Lao Kaiyu was an Origin Immortal, while Xiang Zicheng had already stepped into the Divine Immortal Realm. Yet the gap in their cultivation had never cast a shadow over their friendship.

"Not bad," Lao Kaiyu replied with a smile. Those two simple words were his evaluation of Liu Wuxie.

"Uncle Lao, what exactly are you two talking about?" Xiang Rulong asked after topping off their wine cups.

"Rulong, you've been praising your mentor quite a bit lately, haven't you?" Lao Kaiyu asked as he turned his gaze toward Xiang Rulong.

Although Xiang Rulong's cultivation had remained unchanged over the past few days, his combat strength had multiplied several times over. Every night when he returned home, Xiang Zicheng tested his progress, and each time he was left more astonished than before. Ever since joining Liu Wuxie's class, Xiang Rulong had advanced at an incredible pace, improving not only in combat but also in conduct.

Xiang Rulong scratched the back of his head in acknowledgment. During this period, he had indeed spoken of Liu Wuxie countless times whenever he returned home. He had learned many of the combat techniques he now used directly from Liu Wuxie.

"Brother Xiang, tell me honestly. Did that incident in the underground fight club really happen?" Lao Kaiyu asked.

Two days earlier, Xiang Zicheng had sought him out and requested that he look after someone. Anyone worthy of Xiang Zicheng's personal attention could not possibly be ordinary.

Naturally, Lao Kaiyu had become curious about what made that person so special.

Xiang Zicheng then recounted everything he had heard regarding Liu Wuxie's exploits in the underground fight club. Of course, the information had originally come from Xiang Rulong, and Xiang Zicheng had merely repeated what his nephew had told him.

Even so, Lao Kaiyu found the stories difficult to believe. He could not reconcile how someone at the lower levels of the High Immortal Realm could possess such terrifying capability.

The news of Liu Wuxie outwitting Nangong Shan and humiliating Tu Zhengbao had long since spread throughout the Azure Flame Dao Hall, and Lao Kaiyu had already heard of it. However, the other mentors knew nothing about what had happened in the underground fight club.

"Rulong, tell your Uncle Lao what you told me," Xiang Zicheng said. By now, he had heard the story so many times that he was nearly tired of it. Every time Xiang Rulong returned home, he would inevitably spend half the evening praising Liu Wuxie.

As Xiang Rulong recounted the events, he specifically brought up yesterday's talisman challenge, a matter Xiang Zicheng had not yet heard about.

A trace of shock surfaced on Xiang Zicheng's face. "You're saying this person is proficient not only in spiritual arrays and martial cultivation, but also in talismans?" he asked. He wondered how Liu Wuxie had managed to achieve so much at such a young age.

"Brother Xiang, I think you've overlooked something else. Before I came here, Liu Wuxie was on his way to the alchemy chamber," Lao Kaiyu said, his brows knitting together as he wondered whether such a monstrous genius could truly exist.

Ye Linghan cultivated ice-attributed energy, making pill refinement impossible for her. Everyone knew this. Therefore, if she had entered the alchemy chamber, she was likely accompanying Liu Wuxie.

"Assistant Liu's soul sea is damaged, and he needs to refine a Soul Healing Pill. We all know that," Xiang Rulong added from the side.

From Diao Jiuzhi and the others, he had learned that Liu Wuxie's soul sea was damaged after the ten battles and that he urgently needed a Soul Healing Pill to recover.

Shocked, Lao Kaiyu and Xiang Zicheng shot to their feet.

"What? He's going to refine a Soul Healing Pill?!"

Their reaction left Xiang Rulong completely bewildered. Was the Soul Healing Pill really that rare?

That wasn't surprising. Xiang Rulong devoted nearly all his attention to martial cultivation and knew very little about pills. He had only heard about the Soul Healing Pill recently and had assumed it was nothing more than an ordinary medicinal pill.

"Rulong, are you certain he's refining a Soul Healing Pill?" Xiang Zicheng asked urgently.

Years ago, his soul sea was damaged during a battle. To this day, those injuries had never fully healed.

Yet pills capable of repairing the soul sea were exceedingly rare throughout Eastern Emperor City. Over the years, he had exhausted every method he could think of, but the cracks within his soul sea remained unchanged.

