An Alchemist's Path to Eternity

“One hundred spirit stones? Tch!”

Luo Chen clicked his tongue in frustration, staring at the figures scrawled across the parchment in his hand. He’d seriously underestimated the cost of opening a milk tea shop. Running a small snack stall and opening an actual storefront were two entirely different beasts. The amount of initial investment wasn’t even comparable.

After running the numbers again, more carefully this time, he realized the initial investment was no less than five hundred spirit stones.

This was only because he found an excuse to delay the first month’s payment to Ke Yuelin.

Had that not gone through, the initial cost would’ve shot past a thousand.

Luo Chen sat down, holding a small, rounded clay bead—a test batch of his tea-infusing incense. “It... shouldn’t be a loss, right?” he muttered, though the wavering in his voice betrayed his doubt.

But what he didn’t realize was that, at this very moment, someone else was even more anxious than he was.

Across the courtyard, in the main room of the house, the bedroom door creaked open.

Feng Xia stepped out gingerly, her fingers curling into the fabric of her sleeve.

”Is it really okay for me to dress like this?” she asked, her voice uneasy.

Gu Caiyi turned around, her eyes lighting up like a summer sky. “Why wouldn’t it be? With your looks, you’ll have cultivators lining up just to get a glance.”

Bai Meiling widened her eyes in astonishment and exclaimed, ”How did I never realize before how stunning you are, Sister Xia?”

Feng Xia shot her a glare, cheeks tinged red, but her discomfort was clear.

Gu Caiyi stepped closer, tugging lightly at the hem of the dress. “And this is already my most conservative outfit, you know. The problem is your figure—it’s too perfect. The cut’s just a little snug. I’ll adjust it later.”

“Do you really have to adjust it?” Feng Xia asked, her hands instinctively crossing in front of her chest.

“Yes, and not just your clothes,” Gu Caiyi replied decisively. “Your makeup too. You’ve got great features, but you’re not enhancing them properly.”

Her fingers flew as she pulled Feng Xia toward a chair. “Your brows need reshaping. You don’t suit willow brows. Hmm... Little Ling, come help—no, never mind, I’ll do it myself!”

As Gu Caiyi gave instructions, she worked swiftly and efficiently, adjusting hairstyles, applying subtle powder and rouge, and even pinning on a pair of delicate silver earrings.

“You also need accessories. Without them, you’ll look too plain. But don’t worry—we’ll keep it tasteful. Just enough to accentuate your natural charm. Oh, and those shoes? Are those work shoes? Tomorrow we’ll go buy two new pairs. They’re not even expensive—you can get them with silver or gold, no need for spirit stones.”

Feng Xia sat silently throughout the whirlwind of beautification, uncertain whether to be mortified or amazed. When it was finally done, Gu Caiyi stepped back and smiled in satisfaction.

“Perfect. This is what we call a ‘carefully crafted natural look’—it seems effortless, but it’s actually deliberate and polished.”

Feng Xia blinked. Natural look? Carefully crafted? The contradiction confused her. But more than that, the whole experience overwhelmed her.

Her life had been nothing like that of the refined and radiant women in Dahe Market.

She had started as a rogue cultivator—one without strength, status, or skill. Not pretty enough to rely on looks, nor skilled enough to sell her craft, she had eventually been driven into testing medicines at the Hall of Hundred Herbs. The job left her with internal injuries and a chronically damaged voice. Fortunately, when the Hall of Hundred Herbs came under the management of the kind Shopkeeper Liu, she was transferred from being a medicinal tester to handling medicinal materials in logistics.

Those years had been hard. Unrelenting.

She’d never had time—or reason—to think about appearances. She lived frugally, wore plain robes, and walked the market with bare face and bowed head. Her home was the smallest room on the edge of the courtyard. Even in the inner city, she couldn’t afford more.

In contrast, the radiant and poised Gu Caiyi and the lively Bai Meiling knew so much more than her. Thus, she could only sit there like a puppet, letting them handle everything.

Sigh, there’s no point worrying anymore. As long as this business works out, everything will be worth it.

Feng Xia sighed inwardly, forcing herself to accept reality.

But as she looked at the unfamiliar yet beautiful reflection in the bronze mirror, she couldn’t help but smile.

So, I’m not that ugly after all!

