An Alchemist's Path to Eternity

After two years of absence, Luo Chen was finally back in Moonbreak.

Compared to last time, the city was even more bustling. Countless cultivators moved in and out, and there were even some mortals present as well! Some cultivation families had relocated entirely and brought mortals along with them. Apparently, not long ago, the Falling Cloud Sect had proposed relocating a large group of mortals from the inland regions to settle nearby, allowing them to take root and to establish mortal countries. In the future, these people would become the next low-tier cultivators.

Yet beneath this apparent liveliness, Luo Chen faintly sensed a trace of heaviness. For the first crushing defeat on the front lines to have no impact at all on the rear was simply impossible. This influence revealed itself when Luo Chen went to seek an audience with the artifact creation master Huyan Zhuo.

”An appointment?” asked Luo Chen.

”Yes. My master has taken on many commissioned tasks recently and is extremely busy. Without an appointment... My apologies, Senior Dan Chenzi.”

Luo Chen looked at the Skysail City disciple before him—he was polite and showed no arrogance at all, but at the same time, he was quite firm in his refusal. Luo Chen thought for a moment before saying, ”In that case, please arrange an appointment for me.”

The disciple hesitated slightly. ”I truly apologize for this. When would it be alright for you?”

Luo Chen handed him a sound-transmitting paper crane and smiled gently. ”There is no problem. I have plenty of free time lately, so whenever Fellow Daoist Huyan is available, you may inform me.”

The disciple nodded repeatedly. After Luo Chen left, he carefully stored away the sound-transmitting paper crane.

”He’s got quite a good temperament for an alchemist master.”

Muttering to himself, the disciple headed inside the Treasure Pavilion. Huyan Zhuo was there, and he appeared extremely busy indeed; he was working on something in an orderly manner with the assistance of several Initiate artisans.

The disciple waited quietly on the side for a long time. Finally, Huyan Zhuo came over to rest, his entire body drenched in sweat.

”You guys continue. This Azure Goldstone is extremely resistant to high temperatures. It must be heated non-stop for nineteen days before we can use it.”

After this casual instruction, he looked toward the disciple and noticed that he seemed to have something to say. ”Rengui, what is it?”

Rengui immediately handed the paper crane to him. ”This is from Dan Chenzi. He wants to meet you.”

”Eh?” Huyan Zhuo frowned. ”How come? The two enchanted treasures should not have any issues. You guys fixed the Mystic Flame Sword in my stead, but I checked it and it was definitely up to standard. As for the Heavenly Moon Purple Gold Wheel, I personally spent an entire day repairing it. There should not have been any issues. Why would he be looking for me?”

Rengui softly commented, ”From what I know, an Adept from the Luo Tian Alliance fell on the front lines.”

Upon hearing this, Huyan Zhuo was momentarily stunned. Yet after a moment, he smiled in realization. He lifted his teacup and took a sip, chuckling as he spoke softly, ”So he is in a hurry to protect his own life. That makes sense. He refined a whole bunch of random low-grade enchanted treasures. He probably didn’t have a life-bound enchanted treasure to refine, which was why he had the spare energy. This time, he is probably going to ask me to personally create a life-bound treasure for him.”

Seeing Rengui’s puzzled expression, Huyan Zhuo pursed his lips. ”Rengui, do not compare those small sects and rogue Adepts with us. Not everyone can get a suitable life-bound treasure the moment they advance to the Golden Core Realm. Only the Adepts of Skysail City enjoy such treatment.”

Rengui suddenly understood and felt an even greater sense of pride in being a disciple of Skysail City. He asked, ”Then, Master, will you see him?”

Huyan Zhuo did hesitate somewhat. Making custom life-bound treasures for Adepts was the most profitable line of work normally. The fee alone nearly matched the value of the enchanted treasure itself. However, it was also the most time-consuming task. During the Frontier War, there were vast numbers of enchanted artifact repair tasks available, and the production and sale of standardized enchanted artifacts were even more lucrative. If he were to take on Luo Chen’s request...

”The failure rate for life-bound enchanted treasure is too high, and it takes way too much time. I am not particularly inclined to meet him,” he said in a low voice.

Rengui understood what his master meant. ”Then shall I contact him in a couple of days and tell him no?”

Huyan Zhuo was about to nod. Yet after recalling a certain rumor, he shook his head instead. ”It is better to meet him after all. I heard that when this man first formed his core, he was acknowledged by Qing Danzi of Green Pill Valley and invited to refine a Nascent Soul Pill. In recent years, he has also successfully refined third-tier cultivation pills, and some people have already signed contracts for long-term supply. This is enough to show how formidable his alchemy skills are. Someone like that is definitely worth cultivating a relationship with. I may very well need to seek pills from him in the future. Even if I can’t help him right now, he will know that I tried. After I finish the matters at hand, arrange a meeting for us.”

Rengui nodded and took note of the matter.

