Beneath the long corridor, several young children stood in a circle. Despite their tender little faces, each one was filled with solemnity, making the atmosphere extraordinarily tense.
"Cousin Xiao Yan, will the little guy be able to move this time?" the red-dressed girl couldn't help but ask.
Though still a child, there was already a hint of allure in her brows and eyes—clearly a beauty in the making.
A soft sigh came from Xun'er, who stood in an elegant green dress as serene as a lotus. "Cousin Xiao Mei, don't disturb Brother Xiao Yan."
Nearby, Xiao Yu, whose legs were unusually long and graceful beneath her blue dress, remained silent due to her older age, though she was just as anxious.
Xiao Yan seemed to ignore the girls' presence entirely, fully focused on the seven-colored iron puppet in his hands.
After assembling its right arm, his small hand sifted through several precious magic cores scattered on the ground. He selected a fairly decent first-rank wood-element core and embedded it into the recess on the puppet's chest.
As the core clicked into place, green energy surged from the center and spread throughout the puppet's body. In an instant, the tiny iron figure seemed to be imbued with life—its limbs began to move, and its eyes gleamed with a soft, luminous green.
Such an extraordinary transformation startled even the older Xiao Yu, who cried out in surprise and leaned in to get a better look at the marvelous little thing.
[Through repeated puppet assembly, you have gained enlightenment. You have comprehended: "Basic Puppet Crafting Method."]
["Basic Puppet Crafting Method": Using a magic core as the energy source and refined iron as the body, this technique allows for the creation of simple, mobile puppets.]
As the system message floated before his eyes, Xiao Yan handed the iron puppet over to the three girls to play with, then slowly rose to his feet and stretched lazily.
Time passed, little by little. It had already been two and a half years since his zhuazhou ceremony.
In these past two years, because he had grasped both medicine and magic cores during his zhuazhou, Xiao Yan had received full support in the field of medical knowledge.
Though still young, the adults had purposefully taught him about medicinal herbs and their properties.
Thanks to his heaven-defying comprehension, Xiao Yan was able to infer much from little. In merely one year, he had developed a miraculous medicine.
As long as a person still had a breath left, taking this pill would allow them to survive.
Of course, pills made from common herbs couldn't compare with peak seventh-grade treasures like the Bone-Mending and Blood-Fusing Pill.
The medicine Xiao Yan developed was only effective for cultivators below the Dou Huang level.
If the injured party possessed too much strength, their terrifying physical body wouldn't be something his medicine could heal.
Still, given time and a variety of medicinal ingredients, Xiao Yan might even be able to produce pills capable of healing Dou Zong or Dou Zun experts.
But for a medicine refined through ordinary means to undergo a qualitative transformation, the effort required would be far beyond just a year's worth.
Now that the heavy stone of worry about his grandfather's injuries had been lifted from his heart, Xiao Yan didn't let his heaven-defying comprehension go idle—he began delving into the Dao of puppets.
At first, he didn't have much skill. All he could do was make dolls to coax Xun'er, his future little wife.
But with his extraordinary comprehension, once he began grasping a field, his growth would skyrocket.
After several attempts, Xiao Yan had gone from knowing nothing to mastering mechanical assembly, drawing energy patterns on puppets, and finally utilizing the power of magic cores.
If given a few more years, Xiao Yan was confident he could craft battle-ready puppets—or even build a temporary body for Yao Lao to inhabit.
Thus, a simple gesture meant to make his wife smile ended up reaping countless unexpected rewards.
After flexing his wrists a bit, Xiao Yan glanced at the three girls playing with the iron puppet, his expression pensive.
This time, however, he wasn't delving deeper into puppet crafting. Instead, he was contemplating how to increase his soul power.
Soul power—something considered untrainable in the Jia Ma Empire—was in fact something that could be cultivated in powerful Central Plains factions like the Pill Tower.
Since ancient cultivators could create methods to cultivate soul power, with his heaven-defying comprehension, Xiao Yan naturally didn't think himself inferior to those ancestors.
Enlightenment was merely a matter of time!
Suddenly, a commotion came from the other end of the corridor, voices filled with urgency.
"Blood?" Xiao Yan turned his head, his nose wrinkling slightly.
Relying on his exceptional soul power, Xiao Yan quickly sensed the identity of the unconscious man being carried by a group of Xiao family experts.
"It's today!" His eyes widened in an instant. Having long prepared for this moment, there was no way he would sit back and watch the grandfather who loved him die.
After giving a quick instruction to Cousin Xiao Yu to watch over his future wife, Xiao Yan stepped forward and followed the group.
"Elder Han, even you can't do anything?!" Xiao Zhan asked with trembling voice, desperation written all over his face as he looked at the elder who kept shaking his head.
Elder Han shook his head bleakly. "Young Master, the old clan head is a Dou Wang. His physique far surpasses ordinary men. Pills refined with my humble mortal flame are of no use to him."
At this, everyone's faces darkened.
A Dou Wang—someone capable of condensing Dou Qi wings and flying—was long past the realm of ordinary people.
For minor wounds, medicine combined with powerful Dou Qi could still be effective.
But now, with the old clan head gravely injured and on the verge of death, even the best medicine seemed useless.
"My husband, don't worry too much," Qin Yueyao said gently, holding onto Xiao Zhan to comfort him.
A light flashed in Xiao Zhan's eyes. His wife practiced water-element Dou Qi, the best attribute for healing—known as walking medicine in human form.
With her strength, she might truly be able to save his father.
Just as Qin Yueyao was about to speak, her beautiful eyes caught sight of a small figure weaving through the crowd.
Letting go of Xiao Zhan, Qin Yueyao walked gracefully toward the unnoticed little one. "Yan'er, what are you doing here? Go back quickly."
Xiao Lin's body was seriously injured, covered in blood, barely clinging to life. Letting a child see such a scene wasn't appropriate.
"I saw Grandpa got hurt. I have medicine," Xiao Yan said as he walked to the bedside and sat down. Even though he knew his grandfather would recover in moments, he still felt an inexplicable ache in his heart at seeing him like this.
Everyone around was stunned into a bitter smile by this childish statement.
Ordinary mortal medicines were useless to a Dou Wang. Only a rare pill refined by a true alchemist might stand a chance.
Xiao Yan casually pulled out an exquisite little jade bottle from his robes. He poured out a white pill and slipped it into Xiao Lin's mouth.
"Go find your Sister Xun'er," Qin Yueyao said, reaching for Xiao Yan's tiny hand. Feeding a pill to someone in this condition—would they even be able to swallow?
But at that moment, her eyes widened in disbelief as she turned toward the bloodied elder on the bed.
Everyone else stared in shock, eyes widening in astonishment.
The many horrific wounds on Xiao Lin's body were visibly healing at a speed the naked eye could follow.
His deathly pale face was also regaining color at an astonishing pace.
A low groan escaped his lips—and the man who just moments ago had been on death's door suddenly sat up on the bed!
Aside from his torn, bloodstained clothes, wasn't this clearly the Xiao Clan's strongest patriarch, Xiao Lin?!
Xiao Yan thought to himself: Since the medicine he developed was for gravely wounded individuals, he naturally accounted for situations where the person was unconscious and unable to take the pill normally.
Thus, it dissolved instantly upon entering the mouth and took effect immediately—this was what an emergency rescue medicine required.
Let alone someone merely suffering from heavy blood loss and severe injuries—even if things were worse, as long as a breath remained, this pill could save them.
This divine medicine was called "King of Hell Bows His Head"—even if Yama himself came, he'd have no choice but to lower his head and walk away.
(End of Chapter)