An Alchemist's Path to Eternity

At Sea-Gazing Cliff, the night lay heavy as the sea breeze drifted gently. Amid the rolling waves, there lingered an unusual stillness.

With a flick of his wrist, Luo Chen planted the black banner at the very center of the cave residence. He probed in with his divine consciousness and found that the ghostly feast was still ongoing. More than a hundred powerful resentful souls swarmed around Yan Nantian’s lingering soul, tugging and gnawing at it without pause. The Ghost King in particular ripped off great mouthfuls, and its light that had once dimmed gradually began to recover.

Watching this scene, Luo Chen revealed a thoughtful expression.

Modern immortal cultivators relied on external resources to speed up their progress, but at the core, they were no different from the ancient Qi Refiners. They still trod the path of refining vital essence into qi, and qi into spirit. At the Foundation Establishment Realm, the spirit consciousness could be projected outside the body. At the Golden Core Realm, the spirit condensed to become the divine soul... or so it was called. And yet, when Luo Chen really thought about it, he found that there was no actual qualitative change between Initiates and Adepts.

Without the physical body, an Adept’s divine soul is like a naked baby in a snowstorm. Resentful souls and vicious ghosts can shred it to pieces. Perhaps things improve a little at the Nascent Soul Realm....

The divine soul could command the Nascent Soul and form a second vessel. But even that wasn’t a true transformation. The actual transformation likely only occurred at the Divine Transformation Realm, when the Nascent Soul and divine soul merged as one to form a Primordial Soul.

This was all just Luo Chen’s speculation. But based on records from ancient texts, exchanges with fellow cultivators, and the present state of Yan Nantian’s lingering soul being utterly incapable of resistance, he arrived at this conclusion.

His thoughts drifted further. If he himself was ever reduced to such a state, what ways were there to ensure that his soul survived intact? The answer was... none. Or rather, there was only one: to continue strengthening the foundation of his divine soul.

”Too bad the Spirit Passage Pill no longer works on me, and the strengthening effect of the Fine Dust Primordial Art is also nothing amazing.”

Luo Chen had already judged this clearly. After advancing to the third stage, his divine soul’s strength still did not surpass that of an ordinary mid-stage Adept. At most, it was comparable to a slightly weaker sixth-stage one. He then recalled the contents of the Heavenly Phoenix Nirvana Scripture. It also did not record any methods for strengthening the divine soul. Yet he felt that a divine art that could allegedly lead directly to the Grand Ascension Stage should not come with such a flaw.

”If such methods exist, they must be somewhere in the Nascent Soul chapter, or even the Divine Transformation chapter.”

Luo Chen pressed his lips together and dispelled those idle thoughts. He had no intention of returning to Green Parasol Mountain, and naturally had no opportunity to obtain the follow-up section of the technique.

He squeezed out a drop of blood essence and let it fall onto the Myriad Soul Banner. His mana surged and his divine consciousness coiled around it as he sat cross-legged and began the refinement. This was an exceptionally fine enchanted treasure, all the more valuable for being a soul-path artifact that lay outside the Five Elements system—something that could be wielded without hindrance.

More importantly, it was in a remarkably good state. Although the tens of thousands of low-tier souls within it had been expended during the previous battle, the core souls remained intact. The hundred-some resentful souls, the eight subordinate Initiate-level souls, and the main Adept soul had all been preserved. With some effort spent later replenishing the lesser souls, the banner would immediately recover its previous power. In fact, it even possessed excellent potential for further growth.

By the time dawn arrived, Luo Chen finally stopped refining the treasure, feeling fatigued. With a beckoning motion, the black banner planted in the ground flew back into his hand. A faint, almost imperceptible connection now extended from the banner directly into the depths of his divine soul.

Hmm, still not enough. It’ll probably take a few months until I’m able to use it properly. By then, the dead guys will also finish eating Yan Nantian’s soul.

Luo Chen revealed a satisfied smile and placed the Soul-Refining Banner into his storage ring. Immediately after, something else appeared in his hands. It was a pair of weapons resembling short spears yet more slender, with sharp tips and water-like blue light flowing across their entire surface.

The Water-Splitting Spikes! This pair of low-grade enchanted treasures were among the very few spoils he’d acquired after that great battle. Fire-element spells were simply too violent. Under the extreme force produced by Luo Chen’s attack, even Yan Nantian’s body had been completely destroyed, let alone his storage pouch. The Myriad Soul Banner and the Water-Splitting Spikes were, in fact, the only things that remained.

