An Alchemist's Path to Eternity

Three years later, Tianlan Immortal City was more prosperous than ever. The central avenue swelled with people, a sea of cultivators flowing endlessly, the bustle ten or even a hundred times greater than before.

The old saying that Qi Refinement cultivators gathered like clouds, Initiates fell like rain, and Adepts sometimes flashed like lightning had now become a true reflection of reality. From every corner of the thirty-six domains, countless cultivators rushed toward the Jade Cauldron Domain. Even though only a small portion of them arrived in Tianlan Immortal City, the number was still astonishing.

The city’s shuttle carriages ran without pause, day and night. Every shop slammed its doors wide open, and shopkeepers conducted business with cheerful faces.

The Jade Cauldron Sword Sect’s Debate Platform grew even more popular as the Jade Emperor Sword Debate approached. Although the rules claimed that anyone from any sect and any realm could participate. In truth, there was a condition. The participants had to rank among the top ten for their realm on the Debate Platforms of the ten great immortal cities within the Jade Cauldron Domain. Only those who achieved such a position would receive an invitation to the Jade Emperor Sword Debate.

As a result, martial fervor surged daily in the ten great immortal cities. Debating the Dao had become a contest for supremacy. Even rogue cultivators who had no plans to participate in the grand debate were eager to step onto the platform, testing their strength and measuring the gap between them and others. An audience eager for spectacle always filled the stands to capacity.

In such an atmosphere, the merchants of Tianlan Immortal City earned profits beyond measure, and the Luo Tian Society was no exception. Leaving aside its many other ventures, the single storefront they owned along the central avenue alone was enough to bring in wealth like flowing water each day.

In truth, the Luo Tian Society lacked the standing to own a storefront on the central avenue. Yet the Lianyun Trade Alliance had declined, and its grand elder had vanished for years without returning. Nobody knew what could’ve happened to him—nobody apart from Luo Chen, of course. He knew He Lianyun’s whereabouts all too well, given that the man had died by his hand. For that reason, after returning to the city, he had Sima Huiniang reach out to Ailao Mountain, the sect that was now overseeing the city. When the Lianyun Trade Alliance failed to pay its rent, the Luo Tian Society was the first to step in and take over Lianyun Tower.

Naturally, Lianyun Tower was immediately renamed as Danxia Hall. It traded more or less the same things as the Lianyun Alliance, with two exceptions. The two new product types being sold were pills and snacks.

After Qu Lingjun advanced to Foundation Establishment, the pill business grew steadily more stable, and he was now refining second-tier pills. Because he was Luo Chen’s personal disciple, many low-tier cultivators in Tianlan Immortal sought favor by bestowing upon him the Dao title ”Ling Junzi.”

At first glance, the title seemed perfunctory, merely adding an honorific to his name. Yet within that simple honorific was a trace of flattery toward Luo Chen himself. After all, Luo Chen’s title of Fire Spirit Lord carried some similarity to Ling Junzi.[1]

With two second-tier alchemists, Dan Chenzi and Ling Junzi, presiding over Danxia Hall, the place naturally became a destination all low-tier cultivators longed to visit. After all, the pills produced by the Luo Tian Society were sold at relatively low prices while still being of decent quality.

As for the snack part, it had become something of a tradition within the society. There was a saying that cultivators live with sunlight and morning dew, but fasting practices were only really done after one reached Foundation Establishment. And even then, few were truly indifferent to taste. When a snack was both flavorful and infused with spirit energy, no one hesitated to spend a few spirit stones to try it.

For that very reason, among the many high-end storefronts lining the central avenue, Danxia Hall had become the most crowded and lively. Even Gu Caiyi, the Gold Palace Leader, now spent most days stationed at Danxia Hall.

On this particular day, she stood beside Yuan Xiaoyue, who had now reached the Foundation Establishment Realm, welcoming an Adept who had come to visit. The guest was a senior from Windflower Palace.

After entering Danxia Hall, the Adept wandered about for some time, especially around the first floor, where the pills were sold. Eventually, she turned and asked casually, ”Do you not sell Jade Dew Pills here?”

Gu Caiyi’s expression tightened as she replied carefully, ”Senior Fengyue, I am not sure where you heard that, but our Danxia Hall does not sell Jade Dew Pills.”

Adept Fengyue’s lips curved slightly. ”Isn’t it common knowledge that Master Dan Chenzi excels at refining Jade Dew Pills?”

Jade Dew Pills were... precisely the famed specialty of the Windflower Domain! Within Windflower Palace itself, several alchemists were known for their skill in refining it, and among them, Fengyue was one of the most outstanding. Though alchemy was not her main path, she could still produce top-grade Jade Dew Pills with stable results.

A faint sheen of sweat appeared on Gu Caiyi’s forehead as she replied softly, ”It’s true that our President can refine Jade Dew Pills, but they are currently supplied only to the Ice Fortress. We do not sell them publicly.”

Fengyue arched her brow. She already knew that much. Yet after a light, deliberate breath, amusement flickered in her eyes.

