Counting his earlier concoction of Emperor Flowing Liquid using the blazing cloud roc, this attempt with the frost demon wolf was his second time.
Yet Luo Chen felt no anxiety.
First, he already had a successful attempt behind him.
Second, his current alchemical attainment far surpassed what it had once been.
After half a month of effort, he obtained three portions of finished Emperor Flowing Liquid.
Looking at those three portions of Emperor Flowing Liquid, Luo Chen was very satisfied.
Perhaps from these three, another Foundation Establishment True Cultivator might be born.
Leaving the alchemy chamber, Luo Chen called Bai Meiling over.
"Has anyone come looking for me recently?"
Bai Meiling scratched her head. "No. Aside from Director-General Sima occasionally sending people over with summaries from the Luotian Association, nobody has come."
Luo Chen frowned.
He would naturally take the time to read the Luotian Association's summaries.
However, regarding the Ice Fort...
Surprisingly, there was truly no movement whatsoever.
Could it be that Shi Boying had still not discovered that medium-grade Jade Dew Pill?
*Though she is advanced in age, she clearly has not given up on cultivation. That much was obvious from the increasingly dense ripples of spiritual power around her each time I saw her.*
*Is it that the time has not yet come for her to use that bottle of pills?*
Under normal circumstances, an ordinary Foundation Establishment True Cultivator would find it difficult to discern the realm of someone at the same stage without actively releasing their divine sense or casting a spiritual eye technique.
Yet this limitation did not apply to Luo Chen.
Leaving aside his divine soul foundation, which far exceeded Shi Boying's, the Spirit Eye Art had taken root in his eyes, allowing him to cast the technique subtly and effortlessly.
It was practically a passive skill by now.
Thus, he could easily detect her progress in cultivation.
Shi Boying must have used the Jade Dew Pills he had sent her in the past herself.
Otherwise, her cultivation could not have progressed so quickly!
*Am I being too impatient?*
Shaking his head, Luo Chen suppressed the anxious feelings in his heart.
He should not be in a rush.
Right now, he was not truly short on spirit stones.
Even after privately purchasing a massive amount of ingredients to brew Emperor Flowing Liquid, he still had around a hundred thousand in savings on his person.
Furthermore, should the need arise, he could withdraw several hundred thousand in liquid funds from the Luotian Association at any time.
He was simply looking too far ahead.
Collecting his thoughts, Luo Chen enjoyed a hearty dinner and then entered the quiet chamber to cultivate.
Cultivation was a matter of slow, steady grinding.
As long as no other matters tied him down, he would not slacken for a single day.
***
The next day.
Luo Chen retrieved the corpse of the extreme cold ice toad from his storage bag.
Looking at the carcass covered in white pustules, Luo Chen frowned.
The reason he had saved this creature for last was not because of its value, but because the corpse was rather difficult to process. Those pustules all contained lethal poison.
Even as a Foundation Establishment cultivator, he would suffer severely if he accidentally came into contact with it.
"This kind of demon beast isn't especially powerful, but it's utterly disgusting. Even among the same Tier 2 rank, human Foundation Establishment cultivators find them tricky to deal with.
"Probably only a Golden Core master could kill one without sustaining injury!"
Low-tier demon beasts were often left to the mercy of others. But upon reaching the Tier 2 beast general rank, a demon beast developed sentience.
Forming a monster core and wielding demon qi were merely standard capabilities.
The stronger ones would utilize their racial advantages, making them no weaker than a normal Foundation Establishment True Cultivator.
And if a demon beast possessed bloodline inheritances, human cultivators of the same tier would have to detour around them.
Luo Chen spat out his sword pill, splitting the sword light to cautiously cut into the carcass along the seams between the white pustules.
At some point, Bai Meiling drifted over.
Seeing Luo Chen's cautious and clumsy handling, she tentatively asked, "How about... let me do it?"
Luo Chen looked at her, puzzled.
Bai Meiling said, "I possess a yin soul body and do not fear this lethal poison. As long as I have a suitable dharma artifact, I can process it much faster."
Seeing her confidence, Luo Chen did not hesitate and immediately let her try her hand.
Wielding yin qi, Bai Meiling controlled a high-grade flying dagger and began slicing swiftly around the enormous ice toad carcass.
Her practiced motions were noticeably superior to Luo Chen's.
Witnessing this, Luo Chen could not help but sigh with relief.
