The Luotian Association was going to leave.
Yet it would not be a hasty departure.
A window of three months was a timeline Luo Chen had settled upon after careful deliberation.
Whether for liquidating properties or gathering resources, three months was relatively ample time.
He could also use this period to concoct a massive batch of pills.
After listening to Sima Huiniang's report, he had gained a crystal-clear understanding of the Luotian Association's current financial situation.
On the books, they had less than fifty thousand spirit stones.
That was far too little!
One had to remember that when Mi Shuhua needed to purchase a magic treasure back then, he had managed to muster eighty thousand low-grade spirit stones from the Mountain Breaker Gang in a single breath.
For an organization led by an alchemist who prided himself on being wealthy, possessing so few spirit stones was frankly embarrassing.
Of course, he did not blame Sima Huiniang for poor management.
In truth, she had already done her absolute best.
Both in expanding revenue streams and curbing expenditures, she had done everything humanly possible, even at the risk of offending people.
The core issue lay in the fact that the Luotian Association of the past had relied far too heavily on Luo Chen alone.
From preparing for his breakthrough to Foundation Establishment to his secluded cultivation afterward, Luo Chen had spent a total of six full years.
During those six years, the number of times he personally took action to concoct pills could be counted on one hand.
Under such circumstances, that the Luotian Association could still show a surplus of fifty thousand low-grade spirit stones meant Sima Huiniang deserved the primary credit.
Yet credit was credit, and being strapped for cash was still an undeniable reality.
Therefore, before leaving, Luo Chen intended to take advantage of the earth fire on Mount Xiaohuan to mass-produce a massive batch of pills.
And for this batch, he would no longer hold back.
Superior-grade Jade Marrow Pills!
Every single furnace would aim straight for superior grade.
Luo Chen had calculated that over three months, assuming a fifty percent success rate and processing twenty batches of raw ingredients each day, he could refine a full eighteen thousand superior-grade Jade Marrow Pills.
Selling them to the outside world, given the current turmoil across the Jade Cauldron Domain, superior-grade Jade Marrow Pills would command a steep price.
They could easily match the value of low-grade Qi-Nourishing Pills produced by the Medicine King Sect.
In other words, three months from now, he would hold a massive sum of one hundred and eighty thousand low-grade spirit stones in his grasp.
With such wealth in hand, he could secure a firm foothold no matter where he went.
In the past, Luo Chen naturally would not have dared to concoct pills with such unrestrained abandon.
There would always be people driven by envy who could not resist coveting his riches.
Now, however, he had advanced to Foundation Establishment, and his various methods had grown increasingly refined.
So long as he did not encounter someone in the late Foundation Establishment stage, he possessed more or less enough power to protect himself.
That was why Luo Chen dared to mass-produce superior-grade Jade Marrow Pills.
Wealth was never simply a matter of the more, the better; it had to correspond directly to one's strength.
Thanks to his breakthrough into Foundation Establishment, his soul foundation, spiritual power capacity, and even his control over spiritual energy had all improved dramatically.
Refining twenty batches of Jade Marrow Pills a day was hardly exhausting for Luo Chen.
After all, he had an entire group of assistants supporting him.
If translated to modern terms, it would not be an exaggeration to call it a small-scale assembly line.
Any more than that, however, would be impossible.
It was not that Luo Chen could not handle it, but rather that among his subordinates, Qu Lingjun was the only one who truly qualified as an alchemist.
That Luo Chen could oversee four pill chambers simultaneously already spoke volumes of his profound alchemy attainments and potent divine sense.
Each day after the pill refining concluded, the cleanup and finishing touches were mostly left to Qu Lingjun, Mi Li, Tang Quan, and the others.
This left Luo Chen with spare time to tend to other matters.
***
Another day of pill refining came to an end.
In passing, Luo Chen offered Qu Lingjun some guidance on his cultivation.
The technique the youth practiced was called the Raging Fire Art, a tier-one fire-attribute manual.
This was the cultivation technique Qu Hancheng had specially prepared for Qu Lingjun years ago.
Even before he began cultivating, Qu Lingjun had already memorized it forward and backward.
