Chapter 108: Chapter 106 - Dragon’s Tongue Firebreath Elixir
Within the great hall, all eyes had turned to Chef Tang Qui, some wondering if he would be bold enough to sample the explosive elixir, others worried that he would and that it would prove as explosive in his stomach as it had in Alchemist Wai Dan's cauldron. Others, already believing that Ao Wen's elixirs could produce miracles like elevating Tang Jin to Soldier and Wan Yue to Novice, eagerly anticipated seeing the grandly named elixir put to the test!
"Me?" Tan Jin's father said in surprise from his table. "Alchemist Ao, as an Artist, I'm not sure that I…"
"It's fine," Ao Wen interrupted. "Not only is it better that you aren't a body cultivator, but your Radiant Mountain Lion bloodline is aligned with Light more than Fire. At most, your skill as a Chef could be said to contribute to your handling of flame, but it's best that people see how this elixir affects a normal cultivator."
"It's fine father," Tang Jin said after sharing a nervous look with Feng Xi. "Sister Wen would never harm you."
"Well then, what do I need to do?" Tang Qui asked nervously as he left his table for a space at the center of the grand hall.
"Patriarch Zhang," Ao Wen said, turning to the host of the evening. "At the sect, there was a formation used for practice by sorcerers that I wonder if you might be familiar with. It would create a sequence of barriers representing the strength of a cultivator of increasing stages."
"I'm familiar with this formation," he said, pulling several flags with carved jade tortoise bases. "Will six layers be sufficient? Simply tell me the starting and ending points, as long as it doesn't exceed the might of a Martial Champion then I should be able to satisfy your needs." Once again, he found himself praising Ao Wen's purposeful movements. Giving her a platform to demonstrate her elixir would further cement her status in the people's minds and pulling Long Ma down a peg in the process only added to the harvest of benefits.
"Starting from Early-stage Brawler though Late-stage Soldier should be sufficient for a test," she said, producing a vial of elixir and handing it to Tang Qui. "Chef Tang, once Patriarch Zhang has set up a target for you, all you need to do is drink this vial and wait for five breaths before you begin to use it. For this test, if you'll pardon the crudeness of the instructions, just take a deep breath and flex your diaphragm like you're going to belch," she said with a light smile. "Then blow out as though you're blowing on the ember of a fire. You should launch a stream of intense flame in the direction you're facing so make sure you're aiming at the target Patriarch Zhang provides."
"That seems simple enough," Tang Qui agreed, taking the vial and swallowing the thick liquid down after only a moment's hesitation. "Oh, that's spicy," he said, not expecting such a pleasant mouth tingling burn from an elixir. "It tastes like a well made chili oil," he added, receiving a chorus of chuckles from the audience. Chef Tang, it seemed, would always be a chef, even if the thing he was tasting was a potent and destructive elixir!
Moments later, he turned in the direction indicated by the City Lord before taking a deep breath and exhaling. When he did, he felt a deep heat within his stomach, like the burn of a fine liquor or hot soup on a cold day. The heat turned and churned within his stomach before surging forth along his throat and out of his mouth in a blazing tongue of yellow-orange flames! No sooner had the tongue of flame come in contact with the first shimmering barrier representing the strength of an average early-stage Brawler than the barrier burst into flames and shattered, followed immediately by the second barrier and moments later the third! It wasn't until the flames encountered the barrier representing the strength of an early stage Soldier that they showed some signs of slowing taking several moments of building heat before bursting into flames and failing the way the first three had. Finally, on the second to last of the six barriers, the elixir seemed to exhaust itself, flames dying off leaving behind a cracked and weakened but still intact barrier.
Across the hall, mortals and cultivators alike stood with slack jaws. Those with seats close to the demonstration could feel the residual heat of those flames, the air dancing and shimmering as though an oven or furnace had been opened nearby! "Did I just…?" Tang Qui said in wonder, staring at shattered energy barriers and the scorch marks on the floor from the passage of those blazing flames.
"You did, and you could again if you took another breath," Ao Wen explained. "In fact, you could repeat that performance at least five times using these Ordinary grade elixirs," she continued. "With practice, you could sweep the line back and forth across a line of advancing enemies or cough out explosive balls of flame that engulf everything within five meters of the point you aim for," she said with pride. This elixir recipe had taken her more than six months of refinement before it behaved the way she wanted it to and she'd needed help from both Senior Sister Qi Yue and her adopted mother to complete it without the use of rare or expensive ingredients that would render it pointless. There were, of course, other firebreathing elixir recipes, but hers suffered in only one category compared to those. Her elixir was far more difficult to concoct than elixirs that relied on more expensive or rare ingredients. Squeezing the most potential out of lesser ingredients and carefully balancing so many explosive elements wasn't something the average alchemist could do, but for a member of the Sacred Flame Celestial Temple's Alchemy Hall, even inner sect disciples would be up to the standards required to produce this elixir.
"Patriarch Zhang," she said with a broad grin. "With this elixir, a common cultivator of any sort can gain the power to slay a dozen beasts in a Beast Tide. Ten common cultivators standing side by side could take down a beast as fierce as the Rage Queen without needing much special training. The four remaining bottles are gifts from me to the City Lord's manor to use in the common defense of Turning Leaf during the storm season," she explained. "I'll concoct more as soon as I'm able to gather a few additional ingredients to ensure that Turning Leaf is well defended in the rainy months to come."
Her announcement was met with thunderous applause. Never had the people of Turning Leaf seen an alchemist wield power this way before. Medicines for the common folk engendered gratitude but the Dragon's Tongue Flame Breath Elixir functioned as a force multiplier that allowed first stage cultivators to slay second stage spirit beasts! In a single night, Ao Wen had demonstrated that she would care for the health of the common people, provide for the common defense of the city and, if the testimony of the City Lord and his concubine were to be believed, that should cure cultivation deviation and produce breakthroughs virtually on demand! What was power in a small town like Turning Leaf? This was power! The power to change the destiny of the town itself, turning the ordinary into the extraordinary. Just how much would Turning Leaf soar with Alchemist Ao seeing to the town's needs?
At his table, Long Ma stewed furiously. With this one elixir, what was the need of a powerful second stage cultivator to guard the town? If even a simple cook could roast someone like Long Ma alive, injuring him badly within a few puffs of his cheeks, what status would he command if he failed to become a Warrior? Worse, his bloodline seethed at being belittled by someone who carried the bloodline of a True Dragon. He'd built his reputation as 'Dragon Soldier Long' for over a decade and it was torn away just like that? He wouldn't have it!
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