An Alchemist's Path to Eternity
Chapter 274: Perfected Mastery in Qi-Refining, Refining Imperial Nectar (I)

Chapter 274: Perfected Mastery in Qi-Refining, Refining Imperial Nectar (I)

 

The celebration was grand—part victory banquet, part wedding feast.

Held beneath a rare, brilliant spring sun, it brought warmth not just to the air, but to the hearts of everyone in Luo Tian Society.

The stars of the event were none other than Zeng Wen and Xiugu, whose long-awaited union was finally made official. But truly, it was a moment for all the cultivators of Luo Tian Society to rejoice.

With Luo Chen, their "esteemed and virtuous” leader, personally officiating as the host and matchmaker, the newlyweds were eventually ushered into their bridal chamber amid cheers and laughter.

Then came Luo Tian Society’s night of revelry!

Luo Chen drank heartily. Not because he intended to, but because nearly every subordinate came to him, cup in hand, offering toasts of gratitude and respect. It had been more than a month since the decisive battle, and during that time, Luo Tian Society had quietly regained its strength.

The wounded had healed, with most even experiencing a leap in their cultivation—save for a few who carried scars that no pill could mend. New rogue cultivators had been recruited as well, swelling their ranks.

On the surface, Luo Tian Society seemed to have been severely weakened by the battles it had endured.

But in truth? Luo Tian Society was stronger than ever.

This newfound strength was not just in numbers, but in spirit and foundation.

More importantly, it was because Luo Chen and Wang Yuan were holding the fort, making them fearless even against Foundation Establishment cultivators. This meant that Luo Tian Society was now an organization on par with a Foundation Establishment faction.

Moreover, their unity had strengthened significantly, with a core group of cultivators forged through blood and fire. Through the Luo Tian Society, they had gained greater resources and higher status.

Naturally, they would now be even more devoted to protecting it.

The next day, around noon, Luo Chen was once again inside the green-thatched hut, immersed in his alchemy when an eager voice rang out outside.

"President! President!"

Zeng Wen’s face was flushed with urgency yet also a trace of... embarrassment?

"Do you still have that... you know... the good stuff?” he asked in a hushed voice, leaning in conspiratorially.

Without replying, he casually raised his hand and cast Cleanse, removing the lingering smoke, medicinal scent, and pill vapor that clung to his robes after hours of alchemy.

Then, right in front of Zeng Wen, he casually cast a Sound Isolation. This series of elaborate actions left Zeng Wen thoroughly baffled.

After that, Luo Chen retrieved a Golden Bamboo Pen and a book and flipping to a blank page—

"I do have a few more, but you’ll need to describe your experience using the supreme-grade Myriad Wonders pill for me."

Uh… Zeng Wen froze awkwardly.

His round, plump face turned beet red.

For a moment, he had no idea where to begin.

Luo Chen was not surprised in the slightest. 

Like an old apothecary, he patiently guided Zeng Wen, coaxing him to speak.

Before long, the blank paper was filled with notes detailing the effects of the supreme-grade Myriad Wonders pill.

[Effects Recorded]

Extremely potent aphrodisiac effects, three times stronger than before.

Exceptional delay and enhancement effects.

Boosts cultivation not only for the user but also for their partner. If paired with dual cultivation techniques, the effects could be even greater.

When he recorded this last point, even Luo Chen was astonished. The supreme-grade Myriad Wonders pill could actually be used for cultivation?

Across from him, Zeng Wen had completely shed the awkwardness he'd worn earlier. Now,he stood with his sleeves fluttering dramatically, speaking with confidence.

"I am not,” he declared solemnly, "a man obsessed with worldly pleasures.

"It's just that this pill has truly made me glimpse hope in the Great Dao. If I could take one every day, I might even have a chance at peeking into the Foundation Establishment Realm!"

Luo Chen rolled his eyes and kicked him lightly in the shin. "Get lost.”

Hope for the Great Dao? One a day?

Does he think supreme-grade Myriad Wonders pills are roasted peanuts?

It wasn’t that Luo Chen was stingy with the pills. The real issue was how difficult they were to make. Once you aimed for supreme quality, the success rate plummeted to just ten percent. The effects might be strong, but the cost was astronomical.

The medicinal potency was high but so was the cost!

