An Alchemist's Path to Eternity

Luo Chen had obtained Beaded Curtain Lock nearly thirty years ago and had studied it day and night without pause. Every word of the text had been etched deeply into his mind, and every sentence had been examined and verified through constant contemplation.

He had even gotten the cultivation insights from the Falling Cloud Sect as supplementary guidance. Beyond that, he had spent vast resources to assist Chu Kui in using this technique first, allowing him to act as a forerunner to test its effectiveness.

Luo Chen regarded this secret art with far greater importance than the three Lower Path arts. Even Stilling Wind and Waves served only as an auxiliary technique, and the few Nether Origin Pills in his storage pouch were merely backup resources for the process. Only the Upper Path art offered the highest chance of success.

The fact that Chu Kui had nearly succeeded was proof enough of that. After all, he had practiced Beaded Curtain Lock only to the stage of minor mastery. At major mastery, it required the condensation of not thirty-six but three hundred sixty-five spirit beads, a number that matched the cycle of heaven.[1]

Now that Chu Kui had verified the feasibility of this secret art, Luo Chen’s preparations were complete. It was time to begin cultivation.

The first step was to split and divide his divine soul. Luo Chen closed his eyes and allowed his will and consciousness to sink deep into himself. Within the unseen world of his mind stretched a golden ocean, its surface faintly rippling under a non-existent wind. This was his sea of consciousness!

At its deepest point rested an azure sphere of light, motionless and serene, sending out gentle rings of radiance. Within the sea of consciousness, it was the source of waves. When extended out from the body, it became spirit consciousness.

As his spirit consciousness returned to the sea, immense waves rolled toward the sphere of light, slowing as they approached. Luo Chen gazed at his divine soul as if studying a piece of flesh, searching for the precise line to cut.

After a long moment of deliberation, he finally nodded and got to work. As described in the Beaded Curtain Lock manual, he shaped his spirit consciousness into a blade and carefully sliced the edge of the light sphere.

”Mm...”

A muffled groan slipped past his lips. It was painful, but not unbearable. Yet Luo Chen immediately realized that his blade was not sharp enough. It was cutting through the primary divine soul, but it was extremely slow. It felt like slicing a tough piece of wood with a blunt knife.

His low groans continued, cold sweat seeping from his forehead and between his brows. As time went on, these sounds did not cease; they only deepened, turning into what sounded more like beastly growls than human voice. Even so, Luo Chen did not stop. If this step could not be completed, it would be impossible to condense spirit beads, and core formation would still be out of reach.

Facing the pain of cutting his own divine soul with a blunt blade, his will remained as firm as steel, and his spirit consciousness continued to slice at the light sphere without pause.

One day passed, then two. In a haze, Luo Chen felt as if years were going by one after the other. Yet when he opened his eyes, he knew clearly that only nine days had passed.

”Huff... huff...”

He was panting heavily. His whole body was drenched, as if he had just been pulled out of water. For a cultivator, this was almost unimaginable. After cleansing the marrow and refining the meridians, the body of the average Initiate was already no weaker than that of a Physique Refinement cultivator at minor mastery. Moreover, Luo Chen’s physique was comparable to that of a third-tier demon king of ancient days. At this level, what kind of heat or effort could possibly cause him to sweat?

That alone showed the extremity of the pain he endured. Even so, the result was satisfying. Sensing the strand of azure light drifting alone in his sea of consciousness, Luo Chen felt relief spread through his body. Chu Kui had failed seven times before succeeding on the eighth. Meanwhile, he had taken longer on his first try, but he had succeeded at once.

”Finally, something worth being happy about,” he muttered.

The difference likely came from his overall foundation being far superior to Chu Kui’s. His divine soul strength vastly surpassed Chu Kui’s even at Perfect Mastery, let alone when the latter was also at the ninth stage of Foundation Establishment and just beginning his practice of Beaded Curtain Lock.

