The stream of flames spat from the colorful luan displayed seven distinct colors, vibrant and brilliant like its tail feathers. The fire contained seven elements—metal, wood, water, fire, earth, wind, and lightning—intertwining yet balancing each other in a wondrous harmony.
If this was not the Seven-Color Glazed Fire recorded in ancient texts, what else could it be?
“Where on earth did this young lady come from? To have a spirit pet like a Seven-Color Luan... it truly makes one envious.”
“Now this is going to be a good show.”
Born from the soul origin of a Seven-Color Luan, the Seven-Color Glazed Fire could burn away all obstacles and impurities while drawing out every bit of potential and essence. It was an exceptionally formidable flame.
Currently, Little Seven was still in its infancy, so the power of its Seven-Color Glazed Fire had yet to reach its peak. Once it reached adulthood, the fire would inevitably evolve. By then, it would hardly be inferior even when compared to Heavenly Fires.
For now, although it was not yet the fully matured version of the flame, its auxiliary effect in concocting pills was undoubtedly far superior to the fire spat by Pei Yanji’s Fire-Absorbing Blood Toad.
Pei Yanji glanced over and let out a soft snort, thinking to himself, She certainly has good luck.
Still, he possessed absolute confidence in himself. Even though Shi Yu had produced such a flame, he merely spared her a couple of glances without letting it affect his composure. Without delay, Pei Yanji immediately began testing his pill refinement.
Meanwhile, Qin Qingmu bit her lower lip, her mind growing restless. Even though she prided herself on the profound fire-controlling spell she had learned at Shiyan Academy, the spiritual energy flame catalyzed by that technique could not compare to the Seven-Color Glazed Fire.
Yin Wenzhou fared little better. Casting a cold eye at the dazzling seven-colored flame, he furrowed his brows and turned away, taking out-of-sight out-of-mind as his peace.
Qin Qingmu took a deep breath, barely suppressing her inner agitation, and threw herself into refining pills as well.
In the spectator stands, the expressions of President Song and the others turned somewhat strange.
“That Seven-Color Luan... is it the bird Girl Yu bought when we first entered the city?”
“It seems like it.” Master Ji twitched the corners of his mouth. “But wasn't that a Five-Color Luan? Its life origin was dissipating; no matter how you looked at it, it was as good as dead.”
Yet the one before them was brimming with energy, lively and bouncing around, healthier than healthy could be. It was practically two completely different birds.
“This girl.” President Song let out a helpless laugh, shaking his head with a sigh. “Her fortune is truly profound.”
On the path of cultivation, opportunity and fortune—things that seemed so abstract and ethereal—were actually of paramount importance.
Fortune comprised the miraculous encounters between heaven and earth, the arrangements of fate, and the blessings of creation. Fortune could be grand or modest, overt or subtle, joyful or troublesome. It could grant cultivators powerful techniques, magic treasures, and pills; allow them to meet benefactors, confidants, and lovers; or help them comprehend the principles of heaven and earth, the mysteries of Daoist arts, and realms of the mind.
Fortune might be the will of heaven—a test and gift bestowed upon cultivators by the Heavenly Dao—or it might be mere coincidence, the result of countless intertwined threads of karma. But regardless, encountering it was one thing; being able to grasp it was true skill.
Clearly, Girl Yu was someone who possessed the skill to grasp it.
...
On Shi Yu's side, once the Seven-Color Glazed Fire entered the pill furnace, she submerged her focus entirely into the process.
After Little Seven actively chose her as its master, the contract bound them together, linking their minds. Now, with just a single thought, Little Seven understood her intentions and controlled the heat with flawless precision.
Her first attempt aimed to deduce the exact proportions for each spiritual plant.
She placed thirteen spiritual plants into the furnace one by one. After adding each ingredient, she paused briefly to observe the shift in medicinal properties. Throughout this process, she acutely sensed the mutual pull and resistance between the plants as they melted into spiritual liquids inside the furnace—from two kinds to three, and then to many.
Using the Seven-Color Glazed Fire for alchemy for the first time went much smoother than she had anticipated. As different spiritual plants were added, the flame adapted accordingly—sometimes gentle as water, sometimes wild as thunder, at times steady, and at times nimble. Each attribute matched the introduced plant, refining and purifying it to the absolute maximum.
“Clear Wind Leaf balances mind and spirit while augmenting composure and willpower; Luo'e Grass purifies spiritual Qi, enhancing inspiration and insight; Seven-Star Wind-Welcoming Grass stimulates primary Qi... these three spiritual plants should be the main ingredients.”
Following her hypothesis, she increased the amounts of these three spiritual plants and observed the changes within.
Beneath the dancing tongues of fire, the spiritual plants gradually curled and dried, releasing droplets of pure, concentrated medicinal liquid.
The medicinal liquids gathered into a single sphere with a soft pop, detaching completely from the plant bodies. Suspended inside the furnace chamber under Shi Yu's divine sense control, the withered plant remnants crumbled into powder and fell.
