Pills were divided into nine tiers. The first three were commonly known as miraculous spirit elixirs.
From Tier 4 onward, due to their majestic and wondrous medicinal properties, they were known as Golden Pills.
Even if one reached the dizzying heights of Tier 9, it could still be called a Nine-Revolutions Golden Pill!
Among these many tiers, only Tier 5 pills were distinctly unique, carrying the symbolism of the "divine and sacred."
Whether called divine pills or sacred medicines, they contained the fortune and creation of heaven and earth.
For this reason, a certain being in the Central Plains of the Mountain Sea Realm was known as the Alchemy Saint—simply because that venerable figure could concoct Tier 5 sacred medicines.
When he first stepped onto the alchemical path, Luo Chen had indulged in countless fantasies, even boldly declaring that one day he would stand shoulder to shoulder with the Alchemy Saint.
Yet back then, it had only been arrogant boastfulness.
He had never imagined that a day would come when he would truly attempt such a monumental feat.
However, feats were called feats precisely because ordinary people could never accomplish them.
One month later.
Atop the isolated peak, an explosive roar erupted from within the Hunyuan Cauldron.
Fierce medicinal potency burst through the confines of the pill restrictions, sending a circular shockwave sweeping in all directions.
Boom!
Luo Chen whipped his sleeves violently, fanning away most of the impact, but the residual shockwave that slammed into him still flung him hundreds of zhang away.
Above the ground, protective armor flared to life; the Xuanchen Armor had spontaneously generated a barrier of qi armor, blocking the brunt of the shockwave.
Luo Chen flew back slowly, his expression grim.
Failure had arrived faster than he had anticipated.
And the nature of this failure was even harder to accept.
A mistake had occurred during the very first phase: decomposing and merging the medicinal ingredients.
The primary ingredient, the Yaochen Vermilion Fruit, though not sentient, contained an incomparably pure energy—and it was precisely that energy that had resisted his refinement.
Approaching the Hunyuan Cauldron, Luo Chen waved his sleeve to disperse the nauseating stench of scorched pill residue and stepped directly inside the cauldron.
Moments later, he emerged cupping a large pile of charred medicinal dross.
Spreading it across a jade slab prepared in advance on the ground, Luo Chen studied it meticulously.
Several days later, his expression relaxed slightly.
"The technique and steps were correct; the issue lay in the minute details."
"Indeed, since the system initiated my mastery, it must have deemed that I possess the ability to successfully concoct it. I will likely need to ponder these details with extreme care."
Luo Chen sank into deep thought.
...
Half a month later, concoction resumed.
This time, Luo Chen slowed down the process of decomposing and melting the ingredients considerably.
Not only that, but he also activated his Spirit Eyes to their fullest, determined not to let even the slightest detail escape his notice.
It had to be said that the Spirit Eye Art, cultivated to Great Perfection in his youth, had played an immense role throughout Luo Chen's cultivation journey. Whether in formations, alchemy, meditation, or combat, it had repeatedly demonstrated wondrous efficacy.
Now, as he concocted a Tier 5 divine pill, it lent wings to the tiger.
In this manner, it took Luo Chen three full months just to barely succeed in the first step.
The cost of this accomplishment was swollen, bloodshot eyes.
Once the concoction of the Law Derivation Pill began, the process could not be interrupted.
Despite the strain on his eyes, Luo Chen pushed through into the subsequent phases.
The concoction technique for this pill was not a conventional single method, but a combination of three methods: water and fire aiding one another, capped off with the qi method to conclude the process.
Fire alchemy was Luo Chen's specialty.
As for water alchemy, having concocted Emperor Flowing Liquid and Black Emperor Paste over the years, he could perform it effortlessly.
Thus, everything proceeded smoothly and naturally.
Three months later, Luo Chen was brimming with anticipation.
"The medicinal fusion is just one step away. Next comes the qi method, using the Qi Manipulation Art."
Just then, with a momentary lapse in concentration, a low hum echoed from within the cauldron.
"This..."
Even in his astonishment, Luo Chen realized something had gone wrong.
Sure enough, within his perception, the pill inside had failed to form properly, unable to absorb qi or gather spiritual essence.
"At the very doorstep! Just one step away!"
