An Alchemist's Path to Eternity

Two years later.

At the summit of Xiao Huan Mountain, inside the green thatched hut. Luo Chen sat cross-legged beside the Ice-Fire Spirit Spring, his eyes burning brightly as they stared into the void, as if fixated on something unseen.

Status panel!

[Status Panel]

Name: Luo Chen

Realm: Qi-Refining Realm – Perfected Mastery

Achievement Points: 13

[Techniques]

Long Spring Art: Perfected Mastery

Divine Breaker of Malevolence: Perfection (305/500)

Myriad Beast Sutra: Beginner (10/100)

[Spells]

Fireball: Perfected Mastery

Carefree Wind-Control: Perfected Mastery

Traction: Perfected Mastery

Spirit Suppression: Perfected Mastery

Spirit Eyes: Perfected Mastery

Entangle: Perfected Mastery

Cleanse: Perfected Mastery

Heal: Grandmaster (610/1000)

Earth Summit: Perfection (315/500)

Wave Surge: Perfection (309/500)

Sound Isolation: Perfection (312/500)

Soul-Intimidation: Skilled (179/200)

[Alchemy]

Jade Fracture Hand: Perfected Mastery

Unadorned Heart Hand: Grandmaster (513/1000)

Flowing Creek Hand: Skilled (125/200)

Cloud Transformation Hand: Skilled (112/200)

[Martial Arts]

Mountain Cleaving Monument Breaking Palm: Grandmaster (880/1000)

Heavenly Maiden Scatters Flowers: Perfection (357/500)

[Skills]

First-Tier Alchemist

Two years passed in peace, free from internal strife or external threats.

It was the most tranquil period Luo Chen had enjoyed since his transmigration, second only to his early, uneventful days as a rogue cultivator. But unlike those carefree beginnings, this peace had been hard-won purchased with the destruction of the Duan family.

And Luo Chen had not wasted a moment of it.

Nearly every hour of those two years had been devoted to cultivation. He delegated the day-to-day responsibilities of Luo Tian Society to Sima Huiniang and the others, freeing himself completely to focus on his advancement. Only by doing so had he managed—just barely—to reach Perfected Mastery of the Qi-Refining Realm.

He could feel the spirit energy within his body, condensed into a dense cloud that had reached its absolute limit, there was no room for even a little more. It had grown so saturated that it could expand no further, pressing against the boundaries of his dantian.

It was the unmistakable sign that he had truly reached the very peak of the Qi-Refining Realm.

”Thankfully that I had those supreme-grade Jade Essence pills to supplement me, or I really would have run out of resources,” Luo Chen murmured.

To his surprise, none of the resources he had relied on like calming incense, Spirit Passage pills, essence nurturing liquid had failed him. Even the rarest, the Spirit Purification pills, had been fully replenished by Tian Xingzi before his departure.

Ironically, it was the one thing he’d paid the least attention to the Dust Transformation pills—that fell short. At first, he had merely felt the supply was tight. He hadn’t expected to be short by a full two months’ worth.

Fortunately, with the help of his own supreme-grade Jade Essence pills, he had managed to push his way step by step to Perfected Mastery of the Qi-Refining Realm.

”Now that this is done, it’s time to prepare for Foundation Establishment,” he muttered to himself.

As Luo Chen murmured, his surroundings were littered with an assortment of items. Five vials of revitalization liquid, three boxes of calming incense, four bottles of Glazed Balm.

Each item laid before Luo Chen had a specific purpose. All of them offered some degree of assistance in achieving Foundation Establishment. Some he had painstakingly gathered over time, while others had come from the Duan family’s personal stores—spoils claimed during their downfall.

After all, Duan Rui had spent years attempting Foundation Establishment. Naturally, he would have prepared these kinds of resources in advance.

But none of that was the key.

The real key was the Foundation Establishment pill!

”I don’t have a Foundation Establishment pill. For the past two years, I’ve asked Nangong Jin and the others to procure one, but they’ve mostly declined,” Luo Chen said to himself.