The other difference lay in pain tolerance. Since the Qi Refinement stage, Luo Chen had practiced Divine Breaker of Malevolence; he had stimulated and opened his acupoints by using spirit power, then refined his body with fiend qi, and even tempered it with wild lightning energy. It could be said that among all cultivators below the Nascent Soul Realm, no one could match his endurance.

Most importantly, Luo Chen also practiced Stilling Wind and Waves. After three years, he had reached minor mastery. And whatever other effects the technique possessed, it had undoubtedly strengthened his willpower. This was visible on the surface—he appeared perfectly calm before powerful Adepts such as Hao Ranzi and Fengyue. Inwardly, he had become even steadier and able to withstand pain like being cut by a dull blade without losing focus or resolve. In simple terms, even if a mountain collapsed before him, his expression would not change; even if storms rose suddenly, his heart would not waver.

”There’s also something I overlooked before,” he murmured. ”When I cultivated Divine Breaker of Malevolence to Perfected Mastery, it did not grant my divine soul offensive or defensive abilities, but instead let me divide my focus and attend to three things at once. That’s the same principle as dividing the divine soul!”

It was through all these factors that Luo Chen managed to complete the first step so ”easily.” Of course, if Chu Kui were the one to comment, he would likely sum it up in two words: profound foundation. Luo Chen’s accumulation was simply too deep. What he displayed now was nothing more than the natural result of long and thorough practice and massive consumption of resources.

After completing the first step, he did not rush into the second. Instead, he took two full days to rest. Though he could endure that pain, severing his primary divine soul had indeed damaged it. He needed to allow time for recovery.

Of course, even during those two days of rest, his basic cultivation did not stop. What lay before him was not only the practice of a secret art but also the need to push his cultivation to Perfected Mastery.

It had been three years since he reached the ninth stage of Foundation Establishment. During that time, with the aid of a second-tier top-grade cave residence and top-quality Blood-Boosting Pills and Dustfall Pills, he had maintained a steady pace of cultivation. To outsiders, the progress he’d made would have seemed extraordinary. However, given Luo Chen’s immense and solid foundation, it was actually rather slow. After three full years, his cultivation had increased by only four or five points.

Foundation Establishment Stage Nine: 5/100

That was Luo Chen’s current state. At this rate, he would need at least fifty, maybe sixty years to reach Perfected Mastery. Fengyue’s judgment had been sharp and precise; her estimate that Luo Chen would need about fifty years to form his core was not wrong.

Yet what she had overlooked was his exceptional way of utilizing resources.

Was he merely using a second-tier cave residence? No, Luo Chen had long since rented a third-tier one. Moreover, he did not weaken it with formations as he had done before to make it into a lesser third-tier one. Relying on his powerful physique and a divine soul foundation comparable to an early-stage Adept, he was now able to directly cultivate in a standard third-tier low-grade spirit land.

As a result, his cultivation speed surged once more. It was no longer seven or eight times the norm, but a solid tenfold! In this way, the time needed for Luo Chen to reach Perfected Mastery could be cut by a factor of ten. Perhaps in only five or six years, he would cross the final threshold of Foundation Establishment.

After two days of cultivation and pondering, Luo Chen had confirmed everything there was to confirm. As he awoke from his cultivation. He felt the vast increase of spirit energy within. In the immense sea of qi, pure spirit liquid kept falling from the masses of spirit energy clouds, as if it were raining.

Luo Chen nodded in satisfaction and said quietly, ”As long as the body can withstand it, using resources to trade for time is always the fastest path.”

Only someone like him could make such a statement. Most rogue Initiates, even relatively wealthy ones like Chu Kui, would not dare boast so. They simply did not possess the resources. A cultivation environment that cost a million spirit stones a year was beyond the means of even many Adepts. Not even the Dao Scions of major sects could make such claims. Even if their sects provided a lesser third-tier spirit land, their bodies would not be able to endure prolonged cultivation within it.