Luo Chen ground his teeth, filled with bitter reluctance.
Yet no matter how bitter the frustration, he had to swallow it down.
Scouring the cauldron, gathering the residue, examining the ruined pill, reflecting on his mistakes—this century-old familiar routine was carried out step by step, without the slightest impatience.
When it came to starting over from scratch, he was more seasoned than anyone.
...
Still upon that isolated summit.
Fifteen years had passed since Luo Chen entered the Land of the Fallen Demon. Fourteen years since he entered the Alchemy Realm. Two years since he stepped into the fifth trial.
And more than a year had passed since he began attempting to concoct the Law Derivation Pill.
Over this year and more, he had opened the cauldron and attempted concoction seven times.
Seven times, every single one a failure!
Each failure stemmed from a different cause.
Sometimes the primary ingredient was mishandled; sometimes the medicinal fusion was slightly off; at other times, prolonged tension led to a momentary lapse in focus, causing an irrecoverable mistake; and once, depleted magic power caused an improper transition between his Golden Core and primal core, abruptly halting the process.
In the most severe instance, a fully formed Law Derivation Pill actually exploded, its terrifyingly turbulent medicinal energy violently rattling the Hunyuan Cauldron.
Had the Hunyuan Cauldron's material not been exceptional, that single explosion would have shattered any ordinary Magic Treasure-grade cauldron to pieces.
Although the fifth trial had spare alchemical implements left behind by the Heaven Refining Demon Lord, Luo Chen remained accustomed to his own lifebound Magic Treasure.
And that most catastrophic failure had occurred not long ago.
Luo Chen had spent more than half a month recuperating, not only restoring his magic power but also refining and nurturing the Hunyuan Cauldron.
Sitting cross-legged on the mountain peak, he continued to reflect.
He reflected not only on the causes of past failures, but also took stock of his alchemical gains over the past year.
Concocting across realms, even in failure, yielded immense rewards for him.
First and foremost, the spirituality of the Wither-Bloom Fire Spirit had grown increasingly vibrant!
With a thought, a flame sprouted from atop his head, eventually shaping into an azure fire tree.
As the fire tree swayed, it spat flames and branched out into slender boughs.
Flames diffused outward like an azure canopy, draping down in wisps to envelop Luo Chen's head.
Feeling the vibrant vitality of the fire tree, Luo Chen could not help feeling delighted.
After devouring vast quantities of sourceless fire spirits in the Blazing Purgatory, the spirituality of the Wither-Bloom True Fire had surged, but controlling that amplified fire had been strenuous for Luo Chen, leaving its might insufficiently concentrated.
Now, through over a decade of concocting in the Alchemy Realm—and particularly through concocting the Law Derivation Pill—Luo Chen's mastery over the Wither-Bloom True Fire had gradually returned to being effortless, responsive to his every whim.
Forming an incantation gesture, he lightly swept the branches of the fire tree downward.
Ripples spread across the void.
Seeing this, Luo Chen was exceedingly satisfied.
"This is the true might of my Wither-Bloom True Fire!"
"If I faced the Shark Sovereign Liu Jun now, even without the geographic advantage of the Blazing Purgatory, relying on the Wither-Bloom True Fire alone would give me a forty-sixty fighting chance. Against ordinary Nascent Soul True Lords, the Wither-Bloom True Fire would be a formidable trump card!"
Releasing the seal, the azure fire tree sank back into Luo Chen's body.
And this was merely the first gain.
The second gain lay within Luo Chen's qi sea.
Two golden cores—one crimson and one pure white—resonated like the dual polarities of Taiji, rotating incessantly.
As the Heavenly Phoenix Nirvana Scripture circulated, the two currents of magic power flowed in and out in unison, or surged forth independently from their respective cores.
This seamless, harmonious output of magic power was precisely the harvest Luo Chen reaped from that earlier failure in core transitions.
In the past, he had never paid attention to this flaw.
Once the magic power of the second primal core was exhausted, he simply switched to his lifebound Golden Core; why bother worrying about seamless transitions?
It was only through that failure that he altered how magic power flowed between the two cores, finally achieving seamless unity.
From then on, though his lifebound Golden Core and second primal core maintained a distinction between primary and secondary, in essence there was no longer any difference between them.
