Yuan Shu suddenly spoke up, "I want to refine these three ancient remnant prescriptions. Then I can choose three medicinal plants from the medicinal plant depository, right?"
Yao Qianci looked up abruptly, staring at Yuan Shu in astonishment. "What did you say? You want to refine these three ancient remnant prescriptions?"
He thought he had misheard, but to his surprise, Yuan Shu nodded firmly.
"Of course. Didn't you say that only by successfully refining an ancient remnant prescription can one get the chance to enter the medicinal plant depository?"
Yao Qianci opened his mouth. "That is the rule..."
"But the grades of these three ancient remnant prescriptions are very high. Two are fifth-grade, and one is sixth-grade. Unless one is a fifth-grade alchemist or above, it is absolutely impossible to refine them!"
Unexpectedly, Yuan Shu had no intention of stopping after hearing this. She said casually, "Let's give it a try."
Yao Qianci's expression shifted, and the elders and disciples who heard this also changed their countenances.
"Although fifth-grade pills don't have extremely high requirements for spiritual power levels, one still needs to be at the Golden Core stage or above to have enough spiritual power to refine them. Guest Elder Yuan, you seem to only be at the Foundation Establishment stage, right?"
Elder Hai hesitated for a moment before carefully reminding her.
The others also looked baffled, thinking Yuan Shu was joking.
Yuan Shu, however, smiled lightly and nodded in admission. "Yes, my strength is indeed a bit lacking, so I'd like to ask the Peak Master to assist me from the side."
"There's no rule saying that one can't have assistance when refining ancient remnant prescriptions, is there?"
Everyone looked at each other in dismay, unable to refute her.
Indeed, no one had stipulated that assistance was forbidden, but these newly restored ancient remnant prescriptions all had a trial-and-error period.
The precision of the heat control and the purity of the medicinal plants were still just rough, broad estimates. Detailed experiments were required to reach a conclusion.
No one dared to look at a freshly restored ancient remnant prescription and claim they could refine it directly!
Ignoring everyone's astonished expressions, Yuan Shu looked directly at Yao Qianci. "Peak Master, could you do me a favor and assist me?"
Yao Qianci originally wanted to dissuade her as well.
But seeing Yuan Shu's serious face, and recalling that she had just successfully restored the ancient remnant prescriptions, he relented.
He ultimately said nothing and simply nodded in agreement. "Alright."
...
"Guest Elder Yuan, these are the public medicinal cauldrons of Yaoyun Peak. Take a look and see which one you prefer."
A medicine boy led Yuan Shu to the adjacent cauldron room to choose.
Generally, any alchemist specializing in the path of alchemy would have their own medicinal cauldron.
For someone like Yuan Shu who picked it up halfway, she could only choose a public one if she wanted a cauldron.
Yuan Shu walked around the room, her gaze sweeping over the medicinal cauldrons before her one by one, her brows slowly furrowing.
"Are there any others?"
The medicine boy was stunned for a moment, then quickly shook his head. "All the public medicinal cauldrons are here. There are no others."
"Guest Elder Yuan, do none of these... catch your eye?"
Yuan Shu shook her head. "It's not about whether they catch my eye or not. It's that... the quality of these cauldrons is too low. They can't be used."
A flash of surprise crossed the medicine boy's eyes.
For ordinary mortal fire alchemy, these cauldrons were more than enough.
What kind of fire was Guest Elder Yuan planning to use to refine medicine?
Just as he was thinking this, Yuan Shu suddenly raised her hand. With a soft hiss, a wisp of bright red flame shot out from her fingertips.
A terrifying heat spread from the flame, causing the medicine boy beside her to change his expression.
The others in the cauldron room also turned their heads. After getting a clear look at the wisp of flame, their expressions became filled with shock and uncertainty.
"This kind of flame pressure... is this a spiritual fire?"
"G-Guest Elder Yuan, you... you actually absorbed a spiritual fire into your body?" Everyone was bewildered, looking at Yuan Shu as if they were looking at a monster!
Spiritual fire was a sentient flame born and nurtured between heaven and earth.
Ordinary people would be burned just by getting close to a spiritual fire, let alone absorbing it into their bodies for their own use.
In the entire Yaoyun Peak, perhaps only the founding patriarch had ever absorbed a heaven and earth spiritual fire.