And with Tian Xingzi's departure, the main ingredient jade conpoy had lost its supply, so after he reached Perfected Mastery in refining Myriad Wonders pill, he could only put it on hold.

He tossed Zeng Wen a few leftover pills. The man accepted them like they were divine relics and trotted off down the mountain, grinning from ear to ear.

Watching that delighted figure walk away, Luo Chen knew—someone was about to suffer!

He still kept a few on hand, just in case.

Of course, not for himself!

He had checked carefully even a supreme-grade Myriad Wonders pill only offered the same cultivation benefit as a low-grade qi-nourishing pill.

For Luo Chen, this thing was honestly of little use. It was just an alchemist's professional habit that made him document pill effects.

Right now, his focus was on the Jade Essence pill. It wasn’t just about Luo Tian Society needing the pill to support its growth. Luo Chen also had his eyes on the achievement points it could yield.

Days passed one after another.

After a month, his proficiency in the Jade Essence pill finally reached Perfected Mastery.

With some effort, Luo Chen refined a supreme-grade Jade Essence pill.

Unfortunately, its effects were nowhere near the transformative change brought by the supreme-grade Myriad Wonders pill. It only had double the medicinal strength compared to before.

Overall, it was stronger than a qi-nourishing pill but slightly weaker than a Dust Transformation pill.

In truth, that was already a very decent result.

After all, the Jade Essence pill wasn’t a proper orthodox cultivation pill—it carried the inherent flaw of dantian jade transformation.

With the help of his system, he had resolved the two greatest issues, the jade transformation and the pill’s weak medicinal potency. He had forcefully elevated it to a level comparable to orthodox cultivation pills, a feat that would be impressive no matter where it was presented.

No matter where it was placed, that achievement was enough to make others view him with newfound respect.

What was once a fifty-percent formation rate at top-grade had plummeted to ten percent at supreme-grade. From a purely economic standpoint, the numbers weren’t kind. A top-grade Jade Essence pill could net a profit of over eight hundred spirit stones.

A supreme-grade one? Only four hundred..

Mass-producing supreme-grade Jade Essence pills just wasn’t practical.

Luo Chen had to admit, he’d been disappointed when he crunched the numbers. Whether it was the unranked fasting concoction, the first-tier Myriad Wonders pill, or now the Jade Essence pill, the pattern was the same. Even after pushing them to their peak form, the return on investment had dropped sharply.

He even suspected that perhaps these pills were inherently too "niche" in nature.

But after his disappointment subsided, Luo Chen gradually came to a realization.

Some things couldn’t be measured like that.

If one judged purely by profit, then low-tier versions of the same pill were actually more lucrative. They were cheaper to make, easier to produce in bulk, and affordable to the masses, which gave them a broader market.

With that, profits naturally became considerable.

There was precedent for this too. Take the Medicine King Sect, for example—one of the top alchemy powers in the region. Most of the qi-nourishing and Dust Transformation pills they sold were low-grade. Was it because they couldn’t refine high-tier pills?

Of course not. That would be a laughable assumption.

They chose this strategy for a reason. And if they were doing it, it confirmed that Luo Chen’s judgment had been correct.

A cultivator could only ingest a limited number of pills per day, limited by how many times they could circulate their cultivation techniques. Within that restriction, taking pills with stronger medicinal potency obviously yielded better results.

That kind of strategic advantage, however, wasn’t available to everyone. It was the privilege of those with power, wealth, and means.

"So, the Medicine King Sect’s high-grade pills are usually circulated through the black market, auction houses, or traded between sects.

"Because they boost efficiency, top-tier pills can naturally be sold at a massive premium!

Once he figured this out, Luo Chen looked at the pill in his hand, white as porcelain and no longer felt disappointed.

"I’m running a little short on Dust Transformation pills for reaching Perfected Mastery in Qi-Refining.

"This supreme-grade Jade Essence pill might help make up the difference."

With satisfaction, Luo Chen tucked the pill away and happily descended the mountain.

***

At present, Luo Tian Society had completely found its footing.

And more importantly, it no longer relied solely on Luo Chen to move forward.

Some of the newly recruited cultivators had been integrated into the Medicine Hall, restoring the team of herbalists that had previously been lacking. With these additions, the hall could now both cultivate spirit herbs internally and send people into the mountains to gather the herbs.

