An Alchemist with a Saint-Grade Spiritual Root!

"Alright!!" Li Guanqi shouted thunderously. As his spirit ruins opened, an invisible ripple radiated outward!! In an instant, the winds shifted and the heavens transformed! The previously clear night sky was suddenly blotted out by dark clouds! Li Guanqi's hands closed into an empty grip, and an illusory crimson longsword abruptly materialized!! The sword spirit had appeared behind him at some unknown point, gazing with complicated eyes at the youth wielding the sword of the spirit ruins. Who knew what thoughts were running through her mind... In a flash, gripping the sword with both hands, Li Guanqi took a fierce stride forward and thrust the spirit ruins sword straight into Cao Yan's brow!! In an instant, arcs of lightning raged wild across Cao Yan's forehead!!! Crack! A crisp snap rang out!! Accompanied by Li Guanqi's enraged roar, the illusory longsword solidified slightly. Crack, crack, crack, crack!!! A barrage of shattering sounds echoed, and then, the restriction at Cao Yan's brow exploded with a loud bang!! Bang!! This single thrust completely drained Li Guanqi's Core Formation primal energy and the divine sense in his sea of consciousness. Just as Li Guanqi was about to collapse, a pair of large hands caught him around the chest. Although Ye Feng didn't understand what had just happened, he knew Li Guanqi was utterly exhausted right now. Across from them, Cao Yan's massive head was actually shrinking at a rate visible to the naked eye. Within breaths, it had shrunk considerably, and soon, a shrill whistling of wind stirred around him. The ambient spiritual energy drifting between heaven and earth began gathering toward him. Seeing this, Ye Feng hurriedly tossed out over a hundred spirit stones! Bang, bang, bang, bang!! The spirit stones floating in midair shattered in succession, turning into the purest spiritual energy to be absorbed into Cao Yan's body. Soon, Ye Feng sensed Cao Yan's aura surging all the way from Qi Refinement to early Foundation Establishment! Yet the climbing aura showed no sign of stopping, and the surrounding spiritual energy had already grown extremely thin. Without hesitation, Ye Feng threw out nearly five hundred low-grade spirit stones! One after another, the spirit stones turned to handfuls of flying ash, and Cao Yan's aura climbed swiftly. Before long, his aura had reached late Foundation Establishment! Yet just before touching the Great Perfection, he began frantically suppressing his realm! He hadn't absorbed spiritual energy from spirit stones for many years, and his famished dantian had reached its limit. If he continued to recover his realm, it would bring no benefit to his future foundation. Knowing this full well, he suppressed his realm with desperate focus. While ravenously absorbing the spiritual energy, he steadily compressed and stabilized his cultivation. His head was no longer disproportionately huge; it only looked slightly larger than an ordinary person's now. Watching all this unfold, Ye Feng couldn't help but mutter: "Looking at him now, Big Head actually has the makings of a pretty boy!" "My spot as the second most handsome is looking a bit threatened!" Indeed, with his features no longer contorted, Cao Yan was quite handsome. He had clean, defined features, a somewhat gaunt face, and slightly sunken cheeks. Between his brows lingered the scholarly grace of a noble clan, giving him a gentle, refined air, like a young gentleman from a prestigious family. Only the scorched skin at his brow was somewhat jarring to the eye. His bare head had also sprouted a layer of hair three fingers long, looking far more agreeable than before. His injuries were healing at rapid speed as well—a natural change brought about by his recovering strength. Though Cao Yan remained emaciated, still resembling a bag of bones much like before, his vitality was worlds apart from how he had been. After a long time, Cao Yan slowly opened his eyes! Ye Feng started slightly. He wasn't sure if it was just his imagination, but he seemed to catch a flicker of eerie blue flame in the depths of Cao Yan's eyes! Cao Yan turned to look at Ye Feng. Though his face was still bloodless and his lips pale, the impression he gave was night and day compared to before. Gentle and refined, Cao Yan no longer possessed that listless numbness of merely waiting to die. Pursing his lips, he bowed to Ye Feng and smiled. "Second Brother!" Startled out of his daze, Ye Feng broke into a beaming grin and waved his hands. "Aiya, no need to be so polite between brothers, Third Brother~" Though he acted casual, his grin practically stretched from ear to ear. Scratching his head, he fumbled for words. Cao Yan gently reminded him, "Better set Eldest Brother down first. He's likely suffered from exhaustion." "Oh, oh, oh, oh! Tch! If you hadn't mentioned it, I would've completely forgotten." Before long, Li Guanqi slowly regained consciousness, only to see two heads hovering over him. Startled, he jolted upright and stared at Cao Yan for quite a while before saying in disbelief, "Cao Yan?" Cao Yan pursed his lips and nodded with a rather shy smile. "Eldest Brother, it's me." Getting to his feet, Li Guanqi looked slightly pale. He smacked his lips, turned to Ye Feng, and said, "If we ever go broke in the future, selling this kid off to a brothel should fetch us quite a fortune." Hearing this, Cao Yan pulled a miserable face. "Brother Li, seriously...? Didn't I just leap out of the fiery pit only to fall into a wolf's den?" At his words, the three looked at each other and burst into hearty laughter!! Once Li Guanqi was on his feet, Cao Yan turned to the two and bowed deeply once more, speaking with heartfelt gratitude: "I won't waste words on sentimental talk. From now on... all the pills for Eldest Brother and Second Brother are on me!" The two froze for a moment, then shouted at the top of their lungs, "You're an alchemist??!!" Cao Yan touched his nose, looking a bit sheepish. "Don't I look like one?" As he spoke, a wisp of eerie blue flame abruptly manifested in his palm! The space around the flame distorted slightly, and the surrounding temperature rose noticeably. Ecstasy flared in their eyes—listening to the sword spirit had truly landed them a treasure! Moreover, from Li Guanqi's perception, the flame Cao Yan possessed... Its spiritual root grade had to be exceptionally high as well! Thinking of this, Li Guanqi couldn't help but ask in a low voice, "Old Third, what grade is your spiritual root...?" Ye Feng cut in first. "King-grade?" To their surprise, Cao Yan rather bashfully held up a single finger. Seeing this, Ye Feng let out a sigh of relief and patted his chest. "Ah, a single-element heavenly spiritual root~ I knew it." Li Guanqi, however, found it somewhat odd. Judging purely by the intensity of that flame, it didn't look like a mere single-element heavenly spiritual root. Cao Yan shrugged. "Above that." Ye Feng froze, instantly wilting like a frosted eggplant. "To think even Big Head is like Boss!!" "Heavens above!! Is there any justice left?!" "Since when did saint-grade spiritual roots become so common?!" Cao Yan paused in surprise. It was evident he hadn't expected Li Guanqi's spiritual root to be saint-grade either! Li Guanqi was overjoyed. He hadn't imagined they would pick up a one-in-a-million alchemist! Right then, Cao Yan chimed in, "Should we go loot the Dark Blood Alliance's lair??" Their eyes sparkled. Under the cover of night, they raided the Dark Blood Alliance's stronghold and swept through it in bandit-like fashion. As for the common folk in Lingchang City, even if they heard the commotion, none dared step outside. Families huddled together in the corners of their rooms, shivering in fear. It wasn't until early the next morning that a joyful cheer echoed through all of Lingchang City!! "They're dead!! Hahahahaha!! They're all dead!!" "Come out and look!! The bastards from the Dark Blood Alliance are all dead!! Their corpses are hanging from the city walls!!"