An Alchemist's Path to Eternity

Old Man Chen would always blow on his beard and say, ”If you need anything, call me Uncle Chen. Otherwise, just call me Fellow Daoist Chen!” before happily sharing his favorite gossip.

It was a habit of his. Despite his cheerful demeanor, he was notoriously stingy, always looking to take advantage and never losing out in a deal. Even Luo Chen, a mere third-stage Qi Refining novice, had to split the stall fees with him. The only thing he was ever willing to share for free was his sixty-plus years of experience.

”Crane Among the Clouds? You mean Adept Yunhe[1], right? If you ask most people, they probably wouldn’t know, but I know a thing or two.

”The Eastern Wilderness has thirty-six domains, and ours is located in the farthest east, near the Great Million Mountains. So, the six domains in this area are collectively known as the Six Domains of the Far East.

”Each major domain has countless sects, but only the major sects that have produced a Nascent Soul Sage can have their name attached to the domain.

”Adept Yunhe is from the Hehuan[2] Domain, and his sect, the Hehuan Sect, is the strongest in the domain!”

Luo Chen listened with great interest; this was the first time he had learned about the world outside of Dahe Market.

He casually asked, ”So, does that mean our domain should be called the Jade Cauldron Domain?”

”That’s right. Our strongest sect here is the Jade Cauldron Sword Sect, so we call it the Jade Cauldron Domain.”

Old Man Chen replied and continued, ”The Jade Cauldron Sword Sect is known for its combat strength. Since it’s located closest to the Great Million Mountains, it controls several large markets near the mountains, with Dahe Market being one of them.”

As he spoke, he realized something was off. He puffed his beard and glared. ”Don’t interrupt, I’m talking about Adept Yunhe.

”The Hehuan Sect is famous for its dual cultivation methods, and its influence spans the six domains, with many related businesses. For example, the Tianxiang Tower here is one of their less notable properties.

Tianxiang Tower is so large, bringing in a fortune of high-grade spirit stones everyday and it’s still considered just a minor business?

At the thought of this, Luo Chen became intrigued. A business with money and beautiful women, this should be the goal that I strived for!

”People say that the Hehuan Sect deviates from the righteous path, focusing on pleasures of the flesh rather than cultivation or battle prowess, and that’s tarnishing the reputation of cultivators. But three hundred years ago, something extraordinary happened!”

Luo Chen slapped his hand, ”It’s Adept Yunhe, right!”

”Yes, Adept Yunhe! A Golden Core cultivator should always be addressed as Adept! Old Man Chen scolded him, then continued, ”Adept Yunhe practiced the Hehuan Sect’s core cultivation methods, pushing them to their highest level. Not only was he extraordinarily graceful, but his battle prowess was unmatched.

”When the Jade Cauldron Domain was established, although the Jade Cauldron Sword Sect led the charge, the other five domains also sent many experts, and Adept Yunhe was one of them.

”At that time, he was just a low-profile early-stage Golden Core cultivator. But in that battle, he captured a fourth-tier demonic beast while still at the early Golden Core Realm! Do you know what a fourth-tier demonic beast means?”

Luo Chen’s eyes widened, like a cow’s. Then he sucked in a sharp breath, making a huge contribution to global warming. Then he swallowed, making a loud gulp.

Finally, he exhaled deeply, as if the very air would lower the cultivation stage of any cultivator who breathed it in, and answered, ”A fourth-tier demonic beast is on par with a Nascent Soul Sage!”

Old Man Chen appeared rather pleased with Luo Chen’s intense reaction. He stroked his beard, as if he were the one who had captured the fourth-tier demonic beast, and responded, ”That’s right, you do have some knowledge. A fourth-tier demonic beast, also known as the Beast Emperor, has battle power above even a Nascent Soul Sage of the same tier.”

Luo Chen asked in confusion, ”Isn’t it said that challenging higher tiers is extremely difficult? How could Adept Yunhe, an early-stage Golden Core cultivator, achieve such a glorious result?”

”The reason is something we juniors can’t know. Some say he took advantage of the Beast Emperor’s weakened tribulation stage, while others say a sage from the Hehuan Sect helped him. But in the end, Adept Yunhe became famous after that battle, with the Beast Emperor as his war trophy, earning him the title of Adept Yunhe!”

At this point, Old Man Chen raised his hand and pointed toward a pink, embroidered building in the inner city center.

