An Alchemist's Path to Eternity

After pondering for a while, Luo Chen reached a conclusion. He still had to keep refining pills to sell, but it no longer made sense for him to refine lower-tier ones. Instead, he would refine and sell Starfield Pills. It was simple and convenient. Whenever he refined supreme-grade Starfield Pills for himself, he would also refine an extra batch or two of ordinary low-grade ones.

There was a large market for such pills. To say nothing of others, even within the Luo Tian Alliance, there were willing buyers. Diwu Qi and Jiang Yu would certainly jump at the opportunity. Given their assets and needs, he could probably sell each of them a bottle a month at the reasonable price of 5,000 spirit stones. This would bring Luo Chen 120,000 a year in revenue. As for Cen Qiusheng, he was old and had little hope of actual improvement in cultivation, so his demand would likely be lower. Luo Chen thought that he could earn around 30,000 a year from him. As for Fu Jiusheng, Luo Chen planned to only charge him eighty percent. After all, he was one of Luo Chen’s own comrades now, and even though he couldn’t just get a permanent free supply, it was only natural for Luo Chen to offer some member-only benefits. Even accounting for the five free bottles a year he had promised, Fu Jiusheng would still pay for seven bottles, bringing him another 30,000 a year.

”Hmm... This is not going to work. If I just sell my pills to the alliance, that’ll get me only 180,000 a year. It’s still not enough!”

Luo Chen thought it over and turned his attention to his friends. Song Mi was the head of a sect and rather wealthy, so Luo Chen had no doubt that he would purchase the pills given the chance. Chen Xiuli’s clothing business brought in an unending stream of income, and she was well off too. She had only recently formed her core, so her demand for third-tier pills would certainly be high. He counted her for another share. Together, the two would likely also bring him 120,000 spirit stones. Luo Chen was not planning to overcharge them. They were friends after all. Moreover, the simple fact that he could provide them with pills at any price was a great favor on his part, and they’d surely be grateful.

And with that, the 300,000 deficit would be resolved.

”With my alchemy skills, supplying this group would be more than easy, and even more would not be a problem. But I can’t make too big of a show. This amount is already enough. It keeps my reputation as a master alchemist, and lets Adept outside know that I treat close friends well and will think of them when I have suitable pills. I won’t have to do anything; they’ll come to me of their own free will. And it won’t take much of my cultivation time.”

As Luo Chen muttered to himself, he made up his mind. With the plan set, the road ahead became clearer.

He gathered his thoughts and began to use the Fine Dust Primordial Art. The ambient spirit energy he had absorbed earlier, along with the vast medicinal power converted from the pill, was still entrenched within his body. After a simple refinement, this spirit energy turned into spirit power.

However, spirit power was not mana! And for Adepts, a large portion of their cultivation effort lay precisely in turning spirit power into mana. Ordinary Adepts without inheritances could only rely on their Golden Cores to absorb spirit power, then slowly use their divine souls to permeate and refine it. This process was both complicated and troublesome; it used a great deal of time and effort.

Meanwhile, Luo Chen actually had a much, much easier time. He had no powerful inheritance, but he had created the Fine Dust Primordial Art himself. Besides the obvious and intended effect of Core Formation, what it actually did very well was convert spirit power into mana. Even though his core was already formed and he had no need for the art in that respect, he could still use it for spirit power refinement. In fact, the fact that he had been able to increase his cultivation speed so much was not only due to external factors like the cave and pills. The Fine Dust Primordial Art played a major role.

Within his endless sea of qi, surging spirit power roiled like misty waves, washing over a five-colored Golden Core.

As Luo Chen used the Fine Dust Primordial Art, large amounts of pure spirit energy transformed into mana and merged into the Golden Core. The Golden Core’s colors became deeper, and its size increased by an ever-so-slight amount.

***

Early the next morning, Luo Chen woke up from his cultivation state and walked out of the cave residence. He called over Zeng Yilong.

”Take these two bottles of Starfield Pills and go to the Moonbreak to look for Sect Master Song Mi of the Heavenly Blade Sect and Family Head Chen Xiuli of the Chen family. If you cannot find them in Moonbreak, then go to Taishan Market and Tianyi Market. Tell them I intend to supply this pill on a regular basis. If they want it, they can give you a year’s worth of spirit stones in advance and then send people to collect the pills.”

With his cultivation and status, Luo Chen no longer needed to run errands himself. He believed they would accept these terms, so there would be nothing to negotiate.

Zeng Yilong nodded and departed right away.

