Inside an immortal cave atop Tianlan Peak.
A man clad in loose Daoist robes sat cross-legged.
His lips parted slightly, and with each breath, the surrounding spiritual energy converged toward him like an inverted rushing stream.
Curling wisps of sandalwood incense continuously emitted a clear, refreshing fragrance.
Suddenly.
The man slowly opened his eyes.
A faint gleam of delight showed in his gaze.
Over a year had passed.
The effects of the Grandmaster-level Yimu Medicine King Scripture were finally beginning to show.
Beyond its initial amplification of wood-attribute spells, it now granted an additional benefit: nourishing his own body.
He could feel that over the past year or so, the spiritual power absorbed and refined through the Grandmaster-level Yimu Medicine King Scripture had made his physical body increasingly tough and robust, brimming with vibrant vitality.
During past cultivation, Luo Chen had injured his physical body more than once—such as his meridians, internal organs, and the like.
Back then, he had relied on medicinal pills and spiritual liquids to mend them.
In truth, however, hidden injuries had still lingered.
Now, as the cultivation method circulated, the refined spiritual power was gradually healing those hidden injuries as well.
"No wonder the name of this cultivation method contains the words 'Medicine King.'
"Before, I thought it had simply borrowed the name of the Medicine King Sect. I never expected it to genuinely possess a self-healing function.
"With this, I can be far bolder in my future cultivation!"
"Qi cultivators do not care much about the physical body"—this saying was true, yet also false.
High-level cultivators truly did not care as much, for they had reached the realm where their divine souls could endure in the world, rendering them virtually indestructible.
For relatively low-level cultivators at Foundation Establishment, however, the mortal body remained critical.
Luo Chen had always placed great importance upon it.
Whether it was the Peiyuan Spiritual Liquid, the Golden Quality Jade Liquid, or even the health-preserving fist techniques he cultivated from Wang Yuan's manual, all were meant to strengthen his physique to prevent severe damage during cultivation.
Now that the Grandmaster-level Yimu Medicine King Scripture inherently possessed the function of repairing the body, it was truly like being offered a pillow just as one grew drowsy!
"Speaking of which, I should be close to a breakthrough, shouldn't I?"
Amidst his pleasant surprise, Luo Chen called up his status panel.
[Lifespan: 37/170]
[Spiritual Roots: Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, Earth]
[Realm: Second Layer Foundation Establishment 87/100]
[Cultivation Methods: Yimu Medicine King Scripture Grandmaster 660/1000, Bright Spirit Fiend Breaking Grandmaster 650/1000, Myriad Beast Scripture 10/100]
[Spells: Rank Two: Landslide Adept 150/200, Glazed Canopy Adept 102/200; Rank One: Healing Art Grandmaster 950/1000, Earth Mountain Art Consummate 450/500, Surging Waves Technique Consummate 450/500, Soundproofing Art Consummate 400/500, Soul Deterrence Art Mastered 270/300, Great Perfection Spells (Click to view details)]
[Alchemy Arts: Folding Jade Hand Great Perfection, Pure Heart Hand Grandmaster 800/1000, Washing Brook Hand Consummate 330/500, Cloud Transformation Hand Mastered 250/300, Pure Source Marvelous Alchemy Method Mastered 280/300]
[Martial Arts: Mountain-Cleaving Stele-Shattering Palm Great Perfection, Heavenly Maiden Scattering Flowers Consummate 400/500, Wang Clan Secret Manual Adept 120/200]
[Skills: Second-Rank Alchemist: Fasting Powder Great Perfection, Myriad Wonders Pill Great Perfection, Jade Marrow Pill Great Perfection, Blood Burning Pill Mastered 204/300, Nether-Passage Pill Adept 122/200, Emperor's Flowing Syrup Beginner 3/100, Jade Dew Pill Beginner 80/100]
[Achievement Points: 5]
Following the expanded interface, Luo Chen discovered that his age had advanced by another year, but his maximum lifespan had also increased by five years, reaching 170.
This had not occurred overnight.
Rather, it had climbed steadily over the course of the year.
It was unrelated to his cultivation progress; it was a passive boost gained after the Grandmaster-level Yimu Medicine King Scripture repaired all of his body's hidden injuries.
After all, a healthy body lived longer!
The principle was as simple as that.
