An Alchemist's Path to Eternity

On Danxia Peak, Luo Chen walked alone. Around him bustled the endless stream of Luo Tian Society cultivators. On their faces were two utterly different emotions.

Some shouted with joy, exulting in their great victory and boasting of slain enemies to their friends. A few even calculated the merit points they might receive and whether, once they reached Perfected Mastery of Qi Refinement, they could exchange them for Foundation Establishment resources. Their faces shone with vigor and unbridled hope for the future.

Others moved in gloom, their expressions heavy with grief. Others walked as if lost, and still others suddenly broke into tears as grief swept over them. These were the ones who had lost dearest kin and closest friends, and were utterly unable to accept the cruel reality.

The Luo Tian Society had been founded for thirty years and had rooted itself in Tianlan Immortal City for more than a decade. Such a span meant little to Initiates or Adepts, but to Qi Refinement cultivators with short lifespans, it amounted to a tenth or more of their lives. Within that time, they had formed friendships, married, passed on their crafts, and borne children.

Yet war had erupted at their very home. The ordered lives they had built were shattered, and countless loved ones perished. Sorrow and helplessness lingered without end. The stark contrast between joy and grief made the atmosphere difficult to bear.

When passing cultivators greeted him with reverence, Luo Chen returned their courtesy with only a calm nod. His expression remained composed, leaving others unable to discern what lay in his thoughts. Yet whenever his figure came into view, the agitation, unease, or grief in their hearts eased slightly.

Before long, Luo Chen reached the Medicine Palace. From a distance, he saw Gu Caiyi directing female disciples of the Gold Palace as they treated the wounded.

”We still lack a large number of first-tier Flesh-Regenerating pills. Xiaoyue, go to the Spirit Herb Pavilion in the city and purchase a hundred bottles.

”We are short on spirit stones? I still have some here. Use these for now.

”Are the blood-staunching bandages used up? Hexiang, go to Huixin Hall. Senior Chen Xiuli from Tianyi Market should be there, and her family surely has such materials. See if you can secure a batch in advance.

”Fiend-Purging pills... Where in the world am I supposed to find them... Xiaoyue, give me a moment. Remember to ask in the Medicine Palace whether they have any in stock.”

As Gu Caiyi called out to Yuan Xiaoyue, her eyes fell upon the figure standing not far away.

She bit her lip and walked over to Luo Chen. ”You’re back.”

”Mm.” Luo Chen gave a quiet hum in reply and reached out, placing his hand gently against her weakened right arm.

She did not resist. A faint azure glow appeared, strands of warm spirit power flowed into her body, and stirred life within the injured limb.

”You’re injured. Why didn’t you rest?” Luo Chen asked.

Gu Caiyi quietly accepted his treatment and answered in a low voice, ”It’s just a minor wound. Nothing serious.”

Under Luo Chen’s care, the bruised muscle tissue swiftly healed. What remained were a few injuries to the bone.

”Later, ask Master Healer Sun for a bone-strengthening prescription. In three to five days, you’ll be fully healed.”

Luo Chen withdrew his hand. He watched her tentatively move her arm, and a trace of tenderness flickered in his eyes.

”I heard Little Black is gone?” he asked quietly.

Gu Caiyi nodded. ”The situation was desperate. Two of us were with Palace Leader Xu against three mid-stage Initiates. It was truly dangerous. Fortunately, Bai Meiling had been hiding within me. She unleashed the Soul-Refining Banner, shifted the tide, and even summoned Little Black, who sacrificed its life to take one of them down.”

Her words were simple, yet the battle’s outcome had turned out unimaginably tragic.

Xu Haizhen was gravely injured, Duan Feng unconscious, Bai Meiling sealed within the Soul-Nurturing Banner to recover, and Murong Qinglian had suffered a backlash from her enchanted treasure that left one of her hands crushed to dust. Even the eagle flock that the Luo Tian Society had raised for ten years was nearly annihilated. The golden-crowned Plume-Snatching Eagle that had been painstakingly nurtured to the second tier was blasted apart; not a feather remained.

Their survival had only been possible thanks to the strategy laid out at the very start of the battle. Three of them had combined forces to kill one enemy, while Wang Yuan took advantage of the opening to strike down two more with his Divine Blood Tribulation Finger. Without that, the eight mid-stage Initiates would have crushed the four of them with ease.