”The Far East Six Domains are filled with industries, with wealthy sects like the Medicine King Sect only managing to open shops in four of the domains. Only the Hehuan Sect has spread its industries across all six domains, and even in our most outlying Dahe Market, there’s a Tianxiang Tower with nightly performances..

”Adept Yunhe’s influence can be seen, to some extent, in every one of them!”

Adept Yunhe, the most powerful cultivator below the level of Nascent Soul. A great title, a great story!

Luo Chen couldn’t help but give a grateful glance to Wang Yuan at the stall in the distance and thought, That Scenes of the Six Domains was definitely worth it. When I have the money, I’ll buy it and study it thoroughly.

”Cough, cough, young man Luo, you’ve made me a bit dry-mouthed. How about a piece of beef jerky to quench my thirst?”

Luo Chen ignored him and set out all the pills. ”Fellow Daoist Chen, it’s time to earn resources for cultivation. With time, you and I might even earn the title of Adept!”

Chen Xiuping’s eyes widened, and his white beard shook in anger.

Taking advantage of his height, Luo Chen patted Old Man Chen’s shoulder, ”I just hope that when we meet again as Golden Core cultivators, calling each other ’Fellow Daoist’ won’t feel so bitter!”

Old Man Chen cursed loudly, ”Get lost! I’m sixty-five, to hell with the Golden Core dream!” He then took a deep breath, trying to calm down. If he got angry, no one would be there to replace him when his health faltered.

His gaze naturally fell on Luo Chen’s stall, and his eyes narrowed. ”Twenty-one bottles? All fasting pills, or did you really refine a new pill?”

Luo Chen sighed, his face filled with dejection as he said, ”I’m lacking in talent and have spent all my savings. This is all I could barely manage to refine—one bottle of new pills. I hope Fellow Daoist Chen won’t laugh at me.”

Gulp! Old Man Chen swallowed. ”You didn’t really manage to refine that second-tier incomplete recipe, did you?”

”Sigh, I’m too incompetent to refine second-tier pills.”

”Yeah, just you...”

”So, I had to settle for less and derived it into a first-tier pill.”

”A first-tier Jade Dew pill?” Old Man Chen widened his eyes. This old man’s expressions were quite dramatic—swallowing, wide-eyed, what’s next, a sharp breath in?

Luo Chen placed his hands behind his back and said gravely, ”That was not some incomplete alchemical recipe of Jade Dew pill. It’s actually the secret recipe of Adept Yunhe of the Hehuan Sect, the Myriad Wonders pill. It was simply left behind in Dahe Market after the war that opened up the Jade Cauldron Domain. Fellow Daoist, you must not speak carelessly about this in the future!”

Hiss!!!

Luo Chen covered his face, sensing that the temperature in the Jade Cauldron Domain had just risen! In fact, the temperature did rise, because the sun had come out. The sun was out, and naturally, the flow of customers increased.

Many cultivators enjoyed browsing the rogue cultivator area, after all, everyone wanted to find high-quality, affordable resources or hoped to pick up a bargain.

As always, Old Man Chen’s business was the first to open. He had set up shop here for many years. Although he was tight-fisted, his reputation was excellent. Not only did others buy talismans from him, but some colleagues who were too lazy to make their own also bought talisman paper from him to draw symbols themselves.

When Old Man Chen’s business started, it meant Luo Chen’s business was about to open too.

”Fasting pills?”

”The color and aroma are fine, and it has decent spirit energy stored in it, a high-quality product! How much?”

The buyer casually picked up five bottles and tossed Luo Chen a low-grade spirit stone. Five bottles with fifty fasting pills, one pill enough to sustain a meal, and with careful use, it could last for fifty days! Of course, that was in extreme cases. Normally, it would support someone for about half a month without eating.

However, the taste wasn’t great, and it wasn’t beneficial for cultivators’ training. Unless one was really poor, in closed-door cultivation, or out hunting for herbs, no one really used it as a meal substitute.

After buying the fasting pills, the plump cultivator was about to leave, but unexpectedly, Luo Chen stopped him and said, ”Fellow Daoist, would you be interested in learning about the Myriad Wonders pill?”

1. 云鹤 (Yunhe) is the combination of the characters 云 (Yun), which means cloud, and 鹤 (He), which means Crane ☜

2. Hehuan (合欢) can refer to intimacy between a couple, often with a romantic or sensual connotation. In fact, there is a type of pill called the Hehuan Pill, which is an aphrodisiac drug. ☜