Many children, many blessings: Stealing the offspring of powerful figures to cultivate immortality.

This goatee elder, surnamed Liu, was an enforcement elder of the outer sect of the Pill Tower. He usually insisted on the orthodox way of alchemy. When he heard Mo Xie's words, "Strange tricks and cunning techniques can defeat your orthodox path," he was so angry that his beard stood on end and his old face turned as red as a pig's liver.

"Very well! What an arrogant brat!" Elder Liu laughed in fury, flicking his sleeves and unleashing a scorching wave of heat that swept across the entire arena. "Today I will show you what true alchemy is! Since we must compete, let's compete with the Nine-Turn Rejuvenating Pill! The loser shall cut off both of his arms and get out of Pill City!"

Upon hearing this, the surrounding cultivators who were watching the spectacle gasped in shock. This Nine-Turn Rejuvenation Pill was a peak fourth-grade pill, extremely difficult to refine, and the slightest mistake could result in the destruction of the furnace and the death of the person involved.

Upon hearing this, Mo Xie's golden pupils narrowed slightly. Although he was the young master of Tiangong City and skilled in mechanics, his alchemy skills... were only at the level of being a master of six out of seven.

He knows absolutely nothing! What he just said was purely out of a sense of pride, a forced statement he made despite his own weakness.

At this moment, he couldn't help but feel a little uneasy. If it were a matter of dismantling towers, he would be an expert, but this delicate alchemy work...

Just as Mo Xie was caught in a dilemma and was about to transform the Divine Machine Box and unleash its power, a soft, warm hand gently pressed on his shoulder.

"Why is the young master angry?"

Jiang Yining walked up with a smile, looking as obedient as could be, as if she were truly a maidservant devoted to protecting her master. "Why use a sledgehammer to crack a nut? Since it's a competition of such 'low-level' alchemy skills, young master only needs to give some pointers from the side, and I will operate this... divine furnace. That will be enough to broaden this old man's horizons."

Mo Xie glanced at her sideways and saw the cunning hidden in the woman's eyes. He felt reassured and immediately snorted coldly, crossed his arms, and raised his chin higher than the sky: "Fine, dealing with this kind of trash is indeed dirtying my hands."

Elder Liu was so angry at how much the master and servant looked down on him that he almost spat out a mouthful of blood. He immediately stopped talking nonsense, sat cross-legged, and made hand seals. Instantly, a dark blue earth fire rose from the purple-gold dragon furnace in front of him, and he skillfully threw one spiritual herb after another into it. His movements were smooth and flowing, drawing cheers from the surrounding crowd.

On the other hand, the style of Mo Xie's side changed drastically.

Jiang Yining didn't care about the cooking temperature; as if she were cooking a large pot of rice, she grabbed handfuls of precious spiritual herbs and stuffed them all into the dark "pressure cooker." Then, with a "clang," she slammed the heavy metal lid shut.

"Inject water!" Jiang Yining shouted in a low voice.

Mo Xie's lips twitched. Although he thought the steps were absurd, he still followed the instructions and cast a spell.

"Young Master, this is called 'centrifugal extraction,' turn the speed up to the maximum!" Jiang Yining whispered quickly into Mo Xie's ear.

A golden glint flashed in Mo Xie's eyes. Although he didn't understand what centrifugal force was, he knew how to spin around! A crisp sound of mechanisms snapping came from inside the Divine Mechanism Box, and the array at the bottom of the black pot instantly shone brightly.

"Buzz—!!!"

The black pot emitted a roar like that of a wild beast, and then began to spin wildly, so fast that it left afterimages in the air.

The surrounding cultivators stared in disbelief, their mouths agape. This was alchemy? This was clearly playing with fire!

"Insane! Absolutely insane! Such a violent tremor, the medicinal effects have long since dissipated!" Elder Liu glanced at the scene amidst his busy schedule, and immediately revealed a contemptuous sneer, becoming even more certain that he had won.

