Immortality begins with Becoming an Alchemy Grandmaster

Chapter 1097: Chapter 432: Am I Going to Undergo Core Formation?_2

Luo Chen laughed heartily, unconcerned.

He had long seen through this girl’s indifference; she was merely emulating her master, Jueqing Fairy.

Her true personality must be different.

He himself had been cultivating painstakingly for too long, merely jesting to pass the time when idling.

His gaze landed on the wooden tray the other was holding, and he curiously asked, ”What is this?”

”The Elder of our sect, Cheng Yan, a vestment with the sect’s emblem, two sets in total for changing. An official elder’s identity token—your previous one was temporary. Plus, a storage bag.”

”Originally, there were also supplies of spirit stones, elixirs, magic tools, and talismans.”

”But the Supreme Elder said you don’t lack elixirs. And since our sect has a Jade Dew Pill trade with yours, there’s no need to issue spirit stones. She said you would understand all these.”

There were seven items in total; they were very well organized.

Luo Chen, with great interest, asked, ”What about my magic tool and talisman?”

”You lack magic tools?”

Dan Taijun looked at Luo Chen speechlessly.

All right!

Luo Chen indeed didn’t lack them; his magic items were plentiful.

”As for the talisman, it’s actually the Ice Divine Jade made from profound ice, used to prevent disciples from demonic deviation. My master had sent it to you a long time ago.”

Luo Chen touched the Ice Divine Jade at his chest.

This jade was indeed a magic tool carved with the art of talismans; to call it a talisman was not wrong.

Luo Chen accepted the vestment, token, and storage bag.

If he were to wear them all, then he would truly be the Ice Castle’s Guest Elder.

”Why suddenly think of bringing these?”

Faced with this question, Dan Taijun’s expression was not great.

”In three months, the sect will host a Core Formation Ceremony for Bingbo Fairy, and as an elder, though you’ve said in advance you won’t attend, what if? Thus, the Supreme Elder commanded my master to ensure these necessary items were sent to you.”

Luo Chen suddenly understood.

Suddenly, he grasped why the other party wasn’t in a good mood today.

Bingbo Fairy, a name bigger than Dan Taijun.

She even snatched the position of budding cultivator, overwhelming the peers in Ice Castle.

Now, she has achieved Core Formation in advance and is about to take over the position of Sect Leader of Ice Castle; how could Dan Taijun be in good spirits?

He shook his head, ”Actually, you’re not too far behind either. I observe your energy is long-lasting and your spirit power is well-concealed, you’re probably only about fifty years away from achieving Foundation Establishment Stage Finalization. By then...”

The earlier part of his statement pleased Dan Taijun quite well.

But later... what did he mean by ’only about fifty years’?

How many fifty years does a Foundation Establishment True Cultivator have in a lifetime?

She glared at Luo Chen and walked away.

Luo Chen chuckled and shook his head, indifferent to her attitude.

Looking at the elder’s token in his hand, which had the emblem of a sparkling snowflake and was engraved with a ready-to-launch Second Order defense spell—Ice Shield Technique, Luo Chen fell silent.

The reason for his silence was of course the current situation of Ice Castle.

Having spent over three years in Ice Prison, he had gradually come to understand the situation of Ice Castle from the few people he had encountered.

Ice Castle was strong; even so, given the dangerous environment of the Yu Ding Realm where the sect was located, the strength of its cultivators was somewhat stronger than those in Qingdan Valley and Ailao Mountain.

But it was the barren environment that hindered their further development.

Just keeping up with the needs of nine Golden Core Cultivators had already been extremely difficult.

And now, Bingbo Fairy had also advanced to the Golden Core Period.

This, for Ice Castle which could not expand its territory, added insult to injury.

Sometimes, having more powerhouses wasn’t necessarily better.

It also depends on whether the internal resources could sustain these powerhouses.

Otherwise.

It may instead hold back the cultivation of high-order cultivators.

To Luo Chen’s knowledge, Ice Castle’s revenues mainly came from running their own Immortal City and controlling about twenty districts.

Xuelian District, for instance, was one they had developed themselves.

Beyond that.

Ice Castle also sold some resources special to Tianshan, mostly relating to water and ice types.

Because the sect’s finances were tight, most high-order female cultivators in Ice Castle often learned a craft to earn some spirit stones for personal use.

Like Jueqing Fairy who excelled in talisman-making, and the Supreme Elder Cang Long, who possessed unparalleled healing techniques, and so forth.

