Immortality begins with Becoming an Alchemy Grandmaster

The gifts Master Yan sent, strictly speaking, did not count as the remuneration from that Young City Lord of Yixian City, but were merely his own personal greeting gift.

They weren’t very precious, yet they could relieve Luo Chen’s urgent needs.

At first glance, it was only rice, flour, grain, and oil, but every single thing was something Luo Chen was currently in dire lack of.

He had once been a Divine Transformation Great Power, long since capable of reaching the Grain Avoidance Realm, sustaining himself on the Heaven and Earth Primordial Qi of the Outer World without needing to absorb food to sate his hunger. But this Great Destruction Realm was different; there was no Spirit Qi to speak of, and Luo Chen could not absorb energy from outside.

Previously, he could still rely on decomposing and absorbing the Source Blood within his body to maintain daily activity, and the consumption was not too great. Yet once the Source Blood spent on healing his injuries was added, that Source Blood became a spring without a source; one could say that every bit used was one bit less remaining.

It was precisely because of this that Luo Chen had wanted to leave this village early on.

Now that he had this large batch of meat and fine rice sent by Master Yan, although the energy contained within was not much, it could barely make up for some of the lack.

Moreover, Master Yan was a clever man; in the greeting gift he sent, he had even included a lamp.

”What kind of lamp is this?” Jing Lan curiously looked at the broken oil lamp before her.

Luo Chen explained calmly, ”A Broken Appearance Green Lamp.”

It was very clear that Master Yan had indeed carefully investigated Luo Chen’s background beforehand, even looking into his actions in Qingshan Town that day in great detail.

Most likely, it was in that Wanxiang Pavilion that he learned Luo Chen had an interest in this lamp, and so he specially bought it to give to Luo Chen.

This lamp originated from the Southern Border Shadow Projection Sect of the Mountain Sea Realm.

It was originally driven by Gu Insects, but later, after Luo Chen modified it, it became something that could be driven by both Qi Power and Origin Force. Its function was not complicated: it could illuminate things formed by illusion, and could also break illusions, revealing the true form of illusory things, and so on.

Now that this lamp no longer had Qi Power to drive it, and was itself too badly damaged, it was in fact of no use to Luo Chen anymore.

He told Jing Lan to dispose of this thing as she pleased, then focused all his attention on cultivation.

Jing Lan, however, was very interested in this broken lamp full of old charm; she added some lamp oil and carefully placed it on the table inside the house.

It was deep into the night at this time.

Jing Lan lay on the table, looking at that oil lamp in the house, and at the tall figure sitting cross-legged behind the lamplight, her eyes filled with a sense of solidity.

If only things could go on like this forever, that would be good.

Yet she also very much looked forward to being able to leave here.

”Another four months, right!”

...

The day of Master Yan’s return trip was set at the end of the year, when the business at the Tobacco Workshop would be concluded; there were still a full four months from now until then.

For ordinary people, this was a tormenting wait.

But for Luo Chen, who was focused on cultivation, this time was still far from enough.

In the orthodox Body Refining Technique, the cultivation in the Second Realm mainly revolved around comprehending Qi Blood Change.

In the past, due to talent, time, future prospects and various other reasons, Luo Chen had not deeply delved into that path. Now that he had taken it up again, he suddenly discovered that this path was actually not that difficult for him.

Perhaps it was because he had read extensively, perhaps because he had cultivated many Martial Arts from Ancient Times, or perhaps because he had once possessed a Physical body of the Ancient Wilderness Five Stages; in any case, in this path he was already standing at a vantage point far above others.

Coupled with the fact that the Body Refining Technique had quite a sense of many paths leading to the same destination, once he began, his progress soared.

The Visible Power in Qi Blood Change was achieved in an instant.

The subsequent Hidden Power, for him, was nothing more than two or three days of practice.

Power Transformation was the most difficult stage among the Four Strengths of Qi Blood Change. It emphasized smooth circulation and internal cycling of potential, then combining Qi and Power, spreading all Qi throughout every part of the body. In this way, whether attacking or defending, one could send and withdraw at will, allowing Power to manifest freely.

At this stage, Luo Chen spent a bit more time, using a full half-month to spread Power throughout his entire body.

Of course, if orthodox Body Refiners saw that Luo Chen had taken less than a month altogether to comprehend three types of Power in Qi Blood Change and break through three minor Realms in a row, their eyes would probably pop out of their sockets.

But to Luo Chen, this truly was nothing to be proud of.

His Body Refining foundation had simply been laid far too solidly!

If the Blood River Realm was to be carefully divided, it actually had nine complete minor Realms. Back then, Wang Yuan had explained to Luo Chen that they were [Organs Refinement], [Tendon Changing], [Marrow Washing], [Meridian Unblocking], [Orifice Unblocking], [Visible Power], [Hidden Power], [Power Transformation], and [Pill Vigor].

Among these nine minor Realms, the five steps of Tendon Changing and Marrow Washing, Refining Viscera and Channeling Vessels, and even opening all the large and small Acupoints throughout the body, had been completed by Luo Chen hundreds of years ago.

Now he was merely, on this foundation, completing unfinished matters from a lofty vantage point.

After comprehending Power Transformation, what Luo Chen had to consider was the final strength among The Four Strengths of Luminous and Shadow Alchemy Pills — Pill Vigor!

In a quiet spot in the back mountain.

Luo Chen sat cross-legged beneath a big tree, a thoughtful look in his eyes.

Power Transformation was the most difficult stage in Qi Blood Change; its difficulty lay in its complexity, since one had to spread Power throughout every corner of the entire body.

