"A Jade Dew Pill?"
Inside Binglan Palace.
The elderly woman sat upright from her recliner, sharp light flaring in her clouded eyes. Her spine straightened, devoid of any trace of frailty.
With a flick of her hand, the jade bottle held by Xu Jingnian across from her flew directly into her palm.
Xu Jingnian cast a complicated glance at the white-haired elder, then lowered his head.
Since Luo Chen had entrusted him with this task, he naturally had to do his utmost.
It was not that he feared the other party's cultivation realm, but rather that his nephew, Xu Xiaoliu, was currently serving as a deacon in the Luotian Association.
Moreover, while other cultivators might not care much for the Jade Dew Pill, it was an absolute miracle medicine for Ice Fort, which consisted primarily of female cultivators.
Presenting it was a major meritorious deed for Xu Jingnian as well.
After a long silence, Shi Boying set down the jade bottle, a flicker of excitement surfacing on her face.
She looked up, meeting Xu Jingnian's gaze directly. "You are saying that this Luo Chen wants to do business with us involving Jade Dew Pills?"
"Yes!"
"Do you know where the Jade Dew Pills came from? Does he have a channel to procure them from the Fenghua Domain, or did he concoct them himself?"
"It is not yet known for certain, but I lean toward the latter."
"Oh? How so?"
Xu Jingnian replied earnestly, "The Luotian Association came from Dahe Market in the far east and has been settled in Tianlan Immortal City for barely a year. There is no way they could have established a procurement route in the Fenghua Domain."
Shi Boying nodded.
In truth, procurement channels hardly mattered. Even within the Fenghua Domain, Jade Dew Pills were a hot commodity. They were generally reserved exclusively for Fenghua Palace; what little leaked out consisted mostly of low-grade pills, and only in meager quantities.
This scarcity was not due to the ingredients, but to the difficulty of concoction.
Ordinary rogue cultivators might not realize that the pill recipe for the Jade Dew Pill was not particularly hard to find. Ice Fort possessed a copy themselves!
Yet the pill was exceedingly difficult to refine.
According to Ice Fort's second-rank alchemists, refining it required reaching mastery in at least three different alchemy arts! Not only that, one had to be equally versed in both water-method and fire-method alchemy, transitioning smoothly between them throughout the process.
Generally speaking, an alchemist capable of such feats was far beyond an ordinary second-rank alchemist.
Third-rank alchemists could certainly concoct it, but Ice Fort possessed no third-rank alchemist.
Azure Pill Valley did have one!
However, the market for the Jade Dew Pill naturally filtered out male cultivators, who made up the overwhelming majority of the cultivation world. Moreover, as a second-rank pill, its profit margins were modest. Ordinary third-rank alchemists would never bother wasting their energy on it.
Difficult to make and unprofitable in spirit stones—that was the awkward predicament of the Jade Dew Pill.
"Does that Luo Chen truly possess such profound alchemy attainment?" Shi Boying sounded somewhat skeptical.
Xu Jingnian spoke with certainty. "His alchemy skills are indeed extraordinary! The Luotian Association was founded solely as a tool to support his pill crafting. As far as I know, many years ago, he was already adept at refining first-rank high-grade pills, and even had the leeway to modify common recipes. If you tell me he can concoct Jade Dew Pills after reaching Foundation Establishment, it is entirely plausible!"
Even after this explanation, Shi Boying remained somewhat unconvinced.
With a thought, she sent out a voice transmission.
Before long, Shi Lan came scampering in from outside.
Under her questioning, Shi Lan recounted everything she knew about Luo Chen in full detail.
Upon learning that he possessed immense financial backing and had even rented Danxia Peak for ten years in a single transaction, Shi Boying finally dismissed her lingering doubts.
Wealth was the true reflection of an alchemist's attainment!
Truly formidable alchemists were never short on spirit stones. Luo Chen's current prosperity was testament enough to how strong his alchemy skills were.
"A business in Jade Dew Pills?"
