An Alchemist's Path to Eternity

The doors of the alchemy room were wide open with pill caretakers bustling in and out, carrying wooden trays. Gu Caiyi, who had arrived early, was directing people to check the pills refined that day, preparing them for storage.

”Eighty seven low grade Jade Essence pills and thirty five mid-grade Jade Essence pills.

”Send them to the pill storage chamber.”

After the inventory was completed, Luo Chen washed his hands in a small pool formed by a mountain spring.

Gu Caiyi walked over and asked, ”Are you going home today?”

Luo Chen shook his head and said, ”No, I’ve had a few days of rest, and I’m itching to get back to work. I’ll stay here tonight to go through some alchemy texts and test out a few new ideas.”

Hearing this answer, Gu Caiyi said no more. She planned to go home today. She had been overseeing things here for some time and was quite tired.

Walking to the edge of the cliff outside the Alchemy Hall, Luo Chen gazed into the distance.However, his mind lingered on the status panel, The extensive refining of low and mid grade Jade Essence pills has slowed the progress of my proficiency with it.

Luo Chen had mostly figured out the peculiarities of the status panel. At each stage, he had to refine pills of the corresponding grade. Otherwise, his proficiency wouldn’t improve.

For the Beginner and Skilled levels, low-grade pills were the focus. For the Proficient and Perfection levels, a substantial number of mid-grade pills were required.

To reach the Grandmaster level, five hundred high-grade pills had to be refined to advance to Perfected Mastery.This characteristic was quite reasonable.

In the cultivation world, the ability to consistently refine hundreds of high-grade pills of a single type was enough to be recognized as a grandmaster alchemist. Supreme-grade pills were treasures achieved only through exceptional luck and skill!

In fact, Luo Chen had already experimented with refining Perfected Mastery fasting concoctions. The success rate of creating a supreme-grade fasting concoction was only ten percent. Even so, that was considered quite high.

Sighing, Luo Chen decided not to dwell on the matter further. For now, mid-grade Jade Essence pills were sufficient to satisfy Mi Shuhua. And the high-grade Jade Essence pills he secretly embezzled were more than enough to satisfy himself.

As for the Myriad Wonders pill, which had been stuck at the Grandmaster level for so long, he could only imagine what effects a supreme-grade Myriad Wonders pill might have after reaching Perfected Mastery.

Fellow Daoist Zeng Wen is probably anticipating it even more than I am! thought Luo Chen.

With a soft chuckle, Luo Chen set aside his thoughts and observed the scene in Crescent Moon Valley.

Cultivators finishing their shifts made the most of the remaining daylight, some using wind-control and others rode enchanted artifacts, departing together in groups. Under his watchful gaze, Gu Caiyi joined Murong Qinglian, who had just finished her work, and headed home together.

Before long, the once-bustling Crescent Moon Valley was left with only a handful of middle to late stage cultivators standing guard.

Not all of them were openly visible.Some were hidden in the shadows, others patrolled the perimeter. A few rested, ready to relieve their companions at any moment.

”Mi Shuhua is placing more and more importance on Crescent Moon Valley!” muttered Luo Chen to himself.

Noticing the heightened security compared to before, Luo Chen felt much more at ease. He returned to his stone house and activated the first-tier Water Wave array, shrouding the house in its protective barrier. He then opened the floor and descended into the sprawling network of mine tunnels.

Following his memory, he continued downward. Before long, he arrived above the spirit vein cavern. He didn’t descend immediately but instead retrieved the array flags from his storage pouch.

After placing the array flags around and leaving sufficient spirit stones, Luo Chen let out a sigh of relief. This set of first tier array flags, spoils from Lu Huaiben’s storage pouch, served a single purpose to conceal spirit power fluctuations.

While it couldn’t yet prevent the cavern’s spiritual energy from leaking out, concealing this spot was still a good step forward. He believed that even if Mi Shuhua came to the Alchemy Hall and used his spirit consciousness, he wouldn’t be able to detect the spirit vein cavern.

The spiritual consciousness of Foundation Establishment cultivators wasn’t omnipotent. It could be obstructed by mountains, soil, water currents and many other factors.

Now, with the concealment formation in place, this spirit vein cavern could finally be considered completely secure.

Perhaps, even if he discovered it, he wouldn’t care about this minor branch vein! After all, for a Foundation Establishment cultivator, even the main vein of a first-tier spirit vein barely met the needs of cultivation. How could a minor offshoot possibly catch his interest? Luo Chen chuckled self-deprecatingly and descended into the cavern.

First, he set up the Purple Cloud Copper Furnace to prepare the essence nurturing liquid. Once the liquid was finished, he removed the firewood.

Luo Chen took a deep breath, retrieved the array flags for the small spirit-gathering array, and focused his gaze on the green flag. He performed a Control, causing the array flag to hum and vibrate before the green flag settled in the center.