”Junior, you claim they’re only for the Ice Fortress, so why do I smell the lingering scent of Jade Dew Pills on you?”

Gu Caiyi froze. She and Sima Huiniang had indeed taken Jade Dew Pills for a long time and mostly of the top and supreme grade. But what was she saying about the scent of the pill? Jade Dew Pills were entirely odorless; moreover, even if they had a scent, how could such a subtle scent linger beneath layers of cosmetics and her perfume?

Luo Chen had never mentioned such a thing, and he was always meticulous about such details. In other words, this was nothing but a ruse.

Yet that brief moment of hesitation was all Fengyue needed to confirm her suspicion.

”So you have taken them after all. Do you have any on you? Give me two!”

Gu Caiyi’s face paled. She had been tricked!

As unease flickered across her face, Fengyue’s lips curved faintly. In truth, this was nothing but confirmation; she had been aware of everything from the get-go. The two women rumored to be closest to Luo Chen, Sima Huiniang and Gu Caiyi, had long been under watchful eyes—especially Gu Caiyi, who frequently appeared in public. Her aptitude was ordinary, yet her cultivation advanced at a remarkable pace. At such a young age, she had already reached the middle stage of Foundation Establishment Realm; her progress was comparable to the True Inheritors from major sects. Without the aid of medicine, such rapid advancement was unthinkable. And knowing Dan Chenzi’s prowess in crafting Jade Dew Pills, everything made perfect sense.

With her thoughts racing, Gu Caiyi forced herself to speak through gritted teeth, ”Senior, this is Tianlan Immortal City. Both coercion and forced trade are strictly prohibited here—”

”It’s not coercion at all.” Fengyue cut her off, flicking her sleeve. She pointed toward the shelves lined with glittering bottles. ”Let’s say I spend fifty thousand spirit stones here on first-tier pills for Qi Refinement disciples. Out of gratitude for my generosity, you might then gift me two Jade Dew Pills as a small token of appreciation. Wouldn’t that be reasonable?”

Who spent fifty thousand spirit stones on pills for Qi Refinement disciples? Especially when Windflower Palace trained its own alchemists and had no need for the common low-tier pills that rogue cultivators relied on. But at that moment, it was Gu Caiyi who found herself in a bind. The senior before her possessed unfathomable cultivation far beyond hers, yet rather than using force, she had offered a polite pretext, a way for Gu Caiyi to back down. If things were handled this way, it wouldn’t even count as Luo Chen breaching his contract with Ice Fortress.

Yet Gu Caiyi held her composure and insisted, ”Senior, this matter is beyond my authority. I must first consult our President. You—”

As she spoke, Fengyue’s smile slowly faded. ”You have admirable composure and resolve, I have to say. But if you insist on being stubborn, don’t blame me for insisting either. You think I can’t do anything to you just because we are in an immortal city?”

As she spoke, an invisible spirit pressure began to stir. Gu Caiyi’s face blanched. At that very instant, a calm voice drifted in from outside the hall. ”Little Gu, have you restocked those deep-fried silkworm pupae we serve with wine?”

As his voice reached them, the spirit pressure emitted by Fengyue vanished, replaced by a dignified, upright aura. Fengyue’s expression shifted sharply as she fixed her gaze on the elegant man ascending the stairs.

”The righteous aura of Haoran? Wasn’t the Haoran Sect long destroyed?”

The man smiled faintly. ”I am Hao Ranzi, a disciple of the Haoran Sect. The sect was once part of the Windflower Domain, if I recall correctly. Adept Fengyue, during The Sixteen Sects’ Joint Campaign against Lianxia, you were the one who took first place in Windflower Palace’s Qi Refinement Tournament, were you not?”

Fengyue had been on the verge of probing deeper into the man’s background when, without warning, he suddenly lifted his head. His bright, clear eyes seemed to pierce straight through the upper floors, through wooden beams and formation, gazing toward the distant heights above.

Fengyue paused, then quickly understood. ”Someone is attempting Core Formation!”

Hao Ranzi looked toward Tianlan Peak and nodded slightly. ”The meeting of dragon and tiger, the reversal of spirit energy flow. These are the signs of a core about to be formed.”

Fengyue frowned, a trace of solemnity flickering across her face. With the Frontier War approaching, and after decades of internal turmoil within the Jade Cauldron Domain, the surviving young elites were now breaking through one after another. She distinctly remembered having seen this before.

Suddenly, Hao Ranzi turned and smiled gently at her. ”As far as I know, the cultivator attempting Core Formation in that cave residence is a member of the Luo Tian Society. Fellow Daoist Fengyue, why not accompany me to pay a visit?”

1. The title Fire Spirit Lord is 火灵君 (huǒ líng jūn) and 灵均子 (líng jūn zǐ) might be very loosely translated as ”honorable equanimous spirit.” The ”spirit part is the same, while the ”jun” parts are near-homophones, so Qu Lingjun’s title can be interpreted as deriving from Luo Chen’s. ☜