Half a month later.
In front of the old cave abode halfway up the mountain.
Min Longyu stood at the entrance, his expression respectful.
Luo Chen looked at him in surprise. "Are you certain you don't want to change the incantation for the entry and exit arrays?"
Min Longyu nodded solemnly. "I trust you. Success or failure, the outcome will be revealed before long."
Seeing his resolute look, Luo Chen smiled slightly. "Very well, then I wish you success!"
Min Longyu gave an affirmative grunt, turned, and walked toward the cave abode.
As he strode inside, clouds and mist swelled, and the formations activated one after another.
When the massive dragon-severing stone dropped down, the cave abode was sealed shut.
Only Luo Chen, who knew the entry incantation, and the management of Tianlan Immortal City could open it.
Even for the latter, regulations dictated a grace period of one year after the lease expired before they were permitted to forcefully breach the door.
This was also a minor tactic for the Immortal City to amass wealth.
Cultivators in closed-door seclusion feared disturbance above all else.
If a cultivator did not want their secluded cultivation in a Tianlan Peak cave abode interrupted by the management because their lease had expired, their best option was to spend more spirit stones and lease it for a longer period all at once.
In this way, the Immortal City management naturally profited more.
Gazing at the dragon-severing stone, Luo Chen sighed inwardly.
He still had no certainty whether Min Longyu would succeed in reaching Foundation Establishment this time.
At least, however, he had done everything he ought to do.
Even Min Longyu's dust-covered original aspiration had been recovered under his "heart-questioning" methods.
If Min Longyu were still indecisive when breaking through to Foundation Establishment after all this, then the man truly was beyond saving.
Turning around, Luo Chen casually summoned a massive cloud.
"Let's go!"
Behind him, Qu Lingjun, Mi Li, Qiu Ying, and Ma Shoupu excitedly stepped onto the cloud.
All four were alchemists of the Luotian Association.
Qu Lingjun specialized in concocting Jade Marrow Pills.
Mi Li specialized in Myriad Wonders Pills.
Qiu Ying had become a deacon of the Pill Hall long ago, and through constant exposure, she had picked up many alchemy techniques.
Later, with Luo Chen's pointers and Mi Li's personal guidance, she had learned to concoct Fasting Powder.
As for Ma Shoupu, he was very young—only twenty-three.
He was the son of a Luotian Association cultivator who had fallen in battle.
When arrangements were being made for him afterward, he had taken the initiative to join the Pill Hall, starting out as a medicine apprentice.
Later, Qu Lingjun noticed that he had a real gift for understanding medicinal herbs, so during a pill concoction session, he recommended him to Luo Chen.
Believing that talent should not be buried, Luo Chen tested him and confirmed his remarkable talent in understanding and processing medicinal herbs.
Then, he assigned him a task:
Origin-Nourishing Spiritual Liquid!
After years of using it, Luo Chen had slightly optimized the formula.
The new Origin-Nourishing Spiritual Liquid had thirty percent greater efficacy than before.
Ma Shoupu's current job was to decoct the herbs purchased by the Medicine Hall into a "concentrated base."
These bases were then dispensed into small gourds and sold by the Gold Hall.
Once outside cultivators bought them, they didn't have to painstakingly decoct the ingredients themselves as Luo Chen had done in his early days.
They merely needed to add hot water, mix in the concentrated base, and enjoy their medicinal bath.
Boiling the concentrated base was not difficult and required very little alchemical skill; the main challenge lay in processing the herbs.
It demanded strict control over herbal proportions and precise judgment of their contained medicinal potency.
In this regard, Ma Shoupu was indeed remarkably gifted.
By now, he had gotten the hang of it.
When the mass-produced concentrated bases were sold, the revenue was even higher than that from Mi Li's Myriad Wonders Pills.
The reason the returns on Myriad Wonders Pills were so low was unavoidable.