He had forgotten that back when Bai Meiling was at Hundred Herbs Hall, she must have handled the butchering of demon beast carcasses. After all, many medicinal ingredients in the cultivation world were derived from demon beast parts.
Seeing that she had gotten the hang of it without any danger, Luo Chen set his mind at ease and went to prepare the other auxiliary ingredients.
From beginning to end, Luo Chen never entrusted the brewing of Emperor Flowing Liquid to anyone other than Xiao Ling at his side.
Not even the purchase of the materials!
This matter could never be brought to light.
Outsiders must never know of it!
Amid such busyness, a month flew by.
Inside the alchemy chamber, Luo Chen looked up above the Ice Emperor Cauldron.
Wisps of golden liquid trickled and flowed like spiritual fluid cascading from the stars.
Without hesitation, he cast the Traction Art, drawing the golden fluid into three large jade bottles.
With a flick of a hand seal, he extinguished the Tier 2 earth fire he had channeled.
He stepped into the clean, refreshing parlor.
Inhaling the medicinal fragrance from the jade bottles, Luo Chen's spirits instantly lifted.
The quality of this batch of Emperor Flowing Liquid was considerably better than the previous two!
He carefully dabbed a single drop and tasted it.
A surge of potent yet gentle medicinal power slowly spread through him.
"This medicinal efficacy!"
Luo Chen's eyes lit up instantly.
"It's more than fifty percent stronger than the earlier Emperor Flowing Liquid!"
Upon savoring it carefully, however, Luo Chen's expression abruptly shifted.
A trace of extremely cold and yin qi began coursing erratically through his body.
Without hesitation, he circulated the Pure Source Marvelous Alchemy Method to expel that qi from his body.
"Mystic Yin energy?"
Luo Chen's expression fluctuated.
He had not expected the Mystic Yin energy within the extreme cold ice toad's core to be so overbearing once integrated into the Emperor Flowing Liquid.
No wonder the previous nine attempts had all failed, with only the final attempt barely succeeding.
Calming his mind, Luo Chen began evaluating the three portions of Emperor Flowing Liquid.
The medicinal potency far surpassed ordinary low-grade Emperor Flowing Liquid; one could imagine that during Foundation Establishment, it would provide an even greater boost to the success rate.
Just these three portions were already comparable to a normal low-grade Foundation Establishment Pill!
Yet the drawback was equally glaring.
Because of the presence of that Mystic Yin energy, male cultivators with masculine constitutions could never use it. Otherwise, it would definitely have an adverse effect during Foundation Establishment.
Female cultivators, on the other hand, might be able to use this wisp of Mystic Yin energy to break through the barrier and force a breakthrough to Foundation Establishment.
While he was lost in thought, Bai Meiling had already entered the parlor.
Her wide eyes were fixed on the air, her small mouth open as though she were gulping down large mouthfuls of something.
Noticing this, Luo Chen was utterly astonished.
"Are you absorbing that wisp of Mystic Yin energy?"
*Burp...*
Bai Meiling gave a small burp, as if stuffed.
Dazedly, she asked, "What energy?"
Visibly to the naked eye, her aura had grown several fractions stronger than before.
A look of delight surfaced on Luo Chen's face.
All along, Bai Meiling's cultivation had relied solely on bitter, unassisted meditation.
Later, she had acquired the Soul Gathering Banner, but due to her cultivation realm, she could not fully control it and drew very little support from it.
Luo Chen had also never heard of any pills that could aid ghost cultivators.
He had not expected to make such a discovery today.
He took out a large jade bottle. "Xiao Ling, try to see if you can use this spiritual fluid."
Curious, Bai Meiling took it.
"No need to rush. Take it slow. Even if you cannot absorb it in one go, absorbing a little bit every day is good."
Bai Meiling nodded.
Using the Secret Records of Ghosts and Spirits to convert spiritual qi into yin qi was truly rather inefficient.
If she had suitable pills to assist her, perhaps she could take another step forward!
Watching Bai Meiling cradle the jade bottle and slip into the Soul Gathering Banner, anticipation welled up in Luo Chen's heart.
At present, he possessed two ghosts: Xiao Ling and Xiao Hei.
Xiao Hei was more powerful, boasting combat strength at the ghost general rank.
Yet his intelligence had not awakened, and he fought purely by instinct.
In comparison, he provided far less versatile help than Xiao Ling could.
If Bai Meiling's realm could advance, she would be able to assist him much better in the future.
