With a faint chime, a purple medicinal cauldron materialized instantly.

With a flicker of thought from Nie Kong, the lid of the cauldron sprang open, and the medicinal essence of the “Viper Sea Serpent Dragon” immediately drifted inside, followed by the rest of the ingredients.

This time, the Tenth-Grade Spirit Medicine was centered on the “Viper Sea Serpent Dragon,” requiring forty-seven auxiliary herbs. Including the medicinal power from Tai Yan’s “Hui Mou Grass,” the total number of medicinal types reached forty-nine.

Nie Kong had refined countless spirit medicines, Nether Pills, and elixirs before, but never one that utilized so many ingredients at once.

Especially since the quantity of each individual ingredient was substantial.

This was a novel experiment for Nie Kong. Now possessing the strength of a Grand Supreme, he had the sufficient power to support such an undertaking.

“Hoo!”

The instant the lid sealed shut, the raging “Chaos Heavenly Fire” erupted from nothingness, completely enveloping the purple cauldron suspended in the void.

The intensity of the fire reached its zenith almost the moment it manifested.

All the searing focus was poured directly into the medicinal cauldron.

“Hoo!”

Seconds later, it was as if a hurricane swept through the void. The flames, which had been soaring upward, suddenly began to whirl with a roaring sound. The cauldron, covered by the fire, followed suit, spinning rapidly, while a clear, resonant humming simultaneously emanated from within, vibrating the very eardrums of the observers.

This was the technique known as “Myriad Miles Wind Fire.”

In the art of alchemy, this technique represented the pinnacle of mastery, infinitely more complex than “Hundred Layers Flower” or “Thousand Folds Wave.” Even an ordinary Spirit God would struggle to execute it; only a Spirit God of Sixth Grade or higher stood a chance of success. To perfectly deploy the effects of this maneuver required the might of a Ninth Grade Spirit God or greater expert.

Myriad Miles Wind Fire, as the name suggested, meant the flames traveled like the wind, soaring ten thousand miles.

The cauldron conjured by the little fellow this time was quite large, with a circumference approaching one meter. One rotation of the cauldron equated to the flame traveling one meter. For the flame to traverse one li, the cauldron needed to rotate five hundred times. Therefore, to execute the “Myriad Miles Wind Fire” smoothly, the cauldron demanded five million rotations.

Refining medicine using this method relied not only on the heat of the flame but also on the vibrational force generated by the cauldron’s rotation.

Moreover, the latter was exceptionally critical.

Each rotation of the cauldron demanded divine power to sustain the flame’s combustion, but generating that inward-and-outward vibrational force required an even greater expenditure of divine power.

Five million rotations—one could easily imagine the astonishing level of divine power consumption.

Especially since this refinement utilized the “Chaos Heavenly Fire,” which was inherently draining. If Nie Kong were not already a Grand Supreme, he would never attempt such a method. Tai Yan and Húlu, unaware of the difficulty, watched with curiosity as the flames exhibited their strange behavior.

“Hoo!”

“Hoo!”

“……………”

The whistling sounds echoed continuously, the cauldron and the flames spinning with meticulous regularity.

One hundred times, a thousand times, ten thousand times…

One hundred thousand times!

Time trickled away. Figures gradually entered this “Illusory Spirit Space”—Hua Mei, Ling Yanluo, Long Ping, and Long Ting had all been brought in by Nie Kong after leaving the “Violet Luo Space.”

The rotation of the cauldron and the flames remained utterly undisturbed. However, once the rotation count surpassed one million, the frequency of the spinning quietly began to slow.

Two million times! Three million times!

Four million times…

Nearly two months later.

“It’s still not over. I wonder how much longer this refinement will take?” Not far off, Húlu sighed, looking dejected as if struck by frost. Day after day passed, and the little fellow’s enthusiasm eroded along with the time, leaving him with little hope for the outcome of Nie Kong’s current endeavor.

After all, the duration of this refinement process had been excessively long.