However, he didn't see that, concealed by her sleeve, Jiang Yining silently condensed a drop of emerald-green liquid at her fingertips—the primordial elixir of the Myriad Spirit Divine Tree. With a gentle flick of her finger, the drop of elixir slipped into the valve of the black pot.

"Press it! Press it to the limit!" Jiang Yining's eyes suddenly sharpened.

Mo Xie gritted his teeth, veins bulging on his forehead, and poured his star energy into the black pot as if it were free.

The numbers on the crystal screen jumped wildly, the red warning lights flashed frequently, and it emitted a piercing beeping sound.

"It's going to explode! It's going to explode!" The onlookers retreated in terror, fearing they would be blown to pieces by the metal lump.

The black pot trembled violently, as if it would disintegrate at any moment, and its sharp whistling sound was like a demonic chant.

Mo Xie's heart was pounding.

Jiang Yining remained expressionless, staring at the gas valve. Just as the red light became blindingly bright, she slammed her hand on the stove lid: "Open!"

"boom--!"

A loud bang, but it wasn't an explosion.

The valve popped open instantly, and a plume of white steam shot into the sky like a long dragon, reaching hundreds of feet into the clouds!

Immediately afterwards, an incredibly strong medicinal fragrance swept across the entire square.

The fragrance was extremely overpowering; just one whiff was enough to make many cultivators present feel that their long-stagnant cultivation was beginning to loosen!

"What...what is this smell?!"

Elder Liu's hand trembled, and the furnace fire that was about to form a pill instantly went out of control. With a "poof", a plume of black smoke rose from the furnace, and it exploded!

But he couldn't care less about the heartache at that moment; his eyes were fixed on the black pot.

As the white mist dissipated, twelve round, golden pills were found floating quietly above the black pot.

Each pill has three cloud-like patterns swirling around its surface, radiating a chilling spiritual pressure.

"Dan...Dan Yun?! This is the supreme-grade Dan Yun Divine Pill?!"

Someone in the crowd screamed, and the entire square instantly erupted in chaos, like a drop of water in a frying pan exploding into a frothy explosion.

"My God! All twelve are top-grade? How is that possible!"

"That lump of iron... could it actually be a divine artifact?!"

Elder Liu was struck dumb, frozen in place. All color drained from his old face, and his lips trembled as he stammered, "Impossible...this is absolutely impossible...sorcery! This is sorcery!"

Mo Xie was also stunned for a moment, but then reacted very quickly, immediately putting on a profound and unfathomable look, standing with his hands behind his back, and glancing contemptuously at the distraught Elder Liu.

"Sorcery?" Mo Xie scoffed, his cold voice echoing throughout the area. "A frog in a well, how can it know the vastness of the Milky Way? This is the intelligent alchemy furnace of my Heavenly Craft City! Even a dog pressing this button could refine something far superior to yours!"

Jiang Yining, seizing the opportunity, added insult to injury, smilingly putting the twelve pills into a jade bottle, and feigning surprise, said, "Oh dear, why do these pills have cloud patterns? Young Master, did we go too far? Next time, let's just refine a low-grade one, so as not to frighten the elders."

Upon hearing this, Elder Liu felt a surge of blood rushing to his chest, and with a "whoosh," he coughed up a mouthful of blood.

"You...you all..."

He pointed at Mo Xie and Jiang Yining, his fingers trembling, filled with shame and indignation.

Seeing the gazes around him that had been filled with awe but now turned strange and mocking, Elder Liu had no face to stay any longer. He covered his face with his sleeves, abandoned even the fragments of the alchemy furnace on the ground, turned into a streak of light, and fled in a disheveled state, disappearing in the blink of an eye.

Mo Xie watched Elder Liu's retreating figure, a smug smile curving his lips. He turned to look at Jiang Yining, his golden pupils filled with admiration, and murmured, "That 'centrifugal force' thing from earlier... teach me when we get back."

Jiang Yining's red mole between her eyebrows twitched slightly, a smile playing on her lips, and she softly replied, "Of course, the young master paid for it."