”They’re pretty good, almost on par with the Heavenly Moon Purple Gold Wheel. A pity that I cannot use them.”

Luo Chen shook his head regretfully and put away the Water-Splitting Spikes. This was the drawback of switching to a single-element path—he could not properly wield high-quality enchanted treasures of the other four elements. He could forcibly take control of them and use them, but their power would reach maybe half or so of their potential power at best. Even worse, such reckless use would cause great damage to the treasures themselves.

Where there are gains, there are losses. Luo Chen had long been mentally prepared, and he did not regret it in the slightest. After all, he had even given up the Heavenly Moon Purple Gold Wheel he had invested so much effort into, let alone these newly acquired Water-Splitting Spikes.

Then, Luo Chen pushed his hand forward and a gray cauldron spun out from his palm, growing from one chi to one zhang as it landed before him. He stared at the cauldron and fell into silence. This was the life-bound enchanted treasure he had painstakingly sought, expending untold amounts of time, money, and effort to finally acquire.

Yet among all his enchanted treasures, this Primordial Unity Cauldron was in the most awkward position. He was not an artisan and had no way of knowing whether Heaven Smelter had left some more backdoors or maybe traps within it. For this reason, after leaving Green Parasol Mountain, he had not dared to swallow it into his sea of qi to nurture and refine it. Instead, it had been left to languish within his storage ring.

As a result, his refinement progress had long been stalled. Its appearance was still crude and unsightly, and the terrifying impurities contained within could not be refined away, which obstructed any further advancement in grade. Even so, the Primordial Unity Cauldron’s power continued to astonish Luo Chen. Whether it was imprisoning Han Zhan’s soul, restraining and capturing the Blue-Ringed Great Fang Sea Serpents, or nurturing the Blazing Fire Miasma, each feat was clear proof of how mighty Heaven Smelter’s final masterpiece was.

One could imagine how great its potential would be if those impurities were truly removed completely. Even more so, if some more Millennial Lightning Essence and various elemental ores were further fused into it, just how far would its grade grow? Technically it was already a top-grade enchanted treasure, and this was far from the Primordial Unity Cauldron’s limit. A true Artifact? A spirit treasures...

After a long silence, a fierce struggle raged within Luo Chen’s heart. In the end, he clenched his fist hard. ”Why should I care? Heaven Smelter is already dead. Even if he left behind some methods, no one else could activate this treasure. Hesitating like this is not my way.”

With that resolve, Luo Chen opened his mouth and inhaled. At once, the cauldron rapidly shrank and transformed into a streak of light that spun as it flew into Luo Chen’s mouth, resting within his sea of qi. From everywhere, exquisitely pure mana surged toward it; at the same time, primordial true fire coiled around the cauldron, burning and tempering the impurities without pause.

In the end, Luo Chen could not bring himself to part with his life-bound enchanted treasure. Leaving aside the sheer effort he had poured into crafting it, even just the alchemical quest he was about to embark on made the cauldron indispensable. The True Flame Pill was not something the Shangshu Cauldron was capable of refining at the rate Luo Chen required.

After finishing his inspection of the spoils, Luo Chen left the cave residence and strolled along Sea-Gazing Cliff. Before him stretched the boundless ocean, and on the horizon, a sun slowly rose. The sight eased the weariness that lingered in his spirit.

Yan Nantian was dead, and after witnessing Luo Chen’s overwhelming might firsthand, the cultivators of the Flying Swallow Archipelago would harbor no dissenting thoughts for quite some time. They could be brought under his command. At last, Luo Chen had secured a temporary foothold where he could continue cultivating. From here on, matters would be far simpler. It was nothing more than organizing manpower, gathering resources, refining pills, and cultivating.

He watched the sea swallows circling above the ocean and felt his mood lighten.

Come to think of it, Yan Nantian was my first actual human opponent since forming my core. He wasn’t weak either, he really did manage to reach the fourth stage. It’s just a pity for him that the moment he broke through, he took a full-power slap. After that, the fight was entirely under my control. He probably feels pretty wronged about it too. After all, there wasn’t any bad blood between us, just that I had my eye on his spirit land and he ended up dragged into the disaster. Oh well... To be fair, his methods were quite good and extremely comprehensive. He could control two enchanted treasures to the fullest at the same time. His biggest mistake was forcing that breakthrough...

On the cliff’s edge, the young man paced slowly as he reviewed the gains and losses of the battle. As the salty sea breeze refreshed his body and lifted his black hair, it seemed to carry away the restless agitation clinging to him.