An Alchemist's Path to Eternity

”Stop right there!” Mi Shuhua quickly waved his hand. ”Any land with earth fire is mostly occupied by sects or cultivation families. It’s not something we rogue cultivators can lay a hand on.”

Ordinary requests were one thing, but earth fire? That was truly beyond his reach.

Seeing Luo Chen pout, Mi Shuhua chuckled and shook his head. ”You, why think so far ahead? Top-grade pills can’t be forced. As long as you can steadily refine mid-grade Jade Essence pills, you’ll keep earning more and more. Worst case, I’ll get you a mid-grade or even a top-grade alchemy furnace in the future.”

If high-level techniques couldn’t be mastered, focusing on perfecting lower ones was the next best option? This old man was certainly shrewd.

Luo Chen spread his hands, indicating he’d taken the advice to heart.

Mi Shuhua’s expression turned stern, his tone laced with caution as he said, ”By the way, the reason I brought up Earth Fire Fiend was mainly to warn you. For cultivators who haven’t reached Foundation Establishment, it’s best not to mess too much with malevolent energy. You won’t be able to handle it.”

”Huh? What do you mean?”

”Malevolent energy is extremely destructive. If it accidentally enters your body, it can severely damage your dantian, meridians, and even the spirit power you’ve already refined. If you still want to live a few more years, stay away from that stuff.”

Luo Chen blinked. Was there really such a claim?

He truly hadn’t been aware. Besides, when he used the Fiend Control to guide Earth Fire Fiend during alchemy, he hadn’t felt any discomfort at all!

***

Luo Chen wasn’t sure if Mi Shuhua had been bluffing him, so he brought up the matter while having a meal with Wang Yuan.

Wang Yuan’s answer left Luo Chen astonished. “Malevolent energy does indeed harm Qi-Refining Realm cultivators, but it depends on what kind of cultivator they are.”

Wang Yuan, chewing his meat slowly, said, “For cultivators primarily focused on Qi-Refining, it’s best not to interact with malevolent energy. Unless they’ve reached Foundation Establishment and can extend their spirit consciousness to precisely detect when malevolent energy enters their body.”

“But can’t we Qi-Refining cultivators at least use basic inner sight along with Spirit Eyes to detect malevolent energy?” Luo Chen asked.

Wang Yuan glanced at him. “Have you ever killed anyone?”

Luo Chen froze for a moment. As a transmigrator and cultivator, he obviously couldn’t avoid such a fate. Killing also accumulates malevolent energy, though it’s considered intangible and often referred to as Divine Malevolence.

“Have you noticed any malevolent energy in yourself?” Wang Yuan asked.

That question stumped Luo Chen. He truly hadn’t noticed any malevolent energy on himself. But what Wang Yuan said made sense to him.

Anyone who kills excessively will accumulate malevolent energy. Even a butcher who slaughters pigs often exudes a fierce aura. If you think about it, such an aura doesn’t appear overnight but is accumulated over countless acts of killing.

In other words, the few raiders Luo Chen had killed might have indeed left him with some malevolent energy. But he had never noticed it.

Since the topic had come this far, Luo Chen decided to ask the next question. “Qi-Refining cultivators are harmed by malevolent energy, but does it not affect other types of cultivators?”

“Physical-Refining cultivators are unaffected.” Wang Yuan replied and slowly chewed another piece of meat and pointed at himself. “For example, me!”

Luo Chen was taken aback.

“Why do you think my cultivation progresses so quickly?” Wang Yuan said flatly. “It’s because I use malevolent energy to refine my spirit power and temper my body.”

Refining spirit power? Isn’t that essentially the purification of spirit power done in the late stages of Qi-Refining?

Luo Chen couldn’t sit still anymore. “Malevolent energy can be used to purify spirit power?”

“Of course it can. Malevolent energy is inherently fierce and destructive, allowing no foreign substances. If controlled properly, even a single thread of this energy entering the body can gradually eliminate the impurities within spirit power..”

“But wouldn’t that harm the cultivator’s body?” Luo Chen asked.

“What do you think of my physique?” Wang Yuan retorted with a faint smile.

Luo Chen suddenly came to a realization. Wang Yuan’s physique had been extraordinarily strong, even before he began Qi-Refining. A worldly martial arts grandmaster emphasized vigorous blood and qi, paired with a body as unyielding as steel.

