An Alchemist's Path to Eternity

Luo Chen did a quick mental calculation. I can get a total of forty wisps of all three kinds from Nine Spirits. With the ones I already have, there are fifty. That’s halfway to the hundred I need to reach mid-level mastery. It’s worth it!

”Your offer is fair. We have a deal. But there can be changes depending on what kind of pill you want me to make. If it’s too labor-intensive, I’ll have to raise the price.”

Luo Chen was directly inquiring about the specifics of the commission, which meant the deal was truly settled. Yet now that he had agreed without much hesitation, Nine Spirits actually seemed anxious about his request.

”It’s a fourth-tier pill called the Nine Separation Pill. Can you refine it?”

Luo Chen sighed helplessly. ”I can’t give you the answer when all I have is the name of the pill. Being a great-grandmaster doesn’t make me all-knowing.”

Nine Spirits thought for a moment, then finally produced an object with utmost solemnity—a brass statue.

Luo Chen looked closely at this rather peculiar statue. At a glance, it seemed to be a normal person sitting cross-legged. However, there was a growth that looked like a tumor on each of the person’s eyelids, ears, mouth, and nipples, and even two on the scrotum! There were a total of nine tumors!

Nine Spirits flipped the statue over and said, ”This thing inscribed on the back is the formula for the Nine Separation Pill, which I’ve been having a hard time figuring out. Due to the unique nature of this statue, the formula cannot be copied, so I brought it here for you to see in person.”

Luo Chen gave a noncommittal acknowledgement as his mind went from the tumors to the formula engraved on the statue’s back. A quick look at it caused his brow to furrow.

His reaction had Nine Spirits somewhat worried. ”Fellow Daoist Luo...”

Luo Chen smiled and gave Nine Spirits a reassuring look. ”It’s fine. I just thought some of the ingredient names are rather unfamiliar.”

But in his mind, he was thinking something else entirely. This formula uses the devils’ naming conventions!

Ever since receiving Heaven Refiner’s inheritance, Luo Chen had flipped through those texts on alchemy from time to time, jotting down many ingredients he had never heard of before.

Heaven Refiner was well-traveled and knowledgeable. Whenever they recorded a spirit herb that was seen in both the human and devil worlds and had a different name in each, they wrote down both names. There were many cases like this in the texts, so after perusing them for a while, Luo Chen had learned most of those ingredients.

Seconds passed, then minutes, then hours as Luo Chen memorized the formula on the brass statue while carefully pondering what had to be done and what had to be avoided during the refinement. It wasn’t until around midnight that he snapped back to his senses.

Nine Spirits had remained by his side the entire time, closely observing his every reaction. He asked, ”Fellow Daoist Luo, can you refine it?”

Luo Chen nodded at first, sending Nine Spirits into a delighted surprise, only to shake his head right after. Nine Spirits couldn’t keep up as his delight suddenly shifted to shock. ”I’m sorry, I don’t quite follow...”

Luo Chen pointed at the formula and said, ”I can refine it, but there are a few issues.”

”Please tell me. I’ll do everything I can about them!”

”The ingredients, the ones listed here, do you have them? This, this, this, these two... I don’t have any on hand.”

That’s it? Phew... Nine Spirits sighed in relief. ”The ingredients in this formula are indeed very rare; even my sect hasn’t been able to collect them all. But my seniors from the sect have explored and researched relentlessly over generations, and thanks to them, we were able to find corresponding substitutes for the ones we don’t have. I’ve actually managed to scrape together just enough for a few batches.”

”Oh?” Luo Chen raised a brow. ”Let me see.”

Nine Spirits immediately handed over a storage pouch. After taking the pouch, Luo Chen studied the contents with his divine consciousness. He occasionally pulled out an item, examined it closely, and nodded to himself.

Seedless Mender can only be found in the realm of devils, but I see they replaced it with Blinding Sunflowers. Well, their medicinal properties are definitely similar. Makes sense.

Replacing the Bloodjade Rock with Snowpine Jadeite? How does it work like this? Clearly... Oh, I see, they’re drawing on the similar properties between... Mmm... Those seniors of the Nine Spirits Sect sure know their stuff.

Hmm... Are these two supposed to replace Silversoul Stone? Interesting...

After taking stock of everything and making sense of their use, even someone of Luo Chen’s caliber still felt his brain turning into mush. Still, by this point, he had confirmed that these ingredients did offer a fair chance to produce the Nine Separation Pill as described in the formula.

