Early the next morning, Yan Qingshan emerged from Little Doctor Immortal's room into the outer courtyard. He noticed Boss Yao with dark circles under his eyes, as if he hadn't slept well the previous night.
"Boss, good morning!"
Yan Qingshan, feeling refreshed after a good night's sleep, greeted Boss Yao with a cheerful smile. However, Boss Yao, who had been so enthusiastic the previous day, simply glanced at him, sullenly turned, and walked away.
Yan Qingshan ignored Boss Yao's scowl and continued his morning exercises in the courtyard. Around breakfast time, more people began to gather around, and he could faintly hear a flurry of chatter, mingling with words like "Chengnan," "Langtou," and "Mushe."
Yan Qingshan wiped the sweat off his face with a wet towel and, bracing himself, headed for Boss Yao's hall. When he entered, Boss Yao was talking to his men, and seemed a little flustered when he saw him.
Boss Yao stood up and spoke, his eyes constantly gazing at Yan Qingshan with suspicion. "Qingshan, what's going on?"
Yan Qingshan got straight to the point and glanced at Boss Yao's trusted subordinates. "Boss, I have something I want to discuss with you. Let's talk alone!"
"Okay! You guys go out first!"
Boss Yao was silent for a moment, then waved to his left and right, and his subordinates filed out one after another.
"Tell me! What's going on!"
Boss Yao watched Yan Qingshan sit down on the rosewood chair to his left, his eyes filled with even more doubts, as if he was feeling uneasy.
"Haha, boss, don't be nervous, don't act like I'm going to do something to you!"
Yan Qingshan smiled and took out two scrolls, one new and one old, from his arms. He first spread out the new white scroll, on which were written a list of precious materials that were rarely seen on the market. "I hope the boss can help me collect all the things on it."
"You...did you write it wrong..."
Boss Yao frowned after taking it and taking a look at it. Many of the things in it were still in his collection, and the rest could be collected by using his connections and resources, but if he did that, all the profits of Wanyaozhai in the past ten years would be invested, not to mention the connections and resources.
Yan Qingshan pushed another pale green scroll towards him. "This is my reward, a deposit. The rest is in a house south of the city. I'm sure you'll be satisfied, sir."
"This is... a low-level Xuan-grade fighting skill... Wind Blade Dance... Zhennan's affairs... you..."
Boss Yao looked at the scroll of low-level Xuan-grade fighting skills. They were priceless on the market, but that wasn't the reason for his shock. More importantly, considering the news from Zhennan that morning, his expression changed again and again, and his eyes were filled with horror when he looked at Yan Qingshan.
Boss Yao felt pressured by Yan Qingshan's smile, but he finally forced himself to calm down and said, "Don't worry, I'll collect the items here as soon as possible!"
Yan Qingshan stood up slowly. "That's good. I'll leave it to you, sir!"
...
That morning, Yan Qingshan walked into the courtyard holding a storage ring. Xiao Yixian was helping him clean up the yard when suddenly, his vision blurred. A calf-sized demon beast and half of its tail fell to the ground in the courtyard. The sudden movement startled her.
"Xian'er, go and hold the door for me!"
Yan Qingshan said solemnly in a low voice, then began preparing for the Blue Mane Scorpion Lion Beast and the Lion's Heart Baptism.
"Ah, oh, oh..."
Little Medical Fairy, though curious about what Yan Qingshan was up to, docilely kept her mouth shut. Instead, she cautiously peered outside, wary of anyone interrupting Yan Qingshan.
"Shuguang, record the actual process and try to analyze and simplify it..."
Yan Qingshan began the Shuguang ritual, preparing to attempt it. After all, a deduction was just a deduction. In actual practice, whether it was a battle plan or preparing the potion, it was impossible to achieve perfection as planned. This required recording the process, experimenting repeatedly, and correcting any errors.
The Lion's Heart Baptism required a considerable amount of preparation, some of which was quite precious. Some of the materials were found in the cliff cave treasure chest, and the rest was finally gathered after Yan Qingshan had nearly emptied Boss Yao's collection and Boss Yao had mobilized his connections.
A black-green medicine cauldron, rich with medicinal aroma, appeared in the courtyard. The elder from the cliff cave, while not an alchemist, was nonetheless a learned scholar, profoundly skilled in medicine and poisons, and naturally also capable of studying and refining medicinal compounds.
This cauldron might not be as powerful as those used by some high-ranking alchemists, but it was more than adequate for Yan Qingshan.
Pieces of black wood, as solid as stone, clattered to the ground, making the sound of falling bricks. Black locust wood, a type of Yin wood, was hard and heavy.
The Yin fire it ignited was hot and easy to control. While not beast fire or other exotic fires, it was just right for Yan Qingshan, who also possessed the Wood element.
Black locust wood, being Yin, lacked the fiery and violent energy of Yang fire, resulting in a more stable and long-lasting fire. A single piece of black locust wood could burn for more than half a day. A long-lasting fire was crucial to Yan Qingshan.
Yan Qingshan neatly stacked the black locust wood into a pile. After carefully adjusting the medicine cauldron, a small blue-black flame erupted. The flames didn't blaze like a typical flame, but instead steadily increased the temperature.
Yan Qingshan, with a solemn expression, placed the prepared herbs and other auxiliary materials into the cauldron one by one. Each herb, at least a mid-level herb, was invigorated by his wood-attributed Dou Qi, and tossed in the ingredients.
Pure mountain spring water and spiritual dew poured into the cauldron, while the wood-attributed Dou Qi stirred the spring water. Yin Fire slowly heated and refined it, and soon the aroma of the medicine filled the courtyard.
