Chapter 16 - Breakthrough

--- Chapter 16 ---

Two weeks later.

In the Miteer Family Branch's Compound, Baek Ain stayed in his room and familiarize himself with Alchemist Skills. After two or three days, he started to gain a hang of it.

Baek Ain blew his money like no tomorrow to get some 5-Tier Alchemist Furnaces and all the necessary ingredients to create pills. He also bought several exotic ingredients, such as Magical Beast's corpse and poisonous herbs.

Believe it or not, no one ever abused money as much as Baek Ain in the past years. Even Yafei was speechless when reading Baek Ain's list of purchases.

Back to pill-making, Eastern Alchemy is surprisingly not complicated for Baek Ain. Of course, there is trial and error, but he felt pill-making is like chemistry.

Baek Ain needed precise control, measurement, and procedure to gain an excellent result. And after a not-so-long trial, Baek Ain successfully achieved harmony between Yao Men's knowledge and his past life experience.

...

...

"30 grams of Ghastly Mushroom Dust."

"1 liter of neutral Yin Spring's Water."

"Applying heat..."

"Adding 69 drops of 4-Rank Magical Beast's Bloods from mammal-like creatures."

"Finally, roots from 900 years old Mountain Ginseng."

Baek Ain sat before a silver-plated furnace/cauldron, which emitted intense heat from his Pyrokinesis and Wood Dou Qi. He controlled his energy precisely and smelled a pleasant scent.

[Ding! You have successfully created three 4-Tier Pills]

[Soul Strengthening Pills(B) x3]

Baek Ain successfully produced 1 to 5-Tiers pills after a week, gaining more experience as he burned through his precious resources. Baek Ain's success rate is 100% for 4-tiers below and 60% for 5-Tier pills, but the energy consumed to make them is enormous.

He literally has to make Dou Qi and Spiritual Energy-Boosting Pills to support him. His cultivation also developed quickly with these pills, reaching peak Dou Master.

Of course, he still needed to train to adapt to his cultivation. He is less worried about his foundation because of the "Record of the Burning World.", which stabled any improper foundation and allowed him to be reckless in absorbing Dou Qi.

This cultivation technique required tremendous energy to show its potential, and now Baek Ain could train it. He's so close to leveling the "Record of the Burning World." to level 2.

As for 6-Tier Pills, Baek Ain tried to make them twice and failed in both attempts. He didn't try again because the ingredients he burned were expensive as fuck. Some cannot get bought with money.

He was lucky to get some when buying things across the Jia Ma Empire but wasted them in the furnace.

Swoosh!

A wisp of brown flame escaped the furnace and returned to Baek Ain's left arm. This flame is a beast flame he obtained after finishing the quest to catch Xiao Che alive.

[Name: Earth Spirit's Flame(Gnome)]

[Type: Living Spirit/Beast Flame]

[Grade: A]

[Description: Earth Spirit(Gnome)'s Flame is a Beast Flame birthed by the joy of ten thousand earth spirits living under volcanic mountains, having fire and earth properties. It could devour Heaven and Earth's essence to become stronger]

[Innate Effect: Gnome also could purify minerals to 100% purity because of its origin]

Gnome is a small brown flame with the appearance of a muddy creature, having a pair of light-colored eyes, tiny hands, and feet. It wears this adorable hat like a volcano, which is orangish on top.

Baek Ain obtained and absorbed Gnome, originally a weak beast flame of the earth spirit and only a D+ grade, but the more he used it by creating pills, the more Gnome became stronger after eating his failures.

Just imagine a ton of waste getting devoured by this little guy.

"How was it? The pill's waste is delicious, right?" Baek Ain rubbed Gnome's head gently with his finger.

"Wu!" Gnome responded excitedly with a nod, waving its little hand at Baek Ain.

Oh yeah, Gnome is also more intelligent than other beast flames and has the potential to rival the Heavenly Flames of this world. Baek Ain planned to feed heavenly flames to Gnome in the future, but he couldn't get one right now.

He knew the locations but getting there would be a suicide for him.

Frick Xiao Yan and his protagonist helo because Baek Ain will reap those Heavenly Flames later.

Well, Baek Ain fucked Xiao Yan's business already by becoming Miteer Auction House's sole distributor of pills. It is his revenge for causing a problem with Xiao Che and dragging Miteer Family's business.

Baek Ain only sold 1-2 Tiers Pills for now because Wu Tan City is a decently small city, so selling 3-Tier Pills would be a waste. And he'd transport these pills to bigger cities, where more money flows better.

And as Baek Ain expected, the economy of the Jia Ma Empire changed quickly in just 12 days. People started questioning where these pills came from and who made them. Unfortunately for them, Yafei used Shadow Guard to circulate these pills anonymously, and even the money flowed into unknown bank accounts.

Tracing it back to Baek Ain would take years of effort, and by the time these people finally realized it was him. Baek Ain should be strong enough to stand above them.

Ah, the wonder of power and wealth.

At the moment, Baek Ain's goal is to become powerful and develop his influence to take over Jia Ma Empire. He knew Misty Cloud Sect was related to Hall of Souls, which he could abuse later.

