An Alchemist's Path to Eternity

It was indeed a hefty purchase.

Twenty bottles of Dust Transformation pills—four thousand spirit stones. Ten boxes of calming incense—one thousand two hundred spirit stones. Altogether, it exceeded five thousand spirit stones. That amount could easily buy a top-grade enchanted artifact, or even attempt to acquire a supreme-grade one.

What Liu Hecai admired was how this small rogue cultivator, who once struggled to part with a few dozen spirit stones, could now casually spend five thousand without breaking a sweat. This spoke volumes about the other party’s mastery of alchemy and how quickly they had amassed such wealth.

What Liu Hecai didn’t know was that this was nearly all of Luo Chen’s savings. After purchasing these cultivation resources, Luo Chen had barely over a hundred scattered spirit stones left.

”No choice, it’s all for cultivation. I must’ve made you laugh, Shopkeeper Liu.” Luo Chen said with a sigh.

Liu Hecai seemed to understand something and gestured for an attendant, instructing her briefly. Before long, the attendant returned with the requested pills. The attendant even glanced at Luo Chen a few extra times, as if trying to commit his face to memory.

After Luo Chen paid, Liu Hecai smiled and said, ”You’re preparing for the future because of the recent chaos in Dahe Market, aren’t you?”

”Elder sight is razor-sharp; nothing escapes you!” Luo Chen flattered him endlessly, hoping to glean some insider information from this Foundation Establishment sect member.

Liu Hecai was clearly enjoying the flattery. ”Actually, there’s no need to worry so much.

”Oh?” Luo Chen’s ears perked up. ”What do you mean by that?”

So there is some insider news after all...

”It’s simple logic, really,” Liu Hecai said with a confident smile. ”The Jade Cauldron Sword Sect won’t let Dahe Market remain in chaos for long.”

This single sentence left Luo Chen stunned.

That’s right—Dahe Market wasn’t some small town. It was a major hub near the vast Great Million Mountains of the Eastern Wilderness. It was resource-rich and full of potential. The Jade Cauldron Sword Sect’s increasing investments in the area made it clear how much they valued Dahe Market.

Being in the thick of it, Luo Chen hadn’t seen things as clearly.

Seeing Luo Chen’s sudden realization, Liu Hecai chuckled. ”You low-tier cultivators only see the surface chaos. But this time, the unrest is actually aimed at Foundation Establishment cultivators and even the Golden Core cultivators who come and go from the Great Million Mountains.”

The Great Million Mountains of the Eastern Wilderness were incomparably resource-rich. Naturally, it wasn’t just Qi-Refining rogue cultivators making a living there. There were always Foundation Establishment cultivators coming and going. Occasionally, Golden Core cultivators would personally venture in for certain herbs, ores, or demonic beasts. This was evident from the auction resources at Dahe Market, which catered to Foundation Establishment and Golden Core cultivators.

”The Jade Cauldron Sword Sect’s Golden Core Adept wouldn’t permanently reside in a first tier spirit vein area, right?”

”Right. He’ll leave eventually, and before he does, he’ll clean up the mess. So there’s no need to worry too much.”

As he spoke, his gaze fell on the pile of jade bottles and boxes Luo Chen was carrying.

There was a playful glint in his eyes.

Damn!

Why didn’t you say this earlier? I’ve already paid!

Luo Chen really wanted to curse at this unscrupulous merchant, but considering the man had shared useful insights, he couldn’t bring himself to do it.

Leaving the Spirit Herb Pavilion, Luo Chen couldn’t help but wonder if he looked like those panic buyers hoarding salt back on Earth.[1]

On the way back to Crescent Moon Valley, Luo Chen reviewed the recent chaos in Dahe Market, piecing together clues from Shopkeeper Liu’s remarks.

Finally, he came to a series of conclusions.

The chaos began after the arrival of the Golden Core Adept, Pang Renxiong. It was further exacerbated by the enforcement team’s inaction. Additionally, the increased rewards at the Debate Platform were another intriguing point.

Looking at it this way, the situation was clearly caused by the Golden Core Adept and his objective wasn’t hard to guess.

Fei Bowen’s death! That late stage Foundation Establishment cultivator from Ai Lao Mountain had died in Dahe Market.

According to the disciples of the Immortal Build Residence, Fei Bowen had been killed by a sword orb enchanted treasure, pointing suspicion directly at the Jade Cauldron sword cultivators, particularly the most powerful figure in the market at the time—Pang Renxiong, only he possessed a sword orb of enchanted treasure grade.

As a result, the Supreme Elder of Ai Lao Mountain had personally gone to the Jade Cauldron Sword Sect to demand an explanation.

Luo Chen didn’t understand how a Golden Core sect dared to demand answers from a Nascent Soul sect. He could only interpret it as some kind of balance of power between sects, not just a matter of brute force.

Especially since Ai Lao Mountain was quite powerful within the Jade Cauldron Domain, being involved in the construction of most of the market cities and immortal towns. Once the Supreme Elder had stepped in, the Jade Cauldron Sword Sect would have to respond.

That response took a while—six months to be exact.

Of course, six months only seemed long to Qi-Refining cultivators. For Golden Core Adept who often cultivated in seclusion for decades or centuries, it was likely just a brief retreat.

Six months later, Pang Renxiong returned to Dahe Market and stirred up chaos.

Perhaps he intended to muddy the waters and flush out the real culprit. [2]

Or maybe he was just putting on a show for Ai Lao Mountain.

