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Knock knock—
A crisp round of knocking sounded, and there was no need to guess who it was; Jiang Fengwu opened the door with a smile.
Li Zhirui did not enter but stood at the doorway with a smile, "I wonder if Taoist Jiang would do the honor of attending the pill appreciation conference?"
"Of course," Jiang Fengwu replied with a smile, "How could I miss such an important day for Li?"
Their relationship, although not yet official, was an open secret to both of them, only a suitable opportunity away from piercing through that last barrier.
"Please follow !" Li Zhirui led the way, smiling as they both boarded the sa spirit boat and returned to the Li family.
At that very mont, other Golden Core cultivators had already arrived, and the first thing they noticed was the strikingly beautiful Jiang Fengwu.
The person held no crooked thoughts; after all, they were all Golden Core cultivators, and offending one another could bring about troubles.
What surprised them was that they had never seen this Golden Core female cultivator before!
Golden Core cultivators are known for their remarkable mory—once they et soone, they never forget, especially a rarer female cultivator.
"Li, who is this fellow cultivator?"
Li Zhirui imdiately introduced them, "This is Taoist Jiang Fengwu, and this is Single Frost of the Purple Fla Sect."
"Taoist Jiang cos from a loose cultivator background and has only recently broken through, which is why Single Frost does not recognize her."
"A loose cultivator?!" Surprise flashed in Single Frost's eyes. If he rembered correctly, the last loose cultivator to reach the Golden Core Realm was seventy or eighty years ago!
"It seems Taoist Jiang must be a person of extraordinary talent!" After praising her, Single Frost imdiately asked, "Would Taoist Jiang be willing to beco a Guest Elder at our Purple Fla Sect? The terms are all negotiable!"
Even if it cost a million spirit stones, bringing Jiang Fengwu back to the Purple Fla Sect would be worth it.
However, Single Frost knew it was unlikely. The Li family had likely already taken asures to win her over.
"I appreciate the offer from Single Frost, but I do not intend to join any other factions for the ti being," said Jiang Fengwu, plainly declining.
But these words only brightened Single Frost's eyes—that ant there was still a chance!
"Single Frost, we should go inside first. We can sit down and talk about whatever matters you have, alright?" Li Zhirui said sowhat helplessly.
Given the current status of their relationship, he could not say much, leaving Single Frost to continue his attempts to win over Jiang Fengwu.
After the group entered, the Golden Core cultivators continued to arrive one after another, and upon entering, their gaze would invariably turn to Jiang Fengwu.
At first, Li Zhirui would take the initiative to introduce her, but he gradually stopped unless soone ca forward to inquire.
Single Frost also knew when to stop, perhaps not wanting other powers to know that Jiang Fengwu was still on her own, to avoid competition from them.
But what he did not know was that although Jiang Fengwu had not joined the Li family as a Guest Elder, she had many ties with Li Zhirui and was unlikely to join the Purple Fla Sect or any other faction.
Once the Alchemy Master from Shen Leishan arrived, all invited by the Li family were present.
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The Pill Refining Conference was naturally centered around Spirit Pills, hence all the participants were Golden Core Realm Alchemists from various powers, including two third-order Alchemy Masters.
Cultivation level and pill refining grade are not necessarily connected, because the higher the grade of the Spirit Pill, the more difficult it is to refine, requiring increasingly rare Spiritual Objects, and so on. Many Golden Core Cultivators try hard but are simply unable to produce third-order Spirit Pills.
"Thank you, fellow Daoists, for gracing this Pill Refining Conference with your presence. I won't waste ti with idle chatter, so without further ado, I will present the Spirit Pills I have refined for you to appraise. Should there be any shortcomings, fellow Daoists please feel free to speak your minds directly," as the main character of the conference, it was naturally Li Zhirui who presided.
Following his words, one after another, the Li family's younger generation ca forward holding trays, each arranged with ten small jade bottles.
Each small jade bottle contained a Spirit Pill—five first-order Spirit Pills, three second-order Spirit Pills, and two third-order Spirit Pills.
"Fellow Daoists may begin appraising from the first jade bottle on your left hand side," inside it was a Jade Spirit Pill.
"Pill Pattern?!"
The crowd, following Li Zhirui's instruction, started to take out the Spirit Pills. A pill with a sleek luster and a mysterious pattern appeared in their sight.
All present were knowledgeable, recognizing the pill at first glance, prompting a wave of exclamations.
Even the two third-order Alchemy Masters' pupils shrank sharply, for they had imrsed themselves in the Alchemy Dao for years, only occasionally producing pill-patterned Spirit Pills while refining first or second-order ones.
But how old was Li Zhirui?! And with nearly fifty Golden Cores present, his ability to produce so many at once probably wasn't just a fluke!
The remaining four first-order Spirit Pills, though not exhibiting any Pill Patterns, impressively had almost no dicinal toxin, which internally astonished everyone.
Jiang Fengwu, while not an Alchemist herself, was knowledgeable about the subject, her beautiful eyes lit with admiration, and her gaze towards Li Zhirui filled with tender affection.
The next second-order Spirit Pills, though containing more dicinal toxin and not as stunning as the first, were of a noticeably higher grade, and even so, they far surpassed the others.
Among them, perhaps only the elder Alchemist could match them.
But that was the result of hundreds of years of accumulated alchemy experience, and couldn't be compared to Li Zhirui's innate talent.
As for the last two, containing the third-order Vitality Pill and Revitalizing Pill, they had anticipated the quality, but upon seeing the third-order Spirit Pills in person, they couldn't help but exclaim in amazent.
One person, unable to wait, promptly swallowed a Vitality Pill to assimilate its effects, and seeing this, the others did not hesitate, for most among them rarely had a chance to procure a third-order Spirit Pill.
Thus, the great hall suddenly beca very quiet, with Li Zhirui and his clanspeople waiting for everyone to co back to their senses.
Half an hour quickly passed, and everyone opened their eyes, filled with reluctance and anticipation.
"Fellow Daoist's level of alchemy is truly breathtaking. What virtue or capability have we to judge fellow Daoist's work?" said a Golden Core as soon as everyone awoke, unable to resist voicing his admiration.
Li Zhirui quickly waved his hands, humbly saying, "Fellow Daoist Zhang is too kind, you flatter too much."
"Li, you mustn't be so modest, I speak nothing but the truth; if you don't believe , you can ask the other Daoists."
"Yes, Li, your skill far surpasses that of us!"
"A Spirit Pill with hardly any dicinal toxin, it must be close to forming a Pill Pattern, right?"
The other Golden Core Cultivators also started to speak one after another, agreeing. They weren't foolish—they clearly saw that Li Zhirui was a highly gifted Alchemy Master with imasurable future achievents, and they naturally wanted to curry favor now.
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