Although it differed from the wood-attribute technique Luo Chen primarily practiced, guiding the youth's cultivation was effortless for him.
It was far more than just viewing things from a higher vantage point.
He harbored deep insights into the fire method himself.
For many years, his primary combat technique had been the Fireball Art, his craft was alchemy, and after killing foes, he had made a habit of using the Fireball Art to burn their bones and scatter their ashes.
After reaching Foundation Establishment, for reasons unknown, he had also grown even more attuned to fire-attribute spiritual energy.
When it came to fire methods, he genuinely possessed an authoritative voice.
After a round of instruction, Qu Lingjun gained immense insight, and Luo Chen enjoyed the satisfying experience of acting as a master.
It was an entirely different feeling from mentoring someone in alchemy.
"Cultivate diligently. Master has two tier-two fire-attribute manuals in hand, waiting for you to reach Foundation Establishment in the future."
"Yes! Thank you, Master!"
Luo Chen smiled, clasped his hands behind his back, and departed.
He strolled leisurely along the mountain path.
As he advanced, the white mist shrouding the summit parted slowly, almost as if possessed of intelligence, and gradually closed again behind him.
Such a spirited scene was not merely the grand formation activating on its own.
Soon, Luo Chen arrived at the mountain peak, just outside the green thatched cottage.
Rather than hurrying inside, he halted his steps, a faint smile spreading across his face.
"Stop hiding. I've already seen you."
The surroundings were entirely devoid of people.
His words seemed addressed to thin air.
Yet in the very next moment, a crisp, bell-like giggle rang out from behind him.
"Tee-hee..."
Luo Chen turned helplessly to look at the petite, graceful silhouette behind him.
"Xiao Ling, in the future, don't keep popping in and out like a ghost. You won't scare me anyway."
"Tee-hee..."
The silhouette said nothing, seeming capable only of laughter.
Subconsciously, she threw herself toward Luo Chen, trying to cling to his shoulder, only for her ethereal body to pass straight through him.
Having drifted right through, the silhouette froze momentarily.
"Ee-ee..."
Looking upon that familiar face, Luo Chen's heart softened.
At least she possessed a touch more sentience than back in the ghost city, no longer a mere wandering, feral spirit.
If Feng Xia and Gu Caiyi were here, they would surely cover their mouths in shock.
For the countenance of this yin soul belonged unmistakably to the neighbor who had shared a courtyard with them for years—Bai Meiling!
She had clearly died, so why had she appeared atop Mount Xiaohuan?
It all traced back to the time Luo Chen had subdued the ghost general...
***
Having descended to the ground floor of the Spirit Herb Pavilion, Luo Chen had intended to leave the city and return to Mount Xiaohuan.
Yet his steps had ground to a halt at the foot of the stairs.
Before a decaying wooden window, a delicate figure leaned forward, peering at him with a timid, frightened gaze.
Luo Chen's sleeves billowed as he prepared to sweep his arm.
"A mere yin soul, an insignificant wisp, dares to spy on me?"
A soul like this, which could not even be called a ghost soldier, was excessively weak.
Her death had come far too abruptly.
She harbored no lingering obsession, no unfulfilled longing, no resentment, and no fury.
Even in death, despite possessing cultivation in life, drawing upon the ghost domain had only allowed her to become a feeble yin soul.
Luo Chen's Great Circle Cleansing Art might not be decisive enough against formidable ghost soldiers or ghost generals comparable to Foundation Establishment, but against such weak yin souls, a single sweep could obliterate an entire swathe.
Earlier, when he entered the Spirit Herb Pavilion, he had cleared the area in just such a rapid manner.
Yet just as his sleeves billowed and his hand was about to strike, he froze.
Meeting that timid, fearful gaze, his heart gave an inexplicable leap.
Subconsciously, he called out, "Xiao Ling?"
The figure shuddered all over, then fled in a panic, like a startled creature.
Luo Chen started, immediately realizing something.
Without the slightest hesitation, he gave chase out of the Spirit Herb Pavilion.
In the end, his steps halted outside the familiar Hundred Herbs Hall.
*Did she dare to come out only because I cleared away the nearby ghosts?*
With that thought crossing his mind, Luo Chen strode into Hundred Herbs Hall.
