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  Before his Essence Cultivation Art, Xiao Feng could see quite clearly as the luminescence of the Frost Lily began to ebb, albeit at a much more modest rate than the abruptness with which the Frost Qi contained within it had swelled.

  With the heat to the refinement cut off, Xiao Feng had mere moments to stitch back together the refinement attempt before the heated mixture began to cool off and lose the optimal level of heat required to compress it into a pill.

  Except, Xiao Feng had already broken the flow of constant heat required to compress the eight ingredients into a Beast Bonding Pill. Turning the amethyst dragonstone burner back on to maximum heat would only lead to uneven refinement due to the sudden surge and progressively increasing the heat to avoid such an outcome would take too long.

  By all means, Xiao Feng should have expected another failed attempt the moment he had cut off his Qi supply to the amethyst dragonstone burner. Yet, Xiao Feng knew his predecessor well enough by now to know that he would never interfere at such a crucial juncture with advice that would lead him to failure, not unless his life was on the line and perhaps not even then—- knowing that death was the likely outcome had not stopped his predecessor from carving a straight line through the vicious demonic path cultivator’s front line.

  For his predecessor had always wanted to win, to achieve victory over his foes with such single-minded intensity that his desire was as ruthless to himself as it was to his enemies. Whether it was the number of cycles he could achieve with the Warrior’s Temperance Cultivation Technique or his sparring record against other martial cultivators, each defeat only served to strengthen his predecessor’s resolve to push himself further and each hard-fought victory only served to orient him towards the next challenge that needed surmounting. As it turned out, Alchemy was no different.

  It was Xiao Feng, not his predecessor, who had mentioned to Lianhua that compression generates heat. Given the heat still trapped within the pill furnace, there was a good chance that Xiao Feng could still complete the refinement if he acted with enough haste, though the result would likely be below par.

  As it was, Xiao Feng hadn’t let up on the cylindrical whirlwind of Wind Qi and was compressing the refining mixture at the same rate he had been earlier. He had moments to act if he wanted to change the result and that was where his predecessor’s advice truly came into play.

  Flowing Wind Art— Fourth Form, Dancing Breeze was the only form of the Flowing Wind Art that Xiao Feng could claim to not have internalized, but truly made his own. His Dancing Breeze differed from his predecessor, it gently rebuffed instead of violently rebuking an opponent’s blade.

  Then, the intent behind his predecessor’s words clicked into place in his mind.

  Xiao Feng did not hesitate, for there was no longer any time left to hesitate. He had to act now, or the refinement would fail. So, through his left hand, Xiao Feng channeled Wind Qi into the pill furnace even as he visualized a cool breeze on a sweltering hot day. A wind that will not cleave, yet refuses to be sundered.

  A thick coil of Wind Qi enveloped the refining ingredients in its embrace, its form taking up the entire length and breadth of the pill furnace available to it. Then, Xiao Feng applied pressure from all directions at once in a squeezing motion, his Dancing Breeze being incapable of applying sundering force.

  With the aid of his Essence Cultivation Art, Xiao Feng watched in real time as the refining mixture was pressed into a ball, its surface bubbling under the sudden onslaught of the pressure being exerted upon it from all directions. The patch of the refined mixture that represented the Frost Lily had almost entirely liquefied due to the sudden and intense heat generated by the rapid compression on top of the pill furnace’s already heated environment.

  This time, instead of the now liquified frost lily growing in luminescence, the entire refining ingredient was now practically shining, its surface bubbling and its interior no doubt on the verge of an explosion.

  Except, all it could do was bubble, as it’s entire exterior was trapped within an embrace of his Wind Qi Coil. Xiao Feng watched as the luminescence tried to escape by concentrating on one side of the pill, only for the fourth form of the Flowing Wind Art to rebuff its attempts by holding the ball of refining ingredients in place and forcing the Qi within to equalize.

  “What is going on?” Lianhua’s voice sounded out in Xiao Feng’s ears, but it felt distant to him as his entire focus was concentrated on the pill furnace and he could feel the strain this novel application of the flowing wind art was taking upon his focus. “Why did you cut off the heat? Is the refinement complete?”

  “I need time. Please, don’t interfere,” Xiao Feng absently replied, his focus not wavering from the pill furnace.

  He took a deep breath and once again, compressed the ball into half the size it was a moment ago.

  The ball, which was fast approaching the size of a pill, only grew in radiance, bubbling even more violently at the rapid compression as the difference in density between the organic coating, the Sylvan Heartroot and the liquified Frost Lily almost entirely disappeared, with Xiao Feng having to focus real hard to tell the difference.

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  This time, he felt the resistance from the concentrated ball of Qi that he was holding in the embrace of his coil of Wind Qi and it was through gritted teeth that Xiao Feng held on, sweat having drenched his robes.

  Then, before Xiao Feng could second guess the cobbled together alchemy technique his predecessor had guided him to, he compressed the pill for a final time.

  Xiao Feng’s eyes went wide with shock as the boundaries separating the refining ingredients disappeared entirely and the radiance of the now pill increased ten-folds, so much so that he had to instinctively close his eyes and shield his vision against the sudden flashbang.

