Raise a sword!

On the Liu family's side, it was clear that Liu Xian had already informed the family head, Liu Zhu.

Therefore, upon seeing Jiang Peng stand up, Liu Zhu immediately smiled and said, "Is young friend Jiang really going to show off his skills? Young friend Jiang has fully inherited the true teachings of Fellow Daoist Qin and is a highly accomplished disciple of the Danyangzi lineage. Refining this Turtle Essence Pill should be a piece of cake for him."

Upon hearing this, many people's eyes once again fell on Jiang Peng.

Senior Danyangzi's name is widely known in the Southern Mountain Region. After all, less than a hundred years have passed since Danyangzi traveled to the Southern Mountain Region. This time is naturally an extremely long time for mortals, but for Foundation Establishment cultivators, it is just an experience.

Some of the people present today may have even seen Danyangzi in person back then.

"Senior Liu, please don't flatter me too much. If the alchemy doesn't go smoothly, it's a small matter if I lose face, but I'm afraid it will implicate the sect's masters and make them a laughing stock," Jiang Peng quickly replied.

Upon hearing this, Liu Zhu waved his hand and said, "This Turtle Essence Pill is just a prize for the birthday banquet. Success or failure doesn't matter much, young friend, you don't need to worry too much... Take it!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Liu Zhu waved his hand, and a storage bag immediately fell into Jiang Peng's hands.

Open the storage bag; inside is a jade slip and two identical spiritual materials.

At the same time, Liu Zhu tossed the same storage bag to two other alchemists who were willing to help, and then placed three more alchemy furnaces in the open space in the middle.

Then Liu Zhu made a hand seal with one hand, and the space in the middle of the open space distorted. Upon closer inspection, he realized that he had used an array to perform a technique similar to turning spiritual energy into fire.

"My Liu family does not have any underground fire veins, so we asked our fellow Daoists from the Qiaogong Sect to set up an array to transform spiritual energy into spiritual fire for you all to refine pills."

"You may begin at any time. This is not a competition, so please feel free to do as you please."

After speaking, Liu Zhu returned to the main table and sat down, whispering something to the Liu family patriarch.

Jiang Peng had already read the contents of the jade slip. He did not rush to refine the pill, but instead pondered the wonders of the Turtle Essence Pill on his own.

Half an hour passed, and Jiang Peng remained silent without uttering a word.

On the other hand, the three alchemists from the Liu family, along with two other alchemists from other factions, had already begun refining spiritual materials according to the pill formulas.

In an instant, five of the six alchemy furnaces began refining pills, leaving Jiang Peng sitting motionless in the hall.

This unsociable behavior has sparked much discussion.

Jiang Peng was deep in thought, oblivious to the situation outside, which made Sun Yinxi feel rather uneasy.

Finally, after about fifteen minutes, Jiang Peng opened her eyes and breathed a sigh of relief.

"Junior brother, what happened?" Sun Yinxi asked curiously.

She didn't urge Jiang Peng to start refining pills, because she knew that there must be a reason why Jiang Peng wasn't doing it.

Jiang Peng looked up at Sun Yinxi and lowered her voice slightly.

"This prescription is incorrect."

Sun Yinxi's eyes widened immediately, and she suppressed her surprise as she transmitted her voice, "Are you sure? This is the Liu family patriarch's birthday banquet. How could the Liu family dare to make a mistake on such a matter?"

Jiang Peng explained, "Senior sister, you misunderstood. There's nothing wrong with this pill formula for refining the Turtle Essence Pill, but... the spiritual materials used in this pill refining process subtly align with the principle of mutual generation between water and wood."

"What do you mean?"

"When spiritual materials complement each other, they should possess a divine essence, and only second-tier pills possess this divine essence."

Jiang Peng pondered for a moment, then hesitated before saying, "I suspect that this pill formula has been modified. The original formula might have been a second-tier formula, or even higher."

After speaking, seeing that Sun Yinxi still looked bewildered, Jiang Peng immediately realized that he had been talking to a brick wall.

"Junior brother should go and refine pills too. He should at least regain some face so that senior sister won't have suffered for nothing."

Sun Yinxi looked displeased.

"So you knew!"

Jiang Peng arrived at the only remaining alchemy furnace, but instead of using the array's spiritual energy to start a fire like the others, she stretched out her palm, and with a thought, a ball of azure flame rose from her palm.

Then, he manipulated the ball of blue flame to fall into the alchemy furnace, and the surrounding temperature immediately rose slightly.

This scene immediately amazed many people present.

Among the guests at this moment were alchemists, and true second-tier alchemists at that.

However, such figures disdain competing with juniors, which is why they have not made a move.

But these people are truly discerning.

"Wow, what an exquisite fire control technique!" An old Taoist priest with a goatee, wearing a Taoist robe and a whisk at his waist, immediately brightened up when he saw Jiang Peng's actions.

"For Master Zhang to praise him, it seems that the kid does indeed have some skill," someone next to the Taoist priest asked curiously.

Master Zhang nodded gently.

"That must be some kind of exquisite fire-based technique. This kid has mastered it to a certain extent and obtained a method to transform spiritual energy into fire... But he happens to be an alchemist, and he actually combined this technique with fire control. Interesting."

"The spiritual fire generated by the formation is ultimately not one's own. Judging from that kid's solid foundation and abundant spiritual power, he will probably use his own spiritual power as fuel to start the pill refining process."

"This method is extremely difficult for a first-level alchemist, but if one is confident in doing so, then the alchemy process will be much more flexible, and the quality of the resulting pills will be several times better."

After hearing this, someone nearby immediately began to flatter him.

"Master Zhang has excellent eyesight; he truly deserves to be a highly respected cultivator at the Dragon and Snake Temple."

"You're too kind, fellow Daoist," Zhang Daoist replied casually, without even glancing at the Foundation Establishment cultivator beside him who was offering flattery. His gaze remained fixed on Jiang Peng's every move.

Jiang Peng, who was in the arena, had no idea that his skills had been exposed almost immediately after he made his move.

He had already taken out all the spiritual materials from his storage bag, preparing to smelt them.

[Mystic Tortoise Shell: Tier 1 Spiritual Material]

【Ghost-faced Flower: Tier 2 Spiritual Material】

The shell of the Xuanjia Turtle and the Ghost Face Flower are the main ingredients of the Turtle Essence Pill.

Among them, the Xuanjia tortoise shell is quite famous because several first-tier body-refining pills require it as the main ingredient.

However, the Ghost Face Flower is quite obscure, to the point that even the Liu family seems unaware that it is actually a second-tier spiritual material.

Jiang Peng only learned about this item through his family's inheritance.

He often perused the second-tier inheritance left to Qin Yuan by Danyangzi, which included records about the Ghost Face Flower.

This includes the plant's growing environment, the various elixirs it can be used to make, and the various refining methods, etc.

This is the benefit of having traditions passed down through generations.

Jiang Peng glanced distractedly at the other five people who were refining pills; each and every one of them had almost ruined the Ghost Face Flower.

They managed to extract medicinal power of only the first tier from second-tier spiritual materials.

However, Jiang Peng had no intention of competing with others, so she quickly focused on refining spiritual materials and no longer cared about what others were doing.

Three hours passed in this way.

The banquet continued, and finally someone finished refining the Turtle Essence Pill.

Update released! Book lovers, go read Cola Novels!