Even when Luo Chen had concocted them himself back then, during the initial period he could only break even, let alone turn a profit.
Mi Li was still in the phase of "grinding proficiency."
Today was moving day.
Luo Chen brought the four along also because Shi Lan had informed him that the Tier 2 earth fire he required had been routed directly into the new cave abode.
To concoct pills with Tier 2 earth fire, preliminary preparations were indispensable.
The four could lend a hand when the time came.
Moreover, when Luo Chen concocted pills, they could watch from the side and learn a thing or two.
As the white cloud ascended, the figures of the five gradually grew indistinct.
Mi Li and Qiu Ying were older women with steadier temperaments.
Qu Lingjun had ridden on Luo Chen's clouds many times and was already used to it.
Young Ma Shoupu, however, was thrilled.
Gazing down at the scenery blurring beneath them, he exclaimed happily, "President, your spell is incredible! You can actually carry four or five people along in flight!"
"This is nothing. Once you reach Foundation Establishment in the future, you'll be able to do this as well."
Luo Chen smiled faintly, speaking modest words.
Inwardly, though, he was quite pleased with himself.
After all, back then even Miao Wen had been unable to carry Luo Chen in high-speed flight.
Miao Wen's realm at the time had been equivalent to Luo Chen's current one.
From this, one could see how vast the gap was between the two in their comprehension of spells and depth of spiritual power.
That gap was the fruit of Luo Chen's diligent cultivation.
Their chatter did not last long.
Before long, Luo Chen steered the white cloud toward a broad mountain terrace.
Spreading before their eyes was at least a full mu of spiritual farmland.
It was planted with numerous exotic flowers and herbs, giving off a rich fragrance.
"It's a Tier 2 spiritual field, Master!" Qu Lingjun pointed at the farmland and gasped.
Luo Chen smiled faintly. This was standard for a high-grade cave abode.
Aside from the most crucial benefit—doubled spiritual energy density—it also came with one mu of Tier 2 spiritual land.
The internal area of the cave abode was far greater than that of a low-grade one.
If nothing else, if a cultivator made good use of this mu of spiritual land, over ten years they could earn a tidy sum of spirit stones to offset the cost.
Of course, Tianlan Immortal City never ran a losing business.
A Tier 2 high-grade cave abode cost forty-eight thousand spirit stones a year, with a ten-year minimum lease!
Moreover, unlike the low-grade and mid-grade cave abodes, it offered no two-month discount policy.
Ordinary cultivators could not afford a high-grade cave abode at all.
The group did not linger. Lowering the cloud, they walked toward the cave abode.
Yet before they drew close, they heard arguing from within.
Luo Chen halted.
"It's not that I'm refusing to renew my lease! I'm just tight on funds. Can't you give me a couple of days' grace?"
"Senior Ling, I've already given you a full half-month of grace!"
"How about this! I truly cannot produce four hundred and eighty thousand all at once right now. Can I pay one year's rent first—forty-eight thousand—no, how about fifty thousand! Once my funds loosen up, I'll pay the remainder."
"Senior Ling, rules are rules. Please don't make things difficult for a Qi Refining junior like me."
...
"Hmph!"
A cold huff sounded, signaling the breakdown of the negotiation.
A figure stormed out angrily.
Right away, she noticed Luo Chen.
"It's you!"
"You're the one leasing Cave Abode Yi-17?"
Luo Chen smiled faintly and cupped his hands. "Fellow Daoist Ling Yuzhi, long time no see."
This woman was none other than the female cultivator who had allowed them to tour her cave abode when Luo Chen and his companions first arrived at Tianlan Immortal City seeking a lease.
Ling Yuzhi, a cultivator at the sixth level of Foundation Establishment.
Ling Yuzhi naturally recognized Luo Chen as well.
Her impression of him was exceptionally vivid.
Back when he was inquiring about cave abodes, he had put on airs, acting like a big shot when he wasn't.
