An Alchemist's Path to Eternity

Rubbing his forehead, Luo Chen let out a bitter smile. ”I never expected that fabricating a non-existent friend would almost get me into trouble!”

The vast amount of information within the jade scroll had poured into his mind like a roaring flood. The sheer volume of it was something an ordinary Qi-Refining cultivator would be unable to withstand.

Normally, sect elders would impose corresponding restrictions, allowing cultivators to only access information suited to their realm. This was why cultivation techniques available on the market were often limited—some could only be cultivated up to mid stage Qi-Refining, while others reached perfection in that realm.

People had been implementing this practice for a long time.

Without layered restrictions, low-realm cultivators receive an overwhelming influx of information all at once... At best, their divine soul would be damaged, leaving them in a weakened state for months. At worst, they would become completely mindless, reduced to a mere idiot.

Since Luo Chen had fabricated a Foundation Establishment alchemist friend out of thin air... Tian Xingzi had never considered this scenario at all. To a Foundation Establishment cultivator, this amount of information was nothing. Naturally, he had not thought to impose any tiered restrictions.

If not for Luo Chen’s exceptionally strong divine soul, he might have been turned into an idiot by the sheer volume of alchemical knowledge. Even though he had withstood it, his mind still felt dizzy and sluggish.

”I was careless...”

Luo Chen took a deep breath as he stepped into the spirit veins cavern. Under the soothing fragrance of the Moonlight Herb, he finally felt fully refreshed. He cast a brief glance at the delicate, glowing herb before shaking his head.

”Although the spirit-gathering array has been drawing in a significant amount of wood-element spirit energy, the time has been too short.

”If only it had grown for a longer period, it would be much better.”

He sighed, rubbing his temples before closing his eyes, allowing the knowledge from the jade scroll he had just read to settle in his mind.

After a while, he opened his eyes with a thoughtful expression.

”Falling Clouds Mist. This water-based technique is quite profound. By leveraging external elements, it not only aids in alchemy but also enhances the grade of pills.”

According to the records of this technique—

When refining first-tier elixirs, selecting a location with abundant rising water vapor can facilitate pill formation. For second-tier elixirs, not only should one seek out areas with rising water vapor, but also incorporate spirit springs to greatly amplify the effect. By the time one reaches third-tier elixirs, the benefits of water vapor and spirit springs diminish.

At that stage, the ideal approach is to refine the elixir in a location rich in water-attribute spirit energy, complemented by a secret formula and additional techniques.

”It is indeed a water-based alchemy method that covers tiers one through three, though refining third-tier elixirs still seems somewhat forced. However, Imperial Nectar is only a second-tier elixir, so this method is more than sufficient.

”Moreover, this technique also documents two alchemical techniques, which is an unexpected delight.”

One is the Flowing Creek Hand, and the other is the Cloud Transformation Hand.

The former was precisely the technique Luo Chen had been yearning for. The Flowing Creek Hand allowed the handling of water and yin-attribute materials in alchemy.

Once he mastered the Flowing Creek Hand, whether it was dealing with the snow fox demon’s blood for the Spirit Passage pill, or the essence blood of cultivators and Netherworld Yin Fiend Qi for the Blood Fiend pill, it would yield twice the result with half the effort!

As for the latter, at first glance, it did not seem particularly remarkable. Even within the cultivation world, it was not considered extraordinary.

However, the Cloud Transformation Hand was the true essence of the Falling Clouds Mist. It was indispensable for incorporating water vapor and spirit springs into medicinal refining.

”Looks like I’ll be busy for a while!” Though he made it sound like a complaint, the visible smile on Luo Chen’s face betrayed his excitement.

The longer he practiced alchemy, the more complex his emotions became.

The repetitive refining of the same type of pill often left him feeling exhausted. Yet each time he encountered fresh knowledge in the field of alchemy, he found immense joy.

However, regardless of everything, he had gradually come to love this craft, no longer seeing it as just a means of survival.

***

In the following days, aside from his daily cultivation and studying the Fireball, Luo Chen also devoted extra effort to alchemy.

During the process of using fire techniques for alchemy, he would occasionally employ water techniques to handle certain medicinal ingredients.

No alchemical technique could be mastered through haste and improvisation.

Luo Chen opted to break it down, familiarizing himself with each step gradually.

By the time he truly began practicing it, the process would undoubtedly be much easier.

This was the essence of sharpening the axe won’t delay the work of chopping firewood [1]!

***

Ten days passed in the blink of an eye. Luo Chen slowly awakened from his dazed state. He looked at the empty bottle in his hand and shook his head.

”The Spirit Passage pills are finished again. I’ll have to refine more.”

After his first experience of entering the dream state, he had gradually become accustomed to the effects of the Spirit Passage pill. This was his third time taking it, and his soul foundation had strengthened once again. That sensation of fullness and expansion still lingered in his mind.

Without hesitation, Luo Chen stepped into a room filled with a pungent, bloody scent.

Several cages were draped in black cloth. He casually cast a Sound Isolation before lifting the cloth.

Woo!

A wolf’s howl echoed as a scrawny Grayleaf Wolf bared its fangs, appearing before him.

Luo Chen smiled faintly and immediately activated the Soul-Intimidation. A ghostly green light emerged from his eyes.

The Grayleaf Wolf instinctively stepped back, but its body suddenly froze.

Moments later, Luo Chen effortlessly pulled out the wolf’s soul.

Compared to ordinary beasts, this Grayleaf Wolf, which had just stepped into the rank of a first-tier demonic beast, had a far stronger soul.

