Volcanic Area

 As Ryker finished the final pill, he took out the sole peak-level pill and examined it. "Looks like I made another one," he muttered to himself.

 The result was satisfactory in his opinion, with one-third of the pills at the high level while the rest being mid-level.

 If his thought leaked out, the alchemists in the room would come and beat him up. To call creating average mid-level pills for recipes he learned only a few hours prior, could not be called satisfactory, more like amazing and other words synonym to it.

 The alchemists gave him a wide berth as he took the pills and put them inside the pill vials that had been provided by the president.

 "W-what are you going to do with it?" one of the alchemists asked.

 "Either I am going to eat it during an emergency or sell it to any alchemy shop of course," he replied, looking at the man like he was an idiot.

 "Well, if you are going to sell it, then I will buy it!"

 "Wait, how could you make an offer all of a sudden? I would also like to buy it as well!"

 The normally composed alchemists turned into a bunch of rabid beasts to the point Ryker, despite being stronger than them retreated.

 The president shook his head. "Man," he did not shout but his words were enough to make them stop.

 "We will perform an auction now. The highest bidder will get the pill. Agree?" the alchemist nodded. After all, it seems fairer that way.

-x-

In the end, the winner of the auction was an alchemist with blonde hair. Ryker gave him the pill despite not knowing why they would care for such a thing. After all, it was just a Grade 7 Pills, pills the alchemist could create.

 Seemingly able to read his mind, the president led him to his room. When they are alone, the president spoke, "Regular Grade 7 Pills will not be sought after. Not even high-level Grade 7 will be cared for by them.

 But a peak-level Grade 7, that is a different story. To be able to great such a thing requires luck and skill, mostly the former. They will not even eat it. They would study it extensively,"

 "Study it?" he asked, clearly confused.

 "Yes. Peak-level pills had a certain aura it emitted. By studying the aura, alchemists could improve their skills. Even a Grade 1 peak-level pill could help Rank 5 Alchemist.

 Not to mention a peak-level Grade 7 pill. They could improve their skills by leaps and bounds if they managed to learn something out of it.

 However, it also speaks of your potential," hearing this, Ryker turned his head at the president.

 "My potential?" "Yes, for you to be able to create a peak-level Grade 7 pill, it spoke of the talent you have. You might even reach the 9th Rank before the others. You might even surpass me and become a Noble Rank Alchemist," the president explained.

 Ryker nodded, before taking his leave. While on the way out, he took his token and examined it. "Talented in alchemy, huh?"

-x-

 He had sent a message to the president, telling him he would be spending some time outside the city. The president accepted it. After all, he cannot prevent someone, not even a talented prodigy like him from leaving the city. 

 However, he does wonder what he is doing outside the city.

-x-

 "Looks like this is the place," Ryker said to himself, looking at the huge volcano. 

 The volcano was labeled by the Duchy as a danger zone, one that states travel there at your own risk. He could see why.

 The volcano seemed to always spew out lava though it was never above the 2-meter mark. Most of it would fall off the mouth of the volcano before sliding on the slope of the volcano.

 This created the scene of the river of magma exiting the mouth of the volcano. The river in question flowed into a large lake of lava.

 Besides him, there are also others though they were not human. He could see several Fire Lizards swimming inside the lava lake as well as inside the smaller but numerous lava pools.

 Most of the Fire Lizards were 7th Tier Genesis Beasts so they would not pose much of a threat to him. From what he finds the strongest beast in the volcanic area is a Tier 9 Genesis Beast.

 He could easily escape if the beast was above his weight class. However, if it is not, he would not hesitate to kill it for resources.

 However, even if he killed the leader of the Fire Lizard, he did not think he would be able to change the designation of the volcanic area being a danger zone.

 After all, while the Fire Lizard did kill its fair share of adventurers and cultivators, the number one killer in the area is the volcano.

 While regular lava would not pose much threat to a powerful cultivator, the lava the volcano unleashed daily is not normal.

 The lava could even harm and kill a Genesis Sea expert, a cultivator who is usually strong enough to shrug off regular lava like it was nothing.

 However, it was this type of lava that he was looking for. After all, he could handle regular lava with ease but this one. This one would be more than enough for him to temper his body.

 First thing first, he needed to find a place for him to practice first.

-x-

 "Looks like this spot will be good for now," he said to himself. While the lava still could cause him bodily harm, it was not as dangerous compared to the one inside the lava pools near the lava lake or the lava inside the lava lake itself. Or higher being forbid the lava inside the bowel of the volcano itself.

 He wants to start small after all. He needs to know his limit for now. When he is no longer able to refine his body using the lava he goes deeper, into the place where the lava is more dangerous.

 He first decided to test something first. He released his qi into the lava, wanting to see if it would do anything. To his surprise, his qi was slowly dissolved by the lava, proving more and more it was not regular lava.

 Confirming his thought, he then took out a Fire Lizard he had caught and threw it into the small pool he was at. The beast thrashed around before slowly calmed itself down inside the pool.

 He observed the Fire Lizard, a look of interest forming on his face.