“Did you manage to get everything?”

  Chen Linlin immediately turned toward the door when she heard it open, a clear sign that Xue Hui had just returned from his brief trip to the Divine Family’s Medicine Pavilion.

  Earlier, while examining the contents of Chen Linlin’s interspatial rings, Xue Hui had discovered several unrivaled treasures hidden within.

  One of them was an extremely rare herb known as the Misty Herb Leaf.

  Even Xue Hui was surprised to find such a precious item stored inside a little girl’s interspatial ring.

  Although the majority of people in Glory City were unaware of its existence, those who knew of it would risk their lives just to obtain it.

  After all, it was a treasure capable of changing one’s fate once used.

  Even a Black Gold rank Demon Spiritualist would gain enormous benefits from it.

  The Misty Herb Leaf was a rare plant capable of gathering vast amounts of pure spiritual energy, storing it within its shoots and roots.

  Because of this unique property, it served as a perfect catalyst for breaking through to the next realm.

  Earlier, when Xue Hui asked Chen Linlin where she had obtained the Misty Herb Leaf, she told him that it had come from her grandfather.

  The herb had originally been hidden within his secret treasure vault.

  When news spread that Chen Linlin possessed the Nine Crystal Yin Physique, her grandfather was the most excited among all the members of the Chen family.

  Without hesitation, he took out the Misty Herb Leaf and gifted it to his granddaughter, hoping that one day it would help her break through to the Legend Rank.

  “It seems your grandfather truly loves you. Even after you lost your ability to cultivate, he still allowed you to keep such an unrivaled treasure.”

  Xue Hui was not referring solely to the matter of the Misty Herb Leaf when he spoke of Chen Linlin’s grandfather’s love for her.

  In his previous life, Chen Linlin’s grandfather, Chen Shenxin, had supposedly died at the hands of a Legend Rank demon beast.

  He had ventured alone into the creature’s nest, fighting it single-handedly in an attempt to seize a miraculous medicinal treasure rumored to cure any illness with a single ingestion.

  In that life, aside from Chen Linlin’s parents, Chen Shenxin was the one most deeply affected by the worsening of her condition.

  He spent the majority of his remaining years traveling across the outside world, desperately searching for a way to heal his granddaughter’s illness.

  In the end, his care and boundless love for his granddaughter became his downfall.

  No wonder, in this life, the Grand Elder of the Divine Family did not have the heart to take back the Misty Herb Leaf from Chen Linlin.

  Xue Hui had asked Chen Linlin whether she was truly fine with him taking the herb, since it was a gift from her grandfather.

  She had simply nodded and told him that if it could help him with his plan, then it was fine.

  With her approval, Xue Hui left her room for a while to gather all the necessary items he needed to refine the Misty Herb Leaf into a pill.

  Back in the present

  “Yep, I gathered everything. Except for a pill cauldron.

  I’ll just have to improvise and get a little creative,” Xue Hui said as he re-entered the room.

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  After closing the door, he immediately took out a small cup.

  Chen Linlin stared at the tiny container, about to ask what it was for, when she suddenly saw Xue Hui pull out a knife.

  Without hesitation, he made a small cut on his left palm, letting blood drip into the empty cup.

  “W-what are you doing, Hui-hui?!”

  Terrified by what she witnessed, Chen Linlin immediately cried out, fear flooding her voice as she worried he might bleed himself dry.

  “Don’t worry, Linlin. It’s just a shallow cut, look.”

  He showed her the palm he had just used to draw blood. Other than a few traces of dried blood and the faint mark left by the cut, there was nothing wrong.

  “I need to create a protective array to contain the aura around me while I refine the pill. Without it, the aura leaking from the herb would alert every expert nearby, including your parents. If that happens, I’m screwed,” Xue Hui explained with a light chuckle.

  Chen Linlin nodded, only half understanding his words, but trusting him all the same.

  “I’ll use my blood as the base and combine it with other materials, like demon crystals, to create spiritual ink for inscribing the array.”

  With practiced movements, Xue Hui began processing his blood, refining it into spiritual ink. Using it, he swiftly drew an array in the center of the room, large enough for him to work within.

  By now, Chen Linlin had stopped responding altogether.

  She was stunned, utterly fascinated by how smooth and effortless Xue Hui’s every movement was.

  Stepping into the protective array, Xue Hui formed a series of hand seals.

  The inscriptions around him immediately lit up, glowing with a soft lilac light.

  Chen Linlin’s breath hitched as she watched the array come alive.

  Before, she had believed everything Xue Hui said simply because she trusted him as a friend.

  Now, even the smallest trace of doubt in her heart vanished.

  At this moment, she truly believed that Xue Hui could fulfill his promise, to heal her.

  At this moment, he no longer gave off the feeling of a child at all.

  Instead, he carried the air of an old master.

  Every movement was precise, his expression solemn, and Chen Linlin’s heart raced uncontrollably at the sight.

  Inside the protective array, Xue Hui took out all the ingredients he needed to concoct the pill, lining them up neatly.

