Chapter 313: Running

His fingers, fast and nimble, fluttered like butterflies, playing a beautiful melody in the air.

Outside, the crowd stared intently into the room, while inside, the old guild leader squatted to one side, his attention completely captivated.

Xu Xiaoshou, however, had the bulk of his attention drawn entirely to the "Passive Abilities" section.

"Let's do this!"

After a moment of thought, he finally decided that using his passive points now would definitely bring more benefits than drawbacks.

Without further hesitation, he casually exchanged for two skill points.

Mastery-type passive abilities had already reached the Innate level. He had previously upgraded "Sword Mastery" twice, maxing it out.

He didn't dare to be too reckless; he still needed to consider the alchemy process.

Ensuring the furnace wouldn't explode, Xu Xiaoshou spent his skill points.

"Culinary Mastery Innate Lv. 1."

"Culinary Mastery Innate Lv. 3."

A vast amount of knowledge instantly poured into his mind. Unlike upgrading post-innate level passive abilities, the experience entering his mind now was more about...

Comprehension of the culinary arts!

And an understanding of meat dishes!

Upgrading "Culinary Mastery" at the post-innate level had almost entirely conveyed knowledge of all low-level spiritual herbs to Xu Xiaoshou.

But now, that knowledge had been updated and transformed into an understanding of meat dishes.

"Vegetarian and meat?"

Xu Xiaoshou's face darkened.

The anticipated "Pill Condensation Transformation Method" hadn't appeared at all. He was momentarily distracted, and his hand trembled.

The onlookers outside simultaneously tensed up, watching the temperature sharply rise, as if the spiritual liquid in the alchemy cauldron would turn to ash the next second.

However, they saw the young man sitting before the cauldron suddenly make a grabbing motion with his hand, and with that grab, the air seemed to freeze.

The high temperature that had accidentally spread was incredibly drawn in by his hand movements and absorbed into his body.

"Breathing Technique!"

Xu Xiaoshou's eyes lit up.

This almost subconscious reaction, much like upgrading "Sword Mastery" during combat, always brought him unexpected surprises.

If using the "Breathing Technique" could absorb temperature, didn't that mean that in the future, if he ever got distracted during alchemy, as long as he reacted promptly, there would be room for salvage?

And as for reaction, his "Agility" had already reached Grandmaster level, making him incredibly quick-witted!

No!

This method shouldn't be used for recovering from distraction. Instead, it should be applied to simultaneous alchemy?

Opening two furnaces at once, refining simultaneously!

As long as his reaction was fast enough to draw down the high-temperature spiritual energy in the air before the furnace exploded, he could completely manage to suppress the explosion before the cauldron even reacted!

"Oh my!"

A pleasant surprise!

Xu Xiaoshou's face lit up as he thought of this.

After consecutively upgrading "Culinary Mastery" by two levels, it seemed he had gained some trivial things, but his "Heat Control" had indeed genuinely improved.

If he kept upgrading this way, simultaneous alchemy would no longer be just a dream!

And the seemingly useless combination of vegetarian and meat knowledge had actually subtly laid the foundation for Xu Xiaoshou's conceptual path of "meat pills."

He didn't dare to try it now, but that didn't mean he couldn't in the future!

Xu Xiaoshou's hand trembled again with excitement, and everyone nearby tensed up again, but he immediately tested his new discovery.

He didn't even need to breathe through his nostrils; just by bringing his hand close to the Ash-illuminating Heavenly Flame, he could achieve the desired effect.

Master Ti, watching from the side, was already feeling a bit dizzy.

What kind of technique was this?

He had never witnessed such a motion or its effect!

Could it powerfully salvage alchemy when it was on the verge of failure?

Master Ti's face showed disbelief.

Alchemists needed extremely precise control over flames; sometimes, even a tiny flaw would be too late to rectify by the time it was noticed.

But Xu Xiaoshou's technique, with just a gentle proximity, could instantly bring the temperature under control.

"Old Man Sang's new invention?"

"Did he deliberately let this kid demonstrate it to me?"

Master Ti felt a pang of frustration.

To be honest, even he was tempted by this technique!

Alchemists at lower ranks might not see the preciousness of this technique, but at higher ranks, even casually using up a single spiritual herb would be a tremendous loss.

Not to mention, alchemy failures caused by distraction or negligence were the most painful.

But with this technique, there was ample room for salvage!

Master Ti squatted to one side, completely absorbed.

He glanced at the young man beside him. The old guild leader opened his lips, wanting to ask something, but he wasn't Yun He, after all.

He knew how much these youngsters valued the alchemy assessment, so he didn't speak up to disturb them.

Xu Xiaoshou secretly glanced at him, a smile appearing on his lips.

He deliberately made his hand tremble again, and the flames instantly went out of control. Yet, under the old guild leader's horrified gaze, his hand suddenly moved closer.

A very faint sound emerged, Xu Xiaoshou's palm turned red, and he perfectly absorbed the heat.

Master Ti could no longer hold back; he was genuinely tempted.

"Want to learn?" Xu Xiaoshou asked at the opportune moment.

The old guild leader unconsciously swallowed and nodded.

"If you want to learn, what will you exchange for it? A favor?"

Master Ti: "..."

He looked at the young man in shock, a myriad of thoughts surging in his mind.

Heavens! What kind of person was this? In his world, were there only favors and equivalent exchange?

Didn't he know that if he taught him this technique, his repayment would undoubtedly be abundant?

Disappointment appeared in Master Ti's eyes.

Such a junior, even if truly powerful, wouldn't go far if their character couldn't keep up!

"Sigh."

Thinking of this, he couldn't help but feel regret for Old Sang.

What a pity, such a good prospect.

Xu Xiaoshou smiled and shook his head; he had just asked casually.

If he were to truly teach it, not to mention whether it could be taught, another person's physical body probably couldn't withstand that amount of heat.

Only his Grandmaster-level physical body could withstand that absorption; how could others?

He said this simply to make the old man give up and stop asking random questions.

"Here we go."

The process of refining the medicinal liquid had finally reached its end. After Xu Xiaoshou recirculated it for a while, the medicinal liquid had become incredibly viscous.

His eyes narrowed, and his expression turned solemn.

"Stand back!"

Yun He waved his hand and hurriedly told everyone to retreat.

This kid's pill condensation, whether successful or not, always involved an exploding furnace; he shouldn't be underestimated!

Xu Xiaoshou increased his hand speed again, and under everyone's gaze, he finally formed a hand seal that everyone could understand.

"Pill Condensation Technique!"

The compressed fire seed beneath the cauldron suddenly burst forth, and the room's temperature instantly soared. Everyone's face changed in alarm; the next second, they found their vision completely darkened.

A violent explosion shot directly skyward, widening the skylight above even further.

Master Ti had prepared himself; he wanted to see just how powerful this kid's "normal pill condensation" explosion truly was.

Unfortunately, while that explosion could leave Yun He severely injured, it couldn't affect him in the slightest!

"Is that all?"

He sighed, but then saw the young man sitting beside the cauldron suddenly stand up.

"Run!"

Xu Xiaoshou uttered that single word in terror and instantly vanished.

The door was blocked, so the guy had clearly escaped through the skylight.

Everyone: ???

"Is this also... a normal alchemy procedure?"

They all looked towards Yun He, Master Ti no exception.

Yun He was utterly bewildered by their stares.

When he had watched Xu Xiaoshou perform alchemy before, there had been absolutely no such step in that abnormal "normal alchemy procedure"!

"Could it be that..."