Lu Xingzhou, who had been made to stay behind by the old lady, stood obediently before Ye Tinglan.

Although Ye Tinglan was seated and he was standing, giving him a naturally condescending vantage point, Lu Xingzhou still felt as though her gaze was looking down on him, stepping on his chest. Hmm… but from this angle, it did look quite spectacular…

“They asked about your leg; I already told them I healed it,” Ye Tinglan said calmly. “You hid it for so long, only to fail to even trip up Chen Yu in the end, exposing yourself for nothing. Isn’t that regrettable?”

Lu Xingzhou replied, “On the contrary, it proves that the adversaries we face now are not easily caught by surprise attacks. Further hiding would be pointless, so it’s not regrettable at all.”

“You certainly let go easily,” Ye Tinglan said expressionlessly. “Do you know why I’m making you stand?”

Lu Xingzhou ventured, “Because I didn’t refine an elixir, and I disappointed you, Master?”

Previously, the two had discussed how the results of this trial would serve as a reference for Madam Ye to choose disciples. Lu Xingzhou had messed up terribly, seemingly disdaining Madam Ye’s guidance, so it was natural for the old lady to be displeased.

Ye Tinglan said, “The one-day deadline hadn’t even passed. You could have refined an elixir on the spot and submitted it. With what you obtained on the second floor, getting first place in the trial would have been effortless. Was it worth giving up just to trip up Chen Yu?”

“Who said I did it to trip him up? I took out the mushrooms to get second-to-last, and stepping on him to make him last was indeed to trip him up, but not refining an elixir had nothing to do with him,” Lu Xingzhou sighed. “Master, I’ve attracted too much attention. First, the team leader targeted me, then a classmate died following me, and I myself stayed on the second floor for so long. Anyone could easily imagine I made a fortune… If you were a classmate, Master, what would you think of me?”

Ye Tinglan sneered, “Only a mediocre person isn’t envied. Are you actually shying away from such things?”

“However…” Lu Xingzhou considered for a moment before continuing, “What’s the benefit of showing off in front of classmates, making many enemies, and ending up with no friends? I came to the Alchemy Academy, first, to learn real skills, and second, to get revenge on the Huo family, not to engage in such pointless competition.”

Ye Tinglan paused, then suddenly understood. “So even this embarrassing punishment of standing was intentional, to make your classmates feel you’re more down-to-earth?”

“Yes. Uh, no.” Lu Xingzhou forced a smile. “Since it’s Master’s command, let alone standing, I’d go through a mountain of knives and a sea of fire, wouldn’t I?”

“Stop fooling around,” Ye Tinglan said unhurriedly. “Since that’s the case, you can stand for all my future classes.”

Lu Xingzhou: “…”

Ye Tinglan couldn’t be bothered to joke with him further. She casually pointed at the table. “Take out everything you obtained from the second floor of the Demon Subduing Domain and let me see.”

A’nuo clattered out a pile of mushrooms of various shapes and forms.

“Heh… With such gains, no wonder you looked down on the Alchemy Academy’s trial rewards,” Ye Tinglan leaned back lazily in her chair. “Refine them now. I want to see how you combine these things, what kind of elixir you refine, and whether you only know how to make charm magic.”

Lu Xingzhou said, “If we’re not so rigid, and we can use normal external medicinal ingredients for blending, the effect would be even better.”

“Feel free,” Ye Tinglan said languidly. “This isn’t a trial now, there are no requirements. I’m only looking at the result.”

“Alright then.” Lu Xingzhou placed his alchemy furnace with a thud and quickly and skillfully took out various medicinal herbs from his ring.

His ring basically contained only spiritual stones and herbs, with very few other miscellaneous items. The herbs were good quality ones he had selected when he destroyed the Incense Burning Tower, and a portion also came from the Huo family’s “compensation” recently. Many were of third or fourth-grade level, which made Ye Tinglan’s eyelids twitch in surprise.

This was a young man’s personal collection… as if he had robbed a sect. Oh… he had indeed robbed a sect.

Lu Xingzhou turned and gave A’nuo a few instructions. A’nuo nodded, and the master and disciple swiftly divided their tasks, sorting out several different combinations of herbs.

Ye Tinglan said, “Among these combinations of yours, at least two are for third-grade elixirs. Are you sure you can refine them?”

