Chapter 400: A deal with a catfish

Finally, after a full hour, Cao Yun began to refine in real life. Yong Ke and the Soul Obsidian Nian Fish were both strangely tense and relieved. Indeed, they were seeing real hope of Cao Yun healing the poison coursing through their veins. But they were still faced with a dangerous opponent. Yong Ke had however relaxed a little in order to focus on controlling the poison in her bloodstream. Although she wasn't as good as Cao Yun, she was competent enough to slow the poison before it could reach her organs. In fact, she had even gulped down a pill to help her.

With his newly acquired Rune of Fire, Cao Yun realized how easier it was to manipulate the flame of his furnace. His Qi was completely ingrained within the flames and they were obeying his every thought. Of course, this was a normal flame that wasn't too powerful. But still, his control had greatly improved. Now, he could determine without even thinking which powder and what amount were necessary to change its properties. He was also able to control seven tongues of fire at the same time. Each one could have completely different properties and temperatures without clashing between one another. Still, he had to be cautious not to let them touch each other on the surface of the cauldron. But this was very good.

According to many texts, a 1-star Human alchemists could control only between three to four tongues of fire. Cao Yun had almost double that. Each star was adding around four to six tongues of fire each time. That meant that a 5-star Human alchemist could control at least twenty of them. Right now, controlling seven was not difficult at all for Cao Yun. To the contrary, it felt as natural as moving his arms around. Thus, he would quickly gain the level of Flame Control a 5-star Human alchemist had, or even a 1-star Heaven alchemist. By that time, the number of tongues of fire wasn't a very good indication anymore as it was still deemed a rather basic technique for an alchemist.

The main problem for Cao Yun was both the Yin-Yang Balance and the Five Elements Wheel within his cauldron. Obviously, those were the most difficult steps with such a high pill. He had tried the refinement process thousands of times in his mind. Unfortunately he didn't have enough ingredients and enough time to do so in the real world. The demonic beast wouldn't suffer from the poison as it was used to it. But the concentration of the Heart Reversing Tormentor was just way too high for a Mortal Warrior. As such, Yong Ke was really in danger. After all, Cao Yun had already gotten rid of his poison. If worse came to worst, he could still try to get the poison out of her system. But doing so within someone else would be difficult and would also reveal some of his trump cards. Still, he wasn't going to let her die after she had been hurt protecting him.

Unlike the simulations, if he made a mistake with the real thing, everything in the cauldron would be destroyed, incinerated. Worse, his cauldron could even explode...

Thus, the young alchemist had to find a way to keep the balance without sacrificing the potency of the pill too much. Without further ado, he fully immersed himself in the refinement process. The ingredients flew one by one inside the cauldron. Each time, the lid was open for only an instant and yet Yong Ke could smell the deep fragrance of the mixture within. On the surface of his 'Aureate Grove Crucible', the flames were dancing with several colors. The more Cao Yun was working with them, the more he realized how deep his Flame Control had gotten. Most of it was due to his own training, but the Rune of Fire was clearly helping him.

At that moment, he realized how powerful his alchemy could become if he were to master the Dao of Fire. Right now, it was just the passive influence of the Rune of Fire through his Drop of Wrath that was taming the flames, making them obey Cao Yun more easily. But with a mastery of the Dao of Fire, he would be the ultimate master of such weak flames.

Yong Ke was mesmerized by Cao Yun's alchemy and that was understandable. The flames themselves were as elegant as seven dancers. But the way he was expertly sending the ingredients one by one in the cauldron was exceptional. Yong Ke wasn't an alchemist but she had seen a fair share of alchemist masters. She had even seen a few Heaven alchemists refine lower pills. Right now, Cao Yun was almost comparable to them.

And before the time of a cup of tea had passed, Cao Yun's refinement was close to its end.

Suddenly, his cauldron started to shake violently. Rattling noises echoed throughout the cave as the cauldron was hitting the furnace below it. This was the most critical moment in this refinement. According to what Cao Yun had smelled and felt, the pill wouldn't be over three quarters of medicinal essence retained. This wasn't much, but for a 1-star Heaven pill refined by a 1-star Human alchemist, this was a lot. The mere fact that it might not be a failure proved that Cao Yun was closer to being a 5-star Human alchemist than the meager 1-star he had right now. After all, he had not taken any higher test. But it wasn't that rare for alchemists.

In fact, many alchemists didn't take each and every single test. The most important ranks were obviously the first rank of every realm as well as the last ones. Of course, alchemists also liked the fame and prestige like any other cultivator or mortal, and sometimes even more than others. As such, some alchemists tried to take any test they could to advance their rank. But in general, those weren't the greatest alchemists. Those were the alchemists who weren't very confident in their future achievement and wanted to at least secure a high level before their talent peaked.

For alchemists who were certain they would become a Heaven alchemist one day, taking every test wasn't very interesting. Most of them only did so when they were staying with their master. Indeed, those tests could also be used by a master in order to motivate and above all monitor their disciples. Those created very simple steps to overcome. But Cao Yun had already left his master. So it wasn't surprising that he hadn't passed the tests. Right now, Cao Yun should have been close to a 3-star Human alchemist. With his mastery of the flames though, it was certain that he would grow quickly. In fact, it wouldn't be a surprise if he was able to become a 5-star Human alchemist by the time of the Alchemy Conference.

To become a Heaven alchemist however, it would still require for him to become a Spirit Warrior. No matter how good his 'Spiritual Sea Refinement' was, it would never be able to rival actual spirit senses. With them, he might be able to refine Heaven pills, but refining a Pure pill would be as hard as turning the Heavens upside down.

