Chapter 218: Chapter 218: Senior Brother Mo’s Teaching [2]
"Calm your mind. You’re forcing the outer threads too hard," Shen Yu murmured calmly, his smooth voice acting as an anchor in her frantic state.
He reached out, placing his large, steady hands directly over her trembling ones.
His sudden warmth sent a jolt through her, but she didn’t pull away.
Circulating a thread of his own qi, he gently enveloped her hands, guiding her movements and showing her exactly how to relax her grip on the spiritual energy.
"Don’t fight the friction, Ruolan. Let the inner currents glide past the outer ones," he instructed softly.
Under his masterful touch, the chaotic, wild flames slowly tamed, finally settling into the beginnings of a steady, beautiful counter-rotational spin.
...
A full day passed in a blur of intense, near-constant training inside the isolated refining chamber. Shen Yu didn’t let her jump straight back into the volatile Tier 3 recipe.
Instead, he took a step back to solidify her foundations, commanding her to refine a rapid succession of different pills ranging all the way from Tier 0 to Tier 2.
Under his watchful eye, she practiced the Whirling Lotus Core Separation technique on low-grade spiritual recovery pills, bone-strengthening elixirs, and metal-cleansing draughts.
Every time her concentration wavered or a flame thread threatened to split, Shen Yu’s steady hands would map onto hers, his voice guiding her through the micro-adjustments.
By the end of the twenty-four hours, the sheer speed of her adaptability became undeniably clear.
In just a single day, she had absorbed concepts that would take ordinary alchemists months to grasp, seamlessly incorporating the advanced counter-rotational flame mechanics into her muscle memory.
She truly was an exceptional alchemical genius.
"Your foundation is locked, and your flame control is stable," Shen Yu finally remarked, leaning back against the obsidian wall with a casual smirk.
"You’re ready. Bring out the materials for the pill you’ve been losing your mind over."
Bai Ruolan’s blue eyes lit up with a fierce, determined fire.
She didn’t hesitate.
With a wave of her hand, the precious crimson iron ore and the wood-attributed spiritual herbs she had hoarded for months flew out of her storage ring, hovering gracefully in the air before dipping into the bronze-and-iron cauldron.
The refinement began.
This time, there was no frantic pacing, no bloodshot panic, and no desperate slamming of her soul force.
Following Shen Yu’s calm, rhythmic instructions, she introduced the wood-tempered solar catalyst sequence at the exact millisecond the iron ore began to liquefy, purging the harsh metallic impurities effortlessly.
Then, as the mixture entered the dreaded final condensation phase, she closed her eyes, took a deep breath that strained her voluptuous indigo robes, and fractured her Golden Core Qi into twelve perfect, spinning threads of fire.
The thermal backlash surged outward, but instead of detonating the cauldron, the volatile energy was instantly caught in the counter-rotational vacuum she created.
The outer flame currents absorbed the shock, allowing the core of the pill to knit together in absolute, unbothered equilibrium.
Hummmmm—!
A brilliant, pristine crimson light erupted from the vents of the cauldron, accompanied by a rich, deeply refreshing spiritual fragrance that instantly filled the entire chamber.
As the lid flew open, a flawless, perfectly round Tier 3 Iron-Cleansing Hearth Pill floated into the air, its surface marked by beautiful, cloud-like solar inscriptions.
"I... I did it," Ruolan whispered, staring at the pill in absolute awe.
The realization hit her like a tidal wave.
The massive bottleneck that had pushed her to the brink of insanity for months had just been completely shattered.
An overwhelming, pure rush of genuine happiness blossomed deep inside her heart, completely short-circuiting her usual pride and decorum.
"I actually did it!"
With a radiant, blindingly beautiful smile, she turned around, threw her arms completely around Shen Yu’s neck, and hugged him tightly.
In her state of unbridled euphoria, she began hopping up and down, dragging him into her joyful bounces.
Because of her voluptuous figure and the sheer proximity, her massive, incredibly soft boobs pressed firmly against his chest with every excited leap, her long blue hair whipping around them like a silken cloud.
’She is bigger than Xu Yi,’ he thought.
Shen Yu stood there, momentarily caught off guard as he wrapped his arms loosely around her slender waist to keep her steady.
Looking down at her flushed, laughing face and the pure, childlike innocence of her absolute joy, a rare, genuinely amused thought crossed his mind.
’Why is she so cute?’
He let out a low chuckle, his lips curling into a warm, matching smirk as he lightly patted her back.
"Congratulations, Little Alchemist. I told you having me as a friend would be worth it."
Bai Ruolan finally realized what she was doing.
The sudden awareness of her own actions rushed to her face, turning her pale cheeks a deep, vibrant crimson.
She froze mid-hop, her heart hammering against her ribs, not from academic panic this time, but from the sudden, intimate heat radiating between them.
She felt the firm, unwavering grip of his hands resting casually on her slender waist, and worse, she realized her massive breasts were completely flattened against his chest, rising and falling heavily with her ragged breathing.
"Ah! I—I’m sorry, Senior Brother Mo! I completely lost my composure," she stammered, frantically breaking the hug and taking three quick steps backward.
She pulled at her disheveled indigo robes, trying desperately to smooth down the silk while her large blue eyes darted anywhere but his face.
"I was just... I’ve been stuck on that sequence for so long, and to see it succeed so flawlessly..."
"There’s no need to apologize to a friend, Ruolan," Shen Yu said smoothly, his hands sliding back into his large green sleeves as he watched her flustered state with immense amusement. freewebnovёl.ƈom
He tilted his head toward the hovering pill. "Aren’t you going to secure your prize?"
"Right! The pill!"
Eager for a distraction, she quickly flicked her wrist, catching the pristine Tier 3 Iron-Cleansing Hearth Pill in a delicate jade vial.
She sealed it with a wax stamp, her professional focus returning as she stared at the translucent glass.
"The purity... it’s easily over ninety percent. With the Whirling Lotus technique, the yield is practically guaranteed. Senior Brother Mo, do you have any idea what this means for the Golden Cauldron Merchant Union?"
"I have a fair estimate," Shen Yu replied, a cold, calculating glint briefly flashing across his eyes before returning to his usual playful demeanor.
"But more importantly, I know what it means for your competitors. The Cao Clan, for instance."