"Next, the twenty alchemy masters present will use the medicinal materials provided by our Shenmu Sect to refine a sixth-grade spiritual pill—the Ice and Fire Sky-Piercing Pill."

"After everyone has refined the Ice and Fire Sky-Piercing Pill, fellow Daoists from various sects present will provide their evaluations. The top ten people with the best pill quality will be the winners, and the bottom ten will be eliminated."

"If fewer than ten people successfully refine the Ice-Fire Sky-Piercing Pill, they will win directly; those who fail to refine the Ice-Fire Sky-Piercing Pill will be eliminated."

"Now, the second round begins."

As soon as Master Qingmu finished speaking, the disciples of the Shenmu Sect flew into the arena and placed the prepared medicinal herbs in front of the twenty alchemists, including Ye Feng.

Ling Tianxing inspected the medicinal herbs and nodded in satisfaction.

The alchemy furnace prepared by the Shenmu Sect was very ordinary, the worst kind, and practically unusable.

However, the medicinal herbs prepared by the Shenmu Sect for this second round of competition were of very high quality, mostly top-tier selections.

However, at that moment, Ling Tianxing's expression changed slightly.

"Wait! It seems we're missing one medicinal herb!" Ling Tianxing exclaimed.

As soon as Ling Tianxing finished speaking, the other alchemists also spoke up.

"I'm also missing a key ingredient!"

"Me too!"

"What I lack is the Ice and Fire Lingzhi!"

"I don't have the Ice-Fire Lingzhi either!"

"It seems that what everyone is missing is the key ingredient: the Ice and Fire Lingzhi!"

The alchemists present all looked up at Master Qingmu on the high platform, while the people from various sects around the square were also discussing it.

"That's strange. Why is one of the main ingredients missing from the medicinal herbs that the Shenmu Sect prepared in advance? That shouldn't be the case."

“If only one person is missing, it could be said that the disciples of Shenmu Sect were careless when preparing the medicinal materials. But now everyone is missing a key ingredient, which cannot be explained by carelessness.”

"Could it be that the Shenmu Sect did this on purpose?"

"That's probably it!"

"That's just how I feel!"

Sun Muqing, sitting in her seat, glanced at Ye Feng and saw a look of understanding on his face. She immediately knew that Ye Feng had figured something out.

However, Ye Feng was too far away, and Sun Muqing dared not send a telepathic message to Ye Feng rashly, otherwise it would be difficult to explain if people misunderstood it as cheating by providing off-site assistance.

Sun Muqing then looked at Jiang Lingxuan beside her and asked, "Do you know what's going on here?"

“I can think of something,” Jiang Lingxuan said.

"Then hurry up and explain!" Sun Muqing urged.

Jiang Lingxuan said, "Wait a moment, let me take another look..."

As she spoke, Jiang Lingxuan took out a thick book from her bracelet.

The cover of this large book features two bold, elegant characters: Dan Dian!

Upon seeing the book, Sun Muqing's face immediately showed surprise: "Isn't this Aunt Xiyao's alchemy manual? How did it end up here with you?"

“I asked Aunt Xiyao for it. This is a photocopy, not the original.”

Jiang Lingxuan smiled and said, "When I was waiting for Ye Feng in the real world, I had nothing to do, so I started to study alchemy. Aunt Xi Yao saw that I was interested in alchemy, so she lent me her alchemy manual."

"But there's too much content in the alchemy manual. I can't learn it all or remember it all. Besides, the manual is so precious. I don't dare keep it here. If I accidentally damage or lose it, it will be a huge problem. So I made a copy and returned the original to Aunt Xiyao."

"Give me some time to take a look. I remember there's a pill called the Ice and Fire Sky-Piercing Pill in the alchemy manual."

After checking for a while, Jiang Lingxuan's face broke into a broad smile.

"I found it! Look! The Ice and Fire Sky-Piercing Pill is a kind of pill that can break through shackles and bottlenecks. It can use the two opposing forces of ice and fire to create a collision, thereby breaking through the shackles. That's why it's called the Ice and Fire Sky-Piercing Pill."

"However, to refine the Ice and Fire Sky-Piercing Pill, it is not necessary to use only two main ingredients, ice and fire, but three main ingredients!"

"These three main ingredients are Crimson Flame Fern, Ice and Snow Treasure, and Ice and Fire Lingzhi!"

"It also says that the Ice and Fire Sky-Piercing Elixir can be made using only Crimson Flame Fern and Ice Snow Treasure. However, the fire power of Crimson Flame Fern is completely opposite to the ice power of Ice Snow Treasure, and it is difficult to reconcile. It is too difficult to make the Ice and Fire Sky-Piercing Elixir using only these two main ingredients. Therefore, a third main ingredient was added later, namely the Ice and Fire Spirit Mushroom, which has both ice and fire powers."

"The Ice-Fire Lingzhi acts like a buffer zone, allowing the power of the Crimson Flame Fern and the Ice Snow Treasure to gradually merge together, greatly reducing the difficulty of refining the Ice-Fire Sky-Piercing Pill!"

"I know why Master Qingmu arranged it this way, he did it on purpose! He deliberately prevented his disciples from providing the third main ingredient—the Ice-Fire Lingzhi—to increase the difficulty of refining the Ice-Fire Sky-Piercing Pill and test the alchemists present!"

Jiang Lingxuan's words were simple and easy to understand, how could Sun Muqing not understand them?

After hearing Jiang Lingxuan's words, Sun Muqing was filled with emotion.

That old guy, Aoki Masato, seems so easygoing, how could he be so wicked? He's absolutely wicked!

"Master Qingmu, can you give us an explanation? According to the rules of the Alchemy Conference, we can only use the medicinal materials arranged by your Shenmu Sect, but now one of the medicinal materials is missing. How are we supposed to refine the Ice and Fire Sky-Piercing Pill?" Ling Tianxing asked Master Qingmu on the high platform, neither humble nor arrogant.

"Yes, that's right, you have to give us an explanation!"

"You're making things difficult for us!"

"Master Aoki, give me a straight answer!"

Many of the alchemists present started shouting, each revealing an angry expression.

At this moment, Elder Sun Shaoling of Danxia Cave said with a smile, "Fellow Daoists, please don't be so impatient. I roughly know what Qingmu Zhenren's intention is in making this arrangement."

"Oh? Elder Sun, why don't you tell us?" Ling Tianxing immediately looked at Sun Shaoling.

Sun Shaoling continued, "Actually, when the Ice and Fire Sky-Piercing Pill was first discovered, it only had two main ingredients: Crimson Flame Fern and Ice Snow Treasure. It was only later that alchemists added Ice and Fire Lingzhi, a third main ingredient, to reduce the difficulty of refining the Ice and Fire Sky-Piercing Pill, in order to harmonize the medicinal properties of Crimson Flame Fern and Ice Snow Treasure."

"Therefore, as long as you have the skill and the ability, you can still refine the Ice-Fire Sky-Piercing Pill even without the Ice-Fire Spirit Mushroom!"

Sun Shaoling then looked at Ye Feng and asked, "Elder Lin, what do you think?"

Ye Feng nodded and said, "Elder Sun is right. I was just about to explain to all the fellow Daoists present that the Sect Master deliberately did not arrange for the Ice-Fire Spirit Mushroom as the main medicine, probably to test us."