Immortality begins with Becoming an Alchemy Grandmaster

Chapter 1117: Chapter 439: Outwardly Strong but Inwardly Weak, Pill Fragrance Recognition (Seeking Monthly Votes)_2

However, her confidence seemed not only limited to her understanding of the Body Refinement.

Seeing the three of them indifferent to Luo Chen’s Body Refinement Stage, Fu Jiusheng felt it highly inappropriate.

If it were merely a tough exterior combined with an immature mind, that would be one thing.

But Luo Chen’s performance today, he didn’t seem like one devoid of intelligence.

Were these three simply unconcerned, or did they possess sufficient confidence?

”Actually, you shouldn’t be deceived by that Luo Chen.”

Suddenly!

Rogue Cultivator Xiao spoke up to remind them.

Under the three’s puzzled expressions, he nodded towards the ground at the entrance.

The three were at a loss and looked reflexively.

The floor was flat, there was nothing there!

But upon close examination, they spotted an anomaly.

The ground seemed to be slightly sloped.

”What is this...” Lady You Sha asked in confusion, ”Great Elder, is the floor of your Lianyun Tower so uneven?”

He Lianyun was taken aback, instinctively asking, ”Caused by Luo Chen?”

Rogue Cultivator Xiao nodded heavily.

”It is widely rumored that Luo Chen’s mastery of Techniques is extremely strong, no less than his Pill Refinement Technique. At first, I thought it was excessive praise, but now it seems, there is indeed some substance to it.”

”When he just entered the Beginner stage, under the pressure of our combined aura, he stood his ground, even managing to contend against the three of us without falling short in the slightest.”

”But in reality, he didn’t withstand it, and left two shallow footprints on the ground.”

”However, with a masterful Cleaning Technique, a casual sweep erased the traces of the footprints.”

”That move, lacking any flashiness, even seemed to carry the intent of seizing the opportunity to challenge, but after my repeated observations, I managed to detect the traces.”

”This Luo Chen, appears to be strong on the outside but weak on the inside!”

Strong on the outside but weak on the inside?

Those four words resounded continuously in everyone’s hearts, linking with Luo Chen’s performance today, and more and more thoughts began to spread and take root.

Inverting guest and host, domineering and rude.

Confident and arrogant, greedy yet seemingly cautious, even having them sign a Blood Essence Contract.

If looked at separately, these all befit his renown in the Yu Ding Realm as the ”Foundation Establishment First Fire Spirit Lord.”

But if viewed together, they seemed somewhat discordant.

And the reason for this discordance was precisely that he was strong on the outside but weak on the inside!

”He is trying to mask his own weakness with an overbearing attitude, in an attempt to dominate this cooperation!”

Once this thought became the unanimous idea in their minds, many doubts were swiftly resolved.

If he was just a powerhouse within the Foundation Establishment category, with the strength of the four, they had no fear even in one-on-one confrontations.

Even if only slightly surpassing them, by joining forces, they could still form a restraint.

Luo Chen’s current state was, to them, extremely favorable.

Moreover!

It is commonly known that Pill Refiners suffer significant loss of Spirit Power and mental energy during Pill Refinement.

When they refine pills outdoors, lacking Earth Fire to aid them, they can only rely on Foundation Establishment True Flame.

In such a case, Luo Chen’s condition would plummet drastically.

Then the threat would be even less.

Thus, the last thing to consider was merely one issue.

As if to confirm, Lady You Sha asked carefully, ”I have given the Nether Origin Pill Recipe to Luo Chen. Could he use it as a basis to develop a new Pill Formula, thereby setting us aside and working independently?”

Facing this question, Fu Jiusheng was the one who answered.

”You’re overthinking it.”

”That is a Third-Order Pill Formula derived from a Divine Transformation Great Power’s ultimate refinement of a Holy Land Pill Recipe. An ordinary Third Order Pill Refiner can’t possibly refine it further.”

”As for Luo Chen, merely a Second Order Pill Refiner, being able to concoct it has already exceeded our expectations. How could he advance even further?”

Receiving a confident response again, Lady You Sha couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief.

Her only bargaining chip was the Pill Formula.

If she were to be sidelined and left to work alone, the loss would outweigh the gain.

”So what next?”

”We will each tend to our own affairs!”

”I will gather the basic materials required to refine the Nether Origin Pill.”

”I need to enter Closed-Door Cultivation for a while, to see if I can reach Foundation Establishment Stage Finalization before we set off.”

”See you in nine years!”

...

Inside Yi Seventh Cave Mansion.

Luo Chen’s eyes were bright and piercing as a large Water Mirror extended shimmering before him.

On it, there were no specific scenes.

Within Tian Lan Immortal City, there is a big formation, and with numerous cultivators, the Water Mirror Technique naturally cannot be used indiscriminately.