Inside, the building stood empty, medicine cabinets strewn in disarray.
Everything had been stripped clean years ago before that Foundation Establishment cultivator of Hundred Herbs Hall departed.
Luo Chen walked through Hundred Herbs Hall step by step.
Neither the first, second, nor third floor showed any sign of the yin soul from before.
Finally, he arrived at the backyard of Hundred Herbs Hall.
In an instant, his gaze fell upon the stone mill sitting right in the center.
Luo Chen was no stranger to this stone mill.
Processing medicinal herbs involved many techniques and procedures, one of which was grinding into powder.
Easily handled herbs were usually pounded using an apothecary jar and pestle; he kept an entire set in his own storage bag.
Certain large-scale medicinal herbs, however, required a stone mill.
Luo Chen extended his divine sense, his gaze softening as he looked toward the small hole at the center of the millstone.
The aura of the yin soul was hidden inside.
"Is that you, Xiao Ling?"
"If it's you, come out."
"It's Luo Chen, your neighbor across the courtyard."
"The one who used to buy herbs from you every day."
There was no response, only a faint, shivering wisp of yin qi.
Luo Chen pondered for a moment, then murmured softly, "Do you want to know how to refine Fasting Pills using fire hound whip?"
*Whoosh!*
A miniature, translucent head condensed from yin qi popped out from the hole of the millstone, peering curiously at Luo Chen.
Looking upon that familiar face, Luo Chen was finally certain.
This was indeed the ghost left behind after Bai Meiling's death.
To think that in this ghost city teeming with vicious wraiths and resentful spirits, a mere wisp of a yin soul like her had actually survived without being devoured by stronger kin.
Only when he stepped closer did Luo Chen understand how she had managed to stay intact.
"Imbued by yin qi over the years, this herb mill has actually turned into a low-grade magic tool."
"No, it should be called a ghost artifact!"
Implements used to process precious herbs were rarely of low grade to begin with, usually ranking at least as low-grade magic tools.
That Foundation Establishment True Cultivator of Hundred Herbs Hall had naturally looked down on such an object, yet it had provided Bai Meiling's soul with a sanctuary.
Luo Chen could even sense that if Bai Meiling turned the stone mill, it could crush any yin souls and ghostly entities that dared attack her.
What was once meant for grinding herbs had now become an instrument for grinding ghosts.
Over several years of dwelling here, Bai Meiling had formed a deep symbiotic bond with this ghost mill.
"The ghost city is about to change; it will no longer be a haven for your kind."
"Let me take you away!"
Luo Chen placed his hand upon the stone mill. Unexpectedly, Bai Meiling mounted no resistance, resting quietly inside the hole instead.
Luo Chen nodded and carefully stowed the stone mill away.
In this manner, so long as he carried this ghost artifact mill out of Dahe Ghost City, Bai Meiling could accompany him.
Once out in the mortal realm, even without sufficient yin qi to sustain her, she could thrive by relying on the artifact.
***
Atop Mount Xiaohuan.
Luo Chen sat on a reclining chair, holding a storage bag in his hand.
His gaze drifted to Bai Meiling, who was darting in and out of the misty clouds like a child, and a faint smile touched his lips.
"Stop playing."
"Tee-hee..."
"How is your study of the True Soul Refining Art coming along?"
Bai Meiling stood before him, her fingers twisting aimlessly in a display of utter grievance.
"Ee-ee..."
She seemed to be saying the technique was far too difficult and she did not want to learn it.
Luo Chen's expression turned solemn. "You must learn it, and learn it earnestly. Otherwise, you will never reclaim your memories, nor will you ever step onto the path of ghost cultivation!"
"Ee-ee."
Pouting, Bai Meiling flew into the green thatched cottage and soon emerged dragging a pitch-black block of wood.
Squatting beside Luo Chen, she stared mournfully at the wood.
Seeing this, Luo Chen felt somewhat relieved.
The block was naturally the wood from Gao Tingyuan's relics that recorded the True Soul Refining Art.
Luo Chen's Soul Absorption Art and Soul-Fixing Oath had both been learned from it.
As for the True Soul Refining Art itself, he had not cultivated it.