He did not dwell on it, shifting his focus to the realm column.
"Only 13 progress points away from the third layer of Foundation Establishment!"
With a sigh of anticipation, Luo Chen estimated how much longer it would take to achieve the breakthrough.
He used his cultivation speed over the past year as a benchmark.
With the assistance of a second-rank low-grade immortal cave, Ascending Dragon Pills, a Grandmaster-level cultivation method, and Fiery Spirit Incense, the progress bar rose by about one point every seven to eight days.
This speed had completely surpassed his initial days of relying solely on the cultivation method and immortal cave, more than tripling his cultivation rate.
In particular, after incorporating the Fiery Spirit Incense, he could circulate his natal cultivation method two more times each day. That had boosted his speed even more than relying on the Ascending Dragon Pill alone.
The process was tedious and incremental, but that Luo Chen could cultivate so rapidly despite such poor aptitude was entirely due to stacking these external resources bit by bit.
In fact, he was still not satisfied.
"Thirteen progress points, gaining one every seven to eight days, means I still need at least three months!"
Arriving at this conclusion, Luo Chen couldn't help exhaling a sigh of relief.
To his former self during the Qi Refinement stage, three months might have felt like an eternity. But now that he had established his foundation, such a span of time would pass in the blink of an eye!
Having checked his realm, Luo Chen did not pay much attention to his spells.
Over the past year or so, outside of cultivating, he had basically poured all his time into alchemy. As a result, his spells had barely seen any improvement.
The only exception was the first-rank Healing Art, for which he had ground out a considerable amount of proficiency.
The main reason he ground this spell was that the Grandmaster-level Yimu Medicine King Scripture came with an effect that doubled the power of wood-attribute spells.
Thus, he wanted to max it out.
Conveniently, the conditions were ripe.
The Pill Hall now used first-rank earth fire for pill concoction.
This was utterly different from the firewood of the Crescent Moon Valley era or the ordinary earth fire during the Mount Xiaohuan era. It carried immense inherent danger.
The Pill Hall cultivators had suffered burns more than once while assisting him in refinement. One severe case had even been disfigured when the earth fire flared up violently.
Under such circumstances, Luo Chen simply took the opportunity to grind proficiency for his Healing Art, winning over their hearts in the process.
Now, he was only fifty proficiency points away from Great Perfection. Spending a little time would be enough to max it out.
Among all his skills, the greatest progress belonged to his alchemy arts!
Concocting pills on such a massive scale yielded an unimaginable rate of improvement for alchemy arts.
Over the course of a year, his Pure Heart Hand was on the verge of completion.
His Washing Brook Hand had leaped straight from Adept past Mastered to Consummate, not far from Grandmaster.
Even the Cloud Transformation Hand, which he had acquired last, now sat at 250 proficiency points.
These improvements to his alchemy arts might not have had an obvious direct impact on Luo Chen's cultivation base or combat prowess, but in reality, they vastly increased the speed at which he earned spirit stones.
Now, whether refining Jade Marrow Pills or Nether-Passage Pills, he could cut the concoction time by a third for every batch.
Even the Jade Dew Pill, which he had only recently picked up, had been reduced from taking an entire day per batch to just over half a day.
Luo Chen even felt that if he could raise both the Washing Brook Hand and Cloud Transformation Hand to Grandmaster level, the production efficiency of Nether-Passage Pills and Jade Dew Pills would rise dramatically.
Because these two pills yielded very few per furnace and were exceedingly difficult to refine, grinding proficiency for them was particularly slow.
Over the entirety of last year, refining Jade Marrow Pills had occupied only seven months. The remaining five months had basically been spent on Nether-Passage Pills and Jade Dew Pills—especially the Jade Dew Pill.
There was no helping it; he was still obligated to supply Tantai Jin with five bottles of Jade Dew Pills each year.
Moreover, it was evident that her demand would only grow larger as time went on, so he had to ramp up production.
"Women always have such huge appetites; they're hard to satisfy.
"In the short term, she might tolerate it, but over the long run, if my output remains like this, I won't be able to hold up."
Luo Chen saw things clearly.
The reason he could borrow power and throw his weight around right now was solely because of the Jade Dew Pill.
If the Luotian Association wished to maintain its current honeymoon relationship with Ice Fort and perhaps take it a step further, the production of Jade Dew Pills had to be increased!
