Yao Chen offered no comment on Clan Leader Xiao's attitude; after all, he was Xiao Yan's biological father, and everything he did was for Xiao Yan's benefit.
After a moment of thought, he asked, "I wonder if the Xiao Clan mentioning my agreement with that Xiao Family senior is related to this Medicine Ceremony?"
Clan Leader Xiao smiled and said, "It's a happy coincidence. Why don't we use this Medicine Ceremony as an opportunity to fulfill the agreement with the ancestor? We need to refine a ninth grade golden pill. I have the pill formula, and I also have the materials..."
"I imagine you wouldn't refuse to prove your Alchemist abilities to the entire continent with a ninth grade golden pill on such an occasion, would you?"
Yao Chen's breathing hitched. How precious was the pill formula for a ninth grade golden pill, and how enormous were the resources required to refine one?
He knew that he probably wouldn't be able to gather all the necessary ingredients even if he spent decades or a century.
This wasn't asking him for compensation; it was an opportunity, a privilege.
He remained silent for a long time before finally saying with a bitter smile, "Clan Leader Xiao thinks too highly of me. I have some confidence in refining a Ninth-Rank Mysterious Pill and would dare to try, but a ninth grade golden pill truly exceeds my capabilities. I'm afraid I might fail to live up to the trust placed in me."
Although Yao Chen was very tempted, he still didn't agree rashly. He didn't want to bring unnecessary losses to the Xiao Family.
Clan Leader Xiao said with a smile, "If you, Old Yao, were to pat your chest and say you could definitely refine it, then I would actually be worried."
"While directly entrusting the entire refinement process to you would result in a very slim chance of success, we can use some methods to reduce the difficulty of the refinement."
"In the process of alchemy, the most important and crucial step is the final pill condensation, but the most mentally exhausting part is the process of extracting medicinal ingredients before condensation."
"The pill formula I'm giving you this time has a much lower difficulty for the final condensation step than a normal ninth grade golden pill, yet its grade is among the very top tier of ninth grade golden pills. This is because its quality primarily depends on its raw materials."
"Conversely, the difficulty of extraction before condensation is very high, which would exhaust an Alchemist and make it difficult to continue."
Yao Chen frowned slightly and said, "Is Clan Leader Xiao suggesting I collaborate with someone else for the refinement? I'm not against it, but during the Medicine Ceremony, this isn't permissible. The Medicine Ceremony requires an Alchemist to refine independently."
"You can't collaborate with others, but you can hand over the extraction process to the Fire Spirit. No one said you can't use a Heavenly Flame for alchemy, did they?" Clan Leader Xiao said with a chuckle.
"Fire Spirit? Are you referring to Xiao Yan's Qing Meng?" Yao Chen's eyes lit up.
Qing Meng is a Heavenly Flame, and borrowing it from Xiao Yan is perfectly fine. Moreover, Xiao Yan himself often has Qing Meng assist with extracting medicinal ingredients, so that little fellow has a solid foundation in alchemy.
Clan Leader Xiao nodded, paused slightly, and then continued, "There's still one more problem. Extracting medicinal ingredients will consume a large amount of Dou Qi. Even if you don't need to expend mental energy to control the heat, Qing Meng still requires you to provide Dou Qi support; otherwise, with that little fellow's ability, it won't be able to refine those materials."
After a brief thought, Yao Chen said, "I can refine some Dou Qi recovery pills in advance... In that case, it might be worth a try."
Just as they were about to finalize the plan, a gentle voice, devoid of any emotion, spoke up:
"You can't do it that way... The power of a Four-Star Dou Saint is far from enough to refine those materials, even with the power of a Heavenly Flame... And his soul realm is a bit low."
"Amon? Do you have a solution?" Clan Leader Xiao was not unfamiliar with this voice and asked directly.
"Use the Worm of Spirit. Let the Worm of Spirit merge with his soul, and during the pill refinement, his soul will self-ignite, allowing him to temporarily surpass his limits and reach the Emperor Realm," Amon replied.
"This..." Clan Leader Xiao's face showed a hint of difficulty. Their Xiao Clan accepted the Worm of Spirit because it brought great benefits, and they had no other choice.
But Yao Chen might not be willing to accept such a strange thing merging with his soul.
"Soul self-ignition, reaching the Emperor Realm?" Yao Chen's expression became serious, and he proactively asked, "Friend who just spoke, please show yourself. What do you mean by soul self-ignition, reaching the Emperor Realm?"
A starlight shimmered, and Amon, wearing a white pointed soft hat and a white robe embroidered with gold threads, appeared beside Clan Leader Xiao.
To differentiate this "Clan Leader" from Amon's true form in front of Xiao Yan and create more distinctions between them, Amon had made slight changes to the "Clan Leader's" appearance.