Luo Chen did not remain idle either. He first went to check on Min Longyu, to see how the research on the restriction fusion method for him was progressing. After being told that it was still a little short of completion, he went to visit Fu Jiusheng and study the basics of restrictions.

By afternoon, he wanted to visit the place where Wang Yuan was in seclusion. Before he could take a step, a commotion stopped him—something was going on at Azure Iron Mountain. Luo Chen frowned and muttered, ”What’s going on? Another demonic beast raid?”

Before long, an Initiate from Stormwind Manor ran back. ”Alliance Leader, a wolf king from the front line has strayed into this area. Our two manor masters are fighting desperately to hold it off. Would you please...”

”I will go lend a hand,” Luo Chen said casually.

He transmitted to Fu Jiusheng not to worry and just continue arranging the grand formation. Then, he soared into the sky and flew straight toward the source of the commotion. As he passed over Azure Iron Mountain, he glanced down at the slopes. Many low-tier Stormwind Manor cultivators were already engaged in slaughtering low-tier demonic wolves. In the distance, three figures crisscrossed in the air, fighting fiercely around a mid-stage wolf king.

”Oh, I see a troublesome one has shown up,” Luo Chen murmured to himself. He did not rush into the battlefield at once. He kept the distance under control and watched from afar. He observed the three cultivators’ combat style and the demonic wolf’s strength. The three were Diwu Qi, Jiang Yu, and another person who looked somewhat familiar...

Very quickly, Luo Chen remembered her—Jadewater Dragon! She was the genius from Dreamspring Cave, a heavenly spirit root cultivator. She was a peerless talent who had formed her core within just a hundred years. Back on the Debate Platform in Moonbreak Immortal City, she had been provoked by Wang Yuan. She had not displayed much, so he had not been able to assess her, but by the looks of it now, despite her small figure, she was quite the vicious and fierce one.

A black whip that seemed to be made of a gelatine-like material snapped and cracked in her hand. Each strike carried surging mana and left a glaring wound on the mid-stage wolf king. In contrast, Diwu Qi seemed rather ordinary despite his cultivation being slightly higher.

Luo Chen’s arrival naturally fell within the notice of all three cultivators and the wolf. The wolf king had already been at a disadvantage, and when it saw yet another human Adept arrive, it fought with even greater ferocity. Every strike it delivered carried the will to drag its enemies down to the grave, and even though the three maintained their encirclement, subtle gaps began to appear.

Suddenly—

”Dan Chenzi, you have watched long enough. Why not make a move and help us?” Jadewater Dragon called out sharply, her voice spreading across hundreds of li.

Diwu Qi and Jiang Yu exchanged a glance and slightly loosened the encirclement. The demonic wolf seized the opening. Under the pressure of the three attacks, it rushed toward Luo Chen without hesitation. It was an intelligent beast, and it could tell that Luo Chen’s cultivation was the lowest among this group. In other words, he was the weakest.

Jadewater Dragon naturally felt that was a smart choice, but Diwu Qi wore a faintly mocking expression. ”A demon king is still nothing more than a somewhat smart dog. How would it know Dan Chenzi’s abilities?”

Jiang Yu swung the pole of his Rain Summoning Banner and replied, ”As long as Dan Chenzi blocks it for a moment, the three of us can kill it in one blow.”

Jadewater Dragon remained doubtful. Mana gathered along her long whip as she prepared to unleash a devastating strike, but... could Luo Chen truly withstand a third-tier demonic wolf fighting for its life?

Under the watch of the three and the demonic wolf charging toward him, Luo Chen suddenly closed his eyes. He formed a sequence of hand seals at incredible speed.

”Get out of my way, human!”

A furious roar entered his ears as a foul wind rushed toward him. The next moment, his eyes opened just as abruptly, and countless Water Mirrors seemed to bloom within them. Each was filled with shifting scenes in mesmerizing colors that drew one’s mind.

Hummm....

A strange vibration resounded through the demonic wolf’s mind. For a moment, it vaguely saw scenes familiar to its instincts. It froze for just a heartbeat. In that instant, the three powerful attacks seized the opportunity and struck the undefended demon wolf simultaneously.

Boom!

The deafening explosion echoed through the layered mountain ranges as blood rained across the sky.

Jadewater Dragon and the other two stared at Luo Chen’s unmoving figure that was as steady as a mountain.

”Damn...”

”What technique was that? It actually made a mid-stage wolf king freeze in place and wait for death...”

”Dan Chenzi is stronger by the day. I don’t recall him ever using a technique like this.”