An Alchemist's Path to Eternity

Back inside the cave residence, Luo Chen took out the three gifts and examined them more carefully. Of the three, the one that held his attention the longest was the gourd—or, rather, the technique inscribed within it for refining soul essence.

The more he read, the more his expression tightened. ”So that’s how it’s done... This is far too vicious. It truly goes against the harmony of heaven.”

By the time he had committed the entire refinement process to memory, he finally understood why the devil sect had always entrusted the collection and refinement of soul essence to other cultivators in the Northern Sea. Producing it on such an enormous scale would inevitably breed resentment, and if the sect openly carried out the process itself, even the Holy Lands of the other four territories would not allow it. Valuable as that was, Luo Chen knew he would have to be extremely cautious about ever putting it to use.

After storing away the three gifts, he let out a slow breath and returned to what he had left unfinished earlier. With a thought, the status panel unfurled before him like a waterfall.

[Status Panel]

Lifespan: 280/1500

Spirit Roots: Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, Earth

Constitution: Fire Spirit Body (Hidden Five-Spirit Dao Body)

Realm: Nascent Soul Realm Third Stage (79/100); Archaic Beast Tier Four (40/100)

Laws: Wood—Withering and Flourishing (1/100)

[Techniques]

[Spells]

[Martial Arts]

[Soul Arts]

The first thing that drew his attention was, of course, the new entry: Laws: Withering-Flourishing, Wood (1/100). Its appearance confirmed that what he had comprehended inside the pocket world had been true. At the same time, the long-hidden Five-Spirit Dao Body in his Constitution entry flickered faintly, almost as though it were responding to the newly comprehended Law.

But that was not the only new addition. Under the spells section, another unfamiliar entry had appeared: Withering-Flourishing Dao Finger. It was the spell Luo Chen had created through his own comprehension, but unlike every spell he had practiced over the past years, no proficiency progress appeared beside it. Instead, it was listed as ”Divine Technique.”

He studied the entry thoughtfully. Could it be that what I created wasn’t a spell at all, but one of the divine techniques mentioned in the ancient texts?

If so, the absence of a proficiency bar made sense. One’s proficiency in a divine technique of this kind could not be increased simply by repetitive practice and increasing familiarity. Its power depended on the Laws at its core. If he wanted the Withering-Flourishing Dao Finger to become stronger, he first had to deepen his comprehension of the Law of Withering and Flourishing.

Unfortunately, after looking at the law entry just once more, his excitement was dampened. His comprehension was still only at 1/100, and he had only managed to comprehend this by borrowing the power of his true fire when it advanced. Now that the opportunity had passed, he had no idea how he was supposed to continue cultivating such a thing.

Well, at the end of the day, the problem was the same as always. He simply had no proper lineage to guide him! If he could access Seated Oblivion Peak like Fu Qinglan and receive personal guidance from an Ascendant, he would not have to fumble around trying to figure everything out for himself.

Luo Chen sighed and shifted his attention back to the upper portion of the status panel. As expected, his lifespan was exactly the same as it had been inside the pocket world. He was 280 years old, not 230 as he would have been if only the half year that passed in the Mountains and Seas Realm had counted. In other words, the fifty years he had spent inside the pocket world had been completely real.

After confirming that, he turned to his cultivation. Compared with the Laws, where he had no clue how to move on, his immortal cultivation at least followed a path he understood. Yet seeing that he was already at the third stage of the Nascent Soul Realm and approaching the fourth did little to reassure him. If anything, it made his expression grow more serious.

Heck! My foundation is so unstable!

The status panel only confirmed what Luo Chen could already feel within his Purple Mansion. His Nascent Soul had grown quite a bit, but it was nowhere near as solid as before. The mana filling it was abundant, yet much of it lacked the purity and refinement he had always demanded of himself.

The cause was obvious: He had absorbed too much primal qi in a very short time. In the past, he had tempered every trace of his mana until it became exceptionally pure, and a single unit of his mana could rival five or six units of his peers’ mana. That was one of the main reasons his spells had always been so overwhelming compared to theirs. Now, however, his rapid advancement had left him with a veritable ocean of mana that had never undergone that same refinement. If he ignored it and continued advancing, the instability would only worsen.

I guess I’ll have to change the focus of my cultivation for a while. I’ll have to place the Withering-Flourishing Divine Restriction to stop progressing, then use that time to temper my mana properly.

With his course decided, Luo Chen closed the status panel and turned his attention inward.

Within his Purple Mansion, the tiny Nascent Soul formed a series of seals with its tiny little hands. One restriction rune after another manifested around it, and then it finally curled its fingers inward. At once, the runes sank into its body.

Normally, activating the Withering-Flourishing Divine Restriction would leave the Nascent Soul thin and wrinkled. This time, however, he had adjusted it so that it restrained his cultivation without producing the same outward change.

Once that was done, he turned to the chaotic mana that had accumulated within him. Instead of drawing it into the Nascent Soul, he guided it toward a small azure tree growing nearby. The tree stood no more than three cun tall, yet its branches, leaves, and even the fine veins running through them were remarkably lifelike. Although it looked nothing like a flame, this miniature azure tree was none other than the Withering-Flourishing True Fire!