If Luo Chen could advance to the Nascent Soul stage, he was exceedingly confident that, following the Origin Core Art Han Zhan had taught him, he could condense a second Nascent Soul!
When that time came, even as a newly minted Nascent Soul cultivator, Luo Chen would possess formidable combat strength.
At the very least, he would be no weaker than Han Zhan's former Nascent Soul puppet!
The third gain was his lifebound Magic Treasure, the Hunyuan Cauldron!
Seven attempts at concocting the Law Derivation Pill, seven failures. Between each failure, the Hunyuan Cauldron had suffered minor damage to varying degrees.
After Luo Chen nurtured and repaired it, he unconsciously noticed that the Hunyuan Cauldron showed signs of advancing further.
He even discovered that its suppression and capture capabilities had multiplied!
After careful analysis, Luo Chen vaguely sensed that the materials from the Law Derivation Pill had been absorbed by the Hunyuan Cauldron, prompting this transformation.
At this point, Luo Chen hardly knew whether the cauldron was refining the pill or the pill was refining the cauldron.
After this period of self-reflection, Luo Chen returned to the present.
He sighed softly.
"No matter how many gains I make, what does it matter?"
"Until the Law Derivation Pill is completed, it is all in vain!"
"Will I succeed next time?"
For a moment, he was not even certain whether the system rule he had summarized in his early years—that one success was guaranteed within ten attempts—would still trigger.
Simply because a Tier 5 divine pill lay completely beyond the scope of his alchemical understanding.
With this apprehensive and humble mindset, Luo Chen began his eighth attempt atop the isolated peak.
And this time, it was as if the gods themselves aided him!
...
The moment the pill took shape, Luo Chen felt a wave of relief, yet dared not let his guard down in the slightest.
Although the pill had formed, ninety li was merely the halfway mark on a hundred-li journey.
The step of drawing qi into the pill remained.
Following his predetermined plan, he cast the Qi Manipulation Art.
Instantly, currents of air surged in from all directions like raging dragons!
Under Luo Chen's rapidly shifting hand seals, these spiritual qi dragons plunged into the Hunyuan Cauldron, where they were absorbed one by one by the Law Derivation Pill in varied sequences.
Luo Chen's thoughts churned with emotion.
"According to the pill recipe, this concluding phase takes only three months. After three months, the pill will be complete!"
Holding his breath and focusing his mind, the two golden cores within him steadily released magic power, aiding him in channeling the external spiritual qi.
Gradually, Luo Chen detected something unusual.
In the void, spiritual qi converged like swallows returning to their nests.
From the earth, spiritual qi erupted in torrents.
Countless spirit veins planted with exotic flowers and rare herbs trembled and released their power.
It seemed as though the entire Alchemy Realm was providing assistance for the birth of the Law Derivation Pill.
Beneath this vast majesty, Luo Chen's effort to leverage the immense external spiritual qi with his two golden cores felt like a child attempting to wield a sledgehammer—utterly beyond his strength.
He gritted his teeth and held on with difficulty. One day, two days... one month, two months...
When three months had elapsed, he looked into the Hunyuan Cauldron with a pale face. The pill inside still spun endlessly, shining brilliantly like a celestial star.
A sensation of insatiable hunger emanated from it.
"It's still not enough?!"
Luo Chen let out a bitter laugh and released the incantation seal of the Qi Manipulation Art.
At that moment, the tidal wave of spiritual qi receded completely.
He stomped against the air, sonic booms cracking as he instantly appeared a hundred zhang away.
He gazed nervously at the Hunyuan Cauldron.
Calm. Dead silence, matching the stillness in his heart.
The cauldron did not explode.
Nor was the concoction successful.
His magic power nearly drained, Luo Chen slowly returned to the cauldron and reached out, summoning the Law Derivation Pill.
It was warm amber and gleaming gold, resembling the Nine-Revolutions Golden Pill of immortal legend.
Yet Luo Chen knew this was an incomplete, defective pill.
It had not absorbed enough worldly spiritual qi, falling far short of granting Nascent Soul True Lords or Soul Formation True Lords the ability to blend their spirit with heaven and earth.
With a deep sigh, Luo Chen carefully stowed away this "defective pill."
