An Alchemist's Path to Eternity

”President, is there something wrong with the proposal?” Sima Huiniang asked the question carefully when she noticed the faintly amused smile on Luo Chen’s face.

”Wrong?” Luo Chen repeated, his voice calm. ”For the Li family of Qinhua River, of course, there is nothing wrong.

”Lingjun is my disciple and already leads a hall of his own. If they choose him into their family, it would establish a deep bond with me. Even without their grand elder, no one would dare to treat the Li family lightly out of regard for my name.”

Sima Huiniang nodded in full agreement. The Li family’s intentions were precisely as he described. Yet the curve of his smile left her faintly unsettled.

While she was still wondering at his meaning, Luo Chen’s tone abruptly hardened. ”But they are dreaming far too sweetly.

”Lingjun may be at the fifth stage of the Qi-Refining Realm, but his aptitude is limited. In the eyes of most, he is a man with no hope of ever reaching the Foundation Establishment Realm. A marriage candidate like that would pose no threat to the Li family, yet by tying him to their bloodline, they would gain the leverage to ride upon the strength of the Luo Tian Society.

”Where in the world does anyone get such a sweet deal?”

The words struck Sima Huiniang like a jolt of thunder. For a moment, she froze before the true intent of the Li family’s offer dawned on her.

She had only considered the surface of how the Li family appeared willing to marry off a seventh stage granddaughter to a fifth stage hall leader. Yet beneath that apparent generosity lay a carefully calculated move. By choosing someone like Qu Lingjun, whose cultivation was weak and prospects limited, they ensured he would never have the ability to interfere in the Li family affairs.

As the realization settled, a spark of admiration flickered across her expression. ”You are indeed perceptive, President. In that case... should we reject the alliance?”

”Reject it?” Luo Chen shook his head. ”Why would we reject it? They have already cast their bait, and I have every reason to bite. With the Li family’s current strength, they are not qualified to reel in someone like me.

”On the contrary, this was the perfect chance to drag them in deeper. This is the perfect chance to draw them in even deeper. Submit two additional candidates for the alliance and allow the Li family to make their choice.”

Sima Huiniang asked, ”Which two?”

Luo Chen glanced at Sima Huiniang and calmly said two names, ”Sima Xian and Yuan Dongsheng.”

The moment Sima Huiniang heard her elder brother’s name, she was caught off guard. However, upon careful thought, she realized it made perfect sense. Sima Xian’s cultivation was already high, and he held real authority in the Battle Hall.

With Wang Yuan often absent from internal affairs, Sima Xian was effectively the head of the Battle Hall. He was fully qualified as a marriage candidate. More importantly, he was her own elder brother, which meant his standing within the Luo Tian Society was only a step below that of Luo Chen’s disciple.

As for Yuan Dongsheng, the reasoning was equally clear. Luo Chen was likely using this opportunity to fulfill Granny Yuan’s long-cherished wish. Yet in truth, the Li family would never choose him. Yuan Dongsheng was only an elder of the Medicine Hall, a man wholly devoted to spirit herbs, with little authority and limited cultivation.

From every angle, the Li family’s true choice would almost certainly be her brother. But wasn’t he only at the ninth stage of Qi-Refining?

Sima Huiniang frowned slightly. ”Would they even agree to that?”

Faced with this question, Luo Chen bared his teeth in a grin. ”They don’t get to refuse. They were the ones who proposed the marriage alliance. Now that the matter has been placed on the table, it cannot be withdrawn. They have no choice but to proceed.”

A spark of comprehension flashed in Sima Huiniang’s eyes. She finally began to understand the deeper intent behind his words.

She bowed respectfully. ”Then allow me to handle this matter. I will ensure the outcome satisfies you.”

After Sima Huiniang took her leave, Luo Chen remained seated, lightly tapping his lips in thought.

As the Luo Tian Society grew stronger, things like this were bound to happen sooner or later. On the surface, they might seem to contradict the lofty ideals of cultivation, yet in truth, such alliances were nothing more than another form of power.

