An Alchemist's Path to Eternity

The Great Soul Pill’s primary ingredient was technically nothing special. In fact, Luo Chen had obtained it before: soul essence.

In theory, there should have been quite a lot of soul essence around, considering that every living being possessed three ethereal souls and seven corporeal souls. Yet the ”corporeal” designation was nothing but terminology; in reality, all ten souls were inherently formless and intangible. A soul could only manifest directly when a being reached a sufficiently high realm and its soul actually condensed. Ghost Generals and Ghost Kings, for instance, appeared to have physical bodies, but they were fundamentally not corporeal. Instead, they relied on massive amounts of condensed yin qi to sustain that appearance.

Over countless generations, cultivators had developed secret arts capable of extracting essence from these insubstantial souls. The substance they produced became known as soul essence. Yet while souls existed everywhere, refining them into something usable was anything but simple. That was also why soul essence was so valuable. When absorbed through the proper technique, it could greatly strengthen a cultivator’s divine soul, and when used offensively, it could also amplify the power of soul attacks far beyond their ordinary limits.

Luo Chen had first encountered soul essence during his star demon hunter assessment. Duan Li had been struck by a soul technique used by the assessment’s target, Yan Zhixian from the Soul Refinement Lineage of the devil sect. After treating Duan Li’s injuries, the soul essence used to power that technique ended up in Luo Chen’s hands. By studying it, he eventually improved the Dragon-Slaying Art, giving it the ability to sever the divine soul. That understanding later proved decisive when he killed Han Zhan within his sea of consciousness.

As it turned out, in order to improve his Soul Split, he needed to gather large quantities of soul essence and refine it into Great Soul Pills. In a way, that felt almost fated.

At the thought of Duan Li, Luo Chen’s expression dimmed. He wondered how the man was faring in the Society and whether he had been impacted by Luo Chen’s actions.

Still, this was not the time to reminisce. He set the thought aside and focused on the formula again. Like the other thirty-five alchemical formulas left behind by the Monarch, the Great Soul Pill formula favored versatility over raw potency. As a result, most of its supplementary ingredients were relatively easy to obtain; he actually recognized nearly everything on the list. Even the few unfamiliar names seemed vaguely familiar, likely remnants of older terminology that had fallen out of use. With some effort, gathering those materials would not be a problem. The only real difficulty lay in obtaining enough soul essence.

Of all the territories in the Mountains and Seas Realm, the Northern Sea and Southern Frontier produced the greatest quantities of soul essence. The reason that the Northern Sea could produce so much was largely that the devil sect had encouraged cultivators to hunt demonic beasts and use both their flesh and souls to practice devilish arts. And because soul essence was especially important to the disciples of their Soul Refinement Lineage, the sect had controlled nearly every channel through which it was traded.

Hmm... Now that the sect has been destroyed, where did all that soul essence go?

Luo Chen let the thought linger for a moment before setting the formula aside. There was no use dwelling on it without more information. Once he returned to the Devil Domains, he could make a few quiet inquiries and see whether any of that soul essence was available on the market.

He turned his attention back to the status panel. After his breakthrough, its once cluttered layout had been reorganized into even clearer categories. Soul arts now had their own section, separate from ordinary spells; spells like Soul Intimidation, Soul Bewilderment, and even Mirror Flower Water Moon were listed together.

Compared to the wide range of spells and martial arts he had accumulated over the years, the list felt noticeably skimpy, and the imbalance stood out clearly. This made it painfully obvious that he had simply not devoted enough effort to the path of the soul.

Before reaching the Nascent Soul Realm, a cultivator’s strength depended heavily on the physical body, but that reliance gradually diminished afterward. Some people even regarded the physique as little more than a vessel for crossing the sea, and something that shielded the Nascent Soul from being assimilated by the outside world. In that realm, what truly mattered was the strength of the divine soul!

The Nascent Soul represented the cultivation a person had built up over time, while the divine soul held the core of their very existence. A Sage could survive the destruction of the physical body, and even if the Nascent Soul itself was shattered, remnants of their divine soul might still linger for a while. But once the divine soul was destroyed, there was nothing left to preserve. That was absolute death, true death in every respect.

From this perspective, Luo Chen’s lack of progress in soul cultivation was an undeniable weakness, which was why he had chosen to cultivate Soul Split despite knowing it was incomplete. He knew there was no quick solution to this weakness, and this path had to be walked step by step. He believed that most Sages faced the same limitation and had yet to find a reliable way around it, so he could only rely on what he had now to make up for this gap and ensure he could still protect himself.

With that matter settled, Luo Chen began taking stock of his current abilities. He set aside the ordinary techniques that had served him in the past and focused on those capable of contending with, or even threatening, opponents at his level.