Only a small portion of the gathered resources were kept for internal use; the majority were sold to the Lianyun Trade Alliance, establishing a steady stream of income.

As for the Artifact Hall, it had finally been established after Duan Feng regained consciousness.

But unlike the other departments, its composition was rather unusual. The team consisted mainly of Duan Feng’s former disciples, as well as a few remaining members of the Duan family who had been outside the mountain during the fall of their clan.

When Luo Chen asked about this arrangement, Duan Feng only said one thing, "Let it end here.”

Duan Qiankun was dead. Though not by Duan Feng’s hand, his actions had played a significant part in the outcome.

With Duan Rui’s death by his own blade, he considered the debt to his mother repaid. It had been Duan Rui, after all, who had suggested the political marriage alliance with the Nangong family, the very spark that set the tragedy in motion.

Duan Qiankun had merely followed that suggestion, and even Duan Feng had thought the proposal had some merit at the time, which was why the decision had been made.

But life was rarely so clear-cut. There were no perfect resolutions. Joy and sorrow, gain and loss such was the nature of the world.

Luo Chen didn’t press the matter. He only warned Duan Feng to keep a tight rein on the Duan family cultivators. If anything went wrong in the future, the responsibility would fall on Duan Feng’s own shoulders.

"Until I reach Foundation Establishment, none of the Duan clan members are allowed to leave the mountain," Duan Feng said as he looked at Luo Chen.

He was using himself as a guarantee.

Staring at Duan Feng’s resolute expression, Luo Chen thought of the storage pouch he carried.

It had been given to him by Wang Yuan. The pouch had once belonged to Duan Qiankun.

Though the man was dead, the spirit consciousness restriction he left behind was remarkably tenacious. If someone like Miao Wen, a Foundation Establishment Initiate were present, they could have gradually worn it down with time.

But currently, Luo Tian Society lacked anyone with that capability.

Luo Chen didn’t want to hand it over to someone else, so he had kept it on him all this time.

There might be quite a few valuable things inside. If there’s anything that might help Duan Feng, I’ll give it to him when the time comes.

Compared to Duan Feng’s quiet determination to reach Foundation Establishment, Luo Chen’s confidence in his own breakthrough was far greater.

It wouldn't be long now!

After meeting with Duan Feng, Luo Chen took the time to personally visit Wang Yuan, who was deep in cultivation, diligently working on the Soul Stabilizing Oath.

It was a difficult path.

Unlike the ease with which Wang Yuan had once mastered the Spirit Suppression, or merged blood-path and physical cultivation techniques, this time—his progress was painfully slow.

But that was to be expected. This was soul-path cultivation, and worse yet, Duan Qiankun’s lingering remnant soul still resided within him. That constant interference made true focus nearly impossible.

Naturally, progress came slow.

After visiting Wang Yuan, Luo Chen announced to his people that he would be entering seclusion.

Of course, this was only a "false seclusion."

Each month, he still had to take time to refine a batch of Jade Essence pills.

After all, this was the core business of Luo Tian Society. If he wanted to maintain friendly relations with the Nangong Family and the Dajiang Gang, the Jade Essence pill was of utmost importance.

After becoming proficient in refining with earth fire, Luo Chen's pill-making efficiency had once again improved significantly. Compared to manual fire control, earth fire was far more convenient.

Previously, he could at most refine sixteen sets of materials per day. Now, that number had increased to twenty!

The benefits came not only from the use of earth fire but also from the growth in his divine soul.

With the pill yield increased, Luo Chen could save more time and focus on his own matters.

Proficiency, proficiency—damn it, it’s always about proficiency!

After advancing Heal to Grandmaster level, pushing Sound Isolation from Beginner to Perfection, and refining Divine Breaker of Malevolence to Skilled, Luo Chen continued to build momentum.

His next achievements came steadily—both Entangle and Cleanse were eventually brought up to Perfected Mastery as well.

On the alchemy front, though he could no longer refine Blood-Burning pills due to the absence of Earth Fire Fiend Qi, his progress didn't stall.

The Perfected Mastery of both Myriad Wonders pills and Jade Essence pills earned him two additional achievement points, keeping his momentum alive and his goals in sight.

Especially through month after month of alchemical labor, his use of several pill techniques had become increasingly refined and masterful.