The trembling fire sitting under the cauldron burned vigorously and scorched the metallic material of the refinement artifact. Sheng Hao's figure seemed to tremble more than his shivering shadow, if it wasn't for the fact that he was constantly speaking to himself he would have long lost the will to stay conscious.
"Focus! Focus! Focus!" his eyes blurred as his figure swung backward as he started tumbling toward the wooden floor. A small spurt of blood appeared on the corner of the young boy's lips who had fallen unconscious for a split second. Thankfully his jaw mechanically closed itself, biting his tongue with his teeth and forcing his mind to reawaken from the fatigue.
He didn't even notice the lucky event that saved him from falling unconscious as his actions didn't even pause. Trembling, he nonetheless skillfully continued adding ingredients according to the written steps that appeared in his mind. His concentration never broke with the objective to finally finish the concoction of the Purple Sunset Pill turning into his First Law.
Although the final step wasn't an easy one, especially due to the fact that he couldn't release his spiritual power outside of his body. The young boy wasn't afraid of its difficulty, the only thing he feared would be if he departed from the workshop with leftover regrets from the difficult trial.
The kindness shown to him by the elders wasn't anything he would ever forget. His shameful greediness that came with his attempt at learning their discipline didn't lessen the kind attention he received in the Toe Village. On the contrary, he had been showered with love and attention; Never feeling as though he was left on the side even in a village filled with reclusive old spiritualists.
He couldn't afford to turn his head toward the person he had come to gleefully call like his own grandmother. He was fully aware that she was monitoring every single one of his own actions, probably noticing details he was missing as his own soul was a far cry when compared to her godlike mental senses.
"Look at me. I'll make you proud for everything you have blessed me with!" A silent roar escaped from his heart, bolstering his spirit to the point where he entered a hyper-focused state and breezed through the left over steps of the Purple Sunset pill.
"The recipe clearly says that if an alchemist isn't able to release his spiritual power to control the medicinal essences, he would have trouble when it comes to fusing the medicinal essence of the herbs in a pill shape." His eyes turned cloudy for a split second as the following information appeared in his mind and prepared him for the upcoming part of the concoction.
"However… That doesn't mean one isn't able to force the ingredients to completely fuse together." He mumbled as his eyes glowed brightly for a split second, turning into two bright candles that surpassed the luminescence of the fiery pit he was facing.
"All I need is the right amount of pressure!" without any hesitation he raised the temperature burning under the cauldron to the utmost limit. Time ticked slowly as his motion came to a sudden stop, his limbs and core shivered slightly but he didn't move and continued scrutinizing the pressure inside the cauldron augment from the blazing heat. His nose picked up a burned smell but he stopped himself from reducing the temperature of the fire as he knew that he needed the cauldron to turn into an unstable bomb.
The faithful moment approached. The moment when he sensed that the temperature inside the cauldron had turned into a blazing fiery pit that was going to consume the entirety of the medicinal herbs. His small and fragile-looking body moved in an explosive manner.
His bare hand slapped the blazing cauldron in a pistol-like motion that forced the lid to fly from the alchemical furnace. And without any hesitation, he breathed deeply before grabbing the cauldron that was nearly as tall as his height.
The muscles on his small back bulged for a split second, he used his own physical strength to force the cauldron to suddenly rotate. His lightning fast series of actions surprised the old witch and she nearly rose from her seat, but his own blazing determination forced her to stop in her own track. Even as he manipulated the blazing cauldron with his bare hand, she didn't stop him as she had expected that he would be forced to use some sort of mechanical motion to condense the pill.
She just didn't expect him to risk his own hands for the sake of a single pill, her eyes flashed with seriousness as she readied herself to interact at any moment. Although painful, the burns weren't life threatening and could be healed in the matter of a few days with her expertise on ancient medicine. However if the cauldron exploded when he was holding him, she wouldn't be surprised if the young boy instantly died in front of her eyes.
The tension inside the workshop rose to a near palpable sensation, even turning the atmosphere in the young boy's surrounding mystical. Sheng Hao's rotation continued for a few spins as his visions darkened with only the center of his vision in the clear. However even in this state, the reincarnated man strangely felt that his body was responding exactly like he wanted it to react. After spinning for a few seconds, the centrifugal energy inside the cauldron rose to the point where a small rounded pellet started forming.
Hearing the sound of the shaping pill rolling inside the cauldron, the heart of the reincarnated man jumped as he added further strength to his forearms and exploded with the entirety of his strength.
A low sounding roar filled with pain and hope crackled out of his throat, then his movement came to a sudden stop and placed the cauldron on top of a fire for a few seconds. He waited for a few breaths, ready to jump on the cauldron to take out the concocted pill at any moment. He avoided looking down on his trembling hands and continued looking at the cauldron with readiness in his eyes.
The temperature of the cauldron turned unstable without the protection of the lid as the ambient colder air mixed with the hotter air that naturally formed inside the alchemical furnace. His guts told him that his plan had an abysmal rate of success but he nonetheless wanted to see this pill refinement to the end of the road.
"This kid is crazy…" mumbled Flamelle as she couldn't help but move despite an intense stress taking hold in her old rigid heart. Her figure appeared next to the young boy who didn't even notice her close presence as his gaze didn't even blink even once during the final duration of the pill concoction.
