Chapter 94: Explosion, Starting from Alchemy

On the green grass ring, a purple jade slip lay quietly.

Xu Xiaoshou picked it up and pressed the jade slip against his forehead, quickly scanning through its contents.

“It seems very simple…”

It contained some miscellaneous knowledge about alchemy, but mostly focused on techniques for controlling fire.

With a wave of his hand, he compressed his spiritual energy, and it crackled with a "puffing" sound.

This invisible flame was hard to handle—if not for his "Gan Zhi," he probably couldn't even control its intensity properly.

He really didn't know how that old man could let him mess around on his own like this.

“Compress the flame to its extreme, about ten times over, gathering all the energy at the center point. If it explodes, it could unleash terrifying destructive power…”

“Uh, that last part isn't the main point. The key is to use the weakened energy on the outside for alchemy…”

Xu Xiaoshou recalled the contents of the jade slip, feeling a bit uneasy.

Jin Zhao Tian Yan was too overpowering for alchemy, but he had no idea what the founder was thinking, creating such a fearsome method for refining pills.

If he messed up and it exploded…

Xu Xiaoshou glanced up at the massive red bead overhead. The jade slip said it could absorb heat energy, so it should handle an explosion too.

“Let's give it a try.”

Under his mental control, the large cluster of flame in his hand stopped radiating energy outward and began to contract, gradually forming a ball the size of a human head.

The searing energy swirled around it, seeming even more turbulent.

Xu Xiaoshou gritted his teeth and pushed harder.

"Puff!"

With a soft pop, the head-sized ball of flame compressed further, shrinking to the size of a fist.

A terrifying heat radiated out, distorting the space around it, leaving Xu Xiaoshou stunned.

“What's going on?”

“Shouldn't the energy be contained inside? Why is there so much heat?”

He stared blankly at the invisible sphere cradled in his hand, then willed it to spin rapidly.

A spiral? Like a Rasengan?

“Damn it, I've gone off track again! This isn't the direction I should be researching!”

According to the jade slip, once compressed to the size of a fingernail, with all the heat drawn inward, it becomes "Ji Yan," and the residual warmth forms a "Xu Yan."

Only with this cooler "Xu Yan" could he start alchemy.

But!

During the alchemy process, he had to constantly maintain the temperature of the "Xu Yan" while keeping a close watch on the compressed "Ji Yan."

One slip-up, and it would destroy the pill—and possibly him!

Staring at the ball in his hand, Xu Xiaoshou's expression turned grim. Compressing it this far was already pushing his limits.

Sweat beaded on his forehead as he clenched his jaw. The ball of flame flickered twice and instantly shrank to the size of a fingernail.

Through his "Gan Zhi," faint wisps of invisible mist emerged from it, swirling outward to form a cluster.

Xu Yan!

It had formed!

Xu Xiaoshou was overjoyed, but in the next second, his smile froze.

The compressed fire seed in his hand trembled unstably, then stopped.

False alarm…

No!

The energy inside was churning!

He couldn't control it anymore!

Xu Xiaoshou's pupils shrank, and his hairs stood on end as a sense of death enveloped him.

He looked up at the red bead above and thought, what if it couldn't absorb this and blew up Ling Zang Ge?

He couldn't risk it!

Xu Xiaoshou dashed to the window and hurled the thing into the sky outside.

"Boom!"

A massive explosion ripped through the void, sending waves of violent, scorching energy rippling outward and clearing the sky above Ling Zang Ge.

The air surged upward, forming faint ripples in the void that vaguely shaped into an enormous mushroom cloud, hard to make out clearly.

“Holy crap!”

Xu Xiaoshou was dumbfounded. Was this alchemy?

This was clearly a super powerful attack technique!

From that moment on, besides the four styles of "Bai Yun You You," he had another terrifying self-created spiritual skill?

And one that caused massive, indiscriminate damage at that?

Xu Xiaoshou's heart raced with excitement. Keeping the "compressed fire seed" stable was tough, but making it unstable was easy as pie.

He checked his qi sea internally. Compressing one fingernail-sized fire seed had used up about 30 percent of his Jin Zhao spiritual energy.

But with "Yuan Qi Man Man" restoring him, his spiritual energy was already back to about 80 percent. A few more minutes of rest, and he'd be fully recovered…

“Want to try again?”

Xu Xiaoshou spread his hands, instantly draining half of his spiritual energy. Two clusters of invisible flames rose in his palms.

Puff, puff!

Compress, compress again—

The fingernail-sized compressed fire seeds formed effortlessly.

But the energy inside was even more chaotic than before, since he hadn't bothered to control it.

Whoosh!

Whoosh!

With a flick of his hands, the two invisible fire seeds shot through the air and collided.

"Boom!"

The explosion was far greater than one plus one equals two. Xu Xiaoshou clearly saw the protective barrier of Ling Zang Ge appear, seemingly shielding against the wild, scorching energy.

And that was just the aftermath!

If he threw a few of these at Ling Zang Ge…

Ahem, better not think about that. Change of perspective!

Imagine this…

In the future, if he's surrounded by an army, he could casually mount his sword, use "Yuan Qi Man Man" to keep compressing these nonstop, and drop them one by one. Wouldn't that make him a human bomber?

How much awe and resentment would that bring?

“Oh ho ho…”

Xu Xiaoshou laughed until his eyes narrowed into slits. He'd only meant to refine some pills, but ended up figuring out a ridiculously powerful move.

“Hmm, it needs a name.”

The four styles of "Bai Yun You You" all have names, so he couldn't just call this "compressed fire seed."

“It's so small, compressed from a sphere, and fire-based…”

“Yeah, let's call it 'Xiao Huo Qiu Zhi Shu.' Perfect!”

He pulled his gaze back from the window, satisfied, and patted his hands. Then he noticed the large three-legged cauldron.

“Uh, off track again. Refining pills is the priority, refining pills is the priority…”

…

Zhao Xidong had a blade of grass in his mouth, hands clasped behind his head, strolling leisurely without a care.

After escorting He Yuxing to the execution platform, he had no major tasks left.

As for Su Qianqian splitting the inner courtyard's spiritual site…

As long as no one died, that kind of minor scuffle in the inner courtyard wasn't a big deal. He could just turn a blind eye, and it would blow over.

Just then, a massive boom echoed from the horizon.

"Boom!"

A terrifying wave of scorching energy exploded in the void not far away, making Zhao Xidong's pupils contract.

That was…

The direction of Ling Zang Ge!

He recalled the masked assailant from last night and felt a vague sense of dread.

"Boom!"

A louder explosion followed, even from a distance. His spiritual sense could see the protective barrier of Ling Zang Ge flickering into view.

In broad daylight, someone was attacking Ling Zang Ge!

What incredible nerve that took!

Zhao Xidong's scalp tingled. He shot into the sky in an instant and shouted sternly:

“Enemy attack!!!”