Evolution of his Innate Flame
A cultivation talent only allowed a potential martial artist to absorb Spiritual Qi without any threats to their lives.
Physical talents like defense, speed, and strength were also basic. Understanding that a speed talent would increase a martial artist's overall speed, peak speed, and other dexterity-related skills didn't take much thought.
However, Adam's alchemy talent was a bit more unorthodox compared to the two most common types of talents.
Adam's alchemy talent didn't just make him better at alchemy, but rather gave him the very skill needed for alchemy to work in the first place, an innate flame.
This innate flame stayed inside of Adam's body for the most part, not doing much, but it didn't mean it was useless.
Compared to a normal fire that was only hot and didn't have a spirit, an innate flame was, in essence, just another limb to a martial artist.
Adam could control his innate flame's temperature with a thought.
That wasn't its main purpose, though. The main use of the innate flame was to use its pure and natural heat to purify and cleanse the herb you were planning to use. As you grew as a martial artist, the innate flame would also grow in strength. So that meant the stronger a martial artist was, the more powerful and potent herbs they could use in alchemy.
Of course, you didn't have to use the innate flame for alchemy. Many people with the alchemy talent used it for other purposes, like keeping themselves warm or cooking, but it was best used for alchemy.
After all, it was an alchemy talent, and using it for combat was possible, but it wasn't really recommended. It was better to have a fire talent and use those flames instead.
But Adam only had a low-grade alchemy talent. The lowest possible talent level there was. So Adam's flame wasn't very strong, nor did it purify many of the ingredients he used.
Because of this, Adam constantly needed to calculate the weight and amount of ingredients he used per pill. His flame was so bad that, in contrast to how it normally was, Adam himself needed to do most of the work.
If he used too much, it would erupt into smog like earlier, but if he used too little, it would simply turn into a charred black mess. His innate flame barely did anything.
Due to Adam's physical connection with his innate flame, the second that he clicked the upgrade button, he felt something change inside of him.
His inner body started to heat up as if he were being boiled alive.
It was an extremely painful feeling, but Adam wasn't dumb and knew that it was beyond stupid to try to resist this feeling.
Grabbing a nearby towel, Adam put it in his mouth and bit down.
Though it was late, Adam knew there was someone in the alchemy lab next door. Moreover, Adam knew the person in there, and shouting at this time would be horrible. So he bit the towel hard and gritted his teeth, waiting for the completion of its upgrade.
The innate flame in him was strengthening, becoming hotter and stronger. It was a wonderful feeling, but at the same time, pure torture.
Minutes passed, and Adam's skin was red like a boiled shrimp, but the evolution inside of him didn't stop. The only thing that did change was how much consciousness Adam had left in him.
He was close to passing out, but Adam was scared of passing out. He didn't know what would happen if he passed out.
Maybe it would stop his innate flame's evolution? Maybe it would cause his innate flame to become stronger than him and consume him?
Adam was scared about the possibility of passing out, but he also knew how close he was to doing so. Making a rash decision, Adam grabbed a nearby scalpel and did something crazy.
Stabbing it into his thigh, Adam quickly brought back his lost consciousness.
The pain brought him back to reality.
It hurt.
Adam had yet to truly hurt himself in this life beyond the normal toe stubbings that happened to everyone. But his first experience of pain was the feeling of having a 2-inch-long scalpel driven into his thigh.
It was a horrible feeling, but Adam knew it was necessary.
Another 5 minutes of double-pronged torture passed, and finally, he felt the evolution of his innate flame finish.
Spitting out the shredded towel, Adam immediately dropped to his knees with rapid breaths. Sweat dripped down his forehead like morning dew and landed on the ground, wetting it.
His stomach felt like it had just been seared from the inside, while the rest of his body felt like he had just been pulled out of a boiling pot.
However, beneath the panting breath, pathetic appearance, bloodied gums, and a scalpel still sticking out of his thigh, there was a huge smile plastered on his face.
"I worked! My innate flame is stronger!" Adam shouted out in jubilation, only to regret it a second later.
Realizing what he had done, Adam quickly covered his mouth with his palms, praying it would take back his words, but it didn't.
She heard him.
Not even 10 seconds after he shouted out, the door to his alchemy lab was damn near kicked down, and a figure stormed in.
"Adam, are you okay? I heard you shouting!" A valiant and heroic-sounding young girl shouted righteously as she barged into Adam's alchemy lab.
'Damnit! This brute is still here!' Adam couldn't help but start cursing inwardly. However, he didn't dare let it out.
The person who was in the opposite room was his class president. An extremely rule-oriented person who would punish anybody who broke the rules and dish out the respective punishment. It didn't matter how small the infraction was. This brawny girl didn't discriminate.
And while cursing wasn't technically allowed by the rules, no one cared at all.
In this advanced society, curses have become just another string of words. However, since there were some old-fashioned people in the world, there was a rule against it. It was just that no one ever enforced it.
It was like jaywalking. Who cared?
Well, this girl did.
