A beautiful flame bloomed in Sheng Tian's hand that glowed blue, green, and purple.
Maintaining this flame took a toll on Sheng Tian, and sweat beaded his face. It had taken him nearly an hour to manifest this Tri Colored Flame.
Wasting no time, he heated the cauldron for a minute before throwing in a stalk of bright green grass. Smoke came out as the impurities were burned and the grass slowly liquified.
Shen Tian's Qi was being drained rapidly but he held on before using Nine Dragon Control.
He felt a wave of nausea hit him, but bit his tongue to stay awake. Carefully, Sheng Tian opened the lid of the cauldron and a green liquid flew out into a bottle he had prepared.
Once this was done, Sheng Tian corked the bottle instantly and collapsed to the ground, gasping for breath.
"Haah... haa... huff... To think that merely purifying herbs would drain all of my qi reserves"
After a moment, he pushed himself up and sat in a lotus position. Entering a meditative state, Sheng Tian felt his qi being replenished quickly, and within 10 minutes, he was completely full again.
His current reserves could not compete with a real cultivator's, but it should be just enough to purify an herb before he needed to rest.
Opening his eyes, Sheng Tian lit the Tri Colored Flame in his palm, heating up the cauldron once more. Since he didn't have much qi, he had to refine the herbs into liquids or powders beforehand before he could refine a pill.
After over 2 hours, Sheng Tian collapsed onto the ground again, his clothes now drenched in sweat. Even so, he was smiling as he laid with dozens of bottles all around him.
Unexpectedly, Sheng Tian's qi reserves grew slightly after repeated use. Now, Sheng Tian might be able to purify 3 herbs before he is out of breath. Perhaps he would do this more often in order to expand his reserves.
Closing his eyes, Sheng Tian rested for a full hour to completely restore both his qi and mental state. Sitting up, he had a determined expression as he prepared to concoct his first pill.
Fwoom!
The Tri Colored Flame appeared in Sheng Tian's hands again, heating up the cauldron quickly. By now, he was used to using the flame and was using less qi to maintain it.
Lifting the lid, he poured in the purified Meridian Clearing Grass. The green liquid entered the cauldron, followed by the purified Azure Essence Flower, Purple Spirit Ginseng, Blood Qi Grass, and Refined Essence Fruit.
One by one, the herbal liquids were poured in, filling the inside of the cauldron with color. Sweat began to bead Sheng Tian's forehead as he separated the liquids using Nine Dragon Control.
Whoosh!
Making a hand seal, the liquids revolved in the cauldron before mixing together into a multicolored mass of liquid. Sheng Tian's brows furrowed as he struggled to maintain control over the concoction.
Suddenly, he changed hand seals and the now light green liquid split into 9 parts.
The 9 masses of liquid were volatile, sometimes constricting and sometimes growing in size. Sheng Tian's mental energy started being drained at a rapid pace and he grinded his teeth together.
Even as a headache seemed to hammer at his consciousness, Sheng Tian stayed awake. Giving up now would mean that this batch of materials would be wasted.
5 minutes... 10 minutes... 20 minutes...
30 minutes passed, though to Sheng Tian, it felt like an eternity of hell. Finally, with a shout, Sheng Tian made one final hand seal.
Weng!
A greenish light sounded, accompanied by 5 loud pops. Looking inside the cauldron, Sheng Tian saw 4 light green pills sitting in a small pill of green dust. This is a simple Essence Nourishment Pill which should help increase Sheng Tian's qi and nourish his body.
Taking out a jug of water, Sheng Tian gulped down half the jug before splashing his face with the remaining water. After wiping himself down, Sheng Tian took out 2 bottles which he used to store the pills and dust.
While the pill dust of the 5 failed pills are not as effective as the complete product, Sheng Tian can still use it if he dumps it in a hot bath and takes a dip.
He glanced at the remaining bottles and saw that he could still make 3 more batches.
After adjusting his mental state and replenishing his qi, Sheng Tian continued, intending to refine them all.
...
The morning sun spilled over Sheng Tian's face, causing him to rub his eyes. Pushing himself up, the boy winced as his muscles ached due to last night's refinement.
Of the 3 batches, 1 completely failed while the other 2 reaped in 5 and 6 pills respectively. By then, Sheng Tian had been so tired that he was barely able to bathe in a nearby stream and sneak home before collapsing onto his bed.
Within his spatial pouch he found a bottle that contained 15 light green pills and another 2 bottles which were filled with a greenish dust.
Despite being a rank 1 pill, these Essence Nourishment Pills required a rank 2 Refined Essence Fruit as an ingredient.
Naturally, this was a recipe he found in the mass of knowledge his Master had imparted, and is much more effective than rank 1 pills nowadays.
After checking the time, Sheng Tian sat in a lotus position before swallowing a pill without hesitation.
Weng!
Pure green qi melted in his mouth and spread through his meridians. A golden mist surrounded the boy's body, signifying that Sheng Tian's Extreme Human Body was about to advance.
The effect of this pill was simple yet greatly desired. It would refine one's qi, making it purer as well as increasing how much qi one can hold.
Furthermore, as it flowed through one's meridians, it would temper the channels and force out impurities. These effects were what Sheng Tian needed at the moment if he wanted to increase his strength.
Sheng Tian felt his qi churn and became less murky. As the qi flowed throughout his body, his meridians enlarged and a black gooey substance was ejected from his body.
After a few minutes, the effects of the pill died down. Sheng Tian opened his eyes and examined his body which felt much stronger.
Smiling, he didn't stop there and took out the bottle.
Gulp!
Once again, Sheng Tian was enveloped in this soothing feeling, as if he was being transformed from the inside. This continued until he finished consuming all 15 pills, with each one becoming less and less effective.
Half an hour later...
Splash!
"Whew!"
Sheng Tian washed his body in the creek again, cleaning away all of the black goo that had been expelled from his body.
When he had finished consuming the pills, his room smelled like what he imagined being thrown in the trash dump behind the village might smell like. He hurriedly cleaned his room and ran to the creek before anyone could see him.
He clenched his small fist, with a layer of light blue light enveloping it. After consuming the pills, Sheng Tian managed to advance to the Diamond level of the Extreme Human Body.
"My qi is now enough to concoct 3 batches of pills without rest, and my fists alone can crush stones to dust. Against a low level cultivator, I might not lose if I play my cards right"
Drying himself up, Sheng Tian went back to the village as if nothing had happened. Thanks to the concealment method, not even Ming Long saw anything wrong and brought him on another hunt.
When noon arrived, Sheng Tian excused himself with the pretense of practicing his sword alone. When he was in his usual spot in the forest, Sheng Tian took out a brush as well as several vials of blood.
These vials contained the blood of a Rank 1 flying magical beast. Sheng Tian was going to use it to create a degraded version of the Flowing Wind Mark. Dipping the brush in the blood, Sheng Tian began to draw on his leg
Thanks to all the training he had done, Sheng Tian's mind had been sharpened, thus the mark was completed in no time. He then went onto his other leg and drew the same mark with the remaining blood.
And just like that, the degraded Flowing Wind Marks were finished. Sheng Tian put on his shoes and tested them out, finding that his speed increased by around 30%
"If it was the real mark, then my speed would have probably doubled"
Sighing, he put away his tools and took out his short sword. He would practice using his movement techniques along with the sword until his Master shows up in a few days.