Looking at the condensed liquid, Shi Yu suddenly frowned slightly. That's not right... There's a conflict between Clear Wind Leaf and Luo'e Grass. On the contrary, Seven-Star Wind-Welcoming Grass, which seemed to sit on the boundary between main and auxiliary, should actually be the primary ingredient, while Clear Wind Leaf and Luo'e Grass serve as secondary mains.
Acting on her thoughts, she gradually adjusted the ingredient ratio.
Once the eighth spiritual plant was tossed in, the medicinal liquids clashed. With a loud boom, they collapsed into a clump of dregs at the bottom of the furnace.
Fortunately, the array on the exterior of her designated square isolated the sound, so the loud explosion did not disturb the others.
Shi Yu's composure didn't fluctuate in the slightest. She merely observed the scene and noted, Jade Face Ganoderma acts as a mediator here; its proportion should be reduced further.
With a thought, she communicated with Little Seven to temporarily pause the flames, then closed her eyes to ponder for a moment.
In no rush to start a second attempt, she reviewed the rough trial process in detail, meticulously analyzing and deducing every step in her mind.
Meanwhile, up on the high stage, the other alchemists were failing their first attempts one after another. Inside furnace after furnace, medicinal liquids turned to dregs or exploded into waste. Thanks to the isolating arrays, the chaos remained muffled.
The shadow-recording stone mirrors broadcast their expressions—some composed, others frustrated or anxious.
Shi Yu, Pei Yanji, Yin Wenzhou, and Qin Qingmu were treated as the primary subjects of attention, with most of the shadow-recording stone mirrors remaining fixed on them.
In the spectator stands, whether audience members understood the nuances or not, nothing stopped them from enjoying the spectacle.
“Look at all those furnaces! Clumps of liquid exploding everywhere like fireworks.”
“Do you think anyone can really succeed in three days?”
“Miss Qin is so beautiful...”
“I think Miss Shi isn't bad either. Granted, her looks aren't top-tier, but for some reason, you just can't take your eyes off her.”
...
Mind-Soothing Pills possessed the effect of steadying one's state of mind and enhancing spiritual energy. With Shi Yu's breadth of experience, she had naturally seen many pills with similar effects.
All roads led to the same destination. For her, deducing an approximate ratio based solely on past experience would not be difficult at all.
However, since she currently represented the reputation of the Lingtai Prefecture Alchemist Association, participating meant she had to strive for perfection and utmost precision. Words like “approximate” or “similar” were not options in her vocabulary.
After deliberating the steps in her mind, Shi Yu opened her eyes and began her second attempt.
...
Time flowed steadily on. As darkness settled over the sky, countless lamps lit up across the square, illuminating the vast expanse as bright as day to ensure the alchemists would not be hampered by the dark.
After a full day of competition, most participants were utterly exhausted. Even alchemists like Qin Qingmu and Yin Wenzhou—who had fire seeds to drastically reduce their spiritual energy consumption—found their divine sense and spiritual energy near depletion after experimenting with pill recipes all day.
Yet at the thought that the second trial lasted only three days, they forced themselves to endure and push forward a little longer.
Even the many spectators below either sat cross-legged on the ground to regulate their breath and rest, or leaned against one another to take brief naps.
The front rows of the spectator stands were mostly occupied by high-cultivation cultivators who had no trouble staying awake. Moreover, their seats were luxurious and comfortable, with maidservants moving back and forth to attend to their every need, allowing them to watch the entire proceedings continuously.
President Song and the others sat upright and dignified with no intention of resting, their gazes never leaving the stage for even a moment.
Then, they watched as—while every other alchemist was forcing themselves to push on—Shi Yu stifled a small yawn, rubbed her eyes, retrieved a roll of bedding from her storage bag, laid it out on the spot, popped two recovery pills into her mouth, and lied down to sleep.
After a busy day, she was truly sleepy.
Among the crowd, the lying-down Shi Yu looked singularly out of place.
President Song broke into a dumbfounded laugh. “This girl... Well, it is time to sleep. Forcing oneself like that yields no benefit; conserving one's energy is what matters.”
Truth be told, the girl's sleeping face was genuinely adorable, bringing a smile to one's face. What made it even better was her Seven-Color Luan: seeing its master sleep, it scrambled over, curled up into a ball right beside her head, closed its eyes, and flopped onto its back with its feet in the air. The sight of the big one and the small one sleeping side by side was delightfully endearing.
In the spectator stands, many of the older female cultivators couldn't help but feel a surge of fond affection as they took in the scene.
The alchemists surrounding Shi Yu looked at one another, torn between sleeping and pressing on. Finally, someone couldn't hold out any longer and simply did as Shi Yu had done—rolling out their bedding to sleep on the spot, hard to tell whether they were giving up or conserving their strength.
Who cared! The top contestant from the first round was already sleeping, so what was there for them to hesitate about? Their minds were sluggish and exhausted anyway, and pushing forward now was unlikely to yield results. Better to get a good night's sleep first!
Watching a large swath of contestants collapse into sleep, Yin Shixiu, Qin Yu, and the others were rendered somewhat speechlessly amused.
Rate on N.U.
