Wait a minute, where is my master?

"Snap."

A crisp sound of finger snapping resonated.

A flame, as delicate as a candlelight, quietly appeared between the Taoist boy's thumb and middle finger.

He flicked it towards the four-holed pill furnace in front of him, and the small flame fluttered uncertainly to the bottom of the furnace.

The two women beside Jin Xu held hands and scurried on tiptoes to the other end of the sparring field, three hundred meters away.

They began to watch with both caution and safety.

The young Taoist caught sight of the women's movements from the corner of his eye and a helpless smile appeared at the corner of his mouth.

In the past, when the two had been too close, they had been blown away by the blast wave of an explosion, seemingly leaving behind a psychological shadow.

He no longer paid attention to the actions of the women.

At this moment, the Late Year Cold Iron Furnace, built from Late-year Cold Iron, began to slowly change from black to red under the heating of the tiny flame.

Seeing this, Jin Xu hurriedly reduced the amount of golden spiritual power he was infusing into the tiny flame by a fraction.

After so many attempts at refining... well, experiences with furnace explosions,

the young Taoist now had some understanding of alchemy, and he had analyzed that the reason for the explosions might be due to his overpowering flames, which the small pill furnace could not withstand.

Therefore, Jin Xu found time to practice the "Fire Condensing Skill" once more.

He could now suppress the power of the flames he produced to one ten-thousandth of their peak power.

The young Taoist let the small flame roast under the pill furnace for the duration of three breaths.

He completed the preheating stage of the furnace.

Next, he enveloped the herbs needed for the Strengthening Pill with his spiritual power and threw them into the Late Year Cold Iron Furnace.

Having exploded so many furnaces,

Jin Xu was exceptionally proficient at the preliminary steps now.

He could now throw in all the herbs at once and refine the medicine liquid together,

not needing to refine each herb individually like a novice.

But it wasn't of much use, it just saved some time.

The young Taoist took two breaths to transform all the herbs into the medicine liquid, then a glint of light flashed in his eyes.

An unprecedented serious expression appeared in his eyes,

as if he were facing an opponent on par with himself.

After all, the next step was the one where he always met his downfall: the removal of impurities.

The explosions always happened at this stage,

and not even the most durable pill furnace had lasted more than ten seconds; but this time...

One breath... two breaths... three breaths... fifteen breaths... sixteen breaths!

A suppressed and excited expression surfaced in Jin Xu's eyes, and his heartbeat quickened slightly.

He hadn't been this nervous when he himself had dealt with several elders of the Demon Sect.

His pill concoction seemed to be succeeding!

"Stay calm, composed. The closer to success, the more care is needed,"

murmured the young Taoist, as he made the movements to remove the impurities even more gentle with the small flame.

It was as though he was peeling the shell of a raw egg, or tenderly caressing his lover on their wedding night.

However, the good times didn't last long.

At the twenty-third breath, a tiny crack quietly spread from the bottom of the pill furnace.

Jin Xu, who was fully engaged with his Spiritual Sense in monitoring the alchemy furnace's condition, detected the anomaly instantly.

"Damn it, even though this furnace has held up well, it still can't withstand my flames."

This thought surfaced in the young Taoist's mind, and now he faced a decision between two choices.

One, stop now, resulting in an alchemy failure,

but the pill furnace hadn't completely exploded yet, so it could be repaired afterward for another attempt.

Two, give it his all!

Though Jin Xu had never personally performed the steps of merging the medicine liquid and solidifying the pill, he had rehearsed them countless times in his mind.

Now that the step of removing impurities had lasted twenty-three breaths,

all he needed was to increase the firepower now and be faster with his hands, and perhaps this batch of pills would be successful.

But the young Taoist had always been someone who did not act impulsively,

and most of the time his behavior was quite cautious.

So...

Jin Xu chose the latter!

All of this may sound complicated, but in reality, it happened in the blink of an eye.

Once he had made up his mind, the small flame at the bottom of the furnace flickered gently, then suddenly increased in size.

The cracks spreading on the surface of the Late Year Cold Iron Furnace abruptly widened, and the cracking sounds were so loud that Jin Xu could hear them with his own ears.

However, since he had made his choice, he was not a man to hesitate.

Remove impurities! Fuse the medicine liquid! Solidify the pill!

Bang!

The Late Year Cold Iron Furnace split into three pieces, the farthest part blasting three hundred meters away, right in front of Yu Yaoer and Little White.

Where the Taoist and the Alchemy Furnace had been, a mushroom cloud of smoke burst forth.

Hiding the specifics of the situation.

"Young Master/Temple Master!"

Both women observing from a distance were shocked.

Shiqi hoisted up Yu Yaoer with one hand and darted toward Jin Xu's location.

Although the little Taoist had caused furnace explosions in the past, it was the first time one had been this big.

The two couldn't help but worry.

"Hahahaha. Little White, Little Yu, I'm fine."

As the two women were about to sprint into the range of the mushroom cloud, a crisp and hearty laugh rang out,

and the Taoist emerged from it unscathed, his fair face bearing an irrepressible smile.

"Young Master, have you succeeded?"

Seeing Jin Xu's expression, Yu Yaoer had a guess in her heart but still asked.

"It's done."

The little Taoist said, gently lifting his left hand.

In his palm was a globe-shaped shield formed by golden spiritual power, within which seven pale golden pills hovered, seeming to try to escape but unable to break through the thin membrane of golden spiritual power.

"!!! I just knew it, Young Master, you definitely could do it."

Seeing the pills in Jin Xu's hand, a smile appeared on Yu Yaoer's face as well.

For the moment, she even forgot to let Little White put her down.

However, after the joy passed, as a professional alchemist, Little Fish Demon also had some doubts.

Strengthening Pills were supposed to be brown, so why were the pills in the Young Master's hand pale golden?

And where were the markings on the pills?

"Hmm, things related to the Young Master are always a bit special."

Little Fish Demon rationalized the inconsistencies in her mind and jumped down from Shiqi's shoulder.

Meanwhile, over by Jin Xu, he clenched his left hand into a fist, pressing the seven floating pills into his palm.

Then he fished out a jade bottle filled with Spiritual Liquid from his storage treasure.

He randomly poured the Spiritual Liquid from the bottle into Little White's mouth.

Afterward, he prepared to place these successfully refined pills into it.

But just as he opened his palm and dispersed the membrane of golden spiritual power,

an anomaly suddenly arose in the heavens and the earth.

Up in the sky, a mass of black clouds swirled and gathered like a vortex, casting a heavy oppressive feeling over the entirety of Shangjing City.

"Hmm!?"

Feeling an odd sensation of being targeted suddenly, the little Taoist looked up slightly, and his eyes, still filled with hints of joy, flashed with sharpness.

At the same time, Jin Xu's hand didn't stop as he put the seven pale golden Strengthening Pills into the jade bottle, murmuring to himself,

"It seems like it's a double celebration.

The person behind Jingyu Building is finally willing to show their face."

This comment caused the two women beside him to be taken aback.

After a moment, Little White glanced at the black clouds gathering in the sky, then looked at the temple master in front of her,

and timidly said, "Temple Master."

"What is it?"

"Ahem, that seems to be the Heavenly Tribulation."

"Ah?"

Having cultivated for over a year, the little Taoist finally faced his first Heavenly Tribulation.