However, atop it at this moment, there are four blinking red dots.

A red dot has left Tian Lan Immortal City and is flying towards the far east.

”This is Fu Jiusheng, he has already reached the Foundation Establishment Stage Finalization, so there is no need for closed-door cultivation, only the Core Formation Spirit Pill is missing. But, he is heading east alone; could it be that the growth site of the Nine-patterned Snake Drool Fruit is in that direction?”

Another red dot has also left Tian Lan, but its destination is not far away.

”This is He Lianyun, he should be returning to Lianyun Mountain where the Lianyun Business Union is located.”

The remaining two red dots are moving closer and closer to Luo Chen during their movement.

”They are in Tianlan Peak!”

”These two must be You Ruolan and Rogue Cultivator Xiao, are they trying to use the Spirit Land of Tianlan Peak to push their realm to Foundation Establishment Stage Finalization within nine years?”

Luo Chen muttered to himself.

If He Lianyun and the others were to witness this scene, they would probably be startled.

They had no idea when exactly Luo Chen had tampered with them, such that he could monitor their whereabouts.

This brings us to the gains Luo Chen made during his years of closed-door cultivation.

After finalizing the Second Order general Technique Water Mirror Technique, a rare variation occurred.

That is, people who were marked by Luo Chen, within a thousand li, could be detected by him.

And how to mark them?

The simplest way, of course, was with a Spirit Consciousness Imprint.

However, this kind of marking was easy to detect.

Therefore, Luo Chen, drawing on some of his endowments, developed a different method of marking.

The inspiration came from Mi Shuhua, who had used both Spirit Power and Spirit Consciousness to surveil Luo Chen in the past.

The core of the method was the Pill Fragrance Recognition from Ling Yuzhi’s legacy.

And Luo Chen, having integrated and adapted it, changed it to Pill Fragrance Recognition!

The very moment he stepped into Lianyun Tower and pushed open that room’s door, and after resisting the three people head-on, he had used this technique.

That flick of his sleeve was a stratagem to kill three birds with one stone.

What a joke, his Primordial Third Order body couldn’t possibly be pressed down even a little by the sheer presence of three mere Foundation Establishment Cultivators, could it?

That was nothing but a deliberate show of weakness, stamping footprints only to ostentatiously sweep them away with the Cleaning Technique.

Thereafter, taking the opportunity to challenge, he seized the verbal upper hand and turned the tables.

Finally, when the Cleaning Technique swept away the footprints on the ground, he used his unique method to attach the pill fragrance onto the four individuals.

A Pill Refiner having a pill fragrance about their person was nothing out of the ordinary.

Hence, those few didn’t pay it any mind.

Therefore, Luo Chen was able to cooperate with the Water Mirror Technique to observe the four people’s movements.

”Regrettably, I haven’t delved deeply into this technique. If those people use the Cleaning Technique on themselves a few times when they return, my methods will be dispelled.”

After a sigh, Luo Chen put away the Water Mirror Technique.

For the present, he at least knew the whereabouts of these people.

And through their separation, he could deduce that the four weren’t aligned in purpose.

Otherwise, they would have at least spent the night together in Lianyun Tower.

Instead of parting ways and heading in opposite directions like this.

Knowing that the four of them weren’t in concert made many things much easier for Luo Chen.

All four were by no means weak; within the Foundation Establishment Realm, they were definitely top-tier powerhouses of the first rung.

Even True Disciples of Ascendant Sects and Budding Cultivators of Great Sects could not compare to them.

In a direct contest, they may not be a match.

But in life-and-death struggles, who would prevail is yet to be determined.

If those four joined forces, Luo Chen would really be troubled.

Without the Lei Xian Bead, his reliances were his Third Order physique, Spirit Power and Divine Soul Endowment comparable to a Foundation Establishment Great Perfection Cultivator, and his considerable Technique prowess.

All these attributes combined, dominating the Foundation Establishment stage shouldn’t be a problem.

However, given extreme environments like outdoor pill refinement, it wasn’t quite secure enough.

”Therefore, what I need to concentrate on next falls within this area.”

”Enhance my spell fighting methods, acquire more trump cards to cope with different situations.”

”Study the Nether Origin Pill Recipe! It’s not just to begin learning this pill technique, but if I can infer a relatively suitable recipe and replace the main ingredients, I can forgo their assistance and refine pills for my own use.”

”For the Tianshan Yang-Repleshing Water, I need to visit the Ice Castle as well. It would be quite the joke if they either don’t have it or refuse to give it to me.”

Of the three tasks, the last is the simplest.

The other two are more complicated.

Fortunately, Luo Chen still has nine years, and he isn’t alone!

That night, after a night of hard cultivation in the cultivation room,

The next day, he sent out a message.

Soon, many cultivators from the Luo Tian Creed began to appear frequently in his Immortal Mansion.