An Alchemist's Path to Eternity

According to ancient legend, this world was once known as Shanhai. Towering mountain ranges stretched endlessly across the land, while vast rivers and boundless seas shimmered beneath the sky. Within this immense wilderness, demonic beasts and spirit entities roamed freely, thriving in untouched realms.

Among them, the strong could soar through the heavens or burrow deep into the earth. Some had the power to shift mountains or overturn oceans at will. The weak, on the other hand, lived carefree lives, playing within shaded valleys and forest glades, far from the chaos of power and ambition.

Humans also existed in this world, but in those early days, they were scattered across remote tribes and isolated settlements. Their cultivation was shallow, their presence fragile and insignificant.

Everything began to shift during the age of antiquity.

The human race flourished, and experts emerged in rapid succession. Golden Core and Nascent Soul cultivators appeared in great numbers, and a few even managed to break through to the Divine Transformation Realm, stepping beyond the limits of mortality itself. With that sudden rise in strength, the human domain expanded steadily outward, pushing into territories once thought untouchable.

After thousands of years of relentless effort, humanity finally established dominion over the Shanhai Realm

At the very heart of this conquest lay the Central Continent, encircled by the four great cardinal domains: the Eastern Wilderness, the Southern Frontier, the Western Deserts, and the Northern Sea.

With the establishment of these five great regions, the sages of the human race proclaimed the dawn of a new era. They named it Shanhai and declared that year to be the first of the Shanhai calendar.

From that day on, time flowed like a river.

Three thousand years passed in the blink of an eye.

During those millennia, human cultivators never ceased their campaigns of conquest. Their influence spread ever farther, carving thirty-five sub-domains out of the Eastern Wilderness, charting one hundred and eighty-seven ridgelines across the Southern Frontier, and expanding the Northern Sea until its reach stretched all the way to the polar realms of Yama[1].

Four hundred years ago, within the Hehuan Domain of the Eastern Wilderness, a powerful sect finally nurtured a cultivator who stepped into the Nascent Soul Realm. No longer content with the confines of their small territory, they petitioned to launch an expansion campaign.

That sect was the Jade Cauldron Sword Sect.

With the Eastern Wilderness Holy Land as arbiter and the endorsement of Hehuan Sect, the Jade Cauldron Sword Sect swiftly secured the support of other major powers: the Medicine King Sect, the Divine Talisman Sect, the Five Elements Divine Sect, and Tianfan City. Together, these forces became known as the Six Great Upper Sects.

Moreover, many Golden Core sects eager to rise in prominence pledged themselves to the cause. Among them were the Luoyun Sect, the Haoran Sect, the Imperial Bright Sword Sect, Ice Fortress, Green Pill Valley, and ten other Golden Core factions.

Thus began a grand crusade that would echo through history.

Their target was the Lianxia Mountain Range. The campaign that followed would later be remembered as the ”Sixteen Sects’ Joint Assault on Lianxia”.

In the end, they achieved victory.

The Eastern Wilderness expanded from thirty-five to thirty-six sub-domains. The new territory was named the Jade Cauldron Domain, becoming one of the Six Great Domains of the Far East.

However, victory came at a cost.

Of the ten Golden Core sects that had joined the campaign, four were nearly annihilated. Among the fallen was the Valley of Ghosts and Divinities.

Ironically, it had been one of the strongest sects involved. Its Supreme Elder stood at Perfected Mastery of the Golden Core Realm and was just one step away from Nascent Soul. Their legacy in formation arts was famed across the land, and the enchanted treasures they crafted were coveted by cultivators everywhere.

Treasures like the Demon Locking Pagoda, the Forsaken Chess Piece, and the Peerless Sword bore their mark.

Among these famed treasures, there existed one that was far less renowned, yet deeply coveted by countless Golden Core sects.

The Divine Ghost Heartmirror.

It was merely a low-grade enchanted treasure. It had no defensive functions, no offensive capabilities, and didn’t even bear any enhanced formations. Yet for unknown reasons, it held a mysterious and extraordinary effect.

It aided cultivators in forming their core.

As for why, it remained a mystery. After the fall of the Valley of Ghosts and Divinities, its surviving disciples scattered, rebranding themselves as cultivation families beneath the authority of the Jade Cauldron Sword Sect. The Divine Ghost Heartmirror disappeared during that time, its legend buried alongside the ashes of its fallen sect.

That once-famous saying, “All dream of blazing Golden Cores, not asking of mortals, but of Divine Ghost,” faded into nothing more than a hollow echo from a forgotten age.

Yet today, by a twist of fate, a lone cultivator in search of hidden treasures stumbled into the dormant legacy of the Divine Ghost Heartmirror.

***

Luo Chen opened his eyes and set the bronze mirror aside, a look of disappointment etched across his face.

”What a loss... and a tremendous one at that.”

He had tested the artifact thoroughly, only to discover that this incomplete enchanted mirror possessed nothing more than a faint illusory effect, and even that illusion was only effective on cultivators below Qi-Refining.

”Thirty thousand low-grade spirit stones,” he muttered, clutching his chest as though struck by a blade. ”All gone just like that. Never again. No more wandering about in search of so-called treasures. From now on, I will stick to what I am good at. Better to refine pills and earn the stones back.”