  He then closed his eyes and took several deep breaths, calming both his mind and soul.

  Pill refinement was a meticulous and demanding process.

  Without sufficient mental focus and physical endurance, it was impossible to produce anything at all.

  Naturally, with Xue Hui’s current cultivation, only five points of soul strength, he should not have possessed the qualifications to practice, let alone perform, alchemy refinement.

  However, with Xue Hui’s experience and supreme mastery of alchemy, both accumulated through countless years of study within the [CREATION ORIGIN ANCESTRAL MANUAL] he could easily work around his lack of soul strength.

  By utilizing the protective array, he could convert half of the spiritual energy contained within the Misty Herb Leaf into energy he could directly control.

  Part of this spiritual energy would be stored as a reserve, which he could draw upon throughout the refinement process.

  This allowed Xue Hui to avoid exhausting his own limited spiritual energy.

  The remaining portion of the divided spiritual energy from the Misty Herb Leaf would be transformed into alchemical flames.

  Using this method, although half of the Misty Herb Leaf’s medicinal effects would be lost, he would still be able to successfully refine the pill and use it to increase his strength.

  Compared to the common method of brewing the Misty Herb Leaf into medicinal tea, the pill he was about to create would fully optimize the herb’s potential.

  Even after losing half of its spiritual energy, the pill’s effects would still be many times stronger than those of medicinal tea.

  Picking up the Misty Herb Leaf with his left hand, Xue Hui then took out several Black Gold rank demon crystals, items he had retrieved from Chen Linlin’s interspatial ring.

  They were, without a doubt, yet another precious gift she had received in the past.

  With a flick of his finger, an inscription array formed around the Misty Herb Leaf, causing it to release rhythmic pulses of faint spiritual energy.

  Using the tiny amount of spiritual energy that leaked out, Xue Hui tossed the two Black Gold rank demon crystals into the air.

  He immediately formed another set of hand seals, enveloping the crystals in inscription arrays. Fine cracks soon spread across their surfaces.

  At the same time, Xue Hui forced the Misty Herb Leaf to release even more spiritual energy.

  The surge violently bombarded the interior of the protective array, threatening to break through its concealment.

  His face turned pale, yet his focus never wavered.

  Xue Hui guided part of the overflowing spiritual energy into his soul realm, while the remaining energy surged toward the demon crystals, shattering them completely.

  WOOSSH!

  Just before the exploding demon crystals could unleash their destructive force, Xue Hui activated an alchemy array, transforming the violent energy into a blazing alchemy flame.

  Sensing the familiar heat of the alchemical fire, Xue Hui couldn’t help but smile in satisfaction.

  This was the first time he had ignited an alchemy flame outside the [CREATION ORIGIN ANCESTRAL MANUAL].

  Throughout the entire process, Chen Linlin could only stare.

  Her eyes were wide, her mouth agape, utterly stunned by the scene unfolding before her.

  Watching Xue Hui ignite the alchemy flame from start to finish, the little girl was so shocked that she forgot how to breathe.

  Back inside the protective array, as the flame danced before him, Xue Hui moved without hesitation.

  One by one, he calmly and precisely tossed the ingredients into the alchemy flame, allowing the herbs to refine slowly within it.

  If any other person, even an alchemy grandmaster, were to witness Xue Hui’s refinement process, they would undoubtedly lose their minds.

  They might even accuse him of using sorcery, so far beyond common sense was his method of pill refinement.

  Forget the absurdity of a seven year old alchemy master.

  Let’s focus on the fact that.

  First, Xue Hui had yet to reach even one star Bronze Rank as a Demon Spiritualist.

  With only five points of soul strength, he was somehow releasing and controlling spiritual energy comparable to that of a Gold Rank Demon Spiritualist.

  Second, he was refining a pill without a pill cauldron.

  Third, he directly processed all the ingredients inside the alchemy flame itself.

  Fourth, the alchemy flame moved as if it were an extension of his own limbs.

  Despite the terrifying heat it emitted, Xue Hui stood near it completely unharmed.

  It wasn’t that this method was unfamiliar to alchemy masters, it was precisely because of their knowledge that they would suffer the shock of their lives upon witnessing it.

  This refinement technique had been lost for millions of years, forgotten across countless smaller worlds, including Xue Hui’s own.

  Because of that, his alchemy method was truly one of a kind not only within Glory City, but across the entire tiny world.

  Five hours later, both the protective array and the alchemy flame began to show signs of weakening.

  With lightning speed, Xue Hui snatched the pills floating within the now weakened alchemy flame.

  Forming another hand seal, both the alchemy flame and the protective array flickered and vanished without leaving behind a single trace.

  Taking a deep breath, Xue Hui looked down at the three emerald green pills resting on his palm and let out a satisfied hum.

  “One at eighty percent purity, and two at ninety percent purity… Not bad for my first alchemy refinement outside the [CREATION ORIGIN ANCESTRAL MANUAL]. Not bad at all.”

  End of Chapter 9