Battle Through the Heavens: Even without the Burning Flame Technique, I, Xiao Yan, still became an e

The first alchemist was a middle-aged man in his thirties, who was also the oldest examinee.

Someone like him could only ever become a second-grade alchemist, no matter how hard he tried.

Even with such qualifications, he would be treated as an honored guest in many small cities throughout the Gama Empire.

The middle-aged man stepped onto the stage and placed his hand inside a box whose surface was covered.

"Xu Lin, a first-grade pill formula, the Fire Condensation Pill!"

Upon seeing the first pill formula drawn, the middle-aged man was overjoyed; it turned out to be the Fire Condensation Pill, a relatively simple first-grade pill.

"Haha, I'm sure I'll pass the test this time!"

Then the second alchemist went on stage and drew his own pill formula.

"Zhang Feng, First-grade pill formula, Qi Condensation Pill."

Upon drawing this pill formula, the alchemist's expression immediately turned sorrowful.

This Qi Condensation Pill is known as the Minor Qi Gathering Powder. It can help children who have not yet condensed their fighting power to quickly condense a stage of fighting power and officially embark on cultivation. Its difficulty is considered quite difficult even among first-grade pill formulas.

The subsequent alchemists drew the corresponding pill formulas, and the results were mixed, with some happy and some sad.

Finally, it was Feline's turn. She confidently stepped forward and reached into the box.

"Yay, it's a Strength-Boosting Pill!"

The moment he pulled out the pill formula, Philin smiled. This Power-Boosting Pill was the most basic pill, and most importantly, it was one of the few pills he had successfully refined.

"I'm sure I can beat you this time."

Linfei glanced at Xuemei with confidence, while the latter remained unconvinced and slowly walked onto the stage to draw the pill formula.

She groped around inside the blind box for a while and finally pulled out a prescription.

"Snow Charm, First-Grade Pill Formula, Blood Coagulation Pill."

Similarly, the pill recipe that Xue Mei drew was still a pill with extremely low difficulty.

"Don't get too cocky. Besides, there's another guy in this assessment who's going to be really tough."

As Xue Mei passed by Lin Fei, she whispered something. Of course, her evaluation of Xiao Yan was due to the strange fire.

If it were simply about alchemy, she didn't believe that someone like Xiao Yan, who had only studied it halfway through his career, could defeat her.

When it was Xiao Yan's turn to go on stage, he entered the blind box and finally drew a red piece of paper. Immediately, all the alchemists present shook their heads.

"What bad luck! I actually drew the only genuine pill formula for this assessment."

All the first-grade pill formulas provided by the Alchemist Guild were handwritten rubbings, but the only one was a genuine copy personally engraved by the guild leader.

The Alchemist Guild invests one of these genuine pill formulas each year in order to increase the randomness of the assessment.

However, the difficulty of this pill formula is basically the limit among first-grade pills, and it is comparable to the difficulty of second-grade pill formulas.

"Xiao Yan, a first-grade pill formula, the Qi-Circulating Pill!"

As the name suggests, the Qi-expanding pill can expand the Qi vortex of battle, accelerate the absorption of battle Qi, and increase the speed of cultivation.

This elixir is suitable for those below the Dou Shi level and is an extremely precious first-grade elixir formula.

However, its difficulty is such that virtually no first-grade alchemist can accomplish it, and even some second-grade alchemists dare not say they are absolutely certain of success in refining it.

Drawing this red pill formula basically means you're out of the running for this year's alchemist exam.

This has been the case for so many years, and that's why many alchemists watching from the sidelines shook their heads and sighed, saying that this guy was just too unlucky.

However, this recipe for a genuine Soul-grade pill contains the power of the soul. Even if you can memorize it after just one look, it can be considered compensation for the alchemist who drew this recipe.

"Sigh, why did he have to draw this pill formula? It seems this kid has really bad luck."

Frank, who had still held a sliver of hope for Xiao Yan, sighed with regret.

Seeing him like this, Otto couldn't help but ask, "You seem to value that kid a lot, which isn't like you."

Ordinary alchemists wouldn't even catch their eye, and the fact that their old rival Frank was acting this way clearly had another reason.

However, Frank did not intend to tell him about Xiao Yan's extraordinary abilities. After all, the old man would not believe it if he just talked about it; he would only believe it if he saw it with his own eyes.

"This little guy is pretty good, just you wait and see."

"Hmph, fine, I won't tell you then. Who cares?"

After their usual banter, the two turned their attention to the many test takers.

All eleven alchemists had completed extracting the pill formulas and began refining the pills.

Frank placed an hourglass on the high platform in the examination hall: "When all the sand in this hourglass has flowed out, the examination will end. You will all have three chances. As long as you succeed once, you will pass this alchemist examination."

After all, an alchemist needs at least a 30% success rate to refine pills of the grade corresponding to their own, and three sets of materials are already enough.

As the hourglass turns, the sand inside begins to flow away.

All the alchemists also began to take action, not wasting a single second.

Xiao Yan had never learned about the Whirlwind Qi Pill before, so he needed to spend some time observing it.

Fortunately, this is a genuine pill formula, which can be understood in just one reading, taking no more than ten minutes.

The other candidates were actually slower than Xiao Yan in this respect, because they all received rubbings.

Fortunately, the first-grade pills are not too complicated, otherwise an hour would not have been enough to understand them.

Some lucky alchemists had already learned the recipes they drew and could immediately begin refining them.

At least Lin Fei and Xue Mei were like this, and Xiao Yan couldn't help but suspect that these two might be involved in some kind of shady deal.

However, Xiao Yan soon began to focus and tried to refine the Whirlwind Pill.

There are five kinds of medicinal materials used to refine the Whirlwind Pill, which is almost twice as many as the two or three kinds used by others, and is close to the average of six kinds for a second-grade pill.

The process of refining medicine involves three steps: refining, purifying, and condensing.

The first step of refining is the most direct: using flames to remove the hard outer shell of the pill, leaving only the internal medicinal liquid.

However, this step requires extremely subtle soul power to control the flame; otherwise, if the temperature is too high, the herbs will turn to ash, and if the temperature is too low, the herbs cannot be completely refined.

In addition, each drug has different heat resistance and properties, and the required time and temperature also vary.

The very first step has already stumped the vast majority of people with insufficient spiritual power.

The second step is even more difficult. The resulting medicinal liquid is not pure. Extraction involves discarding the impurities in the liquid and leaving only the essence.

This step requires both powerful soul strength for subtle manipulation and sufficient battle qi to support the burning flames.

Therefore, a high-level alchemist is also necessarily a high-level powerhouse.

The final step is condensing the elixir, which is much simpler than the previous two steps.

In short, it's about brute force to achieve miracles. It requires compressing a bowl or even a bucket of medicinal essence into a pellet-sized container, and that relies on firepower.

This is where the advantage of the strange fire becomes apparent; its powerful firepower can compress the medicinal liquid almost instantly, completing the condensation of the pill.

Of course, the firepower cannot be too strong, otherwise not only will the liquid medicine not be able to withstand the pressure and evaporate, but the furnace may also explode.

In short, how well one controls the process depends entirely on the alchemist's skill and experience.

"Okay, light the fire first, then add the medicinal herbs."

Xiao Yan circulated his Dou Qi, unleashing a wisp of blood-red flame from his body.

However, as soon as the flame was placed into the cauldron provided by the Alchemist Association, visible cracks quickly spread across the cauldron!

"Oh no, we're doomed!"