The next batch of pills gleamed like rubies—Sixteen Legendary level Blood Qi Pills, pristine and potent. Another one-star negative review. Another forced rename.
"Rename the Untitled Alchemy Skill #0002 to ’Alchemy Skill: Blood Qi Pill.’"
[AllFullOS: Version 1.0.0]
The system’s cheerful [Thanks for your feedback!] was salt in the wound. "Oh, you’re WELCOME, you digital sadist. Maybe next time, you can ’feedback’ yourself into the hell."
This time, he didn’t bother explaining to the two sect comrades. The weight of his wrongness pressed upon him like a smothering veil, yet his face remained eerily calm. He couldn’t bring himself to meet the questioning gazes of his sect comrades. What could he even say? "Ah, yes, I’ve somehow perfected the wrong pill for the second time in a row—no, I don’t know how either."
He commanded the system to practice the Untitled Alchemy Skill #0003, his heart sinking, embarrassed and unease crawl his mind, but under the system control, there’s no slightest expression of anxious or embarrass on his face.
Lordi’s hands moved with mastery precision. Inside, his thoughts churned—a storm of frustration, helplessness and a tiny hope. Maybe this time? Fifty-fifty success rate on gambling, right?
A few moments later...
With a final, fluid motion, Lordi’s left hand swept into a sealing gesture, extinguishing the Ice Pith Fire’s ghostly azure blue flames. The dao furnace shuddered once before stilling, its engraved runes dimming like dying stars. A breath of frost lingered in the air, crystallizing for the briefest moment before dissipating into nothing.
His right hand moved next, fingers brushing against the furnace’s jade tray. As he slid it free, a faint, luminous mist curled upward, carrying with it the scent of glacial herbs and something deeper, older—like the whisper of a forgotten soul.
And there, nestled in the heart of the tray, lay the fruits of his labor.
Eleven Legendary level Soul Calming Pills.
Each one was a perfect sphere, its surface shimmering with an inner grey ink mist, as though containing a fragment of the aurora in abyss.
His lips twitched, caught between pride and something embarrass.
Inside his mind? Sheer, undiluted panic.
"Vengeful wraiths. VENGEFUL WRAITHS. One of the KEY INGREDIENTS?!" The memory of the Hanz Clan Ancestral Shrine erupted in his mind—a sea of hollow eyes, clawing hands, and shrieks that could flay a man’s sanity. "Oh, thank the fucking abyss I just looted the Hanz Clan Treasury House. Otherwise, Had I lacked any of those resources, this brain dead AwfulOS System might dragged me back to the Ancestral Shrine’s main hall to hunt vengeful wraith as alchemy materials, wouldn’t I be done for?"
Shuddering at the near-disaster, The realization hit Lordi like a sledgehammer. His stomach lurched. "I’d have been a goddamn buffet for the wraiths.’"
Expressionless, Lordi gently but firmly pushed Emma’s hand away as she reached to wipe the sweat from his brow. His movements were deliberate, controlled—every inch the composed alchemist. He swallowed one of the freshly refined Legendary level Spirit Restore Pills, feeling its potent energy surge through his meridians, replenishing his depleted spirit energy in moments.
To Donovan and Emma, his voice was steady, brimming with quiet confidence. "I’ve finally found my groove. My next attempt will be the Foundation Establishment Pill." Lordi’s gaze held theirs, unwavering, as if this were not a gamble but a certainty.
Hearing the words, Donovan and Emma straightened at his declaration, their expressions shifting to solemn anticipation.
The Foundation Establishment Pill was no small feat—it was the crown jewel of Qi Refinement alchemy, a pill so difficult that even seasoned alchemists failed more often than they succeeded. Yet here was Lordi, announcing it like he was brewing a cup of tea.
Once his spirit energy fully recovered, Lordi mentally braced himself. "Alright, you glitchy bastard, let’s get this over with."
"System," he commanded inwardly, "I want to practice. Select the skill. Select the Untitled Alchemy Skill #0004!"
Immediately, the AllFullOS seized control. His hands moved on their own, reaching for the Crimson Whisker Vine and the assortment of rare alchemy materials Donovan had provided. Lordi watched, utterly detached, as his fingers sorted through ingredients he couldn’t even name—some shimmering faintly, others exuding strange, earthy scents.
"What the hell is that? A dried-up demon root? A crystallized spirit herb? Why does that one look like it’s whispering?!" His inner monologue was a mix of bewilderment and resignation. "I don’t know what any of this is, but hey, at least the system does. Small mercies."