After settling these matters, Luo Chen turned his attention to cracking Fei Changqiu's storage bag and refining the Blood Fiend Pill for Wang Yuan.
The latter tested his alchemical expertise.
He had ample confidence in that regard.
However, considering how scarce and precious the Underworld Yin Fiend was, he had to make thorough preparations before beginning the refinement. Wasting the Underworld Yin Fiend would be far from ideal.
As for the former...
That was also something he had to do.
Not for Fei Changqiu's estate, but for the Foundation Establishment Pill inside!
He did not pray for many; having even a single one would be wonderful.
As long as he had one, he would possess a cover story to conceal the existence of the Emperor Flowing Liquid from the outside world.
Fei Changqiu had been at the fourth layer of Foundation Establishment, and the divine sense imprint on his storage bag was far stronger than those of Duan Qiankun and Wang Haichao, whom Luo Chen had unsealed in the past.
Yet the present Luo Chen was also nothing like before!
Through years of tempering, his divine soul foundation had already crossed a minor threshold, reaching the late Foundation Establishment stage.
In addition, he had grown familiar with numerous restrictions laid with spirit stones.
Unsealing Fei Changqiu's storage bag would not take very long.
According to Luo Chen's estimate, he would be able to open it in a few months at most.
A few months?
The Luotian Association could afford to wait, and so could he!
***
At dawn.
Luo Chen walked out of his cave abode and came beneath the decently sized Warm Sun Wood in the spirit field.
At this moment, the mountain morning breeze was damp against his face.
The tree shade swayed beside him, and wisps of gentle spiritual qi seeped into Luo Chen's body.
The perfect-tier Ageless Evergreen Scripture not only yielded extraordinary results during active cultivation, but also retained the fine traits of his past consummate Eternal Spring Art and consummate Yimu Medicine King Scripture.
For example, automatic qi regeneration and the refinement of spiritual power.
Therefore, when he was not in fierce combat, the spiritual power within his body was always brimful.
The process of spiritual power liquefaction slowly progressed even when he did not actively drive it.
"It truly is the core cultivation art of a Nascent Soul supreme sect!"
"Earlier, I thought the cultivation speed hadn't increased much, but in reality, there is still a slight improvement."
Luo Chen murmured with emotion and retrieved a thick booklet.
It was not a manual of spell techniques, nor an alchemical classic, nor a compendium of cultivation world lore.
It was the *Luotian Summary*.
Recorded within were the major events taking place in the Luotian Association.
This book existed in triplicate: one copy kept in the library pavilion, one with Sima Huiniang, and one with Luo Chen.
Usually, Sima Huiniang's copy and Luo Chen's would be constantly exchanged, allowing Luo Chen to understand the general state of the Luotian Association without stepping outside his door.
Opening the *Luotian Summary*, Luo Chen read through it attentively.
The restructuring was proceeding in an orderly fashion.
The framework of the Nine Halls of Luotian had largely been established.
Except for the Spirit Beast Hall, the hall masters of the various halls had basically been decided.
The Combat Hall, which had previously given Sima Huiniang a headache, had also set up its structure.
Hall Master Sima Xian, Law Enforcement Elder Zhou Yuanli, and Luowang Elder Su Xiaolin.
Luowang was the alias for the intelligence department, drawing its name from the phrase *heaven's net, earth's mesh*.
With these three as the backbone, the hall integrated the former Battle Hall, Law Enforcement Hall, and the sharp, agile members of the association to reconstitute the Combat Hall.
Seeing this personnel arrangement, Luo Chen could not help but nod.
Sima Huiniang had, after all, avoided the appearance of impropriety.
Even though she had still appointed her elder brother as Hall Master of the Combat Hall, the two most critical departments beneath him were staffed by Luo Chen's personally elevated confidants.
In addition, Sima Huiniang had taken the initiative to appoint Qin Liangchen as Hall Master of the Glow Hall.
The Glow Hall was the alias for the Outer Sect.
The name was taken from the *xia* in Danxia, forming a complementary inner-outer layout with the association's most vital Pill Hall.
Murong Qinglian had held reservations about this decision, but under Sima Huiniang's firm insistence, the appointment was ultimately approved.
Qin Liangchen himself had no objection.
On the contrary, he was more than happy to retire to the Outer Sect.
As for the hall masters of the other halls, they were all people familiar to Luo Chen.
