Raise a sword!

Elder Qin left in a great hurry, as if he had temporarily withdrawn from the affairs of the Pill Hall to come back and give instructions.

Now that he had said almost everything he needed to say, he hurriedly threw himself back into the affairs of the sect.

Recently, the Cangshan Sect and the Jade Pavilion Sword Pavilion have been at odds, and it seems that this matter has now also affected the internal affairs of the Cangshan Sect.

After watching Elder Qin leave, Jiang Peng began to investigate the unusual houses that Elder Qin had mentioned.

The most spacious room was where people lived and cultivated. It was so clean and tidy that it didn't look like anyone had ever lived there. Clearly, Elder Qin had tidied it up in advance.

"There is a spirit-gathering array in the house."

As soon as Jiang Peng entered the room, she keenly noticed something unusual.

The entire Cangshan Sect was already shrouded in a huge spirit-gathering array, and the sect itself was located on a spiritual vein. Therefore, as soon as Jiang Peng arrived at the mountain, he discovered that the spiritual energy concentration of the entire sect was much higher than that of the small courtyard with the character "丙" at the foot of the mountain.

But that's all.

Jiang Peng had some doubts at first, as the cultivation conditions in the sect didn't seem to be much better than those at the foot of the mountain.

But now that he had stepped into this seemingly ordinary hut, Jiang Peng realized that the Cangshan Sect had developed the spiritual veins it occupied to the extreme.

"The spiritual energy inside this house is at least three times that outside, far exceeding that of the so-called Grade A residences down the mountain."

Jiang Peng sensed it for a moment and quickly came to a conclusion that surprised him.

If he were to cultivate in this environment all day long, he, who had just broken through to the sixth level of Qi Refining, might be able to try to break through to the late stage of Qi Refining in another two or three years.

This speed is already astonishing for someone with Jiang Peng's talent.

Each step in the Qi Refining Realm is fraught with challenges.

Jiang Peng only realized after breaking through to the sixth level of Qi Refining that breaking through to the seventh level from the sixth level was as difficult as cultivating from an ignorant child to his current level.

If we use the terminology of sect cultivators...

Refining Qi to the sixth level is already the end point for more than 70% of cultivators on their path to enlightenment.

"The cultivation environment here is worlds apart from that at the foot of the mountain," Jiang Peng couldn't help but sigh inwardly.

No wonder sect cultivators are always so arrogant; it turns out they're actually standing on the mountain.

After leaving the cultivation room, Jiang Peng went to see several other brick houses.

One of them is an alchemy room.

As soon as Jiang Peng stepped into the alchemy room, he felt a wave of heat hit him.

Upon investigation, it was discovered that a fire in the alchemy room was being maintained by an array.

This is the summit of a mountain; drawing subterranean fire here is no easy task.

Maintaining the formation after attracting the subterranean fire requires a significant amount of resources.

"With the help of the earth's fire, alchemy here can save at least 30% of the energy consumed during the process."

After visiting the alchemy room, Jiang Peng arrived at the last three huts clustered together.

These three huts no longer possessed the same strangeness as before, but they were now filled with all sorts of books and manuscripts.

Jiang Peng glanced through them and found that these were Qin Lao's many insights from years of studying alchemy, with many traces of modification.

"These last three tile-roofed houses are the culmination of Old Master Qin's century of alchemy."

The cultivation room and alchemy room in front are benefits of joining the sect, but this shed filled with manuscripts is Qin Lao's own property.

It is a valuable legacy that allows even those who know nothing about alchemy to smoothly become second-tier alchemists after studying it.

"No wonder he never asked me to improve my alchemy skills after I became his disciple; he had already made preparations."

So Jiang Peng picked up a manuscript and started flipping through it. Once he started reading, he lost track of time.

......

On the third day after arriving at Biwu Peak, the sect's steward in charge of construction arrived at the summit as promised.

Jiang Peng already had a plan for his residence, which would be similar to the courtyard houses in the market town at the foot of the mountain. In addition, he requested a spacious kitchen, and that was all.

These requests are not difficult.

For the next two weeks, Jiang Peng saw the steward constantly leading disciples from various peaks to build a residence for him.

Jiang Peng originally thought this was a benefit from the sect.

But after asking, I learned that it was actually Elder Qin who contributed a sum of sect tribute, and the steward recruited so many disciples to help him by doing sect missions.

In just half a month, an unremarkable, even somewhat simple, courtyard appeared on the summit of Biwu Peak.

Thus, Jiang Peng now has her own place to live on Biwu Peak.

...

Life in the sect was somewhat different from what Jiang Peng had imagined.

Jiang Peng had thought that becoming a disciple of a sect would bring a lot of trivial matters.

For example, every now and then there's a mandatory sect mission, and then because of the competition for resources among the disciples, they inexplicably make some enemies or something.

But none of this happened.

For Jiang Peng, it was as if he had simply changed his training location.

Every month, he would refine the Purple Jade Nourishing Pill and the Dragon Tiger Pill as usual. However, the spiritual materials he collected from Hao Xue were outsourced to the Pill Hall and given to several junior brothers whose alchemy skills were only at the first-level low grade.

In this way, he no longer needs to refine low-level pills such as Rejuvenation Pill and Qi Condensation Pill, and he can still earn more than a hundred spirit stones every month.

Moreover, this matter can't even be considered as benefiting from the sect's influence.

Because many alchemists in the Pill Hall don't have many pill-refining tasks to handle on a daily basis due to their lack of skill.

Alchemy is something that requires practice to master.

Therefore, after Jiang Peng mentioned this matter to Elder Qin, Elder Qin sent several Dan Dian disciples the next day, who, although not very skilled, were still quite capable.

As for what Jiang Peng has to give up, in addition to a share of the profits, he also has to guide these disciples to improve their alchemy skills.

...

On Azure Mist Peak, in the alchemy chamber.

A young disciple of the Pill Hall was sitting in front of the pill furnace, concentrating intently.

Behind him, Jiang Peng yawned nonchalantly.

Although this batch of pills had not yet been formed, Jiang Peng already knew from his divine sense that it was a waste.

But he didn't say it, because it was too late to remedy the situation.

Less than a quarter of an hour later, the elixir was completed, and sure enough, the Rejuvenation Pill in the furnace became a batch of useless pills.

The disciples of the Pill Hall looked embarrassed upon seeing the result.

"The difficulty in using earth fire to refine pills lies entirely in fire control... If your fire control skills are insufficient, don't expect the earth fire in my alchemy room to make things easier for you."

Jiang Peng's voice rang out at just the right moment.

"Go back to my desk and take the second manuscript on the left to study carefully. That manuscript describes some of the difficult points in the Cangshan Sect's fire control technique, which should be of some use to you."

The disciples of the Dan Hall bowed respectfully.

"Thank you for your guidance, senior brother."

Jiang Peng waved his hand dismissively and said, "Since Master has asked you to come here to improve your alchemy skills, I can't just do it half-heartedly and embarrass Master."

"No need for thanks, just try to get me some ingredients later."

Mentioning this matter, Jiang Peng couldn't help but curse inwardly.

This is truly unbelievable.

There wasn't even a proper place to eat in the entire Cangshan Sect.