To Donovan and Emma, however, Lordi’s movements were nothing short of artistry. Every gesture was precise, fluid—grinding herbs with perfect pressure, adjusting the Ice Pith Fire with flawless timing, his hands weaving through the alchemical process like a master conducting a symphony.
Donovan’s eyes narrowed, his mind reeling. "This yong man... he’s not even breaking a sweat. Who the hell refines a Foundation Establishment Pill like it’s child’s play?!"
Emma, meanwhile, watched with a mix of admiration and unease. "The brat is... too good. How has the holy sect never heard of his name before?"
Three grueling hours passed. The Dao furnace hummed with contained power, the Ice Pith Fire flickering in rhythmic pulses as the alchemy reached its climax. Lordi’s spirit energy was nearly drained, his body trembling under the strain—yet his expression remained impassive, as though this were merely another routine task.
Then, just as he feared he might collapse and fail the alchemy by severe depletion of spirit energy, the intense fragrance from the furnace subsided. The system guided his hands to cease the Dao Flame and pull out the furnace’s jade tray.
There, resting in pristine perfection, were four pigeon-egg-sized elixir pills.
They were crystalline, their surfaces so flawless they resembled dark-red rubies plucked from the heart of a volcano. But what truly stole the breath from Donovan and Emma’s lungs was the dark blue shimmer embedded within—like a sliver of midnight sapphire suspended in rich wine. The energy inside was perfectly contained, not a single wisp of medicinal scent escaping.
No herbal fragrance. No pungent roots. Just pure, distilled power.
Donovan and Emma gasped, their voices overlapping in great disbelief and joy. "Legendary Level Foundation Establishment Pills!"
Donovan’s usual smirk withered, replaced by a slack-jawed stare as his mind struggled to reconcile the sheer, impossible presence before him.
His fingers, usually so deft and sure, twitched uselessly at his sides. This was not just awe—it was something admiration, something that made the air itself around the young man feel holy, as if the man’s very existence purify the world around him.
Awe slithered through his veins, cold and electric. His usual bravado, his carefully crafted mask of indifference, shattered like glass beneath the weight of the birth of these elixir pills. For the first time in years, the Mister First Dominator felt small. Not just outmatched, but humbled, as if he stood at the foot of some ancient god mind, realizing how fragile his own cunning truly was in the face of such raw, untamed talent.
Though Lordi’s previous alchemy attempts had all resulted in Legendary-level pills, the Foundation Establishment Pill stood as the ultimate challenge within the Qi Refinement stage—its refinement difficulty unparalleled. Crafting this elixir demanded not only flawless technique but also an almost supernatural understanding of spiritual herbs and energy harmonization. Even the slightest misstep could reduce precious ingredients to worthless ash, making success a rare feat even for seasoned alchemists. The pill’s reputation as the most arduous elixir to refine was well-earned, as it required perfect control over flame intensity, precise timing in ingredient fusion, and an innate grasp of the subtle balance between Yin and Yang energies. Few dared to attempt it, and even fewer succeeded—making Lordi’s consistent mastery all the more astonishing.
For Kim Simona, the Outer Sect’s celebrated genius alchemist, even elixirs lesser difficult than Foundation Establishment Pill posed significant challenges, with no guarantee of success. Her refinement of premium-level pills remained inconsistent, sometimes resulting in failure despite her meticulous preparations. Moreover, accumulating enough contribution points to redeem the pill’s alchemy formula from the Tower of Hundred Treasures was a daunting task in itself—one that even the wellknown "Eastern Jewel" Kim Simona had found nearly insurmountable. The formula’s exorbitant cost and the sheer rarity of the required ingredients made it a near-impossible dream for most disciples. Yet, here was this Lordi Payne, defying all expectations with seemingly effortless mastery.
His ability to consistently produce Legendary-level pills bordered on the divine, as if the heavens themselves had blessed his hands. Each successful refinement was not just a display of skill but a proclamation of his unparalleled genius, leaving onlookers in stunned silence. His precision was flawless, his control absolute—every motion exuded the confidence of a true grandmaster. Where others faltered, he thrived, turning what should have been an impossible feat into a mere routine. Such stability in alchemy was unheard of, a phenomenon that defied conventional understanding. To witness his craft was to witness the very pinnacle of alchemical artistry.
His skills were nothing short of godlike—transcending mortal limitations and brushing against the realm of legends.
He was, without question, the strongest natural talent to ever walk to the Great Dao on the path of Alchemy—a prodigy whose brilliance eclipsed all who came before him.
"An one in a million, NAH! An one in a trillion natural-born alchemy genius," Donovan murmured inwardly, his voice thick with awe, his usual confidence humbled in the face of such transcendent skill.