The corpse of the blue-maned scorpion lion had been treated by Yan Qingshan. Its body shone with a brilliant azure blue, its fur and mane more lustrous than sky-blue silk. Even after nearly a day, it remained largely unchanged, lying on the ground like a lifelike, sleeping lion.
A scorpion tail, even longer than the lion's body, lay at its side, shimmering like a sapphire, its blue light shimmering beautifully. But the stinger at the end, faintly gleaming with a black-gold sheen, hinted at a murderous intent beneath this beauty.
Under the gentle heat of the black locust wood, the medicinal spring within the cauldron rapidly boiled, a refreshing, faint medicinal fragrance filling the air. The spring had already transformed into a lake green, resembling the most beautiful imperial jade.
The body of the blue-maned scorpion lion beast had been ripped open by Yan Qingshan along its neck. Its pale blue heart still clung to its warmth, as if it had just stopped beating.
Yan Qingshan carried the blue-maned scorpion lion beast's corpse, forcing all its available blood into the cauldron with his fighting spirit. Finally, he tossed the heart into the bubbling medicinal spring.
The pale blue lion blood mixed with the emerald green medicinal spring, initially distinct colors, but gradually blended over time. The emerald blue liquid shimmered with faint purple hues, dazzling even in the sunlight.
This is the blue-maned scorpion lion beast's bloodline, a trace of high-level blood derived from the ancient thunder lion, embodying the purest power of thunder.
After treating the lion's body, Yan Qingshan took up the scorpion tail, holding it by the end and facing the medicine cauldron upside down. As Dou Qi poured in, drops of blue blood were forced out, and by the end, it was tinged with a hint of green. The
blue-maned scorpion lion beast contains the bloodlines of two high-level magical beasts, the ancient thunder lion and the scorpion dragon. These hints of green are the manifestation of the scorpion dragon bloodline, contained in its tail, which resembles the symbol of the scorpion dragon clan.
Although the blue-maned scorpion lion beast is only a third-level magical beast, its bloodlines, the ancient thunder lion and scorpion dragon, are both high-level magical beasts, and when they reach adulthood, they are at least fifth-level magical beasts. The
ancient thunder lion is now almost extinct, and the scorpion dragon clan is also rare in the Dou Qi Continent, but some still exist.
In the future, Xiao Yixian will need one of the main ingredients for refining poison pills: the seventh-level Sky Poison Scorpion Dragon Beast. There were also seventh-tier Phantom Fire Scorpion Dragon Beasts whose eggshell remains could yield Phantom Gold Fire. These were all extremely powerful magical beasts active on the Dou Qi Continent.
After Yan Qingshan drained all the blood from its lion's body and scorpion's tail, the once radiant Blue Mane Scorpion Lion's corpse dimmed considerably. After carefully extracting the Blue Mane Scorpion Lion's magic core, Yan Qingshan placed this precious first-tier lightning-attributed magic core into the medicinal spring.
The two most important elements of a magical beast are its blood essence and magic core. Without these, its fur, bones, blood, and flesh, while still having some value, would have lost most of their value.
The medicinal spring, containing nearly the entire essence of a first-tier Blue Mane Scorpion Lion, was undergoing a qualitative transformation. The blue-green liquid gradually thickened and took on a glassy hue, its blue-purple heart seemingly glowing. Boom
!
Yan Qingshan held his breath, gathering his Qi, and approached the medicinal cauldron. He channeled his wood-attributed Dou Qi into the burning black locust wood below.
Unleashed by the wood's energy, the fire suddenly surged. The stacked black locust logs, previously only partially ablaze, now ignited in every part.
The blazing fire simmered the potent elixir, its incense thick. Within the cauldron's glazed liquid, a faint blue shimmer evoked a lion's roar, like the unrepentant roar of a blue-maned scorpion lion. The azure mist rising from the cauldron seemed to form a lion-like shape.
This scene signaled to Yan Qingshan that the baptismal spring had reached its desired temperature.
"Xian'er, help me control the heat!"
Yan Qingshan solemnly turned his head away. Little Medical Immortal trotted over, and Yan Qingshan plunged into the cauldron with a thud. The radiant medicinal liquid nearly engulfed him, his cross-legged form, leaving only his head and a small portion of his body exposed.
Undeterred, Little Medical Immortal approached the cauldron and carefully followed Yan Qingshan's instructions, bringing the black locust wood flames under control.
The blue-green glazed medicinal slurry seemed to possess a life force, slowly spreading along Yan Qingshan's body, over his exposed upper torso, gradually enveloping him in a glazed glow, like a cocoon.
Within the glazed cocoon, Yan Qingshan closed his eyelids and sat in meditation, channeling his Dou Qi. Strands of the lion's blood essence were absorbed by his Dou Qi and circulated within him, profoundly transforming his body. His slow heartbeat took on a glazed hue, its beats echoing like a lion's roar.
His flesh shimmered, his bright red blood imbued with a hint of divine glazed energy. Its circulation evoked faint wisps of electricity. His body shone and rumbled, his internal organs glowing, his flesh aglow with a radiant glow, as if he were a celestial being.
Ripples surged in waves, Yan Qingshan's bones crackled, his flesh rhythmically pulsing. Amidst these crackling sounds, his Qi cultivation reached its peak, then suddenly broke through a barrier, beginning another round of advancement.
Yan Qingshan, sitting cross-legged with his eyes closed and his hands forming seals, looked awe-inspiring and unfathomable, filled with a moving aura and a sense of mystery. At that moment, the Little Medical Fairy couldn't help but smile as she looked at him, her eyes almost transfixed.
After an unknown amount of time, he suddenly opened his eyes, and a flash of blue light flashed across the courtyard, as if a lightning bolt had struck a hollow room, making it impossible to look directly at it. His aura slowly transformed, becoming increasingly powerful.