***

After leaving the Treasure Pavilion, Luo Chen went to the Luo Tian Treasure Hall, the former shop number eight. He did not do much here; he merely confirmed the time of the immortal city auction with Xu Haizhen, then went to a room and waited there quietly. This trip to Moonbreak Immortal City involved two different matters, and he could only hope that neither would go awry.

The auction was scheduled to be held in half a month. Before that date arrived, news came from Huyan Zhuo’s side. Without any delay, Luo Chen entered the Treasure Pavilion again that very day.

The moment he met Huyan Zhuo, Luo Chen noticed that the old man looked far more weathered than before, which clearly showed how busy he had been during this period. Still, he was giving off a lively spark, which suggested that he had earned a proportionate amount of money. It was much the same as how Luo Chen felt every time he received pill payments from Chen Xiuli and Song Mi. After a brief exchange of courtesies, the two moved straight to the main matter.

”I want an enchanted treasure. Do you have time these days?” Luo Chen said seriously.

This was exactly what Huyan Zhuo had expected. He smiled. ”You want to craft a Primordial Unity Cauldron, right?”

Luo Chen’s brows arched slightly. The words that had been about to leave his mouth were forced back, and he followed along with the topic of the Primordial Unity Cauldron instead. ”Could it be that your sect has refined this kind of enchanted treasure before?”

”Of course we have,” Huyan Zhuo said with a satisfied smile. ”Back when Green Pill Valley had not yet relocated to the Jade Cauldron Domain, they did not have such abundant resources of mystical fire. When their alchemists wanted to refine cauldrons, they naturally came to Skysail City.”

Luo Chen grew interested. ”You sound pretty confident. I assume you have succeeded in the past?”

”That is only natural. Well, I did fail many times, but I created two of them.”

”Oh! In that case, I wonder if your sect currently has any ready-made Primordial Unity Cauldrons.”

”You want to buy one?” Huyan Zhuo shook his head. ”In that case, I will have to disappoint you. This type of enchanted treasure is extremely difficult to create and is only made by custom order. Where would there be extras?”

He conveniently skirted the answer—that Skysail City did in fact have several Primordial Unity Cauldrons. However, they could not be considered available, because all of them had owners. Specifically, Skysail City’s own alchemists.

”To be honest, the Primordial Unity Cauldron is far too comprehensive in its functions, which makes it extremely troublesome to create. In my early years, I took it as inspiration and attempted to create something I called the Four Symbols Cauldron, but that attempt ended in failure. If you want me to personally refine a Primordial Unity Cauldron for you, I truly cannot spare the time at present, nor do I have absolute confidence in guaranteeing success.” Huyan Zhuo spread his hands. ”I’m sorry to say this, but it’s probably not a good investment for you.”

Luo Chen listened with great interest. He had not expected that the Four Symbols Cauldron he once used had actually come from Huyan Zhuo’s hands, rather than something sold under a false name to inflate the price. Naturally, he was not disappointed at all, and he took the opportunity to ask a few more questions.

”Is it really that easy to fail? Why is that?”

”The path of Primordial Unity requires a complete five-element cycle, and those elements must not fall out of balance. How would it be easy?”

”But at the end of the day, a fresh life-bound enchanted treasure is only low-grade,” Luo Chen said.

”Hehe, is it though? Just think about it: If they have a choice in the matter, who would want their own life-bound treasure to be poor quality? Moreover, the power of the Primordial Unity Cauldron ultimately depends on the materials. But the more you add and the better they are, the easier it is to fail. Well, that, unless my master does it himself. His success rate is over sixty percent!”

”Sage Heaven Smelter?”

”That would be my master, yes. He is a true blue fourth-tier artisan. He has refined several top-grade enchanted treasures and quite a number of mystical enchanted treasures as well. In fact, the only reason I had the space to make a name for myself across the six domains is that he’s been crafting less in recent years.”

Luo Chen asked again, ”But the formation of an enchanted treasure is tied to the engraving of formations. From my perspective, the formations required for the Primordial Unity Cauldron are not particularly difficult...”

”See, that’s where you’re wrong. The formations themselves are simple, yes, but that’s not important. What really matters here is making multiple formations compatible with one another. That means the formation master’s skill level must be very high, and it also requires materials of exceptionally high quality. How could inferior materials possibly bear so many formations?”

”But the materials you used back then to create the Four Symbols Cauldron were also very good. So why...”

”How do you know the materials I used were very good?”

”Ahem. I am unworthy, but I happen to own that Four Symbols Cauldron. Back when I was in the Qi Refinement Realm, it helped me immensely.”

”Oh, you have it? Haha, what a throwback! I never expected us to have that kind of connection. Very well then. In truth, the principle behind it is quite simple. Materials that are too good can also affect the formation’s ability to unleash its full might. What you need is not the absolute best materials, but the best possible materials that are in good balance. Properly controlling that balance is the true test of a master artisan’s ability...”