But Pill Vigor was the most dangerous stage in Qi Blood Change; back then, Wang Yuan had been stuck at this minor Realm for quite a long time.

It was called dangerous because it required that all Power scattered throughout the body be merged into a single point!

This point, in the Path of Martial Arts, was called a ”pill”!

It was similar to the Golden Core in Qi Refinement, yet also different in some ways.

He not only emphasized the singularity of Power fusion, but also the inward restraint of the spirit of Consciousness.

The process of Power fusion is extremely painful, requiring a mighty Path of Martial Arts will to endure the pain while simultaneously controlling the mutual fusion of the Powers.

This pill fused out in the end is like the egg at the opening of primordial Chaos, evolving heaven, earth, and all things. The more focused, the smaller, the more restrained it is, the more ferocious the strength it unleashes in battle. It may even affect cultivation of the next Realm.

As far as willpower is concerned, Luo Chen had no worries at all.

With the strength of his Dao Heart and the firmness of his Consciousness, a little pain was nothing worth mentioning.

What he was pondering at this moment was how to avoid damage to his body during the Embracing Elixir process.

Right now this body looked fine on the surface, but in truth it was like a high-rise building on the verge of collapse; before it was fully nursed back to health, it could not afford the slightest mishap.

”Perhaps I can try it bit by bit, get thoroughly familiar with the steps of Embracing Elixir, and only take that step once there is absolutely no chance of failure.” Luo Chen muttered to himself.

Compared to Qi Refinement, cultivation on the Path of Martial Arts placed much more emphasis on day-in, day-out practice.

And speaking of Proficiency, that Attribute Panel of his could still be opened.

In other words, he could completely rely on the materialized progress of proficiency to decide when to Embrace Elixir, when to take that step!

Moreover, in this process, it was not purely bitter cultivation; he could also draw inferences from one thing to another, and raise his proficiency by practicing Martial Arts derived from Power.

”Let me think. Back then, in the ’Divine Gang Fighting Qi’ that Wang Yuan authored, what Martial Arts were recorded? The Blood God Tribulation Pointer based on Visible Power, ’Immortal’s Return to Peng Ying’ that uses Hidden Power to kill people unexpectedly, and the most vicious ’Blood Transforming Demon Finger’...”

...

Within the Great Destruction Realm, there were still changes of seasons.

However, compared to the past Mountain Sea Realm, these changes were relatively blurred.

Because of the three suns hanging high in the sky, the temperature difference between day and night was enormous, and the seasonal changes showed a polarized pattern.

Spring and autumn were extremely short, winter and summer brutally intense.

The whole summer started in the fourth month and did not barely end until the ninetieth month.

Yet the end of scorching summer did not mean the arrival of a cool autumn; on the contrary, the days to come were even more difficult for ordinary people.

Because this period was the high-incidence season of the Heavenly Wind Ghost Rain, one of the Three Great Calamities.

Ordinary people simply did not dare linger outside for long; even some daily part-time jobs could only be done at home.

For example, that Thousand Layers Rope tanning job Jing Lan had wanted to take earlier was something that could be done at home without going to the Tobacco Workshop.

Of course, since Jing Lan would later be leaving Qingshan Town with Luo Chen, naturally she did not need to do this.

With free time on her hands, she simply stayed home sewing clothes, preparing for the journey ahead.

”At the end of the year, heavy snow flies and it’s especially cold. It’s fine if you don’t go out, but if you plan to travel far, you need thick coats for warmth.”

Jing Lan looked at the simple hemp clothes on Luo Chen’s body and spoke while she sewed.

Luo Chen had wanted to say there was no need, but when he saw the earnest look in the woman’s eyes, he did not refuse.

”Oh right, there’s a good chance it’ll be Ghost Rain tonight. Among the gifts Master Yan sent, there’s a complete Dream Stone. Take one piece out and light it!” Jing Lan reminded him.

Luo Chen gave a soft response, then went to take out a piece of Dream Stone.

But before he lit it, his scalp tingled; he instinctively looked toward the door.

In the dim sky, a flash of white light could be vaguely seen, and then a deafening clap of thunder exploded.

Boom!

Jing Lan, on the other hand, did not feel much of anything; she just smiled and looked out of the house.

”See, I told you it was going to rain.”

Outside the house, the sound of huge raindrops pounding the ground began to ring out, waves of chill spreading.

Luo Chen walked to the doorway and looked at the streaks of white light that seemed to tear the sky apart at the horizon, his expression extremely grave.

Was that the Soul-shaking Thunder Sound Master Yan had spoken of?

In the fire pit, firewood was piled up, and the burning Dream Stone emitted wisps of pale-green smoke.

After dinner, Jing Lan went to sleep on her own; Luo Chen was still cultivating.

He was already quite proficient in Condensing Intention into Core and comprehending [Pill Vigor]; perhaps it would not take long for him to succeed.

If so, in the future he would be able to utilize the power of his own Qi-Blood with much greater subtlety, instead of the crude simplicity of Origin Force.

Outside, the rain was pouring down in torrents; inside, Luo Chen calmed his heart and mind, sitting cross-legged in meditation.

Strands of Qi stirred through the Meridians that had been cleared within his body, constantly circulating; between the Acupoints, Qi was also inhaled and exhaled. In the midst of Chaos, it was as if an egg was being born.

Suddenly!

Luo Chen’s brows furrowed slightly; he instinctively opened his eyes and looked toward the wooden door.

In the unseen depths, it was as if something ghostly and sinister was secretly peeping.