Raise a sword!

The first person to complete the alchemy was a member of the Liu clan named Liu Yanhe.

He looks like a young man, but his cultivation has reached the peak of Qi Refining, and his alchemy skills also seem to be at the first-grade level.

Liu Yanhe exhaled a breath of turbid air and, under the watchful eyes of everyone present, confidently opened the alchemy furnace.

There were five pills in the furnace. Two of them were bright and shiny, clearly of superior quality, while the other three, though slightly weaker, still looked... .

"Yanhe has lived up to expectations and successfully produced five pills!" Liu Yanhe bowed respectfully towards the main table.

The patriarch of the Liu family smiled faintly and nodded gently at Liu Yanhe.

Liu Zhu stood up and laughed, "Don't be arrogant. You must know that there are always people more capable than you and heavens beyond heavens. Let's see how the other fellow Daoists are."

"I understand," Liu Yan replied neither humbly nor arrogantly.

Many of the guests present offered their compliments.

However, everyone knew that it was not unexpected for the Liu clan to win first place.

They presented the pill formula themselves and dared to refine it in public on such a occasion, which clearly shows that they had studied the pill well in advance, otherwise they would not have dared to act in this way.

Sure enough, the next to complete the alchemy were two other Qi Refining juniors from the Liu family.

Both men produced five pills each, but the quality was far inferior to that of Liu Yanhe's pills. Nevertheless, they still received congratulations from the guests.

Thus, only three outsiders, including Jiang Peng, remained to refine the elixir.

Another half hour passed, and the two people beside Jiang Peng successively completed the condensation of their cores.

Both of them were working with the Turtle Essence Pill for the first time. Although Liu was straightforward and the pill formula was extremely detailed, they still made some mistakes. In the end, they both made five pills, but one of them ruined three and the other ruined two.

Even if it is successfully made into a pill, its quality is quite average.

The two men were not discouraged. After thanking each other, they put away the pills and returned to the banquet.

Only Jiang Peng remained in the open space, sitting cross-legged in front of the alchemy furnace, concentrating on controlling the alchemical fire.

This scene aroused the curiosity of many people.

"Master Zhang, have you discerned anything? That young man's first move drew praise from you, yet he was the last to complete his pill? Shouldn't the spiritual energy transforming into pill fire have been done much faster?"

Master Zhang of the Dragon and Snake Temple had a broad smile on his face.

"How interesting! But I'll keep you in suspense for now... Tsk tsk, I originally just came to ask Master Liu for a drink, but I never expected to witness such an interesting event."

Upon hearing this, the surrounding guests all looked on with curiosity.

But Master Zhang clearly didn't want to say more, so they didn't press him. They could only focus their attention on Jiang Peng while chatting.

Another hour passed.

Jiang Peng, who had been sitting cross-legged, suddenly opened his eyes, and waves of heat emanated from the alchemy furnace in front of him.

"what?"

This commotion immediately drew the attention of almost everyone at the banquet.

Anyone present whose cultivation was above the Foundation Establishment stage could feel that the alchemy furnace was frantically absorbing the spiritual energy of the surrounding world at a terrifying speed.

Some people couldn't sit still any longer and stood up on the spot, exclaiming in surprise.

"A second-tier pill?!"

This statement piqued the interest of many guests who were unaware of the situation.

"Is this a highly accomplished disciple of the Cangshan Sect?"

"Such a figure can emerge from the northern foothills?"

"Ninth level of Qi Refining, second-tier alchemist, that's quite rare."

Even the Liu family patriarch at the main table was alarmed.

With a wave of his hand, the Liu family patriarch immediately stabilized the formation that had been somewhat unstable due to the absorption of spiritual energy by the alchemy furnace, and at the same time, the surrounding spiritual energy began to converge around Jiang Peng.

Sensing the changes in the outside world,

Jiang Peng opened her eyes and bowed to the Liu family patriarch to express her gratitude.

This scene amazed many people.

"Hiss, this kid can refine pills beyond his level so easily?"

