An Alchemist's Path to Eternity

While Qu Lingjun focused fully on the process of alchemy, most of Luo Chen’s attention remained fixed on the Withering-Flourishing Fire. Ever since refining it as his primordial true fire, he had been studying its properties. During his time in the Ice Prison, the environment had been unsuitable for such work, and he had learned little; wanting to understand the flame’s nature was yet another reason he had returned to Tianlan Immortal City and dedicated himself to alchemy.

Yet after several months, his findings remained minimal. The first trait he had noticed was its firepower, but that much was expected. The Withering-Flourishing Fire had been cultivated by the Flame Alliance for more than three centuries and had reached the fourth tier. Its intensity naturally exceeded that of ordinary second or third-tier earth fire. When infused with a large amount of spirit power, it could erupt with extreme heat—so fierce that even Luo Chen’s body could sense the danger.

Its second trait was its ability to enhance fire-element spells. When even a trace of the Withering-Flourishing Fire was used to power a spell, its effects would immediately increase by nearly thirty percent. And if a sufficient amount was used, the amplification could reach two or even three hundred percent.

Even Fireball, when fueled by this fire, could threaten an Initiate, and it was quite literally the lowest-tier spell possible! As for Luo Chen’s strongest spells like Landslide and Solar Flare, their destructive power amplified by a primordial true fire was likely capable of threatening fresh Adepts!

However, aside from those two traits, Luo Chen had found nothing else. The result left him somewhat dissatisfied.

Rumor had it that Dan Yangzi’s Violet Skyfire possessed an extremely domineering and violent nature. In combat, its power was overwhelming, strong enough to cut down the Flame Alliance’s Sect Leader Xiao Lian in a single strike.

When used in alchemy, it could inject a trace of extremity into the pills, giving rise to unpredictable transformations. It was for that reason that Dan Yangzi was held in such high regard by the Golden Core elders of Green Pill Valley. Even though he had lost the position of Dao Scion, he continued to enjoy privileges nearly equal to Tao Wan’s.

And the Violet Skyfire was only a third-tier fire.

I must be overlooking something... but what is it?

He fell into deep thought, then formed a hand seal to extinguish the flame. A wisp of pill fragrance filled the chamber, and from beside him came Qu Lingjun’s startled cry.

”Top grade! Master, it’s top-grade!”

Luo Chen brushed aside his doubts and smiled faintly. He gathered the forty Dustfall Pills into his pouch, leaving only one, which he handed to Qu Lingjun.

”Take this and study it carefully, but you make sure you don’t accidentally eat it.”

Qu Lingjun nodded quickly. He already knew the pill’s effects. Its function lay in refining vital essence into qi. It was said to draw out the latent vital essence within one’s flesh and blood, converting it into spirit energy to aid cultivation. However, given a cultivator’s inherently frail physique, taking such a pill would simply result in damage to the body instead. Such an outcome would defeat its purpose—after all, low-tier cultivators had yet to transcend the flesh and achieve the immortality of the soul.

That concluded the alchemy lesson for the day. Next came Luo Chen’s assessment of his disciple’s cultivation.

Qu Lingjun, now forty-one years old, had been at the ninth stage of Qi Refinement for several years. He possessed four spirit roots, lacking only metal. His main cultivation technique was Blazing Flame, a fairly common fire-element technique said to have originated from the Five Elements Divine Sect.

In addition, he practiced a secret art called Convergence of the Three Origins. It was a modified version of Li Yingzhang’s Ninefold Reversion Sutra, adjusted to match his aptitude. Its sole purpose was to refine and purify spirit power. That was precisely the kind of cultivation most Qi Refinement cultivators undertook at the ninth stage.

However, this technique carried a flaw. It shared the same weakness as the Ninefold Reversion Sutra, namely that its cultivation required an extremely long time. After several years of practice, Qu Lingjun had only reached about a third of the ninth layer. At his current pace, achieving Perfection Mastery in Qi Refinement would take at least another ten years.

For someone with four spirit roots, that progress was already considered impressive. Yet, given the abundant resources available to him, it was unreasonably slow.

His partner, Mi Li, had advanced from the fifth to the eighth stage of Qi Refinement in just a few years after Luo Chen healed her body. At this rate, Mi Li could very well surpass him and reach Perfected Mastery first.

When the evaluation concluded, Luo Chen sank into thought. Under Qu Lingjun’s anxious gaze, Luo Chen finally smiled. ”Not bad. Your foundation is solid, and from what I can tell, your spirit power is remarkably pure.”

Qu Lingjun let out a breath of relief. He chuckled sheepishly. ”Master, as long as I don’t disappoint you, that’s good enough for me.”

Watching his honest grin, Luo Chen continued, ”In your spare time, visit the Succession Palace and borrow a manual titled Flame Yang True Scripture.”

”Flame Yang True Scripture?” Qu Lingjun repeated in surprise.

