An Alchemist's Path to Eternity

”Jade Dew pill?”

Inside Binglan Palace, an elderly woman straightened from her reclining chair. Her cloudy eyes flashed with brilliance, and her back stood upright; no trace of age showed in her bearing.

She beckoned with a hand. The jade bottle in Xu Jingnian’s hand floated directly into her grasp.

Xu Jingnian cast a complicated glance at the silver-haired woman before lowering his head. Since Luo Chen had entrusted him with this task, he would of course give it his all. It wasn’t fear of the woman’s cultivation that moved him. It was the fact that his nephew, Xu Xiaoliu, now held an official position in the Luo Tian Society.

More importantly, while other cultivators might not care much for Jade Dew pills, in the female-dominated Ice Fortress, they were undoubtedly a top-tier spirit medicine. Delivering this could count as a great merit for Xu Jingnian as well.

After some time, Shi Boying put down the jade bottle, a trace of excitement surfacing on her face. She raised her head and stared directly at Xu Jingnian. ”You’re saying that Luo Chen wants to do business with us by selling Jade Dew pills?”

”Yes!” replied Xu Jingnian.

”Do we know where these pills came from? Does he have a supply route from the Fenghua Domain, or does he refine them himself?”

”At the moment, it’s unclear. But I’m inclined to believe the latter.”

”Oh? Why is that?”

Xu Jingnian answered seriously, ”The Luo Tian Society came from Dahe Market in the far east and has only been in Tianlan Immortal City for a year. It’s impossible for them to have procurement channels from the Fenghua Domain.”

Shi Boying nodded. In truth, the supply route wasn’t even the main concern. Even within the Fenghua Domain, Jade Dew pills were highly sought after. They were typically reserved for internal use by the Fenghua Palace. Those that leaked out were mostly low-grade versions, and in very small quantities.

This scarcity wasn’t due to rare ingredients, but the difficulty in refining the pill itself. Most rogue cultivators probably didn’t know that the alchemical formula for the Jade Dew pills wasn’t hard to obtain. Even the Ice Fortress had a copy!

However, the pill itself was notoriously difficult to refine. According to the second-tier alchemists at the Ice Fortress, one needed to master at least three different alchemical techniques just to refine this pill. Moreover, one also needed to be proficient in both water-based and fire-based methods, able to shift between the two with smooth precision throughout the process. Anyone who could manage that was no ordinary second-tier alchemist.

Of course, a third-tier alchemist could refine it, but the Ice Fortress had no such figure. The Green Pill Valley did have one, but the Jade Dew pill had a limited market, as it naturally excluded most cultivators, particularly men. As a second-tier pill, it offered only modest profits. For a high-tier alchemist, it simply wasn’t worth the time or effort. In the end, the Jade Dew pill was simply too difficult to refine and not profitable enough.

”So this Luo Chen... is truly that accomplished in alchemy?” Shi Boying frowned, skepticism etched across her face.

However, Xu Jingnian said with confidence, ”He is indeed a highly skilled alchemist. The entire Luo Tian Society was built to serve his alchemical pursuits. To my knowledge, he was already proficient at refining top-grade first-tier pills many years ago and even had the skill to modify standard formulas. If he refined this pill after reaching Foundation Establishment, it’s entirely plausible!”

Even after hearing all that, Shi Boying still wasn’t fully convinced. With a thought, she sent out a voice transmission.

A moment later, Shi Lan came hurrying in from outside. After being questioned, Shi Lan recounted everything she knew about Luo Chen in detail. When she heard that he had the wealth to lease Danxia Peak for ten whole years, Shi Boying finally let go of her doubt.

Wealth was the truest reflection of an alchemist’s skill! A truly formidable alchemist was never short on spirit stones. The sheer wealth Luo Chen had amassed was proof enough of his alchemical mastery.

Jade Dew pill business? If he can already refine them, why seek us out instead of just selling them himself?

