After the time it took for an incense stick to burn, Xiao Bai discovered that the Yang Thunder of Bing Fire within his body had become identical to the wisp at his fingertip.
On the surface, it appeared as a flickering flame, with a crimson thunder orb floating at its center, encircled by arcs of lightning. Occasionally, faint streaks of thunder flickered across the flames, creating an exceptionally beautiful sight.
"Haha... Good job, Little Bing! Daddy loves you!"
Even though he knew it had no intelligence, Xiao Bai couldn't help but burst into laughter, overjoyed.
Both the Daoist Righteous Thunder of Yi Wood and the Yang Thunder of Bing Fire within him were incredibly spiritual.
However, Xiao Bai understood that for such heavenly treasures to develop true sentience was extremely difficult. First, they required an immense amount of origin power. Second, they needed an extraordinarily long time—measured not in centuries or millennia, but in tens of thousands of years.
Take Tou She Ancient Emperor, for example. No one knew what kind of Heavenly Flame he originally was, but according to the original story, he had spent tens of thousands of years before he even developed a vague sense of consciousness. Relying purely on instinct, he devoured other flames until he eventually gained intelligence comparable to a human's.
Xiao Bai dispersed the wisp of Yang Thunder of Bing Fire at his fingertip, allowing it to return to its main body. Then, he directly summoned the entire Yang Thunder of Bing Fire thunder seed.
Seeing that the thunder seed in his palm didn't revert to its previous state, he tried communicating with it using his soul. The thunder seed seemed to sense his intent and gradually transformed back into its original lightning state. With another thought, it returned to its flame form.
Now, Xiao Bai was completely at ease. Watching the thunder seed continuously shift between its two forms in his palm, a wide smile spread across his face.
He hadn't expected the thunder seed to be used this way. If it weren't for his need to refine medicine this time, who knew how long it would have taken him to discover this?
With the Yang Thunder of Bing Fire as a precedent, Xiao Bai wondered if the Daoist Righteous Thunder of Yi Wood could be manipulated the same way.
Retracting the Yang Thunder of Bing Fire, Xiao Bai then summoned the Daoist Righteous Thunder of Yi Wood. But this time, he didn't extract just a single wisp like before.
Instead, he called forth the entire thunder seed and directly attempted to control it using his soul.
As expected, Little Bing's transformation wasn't just a coincidence—it was simply that he hadn't understood them well enough.
Just as with the Yang Thunder of Bing Fire, the Daoist Righteous Thunder of Yi Wood could also be manipulated in this way. However, while the Yang Thunder of Bing Fire took the form of a flame, the Daoist Righteous Thunder of Yi Wood appeared as a mass of verdant mist.
The green mist churned continuously in his palm, with a pale green thunder orb floating at its center. Occasionally, streaks of lightning flashed within the mist, creating a beauty distinct from that of the Yang Thunder of Bing Fire.
Xiao Bai quietly admired the mesmerizing changes in the Daoist Righteous Thunder of Yi Wood, marveling at the wonders of the world and the ingenuity of nature. It was truly breathtaking.
"Xun'er would probably love this!"
He suddenly thought of that little girl.
Girls always loved beautiful things, and even he found himself captivated by the two thunder seeds in their transformed states—let alone that beauty-loving girl.
After appreciating them for a while longer, Xiao Bai finally withdrew them into his body. Now, everything was ready; only the final step remained.
Sorting out his thoughts, Xiao Bai's expression turned serious. He guided a wisp of flame-infused lightning into the cauldron, using his soul power to control its intensity.
Now, he felt much more at ease. He no longer had to split his focus on balancing the fire and lightning attributes—he only needed to control the flame's strength.
After familiarizing himself with this new state, he waved his hand and dropped a Purple Sun Fruit into the Ebony Cauldron.
He minimized the fire's intensity, allowing the Purple Sun Fruit to slowly approach the flame-infused lightning.
Xiao Bai had no way of knowing the exact temperature needed to extract the medicinal essence, so he could only proceed cautiously, testing little by little.