  Then came the weight. It felt like he was trying to contain a massive boulder in the center of his pill furnace instead of a pill half the length of his thumb in diameter. His hands trembled and he broke out into a desperate pant, greedily gasping for lungfuls of air as the pill bubbled and bubbled, showing its anger at being so forcefully brought into existence.

  Yet, Xiao Feng held on, if only because he was afraid of what would happen if he could not. Lianhua’s pill refinement had not nearly been so violently bright and something told Xiao Feng that the results of letting go now would not be something that could be contained by a mere flashfrost pill.

  He held on until both his arms felt like lead, taking quick peeks with blinks to ascertain the state of the pill.

  Then, the weight disappeared.

  Xiao Feng opened his eyes and there, in the center of his Wind Qi Coil rested an incredibly bright—- yet not painfully bright sphere that Xiao Feng hoped could still be called the Beast Bonding Pill.

  His hands were trembling as he pulled them back to his side and turned to face Lianhua.

  “What in the world have you been doing for the last forty minutes!” Lianhua asked, her tone of of rebuke even though her worried expression betrayed her concern.

  A concern that she had set aside to follow through with Xiao Feng’s request— Lianhua had been worried, but she had not interfered with his refinement.

  Xiao Feng felt a pang of guilt as that bled into nervousness as he considered how disappointed he would feel if he had put Lianhua through nearly an hour of uncertainty only to have failed.

  Taking a deep breath to compose himself, Xiao Feng replied, “See for yourself.”

  The concern on Lianhua’s visage gave way to curiosity, the nature of a Senior Alchemist making it nigh impossible for her to ignore such a request.

  “There is a reason why we follow established alchemy techniques,” Lianhua grumpily stated followed by a light huff, before he reluctantly reached for a pair of tongs. “Are you certain this won’t blow up in my face when I open it?”

  Once again activating the Essence Cultivation Art to make sure the pill was stationary and not bubbling or exhibiting any odd properties, Xiao Feng sheepishly replied, “Uhh, reasonably certain. Though,” He extended both his open palms forward, “I’ll defend you if it explodes,” He offered.

  Lianhua shook her head and then sighed, before replying, “Won’t be the first time I’ve had a pill explode. The Alchemy Vault’s defense mechanisms coupled with my own Wind Cultivation serve as adequate defenses, though of course, I will not refuse your aid. Here I go.”

  The pill furnace’s opening was followed by a loud sizzle and then an outflow of smoke, but Lianhua wasn’t fazed by it in the slightest. There were no explosions, but she didn’t peer inside the furnace and instead felt around with her tongs, before grabbing hold of the pill.

  “Feels like the right dimensions,” Lianhua muttered as she raised the pill in the air, still keeping it positioned from her own person.

  Then, Lianhua gasped.

  Xiao Feng had to deactivate the Essence Cultivation Art to behold the refined pill in it’s true colours.

  Its surface was a translucent icy-blue, but within it a second sphere was contained, a rich, textured light gold evenly visible across its surface. The outer layer was from Frost Lily, of that there was no doubt. The textured light gold was likely the final hue the mixture of the first five ingredients mixed with his own Qi had reached, it’s surface area and density easily surpassing that of the Sylvan Heartroot itself, which inferentially must serve as the core of the pill, in an incredibly compressed form.

  It was beautiful to behold.

  “This…. This is….,” Lianhua’s expression was one of wide-eyed disbelief as she searched for the words to explain what had moved her so, her mouth still open. “Impossible.”

  “What is it?” Xiao Feng asked, feeling a churn of uneasiness in his gut. Whatever the expression on Lianhua’s face said, pleasant surprise wasn’t it.

  “Even my father, no, he could do it but… on the second attempt? Second attempt ever? Without an alchemist’s flame? No, he wouldn’t be able to do it. Maybe Old Ming could do it but… she’s a Grand Alchemist!” Lianhua all but shouted, her expression cycling from shock to awe to confusion to disbelief.

  “Did I refine it?” Xiao Feng asked, feeling the electric current of excitement tingle down his back.

  “You did,” Lianhua replied, before incredulous laughter escaped her lips. “You really did it!” She exclaimed.

  “Yes!” Xiao Feng bellowed, his confusion at Lianhua’s clearly very odd reaction momentarily forgotten as he pumped a fist in the air. “But, er, why does my refined pill look so different from what yours looked like.”

  Lianhua took a deep breath to try and gather some much needed composure, before she looked Xiao Feng dead in the eye, her expression one of complete seriousness, “That is because,” She shook her head disbelievingly as she finally explained, “this is a Heavenly Grade Beast Bonding Pill.”

  Xiao Feng’s expression froze, partly because he knew Lianhua’s words meant something very big and other the part being that he needed a moment to recall what it was exactly that a Heavenly Grade Pill entailed.

  “Nine parts out of ten of the original ingredients Qi Density,” Xiao Feng ended up blurting out.

  “Nine parts of ten,” Lianhua repeated, as she massaged her forehead. “Of every single ingredient that you melted down in the pill furnace, refined and compressed to a diameter half the size of my thumb. Do you realize how incredible of an accomplishment that is?” Lianhua asked, sounding a little out of breath.

  Xiao Feng burst out into joyous, boisterous laughter, continuing on for a good minute before he finally added, “Alchemist Zhi is not even going to realize what hit him.”

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