Wherever people gathered, interests would inevitably intertwine. They were tangled, layered, and impossible to avoid. When the Luo Tian Society had been obscure and weak, no one had cared. Now, with three Foundation Establishment cultivators under their banner and the support of Ice Fortress at their back, fear and respect followed them wherever they went. Those who once looked down on them now sought ways to curry favor.

Luo Chen didn’t reject such entanglements. On the contrary, he welcomed them, provided they were managed with precision and care. If properly managed, these alliances could yield enormous long-term benefits. Of course, the results wouldn’t be seen overnight; they might take years, even decades, to bear fruit.

For the moment, however, something far more tangible lay before him.

With a flick of his wrist, a storage pouch landed in his palm.

Wang Haichao’s storage pouch!

At present, Luo Chen held four storage pouches that had once belonged to Foundation Establishment cultivators: Duan Qiankun, Huo Hu, Tu Shan, and Wang Haichao.

Luo Chen had already broken the restrictions on the first two, and the gains had been nothing short of generous. Aside from the visible resources, he had also managed to gain foundational insight into the art of restrictions. The knowledge built upon itself, and after unlocking Huo Hu’s pouch, he had dismantled Tu Shan’s with relative ease.

After all, Tu Shan had been a lone rogue cultivator, and the seal on his pouch was no more than a basic spirit consciousness restriction. Had Luo Chen not been rushing to prepare a Foundation Establishment gift for Wang Yuan, he could’ve dealt with Tu Shan’s pouch right after Duan Qiankun’s.

After unlocking it, Tu Shan’s inheritance truly didn’t ”disappoint.”

He was poor! Very poor!

There were just over seven thousand spirit stones, and even with every miscellaneous item added together, the total value was under ten thousand. For a Foundation Establishment cultivator, that was downright disgraceful. No wonder he hadn’t been able to compete with Luo Chen for the Clear Origin Mystical Pill Method during the Huo family’s auction.

In truth, that was the fate for most rogue cultivators at the Foundation Establishment. Their entire savings were often consumed just to force a breakthrough. Without any specialized skills, most could only work as guest cultivators or servants for more powerful factions. Only by doing so could they continue cultivating. The more ambitious ones would build their own networks to gather resources, like Mi Shuhua and Wang Haichao.

Luo Chen fell into that latter category as well.

There were also those who, having lost all hope of ever advancing further on the Great Dao, simply abandoned the pursuit. They would marry, have children, and establish a cultivation family to pass on their bloodline. That way, they could at least live out a comfortable life for a while.

However, the downside was that they could never access high-tier resources and would remain stuck in their little domains. Often, they had to bow and scrape to more powerful cultivators.

Luo Chen had never expected much from Tu Shan’s storage pouch; naturally, he hadn’t been disappointed. A rogue cultivator with no sect backing or great fortune to speak of wasn’t likely to leave behind riches.

Wang Haichao, however, was another matter entirely.

”A mere third stage Foundation Establishment spirit consciousness seal, without even a proper restriction formation?” Luo Chen chuckled to himself as he examined the pouch. ”With my current strength, this is nothing more than child’s play.”

Though he spoke boldly, Luo Chen’s hands remained cautious and precise. He’d already spent nearly a month working on the seal bit by bit, and today the effort was finally about to pay off.

Shua!

A flicker of azure spirit light glimmered, then faded away. Luo Chen knew he had succeeded.

With a deep breath, he sent his spirit consciousness sweeping into the pouch, and with just a glance, joy flickered across his face.

”Fellow Daoist Wang,” he whispered with a grin, ”thank you kindly.”

Spirit stones. Mountains of them. Stacked tightly together, like bricks of silver glinting beneath a moonless sky.

Even though most were low-grade, the sheer volume was staggering. It was nearly impossible to estimate at a glance.

Luo Chen had long suspected Wang Haichao had deep pockets. Unlike Mi Shuhua, he hadn’t been weighed down by family responsibilities, and unlike Tu Shan, he wasn’t lacking in backing. With the Dajiang Gang at his back, Wang Haichao had been sitting on a river of income for years. Even after deducting his cultivation expenses, he had expected him to have a sizable reserve.