”This was within my expectations. If they had one, they would surely prioritize internal needs. Why would they provide it to me?”

Even in this region, it was difficult to obtain. To go beyond it—to search in unfamiliar territory—would only complicate matters further.

But Luo Chen had never relied solely on others. He had long since made his preparations.

”Imperial Nectar!”

In the past two years, he had pushed himself to the limit—grinding the proficiency of nearly every skill and spell he possessed to the point of breakthrough. Through that effort, he had earned thirteen precious achievement points.

”Now,” he said, a fire igniting in his chest, ”I can finally attempt the Beginner level.”

Without hesitation, he tapped on the final entry.

Imperial Nectar: Beginner Progress (88/100)

With a single thought, Luo Chen began feeding in the 13 achievement points one by one.

One... two... three... His spirit energy remained steady, his gaze calm as the number slowly ticked upward.

By the time the tenth point was consumed, a sudden flash of light burst from the panel.

The entry changed.

Imperial Nectar: Beginner (1/100)

”Huh? Only ten points?” Luo Chen muttered, a little surprised.

He had expected it to require all thirteen. A flicker of surprise passed through him, but it quickly faded, replaced by a thoughtful nod.

Over the past two years, he had progressed enormously along the path of alchemy. Two pills had already reached Perfected Mastery under his hands. Not to mention, he had refined numerous batches of supreme-grade Jade Essence pills—each time pushing the limits of his control and understanding.

Supreme-grade first-tier pills might not bear the official label of second-tier, but in terms of difficulty, they came awfully close. Recently, he could even sense that the success rate for crafting supreme-grade pills had begun to steadily rise.

Moreover, through the constant act of refining, his mastery of alchemy and his familiarity with earth fire and medicinal ingredients had steadily advanced.

Given all that, using three fewer achievement points made perfect sense.

”As expected, the system’s upgrades are based on what I’ve mastered myself,” Luo Chen murmured.

”The harder I work, the more generous the system becomes!”

Proficiency doesn’t come out of thin air. It was all accumulated bit by bit, day after day.

Pushing aside his scattered thoughts, Luo Chen closed the status panel.

He reached into his storage pouch and pulled out a clay jar. Within it were the meticulously prepared remains of the Blazing Cloud Roc: flesh, bone, and blood, each portion measured with utmost precision.

It held exactly one-tenth of the Roc’s body—just enough to attempt a single batch of Imperial Nectar.

”Let’s hope it doesn’t disappoint me,” Luo Chen murmured, inhaled deeply.

With steady hands, he opened the jar and poured its contents into the Four Symbols Cauldron. The moment the rich, crimson ingredients landed inside, a faint pulse of power stirred in the air.

Below, the magma responded to the formation’s activation. Guided by Luo Chen’s control, a slender thread of earth fire curled upward from the depths like a serpent waking from slumber.

Then came the balance.

Luo Chen’s left hand formed a series of intricate seals, drawing forth a stream of ice spring water. The chill cut through the rising heat, and the water blossomed into a delicate veil of mist, settling gently above the blazing ingredients.

Imperial Nectar.

The first attempt.

Begin!

***

Water-based alchemy.

It didn’t mean refining pills with water directly. Rather, it referred to pills that took liquid form instead of the usual solid or paste formats.

Compared to the more common fire-based alchemy, water-based techniques had several notable advantages.

The first was safety. Unlike fire-based alchemy, water-based alchemy emphasized gradual progress and natural balance, which reduced the dangers caused by conflicting medicinal properties.

This principle was evident even in the formula for Imperial Nectar, which required all main ingredients to come from a single source—the Blazing Cloud Roc—ensuring medicinal compatibility from the very start.

The second advantage was the temperament of the final product.

Water-forged elixirs tended to be mild yet potent, with rich, balanced effects that didn’t overstimulate the body. Remedies like Runming Pearl Essence, meridian repair liquid, and revitalization liquid were all gentle in nature. Even taken in large doses, they rarely caused adverse side effects.

