86: Chapter 86 The Two in Shock

Although his mind currently stored the perfect refining experience for over a hundred types of first grade pills,

this freshness pill was, after all, a pill he needed to master "on his own," outside of the panel's inheritance.

Therefore, he acted exceptionally serious and cautious, fearing any potential mistakes.

With the preparations complete, Qin Yan opened his eyes, his gaze becoming focused and sharp.

His hands formed a seal as he let out a low shout, "Ignite!"

Boom! The crimson Beast Fire rose in response, enveloping the bottom of the cauldron.

What happened next caused a flicker of surprise to instantly flash through the eyes of Xiao Huo, who originally hadn't held much expectation!

He watched as Qin Yan controlled the Beast Fire with incredibly fluid movements, devoid of any stagnation or awkwardness.

The "Furnace Warming" process, which usually required great care and took quite a long time,

was actually completed in less than two minutes in his hands!

Moreover, the entire process was as smooth as flowing water, perfectly natural, and the control over the heat was just right!

"This kid..." Xiao Huo was filled with doubt and surprise. "Clearly, after the last alchemy session ended, he was dripping with sweat, looking like his spirit was overdrawn and he was about to collapse.

How is it that this time... his control over the flames is so skilled and effortless?

It's as if he's a completely different person."

Beside them, Lu Youyou saw Qin Yan's extremely smooth Furnace Warming operation.

She was also dumbfounded, her small mouth slightly agape, nearly crying out in surprise.

"The speed of Junior Brother's Furnace Warming... how could it be faster than mine?! This is impossible!"

Lu Youyou's heart was screaming; she felt her understanding of things was being challenged.

She had practiced countless times to achieve her current solid, yet not particularly fast, speed.

This was only Qin Yan's second formal alchemy session!

However, what Lu Youyou didn't know was that Qin Yan could actually have been even faster.

He was deliberately controlling his speed right now to avoid appearing too shocking.

Once the Furnace Warming was finished, Qin Yan took the first medicinal herb, "heart-clearing grass," and began the refinement.

Since he didn't have the perfect refining experience for the freshness pill in his mind as a direct reference,

Qin Yan acted quite seriously and devotedly during the refinement process.

His spirit was highly concentrated.

He carefully sensed every tiny change in the medicinal herb within the flames, fearing any errors.

However, after less than five minutes,

when he saw the heart-clearing grass perfectly melt in the flames, with all impurities removed,

and condense into a drop of emerald-green, pure, and flawless medicinal liquid,

the weight hanging in his heart finally mostly lifted.

"It seems I overthought it... refining these unranked pills is indeed simple."

Qin Yan thought to himself, his confidence greatly increasing.

Subsequently, without stopping his movements, he threw the remaining few medicinal herbs into the cauldron one by one for refinement.

His technique remained steady, but his speed unconsciously increased a bit.

Soon, the remaining herbs were all refined.

They turned into drops of pure-colored green medicinal liquid that emitted a faint fragrance, suspended within the cauldron.

"Condense!"

Seizing the opportunity, Qin Yan's hands quickly formed the pill condensation seals and struck them into the cauldron.

The various medicinal liquids inside the furnace seemed to be pulled by an invisible force, quickly converging and merging toward the center.

Enveloped by the flames, they slowly rotated, gradually shrinking and solidifying...

Qin Yan precisely controlled the heat.

Once the medicinal fragrance was completely restrained within, he immediately extinguished the Beast Fire.

He stepped forward and opened the still-warm lid of the furnace.

Several pills emitting a fresh aura were lying quietly at the bottom of the cauldron.

Qin Yan took the pills out.

He counted them carefully: exactly ten pills, no more, no less!

Moreover, each one was uniform in color.

With the pill energy contained within, they were all impressively of High Grade!

Seeing this result, even Qin Yan himself couldn't help but be stunned for a moment.

This was his first time refining a pill outside of the panel's inheritance.

He hadn't expected to achieve a perfect success rate of ten High Grade pills!

Even if this was just a batch of unranked pills, it was enough to make him feel surprised and satisfied.

"Teacher, I've finished refining."

Qin Yan had an irrepressible smile on his face.

He placed the ten freshly made High Grade freshness pills on a jade plate and presented them to Xiao Huo.

"Xiao Yan, you... you are..."

Xiao Huo looked at the ten perfectly appearing freshness pills on the jade plate.

For a moment, he was actually at a loss for words, his face full of disbelief.

The gap between this and his expected result was simply too large!

Qin Yan naturally understood where his teacher's shock came from.

He had already prepared his explanation and said, "Teacher, to be honest, I am also very surprised myself.

After the failed alchemy last time, I returned and took a few nourishing spirit pills to nurture my spirit.

Afterward, I felt that my spirit seemed to become... much more active?"

As he spoke, he observed Xiao Huo's reaction.

He continued, "These past few days, although I didn't actually practice alchemy, I've been repeatedly thinking and deducing the reasons for the last failure and every detail of the process in my mind.

Strangely enough, the more I thought about it, the clearer my thoughts became.

Many previously blurred areas seemed to suddenly open up."

He spread his hands, making an "I don't know what happened either" expression. "So, I came to find you today with a 'try it and see' attitude.

I wanted to practice once more to verify my ideas.

I didn't expect... the result would be like this; even I was startled."

This explanation was a mix of truth and lies.

It mentioned the nourishing spirit pills and emphasized his own thinking and deduction.

It attributed the amazing progress brought by the panel to "active spirit" and "sudden enlightenment."

After listening, Xiao Huo's brow furrowed slightly as he carefully considered Qin Yan's words.

nourishing spirit pills did indeed have the effect of nurturing the spirit.

But could they allow an alchemy novice to undergo such a complete transformation in such a short time?

This seemed to exceed the normal range of the nourishing spirit pill's efficacy.

As for "sudden enlightenment"... although rare, it wasn't impossible for a genius.

He thought for a long time but couldn't find a more reasonable explanation.

He could only attribute all of this to the occasionally flickering "eerie" talent in Qin Yan.

"Good boy! You've really got something!"

In the end, all those words turned into a single praise from Xiao Huo, filled with amazement and gratification.

Regardless of the process, the result was good, and that was enough.

Throughout the rest of the morning,

both Qin Yan and Lu Youyou remained in Xiao Huo's Alchemy Room.

Xiao Huo patiently guided Lu Youyou in adjusting the refining details of the bone forging pill,

while Qin Yan seriously observed and learned from the side.

During this period, Qin Yan also successfully requested the Pill Formulas for the first-grade qi and blood pill and the body tempering pill from Xiao Huo.

Xiao Huo didn't withhold anything; he not only gave him the Pill Formulas,

but also personally demonstrated the complete refining process of a first-grade qi and blood pill for Qin Yan.

He explained the key points and common pitfalls in detail.

After the demonstration, Xiao Huo let Qin Yan try it himself.

This time, Qin Yan deliberately controlled his performance.

During the refining process, he intentionally created a tiny timing error while refining an auxiliary herb.