Lu Xingzhou chuckled apologetically, “If I refine them myself, I have some confidence, but I’m also a bit apprehensive. But aren’t you here, Madam Ye?”

Ye Tinglan ignored his words, leaning back, arms crossed, right leg propped over her left, in the posture of a boss observing, though it was unclear if she would actually offer help.

Lu Xingzhou didn’t dwell on it. He put in a portion of ingredients and snapped his fingers with a “thud.”

There was no earth fire here, so he needed to use his own fire spell.

Flames soared upwards, and Ye Tinglan quietly uttered an “Oh?” and sat up slightly.

This fire was strange… It wasn’t the Destruction Gold Flame from the second floor. This was Lu Xingzhou’s inherent fire source… his leg?

The Essence of Blazing Fire… formed symbiotically over long years in an environment imbued with the spiritual essence of heaven and earth, extremely rich in spiritual energy, and under the unique creation of terrain where water and fire coexist, it formed alongside another Spiritual Water Crystal in the eyes of yin and yang, belonging to the top tier of heavenly treasures and earthly wonders.

The Essence of Blazing Fire naturally came with fire attributes and was much more advanced than ordinary fire sources. However, due to Lu Xingzhou’s cultivation limitations, he couldn’t fully exert its power, making it appear similar to ordinary flames from others. But Ye Tinglan, being who she was, recognized at a glance that this was no ordinary fire, possessing extraordinary potential.

But no matter how much potential it had, its current limitation by his cultivation was indeed a limitation. For alchemy, the most critical issue was insufficient flame temperature, preventing some high-quality medicinal properties from dissolving!

Watching Lu Xingzhou earnestly adjusting the medicinal properties, with the ingredients in the alchemy furnace already beginning to spin, Ye Tinglan observed with great interest how he would dissolve them.

Lu Xingzhou knew that his biggest obstacle to refining a third-grade elixir lay in his flame ability. Even if the temperature increased, he might not have enough strength to sustain prolonged alchemy. But if the fire-infused leg’s flame temperature wasn’t enough, he still had the Destruction Gold Flame…

The furnace fire suddenly began to change color, turning red from its usual yellow.

The previously stable furnace fire also began to leap violently.

“You’re using Destruction Gold Flame for alchemy?” Ye Tinglan asked expressionlessly. “Is this your answer?”

Lu Xingzhou continued to activate his fire source.

The violent and destructive Destruction Gold Flame was, of course, unsuitable for alchemy; it would even blow up the furnace…

But as Ye Tinglan watched, amazement gradually surfaced in her eyes.

Under Lu Xingzhou’s control, the Destruction Gold Flame very precisely scorched only a tiny portion of the furnace bottom. In the furnace, only the Lava Mushroom would rotate to that position to endure the high temperature, while all other ingredients completely avoided it.

The control over the flame, and the control over the ingredients in the alchemy furnace, were masterfully subtle, truly genius-like for someone his age.

Seeing the Lava Mushroom gradually dissolve, Lu Xingzhou suddenly withdrew the Destruction Gold Flame, and his original flames burned fiercely.

The elixir in the furnace began to melt into a mass, slowly rotating.

Large drops of sweat dripped down Lu Xingzhou’s forehead. A’nuo busily took a silk scarf to wipe his sweat.

The intensity of the flame activation and the mental strain and exhaustion were far more tiring than a battle.

The biggest problem was that he couldn’t sustain such high-intensity flame activation for too long.

A fifth-grade cultivator attempting to refine a third-grade elixir without relying on earth fire was, after all, overstepping too much.

“You haven’t integrated the flame from your leg into your own body. It’s still your own cultivation separate from your immortal bone’s flame, merely treating the immortal bone’s energy as a reserve within a prosthetic limb. This is incorrect,” Ye Tinglan’s voice came. “Do you not have the relevant inheritance? Do you not know how others proceed after integrating immortal bones?”

Lu Xingzhou said with some difficulty, “Please guide me, Master.”

“Since the immortal bone has been refined and integrated into your body, it is your own bone. The energy within it should circulate throughout all the bones in your body. Even if your body’s cultivation cannot immediately withstand the release from these bones, you must first release a portion to form a complete circulation. In other words, you shouldn’t only have water and fire legs; all the bones in your body should combine water and fire. The only difference between your leg bones and other bones should merely be their material.”