At the time, she had simply considered him a bumpkin.
Yet half a month ago at the Binglan Palace banquet, he had been granted an audience by a Golden Core Master of Ice Fort.
She had witnessed that scene with her own eyes.
To think that in the end, it was this very "bumpkin" she had looked down upon who had snatched her cave abode.
Ling Yuzhi's face turned pale and green by turns. In the end, she flicked her sleeves and stormed off.
It was all the misery that poverty brings.
Only after she departed did Shi Lan cautiously step out.
"Senior Luo, here is the new cave abode token. The basic Tier 2 formations have all been reconfigured. From now on, Cave Abode Yi-17 belongs to you."
Taking the token, Luo Chen weighed it in his hand.
Shi Lan explained beside him, "This token can split off nine minor tokens for your relatives and friends to enter and exit Tianlan Peak. The exact method of operation is identical to the previous low-grade cave abode token."
Luo Chen nodded, then handed over two storage bags.
"This is my rent for two years. Please count it."
Two years' rent—why split it into two bags?
Shi Lan froze for a moment, but then saw Luo Chen wink at her.
Instantly, she caught his drift!
A bit shyly, Shi Lan stealthily transferred the spirit stones from one of the bags into her own storage bag.
During the process, she counted them slightly, and her eyes practically sparkled.
A full four thousand spirit stones!
This was entirely separate from her commission, belonging to her alone.
Senior Luo is so generous!
As for the other storage bag, it held ninety-six thousand spirit stones for the two years of rent.
Taking a little time, Shi Lan transferred them over before returning the two storage bags to Luo Chen.
"Senior, everything is in order."
"The Tier 2 earth fire you requested has already been channeled up."
"I've also placed the top-grade cauldron inside just now. You can use it for pill concoction at any time."
"Also, do you need any cleaning done? I can do it for you for free!"
Luo Chen smiled. "No need. I brought people along, so there's no need to trouble you."
Shi Lan glanced at the companions beside him and nodded in understanding.
"All right!"
"In that case, I'll head back to report my task."
Waving her hand, the young girl cheerfully skipped away from the excavated cave abode grounds.
Watching her jubilant departing back, Qu Lingjun stepped forward and couldn't resist asking, "Master, you're a Foundation Establishment True Cultivator. Why be so polite to a Qi Refining cultivator?"
"Polite" was naturally not just surface politeness, but Luo Chen's gesture of slipping her a benefit.
Their interaction had not been hidden from Qu Lingjun and the others.
With a faint smile playing at the corners of his lips, Luo Chen said mildly, "Politeness naturally has its necessity, and politeness naturally brings its benefits."
Turning around, he looked at the massive cave abode gleaming with light.
"Do you think no one wants to lease prime spiritual land like this?"
Qu Lingjun asked in confusion, "Didn't Senior Ling run out of money?"
"She ran out, but that doesn't mean others have." Luo Chen walked inside, and the others hurried to follow.
As he walked, Luo Chen continued:
"There are plenty of eyes on Tianlan Peak's Tier 2 high-grade cave abodes!"
"After all, this is prime spiritual land where the spiritual energy density is doubled, capable of greatly accelerating cultivation speed."
"We've been in Tianlan Immortal City for barely three years at most. Even with an advance reservation, we would have been queued behind many others."
"Yet I was the one who snatched this cave abode first."
"Do you understand the reasoning behind that?"
Hearing these words, Qu Lingjun fell into deep thought.
Elders like Mi Li and Qiu Ying, however, had already understood.
Yet they kept silent; clearly, Luo Chen was fulfilling his duty as a master, teaching his disciple by example.
There was actually more unsaid in Luo Chen's words.
Securing this high-grade cave abode in advance was partly due to Shi Lan's help, of course, but it was also because Fairy Jueqing held him in high regard.
If nothing else, high-grade cave abodes required a ten-year minimum lease, and the rent had to be paid in full up front.