Yet until an elixir pill reached high mastery or Grandmaster level, he couldn't produce it on a massive scale; he could only grind proficiency bit by bit on his own.
Presumably, other alchemists in the cultivation world were the same!
In fact, many alchemists fell far short of Luo Chen; they couldn't coordinate others to assist them simultaneously during refinement, struggled to produce superior-grade pills of a given recipe, and couldn't maintain steady output.
Only genuine master alchemists could barely compare with Luo Chen.
And this was precisely one of the reasons why he dared to forcefully squeeze into the low-grade pill market of Tianlan Immortal City.
Among those Qi Refinement and Foundation Establishment factions, there were no master alchemists worth speaking of.
Possessing even a single second-rank alchemist was already considered a profound foundation for them.
"Speaking of which, I wonder how far the Zheng family of Gunlong Ridge has gotten?"
***
The following day.
Luo Chen tidied himself up and prepared to head out.
Standing at the entrance of his cave, he suddenly noticed numerous figures moving about the immortal cave leased by Li Yixian.
Frowning slightly, he walked over.
"Senior Luo!"
As he drew near, the cultivators of the Li family quickly took notice.
Luo Chen looked at them in puzzlement. "What are you all doing?"
The Li family cultivator felt a bit embarrassed and pointed inside. "Our cave lease has expired; we're moving out."
Expired?
Moving out?
Luo Chen asked in confusion, "Fellow Daoist Li Yixian didn't renew the lease? Come to think of it, I haven't seen her all year. Where did she go?"
The Li family cultivator answered respectfully, "The Ancestor is currently an enshrinement elder of the Lianyun Merchant Alliance and is leading our clan's cultivators on alliance business. Precisely because she is away for prolonged periods, there was no need to renew the lease on this immortal cave."
Working for the Lianyun Merchant Alliance!
Luo Chen's expression tightened.
How did Li Yixian dare?!
After arriving in Tianlan Immortal City, Luo Chen had sent people to inquire about the Lianyun Merchant Alliance.
That faction, once boasting over a dozen Foundation Establishment True Cultivators, had truly been an overlord-tier presence in Tianlan Immortal City outside the major sects!
Its business had spanned over a dozen markets large and small!
Luo Chen even knew that they had once secretly recruited an unaffiliated Golden Core cultivator named Lu Jiushi.
However, times had changed.
The Lianyun Merchant Alliance was no longer as glorious as it once was.
Due to being entangled in the great war between the Falling Cloud Sect and the Jade Cauldron Sword Sect, they were suspected of being early sleeper agents planted by the Falling Cloud Sect within the Jade Cauldron Domain.
As such, they had been singled out by the Jade Cauldron Sword Sect.
Even if sword cultivators of Jade Cauldron had not intervened personally, vassal forces of the Sword Sect had repeatedly struck vicious blows against them.
To this day, only five Foundation Establishment True Cultivators remained in the Lianyun Merchant Alliance.
The rest had either been killed in early skirmishes or severed ties and fled later on.
Throughout this entire ordeal, the Falling Cloud Sect had never once stepped in to assist.
This showed that their connection to the Falling Cloud Sect was likely never that deep to begin with.
*When the Sword Sect suspects you of being a running dog of the Falling Cloud Sect, you had better truly be one!*
It was under these circumstances that even when Luo Chen had yet to secure a firm foothold, he had never entertained the thought of contacting his old acquaintance, Elder Zhou Qing. He didn't want the slightest association with the Lianyun Merchant Alliance.
Yet who would have thought that Li Yixian would be so daring!
Looking at the Li family cultivators packing up the immortal cave to depart, seeing that none of the arrogance they had once possessed as descendants of the Dahe Market Li clan remained on their faces, Luo Chen vaguely discerned the truth.
Perhaps they had simply been driven by harsh reality!
Sure enough, when Luo Chen asked where the Li family resided now, the other party replied,
"We are currently living at Mount Xiaoyun. If Senior Luo wishes to find our clan's ancestor, you may seek her at Mount Xiaoyun."
Mount Xiaoyun—a small hill containing meager spiritual energy.
Most importantly, that mountain was part of the Lianyun Mountain Range.
From this, it was clear that the Lianyun Merchant Alliance had provided the Li family with a place to stay.