Patting the Hunyuan Cauldron, he sat down upon the summit.
Beneath him, spiritual qi softened by the formation slowly surged upward.
As Luo Chen absorbed spiritual qi to recover magic power, he searched for the reason behind this failure.
"Three months!"
"I clearly held out for three whole months, so why did it still fail?"
Luo Chen was thoroughly perplexed.
...
Only when Luo Chen's magic power had completely recovered to its peak did he uncover the answer.
"Those three months were calibrated to a Nascent Soul True Lord at the very least, not a Golden Core cultivator!"
Beneath the night sky, gazing up at the dreamlike stars in the clear heavens, Luo Chen murmured in a daze.
The exact same spell possessed vastly different power in the hands of cultivators of different realms.
Take the simplest Fireball Art, for example!
Though merely Tier 1, could an ordinary Qi Refinement cultivator casting it ever compare to Golden Core-stage Luo Chen casting it?
The answer was obvious.
If Luo Chen cast a Fireball Art, not to mention Qi Refinement cultivators, even Foundation Establishment True Cultivators would be obliterated with a snap of his fingers.
By the same logic, the volume of worldly spiritual qi that the Qi Manipulation Art could control and channel was bound by the cultivator's cultivation realm.
Even though Luo Chen had cultivated this art to Grandmaster-level proficiency, his foundational hardware could not match that of a Nascent Soul True Lord.
"Must I truly come to a halt here?"
Murmuring to himself, Luo Chen was fraught with distress.
...
In the days that followed, Luo Chen did not open the cauldron to concoct pills again.
As long as he could not resolve that final finishing step, any number of attempts would end in failure, so why waste his efforts?
Instead, he practiced the Qi Manipulation Art day after day.
He held out hope that pushing the art to Great Perfection might change things.
However, on the interface, the proficiency increase for the Qi Manipulation Art was like picking up sand with a needle—practically negligible.
Luo Chen knew this was the constraint of his realm.
Grandmaster was the limit for his current cultivation.
"Is this path to be blocked as well?"
As another day ended, Luo Chen lay back on a green boulder, his gaze lost in confusion.
"Yet since the system initiated my mastery, it must have confirmed that I had a chance at success. Where is that chance?"
"The Qi Manipulation Art... three months..."
Gradually, a spark of realization dawned on him.
...
On this day.
Luo Chen formed the familiar seals as he flew between heaven and earth, ribbons of spiritual qi spiraling around him.
Suddenly.
With a shift of thought, he severed the supply of magic power from his qi sea.
The surrounding spiritual qi prepared to scatter like startled birds and beasts.
Right then, Luo Chen uttered a low shout, and another power erupted from his body.
It was a power as crimson as blood!
Its name was source power!
It was a power that had emerged after his body-tempering advanced to Desolate Ancient Tier 4 before he departed Penghu Lake.
Lurking within his flesh, biding its time.
The last time he had unleashed it was when his left arm was severed, using it to perform the limb reconnection technique.
Apart from that, he had only used it to augment his physical arts when transforming into the Heavenly Peng True Form.
Subconsciously, he had never treated this energy like magic power to drive spells.
Yet after searching in vain for a solution, he recalled this power.
"When Wang Yuan cultivated body-tempering, his vigorous vital blood derived Dan Force, and upon reaching Tier 3, Gang Force was generated. That so-called Gang Force was said to run neck and neck with the magic power of a Golden Core cultivator."
"Calculated this way, the source power derived from my body-tempering should also count as a special form of energy!"
"In fact, due to its elevated tier, it belongs in the same rank as a Nascent Soul cultivator's magic power."
"If I cast the Qi Manipulation Art with it, could it match a Nascent Soul True Lord manipulating worldly spiritual qi with overbearing magic power?"
From the moment this unexpected idea arose, Luo Chen had been testing its feasibility.
After spending a full month, he had figured it out!
This time, a wisp of source power was channeled to cast the Qi Manipulation Art.
Instantly!
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Around Luo Chen, spiritual qi surged in wild waves like coiling dragons, and towering pillars of qi erupted with him at the epicenter, bridging heaven and earth!
"So that's how it is!"
Luo Chen released his hands, clarity returning to his eyes.
...