Still, Luo Chen hadn’t expected this level of wealth. He took his time and carefully counted it all, finally arriving at a number.

”One hundred sixty thousand spirit stones,” he finally muttered, eyes narrowing slightly. ”And... three hundred mid-grade ones among them.”

That amount already surpassed Luo Chen’s wealth of one hundred fifty thousand spirit stones.

After the first surge of excitement, Luo Chen’s thoughts gradually settled. The amount of wealth before him was vast, yet not beyond comprehension.

When Wang Haichao left Dahe Market, he had reportedly earned over two hundred thousand spirit stones just from ticket sales alone. Later, he’d spent a good chunk purchasing demonic beasts from the Li and Nangong families. And during the big auction, he’d burned through another seventy or eighty thousand bidding for the Mystic Flame Sword against Nangong Jin.

For Wang Haichao to still possess one hundred and sixty thousand low-grade spirit stones spoke of years of careful management and shrewd accumulation.

”Still,” Luo Chen murmured, rubbing his chin, ”in Tianlan Immortal City, that amount does not stretch very far.”

The cost of renting a second-tier cave residence could range anywhere from ten thousand to fifty thousand spirit stones each year. Cultivators, many of whom trained for decades or even centuries, required deep reserves to secure a stable, long-term environment for cultivation. A mere one hundred and sixty thousand low-grade spirit stones were hardly worth flaunting. Without a steady source of income like the Luo Tian Society, such wealth could vanish in the blink of an eye.

”No wonder Wang Haichao had been reluctant to leave Taishan Market,” Luo Chen muttered.

With a wave of his hand, he transferred the spirit stones into one of his own categorized storage pouches. He always carried three separate ones, each reserved for low-grade, mid-grade, and top-grade cultivation resources.

Low-grade spirit stones might be small, but in large amounts, they took up significant space. At a glance, it seemed like an endless mountain of wealth. But upon closer inspection, it had limits. Still, for Luo Chen’s current needs, it was an excellent boost.

The once-a-decade grand auction of Tianlan Immortal City was fast approaching. If he wanted to compete for any of the real treasures, he would need the backing to match.

This wasn’t Dahe Market anymore. In that backwater, a hundred thousand spirit stones had been sufficient to dominate an entire hall. In Tianlan Immortal City, the same amount barely qualified one to sit at the table.

With Tu Shan’s meager stash included, Luo Chen now had over three hundred twenty thousand spirit stones in liquid assets.

And that was just the beginning.

The profits of the Luo Tian Society for the past six months remained untouched. Luo Chen’s share alone could raise his available funds to a staggering four hundred thousand spirit stones. And if he were willing to set aside prudence and tap into the society’s reserve treasury, that number could swell even further.

”With this kind of wealth,” Luo Chen mused aloud, ”I might even be able to compete for a mid-grade enchanted treasure.”

In the cultivation world, the pricing of enchanted items followed a fairly stable structure.

Low-grade enchanted treasures generally cost less than one hundred thousand spirit stones. Mid-grade enchanted treasures typically ranged from one hundred thousand to five hundred thousand. As for top-grade enchanted treasures, those capable of serving as the cornerstone of an entire sect often demanded prices approaching a million. Some unique, one-of-a-kind artifacts had no price at all. When such items appeared at auction, it wasn’t unheard of for the bids to surpass even a million spirit stones in a frenzy of competition. In a way, enchanted items mirrored the wealth tiers of cultivators.

Drawing on his previous life instincts, Luo Chen assessed that most Qi-Refining cultivators generally had only a few hundred to a few thousand spirit stones in savings. For many, acquiring a single Foundation Establishment pill meant wagering their entire fortune.

Those able to maintain steady cultivation while saving up over ten thousand were already considered exceptional. They could be called ”ten-thousandaires.” He had once been one of them.

Foundation Establishment cultivators typically had savings in the tens of thousands. Poor ones like Tu Shan struggled to even cross five figures. The wealthier ones, like Luo Chen now, could amass several hundred thousand. Even the wealthiest rarely broke one million.

Thus, Foundation Establishment cultivators could be considered the ”middle class” of the cultivation world.

