An Alchemist's Path to Eternity

”The Flame Alliance’s inheritance?”

”Yes. My life-bound treasure has yet to be created, and I still lack a great deal of primary materials. When you killed the Flame Alliance’s sect leader, Xiao Lian, his storage pouch must have ended up with you, so I was wondering...”

”So you want to craft a Primordial Unity Cauldron, is that it?”

Inside the side hall, the two young men sat together and drank tea as they chatted. Facing Dan Yangzi’s intent gaze, Luo Chen nodded calmly. The blueprint for his future life-bound treasure had been provided by Green Pill Valley, so it was natural for Dan Yangzi to know what he intended to craft. He also knew exactly what primary materials were needed to craft the Primordial Unity Cauldron, which would simplify matters quite a bit.

Seeing Luo Chen acknowledge it, Dan Yangzi paused in thought. Then he spoke directly. ”Well, you’re right. I do have Xiao Lian’s storage treasure, and the elders helped me lift the restrictions on it a while back.”

Luo Chen’s eyes brightened as he quietly waited for him to continue.

”Xiao Lian’s part actually accounts for a small part of the Flame Alliance’s treasury, but still, they were artifact creators. Even that small part still means a lot of minerals and other such. Among the five primary materials required for a Primordial Unity Cauldron, I have a sizable amount of Geng Metal, ten pieces of Black Sinkwood, and a few jin of Tracing Mud. Unfortunately, I have no Cold Marrow or Fire Spirit Diamond.”

Dan Yangzi explained things slowly, and the more Luo Chen listened, the more excited he grew. He had very little Geng Metal; even after trading with Diwu Qi, he only had two pieces. With Dan Yangzi’s supply, that concern would disappear entirely. Ten pieces of Black Sinkwood were more than enough, and Tracing Mud was something he would never find in excess. Once added, it granted the treasure a sort of structural memory, allowing it to slowly repair itself even after sustaining extensive damage. Cold Marrow was no concern. He had two bottles of Ice Essence Cold Marrow and had good relations with the Ice Fortress, so he could easily obtain more in the future.

Seeing the eagerness in Luo Chen’s eyes, Dan Yangzi hesitated. Yet a quiet thread of divine consciousness voice transmission brushed across his mind and helped him decide. ”Trade with him!”

It was the Supreme Elder, Qing Danzi. Dan Yangzi had no reason to refuse and said, ”If you want them, I’ll sell them to you at market price. But I don’t want low-grade spirit stones. At least mid-grade. If you have top-grade ones, I’ll take them.”

Luo Chen quickly nodded and said, ”I understand.”

Since the beginning of his cultivation, his spirit power had always been abundant, and he rarely needed to draw energy from spirit stones during battle. However, other cultivators were not the same. In combat, it was common to see someone wielding an artifact in one hand while extracting spirit energy from a spirit stone with the other. Dan Yangzi himself had been exceptionally strong as an initiate, but after forming his core, his mana was not necessarily abundant.

Luo Chen was very poor at the moment, but that was only from a normal perspective. Low-grade spirit stones were nearly useless to him, but he did happen to have some mid-grade and top-grade spirit stones left.

”Alright, then I’ll take three pieces of Geng Metal, five pieces of Black Sinkwood, and three jin of Tracing Mud.”

Dan Yangzi raised an eyebrow and asked, ”That much?”

Luo Chen grinned. ”It’s the Primordial Unity Cauldron. You know well enough that the more complete the materials, and the greater the quantity, the better.”

Fair enough! Dan Yangzi thought. From what he knew, that was indeed the case. He immediately drew out the materials from his storage pouch, and the two completed the exchange. As they traded, Dan Yangzi’s gaze lingered for a moment on the ring on Luo Chen’s finger. A storage ring!

Luo Chen’s wealth was far greater than he had imagined. Even he, the newly appointed chief of Danyang Peak, did not yet have such an item.

