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**
"Hmm, peak Dou Ling."
Lin Feng's gaze swept toward a nearby stall and noticed that the once-crowded street seemed oddly cut off around that area.
Some of the passing academy students sped past it like frightened rabbits.
Behind the stall sat a man in light gray robes, cross-legged, eyes shut, unmoved by the crowd flowing around him.
From his demeanor, he didn't seem like someone there to sell anything.
"That guy… could he be Lin Yan?"
Muttering inwardly, Lin Feng stepped up to the gray-robed man's stall.
Approaching the stone platform, his eyes slowly scanned the items displayed in front of the man.
The Rank 4 magic cores on the platform were decent by average standards, but to Lin Feng, they weren't worth much attention.
As if sensing Lin Feng's approach, the gray-robed man slowly opened his eyes. A pair of eyes glowing faintly red locked onto him.
"You've got a pretty severe fire poison," Lin Feng said softly, seeing the violent gleam in the man's eyes.
"What's it to you? If you're not buying, then scram."
The red-eyed man shot him a cold glare and snapped irritably.
Lin Feng wasn't bothered by the tone. People suffering from fire poison tended to be aggressive—it wasn't unusual.
Put simply, it messes with the mind. He wasn't about to argue with someone whose mental state was compromised.
Raising a finger, a faint crackle sounded as a streak of crimson Dou Qi fire emerged. He said calmly, "I can treat your fire poison. But I want five hundred Fire Energy."
"Condensed flame… a fourth-tier alchemist!"
The gray-robed man looked up in surprise.
Dispersing the flame, Lin Feng said, "So, what do you think? Want to make a deal?"
"I went to Han Xian. He's also a fourth-tier alchemist, but he couldn't help me. How do I know you can fix my fire poison?"
He gave Lin Feng—this handsome young man in a green robe—a slow once-over. He'd never seen him before.
Five hundred Fire Energy was a massive amount to him. Naturally, he wasn't about to hand it over easily.
"I'll refine some pills for you first. You just pay me two hundred Fire Energy upfront. Try them for a few days—if they work, then you can pay the rest. Plus, this should be proof enough of my qualifications."
As he spoke, Lin Feng casually took out a Purple Flame Crystal Card given to him by Zi Yan.
"Purple Flame Crystal Card!"
The man's expression shifted to surprise. That was the highest tier of Flame Card.
After a brief pause, he nodded. "Fine. I agree. If you can completely eliminate the fire poison in my body, I'll give you the five hundred Fire Energy. But if I find out you're trying to scam me, you won't just lose out on the energy—you'll be in for a world of pain."
"No problem. Let's head into the nearby forest. I'll refine some pills for you."
Lin Feng didn't care about the threats. After speaking, he turned and swiftly headed toward the trees.
The gray-robed man stuffed all the items on his stall into his storage ring like tossing out trash, then quickly followed.
"How long has the fire poison been building up in your body?"
Inside a quiet forest clearing, Lin Feng asked while facing the man.
"Around a year," the man replied, his expression darkening slightly.
But since the man before him was a detoxifying alchemist, he reined in his irritation and continued, "Back then, I needed to improve my strength quickly, so I spent months in seclusion inside the Blazing Sky Qi Refining Tower.
The fire poison kept accumulating. By the time I noticed it, it was already completely entangled with my Dou Qi—it couldn't be separated anymore."
"Oh, I'm Lin Yan, by the way. Just call me by name."
"Alright, I'm Lin Feng. Give me a moment."
Nodding, Lin Feng gave his real name, then began searching through his storage ring.
As for being exposed—he wasn't too worried. There were plenty of people named Lin Feng in the world. No one would connect an Inner Academy student like him with the "local tyrant" of Black-Corner Region.
Eventually, he pulled out a scroll for a second-tier pill called Ice Spirit Pill, probably something looted from the fifth-tier alchemist he and Zi Yan had killed back in Black-Corner Region.
He took out a cauldron and ignited a normal Dou Qi flame beneath it.
Then he began tossing in medicinal ingredients casually.
Now that he was a fifth-tier alchemist, refining low-tier pills like this was trivial—he could throw in multiple sets of herbs and refine them simultaneously.
In less than two hours, the cauldron was filled with a batch of completed pills. He tossed the jade bottle toward Lin Yan and said, "These are Ice Spirit Pills. They'll suppress your fire poison for now and stop it from affecting your mind. Take one a day—there are fifteen pills here, enough for half a month."
Lin Yan grabbed the bottle and skeptically poured one out.
The snow-white, round pill gave off a faint chill. Seeing this, a trace of joy flashed across his face, and he immediately popped it into his mouth.
As the pill melted inside, a cool sensation spread through his body. The red glow in his eyes dimmed slightly.
Lin Yan, feeling the relief from the fire poison, looked at Lin Feng with a touch more respect and trust.
