The injuries he had taken that day had already mended seven or eight parts out of ten, which only deepened Tang Yan's curiosity about the Heaven and Earth Creation Cauldron.

This mysterious cauldron not only absorbed Spiritual Qi and grew spiritual herbs-now it could even heal wounds?

Yet no matter what he tried, he couldn't coax the slightest stir from the Pill Cauldron. He let out a sigh. Clearly, unraveling the secrets of the Heaven and Earth Creation Cauldron would take more time still.

When Xiaocui hauled back a cartload of medicinal herbs, an eager light flickered in Tang Yan's eyes. He carried every bundle into the pill room and threw himself into refining.

Selecting herbs, tempering, extracting, shaping the pill, nurturing the pill... each step flowed from his hands with practiced ease.

Each cauldron of pills he finished, he sealed away in porcelain bottles.

When his True Qi ran dry, he swallowed an Initial Spirit Pill.

Tang Yan repeated the cycle again and again. Only when he sealed yet another batch into bottles did he realize he had refined every last herb!

And just as he meant to ease off, his Dantian stirred without warning.

Tang Yan's expression turned odd. This was plainly the sign of an oncoming breakthrough. Don't tell me a man could climb a rank just from refining pills, batch after batch?

No time to dwell on it. He quickly settled into a cross-legged seat, swallowed an Initial Spirit Pill, then steadied his breath and stilled his mind to cultivate.

Time slipped past, moment by moment. The Initial Spirit Pill, dissolving the instant it touched his tongue, was slowly drawn into his body. The True Qi coursing through his meridians grew thicker and stronger, until at last, with a low shout from Tang Yan, a sharp crack sounded within his Dantian-the old barrier shattered!

Origin Rank Ninth Grade!

Yet Tang Yan didn't stop there. The True Qi inside him still carried the momentum to surge onward.

Don't tell me there's another breakthrough coming? After a brief moment of blankness, Tang Yan shook the stray thoughts from his head and kept guiding the stream of True Qi through his body.

He had been through back-to-back advancements before, so the shock didn't rattle him too badly.

The True Qi, fierce as a flood beast, drove forward unstoppable and slammed into his Dantian once more.

Before long, a dull boom echoed within his Dantian. Tang Yan's body shuddered, and the Heaven and Earth Creation Cauldron in his Dantian trembled violently!

Tang Yan felt his Dantian shifting without pause, as though something were about to burst free from it.

For all his uncommon composure, in that instant even he felt a flicker of dread. His Dantian had been perfectly sound-so what in the world was crawling out of it now? Had his cultivation gone astray? Was he about to suffer Qi Deviation?

While he was still puzzling over it, a deep blue flame flared to life inside his Dantian with a soft whump.

Tang Yan's heart lurched. For all his vast experience, he had never once heard of a Dantian catching fire.

But after a good while, the deep blue flame did nothing more than give off a mild warmth. Only when no other strangeness followed did Tang Yan finally set his heart at ease.

"Supreme Alchemy Scripture-Fire Control Art!" Once again, a stream of knowledge flowed out of the Heaven and Earth Creation Cauldron.

As he carefully sifted through it, wild joy lit his eyes!

It was the Heaven and Earth Creation Flame!

This flame could raise the success rate of his alchemy by no small measure, and more than that, it could be drawn outside his body to become a deadly weapon in his hand.

"Come out!" Once he had fully digested the memory, a single thought stirred, and a deep blue tongue of flame danced playfully across his palm.

To test whether the little flame truly held burning power, Tang Yan sent it sweeping toward a medicinal herb.

Without the faintest sound, the herb vanished in an instant, gone without a trace!

"Holy crap!" Tang Yan stared, dumbfounded at the sight. The flame was this strong?

Refusing to believe it, he steered the flame at another herb-again, not a sound, and the herb was burned to fine powder in a heartbeat.

Tang Yan's Dantian abruptly ran empty, and he lost his footing, plopping down hard on his backside.

Two brief uses of the fire had drained every last drop of True Qi from his body!

Tang Yan realized that the Heaven and Earth Creation Flame was indeed enormously powerful, but the True Qi it devoured was just as vast. He was already at Origin Rank... wait-he had already crossed into Yellow Rank First Grade!

