An Alchemist's Path to Eternity

Looking at the infant speaking in a human voice, Luo Chen’s eyes widened slightly. A cultivator’s Nascent Soul was supposed to exist in a state free from the impurities accumulated through ordinary mortal life. That was why, despite being born from a mortal body, most Nascent Souls appeared fair, plump, and cute. Even those belonging to more senior cultivators usually had the innocent appearance of a toddler.

The Nascent Soul before him, however, was completely different. Its deformed and grotesque appearance was so far removed from the norm that Luo Chen instinctively frowned. He knew that this could only be the result of a very unusual cultivation technique, and judging by the extent of the transformation, that technique was also extremely powerful.

Most cultivation techniques could at most affect a cultivator’s body shape and appearance, but their effects on the Nascent Soul were limited. Luo Chen himself, for instance, had once attained enlightenment atop Heaven-Earth Peak and created the Withering-Flourishing Dao Sutra, which caused his Nascent Soul to take on an aged appearance. Yet that change was ultimately superficial, and the fundamental nature of his Nascent Soul had remained untouched; meanwhile, Nine Spirits’ Nascent Soul was covered in tumors, making it look almost like a... well, monster.

After examining the tumors more carefully, Luo Chen’s expression shifted. ”Hm? So that’s how it is...”

Those were no ordinary growths. Instead, each tumor was formed almost entirely from highly condensed mana. Together, the nine contained even more mana than Nine Spirits’ Nascent Soul itself. With this realization, he also came to understand the source of the man’s mana reserves, as well as why he was so desperate to obtain the Nine Separation Pill.

Nine Spirits had essentially used the nine tumors as additional vessels for mana, forcibly expanding the amount his Nascent Soul could carry far beyond the normal limits of someone at his level. The idea was much like training with heavy weights to increase one’s strength. Up to a certain point, the added burden could force the body to grow stronger. But once that burden exceeded what the body could bear, it stopped being beneficial and became a hindrance instead.

In fact, Nine Spirits had long since crossed that line. The mana stored within the tumors now surpassed that of the Nascent Soul itself, and the balance between them was dangerously unstable. If things continued unchecked, there would be only a few possible outcomes, and none of them would be good. Either his Nascent Soul would eventually collapse under the strain, or the tumors would gradually overwhelm and assimilate it instead. Whichever happened, his path to Divine Transformation would be completely cut off.

If he can use the Nine Separation Pill to split those nine tumors away from his Nascent Soul, they won’t be a burden anymore. Hmmm... that said, he’d be left with nine separate reserves of mana. And if there’s a way to keep cultivating them after that... Then this technique is far scarier than I thought. Once he reaches the late stage, his mana might surpass even that of a peak Sage.

Having understood this much, Luo Chen became somewhat curious about the cultivation technique itself. Just what kind of secret technique could absorb something as domineering as Nine Firmaments Spirit Essence and transform it into growths attached directly to the Nascent Soul?

After all, Nine Firmaments Spirit Essence was itself a form of firmament energy, and an exceptionally violent one at that. Even Luo Chen did not dare allow his Nascent Soul to come into direct contact with it; instead, he first had to refine the energy before storing it inside Primordial Slaughter. Seen in that light, it was no wonder Nine Spirits understood firmament energy so well—he had been cultivating with this extreme energy all along.

Still, personal curiosity was one thing and professional conduct was another. Since Luo Chen had accepted the commission, he naturally had to see it through faithfully. If he started prying into the roots of every client’s secrets simply because he was curious, then his reputation as a great-grandmaster would probably not stand for long.

Thus, Luo Chen shelved these thoughts and broke the silence with a light cough. ”I’ll need to take some blood essence from your Nascent Soul. It’ll hurt a little, so bear with it.”

Nine Spirits remained calm. ”That’s fine. Just do what you need to do.”

Hearing that, Luo Chen wasted no more time. With a flick of his hand, a small crystal-clear knife appeared in his grasp. It was made entirely from Profound Link Celestial Crystal, and it was the same knife he had used to trim down the Five Elements Lotus Pod.

The moment the knife appeared, Nine Spirits’ Nascent Soul got a little nervous. After all, a Nascent Soul embodied the Dao Fruit of a cultivator’s entire cultivation, so no matter how much trust existed between them, it was impossible to remain completely relaxed while another person brought a knife toward it.

Luo Chen understood that perfectly well. Rather than rushing, he moved the knife forward slowly, giving Nine Spirits time to adjust.

In truth, situations like this would only become more common if he intended to build a wider network of connections with this craft. The more cultivators who came to him for pills, the more secrets he would inevitably learn along the way. He already knew that the Demon Emperor crane of the White Crane Sect had failed to complete its Transformation, that someone within the Divine Talisman Sect was preparing to attempt Nascent Soul Formation, as well as the fact that Old Tal possessed a Nascent Soul Pill formula and where he’d gotten it. Now, in addition to all that, he had learned of Nine Spirits’ hidden predicament and even glimpsed the potential of his cultivation technique.

Under such circumstances, an alchemist had to be much like a physician, someone others could trust with their weaknesses without fearing that those secrets would later be turned against them. Only by establishing that kind of trust could he persuade others to lower their guard around him.