Luo Chen shook his head; he had no desire to wade into these muddy waters.
Leaving behind the words, "Once Fellow Daoist Li returns, I shall catch up with her," he drifted away.
Watching Luo Chen's breezy departure, the cultivators of the Li family could not help but show looks of envy.
Nowadays, the Luotian Association's reputation was steadily rising within the immortal city.
The cultivators under its banner were all glowing with vigor, full of hope for the future.
Unlike them, scraping by from day to day.
What was more, they were constantly dispatched on missions fraught with mortal danger.
Who could be blamed for this?
Could they blame their clan ancestor, Li Yixian, for lacking capability?
Yet everyone knew she had already done her very best, going so far as to risk her life serving the precarious Lianyun Merchant Alliance just to carve out a place of cultivation for the Li family.
It could only be said that even among Foundation Establishment True Cultivators, there were vast gulfs!
***
Upon the wide street.
Streams of pedestrians flowed like woven silk, and flying boats shuttled back and forth like weavers' shuttles.
Over the past year or two, a new means of transportation had appeared in the immortal city.
It was a line of miniature flying boats launched by Wanbao Tower, coming in low, medium, and high grades.
Aside from flying, they could also glide overland inside the immortal city; once launched, they had become widely popular among the wealthy.
However, even among flying boats, there were vast gulfs!
A vessel like Luo Chen's Langqi Flying Boat was truly of supreme grade.
When expanded, it could carry over a thousand passengers.
When shrunk, it moved at blinding speed and possessed concealment arrays that kept passersby from catching a glimpse of anyone inside.
Even to this day, Wanbao Tower had not introduced a second Langqi Flying Boat.
Evidently, the maidservant's claim back then about it being specially crafted was indeed an exaggerated lie.
The Langqi Flying Boat had originally been forged according to magic treasure specifications; it was only because the refinement failed that it ended up as a supreme-grade magical artifact.
Cruising down the wide street, Luo Chen was still pondering the Li family's situation.
That transmission talisman from Li Yixian over a year ago had likely been sent when she was facing a difficult decision.
Unfortunately, he had been in closed-door cultivation at the time and hadn't received the message promptly.
Luo Chen sighed inwardly.
Everyone had their own path and fortune.
After journeying together to Tianlan Immortal City, their pact of mutual aid and standing together in advancement and retreat was considered complete.
Inviting her and Nangong Jin to bolster the Luotian Association's prestige that one time had already settled the favors Luo Chen had shown them along the road.
As for now...
The flying boat came to a sudden halt.
Luo Chen leaped out, and the vessel instantly shrank and was stowed into his storage bag.
This scene drew murmurs of astonishment from the surrounding cultivators.
Paying them no mind, he walked alone to the intersection.
"Which family do you cultivators belong to? Hand me a flyer!"
Indeed!
At the intersection, besides cultivators from Danxia Hall handing out flyers, others were distributing them as well.
Sensing Luo Chen's Foundation Establishment aura, the cultivator handing out flyers swallowed hard and gingerly presented one.
"We are cultivators of the Zheng family from Gunlong Ridge.
"Would Senior care to take a look at the medicinal pills refined by our Zheng family? Although they are all first-rank, it would certainly be wonderful if Senior were to purchase some for younger disciples.
"What is more, our Patriarch has personally intervened, and we can now stably supply superior-grade Fire Ganoderma Pills. These are exceptional pills!
"Our Patriarch, as a second-rank alchemist..."
As he spoke, the Zheng family cultivator grew increasingly bolder, even pitching sales directly.
Luo Chen cast him a surprised glance.
Such an enthusiastic display was quite rare!
In the past, he had only seen such fervor among the outer disciples trained by the Luotian Association.
He had not expected the Zheng family to go to such lengths.
He glanced briefly over the flyer; it was largely similar to the ones designed by the Luotian Association.
Even the reverse side had copied theirs faithfully, marking a route map to the Zheng family's pill shop.
"It seems the Zheng family has capable individuals as well!
"A second-rank alchemist... Zheng Kejian, is it?"
The corners of Luo Chen's mouth curled up slightly. The development of events was progressing entirely according to his expectations.
In fact, under the leadership of this wise patriarch Zheng Kejian, that pace had surged into a headlong sprint.
"That is fine too!
"Let us see who will truly have the last laugh!"
Chapter 247