Pushing down his anger and wobbly attempting to stand up, Adam hid the scalpel sticking out of his thigh and put on a forced smile before looking at the girl in front of him, who was obviously worried about him.
Sam was a tall girl, just about 1.75 meters tall. She was also wearing the same school uniform that Adam had on. She was far too tall to wear the skirts they handed out and was forced to wear the khakis the school handed out.
Her face was extremely focused, with determination filling her gaze.
However, the girl was only 16 right now, and Adam had no plans to care about her appearance. Despite being in a 16-year-old body, he still had the mind of a 23-year-old medical student.
Rating the body of a minor wouldn't sit well with his conscience.
"I'm fine, Sam. No problem here. I just felt a little angry about my failure." Adam answered as he pointed to his furnace, which was full of charred ingredients.
But Sam didn't believe him. And after sniffing the furnace, she pointed out his lie.
"Adam, don't lie to me! That block of char is at least 20 minutes old. Who screams out in anger 20 minutes after a failure?" Sam, the class president, was as shrewd as a turnip and didn't catch Adam's unwillingness to continue the conversation, but instead pointed out his lie.
Only people with alchemy talents were allowed into this building, and since Sam was here, it was obvious she had one.
Moreover, she had a high-grade alchemy talent! So, her experience with ingredients and failed concoctions was much deeper than Adam's. Her sniffing out the expiration date of Adam's failed Body Refining Pill wasn't hard.
Adam wished he could've beaten himself up 20 minutes ago once he heard Sam's words. But he knew that this girl only wanted to help him deep down, and he couldn't take out his anger on her.
Actually, even if he could, he couldn't. Sam was his high school's greatest talent.
Though Adam was at the 8th stage of the Body Refining Realm and was one of the school's greatest talents, Sam was stronger than him. At this age, she was at the peak of the Body Refining Realm, with half a step into the Martial Apprentice Realm.
She was one of the monsters that Adam was scared to meet during the college exams.
Beating her up was a fool's dream.
So, after heaving out the longest and most melancholy sigh he could, Adam just shook his head.
"Sam, please. I'm tired, "I shouted out of anger. Nothing happened. Just go back to your room," Adam tiredly said.
He sucked at lying, and Sam had the nose of a wolf. He didn't know how to get this girl out of his lab in any other way but by being blunt.
Thankfully, his bluntness worked. As dim-witted as Sam was, even she managed to realize that Adam didn't want to talk about what happened.
So, after giving him some reassuring words and a reminder that she was nearby in case he needed help, she left.
Adam let the girl out, and then, after she walked back into her own room, he closed the door behind him.
Now alone, Adam collapsed once more to the ground. His chest was still scorched slightly, and he could feel his insides. It was a painful feeling, and talking with Sam had distracted him from it for the moment.
But now that she was gone, it was back, and he wanted to take a few deep breaths.
Another 5 minutes passed with Adam's back slumped against the alchemy lab door, but eventually, he felt the pain subside, and he could move around again. Capitalizing on the moment, Adam walked over to the stool he was on 20 minutes ago and sat down on it.
"Let's hope the pain was worth it," Adam murmured. And without any more words, he focused on his innate flame and brought it out.
Thankfully, the pain was worth it, and Adam wasn't let down.
Before the upgrade, Adam's flame was a dark red color and was barely larger than his middle finger.
He couldn't test its temperature as his own innate flame wouldn't hurt him, but when he tested it against some medicinal herbs, Adam estimated its strength to be just about 100–110 °C.
But now, his innate flame was a bright, almost neon blue. Moreover, it was more than three times as large as before, being the size of an orange. It was a complete metamorphosis, comparable to going from a caterpillar to a butterfly.
Seeing the blue flame in front of him, Adam's eyes almost turned into diamonds. He was excited.
Ever since he awakened his talents at 12, Adam has spent almost all of his life in this room, either practicing alchemy or cultivating. So to say that he didn't love alchemy was the largest lie ever. He loved the occupation with his entire being.
So the second he saw this pure, bright flame that now belonged to him, Adam's eyes couldn't help but widen in excitement.
"I can make a Body Refining Pill now!" Adam realized.
Before, he needed perfect and exact measurements just to concoct the Body Refining Pills. His innate flame wasn't strong, and if the measurements weren't perfect, his flame would fail. The margin of error was almost nothing before his flame's upgrade.
But now, let alone purifying them, Adam could burn them into slag!
He, of course, wouldn't do this, but it showed how strong his flame was.
Without wasting a single second, Adam fetched all the ingredients required for a Body Refining Pill and started to concoct it.
"Lava Essence Liquid, Ginseng Extract..." Adam no longer cared about measuring the ingredients. He was just grabbing fistfuls of the ingredients and tossing them into the pot without care.
After years of practicing, Adam's flame control was almost instinctual. So once the ingredients flew into the furnace, Adam was able to purify them and combine them into a small, longan-sized pill.
Five minutes quickly passed, and without much surprise, he finished.
"HAHAHA! I DID IT! I DID IT!" Adam shouted out manically.
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