In the celestial realm, nearly everyone's soul sea carried some degree of damage. The only difference lay in severity. Minor injuries could heal naturally over time, but deeper cracks often remained permanently unless treated with specialized pills. That was why Xiang Zicheng reacted so strongly when he heard Liu Wuxie intended to refine a Soul Healing Pill.

Xiang Rulong knew nothing about his second uncle's damaged soul sea, but Lao Kaiyu knew the matter well.

"I'm certain," Xiang Rulong replied after a brief moment of thought.

The two men slowly sat back down, though the shock still lingered on their faces. The atmosphere around the table grew noticeably heavier as Xiang Zicheng and Lao Kaiyu silently drank their wine.

Lao Kaiyu rose to his feet, preparing to leave before the gathering had even ended, and said, "Brother Xiang, we can't delay this matter. I'll return to the Azure Flame Dao Hall immediately in case something happens to him."

Xiang Rulong hurriedly stood as well, still unable to understand what was happening. His second uncle and Uncle Lao met every month for drinks, yet today's meeting had taken a completely different turn.

"Rulong, let's head back as well," Xiang Zicheng said as he stood and departed with his nephew for the Xiang Clan estate.

......

Aside from the flames surging up from beneath the chamber, Liu Wuxie also unleashed his demonic flame. As the two blazing fires intertwined and reinforced one another, the alchemy cauldron gradually turned a deep crimson, glowing as though molten from within.

Liu Wuxie abandoned every alchemy technique he had used before and began weaving seals with both hands. As his fingers moved, subtle ripples spread through the surrounding space, causing the air itself to tremble.

Ye Linghan instinctively stepped back when she saw this scene. She had never encountered an alchemy technique like Liu Wuxie's before. Back at the city lord's mansion, when Liu Wuxie had refined the Detoxification Pill, she had at least been able to glimpse traces of the principles behind his methods despite how unusual they were.

However, the Heavenly Destiny Alchemy Art was born from drawing upon the energy of heaven and earth itself, allowing every pill it produced to carry the power of destiny, far surpassing ordinary medicinal pills.

The surrounding space gradually grew restless as streams of destiny power converged from every direction. Though invisible and without physical form, Ye Linghan could clearly sense a mysterious force continuously pouring into the cauldron.

For the first time in a long while, she was unable to describe her feelings. She knew with certainty that such a supreme alchemy technique would drive countless cultivators into madness with greed if news of it ever spread.

When it came to alchemy knowledge, Ye Linghan could already be considered a grandmaster. Although she couldn't refine pills herself, that hardly meant she knew nothing about the art.

This was Liu Wuxie's first time executing the Heavenly Destiny Alchemy Art. Even after the Heavenly Dao Book had deduced and perfected it, he still lacked familiarity with the technique and dared not be careless. He possessed only a single set of ingredients for the Soul Healing Pills. If he failed, he would have no choice but to spend a huge amount of immortal stones to purchase another set.

His hand movements flowed like drifting clouds and running water, sometimes swift as lightning and sometimes slow as a calm stream. Every time his seals shifted, Ye Linghan unconsciously broke into a cold sweat on his behalf.

Liu Wuxie's footsteps also grew increasingly elusive. A faint breeze rose around him, lifting the herbs from the ground and carrying them into the air. The medicinal ingredients spun overhead like a vortex while immortal energy continuously surged toward them from all directions.

Even Liu Wuxie felt inwardly astonished. He had never expected the Heavenly Destiny Alchemy Art to consume such a terrifying amount of immortal energy. Had he used the alchemy techniques from his previous life, he would have finished refining the Soul Healing Pills long ago.

But the Heavenly Destiny Alchemy Art was fundamentally different. Drawing power from heaven and earth naturally came with an immense price, making every step of the process incomparably difficult.

Time slipped away, yet the pills still showed no signs of forming. He remained trapped in the extraction phase, carefully refining the medicinal essences. As the process dragged on, anxiety gradually crept into his heart. He could only hope his immortal energy would last until the refinement was complete.