But these were only personal income.

For the whole sect, they were kept separate.

”Actually, looking at this, the situation in Ice Castle is also the condition of most sects in the Yu Ding Realm.”

”This realm is abundant in spirit qi, rich in resources, yet human cultivators are emerging incessantly. Even the most abundant resources cannot withstand the consumption of such a vast number of cultivators.”

”To solve this problem, either internal strife needs to reduce some cultivators to free up more resources—Yu Ding Sword Sect is evidently engaged in such activities, hence they disregard the destruction of the Flame Alliance.”

”Or, the only other option is to expand externally, to make the pie bigger.”

”And expanding externally...”

Faintly, Luo Chen thought of a term.

Open War!

But quickly, he dismissed the idea.

If Luo Yun Sect conducted an Open War, they might meet the requirements, but the strength of Ice Castle was far too lacking.

Most importantly, they lacked a Nascent Soul True Master!

...

Time slowly elapsed.

The Bingbo Golden Core Ceremony was drawing ever closer.

Inside the entire Ice Castle, a lively atmosphere permeated.

Teams of female cultivators came and went, cleaning and repairing the sect, arranging the celebration venue.

The Ice Castle’s Cold Ice Immortal City, though ranking last among the top ten immortal cities, saw a significant increase in visitor traffic over these months.

Cultivators from other sects, led by their elders, continuously arrived at the Cold Ice Immortal City.

Even the hostile Yu Ding Sword Sect had dispatched an envoy there.

It was unclear whether, at the ceremony, they would cause trouble or offer congratulations.

But the actions of the Yu Ding Sword Sect made many realize.

The long-standing internal strife in Yu Ding might see a turning point at the Bingbo Golden Core Ceremony.

Either the conflict would escalate,

or a truce would be called for healing and recuperation.

The disturbance in the outer world was of little concern to Luo Chen, who was solely focused on purification.

That day.

Luo Chen was seated cross-legged on an ice bed, his body suddenly trembling violently.

The Spirit Qi fluctuation around his body trembled fiercely.

It was initially expanding outward, but suddenly it reversed!

Not only the Spirit Qi dispersed externally, but even the Spirit Power within the meridians, acupoints, and internal organs was reversing!

This scene was by no means a sign of breaking through.

In his heart, Luo Chen used Inner View on himself, his Spirit Consciousness firmly focused within the Sea of Qi.

That vortex!

The vortex that appeared after the minor accomplishment of the ”Cleanse Origin Pill Formula.”

Over the years, this vortex had been continuously expanding and rotating.

Whenever Luo Chen swallowed an elixir, the refined Spirit Power would prioritize entering this vortex.

After being cleansed and purified within it, it transformed into even more refined and pure Spirit Power.

The Pill Poison contained in the elixirs, however, would be expelled from the body.

For years, Luo Chen had grown accustomed to the presence of this vortex formed by the Pill Technique, not paying much attention to it.

What concerned him was that the ”Cleanse Origin Pill Formula” had been stuck at [Grandmaster 999/1000] for many years, yet progress was hard to make.

This was a rare occurrence.

Usually for any technique or Pill Technique, once the proficiency was enough,

it would naturally reach Perfection.

But uniquely for the ”Cleanse Origin Pill Formula,” it had been stuck for years without reaching Perfection.

This strange state continued for a long time.

So long that eventually, Luo Chen let it be.

But he never expected.

Today, the ”Cleanse Origin Pill Formula” suddenly achieved Perfection!

It came so unexpectedly, unexpectedly enough to catch him off guard.

At this moment, within the Sea of Qi!

The vortex, originally rotating clockwise, began to rotate counterclockwise in a completely different manner.

And its size was crazily expanding.

All the Spirit Power within his body was gathering towards that vortex.

That Spirit Power, refined over many years to the point of even liquefying into Spirit Liquid.

At this moment, countless Spirit Liquid surged like ocean waves,

rushing towards the vortex, pouring into it.

Gathering!

Compressing!

Becoming unified!

A vague and unclear elixir pill appeared within the Sea of Qi.

Faintly, a mysterious feeling emerged in Luo Chen’s mind.

Sun and moon in the furnace, creation becomes clear, bringing forth existence from nothingness, the gathering of dragon and tiger—this is the scene of the Medium Grade Golden Core Secret Art recorded in ”The Understanding of Nanshan.”

”Am I about to form a core?”