Even Wang Yuan had been assigned by Sima Huiniang to the position of Hall Master of the Mantra Transmission Hall.
In Sima Huiniang's words, Wang Yuan already loved studying all kinds of cultivation methods and had developed many unique spells. From now on, all cultivation manuals of the Luotian Association would be placed under his care, accessible to him at any time.
This was making full use of resources and giving free rein to everyone's talents!
Wang Yuan had no objections and had instead shown genuine pleasure.
Aside from the restructuring, Sima Huiniang had also spent a substantial sum to purchase an exotic dharma artifact from Wanbao Tower that could test spiritual roots: the spirit-testing disk!
With this as the core, paired with Min Longyu's formations, they could lay down the spirit-testing formation common to sects.
This move was naturally preparation for the higher-ups of the Luotian Association to accept disciples in the future.
Such inheritances certainly would not fall upon the veteran members who had already accomplished much in their cultivation. Instead, they would be directed toward the younger generation.
In the summary, Sima Huiniang noted the criteria for spirit testing: under twenty-five years of age!
"Usually, large sects set their spirit-testing requirements under sixteen years of age.
"She is adapting to local conditions and relaxing the restrictions somewhat.
"This is good as well!"
Approving of Sima Huiniang's approach, Luo Chen continued reading.
Next came the single most important affair currently facing the Luotian Association.
Recruitment!
The Luotian Association had begun recruiting long ago, and had specifically established the Outer Sect for this purpose.
Ever since the war ended, Sima Huiniang had intensified these efforts, recruiting individuals of clean background on a grand scale.
The Luotian Association especially welcomed loose cultivators with specialized skills.
Unlike before, when it had taken several years to scrape together a hundred loose cultivators, this time only a single month was spent to recruit another hundred.
And that was under strict vetting.
If they opened the floodgates, even four or five hundred would not have been enough to cap it!
According to Sima Huiniang's estimate, in half a year, the Luotian Association would reach a tally of a thousand members.
At that point, recruitment could be slowed down.
The reason for such pleasing results was not complicated.
During this recent chaos, the Luotian Association had simply been too prominent.
Striking out in all directions, their spoils had been boundless. Even late Foundation Establishment cultivators had to give them face.
Most importantly, the name 'Fire Spirit Lord' held immense appeal for loose cultivators.
Not only was he immensely powerful, but his reputation was exceptionally good.
Particularly under Sima Huiniang's publicity, the association leader, Fire Spirit Lord, was said to love fostering young, promising talents most of all.
The Luotian Association's four current Foundation Establishment cultivators—Wang Yuan, Min Longyu, Duan Feng, and Sima Huiniang herself—had all been brought up by Fire Spirit Lord's own hands.
Originally, none of them had possessed remarkable aptitude, yet now all of them were glorious Foundation Establishment True Cultivators.
As long as you were willing to join the Luotian Association, you would have the chance to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with them in the future.
Faced with such temptation, few loose cultivators could resist.
Looking at the detailed descriptions in the summary, Luo Chen felt both amused and exasperated.
Huiniang truly maximized every single resource to the utmost!
Even his own reputation, while he stayed indoors, was put on display as a signpost to draw high-quality loose cultivators.
*Still, this is fine.*
*The previous handful of cultivators couldn't sustain our growing number of Foundation Establishment True Cultivators anyway.*
*If we can assemble a thousand members, with none merely making up the numbers, it will be just enough.*
*As for more?*
*It shouldn't exceed three thousand. After all, lacking a Golden Core cultivator to hold down the fort, having too many people invites censure.*
Luo Chen had also gained a rough understanding of the composition of Tianlan Immortal City's top powers.
If one spoke of sheer numbers, the foremost a decade ago was undoubtedly the Lianyun Merchant Alliance.
They claimed over a dozen Foundation Establishment True Cultivators and nearly ten thousand Qi Refinement cultivators under their banner!
In reality, here in Tianlan, they kept only around three thousand Qi Refinement cultivators. The rest were dispatched to the businesses across various market towns.
They, too, had clearly given careful consideration to this matter.
Time flowed by.
The mist dispersed as the morning sun rose.
By the time Luo Chen finished reading the *Luotian Summary*, the hour had reached late morning.
Just as he prepared to stand, his heart stirred.
"They've come after all!"
"And here I thought you could remain so composed."
Luo Chen smiled faintly, and the book in his hand was replaced with the *Shanghu Alchemy Exposition*.
Chapter 304