An Alchemist's Path to Eternity

Seven months back, Luo Chen had broken through to the third stage of Foundation Establishment. Now, after more than half a year, his progress bar had reached 10. Of course, this was after deducting the time he’d spent guarding Wang Yuan’s Foundation Establishment and the long slumber from the Divine Ghost Heartmirror simulation. In other words, if he wanted to reach the fourth stage, it would take another five years of uninterrupted cultivation.

This pace was by no means slow; it more than justified the vast number of spirit stones he had invested. In his low-grade cave residence, with its constant supply of Ascending Dragon pills, plus Divine Fiery Incense and luxurious spirit meals as support, he was having it really good. These cultivation resources were not something ordinary Foundation Establishment cultivators could even dream of.

This was the case, for instance, at Dahe Market; those Foundation Establishment cultivators didn’t even have a stable second-tier spirit land. Even those with better aptitudes than Luo Chen would find themselves easily surpassed by him.

If other cultivators knew about Luo Chen’s speed, they’d be green with envy. Yet even so, Luo Chen felt it wasn’t enough.

Back at Dahe Market, relying on leftover Foundation Establishment pills and a second-tier top-grade spirit land, he had reached the second stage of Foundation Establishment in three years. Now, with even better resources at his disposal in Tianlan Immortal City, it had taken him two and a half years to reach the third stage. But to break into the middle stages, it would still take at least another five years.

In all, that meant more than ten years of effort. That was one thing, but... cultivation in the middle stages was ten times slower. And the pace in the late stages was dozens of times slower than that.

Ten years! A hundred years! A thousand years!

When all was said and done, Luo Chen had only managed to double his original cultivation speed, and that wasn’t nearly enough.

Not enough, far from enough! But now that everything has been upgraded, I’ve traded the shotgun for a cannon. I hope I can increase my cultivation speed even more!

As these thoughts flowed through his mind, Luo Chen started cultivating according to the Yi Wood Medicine King Codex. He had reached the Grandmaster level, and his speed was quite something.

Inside the quiet room, the vast spirit energy bound within the cave residence surged toward him like myriad rivers flowing into the sea. After half an hour, Luo Chen opened his eyes and examined his sea of qi carefully. Finally, he nodded slowly.

Due to the doubled spirit energy concentration in the cave, his core technique could now capture and refine twice the amount of spirit energy as before. But that wasn’t the whole story.

Normally, a Foundation Establishment cultivator can only use their core technique two or three times a day. I could already do five back then. With the help of Divine Fiery Incense, I could manage seven times. But even then, I couldn’t fully tap into the incense’s potential. At most, I could only absorb about two-thirds of it.

But after the Divine Ghost Heartmirror simulation, things had changed. Luo Chen had felt weakened for a while, but now that he was fully recovered, he could feel that his divine soul foundation had grown significantly.

I’m not exactly sure how much it has grown. But the best way to find out is to go all out.

Luo Chen took a deep breath and closed his eyes again. The calm cultivation chamber began to churn with spirit energy once more as Luo Chen resumed cultivating.

Two times!

Three times!

***

Very quickly, Luo Chen found himself surpassing the seven cycles he’d managed before.

An eighth cycle!

A ninth cycle!

After nine repetitions, Luo Chen felt a flicker of fatigue, but he had gathered enough data to satisfy his curiosity. His divine soul foundation had indeed grown stronger. What had once felt almost equivalent to late-stage Foundation Establishment now stood solidly in that realm.

“But I still haven’t reached my limit.”

The Ice Silkworm Meditation Mat beneath him emitted a faint, icy coolness that quickly revitalized him.

One more time!

Resolute in his heart, Luo Chen took out a jade bottle with a mid-grade qi-consolidation pill!

This time, he would use the pill to aid his cultivation. It was said that a mid-grade qi-consolidation pill contained more than double the medicinal power of a low-grade one. He wondered how much stronger it would be compared to the low-grade Ascending Dragon pill.

He started cultivating again.

Within him, the pill dissolved, releasing vast amounts of spirit energy. From the cave residence around him, the dense spirit energy of the second-tier top-grade cave rushed in to meet it.

Inside Luo Chen’s sea of qi, a torrential current of spirit energy surged in. The spirit vortex formed by the Clear Origin Mystical Pill almost scattered under the impact.

Fortunately, after three years of training, he had reached the Perfection level of this technique. He could now cleanse and stabilize the influx of power, removing most of the pill toxins. Though the vortex wavered dangerously at first, it ultimately held firm.

Another hour passed. Luo Chen opened his eyes. There was a hint of fatigue in his expression, but joy shone bright within.

This night’s experiment had confirmed everything he needed to know.