Gaining Nalan Family's favor is also part of his plan, considering he only has to help the elder of the Nalan Family.

Baek Ain is a lazy guy with low ambition, but his arrival in this world makes him realize such a mindset won't help him survive. He had to go above and beyond, using all possible ways to reach his ideal future.

[Above and beyond, but you haven't made a single progress with Yafei and Lan Rou]

"..." Baek Ain.

"Shut up, Alicia."

...

...

[Ding! You have created six 5-Tier Pills]

[Pristine Dou Grandmaster Breaking Pill]

[Heavenly Yang Body's Advancement Pill]

[Heavenly Yin Soul's Condensation Pill]

[Undying Wood Origin Pill]

[Earth Core Formation Pill]

[Tempered Metal Constitution Pill]

Baek Ain calmly sat in a dark room and watched six pills floating before his eyes. These six pills were "specifically." created to become an unstable force to break through into Dou Grandmaster Realm and evolve his body to an optimal state. A state where he could fight someone one great realm higher without problem, though the limit became fader upon reaching Dou Emperor(Dou Huang) Realm. That would be much later in the future.

[There is a 10% chance you'd explode, host]

[Are you willing to take this risk?]

"Don't scare me now, Alicia. I have to become stronger faster, so giving up midway will be anti-climatic, no?"

[That's true...]

"I also have something to help me with excessive energy."

"This small trial is the beginning of the new Baek Ain."

"Oh god, that was such a cringe line." He mumbled to himself.

[...]

"Anyway, let's get started."

[Breathing]

[Iron-like Enhancement]

[Sixth Sense]

[Minor Healing Factor]

Baek Ain grabbed onto a piece of a massive emerald, a stone radiating with intense green light and life energy.

[Life Drain]

He swallowed the six pills at once and began using his cultivation techniques.

[Ding! The "Record of the Burning World." reacted to the host's sudden advancement]

[Ding! The "Unrecorded Body Refining Technique." reacted to the host's sudden advancement]

Snap! Crack!

Baek Ain's eyes widened as all bones in his body shattered by the unstoppable force of the six combined pill's properties. He felt his limbs become jelly-like, screaming at the top of his lungs.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAARGGGHHHH!"

Blood began to spurt from his skin, cracking the healthy complexion into a paler one.

Everything is breaking apart and mending rapidly, creating a cycle of torture for Baek Ain. However, he never once lost consciousness.

[Pain Resistance(B+) >>> Pain Resistance(S)]

[Poison Immunity(C) >>> Poison Immunity(A+)

[Minor Healing Factor(B) >>> Minor Healing Factor(S)]

[Ding! Minor Healing Factor(S) upgraded to Healing Factor(F)]

[Healing Factor(F) >>> Healing Factor(B+)]

[Iron-like Enhancement(A+) upgraded to Steel-like Enhancement(F)]

[Steel-like Enhancement(F) >>> Steel-like Enhancement(C)]

[Life Drain(F) >>> Life Drain(B)]

"ARGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!"

Baek Ain's painful roar shook the room violently and created some cracks in the wall. Baek Ain's shout echoed a mile away, but since this place was "actually." created for people who wanted to enter seclusion, only Yafei and Lan Rou could hear his misery.

"Ain." Yafei looked at the lonely cave while biting her lips in worry.

Lan Rou clenched her hand tightly and made her fingernails pierce her skin, letting the blood drop from her palm. 'I must trust Ain...' She convinced herself.

They stared at the seclusion cave and hoped Baek Ain would be okay from this breakthrough.

...

...

A week later.

The mountain where the seclusion cave was "secretly." built is trembling slightly. The tremor becomes stronger and stronger as time passes, creating an avalanche in the area.

Lan Rou and Yafei observed the area from afar.

"Something is coming."

BOOOOM!!

The mountain exploded and revealed a majestic golden crow, soaring through the sky and becoming the sun. An enormous white tiger appeared and let out a majestic roar.

A young man stood amongst the rubble, having a height of around 169 centimeters. Since he doesn't wear anything besides tattered pants, his physique is "obviously." exposed to the world. His lean muscle filled with mysterious power and shone with a metallic glow. And his untamed white hair with some black spots.

Over the young man's body, one could see a white tiger's tattoo clawing out on the right side of his chest. Meanwhile, some golden-feather tattoo covered his left side. These tattoos are faint and need great concentration to be visible.

When the young man opened his eyes, a pair of hazel-gold eyes gazed upon the world.

Both eyes have these distinct polycoria pupils, shining with a white-gold hue.

"FUCK YEAH!!!" Baek Ain shouted with all his might, shaking the area around him.

[Ding! You have leveled up]

[Ding! You have leveled up]

[Ding! You have leveled up]

[Ding! You have leveled up]

[Ding! You have leveled up]

[Ding! You have leveled up]

[Ding! You have leveled up]

[Ding! You have leveled up]

[Ding! You have leveled up]

[The host reached 9-Star Dou Grandmaster]

[Ding! You have finished "Become Stronger." quest]

[Recovering the Sign-In System to its complete form]

[Ding! The "Goddess of Opportunity." have issued another mission]