After all, for a High Immortal to refine fourth-grade Immortal Pills was already an act that defied the heavens. Had Liu Wuxie been an ordinary True Immortal, his immortal energy would have been exhausted long ago.

At that moment, even Liu Wuxie found it difficult to put his emotions into words.

Six hours passed before the extraction phase finally ended in the afternoon. Next came the condensation phase, a stage that demanded even greater reserves of immortal energy and far stricter control over technique.

Liu Wuxie's hand seals abruptly changed. Raising both palms toward the heavens, he assumed a posture resembling an ancient and mysterious ritual. Instantly, a vast torrent of creation power poured into the cauldron, shaking it so violently that it could explode at any moment. Creation power was too powerful.

Without hesitation, Liu Wuxie accelerated the refinement process. His hands danced across the air while his footsteps followed the pattern of the seven dippers around the cauldron. One seal after another shot from his fingertips and entered the cauldron.

That was right. He was injecting pill seals into the cauldron.

The moment Ye Linghan saw those pill seals, she nearly stumbled forward. She had only ever read about pill seals in ancient texts. Only incomparably profound alchemy techniques possessed the ability to condense them.

Even across the entire Azure Flame Dao Hall, Liu Wuxie was undoubtedly the first alchemist capable of such a feat.

The pill seals intertwined with pill runes, resembling a magnificent galaxy as they streamed into the cauldron.

By now, Ye Linghan had become completely accustomed to such surprises. Ever since meeting Liu Wuxie, he had shattered her understanding repeatedly.

Liu Wuxie, on the other hand, wasn't surprised in the slightest by the appearance of the pill seals. Even without the Heavenly Destiny Alchemy Art, he still possessed the ability to condense them.

With the addition of the pill runes, the condensation phase accelerated dramatically. Three Soul Healing Pills gradually emerged within the cauldron, and the crisp sounds of the pills colliding echoed throughout the alchemy chamber.

The refinement had already reached its final stage of formation.

As long as he successfully crossed this final hurdle, the refinement would be complete.

A faint medicinal fragrance gradually spread through the chamber. Merely inhaling it would make one feel refreshed, as if the soul sea had fully opened, greedily absorbing the energy permeating the atmosphere.

Another hour passed, and Liu Wuxie had nearly exhausted all of his immortal energy.

Meanwhile, unbeknownst to him, a large crowd had already gathered outside the alchemy chamber. Above the building, a strange pill cloud shimmered with five brilliant colors, enveloping the entire chamber beneath its radiant glow.

"Who's refining pills in this alchemy chamber?" an alchemy mentor asked.

The Azure Flame Dao Hall possessed many alchemists besides Wei Wenbin. All of them had been drawn here by the disturbance in heaven and earth.

They could still accept the appearance of pill mist. They could even accept pill flowers. But a multi-colored pill cloud? That was something they could not fathom.

Many of these alchemists held extremely prestigious positions within the Azure Flame Dao Hall, and their alchemy attainments ranked among the very best. Among all of them, only one had ever triggered the appearance of pill flowers. As for pill clouds, those existed only in legends.

"Liu Wuxie and Ye Linghan," an alchemy student answered as he stepped forward. After all, many students had personally witnessed the events of that morning.

"Ye Linghan?" the alchemy mentor repeated, instantly puzzled.

Ye Linghan was merely a third-grade mentor who specialized in spiritual arrays. They couldn't help wondering whether she also possessed remarkable skill in alchemy. As for Liu Wuxie, they didn't even consider the possibility. He was only a High Immortal, and none of them believed he could refine such a heaven-defying pill.

Judging by the pill cloud overhead, the alchemist inside the chamber was very likely refining a fourth-grade Immortal Pill.

Creation power descended from the pill cloud and poured into the cauldron before being absorbed by the pills. The three Soul Healing Pills spun faster and faster as they approached the final moment of refinement.

"Failure or success will come down to this moment!" Liu Wuxie declared as he mobilized every remaining strand of immortal energy within his body. His hands formed an incomprehensible seal, something that resembled a pill seal yet wasn't quite one.

"Destiny rune!"

That was the true essence of the Heavenly Destiny Alchemy Art, requiring the alchemist to engrave a destiny rune.