Immortality begins with Becoming an Alchemy Grandmaster

Squeak...

The ancient door, seemingly sealed by dust for ages, emitted an indescribable screech as it was pushed open.

Yet, this was merely a side hall.

Upon stepping inside, Luo Chen stood frozen in place.

The interior, towering like the sky itself, was filled with bookshelves ascending like heavenly steps, each shelf meticulously arranged with books half-illusionary and half-real.

For the first time, Luo Chen vividly understood what it meant to be ”a collection vast as an ocean.”

Could a single side hall really store so many Pill Refinement Classics?

Despite his experience with the Demon Monarch’s Pill Dao inheritance, Luo Chen was privately amazed by Alchemy Saint Chu Yan’s accumulation.

With a wave of his hand, a book, seemingly condensed from white clouds, flew over from the nearest black bookshelf.

Just as it touched his hand, before he had a chance to open it, a soft ”Hmm?” echoed within the hall.

”Hmm?”

”This book?”

Luo Chen carefully rubbed the book, which seemed almost alive.

The Red Eyes Golden Pupils gazed down, and the clouds wrapping the book could no longer conceal its true form.

Luo Chen slowly raised the book, concentrating his gaze.

”This is actually an elixir!”

Unexpectedly, what appeared outwardly as a conventional book was, in essence, an elixir.

Its appearance was crafted through remarkably sophisticated illusion techniques, manipulating Spirit Qi to deceive the observer.

”Alchemy Saint Chu Yan’s methods?”

”Did she possess such profound illusion technique skills?”

In the Immortal Cultivation World, illusion techniques were often confused with soul techniques, but they were fundamentally different.

The essence of illusion techniques is to manipulate the five senses, causing people to make false judgments about what they see, hear, smell, touch, or even taste.

On the other hand, soul techniques target the very foundation of the divine soul and can be insidious even with the senses blocked.

Like Luo Chen’s once-prided ”Mirror Flower, Water Moon,” which was essentially a Water Type illusion technique causing visual misinterpretation through the flow of Spirit Qi.

Because of their fundamental differences, even when Luo Chen tried to optimize this technique into a soul technique, its power was still limited.

Against cultivators of a lower realm, it was invincible.

Against those of a higher realm, however, it often backfired, sometimes even harming his own divine soul.

This flaw was only slightly improved after Luo Chen later developed the ”Ghost-God Evading Technique” by studying techniques from the Desolate Beast Ghost Immortal Tower.

But the ”Ghost-God Evading Technique” was based on self-defense, misleading a cultivator’s divine consciousness and visual judgment. Thus, when facing beings like Huang Man and Bi Zheng with divine souls comparable to that of a Great Demon Emperor, it fell short. In battle, he rarely considered using it.

Let’s not digress.

At present, the illusion techniques left by Alchemy Saint Chu Yan have clearly reached an extraordinary level.

Using the elixir itself as a foundation, manipulating Spirit Qi to deceive anyone who touches the elixir, regardless of their sense of touch, vision, or even when taking a close sniff, made it hard for one to discern its true nature.

It was only because Luo Chen possessed those well-trained Red Eyes Golden Pupils that he could realize the truth in such a short time.

”Leaving behind a batch of elixirs, why go to such lengths?”

”Is it showing off skills, or does she have other intentions?”

While holding the ”Alchemy Scriptures,” Luo Chen fell into contemplation.

But his contemplation lasted only a moment before he laughed at himself.

He came here to gain early insight into the Alchemy Saint Hall trials, just like cramming before an exam, so why ponder over the materials and techniques used by the setter to prepare the revision resources?

Shaking his head, Luo Chen lowered his gaze and began reading the Alchemy Scriptures.

The elixir in his hand was familiar to him, as it was merely the most common First Order Pill — the Qi Nurturing Pill.

It was also the type of pill Luo Chen consumed the most during his Qi Refinement Stage.

The Alchemy Scriptures recorded everything about the Qi Nurturing Pill!

From its principles and materials to its Pill Refinement Technique, the required control of flame, and even the appearance and color after formation and storage taboos, all were listed in detail.

Such thoroughness meant that even someone with slight talent in pill refinement, armed with this book, would be as if guided by a master.

Suppose with sufficient practice, one could easily grasp the fundamentals.

Luo Chen had never seen such a meticulous summarization of a low-order pill, so even though the order wasn’t high, he found it fascinating.

Yet, despite his interest, it was, after all, just a First Order Pill, and Luo Chen quickly scanned through it.

He looked up at the thousands upon thousands of alchemy scriptures.

”Are these all revision materials?”

”I was indeed overconfident earlier, delaying this scan for too long.”

”With only a few months left until the Alchemy Saint Hall trials begin, I should still have enough time, right?”

Luo Chen voiced his uncertainties, but within his heart, confidence brimmed.

For a pill refiner of their masterful level, the number of pills never posed a problem, only the high-order elixirs beyond their Pill Refinement Technique’s rank did.

Especially considering Luo Chen’s Dao of Alchemy foundation, which had been tested by the Demon Monarch’s Alchemy Realm.

Therefore, he was not overly worried.

One by one, the alchemy scriptures were absorbed, the specifics of each elixir flooding into his mind like a deluge.

As time passed, the number of unread alchemy scriptures in the side hall dwindled.

From the vast oceans of First Order Pills to the few Fourth Order Pills, Luo Chen’s understanding grew ever deeper.

For most, cramming so much information in such a short period would be overwhelming due to the sheer volume of knowledge.

But Luo Chen felt no discomfort.

His endurance against pain and his enormous divine soul were more than sufficient to support such a wealth of knowledge.

And amidst this force-fed reading, Luo Chen’s gains, though seemingly minimal, were indeed substantial.