"If he can refine them, he could simply sell them openly. Why go out of his way to approach Ice Fort?"
Once certain, Shi Boying found herself pondering further.
While she sank into contemplation, neither of the other two spoke.
"You may both step down!"
"I will notify you shortly with the details."
Xu Jingnian nodded and took his leave.
Shi Lan blinked, a few calculations passing through her mind.
***
Shi Boying's "shortly" turned out to be quite a long wait for Luo Chen.
Three months passed without a word.
Yet in matters like this, one could hardly press the other party. As a result, he could only channel his restless energy into cultivation and pill concoction.
Over those three months, under his leadership, the Luotian Association's Pill Hall launched a massive alchemy campaign!
Unlike the ordinary earth fire back at Mount Xiaohuan, the earth fire on Danxia Peak sprang from a genuinely ranked, high-quality fire vein! Consequently, efficiency soared.
In three months, they concocted nearly twenty thousand Jade Marrow Pills.
Luo Chen even felt he had the leeway to produce more. However, he curbed that greedy impulse. Rather than refining more Jade Marrow Pills for profit, he preferred to spend his extra time crafting the pills he personally needed, such as the Nether-Passage Pill and the Jade Dew Pill.
Good news arrived continuously throughout this period.
First was his alchemy techniques: both Washing Brook Hand and Cloud Transformation Hand broke through to the proficient tier together, granting him two achievement points. This allowed him to concoct the Jade Dew Pill with even greater ease.
Second was Qu Lingjun!
The youth had finally succeeded in refining mid-grade Jade Marrow Pills!
This was magnificent news.
One had to remember that Qu Lingjun was not even twenty years old! If word spread that he could concoct a first-rank mid-grade pill at that age, it would cause a sensation throughout Tianlan Immortal City. Even the Seven Jade Cauldron Sects would scramble over him.
Some might argue his spiritual root aptitude was poor? What a joke! With that kind of alchemy talent, a major sect would willingly stuff vast quantities of heavenly treasures down his throat just to force him into Foundation Establishment.
For someone of genuine talent, natural aptitude was never an insurmountable barrier.
While such talent seemed exaggerated, it was entirely reasonable. With a master like Luo Chen, who had researched the Jade Marrow Pill to the grandmastery level, technique was never an issue. And what alchemy required most was practice—the accumulated successful experience forged through repeated failures.
In that regard, Qu Lingjun had received Luo Chen's utmost support.
Back when Luo Chen entered closed-door cultivation, he had ordered the Luotian Association to fully back Qu Lingjun's experimental pill crafting. During several subsequent large-scale concoction efforts, Qu Lingjun served as his primary assistant. Whenever Luo Chen took a break, he let the boy concoct pills personally while standing watch beside him, offering guidance and reviewing the results regardless of success or failure.
In short, Qu Lingjun's ability to produce mid-grade Jade Marrow Pills at his age was the result of natural talent, an enlightened master, and an immense mountain of practical experience.
When Luo Chen saw Qu Lingjun collect fifteen mid-grade Jade Marrow Pills from the cauldron, his joy had been boundless.
In his delight, he had rewarded the youth with that set of the Minor Spirit Gathering Formation.
His sole condition was that this matter could not be shared with outsiders, and that the mid-grade Jade Marrow Pills the boy normally produced had to be credited under Luo Chen's name.
This was not to steal the boy's achievements, but to protect him.
A tree standing taller than the forest is bound to be buffeted by the wind!
Luo Chen understood this principle all too well.
"With the aid of the Minor Spirit Gathering Formation, your cultivation can progress faster. Supplemented by pills..." Luo Chen paused, then warned, "Taking pills is necessary, but you must never indulge greedily. Otherwise, the hidden dangers will be endless!"
Qu Lingjun had happily accepted the formation, engraving Luo Chen's warnings deeply in his heart.
His master would never harm him!
