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  Xiao Feng’s features were relaxed as he reached for a vial that was full of a thick silver liquid that he knew to be the bone marrow of a Stoneback Ursine. Without hesitating, he poured the valuable bone marrow onto the metal plate that isolated the interior of the pill furnace from the outside world.

  Next came a vial full of pinkish-red liquid, the blood extract of a Lesser Shadow Wyrm, an ingredient that he had grown all too familiar with. He watched as, even without igniting the amethyst dragonstone burner, the mixture of the two ingredients resulted in a deep orange paste.

  His movement was calm and unhurried as he twisted the pill furnace’s handle counter-clockwise. A gurgling noise followed as the dark orange mixture settled at the bottom of the pill furnace, a process Xiao Feng could study due to his Essence Cultivation Art being active.

  As he had done many times before, he ignited the amethyst dragonstone burner, keeping his right hand on the knob so he could supply and modulate the required Qi as and when the situation demanded.

  He watched as the boundaries between the two abutting patches of ingredients that had different qi densities began to blur and as expected, impurities in the form of lumps that were as clear as day before his Essence Cultivation Art.

  Taking a deep breath to build focus, Xiao Feng ensconced the surface of his left palm with a layer of Wind Qi and pressed it up against the side of the pill furnace, as close to the bottom of the furnace as he could get without being overwhelmed by the heat.

  It was time to call upon his modified kneading method, which could also be called Xiao Feng’s Kneading Method since he was the only one who was capable of using it below the Nascent Soul stage. He created small whirlwinds of Wind Qi and directed them to target the forming lumps individually, his increased mastery of the wind making an originally stressful and challenging task into one he could accomplish easily as long as he remained focused.

  The small lumps were cleared in record time, before Xiao Feng willed them to come together and form a larger whirlwind that occupied nearly the entire surface of the pill furnace, forcing more lumps to form on the abutting boundary between the two ingredients that were dealt with within a minute of being formed.

  Observing that everything was going smoothly, Xiao Feng began imbuing his own Qi into the refining mixture, as the eighth and the most important ingredient of the Beast Bonding Pill was exactly that.

  From beginning to end, it only took him five minutes before the two ingredients had turned into one mixture, a paste that had a consistent qi density throughout.

  From there on, he fell into a rhythm as the Pearl Orchid Bulb was added to the metal plate, released and shielded with practiced ease and he peeled the protective layer of wind qi around the bulb at a pace that was neither too slow nor fast enough to destabilize the mixture and it didn’t take long for it to dissolve completely into the melange.

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  Just a few months ago, the weaving technique was one of the most difficult aspects of refining the Beast Bonding Pill for Xiao Feng. Now, he found that he quite enjoyed the process, as he weaved a pattern with his fingers and watched it bloom to life before his essence cultivation art, as two spirals of Wind Qi rose and with it, so did the refining mixture.

  The mixture of three ingredients rose through the two spirals and intersected four times before blooming outwards into an outward sloping umbrella of wind that the mixture slid down, returning to the bottom of the pill furnace and beginning the process anew.

  Xiao Feng was comfortable enough to pick up the pace of the weave and it took only twenty cycles before the mixture was fully refined, but he allowed the refinement to go on for one cycle extra to be doubly sure.

  Since weaving the mixture wasn’t straining him like it used to and he was good on time, he didn’t need to try and rush the refinement by pushing his pace beyond his limits and straining his focus.

  Cloud Moss went in next and with its relatively modest Qi Density, Xiao Feng was less worried about an adverse reaction. Of course, inconsistencies in the mixture were introduced due to the addition, but it was nothing fifteen cycles of weaving couldn’t cure.

  Star Anemone, the fifth ingredient, was far trickier to deal with given the fact that it’s Qi Density was a step below the Lesser Shadow Wyrm. Even after he shielded the ingredient and only exposed a part of the Star Anemone to the heated mixture, he was sure that the end result would be an inconsistent mess. Instead of cutting off the Qi he was using to imbue the mixture like last time because he was afraid that the mixture would destabilize, he halved the intensity, still determined to add qi throughout the refinement process because that was the best way to do it.

  It took a long time for the Star Anemone to melt due to it being a Water Qi ingredient, but Xiao Feng had practiced enough to know that patience was key to the Dao of Alchemy. Once it had melted, he scanned the inconsistencies before committing to resuming the weaving. He didn’t rush the weaving, continuing at a quick but manageable level and it took him thirty seven cycles before he deemed the mixture refined and in exchange for not rushing the process, he had resumed imbuing qi into the mixture at the regular pace the entire time.

  The end result was a fully refined mixture that was growing increasingly in Qi Density, but thankfully the bulk of the refining had been done at this stage.

  He brought the heat down to a simmer, taking a minute to catch a breather and glimpse over at Alchemist Zhi’s side.

  Xiao Feng did not need the Essence Cultivation Art to tell that there was something suspicious about Alchemist Zhi’s refinement. After all, a third of the bone marrow of the Stoneback Ursine and the blood extract of a Lesser Shadow Wyrm was still left in their vials and given that Alchemist Zhi had moved onto a latter stage in the refinement, he clearly had no intention of using them.

  He had modified the recipe of the Beast Bonding Pill to aim for a mortal-grade refinement from the start and one look at his refining mixture showed him that— the Qi Density of his mixture was only a third of his own, yet he had managed to keep pace with Xiao Feng despite the advantages he had due to the Essence Cultivation Art and his bond with Nova. They were both on the cusp of adding the Sylvan Heartroot, yet Alchemist Zhi’s method of keeping up with him felt so… hollow.

  “Coward,” His predecessor declared, his tone one of genuine annoyance. “I may not know much about the Dao of Alchemy, but I can tell you that he will not go far on its path. It is not about the duel or something as noble as honor, that is irrelevant. He simply does not have the courage to look upwards.”

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