Chapter 20

he lovely atmosphere stayed for some time before Ya Fei suddenly asked, "Okay, now tell me what brought you here, young clan leader Xiao." Her voice was full of temptation, and she teased Xiao Ning.

Xiao Ning rolled his eyes and said, "I came here for you, my dear wife."

Ya Fei, who tried to tease Xiao Ning, got made fun of in return. Her face became red, and she rebuked him, "Are you still not going to speak?"

Xiao Ning smiled wryly and said, "I came here to check whether you bought scrolls on alchemy?"

A solemn expression appeared on her face, and Ya Fei said, "In fact, I have one in my possession."

She scanned her surroundings and spoke in a lower voice, "Xiao Ning, someone left the scroll and a letter along with it on my table." Ya Fei took out both and handed them over to him.

Xiao Ning picked up the letter first; he opened and read it.

The contents of the letter were:

"Xiao Ning,

Don't be bound by the boundaries of your clan.

Travel, explore the continent, create your destiny.

Here is a small gift from my side.

"

...

Xiao Ning became even more confused after reading the contents of the letter. Somehow he felt that this was also a backhand left by his father.

Ya Fei had also read the letter; she knew its meaning to him, so she sat quietly and gave him some time to think about it.

'Anyway, there is nothing I can do about it right now,' he folded the letter and stored it in his space ring.

Xiao Ning turned his attention to the grey scroll on the table, and he did not open it on the spot. He stored it and glanced at Ya Fei.

"Fei'er, why didn't you hand it over to the Auction House? The scroll is valuable." Xiao Ning looked straight into her eyes and asked.

She also stared back and said, "Xiao Ning, it was yours. Anyway, if you succeed in refining pills, it would be more profitable."

He could feel that the second part of the sentence was a joke. Still, they became even closer after this.

Xiao Ning got up; he walked over and kissed her forehead before marching straight out of the door.

...

Xiao Ning felt a bit complicated; on one side, he didn't even remember his parent's faces, yet they prepared many things for him.

Unknowingly, he returned to the clan and went back straight to his room. Xiao Ning sighed and filled the wooden bucket with cold water.

After stripping off all of his clothes, Xiao Ning jumped into the bucket. Immediately he felt a cold sensation all over his body, and his mind relaxed.

He stayed in the bucket for a few minutes and stepped out only after his emotions stabilized. Xiao Ning changed into a new set of clothes. He placed the scroll on the table and sat down to study it.

...

'Who said alchemy was easy; come out, I will not kill you,' Xiao Ning muttered in his head. It took him more than an hour to read the first portion of the scroll.

Even after reading it, Xiao Ning did not find the name of the alchemist who wrote this.

To summarize it, one needed to have both fire and wood element Dou Qi as a prerequisite for becoming an alchemist. Furthermore, one needed a strong spiritual perception.

Especially the soul perception, as every step of alchemy required it, from controlling the Dou Qi flame to monitoring the refinement of herbs.

Although he had benefited a lot after reading the first section of the scroll; yet, his largest gain was 'Fire Controlling Art.'

Fire Controlling Art: it was a secret technique and did not come under the classification of the regular dou techniques.

To practice this secret technique, one needed to have a unique flame in their possession. Such as the beast flame and heavenly flames. It had three stages: single strand, five strands, and finally infinite.

After successfully practicing the first stage, the user can extract a single strand of flame from his body and use it for alchemy and battle. Subsequently, one could do as he pleases after reaching the third stage.

Coincidently, Xiao Ning owns a unique flame, 'Golden Budha Flame.'

...

From the next day onwards, Xiao Ning became even busier. Apart from practicing 'Radiant Fist,' he diligently read a part of the scroll which included the information on different medicinal materials and heavenly treasures. Thanks to his increased spiritual strength, Xiao Ning could easily remember all of them.

Xiao Ning did not have anyone to guide him; hence he could only fumble his way through. Still, he did not lose faith in himself. At present, all he could do was enrich his foundations.

...

In a blink of an eye, a month passed away.

At this moment, a youngster stood with his bare upper body covered in sweat. Xiao Ning breathed heavily, and each part of his body screamed in pain, yet there was a smile on his face. After so long, he finally cultivated the first layer of 'Radiant Fist.'

Strands of green-gold-colored Dou Qi traveled through the Qi-Vortex in his abdomen to the acupoints in his arms. As it got collected in the acupoints Xiao Ning's entire arm shone in green-gold color.

'Compress,' Xiao Ning thought to himself, and the Dou Qi in his arm flowed in reverse, forming a loop and compressing it.

'Radiant Fist! Earth Grade: Mid Tier!' Xiao Ning's arm color shone radiantly. He clenched his fist and threw a punch.

'Boom!' The boulder got crushed into pieces from inside out. Xiao Ning nodded in satisfaction after looking at the result.

He clutched his right arm to stop it from shaking. Even with Xiao Ning's exceptional physique, he felt a pain in his arm after using the dou technique.

Xiao Ning estimated he would need to be at least a 3-star Dou Practitioner to use this dou technique with no backlash.

Now that he was proficient in 'Radiant Fist,' Xiao Ning intended to devote his entire time to increase his cultivation.