An Alchemist's Path to Eternity

Caiyi, who had just gotten out of bed, laughed as she combed her waist-length hair.

”Why? Of course, it’s haunted! Didn’t Senior Sun tell you?”

Luo Chen was shocked. ”Haunted?”

Caiyi tossed her hair back and said, ”Why so surprised? Ghosts are normal in the cultivation world!”

That’s true! This is the cultivation world, not Earth. Why am I so startled?

”It is common knowledge that the inner city is being haunted and that there are more than just a few ghosts,” Caiyi began to explain patiently. ”Anyone who had lived in the inner city long enough could talk about such things.”

The Jade Cauldron Domain had only been established three centuries ago. Before that, this vast region was part of the Eastern Wilderness’s Great Million Mountains.

Four centuries ago, the Jade Cauldron Sword Sect launched a massive campaign to conquer the mountains, pouring immense resources into the war, with sixteen sects participating. Among them, seven were high sects with Nascent Soul cultivators.

The Far East Six Domains also saw contributions from the major sects in the other five domains, sending numerous Foundation Establishment and Golden Core cultivators to the battle.

It took a century of fighting before this domain was fully established three hundred years ago. That century-long war was a brutal fight between humans and demonic beasts, with every inch of land fought over and countless lives lost. In the end, the Jade Cauldron Sword Sect emerged victorious.

Victory was achieved, but the aftermath left many problems unsolved.

For instance, countless ghosts, both human and demonic beast lingered, nearly turning the land into a ghost abyss.

The major sects developed well-established countermeasures to address this situation. Techniques to pacify, disperse, or capture souls emerged in endless variety. As for particularly powerful ghosts that could not be eradicated quickly, the sects resorted to suppression and gradual obliteration.

Today, many large marketplaces in the Jade Cauldron Domain are built atop suppressed powerful ghosts, including ghost generals and ghost kings.

Why was Dahe Market divided into an inner and outer city? It was to concentrate the energy of the spirit veins to obliterate the ghosts suppressed beneath them.

”This place happens to be suppressing a ghost king, and your back-facing room sits right at the formation’s core, so it’s particularly cold,” Caiyi said as she looked at Luo Chen with a playful smile, waiting for him to show a frightened expression.

However, Luo Chen wasn’t a fool. If Old Man Sun could rent him the house and Caiyi could live in the courtyard, it meant there was no real danger.

He thought for a moment and asked, ”Is it a male ghost or a female ghost?”

Caiyi froze, then spat, ”A perverted ghost!”

She stopped joking and explained seriously, ”Don’t worry. This formation was set up by a Golden Core master, using the inner city as its foundation to draw on the spirit veins’ power. The ghost king can’t affect our lives or cultivation—at most, it might make things a bit chilly when you sleep.”

”Heh, a grand cultivator like me at fourth stage Qi-Refining wouldn’t fear the cold!” Luo Chen replied with a confident smile, fully showcasing his pride as a cultivator.

Caiyi chuckled and stood up before saying, ”Alright, I’ve got work to do. Let’s chat tomorrow morning if you’re free?”

Work at this hour? Luo Chen thought as he glanced at the setting sun, feeling puzzled.

”May I ask, what do you do for a living?”

”I dance at Tianxiang Tower. Stop by sometime!” Caiyi replied with a playful smile before walking away, leaving behind a faint, pleasant fragrance.

Watching his neighbor’s graceful figure disappear, Luo Chen could only imagine how stunning she must look while dancing.

Too bad I can’t afford it!

Luo Chen returned to his room, which he had spent the afternoon cleaning and airing out. Finally, the unpleasant odor was gone.

Earlier, his neighbor Caiyi, who lived in the main room, had kindly gifted him a piece of musk incense.

”Just burn it in an incense burner. It smells great and keeps bugs away,” she had said.

”I don’t have an incense burner. Can I just burn it in a bowl?”

”That works too.”

Lighting the musk, Luo Chen began unpacking his belongings from his storage pouch.

There wasn’t much: some herbs, a few pots and pans, and various other odds and ends.

Several items bore burn marks, a reminder of the battle the night before when half of his house had been burned down.

He had managed to extinguish the fire using a Cloud Rain talisman, but there wasn’t much left to extinguish. Not much could be rescued!

The herbs he had painstakingly sorted that afternoon were almost entirely destroyed. Only the bedroom and kitchen had survived unscathed.

Thankfully, the valuable materials had been stored in his pouch and hadn’t been taken out yet.

After tallying the losses, the damage was significant, precisely hundred and eight spirit stones. But the gains? Even greater.

The first cultivator who had died left behind a set of mid-grade enchanted artifacts, a jade blade, which turned out to be a set of wood-element flying blades.

Comprising one main dagger and six smaller ones, the set could form a formation. With sufficient time to deploy, its power could rival that of top-grade enchanted artifacts. This was perfect for his use.

Aside from the flying daggers, the pouch contained hundred fifty spirit stones.

This single haul was enough to not only cover Luo Chen’s losses but also leave him with a substantial profit.

The master cultivator he strangled to death was even more remarkable! A top-grade flying sword and a low-grade flying artifact, both of which would fetch a premium price on the market.

However, Luo Chen hadn’t yet decided how to handle these items. After all, these were hot goods!

That guy had likely been a fifth stage Qi-Refining cultivator, yet he was loaded with treasures. He had used a Swift talisman for speed and a Sunburst talisman to destroy Luo Chen’s house.

He wore a top-grade daoist robe, reinforced with inner armor, wielded a top-grade flying sword, and even carried an Earth Shield talisman. With the Lotus Leaf Disc flying artifact, he was practically armed to the teeth.

This stage of luxury was rare in the outer district.

If not for the opponent underestimating him, and for Luo Chen having the Soul-Breaking Nail with a second-tier armor-piercing formation to launch such a sneak attack, he would have been the one lying dead.

But a kill was a kill. Luo Chen had long since grown indifferent to such matters.

Of course, feeling mindful of potential retaliation given the enemy’s likely background, Luo Chen immediately erased any traces and retreated into the city. The traces wouldn’t stay hidden for long.

Regardless, every day counts if he could continue hiding this. Surely, his enemies wouldn’t dare storm the inner city to kill him!

The rules established by the Jade Cauldron Sword Sect were not to be challenged lightly, not even by the boldest. For now, he resolved to stay cautious. He also needed to replenish the herbs he had lost. Only by earning enough spirit stones could he escape his current stagnation in cultivation.

After unpacking his belongings, Luo Chen glanced around the spacious room.

”Tomorrow, while buying herbs, I’ll get a few shelves to partition the space. I’ll also need a sieve, a pestle, some peach wood, and some camphor wood,” Luo Chen muttered to himself. ”Oh, and I’ll need a chamber pot!”

Before starting his cultivation, Luo Chen found himself missing his old house with its courtyard, spacious plains, and nearby stream.

Back then, he could relieve himself without a care in the world. Now, just the cost of night soil disposal each month was equivalent to two months of his previous rent.

However, as soon as he started a cycle of the Long Spring Art, these complaints disappeared. He wondered, ”So this is the allure of a first-tier spirit vein?”