Chapter 51: Chapter 51: Advanced Alchemist

"Thank you for the kind offer, but I’m not accepting any Contractors at the moment!" Ning Xuan was a bit speechless at the man’s bluntness and rejected him outright.

The young man’s expression immediately fell. He glanced over at Chen Nan, then said, unwilling to give up, "Miss, I... My strength is not weak. At the very least, I’m no worse than him. If you are willing to soothe me, my power will grow even stronger!"

Although the rules in Extreme Cold City were different from the outside world, Ning Xuan and Chen Nan shared a spiritual connection, and these S-Class Spirit Controllers could still sense it.

"I’m not willing!" Ning Xuan knew this man wasn’t weak and even possessed special abilities for stealth. However, the fact that he was capable of secretly placing things in her room, combined with the words he just spouted, gave her an inexplicable feeling of being threatened.

’Now that I’m weak, anyone dares to jump out and boss me around!’

Seeing Ning Xuan reject the man, Chen Nan’s expression visibly relaxed. He hadn’t expected someone to throw themselves at Ning Xuan and pester her in a place like Extreme Cold City.

"Get lost! If you dare to bother my Contractor again, don’t blame me for getting rough!" Chen Nan ordered him away, his face dark.

"Miss Ning, actually, that man isn’t just the mayor of North City Town. It’s said he has close ties to the person controlling Extreme Cold City!" After the man left, Luo Sen spoke up frankly, ignoring Chen Nan’s presence, to share what he knew.

"Oh. Whatever connections or background he has, it has nothing to do with me. What I hate most is people telling me what to do, or forcing me to do things!" As Ning Xuan spoke, she shot a glance at Chen Nan.

Chen Nan, unconcerned that the other mercenaries were still present, caught her glance and silently knelt. He knew that forcing her to come to Extreme Cold City was still a sore spot for her.

Seeing this, the others all took their leave. Ning Xuan glanced at the food on the table. Only a serving of Snake Soup, which Luo Sen had arranged to be made, was decent. Although it wasn’t as good as the one she’d made by the Ice Lake, it was still passable. The rest of the dishes were inedible.

"Come and eat," Ning Xuan called Chen Nan over. Her feelings for him were different, after all. She had willingly established their spiritual connection in the beginning.

Early the next day, they headed back to the safe zone. They rushed the entire way, moving quickly, and returned to the safe zone by afternoon.

Ning Xuan didn’t go home, heading straight for the Earth Fire Room instead. She had to refine the Body Refining Potion as soon as possible!

Ning Xuan had refined High-level Compound Potions before. According to the Alchemist assessment rules, she was already an Advanced Alchemist.

The difficulty of refining this Modified Body Refining Potion was even greater than that of a High-level Compound Potion. This was especially true for the Ice Python Inner Core. Although the Ice Python was S-Class, the Ice Energy it contained far surpassed that level. Therefore, Ning Xuan couldn’t treat the Ice Python Inner Core like an ordinary S-Class Exotic Beast Inner Core.

Ning Xuan prepared the medicinal ingredients. She first refined a few bottles of Healing Potions, which were considered High-level Compound Potions, to ensure she was in a stable state before starting on the Body Refining Potion.

Exotic Plants like the Foggy Flower, Blue Light Lotus, and Thunder Wood Vine all needed to be processed in advance to extract their active ingredients, which were then set aside. The Ice Crystal Phoenix Cry Jade was a catalyst used during the refining of the Ice Python Inner Core.

Before refining the Ice Python Inner Core, Ning Xuan practiced with other S-Class Exotic Beast Inner Cores she had bought. Refining the S-Class Fiery Firebird inner core went smoothly, but when she tried to refine the inner core of an Ice Beast, an Ice Bear, she found herself struggling. Ultimately, she failed to lock the massive amount of Ice Energy into an Energy Bottle, and it dissipated into the Earth Fire Room. Unwilling to let the energy go to waste, Ning Xuan activated the Guiding Spirit Scripture and drew the scattered Ice Energy into her own meridians.

The meridians in Ning Xuan’s body originally circulated with Fire Element Energy. When the Ice Energy entered her, it caused the Fire Element Energy to become agitated. Ning Xuan compressed the Ice Energy into a cluster and guided it into the Dantian below her navel.

The Ice Energy Cluster floated quietly in her Dantian, and her agitated meridians returned to calm.

After this ordeal, Ning Xuan was mentally exhausted and didn’t dare to rashly attempt refining the Body Refining Potion again. She went home to rest for the night. The next day, she bought a box of Ice Beast Inner Cores and continued to practice.

After another two days of practice, Ning Xuan finally figured out how to refine an Ice Beast Inner Core and lock the energy into an Energy Bottle. By this point, the Ice Energy Cluster in the Dantian in her lower abdomen had already tripled in size.

All in all, after more than half a month of preparation, everything was finally ready. Ning Xuan placed the Ice Python Inner Core into the Alchemy Furnace and used her spiritual power to seal it. The eight vines floating around her were like eight extra hands, controlling the flames and preparing ingredients. The Ice Energy within the Ice Python Inner Core was immense. Even though Ning Xuan was prepared, she was inevitably thrown into a flurry of activity. She controlled her spiritual power to channel the Ice Energy from the core, while her vines and hands monitored the changes inside the Alchemy Furnace, ready to add the right ingredients at the opportune moment.

As Ning Xuan performed Alchemy in the Earth Fire Room, Chen Nan sensed the energy fluctuations from within and grew extremely anxious. Even from the outside, he could feel the immense and pure Ice Energy. Ning Xuan’s soon-to-awaken Companion Spirit was of the Fire Element, and the two elements countered each other. This undoubtedly increased the difficulty of the refinement process for her.

About four hours passed. During this time, ice and fire alternated within the Earth Fire Room. The flames in the other Earth Fire Rooms seemed to be siphoned away or suppressed, extinguishing one by one. The Spirit Controllers who were cultivating or performing Alchemy in those rooms came out to see what was happening, not knowing the cause. A crowd began to gather at the door. Just when Chen Nan could no longer bear the suspense, a peculiar fragrance wafted out, accompanied by the roar of an Ice Python. The energy fluctuations inside the Earth Fire Room gradually calmed down.

"I think I just felt the power of starlight, just like when a Star-grade Medicine is created!" an Advanced Alchemist in the crowd exclaimed excitedly.

"Could the Alchemist in that Earth Fire Room be refining a Star-grade Medicine?" someone guessed in astonishment.

"It’s very likely! Why else would the Fire Element Energy on our side just disappear? It must be because refining a Star-grade Medicine requires an enormous amount of energy!" someone next to him immediately chimed in.

Whatever the person inside was refining, they all wanted to go in and see!

"Stop talking nonsense! Do you think Star-grade Medicine is that easy to make? Even an Alchemy Master can’t succeed every time. Besides, refining a Star-grade Medicine requires a colossal amount of energy and usually causes a strange phenomenon upon completion, not just a commotion like that!" Luo Sen retorted loudly from within the crowd.

While Ning Xuan was inside performing Alchemy, she had specifically asked Luo Sen’s team to wait outside to prevent any unexpected incidents.