Only Hua Mei and Tai Yan, among others, remained fully confident in Nie Kong, their eyes fixed keenly on the roaring mass of “Chaos Heavenly Fire.”

“Tai Yan!”

Suddenly, Nie Kong called out.

The instant his voice sounded, Tai Yan beside him transformed into the Hui Mou Grass. Nie Kong lightly brushed his palm along the stem of the grass, and a clump of blood-red medicinal essence immediately appeared in his hand. Húlu, distracted moments before, snapped awake, his spirit suddenly lifted, his eyes locked directly onto Nie Kong’s right hand.

“Slap!”

Nie Kong’s right palm suddenly pierced through the flames and lightly tapped the medicinal cauldron. When he withdrew his hand, the clump of blood-red essence had vanished, seemingly having passed through the cauldron wall and into its interior.

“Hiss!”

It sounded as if a searing hot iron rod had been plunged into ice-cold water. A strange noise emanated from inside the cauldron. This sound completely overwhelmed the roaring of the flames, and Hua Mei, Tai Yan, and the others heard it clearly, exchanging uneasy glances, their hearts filled with apprehension.

“Did it fail?” Húlu muttered, his voice wavering with uncertainty.

“Boom!”

Almost as if specifically to answer him, a loud explosion immediately followed from within the cauldron, and the lid sprang open with a sharp clang.

However, what overflowed was not the burnt, foul stench characteristic of a failed refinement, but a fragrance so intoxicating it made the mind dizzy. Upon inhaling the scent, it felt as though one had drunk nectar from the heavens. Hua Mei and the others found not only their lungs and viscera cleared but even their very souls experiencing a sense of transcendence.

At that moment, the cauldron abruptly halted, and the flames encircling it likewise extinguished.

“Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh…”

In the next instant, streaks of red shadows, as thick as thumbs, shot out from the cauldron mouth like arrows loosed from a bow, darting rapidly through the “Illusory Spirit Space.” Against the backdrop of the surrounding verdant color, these meteor-like red streaks of light were exceptionally conspicuous, allowing Hua Mei and the others to clearly see that the streaks were, in fact, perfectly round, jade-like medicinal pills.

“One! Two…”

Húlu’s look of doubt vanished completely. His eyes widened like two small lanterns as he desperately tracked the trajectories of the pills, intermittently shouting out numbers: “Eighty-two… twenty-five thirty-three! Thirty-three pills! Nie Kong, so you refined this many Tenth-Grade Spirit Medicines at once—no wonder it took so long.” The little fellow’s face flushed red with excitement, his demeanor animated.

Nie Kong smiled faintly. With a mere thought, the thirty-three Tenth-Grade Spirit Medicines, which had been darting around trying to escape the spatial restraint, halted before him, all perfectly still. Each of these spiritual elixirs was crystalline and transparent, containing terrifying medicinal power and an extremely rich spiritual essence.

“Brother, have you named this medicine?”

Hua Mei’s beautiful eyes also flashed with excitement.

Nie Kong pondered for a moment, then smiled, “Since they were refined using the ‘Viper Sea Serpent Dragon’ as the main ingredient, and their power can strengthen the soul and aid in ascending to Spirit God, perhaps we should call them ‘Serpent Dragon Soul Ascension Pills.’”

“Their medicinal power integration has reached ten-tenths, and with the neutralizing effect of Tai Yan’s essence, even a Heavenly Spirit Master can consume them. Cai Mei, Ping Ping, Ting Ting, and Yan Luo, I will reserve one ‘Serpent Dragon Soul Ascension Pill’ for each of you; they will be perfect for when you cultivate to the Ninth Grade of Heavenly Spirit. Húlu, you take one as well.”

“Nie Kong, is one enough?” Húlu stared at the elixirs with a sly look, smiling ingratiatingly at Nie Kong, clearly hoping for a few more.

“Húlu, aren't you afraid of bursting yourself? Take this one. If you don’t want it, forget it!” Nie Kong chuckled wryly.

“I want it! I want it!”

“……………”