An Alchemist's Path to Eternity

In the dark and mysterious depths of the ocean, currents flowed steadily and rhythmically. Schools of fish drifted freely in great numbers. Occasionally, a ray of sunlight pierced through layer upon layer of seawater, only to vanish in a flash of crimson below.

The quiet coral trench spanned thousands of li and could be called a forbidden zone for living beings. Any creature with a trace of intelligence would instinctively avoid this place. The clusters of Blood Corals were treacherous; their brilliant exterior concealed heaps of white bones.

A layer of misty red light spread along the rock walls and sealed off the surrounding water. Beyond that red light lay a simple cave residence, and inside, a white-robed Daoist in loose garments sat quietly. At first glance, he appeared utterly motionless, almost lifeless. Yet every once in a while, at regular intervals, his lips would part slightly as he exhaled a long and vigorous breath. Unmoving as a mountain and upright as an ancient pine, he gave the illusion of an ancient Black Tortoise reborn into the world.

Suddenly, the Daoist slowly opened his eyes. He examined himself for a few moments, then nodded in satisfaction. ”Three months of seclusion, but finally, the instability’s gone.”

With these words, he let his aura radiate. It rose steadily, like a volcano that had long been gathering strength and now stood on the verge of eruption. Its domineering force far surpassed that of ordinary Adepts; the sheer weight of the spirit pressure fully rivaled that of a late-stage Adept. Then, in the next instant, the aura withdrew like a receding tide. He stood as still as withered wood and as silent as a resting bird, without the slightest ripple of power—even to a well-trained eye, he appeared no different from a mortal.

That single surge and complete restraint marked the full stabilization of Luo Chen’s cultivation. He was now a true blue mid-stage Adept. And even though he stood only at the fourth stage, he possessed unwavering confidence that he could contend with late-stage Adepts.

He lifted his eyelids slightly and fixed his gaze upon the empty air before him. A transparent light screen slowly unfolded before him like a curtain.

[Status Panel]

Name: Luo Chen

Lifespan: 136/480

Spirit Roots: Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, Earth

Realm: Golden Core Stage Four (1/100); Archaic Beast Tier Three (67/100)

Achievement Points: 151

[Techniques]

Heavenly Phoenix Nirvana Scripture: Skilled (157/200)

Myriad Path Convergence: Perfected Mastery

Myriad Beast Sutra: Perfection (375/500)

[Spells]

Fourth-Tier

Third-Tier

Perfected Mastery Spells (click to view details)

[Martial Arts]

Cloud-Seizing Divine Claw: Perfected Mastery

Blazing Fire Miasma: Perfected Mastery

Voidburst Step: Perfection (486/500)

[Skills]

Fourth-Tier Alchemist, Third-Tier Healer, Third-Tier Formation Master

[Alchemy]

Fourth-Tier Pills

Third-Tier Pills

First-Tier Pills

Perfected Mastery Pills (click to view details)

[Formations]

Third-Tier Formations

Second-Tier Formations

First-Tier Formations

As he looked at the status panel, a deep sense of accomplishment welled up in him. A full twelve years had passed since he escaped from Green Parasol Mountain. These times were enough for a newborn to grow into a youth who understood the ways of the world, and for him, they had brought about an earth-shaking transformation.

The first and most striking change lay in his lifespan—34 years, from 446 to 480. Of this period 20 years came from the fixed increase gained when advancing from the third to the fourth stage of Golden Core. As for the additional 16, Luo Chen judged that they stemmed from his feat in the Heaventrust Sea Region years ago, when he used the Withering-Flourishing True Fire to refine tens of thousands of Blue-Ringed Sea Serpents in a single stroke.

After absorbing that life force, he had gained sixteen years of lifespan. The result was quite gratifying. Because of this, he had felt the urge to slaughter demonic beasts on a large scale at one point. In fact, his trip to the Profound Rock Sea Region to hunt demonic crabs had partly been driven by that desire.

But he had ultimately restrained the greed in his heart. Some things became harmful in excess. What value did a higher lifespan limit hold if his cultivation failed to advance? Without corresponding cultivation, immortality alone would amount to nothing more than the moon reflected in water. On the contrary, if he indulged in rampant slaughter, he might invite fatal disaster upon himself. He had hunted demonic crabs for only five years and had already drawn the retaliation of the Demon Spider Crab clan. If he truly acted without restraint, the next to appear at his door might well be a Demon Emperor.

He had also made substantial progress in Physique Refinement. However, because he had observed the steady growth of his physique day after day for the past five years, he no longer felt the same surge of excitement. His physique had reached sixty-seven percent within the Archaic Realm. That figure signified that he had entered the late stage.

Archaic beasts did not assume human form. They pursued the path of pure strength and were renowned for the power of their physiques. A late-stage third-tier archaic beast possessed a body that could simply crush the vast majority of third-tier demonic beasts in the Mountains and Seas Realm. Such a physique might even contend with certain fourth-tier demonic beasts that placed little emphasis on physique.