”Yes. It is a second-tier fire cultivation art that used to be practiced by Initiates of the Flame Alliance. When you reach Foundation Establishment, you can immediately switch to it. I can even obtain the third-tier part of the scripture for you.”

Qu Lingjun’s eyes widened in excitement. That meant he would never again have to worry about lacking cultivation manuals or resources! The techniques also came from the same lineage, leaving no concern about incompatibility.

Watching his disciple’s enthusiasm, Luo Chen couldn’t help but shake his head with a faint sigh.

This must be what it meant to have a master or a senior to rely on. With his deep understanding of fire arts, be it cultivation techniques or spells, he could offer Qu Lingjun all the guidance and protection he would ever need. In other words, his disciple was doing better than Luo Chen himself; he was still struggling to decide which cultivation technique to pursue after Core Formation.

After Qu Lingjun left, three jade scrolls appeared before him. They were titled Flame Yang True Scripture, Flourishing Azure Unified Heart, and Wood Ignition.

The first was a transcription done by Min Longyu. He had been permitted by Elder Fei Ming to copy it after the fall of the Flame Alliance, and it was a purely fire-element cultivation technique. The second was a gift from Fairy Ice Torrent. During his time in the Ice Prison, Luo Chen had expressed his need for a third-tier cultivation technique, and she did not hesitate to provide one.

Luo Chen’s primary cultivation art, Eternal Youth Evergreen Sutra, was a secret scripture of the Medicine King Sect and could not be passed on to outsiders. Even though he had used his system to extrapolate the Foundation Establishment chapter to completion, anything at the Golden Core Realm and above remained beyond reach. Unable to obtain the original scripture, Adept Ice Torrent had offered him a wood-element technique she had preserved over the years—Flourishing Azure Unified Heart.

As for the third, it was an inheritance Luo Chen had recently found in the storage pouch of a late-stage Initiate. It was a third-tier technique of wood and fire, but it was incomplete.

Confronted with the three, Luo Chen fell into deep hesitation. For battle enhancement, the Flame Yang True Scripture from the Flame Alliance was undoubtedly the most suitable. Yet changing his core cultivation method could have serious consequences, affecting far more than just the nature of his spirit power.

If longevity were his goal, then a pure wood-element technique would undoubtedly grant him several additional years of life. It was a well-known truth in the cultivation world that those who practiced water, wood, or earth techniques lived longer than those who focused on metal or fire.

Luo Chen had personally verified this principle. The spirit power refined through the Eternal Youth Evergreen Sutra indeed nourished the body and extended vitality. Moreover, he had an example in Sun Sifang; she had practiced a water-element technique, and as a result, she had lived beyond the usual 250-year limit of an Initiate, reaching an astonishing 275 years of age. For him personally, continuing with Flourishing Azure Unified Heart after Core Formation would clearly be the wisest choice.

Finally, there was Wood Ignition. It was incomplete, yes, but it was also a rare dual-element method combining wood and fire. It perfectly suited Luo Chen’s circumstances, as his cultivation was based on wood, but his combat methods relied heavily on fire. By switching to this art, he could resolve that imbalance and achieve a smoother transition.

Unfortunately, as Luo Chen well knew, all multi-element arts shared two fatal flaws: slow progress and extreme difficulty in advancing through major realms! These were not rumors but hard truths proven by countless cultivators across generations. Throughout his path, Luo Chen had studied several such techniques himself and observed others practicing them.

Duan Rui of the Duan family cultivated the Nether Spring Darkfire, a dual water-and-fire art. Despite his talent, he became stuck at Perfected Mastery of Qi Refinement, failing twice to break through to Foundation Establishment.

Sima Huiniang cultivated using the Waterside Pavilion Art, a combination of water and wood. Even with the full support of the Luo Tian Society’s resources, the supply of top-grade Jade Dew Pills from Luo Chen, and the use of a premium cave residence, her progress remained painfully slow. Even now, she had only just reached the fourth stage of Foundation Establishment.

The two of them perfectly illustrated the flaws of dual-element cultivation. Thus, even with Wood Ignition being the perfect remedy for his dilemma, Luo Chen still could not bring himself to decide. It was even more difficult to decide when he considered that the technique was incomplete.

After a long moment of silence, he let out a quiet sigh and carefully placed the three jade scrolls into his Jilei Hoard Ring.

”Enough,” he murmured to himself. ”I haven’t even formed my core yet. There’s no need to trouble myself with this now. Besides, these are blessings in disguise. Back then, I only started searching for a second-tier cultivation technique after I reached Foundation Establishment. Now I already have three suitable choices before me, what right do I have to be picky?”

Luo Chen let out a deep sigh, then straightened his posture, refined several more furnaces of pills, and continued his deductions on the second-tier Spirit Passage Pill formula. He then went into his cultivation chamber and took out two pills: a top-grade Blood-Boosting Pill and a top-grade Dustfall Pill! The first strengthened the blood qi and vital essence, while the other refined vital essence into qi.

It was time to get back to cultivation.