He wasn’t exaggerating. With only half a year of focused alchemy, Luo Chen could already supply the Luo Tian Society’s needs for an entire year and still earn a handsome profit. Yet spirit stones were like flowing water; no matter how many one possessed, they were never truly enough. And who would ever complain about having more?

Without further hesitation, Luo Chen immersed himself once more in a grand session of alchemy.

Six days later, Luo Chen emerged from his alchemy work and attended the grand auction hosted in Tianlan Immortal City.

This was no ordinary auction. It was jointly organized by Green Pill Valley and Ice Fortress, and was presided over by a Golden Core Adept from the Ice Fortress itself.

Luo Chen made a series of stunning bids. He secured a Foundation Establishment pill, bottles of mid-grade qi-consolidation pills, and even Spirit Purification pills.

He went further still, assisting Kang Xianqiong in obtaining a third-tier healing herb she urgently required. In doing so, he not only fulfilled a promise but also sealed a lucrative agreement for the distribution of Golden Jade Liquid between the Kang family and the Luo Tian Society.

When the auction finally concluded, Luo Chen wasted no time. He personally oversaw Min Longyu’s attempt at Foundation Establishment.

Outside the cave residence, Luo Chen waited silently, his heart full of anticipation. If Min Longyu succeeded, then the Luo Tian Society would gain another Foundation Establishment cultivator, and one who’s skilled in formations!

However, the result proved deeply disappointing.

The attempt failed. Min Longyu emerged gravely injured.

When Luo Chen asked what had gone wrong, Min Longyu gave a bitter smile and answered softly, ”I hesitated.”

Luo Chen opened his mouth to speak, but in the end he could only sigh. After all, Foundation Establishment was never something guaranteed.

Fu Xiuxiu had failed. Even Duan Rui, born with good aptitude, had failed twice after taking Foundation Establishment pills. Even someone as formidable as Wang Yuan had only succeeded on his second attempt. As for Luo Chen, his path had been marked by failure after failure before he finally broke through.

As for Min Longyu, the truth was simpler. He had waited too long.

After the sigh, Luo Chen allowed the disappointment to fade. He did not brood on the matter.

Why should I be disheartened? It was not I who failed, and Min Longyu is hardly a close friend anyway!

On the contrary, he still held a Foundation Establishment pill from Wang Haichao’s inheritance.

Two years later, he gave that pill to Sima Huiniang.

She succeeded in one attempt!

From that day onward, the Luo Tian Society possessed a true Foundation Establishment Realm Director. Under Sima Huiniang’s steady and meticulous leadership, the society grew stronger than ever.

The pills that Luo Chen refined day and night soon spread throughout every corner of Tianlan Immortal City. He no longer concealed his craft, openly selling Jade Essence pills, Jade Dew pills, and even Spirit Passage pills. The profits from these pills poured in without end, and before long, his reserves of spirit stones had swelled to unimaginable heights.

Luo Chen wasn’t stingy. While channeling much of that wealth into his own cultivation, he also invested heavily in his long-time companions. Gu Caiyi and Murong Qinglian both succeeded in breaking through to the Foundation Establishment Realm under his guidance. Even Zhou Yuanli, whose aptitude had always been dismally poor, received three Foundation Establishment Pills over the years. By sheer luck, he established his foundation and extended his lifespan.

Qin Liangchen, however, was not so fortunate. After failing twice and exhausting his life force, he finally chose to give up. A third attempt might have led to success, but it might just as easily have claimed his life.

Meanwhile, the broader situation within the Jade Cauldron Domain shifted with increasing volatility. Day by day, the tension between the two Nascent Soul sects mounted until it erupted into full-scale war.

Even with decades of preparation and with more than ten Foundation Establishment cultivators both revealed and concealed within its ranks, the Luo Tian Society still lacked the strength to decide its own destiny. When the conflict between the two Nascent Soul sects erupted, the society was inevitably dragged into the chaos.

What followed was a war that lasted for decades.

The Luo Tian Society lost many cultivators during this period. Even Wang Yuan, Luo Chen’s closest comrade, met his end. His ruthless nature had offended a Golden Core cultivator. He was hunted across the land and finally perished.

Others fared no better.

Luo Chen had always been cautious and sharp-minded. He danced on the edge of death more than once, and in the end, he survived.

The war only drew to a close when a Nascent Soul Sage of the Jade Cauldron Sword Sect led a direct assault against the mountain gate of the Luoyun Sect. Both sages perished in the earth-shaking clash that followed, and with their deaths, the flames of battle finally guttered out.

The war was over.

Battered and bloodied, the Luo Tian Society limped back to Tianlan Immortal City.

1. 夜摩 (Yemo) is a transliteration of the Sanskrit word Yama, referring to one of the heavenly kings in Buddhist cosmology, specifically, the ruler of the Yama Heaven, which is the third of the six heavens in the Desire Realm (欲界). In traditional Chinese texts and cultivation fiction, 夜摩 often evokes associations with death, judgment, or powerful celestial beings. Depending on context, it may be used as a name, a title, or a symbolic reference to dark yet divine authority, spiritual trials, or rebirth through suffering. ☜