***

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The sharp raps on the door echoed through the courtyard, slicing through the stillness of early morning like a blade.

“Luo Chen! I know you’re in there. Open the door!”

Early in the morning, someone was already pounding on Luo Chen’s door.

Inside, Luo Chen groaned, dragging himself out of bed with bleary eyes and a weary expression. He shuffled to the door, unlatched it with a grumble, and stared wordlessly at the figure standing outside.

There, hands on hips and a stormy expression on her face, stood Mi Junping.

“You’re up early,” Luo Chen said, rubbing his temples. “What, nothing better to do? Surely you didn’t come all the way here just to bond with me?”

The first part of his sentence was lazy banter—but the second half?

Mi Junping’s face immediately flushed a shade too pink.

“...Why are you blushing for no reason?” Luo Chen asked, narrowing his eyes. “I didn’t actually mean it, you know.”

Huff!

Mi Junping sucked in a sharp breath, struggling to maintain her composure. She crossed her arms, her voice cold and clipped. “How long has it been since you showed up at the Alchemy Hall? And you still have the gall to ask why I’m here?”

“Ohhh, that,” Luo Chen said casually, leaning against the doorframe and yawning like he had all the time in the world. “Too much going on at home. Can’t leave.”

”What ’things’? Zhou Yuanli already told me you’re slacking off every day, running all over the place. Yesterday, you were yelling at the top of your lungs all afternoon and got reported for disturbing the peace.”

At the mention of disturbing the peace, Luo Chen looked a bit uneasy.

The “incident” yesterday had involved a meeting with a charming performer from the Heavenly Melody Pavilion. They’d been testing vocal harmonics for a possible marketing collaboration—purely professional, of course. But apparently, someone had no appreciation for art and had gone straight to complain to Sun Shou, accusing Luo Chen of disturbing meditation and cultivation.

Utter nonsense.

”I’m telling you, Jade Essence pills are selling like crazy. Last month’s stock won’t last a few more days. If you don’t return to the Alchemy Hall, my dad’s going to be furious.”

Luo Chen rolled his eyes dramatically. “If your dad’s mad, let him come yell at me himself. I’m not leaving the inner city anytime soon.”

With that, he turned back into the house and slammed the door shut.

He had the aura of someone retreating into a fortress, shutting out all the world’s affairs.

Mi Junping stood there, dumbfounded. She stared at the wooden door as if it had personally offended her, her mouth opening and closing like she wanted to scream but had lost the words.

She clenched her fists tightly.

“...Unbelievable,” she muttered.

With one last glare at the shabby little room, she turned on her heel and stormed away, the sound of her boots crunching in the morning frost the only thing left in her wake.

***

In the heart of the Poshan Gang’s estate, Mi Shuhua sat in silence, slowly flipping through the latest set of account books while Mi Junping delivered her report in a tone half-accusation, half-complaint.

After a long pause, he finally closed the book and set it aside, his expression unreadable.

“...Luo Chen is still worried about someone trying to assassinate him,” he murmured.

Eh? Mi Junping froze, utterly caught off guard by this remark.

Glancing at her, Mi Shuhua sighed. It was no secret that he held limited hope for his eldest daughter. She had some talent in managing finances, but aside from that, she was thoroughly mediocre. She’d married young, had a daughter, Mi Li, and all but abandoned her cultivation path. Narrow-minded and petty, she hoarded benefits meant for Poshan Gang members, earning her growing resentment. Her temper wasn’t great either; she relied on her father’s Foundation Establishment status to lord over others.

He genuinely wondered what would become of her if he failed to reach the Core Formation Realm in a hundred years and the Mi family couldn’t produce another Foundation Establishment cultivator.

Oh, perhaps he didn’t even need to consider that. Her aptitude made it impossible for her to break into the Foundation Establishment Realm, and in a hundred years, she’d likely pass away before him.

He rose from his seat and stepped outside. Mi Junping hurried to follow.

“The ambush in the Green Hemp Forest,” Mi Shuhua said, his voice calm and steady, “we never gave Luo Chen a proper explanation.

”Those raiding cultivators from Snow Lotus Market appeared far too abruptly. Don’t be fooled by Luo Chen’s carefree demeanor. In reality, he’s far more calculating than most.”

Mi Junping was puzzled. ”Calculating? Him?”

Mi Shuhua remarked with a sigh, ”This level of cunning shows itself in many ways.”