But no matter his true intentions, the man had come, and he had made a move.

When he left, whether or not he found the real culprit would no longer matter.

If things are unfolding like this... then maybe the chaos in Dahe Market won’t last too long? Luo Chen frowned slightly, unsure even of his own speculation.

But another thought quickly surfaced—what did ”not too long” even mean? Was it from the perspective of a Qi-Refining cultivator? Or from someone at Foundation Establishment... or even Golden Core?

Still, regardless of how things played out, the cultivation resources he’d purchased were no waste. The pills and calming incense were things he needed daily, chaos or no chaos. The Poshan Gang’s monthly stipend included only four bottles—he always had to make up the difference with at least two more on his own.

This time, he was merely stocking up in advance.

Spirit stones don’t generate interest lying around anyway... might as well keep them close in a different form, he thought, muttering under his breath.

And speaking of interest—why doesn’t the cultivation world have something like big banks? Even mortal nations had pawnshops and money houses.

The thought made him chuckle. The fact that he could entertain such random musings was proof enough that the knot in his chest had finally begun to ease.

Still, over the following days, Luo Chen’s work ethic became even more meticulous than before. Perhaps it was a habit. Or perhaps he simply knew that with the calm came the storm.

***

”Has the Hall Leader been extra serious lately?”

”Hmm? Hasn’t he always been serious?”

”No, no, no. He used to be serious, sure, but he wasn’t so invested in alchemy. Even if a batch of materials was ruined, he wouldn’t really care.”

”Oh, now that you mention it, that’s true?”

As Luo Chen’s cultivation realm deepened, his spirit sense became sharper. He could faintly pick up conversations that weren’t cloaked by sound transmission. He heard them whispering—saying he was being too serious lately. Serious? What nonsense. Of course he was serious!

His savings had been completely drained, and if anything, Luo Chen was more anxious than anyone in the Alchemy Hall. Those spirit stones had been carefully set aside for the day he broke through to the ninth stage of Qi-Refining—meant to buy a Foundation Establishment pill when the time came. He hadn’t felt this broke since the early stages of cultivation, back when he was still scrambling for every scrap.

Even though Luo Chen knew the five thousand two hundred spirit stones were just ”staying with him” in a different form, he still felt a twinge of panic. As a result, he put more effort into his alchemy work than anyone else recently.

Not only that, but he also began paying more attention to mentoring Mi Li and Tang Quan. If the two could consistently produce fasting concoctions and Myriad Wonders pills, he could secure additional income in the future.

Unfortunately, the two had only average talent in alchemy. Despite Luo Chen’s personal guidance, Tang Quan still hadn’t successfully refined even a low-grade Myriad Wonders pill on his own.

As for fasting concoctions, Mi Li could produce them, but only low-grade ones. Luo Chen didn’t even bother selling them and instead handed them out as benefits to the internal cultivators of the Alchemy Hall.

Luo Chen cornered Sikong Shoujia and asked, ”By the way, why haven’t I received last month’s dividend yet?”

Sikong Shoujia looked puzzled. ”It’s not even the beginning of the month yet!”

”Don’t care. I’m short on spirit stones right now.”

”There’s nothing I can do! You’ll have to talk to Mi Junping about it.”

Luo Chen frowned. There was no precedent for requesting an advance on his dividend. After thinking for a moment, his eyes lit up.

”Hey, don’t be in a hurry to leave today. Let’s count this month’s pill production first.”

Counting the pills didn’t take much effort, so Sikong Shoujia had no objection. Together with Gu Caiyi, the three entered the pill cultivation chamber. Before long, the entire inventory was neatly arranged in front of them, each bottle and box representing the month’s production.

Sikong Shoujia hesitated and said, ”One thousand six hundred mid-grade Jade Essence pills and over two thousand four hundred low-grade Jade Essence pills? Is that right?”

”Yes, that’s correct!” Gu Caiyi nodded emphatically.

The two exchanged a glance, both filled with disbelief.

It was a simple calculation. With mid-grade Jade Essence pills selling at fifty spirit stones per bottle and low-grade ones at ten, the gross profit for the month had already surpassed ten thousand spirit stones.

This was the first time they had broken the ten-thousand threshold!

No wonder the others were stunned.

”Alright, give me the ledger,” Luo Chen said, snatching it up without waiting for a reply. He turned and walked out, Gu Caiyi and Sikong Shoujia were frozen in place.

Luo Chen had only worked a little harder for a month, and the pill production success rate had improved this much? The gross profit had exceeded ten thousand; how much would Luo Chen get after deducting costs?

When Sikong Shoujia considered how many spirit stones Luo Chen would be pocketing next month, his eyes flushed red with envy. A lifetime spent fighting and clawing for every gain had never brought him earnings close to this. Beside him, Gu Caiyi could only let out a quiet sigh of admiration. So this is the strength of an alchemist...

As for Luo Chen, he wasn’t thinking about next month.

No—his payday was this month.

1. The reference to ”panic buyers hoarding salt back on Earth” relates to real-world incidents where misinformation or fear triggered mass purchasing of specific items, particularly salt, during moments of crisis. For instance, COVID-19 pandemic saw global panic buying of essentials like food, toilet paper, and other household supplies. Salt was among the items hoarded in some areas due to fears of supply chain disruptions. ☜

2. The idiom 浑水摸鱼translates to ”fishing in muddy waters.” Its figurative meaning is to take advantage of chaos or confusion to achieve one’s goals, often with a hint of opportunism or deception. ☜