After her confirmation, Shi Boying began pondering more deeply. While she was lost in thought, the other two remained silent.

”You may both leave for now,” she finally said. ”I’ll inform you of further developments soon.”

Xu Jingnian nodded and left.

Shi Lan blinked, a glint of thought flickering in her eyes.

***

Shi Boying’s ”soon” turned out to be a long wait for Luo Chen.

Three full months passed without a single response. Matters like this could not be rushed, so he redirected his focus to cultivation and alchemy.

Under Luo Chen’s guidance, the Luo Tian Society’s Alchemy Hall launched a full-scale alchemy campaign over those three months. Unlike the common earth fire they’d used back at Xiaohuan Mountain, the one beneath Danxia Peak has a top-grade earth fire vein! As a result, their refining efficiency improved tremendously. In just three months, they produced nearly twenty thousand Jade Essence pills.

Luo Chen even felt he still had energy to refine more. However, he restrained the greedy impulse. Rather than chasing profits by making more Jade Essence pills, he’d rather spend the extra time refining pills he personally needed, like the Spirit Passage pill or Jade Dew pill.

Meanwhile, the good news kept rolling in. First of all, his Flowing Creek Hand and Cloud Transformation both advanced to the Proficient level, earning him two achievement points. This made his refining of the Jade Dew pill even smoother, and his confidence grew along with it.

Next came news from Qu Lingjun. He had finally refined a batch of mid-grade Jade Essence pills! That was nothing short of remarkable. Qu Lingjun was not even twenty years old. If word spread that someone his age had managed to refine a mid-grade first-tier pill, it would stir the entire Tianlan Immortal City. Even the prestigious Seven Jade Cauldron Sects would compete to recruit him.

Some might question his aptitude? That was laughable. With talent like this, any major sect would shower him with resources until he reached Foundation Establishment, whether he wished it or not. For the truly gifted, aptitude was never an obstacle.

Qu Lingjun’s talent might have seemed almost exaggerated, but it was well-earned. With Luo Chen, who had achieved Perfected Mastery in Jade Essence pills as his master, technique was never a problem. What alchemy needed most was repeated hands-on experience. It was the accumulation of success through repeated failure.

In that regard, Qu Lingjun had Luo Chen’s full support. Before Luo Chen entered seclusion, he had instructed the entire Luo Tian Society to assist Qu Lingjun in alchemy for practice.

During the large-scale refining sessions that followed, Qu Lingjun always acted as his assistant. Whenever Luo Chen rested, he had Qu Lingjun take over the cauldron, overseeing and guiding him through each step. Whether they succeeded or failed, every session ended with a careful review.

In the end, Qu Lingjun’s ability to refine mid-grade Jade Essence pills at such a young age came from three things: talent, mentorship, and relentless practice.

That day, when Luo Chen saw him collect fifteen mid-grade pills from the cauldron, he could barely contain his joy. He even gifted him a small spirit-gathering formation, and his only request is that none of this be revealed to outsiders.

All mid-grade Jade Essence pills produced by Qu Lingjun were to be registered under Luo Chen’s name. This was not a matter of stealing credit, but of protecting Qu Lingjun. The tallest tree in the forest always drew the fiercest wind, and Luo Chen understood this principle all too well.

”With the help of the small spirit-gathering formation, your cultivation will progress faster. Add in some pills...” Luo Chen paused and warned, ”Using pills is necessary, but you must never overindulge. Otherwise, the consequences will be endless!”

Qu Lingjun happily accepted the gift, silently engraving his master’s words into his heart. Master would never harm me.

Seeing how happy he looked, Luo Chen felt reassured. For this disciple, he had invested not only in alchemy but also in cultivation. Each month, Qu Lingjun received plenty of pills, calming incense, and essence nurturing liquid without fail. Now, with a small spirit-gathering formation added to the mix, his cultivation speed had soared. Even with four spirit roots, Foundation Establishment was no longer out of reach.