Sensing the state of his Dantian, a hint of a smile crossed his eyes.

Not even two months since he had crossed over, and he had gone from a ruined Dantian to Yellow Rank First Grade. A pace like that-no one would believe it if he said it aloud.

Still, Tang Yan was far from satisfied. Until he held absolute strength of his own, his fate would remain in the hands of those stronger than him. The pride of an Alchemy Emperor would never allow such a thing to stand.

He stretched out his stiff limbs, washed up, changed his clothes, and headed for the martial training grounds.

A month spent together had sharply turned the Tang Family guards' attitude toward this ill-reputed eldest young master.

Over that month, Tang Yan's daily training load had climbed higher and higher. The demands he placed on himself went past mere diligence-they bordered on brutal, putting to shame this band of guards who had thought themselves hard workers already.

Spurred on by Tang Yan, they drilled with greater resolve, each one burning with the same stubborn thought: they could not let this once-pampered young master outdo them.

When Tang Yan reached the training grounds, every guard turned to him with a grin and called out a greeting.

Tang Yan smiled and answered each in turn. Out of the corner of his eye, he caught a burly fellow shifting awkwardly, looking for all the world like a man with something to say and no nerve to say it.

He remembered this one well. It was Chang Tie, the very man who had stepped forward to voice his defiance back when Tang Yan first laid down the law.

Seeing the blunt fellow carrying on like this, Tang Yan laughed and jeered, "Old Tie, what's with you acting like some bashful girl? Grinning at me all creepy like that? I'll tell you straight-I've got no interest in anyone packing a handle down there."

"So Old Chang's got that kind of taste! No wonder he kept eyeing us so funny whenever we bathed in the river."

"Ain't that the truth! Last time we sparred, he copped a feel when he thought no one was looking-turns out he was flirting with me all along! Old Chang, you owe me coin for that!"

"..."

"Hahaha..." Tang Yan had set it off, and the whole yard erupted into noise.

"Heh heh, Eldest Young Master, I advanced last night-I'm Yellow Rank First Grade now. Do them conditions you set before still count?" Chang Tie rubbed his hands together, grinning like a fool.

"Yellow Rank, huh?" Tang Yan paused, then smiled. "Throw a few punches, let me see."

"Right away!" Chang Tie answered, then ran through a fist sequence in the yard. The wind off his fists struck hard and fierce, a faint sheath of gang force forming around his knuckles. True Qi spilling beyond the body-the unmistakable mark of one who had stepped into Yellow Rank!

"How much is your monthly stipend now?" Tang Yan asked the moment Chang Tie finished.

"We're all paid the same-fifty taels of silver a month," Chang Tie answered quickly.

"Starting this month, Chang Tie's monthly stipend is two hundred taels of silver!" Tang Yan announced loudly.

"Thank you, Eldest Young Master! Thank you!" Chang Tie said, overjoyed.

"What's more, since Chang Tie is the first to reach Yellow Rank, he gets another five hundred taels as a reward!"

At those words, the others' eyes went red with envy.

"Old Chang, drinks are on you tonight!"

"Old Chang, it's gotta be the Myriad Flowers House tonight-we're not leaving till we're flat-out drunk!"

"..."

Chang Tie hadn't expected an extra reward at all. Five hundred taels-that was more than he used to earn in a whole year, even going without food or drink. He grinned from ear to ear, saying over and over, "Thank you, Eldest Young Master!"

"Don't thank me-if you want to thank anyone, thank yourself! You reap what you sow. Whoever puts in the work earns the reward he's owed. Keep at it. Within Yellow Rank, every grade your strength climbs adds another hundred taels to your monthly stipend. And if any of you reaches Black Rank, we'll talk terms all over again!" Tang Yan said with a grin, clapping Chang Tie on the shoulder.

"I'll work my hardest!" Chang Tie thumped his chest in promise.

With another encouraging pat on Chang Tie's shoulder, Tang Yan stole a glance at the rest. Every one of them looked fired up, straining toward a breakthrough of their own. He cleared his throat lightly. "From now on, whenever any of you breaks through, report straight to your captain, Mo Yanjun. Now train hard!"

Having sent the men off, Tang Yan was just about to begin his own training when Mo Yanjun came up to him quietly.