As the cauldron was getting more and more violent, Cao Yun was using the flames to try and contain the Fire element within. Indeed, it was clashing with other elements and making the entire process unstable. Right now, he had to lower the temperature progressively to avoid another element from completely extinguishing the Fire while preventing the Fire from burning everything else. It was really the most delicate phase of this refinement and he had known it from the start. But that also meant that this was the part that would diverge from his simulations the most.

Even now, Cao Yun was using his 'Spiritual Sea Refinement' as much as he could while increasing the speed of his thoughts with his mind cultivation. He had to push his mind even further than what he had done to put a seal in the Soul Obsidian Nian Fish's soul. But to be fair, he had also used the help of the Drop of Wrath. Right now, the Drop of Wrath was useless as he didn't require brute force in the least.

At last, Cao Yun deemed that he was done. The flames slowly died down and immediately, Cao Yun opened the lid and poured a liquid. This was a vial of Starry Boiled Milk, a very precious liquid considered as a 2-star Heaven ingredient. Cao Yun had obtained some precious ingredients from Xiao Xuefeng. And he intended to buy even more as he could never predict what would be useful. It would always be smart to have varying ingredients on him at all times. Even if he didn't have the right ones, he might still be able to make something useful if he had enough variety.

After letting the cauldron cool down, Cao Yun finally opened the lid. A deep fragrance filled the bright cave. Even the Soul-Sucking Catfish was transfixed by it. Everyone in the cave felt their symptoms diminish right away. Of course, they would need to consume the pill in order to get rid of the poison. But they were now certain that this would be effective.

Considering the urgency of Yong Ke's poison, Cao Yun didn't want to wait. But he still took some time to examine the pills he had refined. There were only two of them. He didn't require one himself as he had gotten rid of the poison thanks to his blood cultivation. However, Yong Ke was in need of it much more than the demonic beast. As such, Cao Yun examined them closely. One had reached 73% of medicinal essence with 12% of toxins. The other one had barely succeeded with 62% of medicinal essence and 19% of toxins. If they had been Human pills, Cao Yun would have been very dissatisfied with the results. But the mere success of a 1-star Heaven pill was impressive.

Without thinking, Cao Yun gave the best pill to Yong Ke. And without hesitating at all, she gulped it down and sat cross-legged. While she was meditating, Cao Yun gave her instruction as to how circulate the medicinal essence. With his knowledge of the Heart Reversing Tormentor, it would improve the effects of the pill. In his book, Tree of Death had named it Heart Reversing Tormentor Reversing pill. To be honest, the original names invented by Tree of Death were not very good, but they were very factual. After all, the book itself didn't really have a name except for the name of the author.

Yong Ke was rather impressed by the effect of the pill. It was perfectly targeting the poison in her blood. The pill she had gulped down before was a general detoxifying pill. Although it had been very powerful, it wasn't meant specially for this poison so it hadn't been as efficient. Furthermore, Cao Yun's guidance was perfect. It didn't take her more than two incense sticks to get rid of most of the poison. Then, she simply had to take care of the poison near her wounds but it wasn't too dangerous as it was far from her organs and Dantian.

As Yong Ke took care of those last vestiges of the poison, Cao Yun got closer to the demonic beast. It was still distrustful of the human, but it knew that he had no reason to kill him after going to such an extent to put a seal in it and refine a pill. Indeed, the beast was convinced that this second pill was for it. And it was right.

"I can help you get rid of the poison within you. But I have two conditions. The first one is that you need to swear your loyalty to me and obey me as long as I don't send you to your death. The second one is that you'll need to send as much as your soul as you can in my sea of consciousness. The poison also got in there and I can't enter your soul, so you'll have to enter mine. If you accept my offer, I won't mistreat you. My goal is to kill the man who used this poison against you. There is no reason for us to be enemies. But if you don't, I will be forced to coerce you into obeying."

The demonic beast wasn't too stupid. If the human wanted to, he could use the seal to completely subdue it through pain. But he was trying to give him a choice. The demonic beast was smart enough to know that he was trying to optimize his use. Indeed, a servant with gratitude would be more useful than one with hatred and a burning desire for revenge. Even now, its hatred for the demonic cultivators who had tortured it into submission was playing against them. Even without any threat, if someone could free him, the Soul Obsidian Nian Fish would be ready to help them as long as he could see Gu Song dead. And Cao Yun was offering it freedom from the pain and its vengeance. Why would it refuse?

Getting its head out of the water, the fish looked at Cao Yun with its only remaining eye. Cao Yun was now used to communicating with demonic beasts without talking. He had understood that the catfish was agreeing.

Without any delay, he threw the pill in its mouth. And the Soul Obsidian Nian Fish spread its darkness toward Cao Yun alone. In an instant, more than two thirds of its soul had entered Cao Yun's sea of consciousness. But this time, it wasn't looking to attack the young human at all. In fact, even if it had wanted to, it couldn't. The seal was now engraved deep in its soul, so deep that the seal was both in the soul within Cao Yun and the soul still within the catfish.

"I'll get rid of the poison within your soul. But in exchange, I need you to show me all the memories you have of the humans you've met and what they asked of you precisely. I don't care how people you've killed, so show me everything. I promise not to make you pay for what they forced you to do. But if I learn that you dared hide anything from me, then you will suffer the consequences. There is no reason for us to be enemies as I said. So don't create any!"

Of course, the demonic beast was a bit reluctant to show how it had killed thousands of humans. It knew how furious it would be if a human had killed many of its kind. But the severity of Cao Yun's voice made sure that it would comply. And before it even began to do so, the catfish felt Cao Yun's touch on its soul. The poison was being sucked out of its soul.