btth: crafting even heaven

✅ Chapter 10 Title: "Pill by Fire, Perfection by Flame"

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Time: Night

Location: Crafting Realm – Inner Soul Domain of Tianzun

State: Quiet, Focused, Alive

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A silent pulse of Dou Qi rippled through the spiritual air as Tianzun stood barefoot on the darksteel platform, the celestial forge flickering before him. The realm shimmered with ambient energy—the forge's flame pulsed in rhythm with his breathing, each exhale feeding the spirit fire at its core.

Behind him, watching with hands clasped, stood Yoru.

No one else had ever been here.

Not system spirits. Not summons. Only her.

She said nothing—but her eyes moved everywhere. The floating cauldrons. The constellation of formation arrays. The glowing scrolls that unraveled themselves and rewrote midair. The vibrating crystal panels that flickered with impossible blueprints.

> "It's like a library, a battlefield, and a lab… inside a god's dream," she whispered.

> "It's where real things are born," Tianzun replied. "The world outside sees fire and glory. This is where that fire is made."

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🔶 [SYSTEM NOTIFICATION – TRAIT SYSTEM UNLOCKED]

📘 TRAIT POINTS: COMPLETE EXPLANATION

Trait Points are one of the most valuable passive-growth currencies in the system. Unlike Celestial Shards, they cannot be bought or traded. They are awarded only through:

> Mission Rank Rewards

Pill breakthrough milestones

Technique innovation

High-difficulty combat clear

Fate alteration of Gold-Rank characters or higher

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🔹 TRAIT POINT USAGE – Main Categories:

1. Combat Reflexes

Increases nerve response, dodge probability, and microreaction timing

2. Qi Control

Increases control over Dou Qi cycling, flame molding, aura compression

3. Soul Fortification

Raises soul damage resistance, spiritual consciousness depth, memory partitioning

4. Technique Efficiency

Reduces Dou Qi consumption during custom techniques, increases combo smoothness

5. Alchemy Stability

Reduces flame errors, boosts herb compatibility, increases pill condensation probability

Each upgrade costs between 1–3 Trait Points, depending on category.

> [Current Trait Points: 2]

Recommended: 1 into Alchemy Stability, 1 into Soul Fortification

Tianzun nodded.

> "Apply."

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🔷 [SYSTEM NOTE – MISSION RANKS (S / SS / SSS) INTEGRATION]

Mission Tiers (1–9) determine the difficulty and context of the mission.

> Tier 1–3: Low-scope, low-reward

Tier 4–6: Tactical, dangerous, limited regional influence

Tier 7–9: National/realm-scale, high-fate interaction

Mission RANK (S / SS / SSS) determines the mission's influence on destiny, plot, or timeline.

> S-Rank: Alters minor plotline or future

SS-Rank: Reshapes a faction's rise/fall or regional history

SSS-Rank: Alters the balance of power in the world; failure = erasure

A Tier-4 mission might carry an S-Rank if it influences a future event or timeline nexus.

They overlap seamlessly, maintaining system consistency.

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📋 [TIANZUN PROFILE INTERFACE – OPENED]

🧬 Name: Tianzun (Current Identity: Xiao Clan 4th Son)

📆 Age: 3 Years, 2 Months

🔥 Cultivation: Dou Zhi Qi – 3 Star

🌪️ Flame Type: Emperor Flame Seed (Rank #1, Dormant – 0.043% Integrated)

🧠 Intelligence Rank: Immeasurable (System-Flagged)

⚔️ Custom Techniques Created: 2 (Exploding Pulse Spiral, Vein Split Pulse)

💠 Subordinates: 1 (Yoru )

🎴 Summon Cards Left: 7 Huang, 6 Xuan, 4 Di, 2 Tian

💰 Celestial Shards: 27,040 / 93,000 (Target: Dou Shi 1 Star)

🎓 Trait Points: 0 (Spent: 1 into Alchemy, 1 into Soul Fortification)

🔬 Alchemy Rank:rank 1(Unregistered – Self-Trained)

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🔬 CRAFTING INITIATION: FIRST PILL ATTEMPT

[Selected Pill Target]

> Name: Flame-Nourishing Body Pill

Rank: Tier 1 – High Grade

Purpose: Enhances fire-affinity physique, increases flame absorption safety

Ingredients (Simulated):

Redroot Ash Bark (Supportive binder)

Ember Lotus Seed (Flame stabilizer)

Core Dust from a Class 1 Fire-Beast (Ignition catalyst)

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He stood before the cauldron.

A long, slow breath.

> "Begin."

The flame flickered to life—a dark red flicker of Emperor Flame essence fed into a controlled boundary.

The first leaf floated in—Redroot Ash.

It curled. He adjusted wind.

> "Left vent open. 18 degrees."

Second ingredient: Ember Lotus Seed.

It pulsed once. He compressed the flame.

The air trembled. The cauldron whined.

Third: Beast Core Dust.

The powder swirled in… and the entire mixture pulsed.

Tianzun narrowed his eyes. His left hand moved—finger formation runes activated.

> "Stabilize. Rotate. Compress outer flow."

A tiny explosion. The cauldron nearly burst.

> "Hold it!"

He drove Soul Force into the stabilization array—

And then—

A low, resonant thump.

The forge glowed golden-white.

From the smoke, a single glowing pill hovered midair, perfectly spherical, a fiery gold line pulsing through it like a heartbeat.

> [PILL COMPLETION: SUCCESS]

Flame-Nourishing Body Pill – Tier 1 High Grade (Stability: 91%)

> ✅ Reward: +1,200 Celestial Shards

✅ Reward: +1 Trait Point

✅ Pill Quality: Rare – Tradeable in System Market

Tianzun collapsed to one knee, drenched in sweat.

> "Soul force… nearly depleted…"

But he smiled.

Yoru approached from the shadows. She stared at the pill.

> "It's beautiful."

> "It's fuel."

He stood, hand closing around it.

> "And it's only the beginning."

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☁️ FINAL REFLECTION

He returned to the clan the next morning, robe unwrinkled, face calm.

The children played in the gardens. The elders debated clan supplies.

No one knew what had been forged the night before.

Not the pill.

Not the flame.

Not the man.

And definitely not the future he was writing by hand.

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