Xu Haizhen’s breakthrough to the seventh stage of Foundation Establishment was no different from Luo Chen’s, achieved only on the eve of battle. In truth, it had given him little increase in combat strength. Not everyone could fight across realms like Luo Chen, Wang Yuan, or Min Longyu. The advantage of a mid-stage Initiate over an early-stage one was overwhelming, and the gap could not be ignored.

Even so, their battlefield had been fortunate. Every participating Initiate survived; on the other battlefields...

”Luo Chen, will you go and see them?” Gu Caiyi asked softly.

”Mm. Lead the way,” Luo Chen answered.

With Gu Caiyi guiding him, Luo Chen walked beneath countless watchful eyes into a side hall of the Medicine Palace. Within lay the bodies of the important figures of the Luo Tian Society who had perished in the battle.

When they reached the side hall, Gu Caiyi halted outside. Luo Chen brushed the dust from his robe, drew a deep breath, and stepped into the chill and shadow of the side hall.

***

Blocks of ice lined the hall, keeping the air frigid.

The moment Luo Chen stepped inside, his gaze fell on three prominent coffins. They remained unsealed, the bodies within clearly visible.

Su Xiaolin lay among them. Back in Dahe Market, when many rogue cultivators first joined the Luo Tian Society, he had been the one Luo Chen valued most. In those days, Luo Chen had sought not only to hone his healing techniques but also to win the loyalty of his followers. After the battle at Xiaohuan Mountain, he personally treated their wounds, one after another. The very first had been Su Xiaolin.

Back then, Su Xiaolin had only reached the eighth stage of Qi Refinement. Later, through diligent training in the Luo Tian Society, he advanced to the ninth stage and then Perfected Mastery, and finally broke through to Foundation Establishment. Sima Huiniang entrusted him with heavy responsibility, placing the society’s intelligence work in his hands.

Yet he had fallen in the battle of the Luo Tian Society.

Luo Chen sighed. Su Xiaolin had deserved a far greater future. He recalled that on the list Sima Huiniang had given him, which recorded those qualified to attempt Foundation Establishment, Su Xiaolin had been marked as young, only fifty-one years old. His path to the Great Dao still stretched wide ahead.

Luo Chen’s gaze shifted to another coffin. Inside lay a body with half its face destroyed—Bian Zhen. He had joined the Luo Tian Society back when Luo Chen secluded himself in the Dahe Ghost City. At that time, Bian Zhen’s cultivation was already quite refined, surpassing that of Sima Huiniang, Duan Feng, and the others. His progress remained swift, and he soon reached Perfected Mastery of Qi Refinement.

Yet his late arrival meant his accumulated merits were too few. As a result, his chance to attempt Foundation Establishment came only after Min Longyu, Duan Feng, and Sima Huiniang. At last, when he had accumulated enough merits, he attempted it alongside Murong Qinglian and Sima Xian’s group, only to fail miserably. None from that batch succeeded. It was only after many years, and with great luck, that Bian Zhen finally established his foundation.

Luo Chen looked down at him and murmured, ”If you had advanced to the Foundation Establishment Realm a few years earlier, would you have survived this battle? Or, if you had failed again and remained in Qi Refinement, fighting only among your peers, would your wealth of battle experience have let you survive instead?”

The answer could never be known. Luo Chen steadied his emotions and turned his gaze toward the third Initiate of the Luo Tian Society who had fallen in battle—Gui Jiang.

He had been born in Tianlan Immortal City and joined the Luo Tian Society during its very first recruitment of rogue cultivators after the Outer Hall was established. He was known for extraordinary valor; he soon caught the attention of Sima Xian and was brought into the Battle Palace.

His fortune had been remarkable as well. Despite possessing three spirit roots, he succeeded in Foundation Establishment on his very first attempt. Yet before he had the chance to display his full potential, he died in humiliation during a battle against cultivators of the same realm. He simply had not had enough time to adapt to Foundation Establishment combat, and he lacked a supreme-grade enchanted artifact to wield.

Luo Chen had not met him often, and their bond had been shallow. All he could do was sigh in regret at such a loss.

But when he came before the coffin holding Qin Liangchen’s remains, grief welled across his face despite himself.