An Alchemist's Path to Eternity

After Luo Chen killed Yan Nantian and established his dominance over the cultivators of the Flying Swallow Archipelago, he could rule with absolute authority. In such a remote place, so long as there were no massive beast tides or other extreme disasters, this status meant that he would enjoy a long period of peaceful cultivation

It was much the same as when Pang Renxiong held Dahe Market in the palm of his hand. The only difference was likely that the archipelago’s land area and number of cultivators far exceeded Dahe Market; its overall scale was only slightly inferior to Tianlan City. Moreover, this place had a natural low-grade third-tier spirit vein, more than sufficient to support an early-stage Adept. It was passable even for someone like Luo Chen, whose cultivation consumed resources at an astonishing rate.

After the Cheng family delivered their first shipment of ingredients, Luo Chen immediately immersed into refining the True Flame Pill. This time, he still chose not to use the massive stockpile of achievement points. After refining the fourth-tier Transformation Pill, his evaluation on the panel had already advanced to ”fourth-tier alchemist.” Even though he had only refined a single batch of fourth-tier pills, his alchemical foundation was exceptionally solid, making this title well deserved. Refining third-tier pills was not particularly troublesome for him. As long as he got started, everything else would naturally fall into place.

From his arrival at the Flying Swallow Archipelago to killing Yan Nantian and then waiting for the ingredients, a total of seven months had passed. During this time, aside from cultivation, Luo Chen had spent nearly all his time devoted to studying the True Flame Pill formula. Now that the raw ingredients had arrived, he wasted no time putting all that knowledge into practice.

The Radiant Glow Seed loses its medicinal properties too quickly once the bran is removed, so it must be refined first. This Underworld Flower is the primary ingredient and must be handled with Burning Crane Hand. Fire Ginseng is rare, so it will have to be replaced with Iron Rock Ginseng from arid regions. But if I do that, I must change the processing technique three times....

As Luo Chen processed each ingredient, his mind simultaneously mapped out which alchemical techniques to employ later, the precise timing, and the appropriate fire intensity. Even before he truly began refining, he had simulated the entire process thousands of times in his mind.

By the time the full amount of ingredients was fully processed, a full month had already passed. He felt somewhat dissatisfied—with no one to help him process the ingredients, the work was inevitably troublesome. Still, there was nothing to be done for now.

Once the ingredients were prepared, he immediately threw himself into refinement.

Once, twice, three times...

The complexity of refining third-tier pills far exceeded that of second-tier pills. Consequently, the refinement time was also much longer than the usual two to four hours. In fact, Luo Chen estimated that it would take at least an entire day to refine a single furnace of True Flame Pills.

This was actually longer than it took to refine a batch of Transformation Pills, but there was a good reason for that. Once the ingredients fully merged and the pills were formed, they had to be slowly tempered inside the cauldron, on low heat, for six full hours. The True Flame Pills’ potential potency was much greater than that of ordinary third-tier pills, but the only way to squeeze out this potential was to put them through this long tempering period.

However, Luo Chen was fully prepared for this. Cultivation was an increasingly lengthy process: the higher the realm, the longer each seclusion became. Alchemy was exactly the same in this respect: the higher the tier of the pill, the longer the refinement time was. The mythical Nine Revolutions Golden Pill, said to allow one to soar straight to the heavens, required a full 4,900 years of refinement.

Of course, this was nothing but a legend. After all, what pill could allow a mere mortal to become an immortal directly? Setting aside whether such power existed at all, the medicinal potency of such a pill would be more than what even a high-level cultivator could withstand, let alone a mere mortal.

In any case, the principle still stood and Luo Chen understood it very clearly. The higher the pill’s grade, the more time it took to refine. When he participated in the refinement of the Nascent Soul Pill, the shortest attempt took three days, while longer ones stretched to six days. Even then, those refinements had not succeeded. By comparison, the True Flame Pill requiring only a single day was already quite reasonable.

”No wonder high-tier alchemists always hold such an exalted status. Even without considering how useful the pills are, the sheer amount of time and effort they expend and the delay of their own cultivation is enough for major forces to grant them respect. But in that case, those who can truly reach the peak of the Dao of Alchemy will only grow fewer and fewer.”