However, Luo Chen had already reached the Skilled level for Soul-Intimidation, it still had no power to resist.

Letting out a chuckle, Luo Chen called out softly. ”Zha!”

At his shout, the translucent soul light instantly cracked. This was a sign that the soul had been damaged. Only at this point did Luo Chen start to show slight strain, but everything was still under his control.

After two more shouts, the Grayleaf Wolf’s soul shattered completely. The soul fragments were immediately absorbed and devoured by the soul-nurturing tree.

The three already vibrant green buds now appeared even more lush and full of life. Faintly, there were signs that new branches were about to sprout.

Hoo...Exhaling a long breath, Luo Chen stopped his practice of Soul-Intimidation.

”As expected, using demonic beast souls to cultivate is much faster than using ordinary beasts. In just a few dozen attempts, the proficiency of the Soul-Intimidation has already advanced to the Skilled level.”

Every tug-of-war, struggle, and eventual shattering of a demonic beast’s soul was a form of training for the Soul-Intimidation.

The stronger the enemy’s soul, the greater the increase in proficiency.

To fully absorb the effects of the three Spirit Passage pills, Luo Chen had been using Soul-Intimidation almost daily.

Recently, the number of beasts that had perished under his hands had reached dozens. Luo Chen even instructed Liu Qiang to capture or purchase low-tier demonic beasts and keep them penned within Luo Tian Society’s territory.

Using these demonic beasts for practice had allowed his proficiency in the Soul-Intimidation to skyrocket in such a short time. Not only that, but the rapidly growing soul power had also become more solidified, truly becoming part of his foundation.

This mutually reinforcing effect resulted in a synergy greater than the sum of its parts.

The Soul-Intimidation tempered his expanding soul power, and in turn, the strengthened soul power enhanced the technique’s potency. In fact, it even provided additional benefits.

Now, Luo Chen could practice the Long Spring Art five times a day instead of the previous four.

An extra session might not seem like much. The impact on cultivation was merely an additional absorption of spirit energy.

However, when accumulated over time, the improvement would be terrifyingly immense!

Moreover, Luo Chen discovered that his strengthened divine soul greatly benefited his alchemy.

Previously, when splitting his day into two sessions, he could barely refine sixteen sets of ingredients for Jade Essence pills.

Now, he could do it with ease. He even occasionally had some extra energy to spare, allowing him to squeeze in time to refine Blood-Burning pills for Tian Xingzi.

Luo Chen nodded to Liu Qiang who was waiting outside as he left the chamber.

Understanding the implication, Liu Qiang immediately went to handle the demonic beast’s corpse himself.

As he walked through Luo Tian Society, Luo Chen estimated the current stock of pills.

I’ve refined Blood-Burning pills eight times recently, all using the Four Symbols Cauldron. Each session used four sets of ingredients, and based on my skill level, I’ve accumulated around forty pills.

If I add the ten I’ve been keeping in reserve, I can just make up fifty pills. There’s still a few days left, so there’s no rush to make the delivery.

Jade Essence pills can wait. I’ll refine two more batches of Blood-Burning pills first!

I also can’t stop making Spirit Passage pills. I need to produce at least one bottle in the next few days.

After making this decision, Luo Chen let out a long sigh.

Unknowingly, he had realized that time was starting to become insufficient.

Jade Essence pills were his main business—only by refining enough of them could he earn sufficient spirit stones to purchase various cultivation resources. Blood-Burning pills were tied to his collaboration with Tian Xingzi, affecting many aspects, so he couldn’t stop making those either.

As for Spirit Passage pills, though they were for personal use. They were crucial for strengthening his divine soul and were deeply tied to Foundation Establishment, so it was best not to halt their production either.

And these were just the concerns related to alchemy.

He still had to cultivate, which was even more critical and absolutely could not be neglected!

His research on Fireball was his most powerful trump card in combat. Soul-Intimidation was for refining his divine soul and countering the ghostly entities within ghost city.

Then there were Cleanse, the two prerequisite spells for Landslide, and the nearly Grandmaster level Heal.

Oh, and the alchemy-related techniques, as well as the recently acquired Falling Clouds Mist. The research on the Imperial Nectar pill and the Blood Fiend pill alchemical formulas...

There’s just not enough time! Even an iron man couldn’t handle this workload!

I finally understand why Wang Yuan absolutely refused to handle Luo Tian Society’s trivial matters. These things take up a massive amount of time too.

No, I can’t keep doing things in such a scattered manner anymore.

Against the crisp mountain wind, Luo Chen’s steps toward the Alchemy Hall felt particularly heavy.

He realized that he had to start making some choices.

Before, he had no choice. But now, as the leader of his own faction, he could start selectively focusing on what he truly wanted to pursue.

As for how to approach it, he needed to think carefully.

For now, I’ll finish refining today’s batch of Blood-Burning pills. That should free up some extra time for other things. Luo Chen sighed.

He had discovered another problem—Blood-Burning pills and Spirit Passage pills were consuming too much of his time. The main issue was that his proficiency wasn’t high enough, so he couldn’t delegate the process to apprentices and fire-handlers.

And raising his proficiency? That damn well required even more time.

”Time waits for no one!

”Hmm? Why did I just say that?” As Luo Chen stepped into the alchemy chamber, ready to start refining pills, he suddenly froze in confusion.

1. 磨刀不误砍柴工 (mo dao bu wu kan chai gong), Chinese idiom meaning ”Sharpening the axe won’t delay the cutting of firewood,” emphasizing the importance of preparation for efficiency. ☜