“These flames erupting from the small holes in the ground—there’s some order to them, but also a lack of order…”

A day later, James Walker took the bone horn, his body swaying as he stepped out, arriving at those pitted grounds. He quickly gouged a trench into the earth, connecting one of the small holes in a pit to the area beneath the wild cauldron.

He didn’t pause, carving out six trenches in a row before quickly retreating. Not long after, when flames erupted from one of the small holes in a pit, a significant portion was clearly diverted, surging along the trench beneath the stone furnace.

“It worked!” James Walker observed for a while longer, then found another gap and carved out five more trenches. He continued to watch for an entire day, confirming his method had, on a large scale, extended the furnace fire, finally allowing him to relax.

In fact, he was somewhat hesitant—these trench lines and connections couldn’t be drawn at random. He had to ensure the flames at the wild cauldron’s location were neither too strong nor too weak, or else abnormalities could easily occur.

After all, in his observations, there were several times when multiple pits erupted with flames simultaneously. If the connections were wrong, it could be dangerous.

After solving these two most basic problems, James Walker calmed his mind. Following the scenes in his memory, he began, here within Black Flame Peak, the first tempering and dispersal of his life.

Food was handled by the little monkey, or sometimes James Walker would go out to hunt small animals, dragging them back to roast over the fire. As for matters concerning the Black Mountain Tribe’s elder, during this period, James Walker also encountered his tribe’s hunting party while out hunting and informed them of the situation.

Time passed day by day. In this place that belonged to his tempering and dispersal, frustrated sounds would occasionally echo out. After half a month, James Walker’s eyes were already bloodshot. In these two weeks, he had refined countless times, yet not once had he succeeded!

Now, in his cultivation, he had already reached the first level of the Blood Condensation Realm, and had four bloodlines. If he could gain two more, he would step into the second level of the Blood Condensation Realm.

Once he reached the second level, according to the barbarian image inheritance James Walker had obtained, he could perform his first barbarian technique!

For James Walker, this was a long-cherished dream, and the driving force behind his relentless refining of medicinal stones.

But the repeated failures of this month’s tempering and dispersal had left James Walker almost in despair. Yet his stubbornness would not let him give up so easily.

“I don’t believe it! Little Grace, help me gather more herbs!” James Walker muttered, tossing the woven basket to the little monkey baring its teeth at the cave entrance, and continued refining.

The little monkey caught the basket, grinned, and ran out.

Day after day after day…

Failure after failure after failure…

Until another half month had passed. That afternoon, James Walker, hair disheveled, stood before the wild cauldron, holding two types of herbs in his hands, both red—one with six petals, the other with five.

“Which one should I use…” James Walker knew he didn’t have much time to think, and gritted his teeth.

Volume One: If Only Life Were As It Was At First Sight

Chapter 10: Blood Ignition

“Might as well try them all!” James Walker gritted his teeth and tossed the six-petaled red herb directly into the tempering stone furnace.

This six-petaled herb was the one he had obtained from the mud, a plant that, when it bloomed, made one’s blood feel as if it were burning.

The instant the herb touched the medicinal liquid at the bottom of the wild cauldron, James Walker clearly saw a strange, dazzling red light flash inside the cauldron. He didn’t put the lid on, but quickly circled around the cauldron, selecting several trenches with flowing flames on the ground. Using the bone horn, he cut across them to temporarily block the addition of flames, thereby controlling the process.

There were far more trenches on the ground now than a month ago, and they were covered with scar-like marks. These were all control methods James Walker had created himself after a month of summarizing and refining.

At this moment, James Walker was extremely tense, his entire attention focused on the wild cauldron. According to his month-long observations, at this time of day, his location was safe for at least half an hour, so he didn’t need to worry about anything else.

Time ticked by, and as soon as half an hour passed, James Walker immediately retreated from the area. Not long after he left, a torrent of flames erupted from the ground.

As this scene continued, James Walker, not far away, was drenched in sweat, but still stared at the wild cauldron. Based on his month of experience, he knew it would be another seven or eight hours before he could see the result.

During this period, he needed to adjust the strength of the flames at any time according to the changes in the medicinal liquid, and at the final moment, put the lid on the wild cauldron to cause a surge of heat inside, condensing the medicinal stone.

He had performed this process countless times over the past month, and was now very skilled at it.

One hour, two hours passed. A red mist gradually began to emanate from the wild cauldron. The mist was odorless, but a strange light flickered within, making James Walker feel as if his blood was flowing faster.

During this time, he adjusted the strength of the flames several more times. When night finally fell, James Walker’s eyes were bloodshot, filled with veins. He had spent the entire day refining this medicinal stone, and everything had gone smoothly up to this final step.