This time, the Purple Sun Fruit didn't instantly turn into a lump of charcoal like before.
Seeing this, Xiao Bai's heart leaped with joy.
There was hope!
Slowly controlling the flame to grow larger, Xiao Bai increased the temperature bit by bit. As the heat rose, the Purple Sun Fruit tumbled within the flames, gradually shedding its outer skin.
Suddenly, a streak of lightning flickered within the fire and struck the exposed fruit flesh. The Purple Sun Fruit instantly turned into a charred black lump.
Seeing the scene inside the cauldron, Xiao Bai was speechless.
However, he didn't feel discouraged. Compared to his previous attempt, this was already a huge improvement.
Success was nothing more than the accumulation of failures, one step at a time.
Waving his hand, he cleared out the burnt residue from the cauldron and tossed in another Purple Sun Fruit, continuing his refining process.
After several more attempts, he had yet to succeed. Each time, the medicinal ingredient was destroyed by the thunder within the flames—sometimes sooner, sometimes later.
Realizing that continuing like this would be pointless, he stopped. Even if he succeeded by sheer luck, it wouldn't provide any real reference value, nor would it contribute to his alchemy skills.
Rubbing his fingers against his brow, Xiao Bai felt that his journey as an Alchemist was truly an arduous one.
Just after solving one problem, another emerged. And this was only the first step of alchemy—extracting the medicinal essence.
Taking a break to clear his mind, Xiao Bai quickly pulled himself together.
The greater the challenge, the more he needed to remain patient. Only then would the fruits of success taste sweeter. Encouraging himself with this thought, he silently pushed forward.
Looking at the small pile of charred remains beside him, Xiao Bai stroked his chin in contemplation.
Since the medicinal ingredient couldn't withstand the thunder within the flames, and he was unable to prevent the appearance of lightning in the fire…
Could he strengthen the ingredient instead?
Xiao Bai thought of the Daoist Righteous Thunder of Yi Wood, which he hadn't yet used. It wasn't that he didn't want to—it was that he couldn't.
Unlike other Alchemists, who needed the wood attribute to neutralize the violent nature of fire and make it more stable, his Yang Thunder of Bing Fire couldn't come into contact with Yi Wood, or it would become even more volatile.
If he couldn't use Yi Wood to temper the flames, could he use it to strengthen the medicinal ingredient instead?
It was worth a try.
Retracting the flame-infused lightning within the cauldron, Xiao Bai summoned a wisp of misty Daoist Righteous Thunder of Yi Wood and infused it into the cauldron. Then, with a wave of his hand, he dropped in another Purple Sun Fruit, allowing it to be nourished by the Yi Wood Qi.
Slowly, Xiao Bai noticed that this method seemed to be the right approach.
Daoist Righteous Thunder of Yi Wood was already relatively gentle, and in its mist-like state, it was even more so. Under its nourishment, the originally somewhat shriveled fruit gradually became plump and full.
Moreover, since the Yi Wood Qi naturally contained a trace of thunder, the Purple Sun Fruit absorbed both the Yi Wood Qi and a faint amount of lightning energy.
"Could this prevent the fruit from being charred by Little Bing's lightning?" Xiao Bai's eyes lit up.
With this thought, he reintroduced the Yang Thunder of Bing Fire into the cauldron, allowing the now-enriched Purple Sun Fruit to slowly approach the flames.
As the temperature rose, the fruit tumbled within the fire, gradually shedding its outer skin. Occasionally, a streak of lightning would strike it, but instead of destroying it, the lightning actually accelerated the extraction of its medicinal properties.
Eventually, faint traces of pale purple powder began to form within the cauldron.
Xiao Bai knew—he had succeeded.
For the first time, he had successfully extracted the medicinal essence of an ingredient.
"This is a small step for Xiao Bai, but a giant leap for the Alchemist community of the Dou Qi Continent!" Xiao Bai thought smugly, grinning from ear to ear.
Scooping the pale purple powder from the cauldron, Xiao Bai noticed that it didn't quite match the description in Yao Lao's pill formula.