It was precisely for this reason that Ling Yuzhi had been unable to bear that massive sum of spirit stones and was driven out against her will.
Yet clearly, Luo Chen could not produce that full sum on short notice either; he had only paid two years' rent.
Why was Ling Yuzhi forbidden while he was permitted?
That was where Fairy Jueqing's influence came into play.
And all of this, in turn, stemmed from Luo Chen's alchemical skill.
In the end, conducting oneself in the world was one aspect, but one's own capability was another.
While Qu Lingjun's cultivation realm was low, his strength amounted to very little.
Hence, before cultivating, one had to learn how to conduct oneself.
Otherwise, even if one became powerful later on, one would still find every step difficult in the cultivation world.
There was no need to spell these things out too deeply.
Once Qu Lingjun's realm advanced in the future, he would naturally understand.
Upon entering the cave abode, a warm, overpowering floral fragrance washed over them.
Luo Chen frowned slightly.
Right before the four, he swept his wide sleeves!
Gusts of spiritual wind howled forth, sweeping into room after room and stripping away all of those scents.
Cleansing Art! Cleansing Art!
It had always been capable of removing odors.
"All right, I've cleared the smell. Go tidy up the rooms!"
"Yes, Master!"
"President, I'm on it."
The four took tools from their storage bags and set to cleaning the rooms.
With every room cleaned, they retrieved furniture specially crafted for Luo Chen on Sima Huiniang's orders:
Antique-style bookshelves, sandalwood tables and chairs, incense burners, a spacious bed, bowls and chopsticks, brushes, ink, paper, inkstones...
Before long, this cave abode would be transformed and become Luo Chen's new home.
While they were busy, Luo Chen strolled into the pill chamber!
Instantly, a massive white cauldron came into view.
Reaching out, Luo Chen gently stroked the patterns on the white cauldron as though caressing the tender skin of a lover.
His gaze was filled with deep tenderness, and his breathing grew warm.
A peak-grade cauldron—the Ice Emperor Cauldron!
A cauldron forged using Ice Fort's Tier 4 spiritual material, Ten-Thousand-Year Profound Ice, as the primary ingredient.
Originally, the intention had been to craft a magic-treasure-grade cauldron, but owing to the nature of the Ten-Thousand-Year Profound Ice material, the attempt had failed.
Yet even as a failure, as a magical artifact dedicated purely to pill concoction, this Ice Emperor Cauldron was a treasure of the highest order.
In fact, because its function was singular, its assisting boost to alchemy was scarcely inferior to multifunctional cauldron-type magic treasures.
Compared to high-grade artifact cauldrons below the peak grade, it outclassed them by far.
Take Luo Chen's Four Symbols Cauldron, for instance.
It could only process four batches of ingredients at a time—at most five if pushed to the absolute limit.
Moreover, controlling it was exceedingly complex.
The reason was that the Four Symbols Cauldron had too many functions; when it came to concocting pills, one frequently had to switch control incantations and hand seals.
The Ice Emperor Cauldron was different.
It could process a full ten batches of raw ingredients at once.
Controlling it was also remarkably simple, because every single array engraved upon it was an auxiliary formation directly related to alchemy:
A Tier 2 Fire Conversion Array, a Tier 2 Flourishing Wood Array, a Tier 2 Pill Stabilizing Array, and the sole Tier 3 formation—the Cloud Gathering Array.
This "cloud gathering" was not like gathering ordinary clouds.
As was commonly known, any pill of recognized grade would form pill patterns.
Because the lines of pill patterns closely resembled ethereal clouds and mist, pill patterns were also known as cloud patterns.
This Tier 3 Cloud Gathering Array possessed the marvelous effect of condensing cloud patterns.
If used to concoct pills, its efficiency would far surpass any cauldron or furnace he had ever used!
Truly, this was the cauldron of Luo Chen's dreams!
Chapter 262