Lastly, it was simpler to perform.

Fire-based alchemy required extensive techniques, hand seals, and a wide range of skills. Water-based alchemy, however, is far less demanding. So long as one could draw out and fully integrate the medicinal power from each material, the process could be considered a success.

In fact, the Treatise on Green Origin Pills, a foundational text Luo Chen had long studied, was brimming with insights on fire-based alchemy yet barely spared a page for water-based techniques.

The primary reason was that its author, Qing Yuanzi, had considered water alchemy too elementary to warrant elaboration.

Even so, Luo Chen took nothing for granted. He followed the Imperial Nectar recipe with exacting discipline, measuring out and adding supplementary ingredients in perfect ratios.

At the same time, he employed the Falling Clouds Mist, occasionally activating Cloud Transformation Hand to extract water vapor from the spring over the cauldron and merge it into the ingredients.

All the while, a steady plume of earth fire beneath the Four Symbols Cauldron maintained the proper heat, slowly burning away impurities from the ingredients.

Especially the primary ingredient!

The blood, flesh, and bones of a demonic beast—specifically, a second-tier Blazing Cloud Roc.

Refining out the impurities from such material was no small task. It was the definition of slow, painstaking work.

But Luo Chen didn’t mind. He had long since outgrown impatience.

Two years had passed, he was now thirty-one, standing firm in his prime.

Having weathered so many ups and downs, both major and minor, his will might not rival that of cultivators who had practiced for centuries, but among his peers, he was undoubtedly exceptional.

Just a matter of slow, grinding effort.

Time trickled by as Luo Chen remained absorbed in the refining process.

***

Three days passed in a flash.

With a calm expression, Luo Chen shut down the formation and pulled out a lump of dark paste from the Four Symbols Cauldron.

He had failed and he wasn’t surprised.

Even with thorough preparation, failure always arrived on schedule.

In a long life of alchemy, this was simply the most ordinary scenery.

Cradling the tray of blackened liquid, Luo Chen stepped out of the thatched hut and into the mountain air.

The biting mountain wind stirred as he gazed down at the tray of waste.

”Impurities were cleansed well—nearly flawless,” he murmured to himself.

”The issue was in the solid-liquid separation. I needed stronger flame to liquefy the flesh and bones, but out of concern for overconsuming medicinal power, I held back. That hesitation cost the success.

”And also, I didn’t time the Cloud Transformation Hand perfectly. Drawing the spring water into the mix should have happened earlier for full integration.

”I’ll rest for two days, then attempt another batch.”

After reviewing and analyzing the failure, Luo Chen carefully sealed the tray of waste.

He had no intention of destroying it.

If future batches failed, it would serve as a useful comparison.

***

One day, two days... in the blink of an eye, over half a month had passed.

Luo Chen had already failed four or five times. Even for someone as accustomed with failure as he was, the toll was beginning to wear on him.

Refining second-tier pills, even if they were spirit liquids, demanded a level of spiritual effort far beyond that of regular first-tier pills.

”After two years of consistently taking Spirit Passage pills, my soul foundation should be no weaker than that of any early-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator.

”And even so, I’m still finding it hard to endure.

”Refining pills across tiers really is unimaginably difficult!”

Luo Chen sighed and decided to take the day off and get some proper rest.

He decided to take a walk down the mountain, to check on the recent affairs of the Luo Tian Society. Likely nothing serious—if anything urgent had come up, Sima Huiniang would’ve already contacted him through a Sound-Transmitting Paper Crane.

A walk wouldn’t hurt. Catching up with old friends, chatting about trivial matters, it was the kind of break he sorely needed. After all, balance between effort and rest was the true path of cultivation.

Just as he was about to set off, his heart suddenly stirred.

He turned to the side and beckoned with a hand. From behind a nearby rock, a small pangolin scurried forth, clutching a gleaming five-pointed star in its claws.

”Tian Xingzi’s token is reacting?”

Realizing what this could mean, Luo Chen’s eyes lit up in an instant.