"It's ready!" exclaimed Sheng Hao with his bare hand once again darting toward the cauldron. "Condense!" another growl escaped from his lips as he grabbed the handle of the alchemical furnace and took it out of the fire before placing it on the ground in one motion.
A large burned mark instantly appeared on the wooden floor of Flamelle's workshop, large fumes escaped from the open lid as a strong medicinal smell was mixed to the smell of burned dregs.
The moment Sheng Hao was prepared to put his hand inside the cauldron, his vision blurred as his last bit of endurance were washed out. He fell unconscious in the middle of collecting the concocted pill. Flamelle instantly caught his body, her eyes couldn't help but look at the reddish cauldron, then gazed at the young boy with a weird look on her gray eyes.
"He is usually quite calm and conscientious, but he definitely have the same temper as Sheng Wang!" She added with a sigh before lifting the body of the young boy with her bony arms.
"I must swiftly heal his injuries or that bastard won't hesitate to attack me, even if it cost him the last few years of his life." She was fully aware of the temperament of the child's old man. Ready to lose all decorum and sacrifice the rest of his life if anything fatal happened to the young boy.
The old witch swiftly emptied a table before placing an unconscious Hao on its surface. Her figure then disappeared and reappeared in the middle of the dozens of shelves. When she came back, her hands were filled with a few boxes that contained dozens of perfectly rounded pills.
It took the experienced old woman less than a few moments to break a few pills and fed them to the unconscious young boy. When she was finished with it, she placed her palm on the chest of the young boy and sent her own energy inside of his body. After verifying that Sheng Hao didn't sustain any hidden injury, she started retracting her energy before noticing something peculiar inside the young boy's body.
The spiritual power that the young boy had developed throughout his growth was surpassing her largest expectations. She was aware that the young boy was forcing himself to follow a strict training routine. Even learning and spending hours in techniques that naturally helped in the development of his spiritual power. But the small streams that were coursing through his energy pathway and that formed a crude circulation of their own far surpassed what a novice spiritualist was supposed to have before their awakening.
"Did Sheng Wang teach him a breathing technique…" she mumbled as she couldn't help but continue to monitor the condition of the young child.
"No… It's something else." She mumbled as she noticed that Sheng Hao's spiritual power didn't show signs of acquiring the characteristic that would be gained when one was diligent with a cultivation technique.
As Flamelle's senses delved deep and followed the cycle of Sheng Hao's spiritual power, she noticed something that put a frown on her eyebrows. "This…" she mumbled in a grave tone as she sensed residue of a strange spiritual energy that was different from Hao's own power.
"Who placed a curse on this poor child?" she mumbled with a burning anger flashing in her eyes. Due to her extensive knowledge as a spiritual and a grandmaster alchemist, she soon recognized the sinister nature of the dark-colored residue that was clogging half of the young boy's energy pathway. "I can't imagine what kind of massacre happened in the Sheng Clan's mansion…" She sighed deeply with her heart tinging when she tried to count all the numerous lives that were lost that night.
She was aware that even if the young boy was alive, the other kin from his clan wouldn't have received the same blessing and must have perished horribly. When the spiritual curse had even damaged the foundation of an expert like Sheng Wang, one could only imagine the viciousness of the curse that was placed on the Sheng family members.
"I'd better discuss this discovery with Sheng Wang…" she mumbled as she couldn't help but feel a sudden urgency to solve the situation. Her eyes turned toward the chubby face of the young boy, her bony fingers grabbed him and disappeared from the workshop.
Her figure swiftly reappeared in front of the cottage used by the Sheng family of two. Without any hesitation, she stepped inside the house fully aware that Sheng Wang had sensed her presence. The old man had just opened his eyes, breaking his meditation as he was aware that the old witch's presence was strange.
By the time he rose on his two feet, he saw Flamelle entering the house with an unconscious Sheng Hao.
"Don't worry he is just sleeping." She exclaimed in a matter-of-fact tone as she saw the dangerous glint that appeared in the corner of the old man's sharp eyes.
"What happened?" Sheng Wang's voice crackled as he swiftly grabbed his grandchildren from the arms of the old witch. He couldn't control his lips from shivering as his eyes constantly shifted on the young boy's body. From the top of his head to his legs, he verified if the young boy was injured. His eyes didn't miss the bandage that the old witch had placed, he felt as though a deep gash was carved out in his heart.
He sighed a long exhalation that made him breathe out part of the panic that took hold of his body and soul. He looked at Flamelle with a deep meaningful gaze before taking an unconscious Hao to his bed.
He came back a few seconds after placing the boy in his room. His face more in peace as he had taken the time to monitor the breathing of his grandson to make sure his condition wasn't anything grave.
"We need to talk, Flamelle…" he exclaimed with the grandmaster alchemist nodding in return as she had come here with a specific purpose. That night, nobody would come to know what happened between Sheng Wang and Flamelle.
With Sheng Hao's mentality, he would definitely have spied on their conversation with the intent to learn what the conversation was about. Especially if he knew that the content of their talk was related to him. He wouldn't have been able to quench that curiosity and wouldn't have managed to stop himself from eavesdropping that discussion. Thankfully, the reincarnated man was in a deep sleep that wouldn't stop, his body seamless going through a change that even the old witch Flamelle didn't seem to notice.