All in all, his greatest advantage still lay in his physique cultivation. With a middle-stage fourth-tier Archaic Beast physique, his raw strength matched that of a third-stage Sage and could probably contend with some weaker middle-stage ones. When combined with his physique refinement arts, speed, and the amplification of origin energy, this body of his gave him a reliable edge in direct combat. It was, without question, his most dependable trump card.

By comparison, his progress in qi cultivation was far less impressive. Spellcraft had once been his strongest suit and was something he had always taken pride in, yet it now fell noticeably short of his physical abilities. And the more he looked into it, the more it reinforced that conclusion. The Dragon-Slaying Art, for all its power, was largely a support art, and its offensive abilities were only truly usable within his own sea of consciousness. As for the Nascent Core Art, it was even less useful in a fight. Its purpose was merely creating a Nascent Core, and eventually, a second Nascent Soul. Without the appropriate medium to form a Nascent Soul, it offered him no advantage in battle.

For the time being, his best option was to revisit those techniques he had relied on in the past and find ways to improve them. Conventional spells still had their uses, and no cultivator would complain about having more options in a life-or-death struggle. The Infinite Blaze Prison seemed somewhat redundant now that he possessed a true Nascent Soul Domain, but the technique might still contain possibilities worth exploring.

That possibility drew him back to the moment his Nascent Soul had first taken shape and risen into the sky. For one brief moment, he had entered a state of unity with the world and sensed something hovering just beyond his grasp, only for the opportunity to slip away before he could grasp it. Now that his cultivation had stabilized, he became more certain and clear that it was indeed the very opportunity to comprehend the laws of the world.

However, a Sage’s divine soul was still too weak to sustain such a state for long. Even cultivators fortunate enough to encounter that opening rarely had enough time to comprehend a law suited to them. Luo Chen, therefore, felt no regret over missing his chance. Throughout history, almost no one had succeeded in grasping a law during the early stages, and thus, merely touching it was already good enough. More than that, that fleeting experience had given him a better understanding of how the forces of the world operated.

What if I stop using the Infinite Blaze Prison to confine enemies and focus entirely on its second form to strengthen myself? If I combine that with my Nascent Soul Domain, could it push my strength to a whole new level?

The Infinite Blaze Prison could disrupt an Adept’s mana flow and restrict their ability to fight. However, even though it had originally been designed to resist a Sage’s domain, and it did that quite well, the mana disruption effect did not really work against a Sage. In contrast, its second form, the True Fire Form, held far greater potential in that respect.

Luo Chen had glimpsed the True Fire Form in the midst of battle. By drawing the Withering-Flourishing True Fire into his body, he could reinforce his physique until every movement was wreathed in living flame. Now, he intended to take the technique a step further by integrating his Nascent Soul Domain into it.

There’s still some time before the island completely collapses. I should develop this technique as much as I can before I leave.

With that plan in place, Luo Chen continued reviewing his other abilities. The Withering-Flourishing True Fire itself was something he absolutely could not overlook, especially when so much of his confidence in the new technique rested upon it. The fire had already gained sentience and was powerful enough to serve as a formidable killing move even when unleashed independently. If he could integrate it with his physique while also reinforcing it through his Nascent Soul Domain, the power behind his movement would rise dramatically.

Then there was his life-bound enchanted treasure, the Primordial Unity Cauldron. After ten years of refinement, it appeared to have fully absorbed the lightning power sealed within it. Luo Chen could now draw on that power and release it in battle. Even without further refinement, it was a devastating means of attack. If he unleashed all of the stored lightning power at once, it might even have some of the lightning tribulation’s power! With power of that scale, how could mere Sages endure it head-on?

By the time Luo Chen finished assessing his abilities, his confidence had settled into something firmer and more grounded. He might lack the support of a formal lineage or the guidance of a master, but he was by no means weak. Although he had only recently entered the Nascent Soul Realm, he already possessed several reliable ways to protect himself, along with clear paths for strengthening his arsenal even further.

He closed the status panel and lifted a hand, drawing several streaks of light toward him until they settled in front of him. As the glow faded, they revealed a storage pouch, a white belt etched with cloud patterns, the Penglai Eightspire Pavilion, and the Soul-Summoning Banner.

During the ten years he had spent stabilizing his cultivation, he had also undone many of the restrictions sealing the first two items and was, in fact, not far from opening them. These were the possessions of two Sages, so whatever was inside would likely prove useful to him. As for the latter two, he had previously been unable to crack them due to his limited cultivation. Now that he had fully stabilized as a proper Sage, he could finally try bringing both under his control.

”No rush, no rush. I’ll just take it one step at a time!”