An Alchemist's Path to Eternity

This attempt with the Icefrost Demon Wolf would mark the second time Luo Chen refined Imperial Nectar. Despite the complexity of the task, not a trace of concern appeared on his face.

The first reason was simple: He had already succeeded once, with the earlier batch using the Blazing Cloud Roc’s demon core. The second was even more reassuring: his current alchemical skills were worlds beyond what they’d been before.

And he was right to be relaxed. In just half a month, he successfully produced a batch, three complete portions of Imperial Nectar!

As he looked at the three glowing bottles, he felt a deep sense of satisfaction. Perhaps one of these bottles would allow the Luo Tian Society’s cultivators to reach the Foundation Establishment Realm.

Luo Chen stepped out of the alchemy room and called for Bai Meiling. ”Has anyone come looking for me lately?”

Bai Meiling scratched her head. ”Not really. Only some briefings from Director Sima Huiniang, every now and then.”

Luo Chen frowned. He’d get around to reviewing the Luo Tian Society’s reports eventually, but what truly puzzled him was the silence from the Ice Fortress.

Could it be that Shi Boying still hasn’t realized the presence of that mid-grade Jade Dew pill? She may be old, but it’s clear she hasn’t stopped cultivating. Every time I’ve seen her, the spirit fluctuations around her grow stronger. Could it be that the timing just wasn’t right for her to use the pill?

For ordinary Initiates, it was difficult to gauge someone else’s cultivation without spirit consciousness or Spirit Eyes. But Luo Chen was no ordinary Initiate. Not only did his divine soul far surpass Shi Boying’s, but ever since Spirit Eyes had fused into his vision, he could use it without effort. He could easily perceive the other party’s cultivation progress.

The Jade Dew pills he usually sent must’ve been used by Shi Boying herself. Otherwise, her cultivation speed wouldn’t have increased so rapidly.

”Perhaps I am simply being too impatient...” he muttered.

He shook his head, forcing himself to suppress the unease stirring inside. There was no need to rush. He wasn’t particularly short for spirit stones at the moment. Even after privately purchasing a large amount of materials for Imperial Nectar, he still had over a hundred thousand spirit stones in savings. Besides, if needed, he could always pull a few hundred thousand from the society’s coffers. He was simply planning too far ahead.

After settling his thoughts, Luo Chen enjoyed a hearty dinner and then entered the meditation chamber for cultivation. Cultivation was a steady grind. With no distractions, he devoted himself wholly, never allowing a single day to go to waste.

***

The next day, Luo Chen retrieved the corpse of the Glacial Ice Toad from his storage pouch. As he examined its pallid body covered with grotesque white lumps, his brows knit in displeasure.

He hadn’t saved this creature for last because it was valuable. The real reason was that the corpse was hard to handle. Each of those white lumps was filled with potent toxins, and even as a Foundation Establishment cultivator, a careless touch could land him in serious trouble. These kinds of demonic beasts were not particularly powerful, but they were incredibly annoying to deal with. Only a Golden Core Adept could kill one cleanly.

Low-tier demonic beasts were usually easy prey. But once they reached the second-tier Beast General level, things changed. At that level, they began to develop spirit intelligence. Forming a demon core and manipulating demonic energy was the baseline. The stronger ones would leverage their specific abilities to devastating effect, making them as dangerous as any Initiates. And if the beast happened to have a bloodline legacy ability, even human cultivators of the same realm would think twice before engaging.

With this in mind, Luo Chen spat out his sword orb. It split into strands of sword light, weaving through the air before carefully slicing into the corpse, each cut aimed precisely between the venomous lumps.

At some point, Bai Meiling approached silently and came to stand at his side. Observing his cautious yet somewhat clumsy movements, she hesitated for a moment before speaking up. ”How about I handle it?”

Luo Chen glanced at her with a questioning look.

“For all intents and purposes, I am a ghost. These kinds of toxins cannot harm me. With the right enchanted artifact, I can handle the corpse much more efficiently.”

The calm confidence in her eyes left no room for doubt. Luo Chen nodded without hesitation. ”Go ahead.”

Bai Meiling guided a top-grade flying dagger with her yin qi, swiftly slicing around the massive toad’s body. Her movements were swift and fluid, clearly more skilled than Luo Chen’s earlier attempts.

Seeing this, Luo Chen couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief. Indeed, Bai Meiling had likely handled dismembering demonic beast corpses back when she worked at the Hall of Hundred Herbs. After all, many medicinal materials in the cultivation world came from demonic beasts. Since she clearly faced no danger handling the corpse, he allowed her to continue and turned his focus to preparing the auxiliary ingredients.

From start to finish, Luo Chen never let anyone besides her assist in the production of Imperial Nectar. Not even the procurement of ingredients could be entrusted to outsiders. Imperial Nectar could never be exposed. No one beyond his closest circle could ever know of its existence.

In this manner, with tireless effort and strict caution, a month passed as if in the blink of an eye.

Inside the alchemy room, Luo Chen lifted his head toward the top of the Ice Emperor Cauldron. Thin streams of golden nectar flowed like starlight reflected in a river.