”Five years of bitter cultivation, but it was worth every second!”

A faint smile rested upon Luo Chen’s lips. In the span of five years, he had advanced from the beginning of the middle stage to the beginning of the late stage, and the breakthrough granted him formidable combat power. Yet amid his joy, a trace of unease lingered.

”My physique is demanding more and more external resources. The third-tier paste still works, but it’s just not that effective anymore. If I want to keep going, I’ll need fourth-tier paste, but...”

Luo Chen found himself in a difficult position. The primary ingredient for fourth-tier Black Sovereign Paste was, of course, the shell of a third-tier demonic beast. Any demonic beast of that tier was generally a dominant figure in its region, hence the title of Demon King. None of them was weak. Worse still, demonic crabs, which were particularly suited for refining Black Sovereign Paste, lived in large groups. How was he to hunt them down like that?

Over all these years, he had only managed to slay three Demon Kings, and the power of his cauldron had ensured he only got two crab shells, of which only one was still attached to a live crab.

Speaking of which, the third-tier Demon Spider Crab that had been captured alive was gone. Its shell had been refined into medicine, and Luo Chen had shared the meat with Black King. The pair of massive pincers and the eight crab legs had been carefully set aside as materials for artifact creation, to be handled after leaving the Profound Rock Sea Region. He had treated the demon core in the same manner. As for the remaining fragments, he had given them all for Black King to devour and refine. Finally, there was the demon soul—Luo Chen personally extracted it and sealed it within the Myriad Soul Banner, where it became the third Ghost King. Under Han Zhan’s control, it could unleash considerable offensive might.

It could be said that this being that once stood on almost equal footing with Luo Chen had been dissected and exploited optimally, down to the very last bits.

Luo Chen’s thoughts returned to the real problem, and a faint frown formed on his brow. Acquiring large quantities of fourth-tier Black Sovereign Paste would not be easy, and it wasn’t because he couldn’t refine the medicine. Rather, now that he had already alerted the enemy, even hunting second-tier demonic crabs to produce third-tier paste would likely become far more troublesome.

”I’ll just take it one step at a time. No matter how much I plan, things can always change.”

Luo Chen shook his head and scrolled down through the status panel. Of his two primary cultivation techniques, he had advanced slowly in one, while he had already reached Perfected Mastery in the other. As for the Myriad Beast Sutra, which he used to enslave demonic beasts, he had finally reached the Perfection level. That result came as an unexpected delight. He suspected that the improvement was closely tied to his command of Black King and Heavenjade. Through prolonged practice and repeated control, he had gradually gained deeper insight into the art of enslaving demonic beasts. Given that the Myriad Beast Sutra was only a second-tier art, the swift rise in proficiency was entirely reasonable.

There was actually a Myriad Beast Sect that was quite well-known throughout the realm. The latest information about it said that it was only an upper sect, but it was known that one of the sect’s ancestors had once become an Ascendant! Unfortunately, it was neither in the Eastern Wilderness nor the Northern Sea but in the Southern Frontier, a place everyone spoke of with dread.

”It’d be great if I could get a higher-tier art like this, but...”

While muttering to himself about unlikely scenarios, Luo Chen let his gaze continue down along the status panel. He had reached Perfected Mastery in his variety of the Great Handprint of Primordial Qi ten years ago. As for the Sevenfold Skyblaze Ring, the defensive spell he created himself, his mastery of it had naturally advanced rapidly and now stood at the Grandmaster level.

He had also reached Perfected Mastery in the Cloud-Seizing Divine Claw that he had practiced for years and, likewise, in the Blazing Fire Miasma. Moreover, he was also advancing quickly with his self-created Voidburst Step—a single step away from Perfected Mastery.

He felt quite gratified. All of these entries marked substantial improvements in his combat strength.

Beyond that lay what he regarded as his professional skills. By this point, he was practicing not one, but three distinct crafts, a true rarity. Among them, his achievements in alchemy stood highest, at the fourth tier. He handled alchemical techniques of various systems with ease, and in both theoretical understanding and practical execution, he could be considered outstanding. To call him a master, or even a grandmaster, of alchemy would not be an exaggeration. On a related matter, his proficiency with the third-tier True Flame Pill had reached Perfected Mastery, and this pill was going to support his cultivation for a good while longer.

Not only that, but after refining the first-tier Water-Condensing Pill from the Flying Swallow Archipelago, he had gained direct insight into the alchemical traditions of the Northern Sea cultivation world. He had pushed his mastery of it to Perfected Mastery in one stretch and integrated some of the Northern Sea’s alchemical practices into his own system. If he could gain access to more advanced alchemical methods of this territory in the future, his alchemy might ascend to an even higher level!

Seeing the entry showing him as a third-tier healer, Luo Chen shook his head. That path likely ended there. After focusing exclusively on the fire element, he no longer had abundant access to the other elements. Although he could temporarily convert his mana, it was only for a very brief time and in small amounts, which made it quite impractical. Meanwhile, medical arts required a balanced command of multiple elements; what they needed was comprehensiveness, not specialization. Cultivators who specialized in water or wood could still become proficient healers nevertheless, but fire was a dead end. It was domineering and aggressive, and that made it difficult for him to pursue gentle applications like medicine.