First, his divine soul foundation had indeed grown to match the late stage of Foundation Establishment. Second, the second-tier top-grade cave residence had doubled the spirit energy concentration, which doubled the amount of external energy he absorbed during cultivation. Third, the mid-grade qi-consolidation pill’s potency was indeed vastly superior to the low-grade Ascending Dragon pill, almost double as well.

Combined, these three factors yielded an astonishing result.

“My cultivation speed has more than doubled!” he exclaimed. “And compared to when I first entered Foundation Establishment with only a second-tier low-grade spirit land, my speed is now five times faster!”

That might not sound very clear but if he measured it in terms of the time required to reach Perfected Mastery of Foundation Establishment, it became much clearer.

When he had first stepped into Foundation Establishment, Luo Chen had estimated it would take him two thousand years to reach Perfected Mastery. After arriving in Tianlan Immortal City and making various improvements, he had reduced that estimate to one thousand years.

His current cultivation speed was enough to carry him to Perfected Mastery in four to five hundred years. Even though that was still far longer than the typical Foundation Establishment cultivator’s lifespan, this tangible improvement gave Luo Chen hope.

I still have many areas where I can improve. My divine soul foundation has only reached late Foundation Establishment, and it’s far from the peak. If I can refine a supreme-grade Spirit Passage pill, I can strengthen it further.

The strength of his divine soul determined how many times he could run his core technique, and that determined how much external spirit energy he could absorb. Aside from his divine soul foundation, there were still other avenues open to him...

There’s also the quality of my pills! This is only a mid-grade qi-consolidation pill. What if I had a top-grade one? In the Divine Ghost Heartmirror simulation, I couldn’t get top-grade pills, but that was just a simulation; it ignored my status panel and the external environment. With the world shifting, my opportunities will surely multiply. And beside pills, there’s also my physical body! Luo Chen thought to himself.

Luo Chen sensed that he stood close to breaking through to the second stage of Physique Refinement. Once his body grew stronger, it would in turn push his cultivation in the Dao of Immortality to greater heights.

In the Divine Ghost Heartmirror simulation, I reached Perfected Mastery of Foundation Establishment at the age of three hundred and thirty by walking the devil path. In reality, can’t I achieve the same result through righteous cultivation before my lifespan runs out?

He had no doubts about his own potential. The road behind him had been filled with hardship and danger, yet every success had tempered his will and forged an unshakable Dao heart. It was a heart that sought the Dao and walked the Dao. He would never stop.

***

The next day.

Luo Chen woke early, though he’d only slept for an hour. He didn’t feel overly fatigued, just unable to continue cultivating at such intensity for the moment. That was typical for a cultivator’s training cycle.

The limits he’d tested earlier were only what he could achieve without overly depleting his divine soul’s foundation. But when a cultivator faced a bottleneck, they didn’t care about that. Never mind ten times a day; with the right preparation, they’d push themselves to dozens of repetitions in a row. As long as they succeeded in breaking through, any damage was worth it.

Luo Chen not only didn’t feel tired, but due to the Divine Ice Jade, his mind was even more vigorous.

This jade that Fairy Ruthless gave me is neither an enchanted artifact nor an enchanted treasure, yet its effects are just extraordinary. I wonder what kind of material it’s made from, it looks like it was simply polished.

Luo Chen touched the jade pendant on his neck and stepped into the living room with springy steps.

Qu Lingjun and the others were already waiting outside.

”Good morning, Master!”

”Good morning.” Luo Chen nodded, then stepped outside the cave residence, his gaze falling on the spirit field.

He knew he’d be living here long-term. This spirit field couldn’t just sit idle, growing random flowers and weeds.

“When you go back, have Yuan Dongsheng come see me.”

Qu Lingjun nodded.

Yuan Dongsheng, at the eighth stage of Qi Refinement, was the top spirit botanist of the Luo Tian Society!

Now engaged to a member of the Qin Hua Li family, his status had become even more respected. He ranked just below the three Foundation Establishment cultivators of the Luo Tian Society and Director Sima Huiniang. He even outranked most ninth stage Qi Refinement cultivators and could stand on equal footing with any of the hall leaders.

Of course, his status was irrelevant right now. What mattered was his expertise.

“Also, I probably won’t be going to Danxia Peak for a while,” Luo Chen continued. “If anything comes up, just use this sound-transmission jade to contact me.”

As he spoke, he took out two jade tokens.

“One is for you, the other for Director Sima.”

Qu Lingjun took them both, nodding quickly. These specially crafted transmission jades were far superior to ordinary charms or cranes. They could send messages across a thousand li almost instantly. Of course, such performance came at a steep price of three thousand low-grade spirit stones each, and they required a Foundation Establishment cultivator to imprint it with spirit consciousness

After putting the jade tokens away, Qu Lingjun couldn’t help asking, “What about the Jade Essence pill business?”

