An Alchemist's Path to Eternity

After sending off Luo Tian Society’s Battle Palace cultivators, Luo Chen returned to Tianlan Peak.

Contrary to what many imagined, his days were far from leisurely. In fact, they were busier than ever. Each day, aside from scheduled cultivation and helping Gu Caiyi recover her health, he spent every other moment refining pills.

Just as he had told Fairy Ruthless, mass-producing pills was impossible by his efforts alone. He still relied on many of Luo Tian Society’s low-tier cultivators to gather and pre-process ingredients only then could he refine finished pills.

The only good news was that he had reached Perfected Mastery of both pills he focused on. Thus, refining them took little effort.

In fact, his annual quota of a hundred bottles of Jade Dew pills brought in a fortune in spirit stones. The price Luo Chen negotiated with Fairy Ruthless for top-grade Jade Dew pills was two thousand spirit stones per bottle.

That price was, in fact, extremely low. If word got out, no one in the Jade Cauldron Domain would believe it. Second-tier top-grade pills could no longer be valued in mere spirit stones—to major sects, these were strategic-level resources! Even Tao Wan could only provide him with thirty to forty bottles of top-grade Ascending Dragon pills per year, priced at two thousand five hundred per bottle.

Compared to the Ascending Dragon pill, the Jade Dew pill which benefited female cultivators was even rarer and unmarketable. Even selling them for three thousand per bottle would be perfectly reasonable. And that was only if one had connections or was willing to offer something extra; otherwise, Luo Chen wouldn’t sell at all.

The reason Luo Chen offered such a low price was to reduce the number of Luo Tian Society cultivators sent to war.

Even his supreme-grade Blood-Burning pills were priced low, at just four hundred spirit stones per bottle. Such massive concessions had bought him the right to send only a hundred Battle Palace cultivators and three Foundation Establishment Initiates.

”But it was all worth it,” Luo Chen murmured to himself. Even at these low prices, he was still making a profit. After all, he had not only top-quality pills but also an exceptionally high success rate. That allowed him to keep production costs minimal.

Less loss of life, more profit. Why wouldn’t he do it?

Moreover, mass production helped him improve some of the new alchemy techniques he had recently acquired.

The Jade Dew pill’s main ingredient was Blue Jade Smoke. Previously, Luo Chen used the Jade Fracture to process it, but now, he used an advanced version, Star Plucking. With repeated practice, his mastery of Star Plucking improved rapidly.

Perhaps the only real sacrifice he had made... was time.

He had wanted to polish a few spells to Perfected Mastery, but there had been no time lately.

Plans were always outpaced by change. Unless his cultivation was high enough to control everything himself, plans would always be at risk.

”Realm...”

Just after finishing a batch of Jade Dew pills, Luo Chen muttered that word in his alchemy room.

***

Time slipped by quietly, almost without notice.

Half a year had passed.

Inside the Cave Residence Bing Seventeen of Danxia Peak, Luo Chen gazed at the cultivation realm section on his status panel.

Realm: Foundation Establishment Stage Six (10/100)

He nodded in satisfaction.

After half a year of constant pill refinement and continuously applying Perfected Mastery Heal to mend Gu Caiyi’s damaged meridians, he had finally stabilized his cultivation. The lingering spirit energy clusters he had absorbed from Qingyun Peak had been refined as well, granting him a small yet meaningful boost. Nine points in six months was an exceptional pace compared to his usual cultivation rate.

Still, he knew the journey ahead would not be so swift from now.

Taking a deep breath to shake off the stray thoughts, Luo Chen stepped out of his cultivation chamber. After sweeping his spirit consciousness across the cave residence, he smiled faintly and exited.

Outside, the sky lay cloaked in a thin veil of fog, the first glimmers of light piercing through as the mist dispersed. Thick spirit energy drifted gracefully over Tianlan Peak like ethereal threads. In the distance, he could hear the thunder of the great waterfall crashing down the face of the mountain.

But now, Luo Chen’s gaze was fixed on a graceful figure before him.

Beyond the spirit fields, a large boulder jutted outward. Gu Caiyi was... dancing atop it.

Or rather, she wasn’t exactly dancing, it was just that her elegant figure made the movements of her martial arts practice look especially beautiful.

