and wanted to ride your coattails and get some benefits. That's not a crime, is it?"

Qin Feiyang shook his head. "That's fine, and you guessed right—my background is indeed significant."

"So, what is your background?" Fatty asked curiously.

"If I tell you now, I'll have to kill you later. Do you still want to know?"

"Never mind then," Fatty quickly waved his hands.

"Prepare the bamboo scrolls. I'll give you two perfect-grade martial techniques in a moment. Don't disturb me now." Qin Feiyang put away the pills, stood up, and approached the furnace, centering his mind to refine the Scarlet Fire Glazed Pill.

The Scarlet Fire Glazed Pill was not like the healing or bone-mending pills. Their ingredients were common and cheap, but every ingredient for the Scarlet Fire Glazed Pill was rare. If he wasted them, it would take great effort to find them again. He had to be especially careful with the fire ginseng and the leaves of the Scarlet Fire Glazed Tree.

This was his first time refining this pill, so he was inevitably a bit nervous. Meanwhile, Fatty was filled with wild joy.

Boss Jiang... no, Boss Qin was actually going to give him perfect-grade martial techniques! The surprise was too sudden; he felt dizzy, as if he were dreaming.

"You're as useless as Ling Yunfei. It's just two perfect-grade techniques. Is there any need to be this excited?" The Wolf King's disdainful voice echoed in Fatty's mind.

Fatty glared and turned to shout at the wolf, but remembered Qin Feiyang was refining pills and swallowed his words. He whispered smugly, "I'm happy, what's it to you?"

"Tch!" The Wolf King looked at him with contempt and closed its eyes.

Qin Feiyang began. He was fully focused. There were nine ingredients in total. For each one, he set the flame to the lowest setting and increased it gradually.

"I can't believe Boss Qin actually has leaves from the Scarlet Fire Glazed Tree," Fatty muttered to himself, calming down to watch the process. The castle fell into a deathly silence.

Hundreds of breaths passed. Aside from the tree leaves and the fire ginseng, the other seven essences were extracted, emitting a rich, medicinal fragrance. Now, he was even more cautious, concentrating his spiritual power without a hint of distraction. Another hundred breaths passed. The fire ginseng essence was extracted.

Finally, he began the tree leaves. As they entered the furnace, he controlled the Netherworld Demon Flame, increasing the heat step by step. Suddenly, the heat seemed too intense; the leaves withered rapidly, but no essence appeared!

Qin Feiyang's expression changed. He hurriedly retrieved the leaves, and seeing they weren't burnt, he sighed in relief. Once the furnace cooled, he carefully placed them back in. This time, his control was even more precise, the heat increasing by the tiniest margins.

Dozens of breaths later, the essence was finally extracted without further incident. But he couldn't relax yet. The final two steps were critical. Qin Feiyang watched the nine drops of essence, trying to relax his mind and body. Being too tense made mistakes more likely.

After a long while, he began to merge the nine drops. Every movement was gentle. This was a test of control and patience—the slightest error would cause everything to collapse.

Gradually, the nine drops merged into one, indistinguishable from each other, radiating a brilliant glow like a supreme treasure about to be born.

The final step! Qin Feiyang controlled his spiritual power, picked up a drop of solidification agent, and carefully fused it into the liquid.

Suddenly, the Scarlet Fire Glazed Pill took shape. The glow retreated, revealing a pill the size of a marble. It was fiery red, with tiny wisps of flame appearing on its surface. A mesmerizing medicinal fragrance, like a tidal wave, instantly swept through every corner of the castle.

Qin Feiyang flicked his hand, and the pill flew out of the furnace into his palm. Though the pill was scalding and he was drenched in sweat, he could not hide the wild, surging joy in his heart.