With all the ingredients in hand, Elder Dan Hong immediately began the pill-making process right there, wasting no time.

Since many of the pill's materials were rare, Aotian only dared to toy with the idea of creating it right away because he had managed to obtain more than one sample of the material.

After all, he needed to replant to produce more and avoid running out of stock. If there had only been one sample, the Tiger would have had to wait a while — luckily for him, that was not the case.

Everyone stood still, watching Dan Hong perform his skillful magic. Especially the Tiger, who didn't even dare breathe as he stared, entranced, at the flaming cauldron refining the precious and rare materials thrown inside.

Under Elder Dan's masterful techniques, it didn't take long for the cauldron's lid to open, spitting out a large pill as red as blood, which emitted energy fluctuations of Core-Tier level.

Normally, with Aotian's skill, he could produce several pills in a single batch. However, some recipes used specific measurements to condense all the medicinal properties into a single pill, as was the case with this one.

Controlling the spiritual pill to float in the air, Dan Hong did not hesitate. He waved his hand and launched it toward the Red Tiger, who immediately leapt up and swallowed the pill with excitement.

His massive body shook the ground as he landed, already lying down with eyes shut, focused on digesting the medicinal power.

Aotian immediately controlled the outer pavilion elders to pull up the Tiger's current status, allowing him to better compare the changes once the process was complete.

[Beast: Red Tiger Cultivation: Initial Stage Third-Level Beast Age: 244 Years Bloodline: Red Tiger (Diluted) Qualifications: Initial Stage Third-Level]

[Red Tiger pre-evolution image]

After confirming that the Tiger's state hadn't changed, even with the most advanced body-refining techniques, Aotian only sighed.

'Beasts are not like humans, who, although said to be limited by their roots, have no real limit beyond their lifespan. Beasts, even powerful ones, can hardly advance beyond the limits of their birth lineage.'

'I believe my Body Refinement Techniques could still help the Tiger break through those bloodline restrictions—perhaps even purify his lineage on his own. But he hasn't cultivated with the new techniques long enough to show results, and that process would likely take far too long. It's better to take shortcuts with bloodline advancement pills, especially this time, when we're about to awaken a more ancestral lineage within him.'

Aotian pondered, casting a curious look at the massive Red Tiger, who was beginning to evolve.

His enormous body started to grow, and the fur, once streaked with white, was overtaken by a deep crimson that seemed ready to drip blood. The Tiger's current image reminded Aotian of the time he had seen him after a forest massacre, drenched in blood, before hunting him and Rihai in the early months of his life in this world.

But the changes didn't stop there.

Behind the beast's ears, small protrusions formed, which grew until they tore through flesh, revealing black curved horns. The neck fur also lengthened, forming something like a lion's mane, but just as crimson as the rest of the coat.

Now, the Tiger's entire body was predominantly blood-red, with black stripes defining his shape. He had only two colors — red and black, nothing else.

The great feline's previous form even seemed almost friendly compared to the menacing beast that now stood before them.

His aura also surged, breaking through perfected initial stage and advancing to mid stage of a Third-Level Beast.

[Beast: Blood Tiger Cultivation: Mid Stage Third-Level Beast Age: 244 Years Bloodline: Blood Tiger (Diluted) Qualifications: Perfect Stage Third-Level]

[Illustrative image of the Blood Tiger]

Everyone gazed in awe at the beast, who still kept his eyes shut as he refined the remaining medicinal power of the pill.

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Not only Aotian, Rihai, and the avatars were watching, but also several recently recruited disciples of the Beasts Pavilion.

Beside them, many beasts were lined up, observing with admiration and fear the creature evolving before them. Looking at the blood-soaked beast, they had the same expression the Red Tiger once had before Elder Snake: ears flattened and tails tucked.

Although the Tiger's suppression lacked the tyrannical arrogance of a dragon's aura, his cultivation was higher than that of the other beasts, and his lineage superior, which oppressed them psychologically.

Of course, in battle they could fight back if needed rather than stand helpless as now, but they certainly wouldn't be able to unleash their full power before a superior beast. Even if they could, they would still be no match.

All these beasts belonged to the pavilion's disciples, who were responsible for training and caring for them, turning them into their combat strength. The disciples could also spend contribution points to request elders to check their beasts' evolution routes and provide specific bloodline advancement pill recipes.

The Beasts Pavilion wasn't the only one excited now. All the sect's pavilions were already in full swing, with disciples joining them, and so the sect's strength grew with each passing day.

Aotian, seeing that the spectacle had ended and that the Tiger wouldn't undergo any further changes, controlled Dan Hong to rudely bid farewell to the others before calling his main body and Rihai to leave.