A single day did not seem like much. Yet nobody refined just one pill, and over time, hours and days kept accumulating. How much of their lifespan did alchemists end up consuming while refining pills? And this was only at the third tier; what about fourth-tier pills in the future? What about fifth-tier ones?

In the vast Mountains and Seas Realm, only a single person in ten thousand years had been granted the title of Saint Alchemist. This made it painfully clear to what extent this refinement impacted the cultivation of high-tier alchemists.

Hmm... I really should find a way to delegate the raw ingredient processing to others. That way, I won’t waste so much of my own time. But I need someone reliable... Wait, no. I don’t even need them to be that reliable. As long as they stay on Moon-Inviting Island under my watch, they won’t be able to cause trouble. That would make things much easier.

In the end, Luo Chen decided to change tactics and assemble a group of people to handle the tedious work of processing raw ingredients. As for the leader, the choice was straightforward: Cheng Haixin was perfect for the role. She was honest and naïve, like a blank sheet of paper that could be painted upon at will. As for those assisting her, that could be arranged later.

It was not that difficult. With tens of thousands of cultivators and millions of mortals in Flying Swallow, finding some apothecaries, alchemists, or alchemy apprentices was hardly a challenge. Some might be unwilling at first, but as long as their work accrued them merit points, there would be little room for complaint. In fact, the major families might even rush to send people over. After all, the greater the contribution, the sooner they could exchange it for the Azure Yang Pill Codex.

”Eh? It failed?” muttered Luo Chen in surprise.

He had not expected this refinement to fail. He knew that every single step had been done perfectly. But while cleaning up the medicinal dregs, he looked at the Primordial Unity Cauldron, which still glowed red-hot, and a thoughtful expression appeared on his face.

”Ahh... I see. I missed the second part entirely. I focused too much on achieving a good fusion of the ingredients and too little on the second stage of slow tempering over low heat. The formula makes it seem as if it’s just in order to make the pill a little stronger, but it seems like it’s actually critical for concentrating the medicinal power of the pill in the first place. That makes sense...”

As understanding dawned, a relaxed smile appeared on Luo Chen’s face. He was highly confident that he would succeed the next time he refined the True Flame Pill. However, he did not seize the momentum to continue refining. He’d taken a full day to do this, and his cultivation had already been delayed. That would not do. With his current cultivation speed, every single day of delay was a significant loss. It was something Luo Chen was unwilling to accept. After all, pills were ultimately only supplements. Daily cultivation was the most crucial part, something he could absolutely not neglect.

Beyond cultivation, Luo Chen’s schedule was packed to the brim. There was physique cultivation, nurturing the Primordial Unity Cauldron, practicing fire-element spells.... One task after another. Whenever he found a bit of spare time, he immediately dedicated it to a task.

The good part was that he truly felt the solid progress in every of these aspects. In cultivation, for instance, he benefited from the Heavenly Phoenix Nirvana Scripture. As for Physique Refinement, the previously stalled cultivation had finally begun to progress again since receiving the monthly supply of bloodfood from Cheng Haixin. Though the increase was small, it was definitely better than nothing.

As for nurturing his life-bound treasure, the results had already started showing after half a year of refinement, and after he began refining True Flame Pills, progress was increasingly evident. The cauldron was subjected to his Withering-Flourishing True Fire for a long time and steeped in vast amounts of pill energy. As a result, its impurities steadily diminished, and its connection to his mind grew ever deeper.

This precisely confirmed what Tao Wan of Green Pill Valley had told him back then—the best thing to do for the Primordial Unity Cauldron was alchemy. It was absolutely the most suitable life-bound treasure for an alchemist; nothing else even came close. Luo Chen even felt that the day he could freely and effortlessly control the cauldron was not far away.

Lastly came the development of fire-element defensive spells, for which he already had a clear direction. Back in the Qi Refinement Realm, he had already been working on prototype defensive spells such as Fire Shield and Fire Ring while studying Fireball. Now, after over a hundred years of accumulation and reading numerous spell manuals, perfecting them was not particularly difficult. The only true constraint was Luo Chen’s desire to integrate the Withering-Flourishing True Fire into them; this was bound to take a while longer.

The more he practiced the Heavenly Phoenix Nirvana Scripture, the more he felt that there were many ways to further develop and utilize primordial true fire. This fire was not limited to alchemy, artifact crafting, or Physique Refinement. It could also be applied to both offense and defense, and it would be a waste not to use it.