The moment I use someone’s secrets against them, I’m finished. If people can’t trust me, why would they ever come to me for pills?

By then, the knife was already very close to Nine Spirits’ Nascent Soul. The tiny infant’s eyes widened on their own, and for a brief moment, hesitation flickered across its face. At last, however, it remained still and did not resist.

Nine Spirits had chosen to trust Luo Chen, or perhaps more accurately, he trusted his own judgment. Luo Chen was still in the process of building his fame, so betraying a client’s trust now would do far more harm than good. Of course, it was also possible that Nine Spirits were simply beset by troubles both within and without and had simply decided to make a desperate gamble at a cure.

Whatever the reason, Luo Chen finally brought the knife down on one of the fleshy tumors.

A Nascent Soul was formed from the union of a cultivator’s vital essence, qi, and spirit. Although mana was the most obvious manifestation of its power, it also contained blood essence and the strength of the divine soul, which was also often described as a cultivator’s second life. Extracting blood essence from a Nascent Soul involved exactly what it appeared to involve—cutting into it and drawing out a portion of that power.

Truth be told, this was Luo Chen’s first time performing the extraction himself, but he was not entirely unfamiliar with the process. Back at Green Parasol Mountain, when he refined Transformation Pills for the demonic beasts, the main ingredient had been the blood essence of a Sage. The only difference was that the Sage in question had handled the extraction himself, whereas this time, he was doing it with his own hands.

SSSSSSSSHHKK.

Slowly but surely, the knife cut across the tumor. The little Nascent Soul shivered, yet not a single sound escaped it.

At this, Luo Chen could not help admiring his endurance. The pain of having one’s Nascent Soul cut open was unimaginable to ordinary people, yet Nine Spirits had actually borne it without making a sound. In that respect, the man was probably not much inferior to Luo Chen himself.

Luo Chen had always possessed considerable confidence in his own tolerance for pain. Ever since the Qi Refinement Realm, he had endured the agony of piercing his acupoints, and later, the torment of Nirvana of Flesh had pushed that endurance even further. Still, this was hardly the time to compare who could suffer more. He kept his movements swift and precise, extracting exactly the amount of blood essence required by the formula. He finished quickly, so Nine Spirits was spared from enduring the pain longer than necessary.

”It’s done!”

The moment Luo Chen withdrew the knife, the tiny Nascent Soul darted back into Nine Spirits’ body. A moment later, Nine Spirits slowly opened his eyes. He looked noticeably exhausted, but his voice remained steady. ”I’ll leave the rest to you, Fellow Daoist.”

Luo Chen smiled faintly. ”This formula is quite complicated, and you should know how difficult the pill is to refine. It will take me a while.”

Nine Spirits gave a tired nod. ”That’s fine. As long as you finish before the demonic beasts break through the three frontline domains and reach Skypiercing Pass, it’ll be soon enough.”

Luo Chen looked at him in surprise. Skypiercing Pass was one of the strongest fortresses in the Eastern Wilderness. Its defenses were formidable, countless experts guarded it, and behind it stood sixteen long-established domains as well as a Holy Land. By any measure, it was nearly impossible to breach.

”With all that behind the pass, why do you sound so sure that it won’t hold?”

What had driven Nine Spirits to take the risk of trusting Luo Chen and insisting on refining the Nine Separation Pill was not merely the limitations of his own cultivation. The pressure from the demons outside was also a major factor. If he wanted the pill before the demon armies reached the city, that implied Nine Spirits believed that when those armies did reach the city, even his current strength would not be enough to guarantee his safety. That was why he was willing to take such a risk to advance as quickly as possible.

In response to Luo Chen’s doubts, Nine Spirits said heavily, ”You haven’t seen that army for yourself, so you don’t know what it’s like when they start moving. All I can say is that an ocean has been building up in the Great Million Mountains for three thousand years, and when it spills over, Unless the Nether Origin Sect takes action, Skypiercing Pass alone will never stop the flood.”

Luo Chen was about to ask more, but when he saw the exhaustion on Nine Spirits’ face, he stopped himself. Taking so much blood essence from the Nascent Soul at once had severely depleted the man’s vitality, and what he needed now was rest, not another round of questioning.

With that in mind, he set his curiosity aside and took out a pill glowing with soft white light. ”This is a fourth-tier Foolish Truth Pill from the Dao Sect. It isn’t useful for much else, but it should relieve the pain in your Nascent Soul for a while. Take it and get some rest.”

Nine Spirits looked at the pill for a moment before slowly raising his eyes to Luo Chen’s face. After a brief silence, he accepted it. ”Thank you!”

Luo Chen smiled and arranged for someone to escort him away to rest.

Once Nine Spirits had left, the smile on his face gradually faded. His gaze shifted to the bronze figure the man had left behind. Under the lamplight, the alchemical formula engraved across its back was faintly visible, while the grotesque tumors sculpted all over it were impossible to ignore.

As Luo Chen studied them, his thoughts returned to what he had just discovered. Absorb the Nine Firmaments Spirit Essence into the body to accumulate mana, then separate the nine Spirit Essences and transform them into Nine Great Spirit Nascent Souls... Spirit Nascent Souls... If that’s really what they become, then how different are they from a second Nascent Soul?