This was evident from the time Wang Yuan developed the Mountain Cleaving Monument Breaking Palm. Even then, his body had already been tempered through countless trials.

After starting Qi-Refining cultivation, and with the tempering of spirit energy, his strength must have grown even more formidable.

”Of course, allowing malevolent energy into the body requires not only a powerful physique but also unyielding willpower to resist it,” Wang Yuan said. ”The path of Qi-Refining cultivators focuses on refining qi as the core and refining the mind as support. In contrast, Physical-Refining cultivators prioritize refining the body, with the will as secondary.

”If the will isn’t resilient, the pain brought by Physical-Refining is something ordinary people simply cannot endure.”

It was rare for Wang Yuan to speak at length. He wasn’t boasting; he was merely stating the facts plainly.

Looking at the slightly dejected Luo Chen, he shook his head and said, ”I can teach you the method of using malevolent energy to temper your body and refine your spirit power. But I wouldn’t recommend it—it’s truly excruciating.”

Luo Chen had always considered his physique to be decent. He regularly consumed spirit rice and demonic beast meat, and essence-nurturing liquid helped strengthen his qi and blood while cleansing impurities from his body.

Thanks to these factors, he had quickly mastered techniques like Carefree Wander and Mountain Cleaving Monument Breaking Palm. But compared to Wang Yuan, his abilities clearly fell short.

Even Wang Yuan described it as unbearably painful, it was hard to imagine how terrifying it must be to allow malevolent energy into the body. Yet, he was unwilling to give up. If he couldn’t use it now, did that mean he wouldn’t be able to in the future?

Once he reached the ninth stage of Qi-Refining, he could strengthen his body further and then attempt to channel malevolent energy.

Wang Yuan didn’t hold back and explained the method he had mastered, word for word, to Luo Chen.

”Divine Breaker of Malevolence?” Luo Chen asked.

”Yes,” Wang Yuan replied. ”After I reached the pinnacle of martial arts, I personally slew a great devil of the martial world.”

As he spoke of the past, a rare trace of wistfulness entered Wang Yuan’s tone. ”In the devil’s lair, I claimed his legacy after I slew him, which included this Divine Breaker of Malevolence.

”It was only then that I understood how once-revered seniors could fall so far, turning into scourges of the martial world in just a few short years.

”He found a place filled with malevolent energy and, with two jia zi [1] spans of martial knowledge, created the martial art Divine Breaker of Malevolence. Using malevolent energy to temper his body and refine essence into energy, he forcibly transitioned from martial arts to the path of immortality.

”But it was also because of the malevolent energy entering his body, coupled with his old age and frailty, that he gradually lost his mind over the years and fell into the devil path. The reason I later managed to embark on the path of cultivation was, to some extent, thanks to that senior.”

From these recollections, Luo Chen could easily imagine how Wang Yuan must have roamed the mundane martial world, dispensing justice and vengeance as he pleased.

Mastering the martial path, reaching the Innate Realm.

Entering the devil lairs, slaying devil lords. And the slain great devil lord likely had his own illustrious past.

Two jia zi of martial knowledge. If you added the years before he started practicing martial arts, that great devil lord was probably a hundred thirty or forty years old. That age surpassed that of most Qi-Refining cultivators.

Shaking his head, Luo Chen picked up his wine cup and took a sip. He was about to take a bite of food when he noticed that all the meat on the table was gone.

Gone! No wonder Wang Yuan had paused to talk so much—he’d spent the entire time finishing off the meat.

But hadn’t he been eating so ”leisurely” just now? Luo Chen rolled his eyes and called the waiter to bring a few more plates of meat.

Having just received his dividend, he was feeling quite wealthy. This restaurant was newly opened in Dahe Market and was running promotions, so he could splurge to his heart’s content today!

While waiting for the food, Luo Chen casually handed over a jade bottle. ”This is the Jade Essence pillI recently crafted. Even among mid-grade pills, it’s one of the best in both quality and potency

”Brother Wang, take it and give it a try.”

Wang Yuan smiled and was about to say that he didn’t really need such pills, but he appreciated the gesture.

However, his expression shifted slightly, and he silently accepted it.

After that, the two continued their feast with demonic beast meat and wine, enjoying each other’s company until evening and parted ways.

***

”Blood-Burning pill, derived from the Blood Fiend pill as a first-tier alchemical creation?”