Lu Xingzhou actually knew this. He usually used the energy from his water and fire legs to participate in his own cultivation circulation because it was a strict requirement of his Yin-Yang Extreme Will Technique. However, essentially, he was still treating his legs as battery reserves; the water and fire energy participated in meridian circulation but did not permeate other bones to form a unified skeletal structure.

He didn’t know how to achieve it; no one had taught him. Which cultivation method involved circulation through the bones? This required a special technique.

Ye Tinglan said, “Such a technique is commonly known by some ancient prestigious sects; it’s nothing special. I’ll impart it to you then.”

Saying this, she casually flicked a finger.

She didn’t even need to extend a finger to tap his forehead; with just a flick, and that casual attitude, Lu Xingzhou only felt as if he was stepped on again by a high heel. A soft light had already shot into his glabella.

A bone-forging technique was transmitted into his sea of consciousness. Lu Xingzhou closed his eyes and went through it once. The power of water and fire in his legs began to enter his thigh bones, then gradually permeated all the bones in his body. In the end, water spirit power also entered his fire-infused leg, and blazing flame power also entered his water-infused leg. All the bones in his body combined water and fire.

What was peculiar was that this bone-forging technique should have been very painful, but it wasn’t.

Instead, it was very comfortable, as if it should have been this way all along, as if this was what a healthy body should feel like.

Indeed, this was true health. Before, it had always just been a prosthetic limb; now, he was completely transformed.

“Boom!” A’nuo watched in startled awe as her master’s cultivation surged dramatically, directly breaking through to the fourth-grade level.

That was just the energy accumulated in his legs; it hadn’t even fully released yet. Lu Xingzhou’s cultivation would continue to increase rapidly in the future.

Oh no, now Master and A’nuo were at the same level. He wouldn’t need a wheelchair anymore, nor even cultivation support…

Lu Xingzhou had no idea what the little girl was thinking at that moment. Having been distracted by the breakthrough, his flames had scattered, and the elixir had begun to go awry. He quickly focused his mind to stabilize the flames.

After breaking through to the fourth grade, refining a third-grade elixir became much less strenuous. Lu Xingzhou steadily adjusted the flames for the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, and the elixir was complete.

Ye Tinglan gazed steadily at the elixir that flew out of the furnace. “This is a third-grade Breakthrough Elixir, and it seems to be highly targeted, emphasizing the metal attribute within it, as if specifically for a swordsman to achieve a breakthrough… And it contains a gentle fire essence. What is its purpose?”

Lu Xingzhou stood up and bowed. “This is a thank-you gift for Miss Dugu of Tianyao Sacred Land, to thank her for intercepting Wang Yueshen’s sneak attack in the Demon Subduing Domain. I saw she was on the verge of breaking through the third-grade barrier and thought this item would benefit her. The fire essence contained in this elixir is because I was concerned she might have too much of the ice attribute, becoming overly extreme, which could hinder her breakthrough. If this gentle fire essence is used to balance and temper it, it should help a bit. Please, Master, judge it.”

Ye Tinglan hadn’t expected that this elixir was refined for her own beloved disciple. She almost blurted out, ‘Can’t I refine her elixirs myself? Why do you need to meddle?’

Then she remembered that in Lu Xingzhou’s eyes, she was just Madam Ye, “from the Cloud Hidden Immortal Sect,” not the State Preceptor Ye Tinglan, and had no relation to Dugu Qingli. So she said, “Miss Dugu is the State Preceptor’s beloved disciple; she has her own resources. Why do you need to refine any elixir?”

Lu Xingzhou replied, “Tianyao Sacred Land has ample resources, and I can’t imagine what she still lacks, but I can’t just not express my gratitude because of that, can I?”

Ye Tinglan weighed the elixir in her hand and looked at it for a long time. She had to admit, this elixir was indeed greatly beneficial for Qingli’s breakthrough. It was tailor-made; if she were to refine it herself, she would most likely choose to refine an elixir with a similar effect.

She hadn’t expected this person to be quite appreciative and loyal. Ye Tinglan was quite satisfied in her heart, and she nodded, saying, “For an Alchemy Academy student to be able to refine a third-grade elixir so soon after enrolling is practically unheard of in the past century. Based on this alone, I’ll take you as my disciple.”

Lu Xingzhou bowed respectfully. “Thank you, Master. Just based on the technique you imparted moments ago, you are already my mentor.”