Seeing the youth's joyful expression, Luo Chen felt at ease. For this disciple, beyond alchemy, he had also expended considerable care on his cultivation. Monthly pills, Spirit Calming Incense, and Essence Cultivating Spirit Liquid had never ceased. Now, he had even bestowed the Minor Spirit Gathering Formation upon him.
With multiple approaches working together, the boy's cultivation speed increased dramatically.
With four spiritual roots, reaching Foundation Establishment was by no means impossible!
What the major sects could do, Luo Chen was confident he could do as well. Wasn't it just pouring in resources? He was more than capable of providing enough resources for a mere Qi Refinement disciple.
Furthermore, as Qu Lingjun developed the ability to reliably concoct mid-grade Jade Marrow Pills, the profits generated would be substantial. He wouldn't even need Luo Chen to provide for him; Qu Lingjun could achieve self-sufficiency on his own.
What Luo Chen truly needed to offer was an enlightened master's guidance and a protective umbrella!
After finishing a day's concoction work, Luo Chen steered his flying boat and rushed back to Tianlan Peak.
It was not that he insisted on cultivating inside a second-rank immortal cave, but rather because the final piece of good news concerning him had been developing for quite some time, and was currently undergoing verification.
***
[Yimu Medicine King Scripture: Grandmaster 501/1000]
Inside the immortal cave, Luo Chen stared intently into the air.
On the attribute panel, under the cultivation method column, the entry for the *Yimu Medicine King Scripture* glimmered with faint light.
Grandmaster level!
After several months of continuous cultivation, aided by burning Fierce Spirit Incense twice more each day, he had finally pushed the proficiency of his core cultivation method to the Grandmaster tier.
This change had occurred two days ago. However, no distinct difference had manifested upon reaching Grandmaster level.
Yet Luo Chen faintly sensed that something had changed. As a result, he had been closely monitoring his condition over the past few days.
This time, inspecting himself inwardly, he finally detected a striking transformation within his dantian.
With a thought, a droplet of spiritual liquid coalesced upon his fingertip.
That was his liquefied spiritual power!
At the peak of Qi Refinement, his spiritual power had been purified to the utmost limits of that stage, displaying a deep azure hue. After reaching Foundation Establishment, it had maintained that same shade.
Over the past two days, however, the newly condensed spiritual liquid had undergone an additional shift.
The deep azure had turned to a rich green, surging with vibrant vitality! Endless and unceasing, as though immune to age and death.
"This sign... could it be the *Ageless Evergreen Scripture*?"
Amidst his astonishment, Luo Chen found his suspicion quietly confirmed.
The *Eternal Spring Art* and *Yimu Medicine King Scripture* circulating in the cultivation world were, in truth, abridged versions of the Medicine King Sect's *Ageless Evergreen Scripture*. They retained only select properties, while the most essential characteristics had been pruned away: traits like active spiritual power purification, unceasing spiritual energy flow, inexhaustible life force enduring through the ages, and so on.
One could say the *Yimu Medicine King Scripture* Luo Chen had practiced before was merely grand in name! Each circulation absorbed external spiritual energy but provided no additional bonuses.
Yet upon reaching the Grandmaster tier, this second-rank technique derived from the *Ageless Evergreen Scripture* finally lived up to its reputation.
Luo Chen could clearly feel the extraordinary power within the drop of spiritual liquid on his hand.
Compared to before, it was far purer!
And far more potent!
"Let me test its true effects!"
How does one test the effects of spiritual power? The answer, of course, was spells!
Fireball Art, Entanglement Art, Healing Art, Earth Mountain Technique...
Under Luo Chen's careful control, that single droplet of spiritual liquid was used to cast every major and minor spell in his repertoire. Though each was performed at the minimum scale, it still demonstrated how profound a Foundation Establishment True Cultivator's spiritual power was. A normal Qi Refinement cultivator could never achieve such a feat.
After running through them all, Luo Chen fell into contemplation.
"I possess five spiritual roots, allowing me to cast spells of all five elements. I never noticed before, but the spiritual power generated by my core cultivation method actually provides such a massive boost to spells of the same element!"