It was an incomplete manual, after all; switching to such a technique would reduce one to a state neither human nor ghost.
Even if one broke through to Foundation Establishment with it, the repercussions of fusing a thousand souls would bring endless trouble.
Yet for Bai Meiling, who was already a yin soul by nature, these issues were entirely irrelevant.
She was an apparition to begin with, so there was no question of becoming half-human, half-ghost.
Furthermore, once she reached the Great Circle of the ghost soldier realm in the future, she could attempt to establish her foundation using the methods recorded in the True Soul Refining Art.
Repercussions?
There was nothing to fear.
Her symbiotic vessel was a ghost mill capable of crushing spirits.
Grinding and crushing them through it would yield purified soul essence, which she could absorb directly.
"If you master the basics sooner, I can even head into the ghost city to capture some yin souls and wraiths to aid your practice."
Bai Meiling, who had been lazily going through the motions of cultivating, understood his words and immediately became three degrees more earnest.
Luo Chen smiled wryly and shifted his attention back to the storage bag in his hands.
"What a formidable Duan Qiankun!"
"As expected of an artifact-forging clan. Possessing such profound familiarity with formations, even his derived divine sense restrictions are extraordinarily ingenious."
This storage bag was none other than Duan Qiankun's relic.
It had previously been in Wang Yuan's hands, but because Wang Yuan had failed to break through to Foundation Establishment and could not pierce the divine sense restriction upon it, he had handed it over to Luo Chen.
After achieving Foundation Establishment, Luo Chen had targeted this storage bag more than once, but every attempt had ended in failure.
There was no helping it; Duan Qiankun's methods regarding divine sense were by no means weaker than his own, and when strictly considering restrictions, the man surpassed him by leaps and bounds.
Speaking of which, one could not overlook the relationship between formations and restrictions.
A restriction used spiritual energy as a barrier and divine sense as a binding constraint.
A formation unified various restrictions into an overarching array, utilizing physical mediums to manifest form and applying them as law.
It could be said that anyone studying formations began by learning restrictions.
Even when weak and incapable of projecting divine sense outward, one could still employ essence blood or magic tools to cast restrictions.
Only by mastering a sufficient variety of restrictions could one assemble grand formations and minor arrays.
Every great array was composed of individual restrictions woven together, ultimately laid out with the aid of mountain veins, earthly leys, worldly spiritual energy, magic tools, precious treasures, or even living beings.
Attempting to master formations without understanding restrictions would prove exceedingly difficult.
To make an analogy, if a formation were a vast net, restrictions were the individual knots and meshes that formed it.
If the meshes were too sparse, the net could never catch fish.
Wang Yuan was a living example.
Ignorant of restrictions, he had directly stolen the concept behind the Heavenly Craft Spirit Seizing Formation and fused it with blood dao secret arts into the Blood Fiend Spirit Seizing Formation.
Though it seemed wondrously wrought to seize another's foundation, in truth, it fell short at the final step, nearly costing him his life.
Only after failing did he wake up to reality.
Over these past few years, hiding in the submerged cave dwelling beneath the lake, besides cultivating the Soul-Fixing Oath to dissolve his bodily afflictions, he had spent his time studying restrictions and formations.
In this regard, it was fortunate he had Duan Feng's support, allowing him to barely get started.
Seeing his spartan and arduous living conditions during visits, Duan Feng had even tidied up the cavern for him; otherwise, Luo Chen would not have seen it in such orderly condition.
After several years of study, Wang Yuan had made modest gains and had already begun refining the Blood Fiend Spirit Seizing Formation.
All that, however, was digressing.
Returning to the matter at hand, as the patriarch of the Duan family, Duan Qiankun had been exposed to artifact-forging methods since youth.
He was bound to understand the crucial arrays composing magic tools intimately.
Even if his soul was not powerful enough to weave arrays directly from the spirit, establishing simple divine sense restrictions was well within his ability.
Yet to Luo Chen, this seemingly simple divine sense restriction had become an immense obstacle.
"In the short term, there is certainly no way for me to study various restrictions from scratch."
"I can only rely on brute force to grind it down bit by bit."
"Fortunately, after all these years, only a sliver of the divine sense restriction remains."