This adjustment made the small spirit-gathering array focus on absorbing wood-element spiritual energy which perfectly complemented his Long Spring Art.

He burned incense, bathed in medicinal liquid and consumed a pill. After calming his mind, he started to focus on his spirit and began his intense cultivation.

***

After a night of cultivation, Luo Chen packed up the alchemy furnace and array flags, then floated out of the cavern.

The small spirit-gathering array truly lived up to its reputation! The improvement it provided was astonishing! thought Luo Chen.

Even without considering the aid of pills, the Long Spring Art’s ability to absorb and transform spirit power had greatly improved.

His Grandmaster level Long Spring Art already provided cultivation efficiency equivalent to that of a cultivator with three spirit roots. It was approximately four times the efficiency of a five-spirit-root cultivator.

With the spirit vein cavern’s enhancement, his efficiency increased by another factor, reaching five times the norm.

After using the small spirit-gathering array last night, his efficiency increased threefold, now achieving an astounding eightfold cultivation efficiency.

What did eightfold efficiency mean? Luo Chen speculated that this level of cultivation efficiency was almost equivalent to, if not equal to, that of a dual-spirit-root cultivator!

The cultivation world was filled with many legends, some true and some false. However, many of them were based on experience. For instance, there were documented cases of heavenly spirit root cultivators reaching Foundation Establishment in just ten years, even without the use of pills.

For a dual-spirit-root cultivator, it was said that achieving Foundation Establishment typically took only twenty to thirty years. An eightfold cultivation efficiency aligned perfectly with that timeframe.

After arriving at this conclusion, Luo Chen finally felt a trace of relief in his previously tense mindset about cultivation.

Previously, with a fivefold cultivation efficiency, it would have taken at least fifty to sixty years to barely reach the threshold of Foundation Establishment. However, his lifespan was mysteriously stuck at seventy-five years, the same as in his previous life.

After fifty or sixty years, he would be an old man, with no energy left to attempt Foundation Establishment. But now, with the assistance of the small spirit-gathering array, this timeframe was shortened to under thirty years.

By then, he would only be in his fifties. That would be the prime of his life, with abundant vitality and energy, giving him ample strength to attempt Foundation Establishment.

And moreover, all of these calculations were made without considering the use of pills or other cultivation aids! If those were factored in, the time required would be drastically reduced.

After all, actively refining and absorbing spiritual energy could never compare to the efficiency of consuming concentrated pills.

”Mi Shuhua truly treats me well!” Luo Chen muttered in gratitude as he ascended the mine shaft.

As he was about to leave, he paused and glanced at the sprawling network of tunnels around him. The thought that had crossed his mind before resurfaced once again.

Perhaps it really was possible to dig another exit leading to a different direction?

With this thought, Luo Chen released the puppet beast, a small pangolin, and directed it based on his excellent memory toward a tunnel facing the Howling Moon Mountains.

***

”Hall Leader, you seem to be in a good mood today?” Said Tang Quan as he approached with a flattering tone.

”Oh, really?” replied Luo Chen, his lips curling into a faint smile.

He was indeed in a good mood. The increased cultivation efficiency had given him a tangible glimpse of the hope for Foundation Establishment.

During his morning exploration of the mine, Luo Chen finally discovered a previously excavated narrow tunnel. The tunnel was so narrow that it seemed only wide enough for one person to pass through.

After comparing it to other paths, Luo Chen realized that this tunnel was the closest to the Howling Moon Mountains. If he spared some time each day to dig a little, it might eventually lead to an exit directly connected to the outside world.

By then, if Crescent Moon Valley encountered an unstoppable cultivator or demonic beast, he could retreat with ease.

With both his cultivation and an alternative escape route promising hope, his mood naturally improved.

Glancing at Tang Quan, Luo Chen suddenly said, ”Your uncle, Zeng Wen, keeps asking me when I’ll refine the Myriad Wonders pill. But as you know, the Gang Leader has me fully focused on refining Jade Essence pills. Where would I find the time to make Myriad Wonders pills for him?”

Tang Quan nodded, puzzled about why Luo Chen was bringing this up.

What Luo Chen said next made Tang Quan’s expression change dramatically.

”Mi Li and Luo Erduo have gotten the hang of refining fasting concoctions. You hanging around the herb piles all day isn’t productive.

”Why don’t you refine the Myriad Wonders pill for me instead?”

”Ah!” Tang Quan was dumbfounded.

”Ah, what?” Luo Chen dragged him into the alchemy room, pointed at the Drain Cloud Cauldron, and said, ”While we have time, let me teach you a thing or two.”

After speaking, he turned to look at Mi Li and the others. He said, ”You guys can watch too. Everyone is welcome to try, if you’re interested.”