Not long after the Amethyst Winged Lion King left, everyone's gaze settled on Lu Changfeng.
More precisely, their gazes settled on the pill in Lu Changfeng's hand, which gave off a soft sheen.
Jia Xingtian stared unblinkingly at the pill, his breathing growing rapid. "Lord Lu, is this the Sect Breaking Pill?"
Seeing his reaction, Lu Changfeng nodded and quickly handed the pill over. "That's right. The Sect Breaking Pill is ready."
"Just find a suitable time to take it. It should help you break through your bottleneck."
Jia Xingtian accepted the pill with trembling hands and cradled it carefully in his palms, so excited that he nearly lost his footing.
It really was a Sect Breaking Pill!
The thing he had dreamed of obtaining now rested in his palms. As Jia Xingtian gazed at the round, plump pill, his eyes grew a little red.
After all, he had been stuck at the peak of Nine-Star Dou Emperor for so many years that even he could no longer remember how long it had been.
Day and night, he had longed to break through, trying countless methods only to fail. Now, a single pill could resolve the problem that had plagued him for decades!
"Thank you, Lord Lu! Thank you, Lord Lu!" Jia Xingtian bowed repeatedly, his voice catching slightly.
"I will never forget your kindness to the Imperial Family for as long as I live, Lord Lu!"
Everyone beside him wore an envious expression, their eyes fixed on the Sect Breaking Pill in Jia Xingtian's hands.
As the president of the Alchemist Guild, Fa Ma naturally knew what a Sect Breaking Pill meant. Such pills were exceedingly rare throughout the Northwest Continent, and the alchemists capable of refining them could be counted on one's fingers.
Now Jia Xingtian had one in his hands. He only needed to take it to become the Jia Ma Empire's first Dou Zong expert.
At that thought, Fa Ma was filled with emotion. He wondered whether he would ever have the chance to come into contact with a pill of this caliber in his lifetime.
Pill King Gu He's expression was even more complicated. His gaze remained fixed on the Sect Breaking Pill, indescribable emotions surging in his heart.
They were both alchemists, and he was a Sixth-Tier Alchemist, yet the other man could casually refine a pill that he could not.
Moreover, the other man was a Seventh-Tier Alchemist in his early twenties, an entire major tier above him.
As Gu He dwelled on this, he could not help giving a bitter laugh. How could the gulf between people be so vast? Meanwhile, Hai Bodong stood beside them, gazing at the Sect Breaking Pill with envy filling his heart as well.
Although he had recovered his strength as a Peak Nine-Star Dou Emperor, he was stuck at that same bottleneck. If he could get his hands on a Sect Breaking Pill too, perhaps he could also break through to the Dou Zong realm.
But Hai Bodong also knew that such things could not be rushed. After all, recovering his strength was already an immense stroke of luck. Once Lu Changfeng handed the pill to Jia Xingtian, he paid no further attention to everyone's reactions.
He then turned to glance in the direction the Amethyst Winged Lion King had left, his gaze settling on something on the ground.
Before leaving, the Amethyst Winged Lion King had placed something beside his feet: an enormous lingzhi, lustrous white all over and giving off a rich medicinal fragrance.
Lu Changfeng walked over, bent down, and picked it up for a look, his brows lifting slightly. A thousand-year lingzhi-and a very old one at that. It looked at least several hundred years old.
If used in medicine, this lingzhi would indeed make a fine supplementary ingredient.
That Amethyst Winged Lion King certainly knew how to curry favor. He had even known to bring something as tribute. After putting the lingzhi into his Storage Ring, Lu Changfeng felt quite satisfied.
Jia Xingtian also caught sight of the lingzhi and could not help exclaiming, "The Amethyst Winged Lion King actually brought a thousand-year lingzhi?"
"That is an extremely precious medicinal ingredient. Your ability to tame magical beasts fills me with admiration as well, Lord Lu."
Hai Bodong, standing nearby, was also visibly astonished. He had just seen the Amethyst Winged Lion King obediently bow his head before Lu Changfeng and call him Master.
A sixth-rank magical beast, an overlord of the Magical Beast Mountain Range, had been tamed just like that? What kind of strength did that take!
Hai Bodong had lived for so many years and seen no small number of powerful experts, yet he had never heard of anyone subduing a sixth-rank magical beast in a place like the Jia Ma Empire.
Fa Ma, standing to one side, could not help remarking, "To have achieved so much at such a young age, Lord Lu, your future prospects are boundless."
"This is the first time in my life that I have seen someone subdue a magical beast of the Amethyst Winged Lion King's caliber."
Gu He stood silently to one side, but the way he looked at Lu Changfeng had completely changed. Before, he had still been somewhat unconvinced, thinking that a twenty-year-old could not possibly be much stronger than him.
Yet after seeing him refine a Sect Breaking Pill with his own eyes, and then seeing the Amethyst Winged Lion King bow in submission to him, that lingering defiance had long since vanished like smoke and clouds.
Someone like this was simply beyond comparison with him; the gulf was far too vast. Lu Changfeng, however, paid no attention to their complicated gazes, merely remarking casually, "I subdued the Amethyst Winged Lion King in passing while I was in the Magical Beast Mountain Range. It wasn't anything remarkable. The lingzhi he brought is rather good, though. I can use it to refine other pills later."
His words were as light as drifting clouds and a gentle breeze, yet they stirred towering waves in the hearts of everyone present.
Subdued in passing? He had subdued the sixth-rank Amethyst Winged Lion King in passing?
Probably only someone of Lord Lu's caliber could say such a thing. Had anyone else said it, they would only have thought he was boasting.
But coming from Lord Lu, those words left them with nothing but profound awe.
Jia Xingtian carefully put away the Sect Breaking Pill, then bowed to Lu Changfeng once again.
"Lord Lu, I will remember today's kindness. If you ever need anything, the Imperial Family will spare no effort to assist you."
After this offer, Lu Changfeng waved a hand without saying anything more, then turned to leave.
The medicinal ingredients had been provided, and the pill had been refined, so there was nothing else for him to do here.
Seeing him about to leave, Hai Bodong hurried forward a step and cupped his hands. "Lord Lu, I will certainly pay you a visit another day to thank you in person. Since you still have matters to attend to today, I won't trouble you any further."
Lu Changfeng nodded at that, then walked out of the great hall without looking back.
Only after his figure disappeared beyond the doorway did everyone in the hall let out a long breath. Jia Xingtian, in particular, lowered his head and felt the Sect Breaking Pill tucked against his chest, unable to suppress the smile on his face.
He quickly turned toward Fa Ma and Gu He and asked with a smile.
"Would you two care to stay for a meal?"
Hearing this, Fa Ma and Gu He exchanged a glance, then both smiled and shook their heads.
Jia Xingtian did not press them to stay. His mind was entirely occupied with the pill, and he wished he could enter seclusion and break through right that instant.
After seeing everyone off, Jia Xingtian immediately ordered a cultivation chamber sealed off, seemingly unable to wait any longer to take the pill and begin his breakthrough.