“When he deals with those stronger than him, he’s respectful. With peers, he’s warm and diplomatic. Toward subordinates, he’s fair, even generous.”

Mi Junping opened her mouth to argue but stopped. She had sparred with Luo Chen before—he’d never seemed especially humble to her. If anything, he’d been infuriatingly casual.

Mi Shuhua continued, his gaze distant, fixed on the soft curtain of snow now thinning over the courtyard tiles.

“And in combat... he’s not the coward everyone assumes. Quite the opposite. That day in the Green Hemp Forest, everyone thinks I saved him. But before I even arrived, he had already slain two enemies and had enough strength left to pursue the stragglers.

“I personally interrogated Lu Huaiben,” Mi Shuhua went on. “He recounted the battle three times. Luo Chen used his speed to create distance, feigned weakness, then lured them into the dense forest. There, he set a blade array and hidden traps. And he cast spells—quick, precise, and unknown in origin.

”Not only that, but he had a detailed attack plan. He trapped the strongest, Lu Huaiben, first, then swiftly executed the weakest. For any openings he exposed, he had already prepared the Four Symbols Cauldron for defense against another enemy wielding a top-grade enchanted artifact.

”Even while pursuing an injured foe later, he never dropped his guard, constantly maintaining the defensive capabilities of the Four Symbols Cauldron.”

One sentence after another left Mi Junping’s mind reeling.

Suddenly, a question reached her ears.

“If you were ambushed by three ninth-stage Qi-Refining cultivators, Ping’er...” Mi Shuhua turned to her, “could you have handled it as effectively?”

Mi Junping barely forced a smile, but as she smiled, she eventually fell silent.

Mi Shuhua shook his head, sighing, ”He is so good at dealing with people, brave and resourceful in life-and-death battles, and extremely discerning in knowing when to advance and retreat. He understands that I have a high tolerance for him, so he repeatedly asks for benefits, but each time, he keeps it within limits I can accept.

”How many Qi-Refining cultivators dare to push their limits in front of a Foundation Establishment cultivator?”

At this point, Mi Junping finally realized that Luo Chen was not as simple as he appeared. Even she, as Mi Shuhua’s own daughter, acted cautiously in the face of his increasing authority.

The fact that Luo Chen could interact with Mi Shuhua so ”harmoniously” was something she had overlooked before, but in reality, it was quite remarkable.

”Luo Chen is very shrewd, I know it, and I’m sure he knows that I know. But with the profits from the Jade Essence pill, this is a trivial matter. But this time, the appearance of the raiding cultivators has made him feel insecure.

”Why do you think I immediately assigned three late-stage Qi-Refining cultivators to protect him back then?”

Mi Shuhua asked rhetorically and then continued speaking to himself. ”But he still feels unsafe!”

Mi Junping hesitated and asked, ”Then how can we make him feel secure? Father, you’ve already sent people to Snow Lotus Market to hunt Shan Xiu, and I’ve heard that Gao Tingyuan from Dajiang Gang has been relegated to the least profitable Liuguang Market route. Haven’t we done everything we could?”

Sigh...

Mi Shuhua let out a slow breath. His sigh was long and heavy, and for a moment, it made Junping feel small.

”Sometimes, it’s not absolute safety that moves people’s hearts. Sufficient profit can completely overshadow a tiny bit of risk.”

Mi Shuhua’s expression was indifferent, as if the earlier sigh of disappointment hadn’t come from his lips.

“If Luo Chen asks for something, I’ll give it to him.”

”Didn’t Mi Zifan suffer a crushing defeat to that Duan family outcast on the Debate Platform last month?

”Go and retrieve his small spirit gathering array and personally deliver it to Luo Chen. Tell him that his daily alchemy work has burdened his cultivation, and this array is compensation.”

Mi Junping was stunned. Even after Mi Shuhua had left, she hadn’t regained her composure.

The Mi family only had two spirit gathering arrays. The larger one had always been used by Mi Shuhua. The smaller one was usually reserved for the most talented juniors in the family. She had used it in her time, and so had her third sister.

Unfortunately, none of the second-generation members of the Mi family turned out to be promising, so now the small spirit gathering array was primarily used by the third generation.

But now, Mi Shuhua actually wanted to give the small spirit gathering array to Luo Chen?