The two immediately followed the elder who summoned them, leaving the Beasts Pavilion behind, flying toward the Alchemy Pavilion, guided by Dan Hong.

Upon arrival, they found a beautiful and large white building, with a plaque above displaying the pavilion's name. Entering, they soon saw many people bustling about inside.

As many disciples went out to adventure in search of contribution points, the once deserted pavilion began to bustle with activity and requests for all kinds of pills. Aotian foresaw that once the disciples reached Golden Core, this flow would multiply countless times.

The three walked past the people lining up at the counters to be attended by pavilion disciples. As they passed, people noticed them and looked with respect at Elder Dan, Aotian, and Rihai, who were heading to the elder's private room.

Just as they were about to reach the room, they saw an older man with white hair step out of a side room at that exact moment. He froze when he came face-to-face with the three but quickly took a deep breath and composed himself.

That was Cang Song, the sect's certified coward.

He wore white robes with golden patterns, showing his status as a core disciple of the sect, with the symbol of the Alchemy Pavilion on his shoulder — a small golden cauldron. His master was none other than Dan Hong himself.

"Cang Song greets Master, and Senior Brother and Sister." He clasped his fists and bowed, while inwardly cursing his bad luck.

Even though he had already been in the sect for more than a year and hadn't suffered any major misfortune in that time, he still tried to remain cautious. But in a way, his cowardice had improved greatly, since at least he didn't try to run away upon seeing them.

His master was fine, but Aotian and Rihai were, in his mind, possible troublemakers he preferred to avoid.

Before, during the recruitment expedition, he had been invited by Elder Dan to become his direct disciple. At the time, he hesitated.

But after pondering, he realized that if he refused, he would offend a powerful elder, future disciples of that elder who might find out, raise suspicion from others in the sect, stir envy among several disciples, and offend the entire Alchemy Pavilion… Counting on his fingers, he realized he didn't have enough fingers to tally how many people he would offend by refusing the offer.

Thus, he could only accept helplessly and take the tests honestly, without trying to trick the elder for fear of offending him. In the end, he passed and became a core disciple.

Aotian didn't know about Cang Song's calculations of potential offended people. On the contrary, he was very proud, believing it had been his marvelous and imposing speech that had convinced him. Aotian might have performed the famous blood-spitting gesture if he knew the truth.

"Hum…" Dan Hong waved at the disciple, in a bad mood, and directly asked: "How is your alchemy?" He stared at him with narrowed eyes.

Cang Song trembled slightly, nervous.

"M-Master, I-I can now, in three cauldrons, ensure success in one batch of pills at the initial stage of Founder-Tier, with at least one of medium quality among them…" he lowered his head and muttered, admitting his incompetence in embarrassment.

Elder Dan rolled his eyes, irritated.

"Bah! Bastard disciple, get out of my sight. Go find Elder Zhao in the Treasures Pavilion, he asked to call you." annoyed, he shouted, shooing him away with his hand and even giving him a kick in the butt as he ran off in fright.

Soon Cang Song's figure disappeared in a trail of dust, leaving behind only a sad cry.

"I'm sorry, Master!"

Rihai covered her mouth and laughed discreetly at the scene, amused, for she realized Elder Dan wasn't actually angry at the disciple.

Aotian also smiled, a bit helpless.

'Ugh… this guy. He really dares to lie so shamelessly, when in truth he was the first disciple to reach mastery of Core-Tier in one of the auxiliary cultivation arts. If not for the system's feedback, even I would have been fooled by him. Cang Song truly is a genius of alchemy.'

Aotian thought, helpless, shaking his head slightly. He couldn't help but laugh a little more before following Elder Dan, along with Rihai, into a room.

As for Cang Song, after running a good distance, he sighed in relief.

'Ugh, sorry Master for not telling the truth. But the tree that stands out in the forest is the first to be felled by the wind.' He scratched his head, a bit embarrassed.

Although his master was grumpy and impatient, in truth he was very good to him, and Cang Song admired and trusted him deeply.

But knowing his master, he knew that if he revealed his true talent, he would probably go bragging to others without a second thought. So, he preferred to show only a mediocre talent and not stand out too much, even if it meant annoying his master a little.

Especially in that situation, with third parties present.

'Haah… it's so hard to be discreet in this world.'

What Cang Song didn't know was that his master wasn't angry at him for showing low talent, but rather for knowing the truth and watching him lie so shamelessly.

Sighing, Cang Song composed himself, drew his sword, and flew toward where Elder Zhao had said he was.

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