Master Zhang laughed and said, "I knew it would be interesting."

Finally, another fifteen minutes passed.

The alchemy furnace in front of Jiang Peng returned to calm, and the alchemical fire, as if it had a spirit, fell back into Jiang Peng's palm before slowly extinguishing.

At this moment, Jiang Peng's forehead was covered with fine sweat, but her heart was quite calm.

He stepped forward, lifted the lid of the alchemy furnace, and with a gentle manipulation of his spiritual energy, three translucent pills floated in mid-air.

"Young friend Jiang, this isn't the Turtle Essence Pill, is it?" the Liu family patriarch asked curiously.

Jiang Peng hesitated at this moment.

"In response to your question, senior, this pill was created on a whim by me, with slight modifications to the formula of the Turtle Essence Pill. It has not yet been named."

"Oh? You were only a little less than an hour later than the others when you started refining pills, yet you directly changed the first-order pill formula to a second-order one? And you actually succeeded in refining it?" The Liu family patriarch's tone was filled with surprise.

Jiang Peng shook his head and said, "Senior thinks too highly of me... It's just that my master once taught me about the harmony of spiritual materials and the essence of pills. It just so happens that my inheritance has some explanation of this, and I know that the spiritual materials of this Turtle Essence Pill can complement each other, so I had a sudden urge to give it a try."

"The ability to refine this pill is not due to my own talent, but rather to my master's excellent teaching and the meticulous inheritance of my skills."

The Liu family patriarch then realized what was happening.

Jiang Peng's explanation is reasonable; otherwise, it would be too astonishing for a Qi Refining cultivator to casually create a second-tier pill formula.

Even so, Jiang Peng's performance was already quite remarkable.

The patriarch of the Liu family then asked, "Young friend, what are the effects of this elixir?"

Jiang Peng raised her hand and took down one of the three pills that were hanging in mid-air.

Upon obtaining the elixir, golden characters immediately appeared.

[Unknown Elixir: Second-tier, low-grade, Life-extending]

The golden script was as concise as ever, leaving Jiang Peng with no choice but to swallow the pill in her hand.

He closed his eyes and sensed for a moment, then opened them and said, "Below Foundation Establishment, it can extend lifespan by ten years. Above Foundation Establishment... it cannot extend lifespan, but it can compensate for the loss of vitality in cultivators."

"Can make up for lost vitality? Isn't that just extending lifespan?" Patriarch Liu shook his head and laughed. "Young friend Jiang doesn't have a trace of youthful arrogance; he's incredibly humble... You can ask any of the Foundation Establishment cultivators present here, who dares to say they can live to three hundred years old?"

Immediately, a Foundation Establishment cultivator remarked, "Living to 250 or 260 is considered a long life."

"Two hundred and thirty or fourty also has to be free from illness and disaster."

"To have spent so much time in the mortal world and only lose sixty or seventy years of lifespan is not bad."

That makes sense.

The Liu family patriarch laughed and said, "Young friend, do you understand now? The actual lifespan of a Foundation Establishment cultivator is three hundred years. However, when cultivating in this mortal world, every Foundation Establishment cultivator claims that their foundation is solid and they have no hidden illnesses or injuries, but not one of them dares to say that they can really live to the age of three hundred."

At this point, the Liu family patriarch suddenly waved his hand and took one of the two pills that were still hanging in mid-air.

"Young friend, I'll take advantage of you."

"The ingredients for the pill were all supplied by the Liu family. Senior only took one piece, so it is the junior who has benefited," Jiang Peng replied.

The Liu family patriarch tossed the elixir to an elderly man with white hair on the main table.

"I'm impressed."

Without hesitation, the old man swallowed the pill and began refining it on the spot.

Everyone present instinctively remained silent, afraid of disturbing the old man as he refined the medicinal power.

A quarter of an hour later, the old man opened his eyes.

"How is it?" asked the Liu family patriarch.

"As you said, young friend Jiang, this pill can restore vitality, which can be considered a way to extend lifespan."

"Specifically?"

"Not much, maybe three to five years."