A tiny flame erupted from under Regret's feet, its heat lower than the fiery claws of Red. After a moment of silence, Regret's eyes snapped open. He stomped the ground and dashed forward. Each step left a black footprint. "Thud!"
The foot heavily landed on the rocky mountain wall as Regret's figure mysteriously moved upwards. With each step, the flame under his feet diminished until, on the seventh step, a pale hue crept onto his face. At that moment, a thorn snake seized the opportunity, its triangular eyes gleaming fiercely as it shot towards him like lightning.
"Get lost!" Regret's eyes turned cold as he ruthlessly stamped the snake's head, propelling himself backward before landing heavily on the ground and stabilizing his stance after a few steps back.
"Swoosh!"
Red figure flashed out at the same time, its claws carrying a sharp gust of wind, pinning down the snake vine that had launched a sneak attack on Regret earlier.
Under sudden heavy blow, the snake vine twisted in agony on the ground, raising dust in the air. But in the next moment, it ceased struggling as the Red figure had already dug out its core with its claws.
"I thought it wouldn't be easy for him to take five steps for the first time, but I never thought he could take seven steps and land a blow on the snake vine. This adaptability is impressive," Master Magi praised inwardly, though his face remained expressionless. Indifferently, he said, "Poor endurance, only stopped after seven steps. Continue."
Regret sneered. Normally, only Intermediate Spirit master could practice spiritual arts, but due to three years of accumulation, his spiritual power was much stronger than that of ordinary Spirit Novices, almost comparable to some Spirit Apprentice. And this was considered weak?
Thinking this in his mind, Regret quickly charged forward again, a glint of sharpness flashing in his eyes. If seven steps weren't enough, he would test where his limits truly lay!
"Bang!"
From the mountain wall covered with azure spirit thorns came a low muffled sound, as several all green thorn snakes, carrying a faint smell of blood, swiftly pounced towards the black clothed young man.
"Too slow."
Regret smiled faintly, stepping on a rock and quickly dodging to the side. A streak of red light followed, causing the thorn snakes drooling with saliva to softly drop to the ground.
This scene had played out countless times on the steep mountain wall. Behind Regret, Red vigilantly followed, ready to tear any attacker into pieces without hesitation.
Watching the young man darting back and forth on the mountain wall, the Master Magi's gaze revealed a hint of satisfaction. Initially, he had only wanted to give it a try, but as time passed, he became increasingly convinced that he had made the right choice.
Ordinary spirit novice could only take fifty steps with the Flame Step Technique, but after a day of training, Regret had already reached an astonishing sixty steps.
Spirit masters and spirit beasts coexisted in a mysterious way, with their strengths mutually reinforcing each other. If Regret's first spirit pact, the scorching Flame Cat, could advance to the fourth rank, even taking a hundred steps might not be impossible.
Once again landing on the ground, Regret no longer appeared as embarrassed as when his first spiritual power had run dry. Although his spiritual power was now nearing its limits, he had completely adapted to this feeling, and even began to enjoy it somewhat.
Gathering the azure spirit thorns on the ground into a pile, Regret grinned and said, "Master Magi, can you teach me how to refine the Azure Spirit Liquid now?"
After scanning the herbs on the ground, Master Magi nodded gently, then turned around and floated towards the depths of the forest. His soft voice followed, "Come with me."
Stuff the Azure Spirit Thorn into the cloth bag, Regret gritted his teeth and rubbed the back of his hand that got pierced by wooden thorns. He quickly pick on Red and hurried towards Master Magi.
Master Magi chose a rare open space in the forest, surrounded by lush trees with little sign of spiritual beast activity.
"Alchemist must not be disturbed; light interference could ruin the cauldron, serious interference could harm oneself." Master Magi waved his hand, enveloping the area in a semi transparent light shield, blocking out all sounds from the forest.
"Azure Spirit Liquid, though categorized as a top grade elixir, is simply a liquid. Therefore, the alchemist process is relatively simple, and a cauldron is not required."
As he spoke, Master Magi's palm opened, and a dazzling light condensed into an exquisite cauldron shape in his hand.
"This is the appearance of the cauldron. I call it the Simulated Alchemist Cauldron. It only mimics the shape and lacks functionality. Using this simulated cauldron to refine elixirs allows alchemists to better observe the liquid's changes and sense the alchemist process sooner."
Master Magi's sleeve flicked, and the simulated cauldron fell in front of Regret, rotating slowly, emitting a soft glow.
With a look of amazement in his eyes, Regret extended his palm, and a blazing flame surged under the cauldron, astonishing him.
"The greatest advantage of the simulated cauldron is that it requires very little spiritual power to operate. If you were to use a normal cauldron, with just the little spiritual power inside you, you probably couldn't even refine a drop of Azure spirit liquid." Master Magi yawned and leaned lightly on the remaining rock inside the light shield.
"The rest is up to you to figure out; this old man is going to take a nap."
Upon hearing this, Regret glanced at Master Magi in surprise. The latter's way of addressing him seemed to inadvertently reveal his age.
Shaking his head slightly to rid himself of these distracting thoughts, Regret began adding three types of medicinal herbs sequentially, as recorded in the recipe for the Azure Spirit Liquid.
"Hiss!"
The Purple Xuan Leaf turned into a puddle of purple liquid almost instantly upon entering the alchemist cauldron. The addition of Moon Ink Flower completely altered the color of the medicinal liquid.