“Before the auction, I refined a large batch of Jade Essence pills. Should be enough for the Luo Tian Society to sell for half a year.”

Of course, Luo Chen had already considered this important matter. If he’d once been pleased with his savings worth four hundred thousand, then that feeling had disappeared after the auction.

The auction alone had cost him a total of two hundred forty thousand. Then, he’d spent another one hundred thousand on renting a top-grade cave residence for two years.

Now, he had only about sixty thousand spirit stones left, and those were all mid-grade, plus one top-grade. Those couldn’t be spent lightly, especially the top-grade one. That wasn’t just currency anymore, but a strategic reserve, something that could save his life at a critical moment.

In other words, Luo Chen was basically as poor as a beggar!

To his dismay, there were plenty of places where he needed to spend money next.

Pills were fine for now, he’d bought enough mid-grade Qi-Consolidation pills at the auction to last about a year, but the rent for the second-tier top-grade cave residence had to be taken seriously. It costs forty-eight thousand per year! Ordinary Foundation Establishment cultivators wouldn’t be able to afford that at all.

He had to keep refining pills.

“From now on, every six months, have Director Sima send someone to collect the pills.”

Qu Lingjun asked curiously, “You don’t need anyone else to assist you in alchemy anymore, Master?”

Luo Chen shook his head with a small smile. “No, they’ll just process herbs for me now. The rest of their time will be spent helping the four of you refine pills. Don’t disappoint me!”

“Mm-hmm, we definitely won’t let you down, Master!”

Qu Lingjun puffed out his chest with confidence. The other three mirrored his determination.

For low-tier alchemists, the hardest part was simply getting started.

Once they’d broken through that barrier, most of the challenges could be tackled through experience.

Luo Chen had left them plenty of alchemy notes and even generously let them take the Spirit Passage pills to strengthen their divine souls. It could be said that they now had the foundation to stand on their own.

As for whether they’d truly stand on their own in the future? That would depend on their effort and fortune!

Next, Luo Chen gave them a few more instructions. Each month, they were to take turns delivering processed herbs to the residence. He explained how to allocate the staff within the Alchemy Hall and pointed out which tools had specific taboos they needed to be cautious of.

Only after settling all these matters did Luo Chen finally dismiss them.

***

“Master, I’ve never seen you so chatty!” Bai Meiling’s voice drifted through the air as she floated out of the shadows.

Anyone else might have jumped at her ghostly appearance, but Luo Chen was long used to it. He stood quietly, watching the four figures walk off into the distance with a calm, composed expression.

“It’s already much better than before,” he said casually. “Now, the Luo Tian Society has two Foundation Establishment cultivators taking turns on duty, and Sima Huiniang handles all the big and small matters. I’m just focusing a bit more on my patch of ground here in the Alchemy Hall.”

Bai Meiling blinked. She had regained most of her memories by now, and her personality was no longer as cold and detached as before. She tilted her head thoughtfully, feeling that her master had indeed become more idle lately.

That “idle” didn’t mean loafing around all day. Rather, it meant he didn’t bury himself under a mountain of matters like before.

“So, Master, what are you going to do now?” she asked curiously.

”What am I going to do?” Luo Chen’s lips curved into a small smile. ”Of course, I’m going to plan my daily routine.”

The day began at five o’clock in the morning, during the hour of the rabbit.

From five until seven, he devoted himself to reading. Over the years, he had acquired a mountain of books in his storage pouch, whether bought, gifted, or taken as spoils of battle. They included alchemical treatises, spell manuals, travel records of cultivators, formation texts, talisman guides, and compendiums of herbs and demonic beasts. The sheer variety was staggering.

To make proper use of them, he allotted two hours each day for reading. The practice allowed him to broaden his horizons and deepen his understanding. With that knowledge, he would be able to recognize obscure treasures and secure bargains others would overlook.

Next came a hearty breakfast.

From seven-thirty until noon, he trained in spells. He focused on the long-neglected Landslide, on Soul-Intimidation, and on Glazed Skyveil. Each spell held great potential for growth. In addition, he had gathered a number of new manuals and intended to choose a few to study further. By doing so, he would strengthen his abilities while also gaining proficiency and achievement points.

The afternoons were devoted to alchemy. That remained the root of his path. It had carried him to his current level and had won him the favor of a Golden Core Adept. He refused to allow it to decline.

By the time he completed his refinements, the day turned to night.

Then came the time when Luo Chen had carved out specifically for cultivation. Ten full repetitions of his core technique demanded no less than five hours, and by the time he finished, the night was nearly spent.

Only then did he allow himself a brief rest. He would sleep for one or two hours before the hour of the rabbit arrived again.

When he finished setting out his new routine, Luo Chen let out a low chuckle.

”A structured and monotonous cultivation life is about to begin.”