For instance, Tao Wan had long reached the ninth stage of Foundation Establishment, and it had been quite some time since she became the Dao Scion. Yet it was only twelve years back that she barely formed her core. Was it because she was burdened by sect affairs, or because of poor aptitude? No, it was simply because she did not dare to cultivate long-term in a third-tier spirit land.

In the end, everything still came down to a single word: foundation! The immense foundation Luo Chen had built both inwardly and outwardly was what allowed him, even at the ninth stage of Foundation Establishment, to cultivate so freely and draw out his potential to the fullest.

Thus, after confirming that his current cultivation speed was sustainable and would not give rise to problems, he felt a deeper sense of confidence about the path ahead.

The next step awaiting him was the second step of Beaded Curtain Lock.

***

A month had passed.

Luo Chen kept his focus steady on the azure bead within his sea of qi. It looked much like an ordinary pill, yet a glowing fluid rippled constantly across its surface. The strange sight was enough to draw the eye.

Suddenly, a drop of spirit liquid seemed about to fall from the bead. Luo Chen remained calm. From within the bead, a wisp of azure light darted out like a fish and threaded straight through the falling droplet. The first spirit bead had formed.

The records say that after advancing to the Golden Core Realm, spirit power transforms into mana. The difference between them lies in that mana also contains a thread of the divine soul. It is not just stronger, but also far easier to control. A Golden Core is nothing but the condensation of a massive amount of mana. Hence, the saying that once a core forms within, one’s fate is no longer bound by heaven. It seems like this bead really is a preliminary form of mana. If I use it to draw in spirit power within the sea of qi, and let it swell and compress to the limit, I should be able to fully form a Golden Core.

Many thoughts crossed his mind, but he soon suppressed them. This was only the first bead. A single one could not remotely draw in all the spirit power from his sea of qi.

”There is still a long road ahead,” Luo Chen said softly.

After a short rest, he began practicing Stilling Wind and Waves. The more he trained in it, the more comfortable it felt. Even when his mind was filled with countless thoughts and stray distractions stirred within, he always managed to calm himself in the end. He could not yet sever all attachments or erase every thought, but he could already reach a state where the heart grew still and the mind was clear.

The path of cultivation is long and difficult. There are Heart Devils within and great calamities in the world. There are countless temptations along the road to immortality. Even though my Dao heart is firm and my foundation steady, I still fall into obsession and attachment. At times, even the beauty of Huiniang and Caiyi can shake my will, and then there’s anger and thirst for vengeance.... Even if Stilling Wind and Waves didn’t help with Core Formation directly, it would still benefit my cultivation as a whole.

These thoughts strengthened Luo Chen’s determination to continue the practice. From then on, his routine became steady. He focused on Beaded Curtain Lock, supported it with Stilling Wind and Waves, and kept up his daily cultivation to strengthen spirit power without fail.

Time flowed quietly in the midst of such training.

***

”Almost there! I am truly getting close!”

Inside the cultivation chamber, Luo Chen’s spirit burned with renewed vigor. He realized that his speed in cutting his primary divine soul and linking spirit beads had increased noticeably. Previously, it had taken a full month to complete the first and second steps to condense a single bead.

As he became more practiced in cutting and his control over the soul-threads became firmer, the process advanced faster each time. By now, he needed only twenty days to form one spirit bead, and he could still feel room for further improvement. As for the pain of cutting the soul?

”I suppose people can get used to anything after they do it enough times...” Luo Chen said with a self-deprecating smile.

It sounded casual, almost indifferent, but such pain could never truly become familiar. In truth, how could one ever truly get used to it? It was merely that his will grew stronger, strong enough that he was able to ignore the pain.

He was filled with bright hopes as he began to envision the future. ”Perhaps by the time I reach Perfected Mastery, I can also reach major mastery in Beaded Curtain Lock.”

1. The revolution of celestial bodies in ancient Chinese astronomy is described relative to the revolution of Earth around the Sun, and therefore has 365.25 degrees (for 365.25 days) rather than 360. ☜