Without a moment’s hesitation, he cast Traction, and the golden fluid obediently followed his will, flowing into three large jade bottles arranged before the cauldron. With a flick of his fingers, he extinguished the second-tier earth fire that had powered the refinement process.

Luo Chen left the alchemy room and stepped out to the living room.

A faint fragrance seeped from the jade bottles, rich and mellow, brimming with vitality. Drawing in a deep breath, Luo Chen felt his entire body surge with energy.

This batch was different. It was a clear improvement, far superior to the ones he had refined before.

He dipped a fingertip into one of the bottles, brought a drop of the golden liquid to his tongue, and swallowed. A wave of potent yet gentle medicinal power spread slowly through his body.

“This potency...” His eyes lit up instantly. “It’s over fifty percent stronger than the last batch!”

The satisfaction lasted only a moment before his expression grew grim. A sharp thread of chilling yin qi coursed through his body

Without delay, Luo Chen activated the Clear Origin Mystical Pill, guiding his spirit power to expel the invading energy from his body.

That was the power of Profound Yin? Luo Chen’s expression grew uncertain and grim. He hadn’t expected the power of Profound Yin inside the Glacial Ice Toad’s demon core to become so overpowering once integrated into the Imperial Nectar.

No wonder the first nine batches had failed, and only the last one barely succeeded. Once his mind calmed, Luo Chen began evaluating the three bottles.

The medicinal potency far surpassed that of ordinary low-grade Imperial Nectar, likely increasing the success rate of Foundation Establishment significantly. These three portions alone were comparable to regular low-grade Foundation Establishment pills. Yet the drawback was equally apparent.

Due to the presence of the power of Profound Yin, male cultivators with strong yang constitutions absolutely could not use it. If they attempted to use it during Foundation Establishment, the backlash would be fatal. For female cultivators, however, that same yin qi might become a powerful aid to forcing their cultivation through the barrier of Foundation Establishment.

As these thoughts circled in his mind, Bai Meiling entered the living room. Her wide eyes and parted lips made it seem as though she were absorbing the fragrance in the air.

Luo Chen caught the subtle shift in her expression and was taken aback. ”You are actually absorbing that trace power of Profound Yin?”

A soft burp slipped from Bai Meiling’s lips, her cheeks faintly tinged with satisfaction. She lowered her gaze and muttered, ”What power?”

Her words were entirely unconvincing. He could clearly sense the change in her aura. The flow of her spirit power had become more apparent.

A look of delight appeared on Luo Chen’s face. Until now, Bai Meiling’s cultivation has relied solely on persistence and the slow accumulation of spirit energy. Even after obtaining the Soul-Gathering Banner, her limited cultivation had prevented her from harnessing much of its power. Moreover, Luo Chen had never heard of any pills that could benefit ghost cultivators.

He hadn’t expected such a discovery today. From his storage pouch, he pulled out a large jade bottle. “Little Ling, try and see if you can use this spirit liquid.”

Bai Meiling curiously took it from him.

“No rush, take your time. Even if you can’t absorb it all at once, a little every day is still progress,” he added calmly.

Bai Meiling nodded. The Divine Ghost Secret Record could convert spirit energy into yin qi, but the process was inefficient. If Imperial Nectar proved compatible, her path to greater strength would shorten dramatically.

She cradled the jade bottle and slipped back into the Soul-Gathering Banner.

Luo Chen watched her go, a sense of anticipation quietly blooming within him.

He now commanded two ghostly companions—Little Ling and Little Black.

Little Black possessed the raw power of a Ghost General but lacked intelligence and fought only by instinct. By contrast, Bai Meiling, though weaker in cultivation, was highly intelligent and could assist him in many ways. If her cultivation could rise, she’d become an even greater asset in the future.

Once these matters were settled, Luo Chen turned his attention to the tasks before him: unlocking Fei Changqiu’s storage pouch and refining the Blood Fiend pill for Wang Yuan.

The task of refining the Blood Fiend pill would serve as a true test of his alchemical mastery. He was fairly confident, but given how rare and precious the Netherworld Yin Fiend was, he had to be fully prepared before refinement. It would be a terrible waste to squander it.

As for opening Fei Changqiu’s storage pouch, that too was something he could not neglect. Luo Chen’s interest was not for Fei Changqiu’s inheritance, but for the Foundation Establishment pills that might be hidden within. He didn’t hope for much; even a single pill would be good enough. As long as he had that, he’d have a perfect cover to mask the existence of Imperial Nectar.

Fei Changqiu had been at the fourth stage of Foundation Establishment. His storage pouch’s spirit seal far surpassed the level of those Luo Chen had previously broken, like Duan Qiankun’s or Wang Haichao’s. But Luo Chen was also no longer the same man either! After years of cultivation, his divine soul foundation had reached the level of late-stage Foundation Establishment, a far cry from before. On top of that, he had become well-versed in formations constructed using spirit stones.

Unlocking Fei Changqiu’s storage pouch wouldn’t take him too long. By his estimation, he could dismantle the restriction within a few short months, an acceptable time span. The Luo Tian Society could afford to wait that long, and so could he.