In contrast, his mastery of formations advanced at a remarkable pace. Back then, Min Longyu and Fu Jiusheng had laid a solid foundation for him. Now, Han Zhan, a fourth-tier formation master, personally guided his studies. Under such guidance, Luo Chen’s mastery of foundational formations across various systems progressed rapidly.

For now, he had perfected the foundational formations of the five elements, as well as the Spirit-Gathering Formation. Most second-tier formations he had access to, he had also mastered. He was particularly fond of the Ninefold Flame Dragon Formation; he practiced it daily, and he had reached Grandmaster level in it. If he had the materials to deploy it, he believed its offensive power would surpass the one Min Longyu had once set up by as much as thirty percent.

Better still, just as he’d been wondering what to do next, he acquired a third-tier formation disc. To Luo Chen, it was like receiving a pillow at the very moment he felt sleepy! It offered him the perfect opportunity to put years of accumulated knowledge into practice. Unfortunately, the disc primarily supported water-element formations, and he would need to modify and refine it before it truly suited his needs. In this regard, Luo Chen had already entrusted Han Zhan to help modify the formation disc. There were bound to be tangible results soon.

After reviewing everything, Luo Chen could not help but feel satisfied and proud.

At last, his gaze settled on the column of achievement points: 151. This was the highest Luo Chen had accumulated. Twelve years ago, the number had only just broken past one hundred. Yet within a mere twelve years, it had increased by a full fifty points.

”Sure enough, nothing beats seclusion. If I kept rushing around here and there, like back in the day, I wouldn’t have gotten this many points even in twenty-two or thirty-two years, let alone in twelve.”

The number not only filled Luo Chen with pride but also gave him a strong sense of security. More than that, there was even a hint of anticipation.

”For the Nascent Soul Pill formula, I have the list of ingredients but not the proportions, the refining methods, or the finer details. If I end up having to work out the formula myself in the end, it’s bound to cost a huge number of points. But even a formula like this shouldn’t take more than a hundred points... right?”

As he muttered to himself, he grew even more confident about his future cultivation path. The path of cultivation was filled with hardships and dangers. Even without encountering powerful enemies, there were always resource constraints. Yet through his efforts, those so-called limitations were being resolved one by one.

”Well, whatever. All I can do is deal with things one at a time!”

After putting away the status panel, Luo Chen let out an easy laugh. He rose to his feet and stepped out of the secluded cave residence.

”Is this the intelligence Heavenjade sent back?”

In the outer chamber, Luo Chen accepted a wooden board from Black King. Upon it was information Heavenjade had personally written. The handwriting was crooked and uneven, yet it carried a faint trace of elegance in the strokes. Luo Chen snickered. As it turned out, Heavenjade was female, and even in a bloodthirsty species like the Heavenjade Battle Gulls, finding a hint of delicacy was not exactly shocking. Of course, the calligraphy was hardly the point; what mattered was the contents.

”The five royal demonic crab clans, the cultivators of Flying Cloud Ravine, the Ring-Head Turtles... all of them have gathered at Profound Rock Island. What are they up to?”

As he murmured, Luo Chen faintly sensed an oppressive feeling, like a storm about to break. According to Heavenjade, all of them were there in full force. In the sea region near Profound Rock Island, there had already been several clashes and even fierce battles. The cultivators of Flying Cloud Ravine had once been dragged into the conflict as well, and an Adept had died.

”There’s no way they are just there to fight... What is going on?”

”Could it be a fourth-tier spirit vein land?” Black King suggested cautiously.

Luo Chen’s brow arched. He had long known that the region possessed a fourth-tier spirit vein and that it was on Profound Rock Island. The presence of that spirit vein had attracted countless demon clans to settle around it and establish their territories. For that very reason, when he chose his own base, he deliberately kept his distance from that island. If the struggle was about spirit land, the scale was not surprising.

But if that was the case, what reason did human cultivators have to involve themselves? At present, the Northern Sea cultivation world could barely maintain its own stability. It lacked the strength to expand, let alone wage war for territory or even venture out to hunt demonic beasts. Flying Cloud Ravine had only seven Adepts; would they truly risk everything to participate in a battle over spirit land they couldn’t even keep for themselves?

Luo Chen shook his head and dismissed the notion. A more plausible explanation was probably that some rare treasure or extraordinary opportunity had surfaced, which had provoked the demon clans into an open conflict. If he could involve himself in the turmoil and fish in troubled waters, then securing several third-tier demonic crabs would not be out of the question. Crab Kings were enormous, and a single one of them could yield as much Black Sovereign Paste as a hundred second-tier crabs.

Seven or eight... No, even just five or six might be enough to bring me to the peak of the third tier!

The moment Luo Chen thought of this, he could hardly restrain himself. ”This must be done!”