323: Chapter 282 323: Chapter 282 The tea that Jiang Tang carried around had them all smelling the rich spiritual energy emanating from it, making them all involuntarily swallow their saliva, craving a cup for themselves.
But not a single person dared to voice their desire, only fixing their gazes on Jiang Tang as they continued to swallow their saliva incessantly.
Jiang Tang, as if he hadn’t noticed, leisurely sipped his tea; amidst the disciple’s silence, he didn’t say a word.
The disciple guarding the gate stared at Jiang Tang and swallowed his saliva just like the others, thinking to himself that he had never seen tea with such spiritual energy in all his years.
Every time a disciple who tended the Spirit Field delivered their goods, he would inspect them, but he had never encountered tea leaves or Spirit Grass with such potent spiritual energy.
“Elder Jiang Tang, what kind of tea is this?
Why does it smell so fragrant?”
The gatekeeper voiced what everyone was thinking; everyone wanted to know what exactly this tea was and why even the air smelled so richly of spiritual energy.
All eyes were on Jiang Tang, eager to hear his answer, and even the eldest senior brother was curious.
“It’s just some mixed tea.
The leaves haven’t been named yet; I honestly don’t know what kind of tea this is.
So, do you all want to have a cup?”
In the living room, everyone except the eldest senior brother nodded, indicating their desire for a cup.
“Not a chance, this tea is expensive,” Jiang Tang declared in a manner that made him seem stingy, a statement that everyone except the eldest senior brother dared not refute.
The eldest senior brother, upon seeing Jiang Tang’s smack-worthy face, rolled his eyes in annoyance and said,
“Tsk tsk, such stinginess from an elder.
To think you can’t bear to share a cup of tea with your juniors!
I’ve heard that Elder Jiang Tang has made quite a bit of money.
Why not share a bit with your disciples?”
“Why should I give you tea?
I didn’t get a cup of tea when I came here; oh, right, I did have breakfast in the elder’s courtyard, but that must’ve been arranged by the Peak Master!
I gave him a good amount of my expensive wine last night, and I haven’t even made my money back yet.”
Jiang Tang was doing this on purpose, taking pleasure in seeing the eldest senior brother’s scowl turn as dark as coal.
For some reason, he deliberately wanted to provoke the eldest senior brother.
Though they had no past grudges, the hostile look in the eldest senior brother’s eyes told him that he was getting in someone’s way.
Jiang Tang intentionally acted this way, inwardly laughing and finding it quite amusing.
This was the power of strength; as long as you were strong enough in the Cultivation World and had money, you would have status.
Even if you infuriated someone to the point that they bled from seven orifices, it wouldn’t be your fault, but theirs for not being strong enough.
As expected, the eldest senior brother was so furious that his eyes bulged, about to explode with anger, but was held back by some of his fellow disciples.
Given this person’s brazen attitude, everyone assumed he had the capability to back it up.
Not having fully gauged Jiang Tang’s strength, they refrained from taking any action against him, holding back their ire.
“Elder Jiang Tang, we heard that the Sect Leader ordered you to teach us alchemy.
I wonder, Elder, could you enlighten us?”
After hearing what the disciple said, Jiang Tang drained his cup of tea and stored the tea set inside his Storage Bag, then arrogantly responded,
“Alright!
Let’s get to the point.
Before I teach you Alchemy, I need to assess your skills.
Don’t say I didn’t warn you—if your alchemy is pathetic, even with my instructions, you won’t be able to learn.”
“You…”
The words Jiang Tang uttered rendered the eldest senior brother choking with irritation, nearly lashing out physically, forgetting that his own abilities were inferior.
Again, the eldest senior brother was restrained by his fellow disciples, with all the force he wanted to unleash thwarted by their intervention.
“Fine, let’s open our eyes wide and see just how skilled you are.
Let’s go…”
The eldest senior brother shoved his junior brethren’s hands aside and then gestured for everyone to follow him as he took the lead toward the Alchemy Room.
Seeing that someone had already taken the lead, Jiang Tang naturally followed at the back.
These people lacked special Alchemy Furnaces and Fire Spirits, making it impossible for them to practice alchemy anytime and anywhere outdoors.
They had no choice but to seek out a designated location for alchemy, which was in an Alchemy Room.
There are private single rooms as well as large halls for everyone to practice alchemy together.