Golden Core cultivators were equivalent to millionaires, and though Luo Chen hadn’t interacted with many, he was certain they would never be poorer than an average Foundation Establishment cultivator.

And Nascent Soul Sages? They were emperors among men, capable of founding sects and ruling entire territories. Their wealth likely exceeded tens of millions. Calling them ”cultivation billionaires” was no exaggeration.

Of course, this was all Luo Chen’s own speculation.

At that level, spirit stones probably no longer mattered as much. Truly, resources often defied monetary value, and barter became the norm.

Still, Luo Chen grinned to himself. ”No matter what, I’m now among the wealthier Foundation Establishment cultivators!”

After stashing the spirit stones away, Luo Chen chuckled and turned his attention to the other items in Wang Haichao’s pouch.

There were enchanted artifacts, mostly mid-grade and a few nearly top-grade. These could be sold through Luo Tian Society’s internal channels, netting him a tidy sum without needing to involve himself personally.

There were pills, too. Most were qi-consolidation pills, favored by Foundation Establishment cultivators. Around ten bottles in total, worth a few thousand spirit stones. There was also a sizable pile of cultivation materials, primarily water-element based, that collectively amounted to a handsome sum.

In addition, there were over a dozen cultivation manuals. Over a dozen cultivation techniques were stored across various mediums, books, bamboo scrolls, jade slips, and even beast hides.

All these could be passed along into the Luo Tian Society.

Luo Chen skimmed through them as most were first-tier techniques. Only a single jade slip and bamboo scroll stood out.

Boundless Ocean. It is a second-tier water-element Foundation Establishment cultivation method, known for its steady spirit flow and abundant spirit power. It was Wang Haichao’s core cultivation method, the same one he had once used in an attempt to overpower Luo Chen in a spirit power contest. Of course, he’d failed, thanks in part to the Blue Musk poison working against him at the time.

Glazed Skyveil. A second-tier water-element spell. Luo Chen knew it well as he had practiced it himself. Back during his Foundation Establishment Ceremony, Wang Haichao had gifted it to him with ill intent, hoping to sabotage him.

Now, flipping through the bamboo scroll once more, Luo Chen’s gaze sharpened.

The bamboo scroll included the cultivation insights of a predecessor.

”Interesting,” he murmured. ”This could help me master Glazed Skyveil even faster.”

Smiling in satisfaction, he stored the scroll in its separate pouch.

Finally, Luo Chen turned to the last pile of miscellaneous items in the pouch.

Suddenly, he pulled out a jade box. There were no formations on it, just a thin veil of spirit energy.

Wang Haichao had only been at the third stage of Foundation Establishment. Luo Chen was also at that level now, but his spirit power was more refined and formidable than Wang Haichao had ever been. With a light thread of spirit power, he easily unraveled the seal.

Keeping a safe distance, he gently opened the box and peered inside.

Inside lay a pill that was round, deep golden in hue, about the size of a longan fruit. Luo Chen immediately recognized it.

”A Foundation Establishment pill?!”

Luo Chen’s mouth fell open, and he was momentarily stunned.

Wait a minute...Wasn’t it said that Wang Haichao didn’t have a Foundation Establishment pill?

That very lack was the reason Min Longyu, desperate and with nothing to show for his years of service, had turned to Luo Chen’s side. So, how was there a Foundation Establishment pill right here?

After a moment of bewilderment, Luo Chen recalled the man’s past behavior.

”Ah... this must be one of the pills from that Dahe Market auction back then, when four Foundation Establishment cultivators each snatched one up. Guess I got lucky in the end.”

These pills, brimming with intense and unrefined medicinal power, were never meant to be consumed casually. But in Luo Chen’s hands, their value could be maximized. With proper handling, this could become the key to cultivating the next Foundation Establishment cultivator within the Luo Tian Society.

”With this,” Luo Chen murmured, lifting the jade box reverently, ”I’ll be in a much better position for the upcoming auction.”

Luo Chen’s eyes grew contemplative as he pulled out the invitation sent by Xuan Yunzi, and its list of featured items grew longer by the day.