Big Medicine into Dan

Chen Xia was just about to fall asleep when the words of Elder Patriarch of Armor Wood Mountain jolted him awake.

Zhen Hu frowned slightly, somewhat undecided.

Below the stage, Elder Patriarch of Armor Wood Mountain shouted again, "Why aren't you coming down yet? Don't tell me you're too shy and want to continue hiding behind us? Whether you're a mule or a horse, you still have to be led out for a walk. You can't keep hiding back there, can you?"

"Give me the medicinal materials," Chen Xia said plainly, leaving no room for discussion.

Zhen Hu did not dare to refuse. He took out a storage ring and handed it to Chen Xia, respectfully saying, "All the medicinal materials are inside. Some were obtained through great effort, and I even used many channels to purchase some from the upper realms."

"I will pay you for the medicinal materials," Chen Xia nodded and accepted the storage ring. His blue robe fluttered gently in the breeze as he took a step forward.

A gentle breeze stirred.

His figure had already appeared at the center of the pill refining platform, with his hair fluttering slightly in the wind he had gathered. He smiled lightly at the crowd and said in a quiet voice to Elder Patriarch of Armor Wood Mountain,

"I'm neither a mule nor a horse. Care to guess what I am?"

Elder Patriarch of Armor Wood Mountain shook his head with a laugh. "How would I know what you are? Whether you're a pig or a dog, I'd never be able to guess."

"I'm your daddy," Chen Xia said with a slight tilt of his head, laughing as he spoke.

The murmuring exchanges among the spectators came to an abrupt halt. When Elder Patriarch of Armor Wood Mountain had called for someone from Starry Sky Pill Sect earlier, things were already tense.

But no one expected it to escalate like this.

The spectators were worried the two might break out into a fight, skipping over the pill refining competition and going straight to exchanging blows.

"All bark and no bite. Let's see if your pill refining skills live up to that mouth of yours," Elder Patriarch of Armor Wood Mountain said coldly with a sneer.

"I hope you'll keep calling me that afterward," Chen Xia said flatly before starting to take out pill refining materials from the storage ring.

First was the pill cauldron. Since Chen Xia did not have his own cauldron, Zhen Hu had specially prepared one for him that was quite good quality and looked brand new.

Elder Patriarch of Armor Wood Mountain let out a contemptuous laugh. "What, you don't even have your own cauldron for pill refining and have to borrow a shiny new one? Could it be you don't have any skills of your own?"

Chen Xia shot him a fierce glance, a hint of hostility rising up before quickly tamping it back down. He let out a breath and told himself inwardly not to get agitated.

He then swiftly took out the medicinal materials, not even bothering to process them before dumping them all into the cauldron. Reaching under the cauldron, he snapped his fingers and flames instantly rose up.

It wasn't some incredible fire, just barely sufficient.

The spectators knitted their brows in confusion, filled with doubts.

"I've never seen pill refining like this before. That fire doesn't seem very impressive either, not even above average."

"Did anyone see clearly what medicinal materials he used?"

"No, he just dumped them all in at once. I don't know what refining method this is. Don't tell me he's just going to refine a superior grade spirit pill like this? That would be utterly embarrassing."

"That can't be right. He's a new Elder of Starry Sky Pill Sect, and they speak so highly of him. There's no way he'd only produce a superior spirit pill."

"How strange. I don't understand this kind of pill refining at all. Just ignite the fire and toss the ingredients in all jumbled up without any processing?"

There were many discussions among the observing cultivators.

Chen Xia was unhurried. After igniting the flame, he added some water and then closed the lid, chuckling as he said,

"Wait two hours."

This was the pill refining method he had researched. In summary, it involved simmering and evaporating the medicinal essences out of the materials, then blending those essences together.

It could also be considered a type of medicinal processing, just a rather odd one that probably only Chen Xia could use.

With no basis or precedent, it was mainly meant to save time and effort.

This made the other alchemists furrow their brows in confusion, some seemingly wanting to speak up but uncertain what to say. So they could only wait silently for the two hours to see what Chen Xia would do.

The two hours passed quickly.

Some pill fragrance floated out from the cauldron, but this fragrance was very strange, unlike what other cultivators' refining smelled like. Rather, it was more like...

Cooked food.

At this moment, all eyes were fixed on Chen Xia, wanting to see what he was up to.

Chen Xia opened the lid. With a flick of his hand, a slender flying sword appeared and he reached in to stir the contents around.

"Just about done," he nodded before abruptly shooting out a torrent of flames to slam onto the pill cauldron. The fire instantly raged violently, beginning to melt down the entire cauldron.

This was not reckless.

It was actually a proper pill refining technique called Flame Burst, using extreme heat to raise the temperature and quicken the evaporation and fusion of medicinal essences.

This method wasn't too difficult, but seemed very odd with Chen Xia's application.

It looked more like he was... stir frying.

Elder Patriarch of Armor Wood Mountain actually started laughing out loud, his face full of ridicule. "I thought Starry Sky Pill Sect had brought an amazing alchemist, but turns out he's not an alchemist at all, but a cook! Hahaha!"

The other cultivators also couldn't hold back their laughter. Chen Xia's pill refining did look an awful lot like cooking, especially the flame burst technique. Igniting the fire was one thing, but why keep stirring the cauldron around?

That wasn't normal.

The pill fragrance in the cauldron gradually dissipated until there was no aroma left, yet Chen Xia still kept stirring.

Elder Patriarch of Armor Wood Mountain didn't even try to hide the mockery on his face now. "It's already burned to ruins, and you still call this pill refining? I don't even know what level of medicinal pill this is. It would be too embarrassing if it was just an inferior spirit pill that got wrecked."

"On the other hand, I had looked down on you all too much. I was going to call you down to compare with the superior grade Dao pill I have almost completed refining. But what a disappointment this turned out to be."

Chen Xia suddenly raised his head, his expression solemn as he glared at Elder Patriarch of Armor Wood Mountain and shouted,

"With your ten thousand year lifespan as sacrifice, become pill!"

Elder Patriarch of Armor Wood Mountain stared blankly for a moment before quickly regaining his mocking smile, about to retort.

Boom!

A violent thunderclap resounded.

Dense, countless bolts of lightning covered the entire sky. Among them were all sizes of tribulation thunder dragons swirling around, and right in the center was a thin emerald green flood dragon peeking out.

It exuded a terrifying aura!

"What is this? Why is there such a vast tribulation thunder?"

"That's a pill dragon! A pill dragon! It's been tens of thousands of years since a pill dragon has appeared!"

"Just what kind of pill could summon such a monstrous tribulation thunder? The Starry Sky Pill Sect alchemist has truly succeeded in pill refining, but...how is this possible?!"

"Deviating from the grand schemes of the world, violating the grand principles of nature!"

Elder Patriarch of Armor Wood Mountain looked up at the pill dragon in the sky, his expression turning bewildered. After a long pause, he slowly shifted his gaze back to Chen Xia on the ground.

Chen Xia smiled lightly at him and nodded slowly, "Thank you."