You should know that no matter how powerful a cultivator is, it is impossible to automatically absorb the energy of heaven and earth and refine elemental force.

Morgan Yates steadied his emotions, picked up the bag of Elemental Cultivation Pills from the ground, and walked into the alchemy room. He didn’t put the pills back in their original place; rather than returning them, he might as well take them himself.

Now that the lock had been pried open and he had already fought with Little Michael Yates, he might as well fall out with them completely. Over the years, he had had enough of Ethan Yates and Michael Yates. Now that his strength was gradually recovering, he would no longer fear those two.

Morgan Yates sat cross-legged on the ground, stuffing the bag of Elemental Cultivation Pills directly into his mouth. With the medicinal power of the pills, he wanted to see if he could awaken the third strand of dragon force.

“If I could awaken all the dragon force atop this Trapped Dragon Ascending Pillar, how terrifying would my attacks be? Would they reach the legendary Divine Sovereign level?”

Morgan Yates couldn’t help but imagine, but then he shook his head and dismissed the thought. The Divine Sovereign realm was still far too distant for him.

The strongest martial artist in Shiyan City, the Qin family’s patriarch Henry Quinn, was only at the ninth level of the Forming Realm. After the Qi Creation Realm comes the Forming Realm.

However, with the power of this dragon pillar, he was confident he could avenge his father and carry his father’s will to see his mother.

After absorbing the medicinal power of the Elemental Cultivation Pills, Morgan Yates stuffed a few more pills into his mouth.

“Haha, Morgan Yates, hurry up and start the fire. I’ve figured out how to refine the Solid Element Pill!”

With disheveled long hair, Elder Young walked in from outside, his face full of excitement. It was clear he had gained some insight at the Alchemist Guild.

But when he saw Morgan Yates sitting on the ground munching on Elemental Cultivation Pills like beans, Elder Young’s excited expression immediately froze.

“So it was you, Morgan Yates, who stole and ate the Elemental Cultivation Pills!”

“I’m doomed!” Morgan Yates felt like crying inside. He had originally wanted to report Ethan Yates and Michael Yates to Elder Young, but now that he’d been caught red-handed, even if he jumped into the Yellow River he couldn’t clear his name.

“Elder Young, you—you misunderstood. These are Elemental Cultivation Pills I’ve saved up over the years,” Morgan Yates said fearfully. Elder Young’s temper was notoriously explosive.

“Saved up?” Elder Young said, checking the cabinet where the Elemental Cultivation Pills were stored. More than twenty pills were missing from the cabinet.

“Still trying to argue? I’ll send you to the Discipline Hall! As an alchemy apprentice, you stole and ate the Elemental Cultivation Pills you were supposed to guard. You know the consequences,” Elder Young said.

Morgan Yates couldn’t argue and could only admit his mistake.

“Elder Young, I was wrong. For the sake of all the years I’ve helped you tend the fire, please let me off this once!”

“No way. Break your own hands!” Elder Young said.

He had offended Ethan Yates, and Ethan Yates would definitely get Michael Yates to help him take revenge. If those two found out his hands were broken, his fate would be even worse.

“Elder Young, didn’t you just figure out how to refine the Solid Element Pill? If my hands are broken, there’ll be no one to help you tend the fire. I guarantee you won’t find another apprentice in the Ye residence as familiar with the fire as I am,” Morgan Yates said.

The Solid Element Pill was a second-tier pill that aided cultivation, and Elder Young had never been able to refine it before.

Elder Young frowned. He really wanted to refine the Solid Element Pill right away, and if he crippled Morgan Yates, it would indeed be hard to find another apprentice so familiar with the fire.

“Don’t threaten me. There are plenty of apprentices like you in Shiyan City,” Elder Young said, his expression changing slightly.

Morgan Yates grinned and said, “Elder Young, I know there are many apprentices in Shiyan City better than me. It would be easy for you to replace me. As long as you don’t cripple my hands, you can punish me however you want.”

“Hmph, go start the fire. I’ll decide how to punish you after I’ve refined the Solid Element Pill, you little rascal!”

Chapter 6: Refining Elemental Force

Morgan Yates scampered off to start the fire. Although he didn’t have to break his hands, he still had to be punished. Elder Young would not let him off so easily.

The first time Morgan Yates worked in the alchemy room, he saw Michael Yates stealing medicinal ingredients. Morgan Yates reported this to Elder Young. Michael Yates was a direct descendant of the Ye clan, and his father Dean Yates was the brother of the clan leader Clark Yates, so his status was not low.

But Elder Young still broke Michael Yates’s legs, making him lie in bed for a week.

As soon as Michael Yates recovered, he beat up Morgan Yates. In the days that followed, to avoid being beaten, Morgan Yates could only swallow his anger and turn a blind eye to the two of them stealing medicinal ingredients.

Alchemy involved four steps: adding ingredients, starting the fire, forming the pill, and returning the furnace.

Having worked as an apprentice for Elder Young for several years, Morgan Yates was extremely familiar with the steps of alchemy.

Elemental Cultivation Pills and Blood-Activating Pills for healing injuries—he could find the ingredients for these two first-tier pills with his eyes closed.

However, Elder Young had never taught Morgan Yates how to refine pills. Still, Morgan Yates knew that the most important step in alchemy was forming the pill. If the pill didn’t form properly, it would come out of the furnace as a waste pill.

All the Solid Element Pills needed by the Ye clan were purchased from outside, so Elder Young was eager to successfully refine the Solid Element Pill himself.