Indeed!
In that test, neither Fireball Art nor Earth Mountain Technique showed much difference from before; the increase in power was negligible. But when it came to Entanglement Art and Healing Art, the enhancement was remarkably pronounced.
"Nearly double the power!"
"*Yimu Medicine King Scripture*... of course! This method ought to boost my wood-attribute spells. This way, my grandmastery-level Entanglement Art won't be so useless after all; it can serve as a minor lethal move. And Healing Art—perhaps I can push it to grandmastery as well. It might yield miraculous effects!"
Murmuring to himself, Luo Chen concluded his experimentation with the grandmaster-tier Yimu Medicine King Scripture.
It was only a temporary conclusion! He could sense that reaching Grandmaster level brought many more subtle changes that had yet to surface due to the short passage of time. As long as he persisted in cultivation, he would grasp its full essence sooner or later.
Just as he gathered his thoughts to resume cultivating, his heart stirred.
Exiting the quiet chamber, he found Bai Meiling floating near the immortal cave's formation ward.
Upon seeing Luo Chen, she pointed outside in anticipation. "A voice transmission talisman!"
Luo Chen raised an eyebrow and reached out. The talisman flying erratically like a headless fly outside darted straight into his hand.
[Fellow Daoist Luo, tomorrow morning, Cave Yi-1 on Tianlan Peak. I shall await your arrival.] —Shi Boying.
Cave Yi-1!
Luo Chen's mind raced.
Tianlan Peak hosted numerous immortal caves, broadly divided into five tiers: Jia, Yi, Bing, Ding, and Wu. These corresponded respectively to third rank, second-rank high grade, mid-grade, low grade, and first-rank high grade.
His current residence was Cave Ding-17.
The numbers did not denote quality; within the same grade, the concentration of spiritual energy showed little variation. He was able to reside here only because the previous cultivator had given up the lease.
However, being ranked first within a grade carried distinct significance.
Yi-1!
Beneath the third-rank caves, that was the finest and most prestigious second-rank high-grade cave on the mountain.
Did Shi Boying command such elevated status?
Though surprised, Luo Chen was filled with anticipation. Meeting him now could only mean one thing: discussing the Jade Dew Pill business.
"This works out well. The Luotian Association has an inventory backlog of Jade Marrow Pills, and I was wondering when we could start selling them. If we can reach an agreement here, I will truly possess an endless stream of spirit stones!"
***
The next morning.
Luo Chen freshened up, putting on a clean, brand-new high-grade robe. His long black hair was gathered behind him, secured with a Daoist hairpin. His stride was bold and confident, yet effortlessly graceful.
Bai Meiling held up a mirror, hovering beside him. "Master, you look so pretty!"
Luo Chen gave her a speechless look. How could one use "pretty" to describe a man?
Yet glancing into the mirror, he did sense a profound change compared to the past.
His bone structure and facial features had not shifted much. The change lay mainly in his complexion, his aura, and the composed self-assurance exuded in his every glance. The complexion was easy to explain—it came from success in body cultivation and reaching minor mastery in the Clear Source Wondrous Elixir Method. But the rest had been cultivated step-by-step through enduring countless trials.
The ancients often said that a belly full of literature naturally grants a distinguished aura. Yet what altered a person's presence went far beyond books.
Reading ten thousand scrolls was never as good as walking ten thousand li.
"The road I, Luo Chen, have traveled far exceeds ten thousand li!"
With a light chuckle, Luo Chen turned and strode out the door.
Looking up at the towering, cloud-shrouded immortal peak, he rose like a roc catching the wind, churning up endless white spray from the roaring waterfalls below. His figure swept forward, trailing rising clouds and mist.
Crossing the ridges, he arrived at a place enveloped in ice and snow.
Luo Chen descended step by step, calling out in a clear voice from afar:
"Luo Chen of the Luotian Association has come to visit Fellow Daoist!"
Chapter 242