In his particular case, if he were to refine this pill on his own, he reckoned he’d need to ponder on the formula for half a year and then conduct dozens or even hundreds of experiments before he could even think of success. Of course, that would be both too time-consuming and labor-intensive for the reputed ”Great-Grandmaster Alchemist,” but the status panel could spare him from that. A fourth-tier formula like this was well within his capabilities, and he could save him a lot of time and effort by spending ten achievement points to skip straight to the Beginner level.

At daybreak, Luo Chen finally asked his second question. ”This pill concerns your cultivation, doesn’t it?”

Nine Spirits knew he wouldn’t be able to hide it from Luo Chen, simply because the formula explicitly stated that it required the Nascent Soul blood essence of the one who was to consume the pill. Therefore, he frankly nodded.

Luo Chen asked another question, ”Then do you know where to extract your Nascent Soul blood essence from?”

Nine Spirits froze with a lost, clueless expression.

Luo Chen made a face that said ”I knew it.” The contents of the Nine Separation Pill formula were far too obscure for the regular cultivators to comprehend. Even a standard fourth-tier human alchemist might not be able to understand it without doing research. Only someone like Luo Chen could do so in a short time—someone who had inherited a legacy that covered alchemical knowledge belonging to humans, demons, and devils alike.

Luo Chen pointed at the brass statue. ”We need the blood essence from the nine tumors, as shown on this statue, on your Nascent Soul. So, fellow Daoist Nine Spirits, does your Nascent Soul have these nine tumors?”

The moment those words left his mouth, the man before him reacted like an angry cat with its fur standing on end. His expression changed sharply, and a colossal aura surged out from him like ocean tides.

Luo Chen’s hair danced wildly, and his clothes snapped in the gusts of aura. He knew he had provoked this intense reaction because he had just casually revealed a unique characteristic of his interlocutor’s cultivation. This was an unwritten taboo of the cultivation world!

Yet Luo Chen was unfazed. He merely said softly, ”When doing business as an alchemist, getting access to confidential cultivation information is part of the job description. Naturally, I would never go around spreading that information for any reason, but you are also under no obligation to tell me anything. If you are fine with not having the pill refined, or if you don’t trust me and you want to have someone else do it, then we can stop here.”

Nine Spirits fixed a penetrating stare on Luo Chen, then slowly retracted his overwhelming aura.

”It’s not you; as you can imagine, it’s hard to trust anyone with my cultivation secrets. But I have no choice here. This pill is connected to an important technique of my sect, and it’s also crucial to my advancement to the late stage of Nascent Soul. So I have no choice but to trust you with this. Great-Grandmaster Alchemist, do not let me down.”

As he spoke, he slowly closed his eyes.

Meanwhile, Luo Chen grinned and nodded. This guy’s mana is much more profound than his cultivation suggests!

The exact cultivation of Nine Spirits wasn’t known to the world, but he was estimated to be at the fifth stage of Nascent Soul, roughly on par with Golden Plume. From what Luo Chen had just seen, though, the sheer might of his mana wasn’t any inferior to that of Moon Hermit back in the day. Moon Hermit had concealed her true cultivation to appear weaker while she was actually a late-stage Sage. In other words, Nine Spirits, as a middle-stage Sage, had as much mana as a late-stage Sage.

Luo Chen prided himself on his abundant mana; he was confident he could hold his own against Golden Plume, who was two minor stages above him. Yet the aura unleashed by Nine Spirits just now had completely overwhelmed him.

How did he cultivate that?

While Luo Chen’s mind drifted into speculation, a bizarre-looking little monster suddenly floated out from the top of Nine Spirits’s head.

Though it was hard to tell at a glance, it was an infant, a Nascent Soul. But its eyelids, ears, mouth, nipples, and scrotum bore fleshy tumors, and the overall sight was horrifying, to say the least.

Staring at Luo Chen, the infant spoke slowly, ”I practice Nine Spirits Into Sainthood, the cultivation technique created by our founding master. It allows me to absorb the Nine Firmament Spirit Essences and thereby attain supreme mana. I need this Nine Separation Pill to separate these nine essences in my body, so that I can form the Nine Great Spirit Nascent Souls. Great-Grandmaster, if you wish to extract my blood essence, do so now!”