But Luo Chen paid it no mind. Now that he had stepped into the Golden Core Realm, revealing a bit of wealth posed no issue at all. On the contrary, his wealth was proof of strength and would consequently earn respect. What delighted him now was that four of the five main materials needed for the Primordial Unity Cauldron were already complete. Only the Fire Spirit Diamond remained. It was an extremely rare third-tier fire-element mineral. Once he found some and the Luo Tian Sect helped him gather the secondary materials, he could begin crafting his life-bound treasure. All five elements in harmony, merging into primordial unity!

Even if just for these things, this journey was not in vain, thought Luo Chen.

***

Three months later, inside the third-tier cave residence, Luo Chen abruptly opened his eyes. His mind was sharp, and his mana surged with strength. As he rose, thunderous cracks rippled through his bones and muscles. When he stepped outside the cave, several divine consciousnesses swept over him.

”Fellow Daoist, are you ready?”

”I’m feeling excellent, thank you. I will give it my all!”

”Very good, very good!”

Qing Danzi let out a hearty laugh and sent out a strand of divine consciousness voice transmission. Moments later, the bell’s deep chime echoed through Green Pill Valley nine times. Something was about to happen that concerned the sect’s life and death.

At once, streaks of light rose from all over the valley.

Clear the grounds!

All disciples cultivating within the Inner Pill Valley withdrew and headed toward the five peaks. Yet Luo Chen moved against the flow and stepped into the Inner Pill Valley.

When he arrived, thirty Initiates were standing in formation. They were all two hundred or more years old, and every one of them was a seasoned second-tier alchemist. A few among them possessed such depth in alchemy that even Luo Chen, a third-tier alchemist in name, had to bow before them. These people were the true foundation of Green Pill Valley!

Before each stood a small Glazed Cauldron. Beneath their feet, formation nodes linked them to outlets of earth fire.

Just how long has Green Pill Valley prepared for this day, and how many resources have they poured into it?

With that thought, Luo Chen looked toward the sky, where Qing Danzi hovered above. The youthful-looking elder gave a slight nod and said in a solemn tone, ”Take your positions.”

Luo Chen stepped to his designated position near the center.

A large cauldron dropped into place before him. Likewise, Dan Yangzi, Chi Ding, Xing Yun, and Qing Yunzi each took out their own Azure Sky Glazed Cauldron. High above, the main cauldron was already suspended in place, fully under the control of Qing Danzi.

The Supreme Elder drew a slow breath and spoke with heavy solemnity, ”Let us begin.”

Those who acted first were neither Qing Danzi nor the thirty second-tier alchemists, but Luo Chen and the other four. Five flames of different colors streamed from their mouths, slowly heating up each Azure Sky Glazed Cauldron. The first step was to warm the cauldrons! It was the simplest step, and it gave Luo Chen ample time to observe the others.

Dan Yangzi’s fire was the Violet Skyfire, something Luo Chen had seen before.

Chi Ding’s fire was the Crimson Cauldron Fire, from which his Dao title derived.[1] That mystical flame had originated within a cauldron-shaped cavern deep in the Lianxia Mountain Range, born directly as a third-tier fire. Its power was not inferior to the earliest form of the Flame Alliance’s Withering Flourishing Fire.

Xing Yun’s primordial true fire was rather unique. Visually, it did not even resemble fire, but rather a drifting cloud. She had once explained that it was a mystical flame known as the Sky-Burning Fire, taken from a fiery cloud in the Jade Cauldron Domain after she formed her core. It was a true rarity among flames. Its nature was elusive and difficult to grasp. Yet once activated, it could spread aggressively for thousands of li, worthy of the name Sky-Burning.

They say the Jade Cauldron Domain has always been known as a land of fire, filled with countless earth fires and many mystical flames. From the looks of it now, that reputation is not exaggerated. Just the four of us alone possess four different mystical flames. And the Sword Sect, the Falling Cloud Sect, and Ailao Mountain have their own, apparently. Even the Ice Fortress, according to Ice Torrent, has an ice-element flame. Hmm.... The domain isn’t large, and apparently it’s overall poor in resources, but fire is incredibly abundant. I wonder what unique traits the other major domains have....