What the great sects could provide, Luo Chen was confident he could offer too. In the end, it all came down to resources, and supporting a single Qi-Refining disciple was well within his means.

Furthermore, with Qu Lingjun now steadily refining mid-grade Jade Essence pills, the returns were already impressive. Luo Chen barely needed to support him anymore. He could now sustain himself. What Luo Chen truly needed to provide was the guidance of a wise teacher and the shelter of a great umbrella!

After wrapping up a day of alchemy, Luo Chen piloted his flying boat and hurried back to Tianlan Peak. It wasn’t to cultivate in his second-tier cave residence, but because the final piece of good news had already begun to take effect. And right now, it has entered its verification phase.

***

Yi Wood Medicine King Codex: Grandmaster (501/1000)

Inside the cave, Luo Chen’s eyes burned as he stared into the void. On his status panel, the technique entry for the Yi Wood Medicine King Codex glowed faintly.

He had reached Grandmaster level. After months of relentless cultivation, fueled by two daily doses of Divine Fiery Incense, he had finally pushed the mastery of his core technique to new heights.

The change had first appeared two days ago. At the time, nothing visible had shifted, but Luo Chen could faintly sense that something within him was different. For the past few days, he had been watching himself closely. Now, using his inner sight, he finally discovered a dramatic shift in his dantian.

With a flicker of thought, a droplet of spirit liquid condensed at his fingertip. It was his liquefied spirit power!

Back when he had reached Perfected Mastery in Qi-Refining, his spirit power had already pushed the limits of that realm, taking on a dark, bluish green hue. Even after Foundation Establishment, the color remained unchanged. But over the past two days, the newly condensed spirit liquid had begun to shift. From dark, bluish green to verdant green, brimming with vitality! It flowed on without cease, carrying the sense of something eternal.

”This sign... is it the Eternal Youth Evergreen Sutra?” Luo Chen muttered.

In his astonishment, Luo Chen gradually affirmed his suspicion. The widely practiced Long Spring Art and Yi Wood Medicine King Codex were simplified versions of the Medicine King Sect’s Eternal Youth Evergreen Sutra. They preserved some traits, but key aspects had been removed or altered, including automatic spirit power refinement and eternal vitality.

One could say that the version Luo Chen had practiced previously was such in name only. Each time he activated it, the technique did nothing more than draw in spirit energy. Now, at Grandmaster level, this second-tier art derived from the Eternal Youth Evergreen Sutra finally lived up to its name.

He focused on the droplet of spirit liquid at his fingertip. Its potency was undeniable. Compared to the spirit liquid he had wielded before, its purity had soared, and the power it carried was vastly superior.

”Let me test it myself and see just how effective it is!” he mused.

And how did one test the strength of spirit power? Naturally, through casting spells!

Fireball, Entangle, Heal, Earth Summit...

Under Luo Chen’s careful control, that single droplet of spirit liquid was spent casting every spell he had learned, one after another. Each was released at its most basic level, yet it still revealed the immense depth of a Foundation Establishment cultivator’s spirit power. Such a feat was something no Qi-Refining cultivator could ever hope to achieve.

After the trial run, Luo Chen fell into deep thought.

I have five elemental spirit roots, so I can wield all five element spells. I’d never noticed it before, but now I see that the spirit power generated by a core technique significantly boosts spells of its same element! During the test just now, both Fireball and Earth Summit didn’t feel all that different from before; any increase in power was negligible. However, the difference was dramatic when I cast Entangle and Heal. The power nearly doubled!

The Yi Wood Medicine King Codex... of course. This technique was designed to enhance wood-element spells. In that case, Perfected Mastery Entangle might not be as useless as I once thought. It could serve as a sharp little killer move. And Heal... if I push that to Perfected Mastery as well, it may grant unexpected benefits.