In the secret chamber, Wang Yuan gazed at the two crimson pills, a tinge of emotion flashing across his face. He had thought that after so much time had passed with no news, Luo Chen had abandoned the second-tier pill recipe.

Yet, it turned out Luo Chen had always kept it in mind. Although he hadn’t yet succeeded in crafting the Blood Fiend pill, he had painstakingly deduced a related first-tier pill.

”Testing the pill?” Wang Yuan chuckled softly and then left the chamber.

Arriving at the Water-Dragon Hall, he gathered his subordinates. ”Today, Gang Leader Mi decided on setting up a stronghold at Taishan Market.

”I don’t want to delay. Tomorrow morning, you will all accompany me to Taishan Market to see whether the Cheng family will cede their ancestral land.

”If they refuse, conflict will be inevitable. Prepare yourselves!”

***

Divine Breaker of Malevolence! Clarity of mind and unity of spirit. Rather than a method for refining malevolent energy, it is better described as a secret technique for tempering the spirit.

After pondering over it carefully a dozen times, Luo Chen came to this conclusion.

As for divine will, Luo Chen interpreted it as a combination of the divine soul and willpower. The divine soul was something that nearly all cultivators would engage with. The divine soul’s birth of spirit consciousness was fundamental to cultivators beyond just refining qi.

As for willpower, it was simpler to understand; almost all living beings possessed it. Those with weak willpower would tremble in fear at just a glance from others whereas with strong willpower could remain unfazed even under the most excruciating torture. It represented immense resilience to pain, sorrow, despair, and other negative emotions.

Luo Chen still didn’t dare channel malevolent energy into his body using the Divine Breaker of Malevolence, as Wang Yuan believed his physique was far from ready. And Physical-Refining wasn’t something that could be achieved overnight.

Thus, Luo Chen made a decision—before attempting to channel malevolent energy into his body with the Divine Breaker of Malevolence, he would first practice the technique.

More specifically, he would start by tempering his willpower.

But how exactly does one strengthen their will?

The answer was embedded within the very teachings of the Divine Breaker of Malevolence, confront negative emotions.

Did Luo Chen have negative emotions? He had some, but certainly not many.

After all, he spent his days refining pills and cultivating, without any life-or-death crises or the need to hide. It was practically joyful cultivation.

But if none existed, they could be created!

The simplest negative emotion to create was pain. Following the method described in the Divine Breaker of Malevolence, Luo Chen directed a small cluster of spirit power to a specific acupuncture point on his foot.

It was the Yinlingquan point [2], located along the spleen meridian of the foot. This point served as a convergence for the qi and blood of the spleen meridian. If the flow here became obstructed, even a slight touch would cause excruciating pain.

Taking a deep breath, Luo Chen lodged the cluster of spirit power onto the point.

”Hehe, nothing to worry about!

”It seems I, Luo Chen, am truly a man of great willpower!”

***

The next morning, Gu Caiyi woke up early.

After washing up and tying her hair into a neat bun, she stepped out of her courtyard and made her way over to Luo Chen’s residence. A few gentle knocks later, she called out casually,

“Come on out! Let’s get some breakfast!”

Soon enough, Luo Chen emerged, and the two set off down the mist-veiled streets of the inner city. The early morning fog wrapped around the rooftops and hung low over the cobbled paths, casting the world in a hushed stillness.

As they walked, they chatted idly about the decisions made in the Poshan Gang the day before—minor personnel changes, shifts in patrol schedules, and the occasional bit of gossip from the outer city.

Suddenly, Gu Caiyi frowned as she looked at Luo Chen and asked, “What’s wrong with you? Why are you limping?”

”Hiss, it’s nothing! Really, nothing!” Luo Chen replied.

He spoke with a calm expression.

But as Gu Caiyi noticed the veins on Luo Chen’s forehead occasionally twitching, she couldn’t shake the feeling that something was off.

1. 甲子 (Jiǎ Zǐ) refers to a span of 120 years, originating from the traditional Chinese calendar system known as the sexagenary cycle (干支, Gānzhī). Each cycle, called 甲子 (Jiǎ Zǐ), lasts 60 years, representing a full rotation of the Heavenly Stems (天干) and Earthly Branches (地支). It often symbolizes longevity, generational change, or cyclical rebirth in Chinese philosophy. ☜

2. The 阴陵泉穴 is located on the medial side of the lower leg, in the depression below the medial condyle of the tibia. It is associated with the Spleen Meridian (脾经) ☜