But Lin Feng wasn't done. After a brief thought, he reignited the flame.
Then, one after another, he pulled out more than a dozen different herbs from his ring and threw them into the cauldron.
Finally, he tossed in a Rank 3 ice-attribute magic core that emitted a faint chill.
With roaring flames swirling, a snow-white liquid hovered above the fire.
As it bubbled, wisps of cold air rose, intertwining with the fire, forming visible white mist that drifted up from the cauldron.
Since this was just a topical liquid medicine of about low-grade third-tier, and safety wasn't a major concern, it was relatively easy to refine.
After a few more minutes of roasting, Lin Feng flicked his finger—and with a light pop, the cauldron lid flew off.
With a wave of his palm, under the pull of Dou Qi, the snow-white liquid inside the cauldron traced a graceful arc through the air and accurately poured into the jade bottle in his other hand.
"Here you go. To use this medicinal liquid, pour one drop into a large basin of clear water. Then sit and cultivate in it for half an hour. Once a day until it's used up. If any fire poison remains by then, I'll make more for you."
After finishing his explanation, Lin Feng added a warning: "Remember, during this time, you must not go to the Blazing Sky Qi Refining Tower to cultivate.
Otherwise, if your fire poison flares up again, you'll have to start all over. And when that happens, I'll be charging you extra."
"Alright."
Clutching the jade bottle a little excitedly, Lin Yan smiled at him and said, "As long as this can truly expel the fire poison in my body, I, Lin Yan, will owe you a big favor."
"You'd better pay me the two hundred units of Fire Energy before saying that."
With a twitch of his mouth, Lin Feng tossed out a purple card.
"No problem."
Thanks to the effects of the Ice Spirit Pill he had just taken, Lin Yan's suspicions about him had mostly faded. He swiftly transferred the Fire Energy to Lin Feng's card and then tossed the card back.
"Alright, I'll be cultivating at the Blazing Sky Qi Refining Tower tomorrow. If anything comes up, you can send someone to find me at Cultivation Room No. 1."
Looking at the number "200" on the card, Lin Feng thought to himself that it was enough for several days of cultivation — time to test the Dou Qi tempering effects of the Fallen Heart Flame.
Seeing that it was getting late, he didn't bother heading to the tower and waved his hand casually before walking toward the forest.
Since he didn't have a dormitory, he could only sleep out there for now.
"C-Cultivation Room No. 1?!"
Hearing this, Lin Yan's expression turned visibly stunned.
He remembered clearly — that room belonged to the top ranker of the Inner Academy's Strong Ranking, the Brute Force Queen!
"I've never even heard of this Lin Feng before, but judging from the smoothness of his pill refinement just now, he's probably stronger than Han Xian… Could it be… he was in the same batch as the Brute Force Queen?"
Muttering softly, Lin Yan watched the black figure gradually disappear into the jungle.
Early the next morning, Lin Feng made his way toward the northern part of the Inner Academy.
Since he hadn't had time to properly explore the area yesterday, he took the opportunity to stop and check out anything that caught his interest as he walked along the way.
Because of this leisurely pace, his speed wasn't very fast.
However, after walking for nearly an hour, Lin Feng noticed that the number of students around him suddenly began to increase.
One after another, they dashed past him at top speed, flashing through the trees on either side and stirring up gusts of wind with the sound of rushing air.
Seeing this, Lin Feng also quickened his pace and followed the flow of people.
Moments later, he arrived at the edge of a sunken basin.
Looking down, he saw that the once-empty clearing from yesterday was now densely packed with a large crowd of students waiting.
"Shh—"
Not long after he arrived, Lin Feng sensed a large group of students approaching from behind.
Soon, the sound of wind splitting the air echoed behind him.
Dozens of figures were rushing over at full speed from the distance, landing near the edge of the basin just ahead of Lin Feng.
Without hesitation, they dove straight down, barging to the very front of the densely packed crowd.
Their blatant act of cutting in line clearly roused discontent among the others.
But when the crowd recognized who these people were, they could only swallow their anger and stay silent.
"As expected… anything that helps improve strength will always be the most sought-after thing on the Dou Qi Continent."
Looking at the thousands of students below, Lin Feng couldn't help but sigh.
He could understand their anxiety.
After all, most of the cultivation rooms inside the tower could accommodate five people at a time.
Given that most of these students were at least on the fourth floor or higher, the total number of available cultivation rooms inside the Blazing Sky Qi Refining Tower that they could enter should be over ten thousand.
And yet, only a few thousand had shown up.
On the surface, it looked like there would be more than enough space for everyone — no need to fight for spots.
However, even among rooms on the same level, the enhancement effects differed.
In other words, even if everyone paid the same amount, the high-grade cultivation rooms were significantly better than the low-grade ones.
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