Luo Chen looked forward to seeing what treasures lay inside the storage bag of a seasoned Foundation Establishment cultivator like Duan Qiankun.
*Could the treasure sought by Xu Ji, the inner disciple of the Falling Cloud Sect, also be inside?*
Anything coveted by Xu Ji—or even Tianxingzi—could never be ordinary.
This was the driving force that spurred Luo Chen to painstakingly wear away Duan Qiankun's lingering restriction year after year.
***
The Luotian Association's impending departure could not be concealed from anyone.
Even rogue cultivators noticed clues from the daily shifts, let alone the well-staffed Foundation Establishment factions.
Before long, three Foundation Establishment True Cultivators arrived outside Mount Xiaohuan, riding upon clouds one after another.
The doors to Huanyu Hall swung shut once more.
Inside the hall, Luo Chen, having just emerged from the pill chambers, took a sip of hot tea at his leisure.
As for the three seated opposite him, who wore faint traces of anxiety, he seemed not to notice them at all.
In the end, someone finally lost their patience—Nangong Jin.
"Danchenzi, is your Luotian Association truly leaving?"
Setting down his teacup, Luo Chen nodded gently.
Such a development could not be kept secret.
By preparing a month in advance, they had already profited by selling off businesses and territories at normal prices.
As for how much of that had been bought up by the three major factions, that was no longer his concern.
Seeing Luo Chen nod, Nangong Jin said anxiously, "Why must it come to this?"
"You went through immense hardship to carve out this foundation, and it was rare for our four families to form an alliance. Furthermore, no major sects are meddling here right now. The resources in this region are incomparably abundant. A century from now, wouldn't everyone be earning until their pockets overflow?"
Indeed.
Without sects interfering, the resources of Dahe Market could truly be called vast.
To supply four factions and four Foundation Establishment True Cultivators, calling it more than sufficient was by no means an exaggeration.
In particular, Wang Haichao's Great River Gang could bridge the internal and external markets, sourcing materials required by Foundation Establishment True Cultivators from the outside world.
"Could it perhaps be related to that anomaly in the ghost city?" Li Yixian suddenly chimed in.
Hearing this, Nangong Jin froze, a look of lingering dread surfacing on his face.
When that sudden aura of a ghost king had erupted, he had noticed it even from a great distance.
Yet he still clung to hope, having not witnessed it with his own eyes.
Thus, he needed confirmation.
"Danchenzi, is that true?"
"Yes, Fellow Daoist Li guessed correctly."
Luo Chen swept his gaze over them and enunciated each word clearly: "Within Dahe Ghost City, a ghost king is about to emerge. At earliest, six months; at latest, no more than a year."
"Moreover, this ghost king did not evolve from ordinary vicious wraiths."
"His former self was Pang Renxiong, an elder of the Jade Cauldron Sword Sect, possessing extraordinary methods."
"Even having transformed into a ghost king, his might is by no means something we Foundation Establishment True Cultivators can compare to."
The moment these words fell, even though each of them had prepared mentally, the complexions of the three Foundation Establishment cultivators still shifted.
They knew the ghost city was changing every day.
From a single ghost general at the beginning, it had grown into nine ghost generals over the years.
Yet for so long, the ghost city had remained quiet, with few wraiths ever venturing outside.
Consequently, everyone had tacitly accepted having such a neighbor nearby.
Now, however, someone was telling them that a figure of consummate might had transformed into a ghost king; this made it impossible for them to remain at ease.
Clinging to a sliver of hope, Nangong Jin asked, "Has he retained his intellect and turned to the path of ghost cultivation?"
A ghost cultivator was fundamentally different from an ordinary ghostly monster.
Bearing the word "cultivator" in the name meant they still shared the pursuit of the Great Dao alongside True Cultivators, body cultivators, and demonic cultivators.
In other words, one could reason with them.
Yet his faint hope was shattered directly by Li Yixian.
"How could it possibly be a normal ghost cultivator?"
Li Yixian said softly, "Back then, Pang Renxiong was besieged by three ghost kings and a mysterious Golden Core, dying a tragic death beneath Mount Luofeng. The grievance, resentment, and fury within him were enough to reach the heavens."