It had changed completely after its advancement. After absorbing primal qi, the once-translucent and illusory fire tree had transformed into an almost tangible form, and it now stood firmly at the fifth tier. For the moment, however, Luo Chen could not freely call upon that strength because it was also being restrained by the restriction, and its consciousness was sealed away.

Truth be told, that was not something Luo Chen had done on his own initiative but a request from the Withering-Flourishing Fire Sprite itself. It had sensed several beings on Heaven-Earth Peak capable of threatening it, and it had urged him to hide its presence until they left this place entirely.

Luo Chen looked at the small azure tree and smiled faintly. I may not be able to use you in battle right now, but helping me cultivate shouldn’t be a problem.

He drew out a stream of unstable mana and sent it toward the fire tree. As though sensing his intention, its branches and leaves slowly opened up and began drawing in the mana. The energy passed through the fire tree before flowing back out again, and with every cycle, the impurities within it were stripped away. By the time Luo Chen guided the refined mana back into his Nascent Soul, it had become noticeably purer.

Luo Chen’s eyes brightened at the sight. He had yet to test just how formidable the fifth-tier Withering-Flourishing True Fire would be in battle, but its usefulness in cultivation was undeniable. Not only could it refine the mana already within his body without disturbing the divine soul imprint he had left upon it, but he could tell that any spirit energy he absorbed could be purified and tempered in the same way.

This was something the Withering-Flourishing True Fire had never been capable of before. In the past, he had occasionally used it to temper his mana or enchanted treasures, but the process had always been slow and laborious, with considerable losses along the way. Now, however, with the fire sprite controlling the flames itself, none of that was necessary. It could regulate its own power far more precisely and complete the refinement without Luo Chen having to expend mana to maintain it. And that would save him an enormous amount of time in cultivation!

Naturally, he had no intention of letting that time go to waste. With the fire sprite handling the refinement of his mana, he turned his attention to the two gifts Fu Chaosheng had given him: Immortal Workings of the Stone Chamber and The Myriad Transformations of the Firmament.

***

While Luo Chen devoted himself to tempering his mana and studying formations and the sword path, the grand competition inside the pocket world was still ongoing.

Thanks to the earlier activities of Seven Lamps and Fu Chaosheng, neither the cultivators of Heaven-Earth Peak nor the major families came looking for trouble. By now, everyone knew that the Heaven Mystery Pill was gone and that Luo Chen had established close ties with the Fu family. For the time being, there was little reason for anyone to seek him out.

Even so, that did not mean no one visited him at all.

About a month later, Heavengazer came to visit. The two had fought before, but there had never been any deep hatred between them. Heavengazer had acted against Luo Chen only because he was Yu Xu’s Dao Protector, and now that Yu Xu had been eliminated from the competition, there was no longer any reason for the old hostility to continue. In truth, her elimination could not be blamed on Heavengazer. Yu Xu had simply run out of luck when the black energy in her Illusory Go Stone filled completely and forced her out.

Luo Chen later asked Fu Chaosheng what had happened. According to him, Yu Xu had probably been too eager to make progress. While absorbing the spiritual vitality contained within the illusory cores, she had also drawn in too much of the Mirage Dragon’s energy. As a result, she was expelled from the pocket world before the allotted time had run out. With Yu Xu gone, Heavengazer’s role as her Dao Protector naturally ended as well.

Since the two of them would both be cultivating on Heaven-Earth Peak from then on, they were bound to cross paths again sooner or later. Rather than maintain a grudge that had never run particularly deep, Heavengazer chose to visit Luo Chen and put the matter behind them.

They ended up talking for nearly half a day. Heavengazer told him a great deal about the Southern Frontier, while Luo Chen shared some of his own experiences from the Northern Sea. By the time they parted, whatever conflict had once existed between them could be considered settled.

Yu Xu’s elimination also marked the final stage of the grand competition.

Not long afterward, Lin Bufan activated his Illusory Go Stone and returned to the Mountains and Seas Realm. To the disappointment of the Lin family’s patriarch, he had failed. To be fair, it had nothing to do with his aptitude, nor was anyone else really at fault. While he was cultivating with an illusory core, some spiritual vitality leaked out and attracted an attack from illusory beasts. Without Lin Jingtang there to protect him, he had been forced to activate the Illusory Go Stone and leave the pocket world in order to survive.

Gu Daosu followed soon after, but his result was entirely different. Despite also not having a protector, he had succeeded. Fu Chaosheng later explained to Luo Chen that Gu Daosu possessed a Woodrot Black Go Stone granted to him by Go Saint Ke Lianshan. Combined with the fact that he had already been extremely close to success during his first attempt, he had been able to enter enlightenment a second time and finally grasp his own root power.

With that, only four True Inheritors remained inside the pocket world. There was only one month left, which amounted to less than ten years inside the pocket world. Whether Shi Ju, Gu Yuan, or Dragon Abyss and Tea Mist would succeed before time ran out had become the question on nearly everyone’s mind.

Luo Chen, however, did not care about any of this. Instead, he went to see Seven Lamps.

After hearing why Luo Chen had come, the elder looked at him in surprise. ”The war in the Northern Sea is about to start, and you want to head to the Eastern Wilderness now?”