Luo Chen watched for a moment, then casually flicked a finger of spirit energy. It struck her chest’s central acupoint.

Puff!

Gu Caiyi paused briefly, but the next moment, her arms moved with renewed strength.

Standing behind her, Luo Chen said solemnly, ”When cultivators refine qi, spirit energy nourishes the body. So even if we don’t train in Physique Refinement techniques, we still accumulate immense vitality. This Five Organs Nourishment Fist mobilizes your vital essence and nurtures your internal organs. When practicing, you’re also circulating that vital essence. You’re unconsciously using your core cultivation art; don’t do that. Stretch your body in accordance with Physique Refinement techniques.”

Though not as accomplished in physique cultivation as Wang Yuan, Luo Chen’s understanding of it far surpassed that of ordinary cultivators. After mastering the Wang Secret Manual to the Grandmaster level, he had focused deeply on the Five Organs Nourishment Fist, reaching major mastery.

As a result, his Physique Refinement Realm had reached 50/100 of the Blood River Realm. Advancing further would require Aperture Opening and mastering the Four Strengths of Light and Shadow Transmutation.

Luo Chen didn’t have time to personally oversee every step of her recovery, but his knowledge was more than enough to guide Gu Caiyi along the right path.

Dressed in a fitted white training robe, Gu Caiyi was fully immersed in practicing the Five Organs Nourishment Fist developed by Wang Yuan himself. With each movement, she could feel strength returning to her limbs. Muscles once weak and atrophied now responded with vigor, and vitality flowed once more through her veins.

That bedridden, powerless version of herself now felt like nothing more than a distant nightmare. And now, she was living a dream.

Time passed quietly.

As the sun rose, Gu Caiyi finally concluded her training, and her breath was even and steady. Turning around, she jogged toward Luo Chen, who stood with his hands clasped behind his back, calmly watching her.

Without warning, she leapt forward and wrapped her arms around his neck like a little bear, catching him off guard.

Luo Chen instinctively caught her with one arm, shaking his head helplessly. ”Since when were you this clingy?”

Gu Caiyi wrinkled her nose and inhaled his scent softly. ”I’m scared that if I let go, I’ll wake up and find it was all a dream. Only when I hold you like this do I feel it’s real.”

A light, comforting fragrance rose from her body as she pressed herself against him.

Luo Chen gently patted her smooth back. ”The moment you reach Foundation Establishment, you’ll know that it’s all real.”

But Gu Caiyi only tightened her grip. ”Honestly, Foundation Establishment doesn’t matter to me. If I can hold you like this every day... even if I die in your arms a few years from now, I’ll have no regrets.”

Gu Caiyi nuzzled against his chin as she spoke.

Hearing her words, Luo Chen felt a faint ache pierce his heart.

He too had once dreamed—a dream that spanned two hundred years.

In those long, winding dreams, he had lived countless lifetimes. Some mirrored the real world, like Min Longyu’s failed Foundation Establishment or his own struggles with bottlenecks in the late stage of Foundation Establishment.

Others diverged completely, shaped by his choices.

In one dream, Gu Caiyi had easily achieved her breakthrough with no danger. But in reality, his well-intentioned help had nearly cost her life.

Of all the visions he had seen, two lingered most painfully in his heart. One was his failure to reach the Golden Core Realm, where he started succumbing to the devil paths. The other was at the summit of Danxia Peak, beneath a setting sun and crimson clouds, where he held Gu Caiyi’s lifeless body and sat in silence for ten days.

That first dream had made him more aggressive in seeking cultivation resources. The second... had made him distance himself from Gu Caiyi, trying to keep her safe by staying away.

But fate is fickle, and in the end, love finds a way.

Luo Chen swore to himself that he would never again let the woman he loved die in his arms. This time, there would be no crimson dusk; only the rising glow of dawn!

”Alright, get down now,” he said softly.

Gu Caiyi blinked, confused, but slid down from his arms. The visible parts of her skin glistened with sweat from practice.

Under her gaze, Luo Chen slowly opened his palm, revealing a single pill.

”This is a third-tier Revival pill. It’s able to restore the dantian and mend damaged meridians.”

He looked her in the eye.”Your path forward has been cut off. It’s time to rebuild it.”