Battle Through the Heaven: Purple Heaven

After the time it takes to burn a stick of incense, Xiao Bai noticed that the Bing Fire Yang Lightning within his body had transformed to match the wisp at his fingertip.

On the surface, it resembled a flickering flame, with a crimson lightning orb at its core, wreathed in faint electric glow, bobbing within. Occasionally, a spark of lightning danced across the flame, creating a mesmerizing beauty.

"Haha! Good job, Little Bing! Daddy loves you!" Xiao Bai laughed, unable to contain his delight, even though he knew the lightning lacked sentience.

Both the Yi Wood True Lightning and Bing Fire Yang Lightning in his body were remarkably responsive. But Xiao Bai understood that for such heavenly marvels to develop true consciousness was no small feat. It required an immense source of origin power and an unfathomable span of time—not centuries or millennia, but tens of thousands of years.

Take Tuoshe Ancient Emperor, for example. Though his original form as a Heavenly Flame was unclear, the original story mentioned that it took tens of thousands of years for him to develop a rudimentary awareness, driven by instinct to devour other flames before achieving human-like intelligence.

Xiao Bai dispersed the wisp of Bing Fire Yang Lightning at his fingertip, letting it merge back into its source. Then he summoned the entire Bing Fire Yang Lightning seed.

Seeing that it retained its flame-like state, he communicated with it through his soul. As if sensing his intent, the seed reverted to its original lightning form. With another thought, it shifted back to the flame state.

Relieved, Xiao Bai's smile widened as he watched the seed shift back and forth in his palm. He hadn't expected the lightning seed to be so versatile. Without this alchemy experiment, who knows how long it would've taken to discover this?

With the Bing Fire Yang Lightning as a precedent, Xiao Bai wondered if the Yi Wood True Lightning could be manipulated similarly.

Storing the Bing Fire Yang Lightning, he summoned the Yi Wood True Lightning seed—not just a wisp, but the entire seed—and controlled it with his soul.

As expected, Little Bing's transformation wasn't a fluke. His understanding of these lightning seeds had been too shallow.

The Yi Wood True Lightning mirrored the Bing Fire Yang Lightning's behavior. While the latter formed a crimson flame, the former became a swirling mass of azure mist. At its center floated a pale cyan lightning orb, with occasional sparks flickering through the mist—a different but equally captivating beauty.

Xiao Bai gazed at the Yi Wood True Lightning's transformation, marveling at the wonders of nature. How exquisite.

Xun'er would probably love this, he thought suddenly, picturing the girl. Girls loved beautiful things, and these lightning seeds in their current states were captivating even to him. That beauty-obsessed little lass would be smitten.

After admiring it a bit longer, Xiao Bai stored the lightning and cleared his mind. Everything was ready—only the final push remained.

With a serious expression, he sent a wisp of flame-like lightning into the cauldron, using his soul force to adjust its intensity.

Now, it was much easier. He no longer needed to juggle the fire and lightning attributes or maintain their balance—just focus on controlling the flame's strength.

After familiarizing himself with the new state, he tossed a Purple Sun Fruit into the blackwood cauldron, keeping the flame at its lowest and slowly guiding the fruit closer.

Unsure of the exact temperature needed to extract the herb's essence, he proceeded cautiously, testing bit by bit.

This time, the Purple Sun Fruit didn't instantly char like before.

Xiao Bai's heart leapt. There's hope!

He gradually increased the flame's intensity. As the temperature rose, the fruit tumbled in the flame, its skin peeling away.

Suddenly, a spark of lightning struck the exposed flesh, and the fruit's interior turned black.

Xiao Bai stared at the cauldron, speechless.

But he didn't lose heart. This was a massive improvement over last time. Success is just the culmination of repeated failures.

Clearing the charred remains, he tossed in another Purple Sun Fruit and tried again.

After several attempts, he still hadn't succeeded. Each time, a stray spark of lightning ruined the herb, sooner or later. Continuing this way might yield a fluke success, but it would be luck, not skill—useless for advancing his alchemy.

Rubbing his temples, Xiao Bai felt his path as an alchemist was absurdly rocky. Solve one problem, and another pops up. And this was just the first step—extracting medicinal essence.

Taking a break to clear his mind, he rallied. The harder the challenge, the sweeter the victory, he told himself, sipping his own motivational broth.

Glancing at the small pile of charcoal beside him, he stroked his chin. If the herbs couldn't withstand the lightning in the flame, and he couldn't prevent the sparks, could he strengthen the herbs instead?

He hadn't used the Yi Wood True Lightning yet—not because he didn't want to, but because he couldn't. Unlike other alchemists, who used wood attributes to temper their flames' volatility, his Bing Fire Yang Lightning grew more ferocious when mixed with Yi Wood True Lightning.

If I can't enhance the flame with Yi Wood, why not enhance the herb?

It was worth a try.

Clearing the flame from the cauldron, Xiao Bai summoned a wisp of mist-like Yi Wood True Lightning and sent it inside. He tossed in a Purple Sun Fruit, letting the mist nourish it.

Slowly, he realized this approach might work. The Yi Wood True Lightning was inherently gentle, especially in its mist form. The herb, slightly wilted before, grew plump under its care.

The mist carried traces of lightning, which the Purple Sun Fruit absorbed along with the wood essence, fortifying it.

Maybe now it won't turn to charcoal under Little Bing's sparks, Xiao Bai thought, eyes brightening.

He sent the Bing Fire flame back into the cauldron, guiding the fortified Purple Sun Fruit toward it.

As the temperature rose, the fruit tumbled, its skin peeling away. When a spark of lightning struck, it didn't ruin the herb—instead, it accelerated the release of its essence.

Finally, a faint purple powder appeared in the cauldron.

Xiao Bai knew he'd done it. His first successful extraction of medicinal essence—achievement unlocked.

"This is one small step for Xiao Bai, but a giant leap for the Dou Qi Continent's alchemy world!" he declared with a grin, indulging in a bit of narcissism.

Retrieving the pale purple powder, he noticed it differed slightly from the description in Yao Lao's recipe.