While Luo Chen pondered, Qing Yunzi released his primordial true fire. It burned blue with a shadow of black. At the sight of it, Luo Chen’s brows knit tightly. A faint familiarity stirred in his memory. That color and that eerie and sinister quality... Is that the Azure Yang Devil Flame? Yes, it definitely is! The one recorded in the Azure Yang Seal manual!

This flame was not natural, but artificial. According to the manual, producing it required mixing three types of fire essence along with the demon cores of thirteen low-tier fire-element demonic beasts to create such a flame. Once a cultivator refined it and merged it with their spirit energy, it would become the Azure Yang Devil Flame. Its power was considerable, and it provided excellent support in alchemy. Yet it had drawbacks; unlike the natural Sourceless Flames Luo Chen and the others possessed, which never diminished so long as mana remained, this flame would erode with use and needed regular replenishment—the energy of fire-element demon cores. Otherwise, the flame would eventually extinguish, and might even backlash against its user.

By the way it looks, this flame must have been created less than fifty years ago. If I match the timing... Could it be that Qing Yunzi only created this devil flame after Green Pill Valley obtained the Nascent Soul Pill formula? That makes sense, actually.... To refine the Nascent Soul Pill, Green Pill Valley must have planned every step, and they would never overlook anything related to primordial true fires. This also explains why, even though I never displayed the Withering-Flourishing Fire in public, they still knew I refined it. They must have really investigated a lot.

Luo Chen’s thoughts drifted as he considered these matters. Meanwhile, the others had long since begun their work.

The thirty seasoned second-tier alchemists moved in unison. They worked in groups of six, each group refining a different batch of ingredients. Various first-tier and second-tier ingredients were taken out of their pouches. These had already been preprocessed, and now they were placed into the secondary sub-cauldrons for refinement and fusion.

Time passed slowly. Suddenly, Luo Chen lifted his eyelids slightly. With a gesture, he summoned a stream of liquid medicinal essence that flew toward him and entered his cauldron. His true fire blazed sharply beneath it!

At the same time, he drew out three third-tier ingredients from his storage ring. He used different alchemy techniques to purify them one by one and merged them into the liquid. Unadorned Heart, Cloud Transformation, Flowing Creek, Star Plucking...

Four others moved in sync with him. The thirty cultivators that were divided into groups of six had formed exactly five groups, and naturally, each group supplied ingredients to one third-tier alchemist. Every person handled a different medicinal liquid. In total, there were thirty-two auxiliary ingredients and nineteen third-tier ones that Luo Chen knew of. Once refined, they would be handed over to Qing Danzi for the final combination. He was likely going to add several more ingredients afterward.

With so many ingredients required, this Nascent Soul Pill formula clearly is not an ancient one but a modern one.

Luo Chen’s alchemy skills were exquisite. When it did not involve the key step of pill formation, he could easily divide his attention. After constant observation, he had already memorized all the ingredients needed for the Nascent Soul Pill. He was even analyzing the style of the formula.

Ancient formulas were usually simple, natural, and straightforward. Those usually required a few primary and auxiliary ingredients. Although such pills often had flaws, they were easy to refine, and the effects depended heavily on the quality of the main ingredients.

The modern era formulas differed. As high-quality ingredients grew scarce, cultivators compensated by increasing auxiliary ingredients. The combination of the primary ingredients also required far more careful balancing of elemental interactions. The advantage was that with this method, even low-tier ingredients could be used to produce results comparable to the incredible medicinal herbs of old. In short, later generations compensated with ingenuity to reach the same results by a different route.

1. Crimson Cauldron Fire is 赤鼎火 (chì dǐng huǒ) ☜