For now, Luo Chen concluded his test of the Grandmaster level Yi Wood Medicine King Codex. He could sense that the technique still held many latent transformations. The changes had not yet fully revealed themselves, likely because too little time had passed since the breakthrough. As long as he continued to cultivate, he would eventually grasp its deeper essence.

Just as Luo Chen steadied his thoughts and prepared to resume cultivation, a sudden ripple stirred in his heart. He stepped out of the meditation chamber and found Bai Meiling hovering idly near the cave’s formation.

The moment she spotted him, her eyes lit up and she pointed eagerly outside. ”There’s a voice transmission talisman!”

Luo Chen’s brow arched, and he flicked his hand. The voice transmission talisman, buzzing about aimlessly outside, flew straight into his hand.

”Fellow Daoist Luo Chen, tomorrow morning at Tianlan Peak, Cave Residence Yi One. I await your esteemed presence,” came Shi Boying’s voice.

Cave Residence Yi One!

Luo Chen’s mind stirred slightly. Tianlan Peak housed many cave residences, broadly categorized into five ranks. Jia, Yi, Bing, Ding, and Wu[1]. They corresponded to third-tier, second-tier top-grade, mid-grade, and low-grade, and first-tier top-grade, respectively.

For example, Luo Chen’s residence was Bing Seventeen. The numbers themselves meant little within the same grade, since the density of spirit energy varied only slightly. He had only secured his spot because the previous occupant had vacated it.

But a residence marked Yi One was different. Yi One represented the highest and most prestigious of the second-tier top-grade caves, ranking just beneath the rare third-tier residences. For Shi Boying to be residing there... her status was far higher than he had imagined.

Though puzzled, Luo Chen felt a rising sense of anticipation. If she was summoning him now, it was undoubtedly to discuss the Jade Dew pill business.

The Luo Tian Society already had piles of Jade Essence pills in storage, and he had been waiting for the right opportunity to sell them. If this negotiation went well, he would have secured himself an endless flow of spirit stones.

***

The next morning, Luo Chen washed up and changed into a fresh top-grade enchanted robe. His long black hair was neatly tied back with a jade hairpin. As he walked, his steps were steady and powerful like a dragon or tiger, yet still retained an effortless grace.

Bai Meiling hovered beside him, holding up a mirror.

”Master, you look so pretty!” she said brightly.

Luo Chen shot her a helpless look as he thought, Pretty is hardly the word to describe a man.

Still, when he glanced at his reflection, he could not deny how much he had changed from the man he once was. His bone structure and features remained the same. The real transformation lay in his complexion, his aura, and the composed confidence that now radiated from his every glance.

The improved complexion could be attributed to his success in Physical-Refining and minor mastery of the Clear Origin Mystical Pill Method. But the aura and confidence were cultivated through the countless trials he had endured.

As the old saying went, ”With books in the belly, elegance flows naturally.” But was it truly only books that shaped a person’s presence? Better to travel ten thousand li than to read ten thousand scrolls.

I, Luo Chen, have walked far beyond ten thousand li!

With a thought, Luo Chen turned and stepped out the door.

He looked up at the mist-veiled immortal peaks overhead, then soared like a great roc riding the wind, trailing waves of cloud and crashing waterfall mist behind him. Crossing over rugged peaks, he soon reached a region blanketed in snow and ice.

Luo Chen descended slowly and called out across the distance.

”Luo Chen from the Luo Tian Society, here to visit a Fellow Daoist!”

1. 甲乙丙丁戊 (jia yi bing ding wu) are the first five of the Ten Heavenly Stems (天干) in traditional Chinese cosmology and calendrical systems. These stems 甲 (jia) is 1st, 乙 (yi) 2nd, 丙 (bing) 3rd, 丁 (ding) 4th , 戊 (wu) 5th, are used in combination with the Twelve Earthly Branches to form the 60-year cycle in the Chinese calendar. In broader cultural contexts, they are also used for ordering, ranking, or classifying things (like cave residences, grades of items, or tiers of power). ☜