"Once such a being emerges, he will be bent on destroying everything."
Nangong Jin looked as though he had suffered a heavy blow, his face turning ashen as he muttered repeatedly, "How could this happen? How could this be?"
One could not blame him for losing his composure.
The Nangong family was in a different situation from the Great River Gang and the Li family.
They had originally migrated here from Snow Lotus Market.
To secure a foothold in this place, they had expended immense effort, losing dozens of clan cultivators in the process.
Now that they had finally settled down, maintained close ties with neighboring factions, and slowly begun restoring the clan's vitality, someone was telling him they had to move again.
Who could endure such a blow?
In truth, it was not just Nangong Jin.
Wang Haichao, who had remained silent since entering the hall, also wore a solemn expression.
Relocating a family was relatively straightforward; bound by bloodlines, they prospered or fell together wherever they went.
His Great River Gang, however, was not so simple.
It took in rogue cultivators, bound together by mutual profit, and earned its wealth through water transport and price disparities across regions.
If they abruptly moved to a new place, whether anyone would follow him was one question, and whether they could gain a firm footing upon arrival was another.
If they failed to open up a viable path, the massive Great River Gang would not only fail to assist his cultivation, but might even become a burden that dragged him down.
Though Wang Haichao sat in silence, a fierce internal struggle raged within his mind.
For a time, apart from the sound of Luo Chen sipping tea and Nangong Jin's quiet mutters, the hall fell into an oppressive silence.
The suffocating atmosphere was broken by Li Yixian's melodious, gentle voice.
"Danchenzi, since you made the decision to leave so early, you must have already decided where to go?"
At this, Luo Chen's interest was piqued.
Granny Yuan had asked him this very question long ago, and only now had the time come to answer it.
He first nodded. "I have a general direction."
Then, he added with a hint of uncertainty, "However, as a junior newcomer, my understanding of the cultivation world is far inferior to yours."
"Therefore, as for where to go, we must plan it together."
"Together?" Li Yixian asked in surprise. "We leave together?"
Nangong Jin snapped his head up, looking at Luo Chen with hopeful eyes.
Wang Haichao frowned, looking over with curiosity as well.
The implication was clear: was the Luotian Association planning to advance and retreat alongside the three major factions?
Luo Chen smiled faintly, speaking with easy confidence beneath the three pairs of eyes.
"Upon arriving in unfamiliar territory, even a dragon crossing a river will face fierce backlash from local powers."
"Such occurrences are far from rare."
"Fellow Daoist Nangong's clan, or the Fu family that was destroyed by my hands, are clear lessons of the past."
"My Luotian Association is merely a fledgling faction. We have too few experts and lack cohesion..."
Hearing this, all three cursed silently in their hearts.
The Luotian Association had 'too few experts'?
Then what did that make the three of them?
And 'lacking cohesion'?
When it came to rogue cultivator factions, the Luotian Association was definitely an entity of remarkable solidarity.
This Luo Chen truly lied through his teeth without batting an eye.
Ignoring their reactions, Luo Chen continued, "Under such conditions, moving to a new place might very well see the Luotian Association scattered like dust in the wind."
"Since that is the case, why shouldn't our four factions advance and retreat as one?"
"When the time comes, we can look out for one another and seek mutual benefit to secure a firm foothold."
"To say nothing else, if four Foundation Establishment cultivators act in unison, few in the nearby markets could ever stand against us!"
That final sentence struck right at the heart of the matter, prompting the three in the hall to nod inwardly.
Nangong Jin was positively overjoyed!
If they did this, the Nangong family's circumstances would be vastly better than when they had fled Snow Lotus Market for Dahe Market back then.
Li Yixian seemed lost in thought, weighing the feasibility.
Only Wang Haichao, despite agreeing, wore a peculiar look.
That subtle flicker did not escape Luo Chen's sharp eyes.
"Fellow Daoist Wang, what are your thoughts?"
"Ahem..."
Wang Haichao cleared his throat lightly and said, "I wouldn't dare call them insights. I merely wish to ask: if our four factions form an alliance and depart Dahe Market together, who shall take the lead?"
Chapter 198