Yuan Shu was so young and only at the Foundation Establishment stage. How could she possess an internalized spiritual fire?
"Are there any cauldrons that can withstand it?" Yuan Shu ignored everyone's astonishment and simply asked.
The Red Lotus Cleansing Fire was also a type of spiritual fire, just of a higher grade than ordinary ones.
Ordinary medicinal cauldrons couldn't withstand its burning.
The medicine boy's expression became even more respectful, but he shook his head like a rattle.
"None of the cauldrons in the cauldron room can withstand the calcination of a spiritual fire."
Yuan Shu frowned.
Her strength was insufficient. If she used mortal fire, even with Yao Qianci's assistance, it would probably be very difficult to successfully refine a fifth-grade pill.
"Use my cauldron." A clear and gentle voice came from behind.
Yuan Shu turned her head and saw Yao Qianci walking up, holding a three-legged cauldron with beast ears.
The dark cyan beast cauldron was carved with various beast patterns, faintly emitting the fluctuations of a high-grade spiritual weapon.
Yuan Shu's eyes lit up. She had seen this cauldron before; it was the one displayed in Yao Qianci's room.
She had thought it was special back then!
"May I?"
Yuan Shu stepped forward, took the medicinal cauldron from Yao Qianci's hands, and reached out to stroke it a few times.
It felt cool and smooth to the touch, like jade.
It must have taken Yao Qianci a lot of effort to find this cauldron.
"You may. Use it with peace of mind; it should be able to withstand your spiritual fire."
Yuan Shu's eyes curved into a smile. She had searched high and low only to find it without any effort. "Then thank you very much, Peak Master!"
...
The news of someone using spiritual fire to refine pills quickly spread, and many people who heard about it gathered around.
However, Yao Qianci, afraid of disturbing Yuan Shu, set up a transparent barrier around the area where she was refining.
The people outside could see what was happening inside, but they couldn't interfere with the person inside.
"Hiss."
Under Yuan Shu's control, the spiritual fire landed at the bottom of the cauldron. Soon, the cauldron heated up under the roasting of the spiritual fire.
Beside her were the medicinal ingredients Yuan Shu had just prepared.
These ingredients could be purchased directly at Chiyang Hall, which saved Yuan Shu some trouble.
The medicinal ingredients were thrown into the cauldron one by one, and as the flames burned, medicinal liquid began to separate out.
Yuan Shu stood in front of the cauldron, her expression calm. Her hands controlled the output of spiritual power, gradually condensing the medicinal liquid into a mass.
Her expression was calm, and her condensing techniques were skillful.
Whether it was the speed and rhythm of adding the medicinal plants or the temperature and precision when controlling the cauldron, it left everyone present looking astonished.
She didn't look like a novice at all; instead, she seemed like an experienced veteran alchemist!
"Did Guest Elder Yuan learn alchemy when she was at Qingyun Peak?"
"I've never heard of that. The alchemy at Qingyun Peak, isn't that just playing around? What could she possibly learn there?"
"Exactly. Even if she really did learn it, it's impossible for her to refine a fifth-grade pill!"
Discussions rose and fell outside the barrier. Everyone watched Yuan Shu refine the pill without blinking, their expressions growing increasingly stunned.
With such skillful alchemy techniques and such fierce spiritual fire, it was no wonder Yuan Shu had proposed refining a fifth-grade pill.
She was truly capable!
Yao Qianci's expression was a bit dazed.
It seemed he really had... casually picked up an incredible person for Yaoyun Peak!
These techniques were almost on par with an alchemy grandmaster, right?
No, more than just an alchemy grandmaster!
Even an alchemy grandmaster couldn't be this casual when extracting spiritual plants for a fifth-grade pill.
Yuan Shu tossed the medicinal plants into the cauldron with casual and unhurried movements, as if she had done it millions of times and could accurately control everything!
"Peak Master Yao, help me!"
A soft shout from Yuan Shu snapped Yao Qianci out of his racing thoughts. He quickly collected himself, channeling a steady stream of spiritual energy into Yuan Shu's body.
Yuan Shu's expression shifted slightly, her confidence surging.
Just then, a peculiar spatial ripple swept through the air. Like transparent, ice-cold jelly, it abruptly phased right through Yuan Shu's body.
In the very next instant, the world blurred, and Yuan Shu suddenly vanished from within the barrier without a trace!
