Raise a sword!

"The key to second-tier pills lies in their essence. To put it more precisely, it is the connection and complementarity between spiritual materials, thereby producing effects far exceeding those of the materials themselves."

In the alchemy room, Qin Yuan closed his eyes and pondered for a moment before slowly saying, "This is the difficulty in refining second-tier pills. You need extremely strong divine sense to perceive every change in the properties of the spiritual materials in order to bring out the essence of the pill."

"Often, the changes of spiritual materials in the alchemical fire are only a moment, and a deviation of one or two breaths can cause the spiritual materials to be ruined... For example, this Fragrant King Wood in front of you, you need to take its pith as the main ingredient just before it turns into charcoal."

"There is a critical point of about three breaths. If it is earlier, the fire energy in the wood marrow will be insufficient, and the wood spirit pills refined will lack fire energy. Even if the pills are successfully made, they will no longer be suitable for a fire spirit root cultivator like you."

"If it had been any later, the wood marrow would have turned to ashes, and this precious spiritual material would have been ruined on the spot."

Jiang Peng sat upright in front of the alchemy furnace, listening to Qin Yuan's teachings while observing the situation inside.

At this time, the spiritual materials being refined in the alchemy furnace were only auxiliary materials for the Wood Spirit Pill, so Jiang Peng could still focus on it for the time being.

In truth, it was only when Jiang Peng truly began to study second-tier pills that he realized the vast difference between second-tier and first-tier pills.

First-tier pills are judged by the properties of their spiritual materials, whether it's common pills like Qi Condensation Pills and Rejuvenation Pills, or exquisite pills like Purple Jade Nourishing Essence Pills and Dragon Tiger Pills.

In reality, it's just about utilizing the inherent properties of the spiritual materials; there's nothing particularly mystical about them.

However, second-tier pills are different. Even the entry-level Wood Spirit Pill has three different refining methods in its formula.

Besides the most basic Wood Spirit Pill refining method, there are also refining methods that incorporate water-based spiritual materials, such as water-generated wood, to assist cultivators with water-based spiritual roots.

What Jiang Peng refined was a method of using wood to generate fire, which was used to assist cultivators with fire spirit roots in their refining techniques.

All three methods produce Wood Spirit Pills, but they use different auxiliary materials, have different refining techniques, and ultimately produce pills with different effects.

This is only the beginning of a second-tier alchemist's journey.

In addition, Jiang Peng also learned that second-tier pill formulas were not cheaper than the spiritual materials used for alchemy, and were even more precious.

Because second-tier pill formulas involve specific proportions of spiritual materials, they are vastly different from first-tier pills, which can be refined with little difference in proportion.

The secret to the so-called divine essence of elixirs lies in this precise ratio; a slight error can lead to a completely different result.

"That is to say, you were born with extremely strong spiritual sense, and you also cultivated the Dragon Tiger Technique, which made your spiritual sense even more refined... In fact, I did not expect that you were only at the eighth level of Qi Refining, yet your spiritual sense was already close to the state of my peak."

Jiang Peng humbly said a few words in a low voice, but he knew in his heart that the reason why his spiritual sense far surpassed that of other cultivators of the same level was either because of his transmigration or because of the Purple Gold Cauldron in his mind.

But all in all.

After confirming that Jiang Peng's spiritual sense was sufficient, this alchemy process was completely led by Jiang Peng, with Qin Yuan only providing guidance and not actually participating.

Second-tier pills take much longer to refine.

After a full day and night, Jiang Peng finally succeeded in refining and extracting all the spiritual materials.

Then the master and apprentice paused their alchemy practice and left the alchemy room to rest. They continued practicing alchemy the next day after recuperating.

Two days have passed in the blink of an eye.

"Fire control must not be neglected. If you want the pill to be of good quality, the fire level is also crucial! Spiritual fire is the foundation for stimulating the medicinal properties. If the fire is disordered, the medicinal properties will immediately become chaotic. Even if they are forcibly fused together, it will still be a useless pill."

"What are you waiting for? Add the ingredients!"

"I constantly observe the fusion of medicinal power in the furnace with my divine sense. This step of fusion is the easiest to go wrong. It can trigger the formation to seize the surrounding spiritual energy and refine it into the pill. The spiritual energy of heaven and earth is also a part of the pill formation process."

Qin Yuan's voice rang out from time to time.

Jiang Peng focused intently on controlling the furnace fire, following Qin Yuan's instructions like a puppet on strings.

Another half day later.

Qin Yuan, who had been observing from the sidelines, suddenly stood up, looked at Jiang Peng with a serious expression, and a hint of tension appeared on his face.

At this moment, the fusion of the core has reached its final stage.

Qin Yuan wanted to say something several times, but he was afraid of disturbing Jiang Peng, so he could only hold back and keep his mouth shut.

At the same time, Jiang Peng also sensed changes around the alchemy furnace.

Under the convergence of the array in the alchemy room, the surrounding spiritual energy continuously flowed into the alchemy furnace. At the same time, the essence of various spiritual materials that had been vaguely mixed together in the furnace gradually transformed into the shape of pills.

Just as everything was going smoothly and the fusion of the pills was about to be completed, Jiang Peng suddenly felt a weakness in her body.

After several days of relentless fire control, he was already exhausted, both physically and mentally. In addition, the second-tier pills had drained his mental energy. He hadn't noticed it when he was fully focused, but now, without realizing it, he had reached his limit.

Qin Yuan, who was standing to the side, had obviously also noticed that something was wrong with Jiang Peng.

"This is bad, this kid can't withstand the energy consumption of refining second-tier pills."

Qin Yuan's face showed anxiety, but he quickly sighed softly, his expression turning regretful.

He knew it wasn't Jiang Peng's fault; it was his own eagerness to achieve quick results that had forced the seedlings to grow too fast.

However, with this experience, I think this kid should be able to refine second-tier pills even without my guidance in the future.

Meanwhile.

Just as Jiang Peng felt exhausted and her vision went black,

The purple-gold cauldron that had been dormant in his mind for a long time suddenly flashed before his eyes.

Jiang Peng watched as the purple flames in the cauldron rose up naturally and silently merged into the cauldron in front of him.

Immediately afterwards, Jiang Peng felt that she had regained some of her spiritual power, and the fatigue in her body also subsided considerably.

"The purple fire is so wondrous? Why did the cauldron help me even though I didn't activate it?"

Jiang Peng felt a sense of doubt, but he also knew that now was not the time to delve into these matters.

With the help of the cauldron, Jiang Peng quickly stabilized the situation inside.

About fifteen minutes later, under Jiang Peng's divine sense, the fusion of the pills in the furnace was finally completed.

"call--"

Jiang Peng let out a long sigh of relief, unable to hold on any longer, and immediately collapsed to the ground.

Just as she was about to lie down weakly, Qin Yuan helped her up.

"How are you?" Qin Yuanxian asked, concerned about Jiang Peng's condition.

"We're still holding on." Jiang Peng nodded. "Fortunately, our foundation is solid enough, and we've finally made it through."

Qin Yuan was relieved upon hearing this, then walked to the alchemy furnace and opened the lid.

"Master, how is it?"

Qin Yuan's expression changed from anticipation to surprise.

"Good lad, three pills formed, of medium quality!"

With a wave of his hand, Qin Yuan sent three Wood Spirit Pills, each imbued with a trace of fire, floating to Jiang Peng's front.

Qin Yuan's voice was full of excitement.

"Good, good, good! Once your cultivation advances further, you'll be a true second-tier alchemist!"