Several days later, the dense white mist wrapping Moon-Inviting Island suddenly parted, vanquished by ripples of fire that spread outward. A closer glance revealed that these ripples were actually fire serpents, each biting its own tail to form a circle. The result was three massive rings of fire consisting of three massive fire serpents!

At the instant the three rings formed, an eerie force permeated the void. A top-grade flying sword descended from above and entered the fire rings. Before it could even pass through the first ring, it melted into a pool of metal that flowed onto the ground.

Seeing this, Luo Chen revealed a satisfied smile. These three fire rings were the manifestation of the defensive fire-element spell he had recently researched and given preliminary form. Its foundation actually lay in the most basic Fireball. The shape itself hadn’t been difficult to create; he had already developed Blazing Fireflies in his early years, so it was merely a matter of changing bugs into snakes. The true key of its power lay in the purity and domineering nature of the mana that composed them, as well as a certain special addition.

Specifically, what allowed this spell to be third-tier even in its incipient form was the Withering-Flourishing True Fire. With this fire at their core, the fire serpent rings would not just block incoming attacks, but also devour their energy. In fact, if the enemy’s weapon was not particularly high grade, it could even be melted or burned down directly.

More importantly, Luo Chen felt that this spell still had much unrealized potential. If it was this powerful now, then how powerful would it be once it was perfected and mastered to the fullest?

His gaze fell upon the spell section of the status panel, where a hazy entry was slowly taking shape. After a moment of thought, he gave it a name.

”Let it be called the Sevenfold Skyblaze Ring.”

He chose the name partly for convenience. In the cultivation world, there already existed a fire-element defensive spell with this name, but it was only second tier. In terms of defensive power, it was far inferior to Glazed Skyveil.

Luo Chen had previously browsed the manual, but had no intention of learning it at the time. He had already mastered Glazed Skyveil, so there was no reason to bother with a lesser alternative. Now, his own creation bore close resemblance to that spell, so naming it as such was only natural. Perhaps, in time, his own spell would supersede the commonly known one to become the Sevenfold Skyblaze Ring.

The only weird thing about this name was that Luo Chen could only manifest three fire rings.

”Eh, whatever. The spell is not even perfected yet, and I’m also only at the Beginner level. Once I become more proficient, I’ll be able to add more rings. Also, I can definitely improve it, and maybe I can even get it up to the fourth tier.”

When it came to spells, Luo Chen was even more confident in himself than he was while facing his cauldron. From the very beginning, he had believed that he possessed exceptional talent in spellcraft. Aside from spells whose tier far exceeded his realm, he never relied on achievement points to learn spells. Of course, if he truly managed to draw from all sources and create a fourth-tier spell of his own while he was still an Adept, that would truly be a breakthrough achievement for him, no less significant than creating Myriad Path Convergence and the Fine Dust Primordial Art.

Unfortunately, there was a reason why not just anyone could do this. Pushing the tier of the spell up was not something within his current capabilities. With the foundation he’d built, he had only just managed to take it as far as the third tier, and any further progress would require extensive reading and repeated practice. In any case, a third-tier defensive spell was not future-proof, but if it was practiced to Perfected Mastery and powered by his Withering-Flourishing True Fire, it would be more than enough for his immediate needs.

Now that the status panel displayed the Beginner level, Luo Chen was no longer in a hurry. He could slowly raise his proficiency. Fortunately, since it was a defensive spell, it did not require that much space to be unleashed at full power; he could practice it right here on the island. With that thought, he turned and entered the alchemy room.

Clang!

The Primordial Unity Cauldron landed on the ground. Its gray body was no longer completely round—it looked as if it had lost weight in an almost human manner. Although it was still somewhat plump, it now showed a bit of the majesty and power befitting an item of its level. A cauldron was a symbol of power and authority; it was by nature dignified and solemn, not something that ought to appear endearing or foolish.[1]

After inspecting the cauldron, Luo Chen resumed his daily alchemy. This time, he was determined to succeed!

1. A reminder that in ancient China, the tripod cauldron was the symbol of the Son of Heaven. There are several phrases that reference this symbol, for instance 问鼎轻重 (wèndǐng qīngzhòng, literally ”questioning the weight of the cauldron”), which appears in The Commentary of Zuo, means questioning the right of the sovereign to rule. ☜