"Hello, I am Amon, the Clan Leader of the Amon Clan, and an ally of the Xiao Clan," Amon said softly with a faint smile.
Yao Chen immediately associated him with Qing Meng at first glance, then found his aura somewhat familiar. After a moment of thought, he suddenly remembered the Parasite that had once resided in his soul.
Bugs, Worms of Spirit? Those bugs that once infiltrated my soul were Worms of Spirit?
Yao Chen's face showed a hint of gloom: "The bugs that invaded my soul in the past were the so-called Worms of Spirit? Was that your doing?"
Amon said emotionlessly, "It was me. The bugs that merged with your soul back then were members of my clan."
Yao Chen instinctively felt a sense of disgust towards Amon; after all, those things had tormented him quite a bit back then.
Although they didn't cause substantial harm, he was once affected by these strange bugs, which altered his personality.
He said with a cold face, "Why did you let those bugs invade my soul? To change my personality?"
Amon replied calmly, "Because you were by Xiao Yan's side... by the Young Clan Leader of the Xiao Clan, the person with the most cultivation talent."
"Before I could ascertain whether you harbored ill intentions, I needed to take some precautionary measures to ensure you wouldn't harm him."
"As for the change in your personality, that was beyond my control. When the Worm of Spirit merges with your soul for too long, you will inevitably influence each other."
Clan Leader Xiao stood between the two, who were somewhat at loggerheads and seemed on the verge of a fight, and bowed slightly to Yao Chen:
"I apologize, Old Yao, regarding what happened before, I offer my apologies to you..."
Yao Chen's displeasure on his face eased slightly, and he did not continue the topic.
Because if he continued, it would surely bring up the fact that he absorbed Xiao Yan's Dou Qi without his permission. Although half of his reason was seeing a promising talent and wanting to temper him, others might not see it that way.
...From this perspective, Amon's initial precautionary measures against him didn't seem superfluous.
After a moment of silence, Yao Chen asked, "You said the previous plan was unfeasible. Then explain your solution."
Amon seemed completely unaffected by the previous unpleasantness, his voice still calm and gentle. He said:
"Let the Worm of Spirit merge into your body and soul, provide you with Dou Qi, and elevate your spirit power to the peak of the Heaven Realm.
"When refining the pill, I will make the Worm of Spirit self-ignite. With the power gained from self-ignition, your spirit power will be comparable to the Emperor Realm for a certain period of time."
"Condensing the pill during this period can greatly increase the success rate of alchemy."
Upon hearing that he needed to let the Worm of Spirit merge into his body, Yao Chen's face showed an instinctive resistance, but as someone who regarded alchemy as his faith, he truly couldn't resist the temptation of personally refining a ninth grade golden pill. Moreover, this was an opportunity, an opportunity to wash away the humiliation he had suffered in his clan!
If he could refine a ninth grade golden pill, then no one else in the Yao Clan would have any reason to prevent him from inscribing his parents' names on the Monument of Merits!
He hesitated for a moment.
Amon continued, "Don't worry, a short-term fusion won't change your personality, and soul self-ignition won't affect you. Only the souls of those Worms of Spirit will burn."
Yao Chen looked at Amon, then at Clan Leader Xiao, hesitated for a long while, and then slowly said, "First, let me see the effect."
Clan Leader Xiao was Xiao Yan's father, and this made him willing to give the other party a certain degree of trust.
Amon nodded and slowly raised his right hand. A trace of starlight appeared in his palm, and a translucent worm with twelve rings and a starlight-like color emerged in his palm.
He gently pushed his right hand forward, and the small worm slowly floated towards Yao Chen.
Yao Chen reached out and caught it.
Then, the Worm of Spirit slowly merged into Yao Chen's body.
Amon's voice rang out: "Don't resist with Dou Qi. The Worm of Spirit is very fragile."
Upon hearing this, Yao Chen restrained his instinct to resist it with Dou Qi, allowing it to merge into his body and soul.
This Worm of Spirit was neither strong nor weak, roughly equivalent to a One-Star Dou Venerate.
Yao Chen could feel the Worm of Spirit in his body providing him with Dou Qi, and his spirit power also strengthened slightly.
Then, the Worm of Spirit's soul began to burn, and a strange power rippled through Yao Chen's soul space.
Yao Chen could clearly feel his soul perception improving.
After a while, the Worm of Spirit's soul burned out, and the enhancement to Yao Chen's soul ended. His soul perception returned to its original level.
A crack suddenly appeared on his palm, and the Worm of Spirit's corpse fell out of it.
After the brief experience, Yao Chen still felt a sense of wanting more. If the integrated Worm of Spirit was strong enough and underwent soul self-ignition, it could indeed give him a temporary experience of perception comparable to an Emperor Realm soul!
After a moment of thought, Yao Chen finally made up his mind and nodded, "Good!"