These alchemy rooms can also be rented to individuals within the Immortal Sect in exchange for Spirit Stones.
Such a large sect sustains so many people, some of whom are on missions, or specifically serve the senior masters or those of high status.
Each peak has its own rules, just like Refining Artifacts Peak.
If disciples want to craft high-quality Magic Artifacts, they must still give Spirit Stones privately to the disciples of Refining Artifacts Peak as a machining fee.
With so many people entering the Alchemy Room, those who were already inside practicing alchemy didn’t stop their actions and continued with their work.
Jiang Tang quietly observed those disciples practicing alchemy; their techniques were learned from the sect’s secret manuals.
The pills they produced were only of low or medium quality, and the most impressive were advanced.
“You all don’t need to wait for them anymore, start practicing alchemy over here where there’s no one, and let me see your skills.
What are the shortcomings?”
Jiang Tang was actually getting them to practice alchemy.
Those who didn’t respect him, if taught to practice alchemy without understanding to cherish their time and opportunity.
He certainly didn’t want to do the work, only to have senior personnel say he hadn’t made an effort.
“Well, if we’re doing it, let’s do it.
Let’s see if you can talk up a storm.” The eldest senior brother took out an Alchemy Furnace from his Storage Bag, placed it next to the fire source, and drew the fire into the Alchemy Furnace.
Then he took out some herbs and began the refining process.
The other disciples who had followed suit, seeing that the eldest senior brother was already working, those who had their own Pill Furnaces took them out; those without them worked in the publicly available furnaces in the hall.
Jiang Tang’s mouth curled into a slight smile.
He knew there was no advantage in trying to outstubborn him.
Moreover, he was there to guide them, yet they treated him with such an attitude.
The fact that he didn’t simply walk away was already giving them face.
Seeing so many people come in to practice alchemy, those in the Alchemy Room who had been cultivating already finished their pills and stopped their work to observe the newcomers, even the gatekeeper appeared.
Those who were in the know recognized the background of this pretty-faced young man; he was an Elder who had dropped in unexpectedly.
But those who had always been in the Alchemy Room didn’t know, they just saw a new face come in, this young man who spoke so arrogantly, and yet even the eldest senior brother didn’t dare to speak out.
Seeing that even the eldest senior brother had to bear such humiliation, this person must be extraordinary.
How could there be such a young man with such good looks at such a young age within their sect?
It is no wonder people from Alchemy Peak did not recognize Jiang Tang.
How could they compare the current appearance of Jiang Tang to his past self?
In just over a month, Jiang Tang had grown a lot and went from having a dark complexion to skin as smooth as a peeled egg, better than a woman’s skin.
Only those who could associate this Jiang Tang with that Jiang Tang would be able to believe that they were the same person.
Indeed, those who knew Jiang Tang from before would never think this could be the same person.
The former Jiang Tang was only at the Qi Cultivation Stage in the sect, and those disciples in the Alchemy Room were lofty figures, with no time to notice such insignificant servant disciples.
Jiang Tang had indeed been in the sect for three years without any opportunity to enter Alchemy Peak.
Previously, he had worked only in the Spirit Fields, where the stewards directly handed in the Spirit Grass grown by servant disciples to claim credit and rewards.
The sweat and labor of the servant disciples were unknown to the upper echelons, and even the ordinary disciples were oblivious.
Jiang Tang was aware that many eyes sized him up, but he was indifferent; he didn’t greet anyone and just leisurely watched those practicing alchemy.
The eldest senior brother, trying to show off, was perhaps a bit too nervous.
Usually adept at alchemy, he wanted to excel, but the attempt backfired due to his anxiety, nearly causing an explosion in his furnace.
The pills produced were merely of low quality, and the disciples watching in the Alchemy Room were somewhat taken aback.
The eldest senior brother’s alchemy was the best among them?
Why was it subpar today?
The other disciples, also nervous about performing well in front of the Elder, somehow produced even poorer pills than before.
After a round of alchemy, those who felt they had not performed well lowered their heads in disappointment.
Only the eldest senior brother was so frustrated that his face reddened, glaring angrily at Jiang Tang, convinced that his poor performance was definitely because of this man before him.
He felt all the stares mocking him, and as the eldest senior brother, failing so miserably in alchemy today must have been the fault of this person.
At that moment, the Alchemy Room was so quiet that only the sound of the flames could be heard.