Atop that isolated peak endowed with Tier 4 spiritual qi density, the familiar figure resumed his customary concoction steps once more.
Setting up the cauldron, stoking the fire, herbs poured down like rain.
Numerous alchemical arts were executed effortlessly.
Magic power circulated; water and fire aided one another.
Over these years, every single motion had been simulated countlessly in Luo Chen's mind.
Eight failures, each more profound than the last.
Yet each also meant he was closer to success.
This was the ninth attempt.
And it was destined to be the final one!
Several months later, the nascent form of the pill emerged.
Luo Chen's fingers fluttered like butterflies through incantation seals as the Qi Manipulation Art was unleashed once more.
Guided by magic power, streams of spiritual qi converged from all directions.
Three months later, just as he felt his magic power beginning to falter, Luo Chen's hand seals shifted abruptly!
Blood-crimson source power rose from his body, sustaining the Qi Manipulation Art.
However, he did not unleash it recklessly or abandon all restraint; instead, he maintained roughly the same intensity as before to channel the worldly spiritual qi.
In this way, although it did not produce the magnificent spectacle of towering qi pillars that had accompanied his earlier practice with source power, it offered the advantage of an enduring, ceaseless flow.
His eyes burned intently as he fixed his gaze on the Hunyuan Cauldron, determined not to miss the slightest fluctuation within.
Time flowed slowly according to laws indifferent to mortal will.
Three months, five months, one year... before he knew it, two and a half years had slipped by.
Reaching this point, Luo Chen could hardly believe that it had still not concluded.
He had spent nearly tenfold the time channeling worldly spiritual qi into the Law Derivation Pill, yet the pill was still not formed.
At this moment, his qi sea was utterly depleted of magic power, his two golden cores shriveled and curled up.
Within his physique, that once blood-crimson source power was nearly exhausted as well.
His eye sockets were so parched that bloody tears faintly seeped down.
His divine soul was exhausted to the extreme, feeling as though a single passing thought could knock him unconscious.
"Is it still not enough?"
His fingertips bitterly maintained the seals, fingers resembling withered wood—the consequence of vast amounts of vital blood being drained away.
Luo Chen even felt that the sea-like vitality of his body had dwindled to a trickling brook, on the verge of running dry.
Source power originated from the mighty strength of one's own physical body.
Once vitality was cut off, no more source power would remain.
"I refuse to accept this!"
"This is the closest I have ever been to success—how could I possibly fail now?!"
A fierce look crossed Luo Chen's face. He shoved a handful of pills from his storage ring into his mouth.
Among them were pills to replenish magic power as well as pills to strengthen the physique.
Even the Stone Skin, Thunder Bone, and Mercury Blood Pills he had concocted not long ago in the Alchemy Realm were included.
Relying on this batch of pills, Luo Chen held on for another two months.
Two months later, it was still not complete!
"I still have spiritual medicine to replenish vitality."
"Again!"
With a thought, a massive white lump of flesh appeared before him—fleshy and plump, resembling jelly, yet translucent and crystalline.
It was none other than Taisui's true body!
He opened his mouth and bit off a large chunk of Taisui.
As if still unsatisfied, he took four more bites in rapid succession.
His teeth, hard as Magic Treasures, chewed voraciously. This Taisui spiritual medicine, reputed to be clear as hard ice, immortal, and ageless, was continuously refined by him and transformed back into source power.
The Qi Manipulation Art, unleashed once more!
This time, Luo Chen was no longer cautious; he drove it with everything he had.
He would exhaust all his strength to stake everything on this single endeavor!
In an instant, the Alchemy Realm shook violently.
That familiar scene unfolded once again.
Wind and thunder howled in the sky, the earth trembled, and spirit veins fractured.
Vigorous spiritual qi surged forth like billowing ocean waves.
One day, two days... When another three months had passed, Luo Chen's body suddenly stiffened.
Three years—it ended here.
His body collapsed in unwilling exhaustion.
At the very moment he lost consciousness, he saw a golden, dazzling pill tinged with a streak of blood slowly float out from the Hunyuan Cauldron.
By his ear, a faint voice seemed to murmur once more.
Plop!
Water splashed, as though he had plunged into a cold spring.
Chapter 691