Today Is My Show!

The death of a late Foundation Establishment cultivator stirred up a massive tempest throughout Dahe Market. The Core Formation Master from Mount Ailao flew into a thunderous rage, summoning every single Foundation Establishment cultivator in the market for questioning. Yet in the end, nothing came to light. It was said that the Core Formation Master had even stormed directly into the Jade Cauldron Sword Pavilion, leading to an extremely tense standoff with the two Jade Cauldron sword cultivators stationed there. Immense Core Formation pressure had briefly blanketed the entire inner city. None of this, however, had anything to do with Luo Chen. A dead matrilocal son-in-law who doubled as a wealthy contractor meant nothing to him. Only one matter concerned him. The formal inauguration of the Pill Hall. To that end, he had spent practically the entire past three days holed up in Crescent Moon Valley. He had given up on counting on those little brats. Instead, he placed great value on the group of mid-stage cultivators the Mountain Breaker Gang had reassigned to him. Over these three days, he did nothing else, devoting his full attention to teaching these twenty people how to tend the fires! Yes, tending the fires! When the flames should be fierce, and when they should be low. How much firewood to add or withdraw, and in what exact amounts. To what degree the Fireball Art should be cast when the heat fell short. In short, when it came to fire control, Luo Chen passed on more than half of everything he had learned in his life. In addition, all the medicinal herbs he requested were delivered in full by Mi Shuhua’s men. Some were purchased, while others were processed by the gang’s Medicine Hall and supplied directly. At any rate, Luo Chen no longer needed to worry about procuring ingredients. Time slipped by swiftly. Whatever storms raged in the outside world, three days passed in the blink of an eye. On this day, within Crescent Moon Valley! Aside from those left behind on guard duty, the majority of the Mountain Breaker Gang’s two hundred late Qi Condensation cultivators had arrived. Over a hundred people entered Crescent Moon Valley one after another, led by Gu Caiyi and Sikong Shoujia. Various customary celebratory ceremonies got underway. Soon, it was time for the main event! Opening the furnaces and concocting pills! “That kid is Luo Chen?” “The master of the Pill Hall is actually that young!” “He looks not a day over thirty. His cultivation realm is a bit low, though; I wonder how good his alchemy skills actually are.” “If he weren't capable, Old Man Mi wouldn't have pushed him into that position so forcefully.” “Is it true that everyone gets a share of the Pill Hall’s profits?” “Pah, you actually believe that? The lion’s share will definitely go to the hall masters and the ninth-layer Qi Condensation upper echelons! People like us should just stick to earning spirit stones through honest muscle!” “Listen to yourself. Didn't your brother get reassigned to the reserve team? Once the Pill Hall refines its pills, won't their team be the ones selling them?” “Hard to say, hard to say!” Amidst the chorus of chatter, Luo Chen made a dazzling entrance. There was no self-introduction. Nor did he have the time to get acquainted with so many people. He wore a brand-new, moon-white mid-grade Daoist robe, his long hair falling over his back, secured at the crown with only a plain wooden hairpin. Going by appearances alone, he truly possessed the dignified bearing of an accomplished Daoist cultivator. What he did next, however, was far less ethereal. “Kindle the fires!” “Open the furnaces!” Raging flames flared up in succession within all three pill rooms. As the azure steel wood burned, filling the air with an oily fragrance, Luo Chen walked through each room with a solemn expression. Batch after batch of ingredients passed through his hands and into the pill furnaces according to precise proportions. In the central, largest pill room in particular, a massive cauldron standing as tall as a man was mounted in place. When adding the herbs, Luo Chen not only had to use the Attraction Art, but also needed to cast the Wind Riding Technique to peer down into it from above. This was by no means a drawback. On the contrary, a large cauldron could hold more ingredients. While the two Purple Cloud Bronze Furnaces could only refine one batch of raw materials at a time, this cauldron could refine two simultaneously. The cultivators outside watched Luo Chen move between the three pill rooms, carrying out his alchemy work with practiced ease. Every now and then, he instructed the fire tenders beside him to raise or lower the heat. At other times, he added medicinal herbs, or formed hand seals to churn and stir the boiling ingredients within the furnaces. His calm, composed demeanor left them full of admiration. “This is my first time seeing an alchemist concoct pills with my own eyes! To think it looks like this—tsk, tsk, there's quite a poetic charm to it!” “He’s truly practiced to perfection. Could this little Hall Master Luo have been refining pills since he was in the womb?” “Refining three furnaces at once—does he really have that level of mastery?” “Fellow Daoist, what do you mean by that?” “To tell you the truth, I heard people in Taishan Market mention this before. Kang Dongyue, the master of Gold and Stone Pavilion and a Tier 2 alchemist, only ever refines one furnace at a time.” “*Hiss!* Doesn't that mean Hall Master Luo’s alchemy attainment is on par with a Tier 2 alchemist?” “Hard to say, hard to say!” Luo Chen could not hear the remarks outside. If he had, he would likely have burst out laughing. What a joke! Today was his show, and he certainly wasn't going to botch his own stage. Thus, when opening the furnaces to concoct pills, he chose his most practiced recipe: Fasting Pills! He was on the verge of reaching Great Perfection with this recipe, his proficiency maxed out! Three furnaces? Even if there were three more, he was confident he could manage. Roughly four hours later. Under the gaze of more than a hundred pairs of eyes, Luo Chen took a deep breath. “Extinguish the fires!” “Step back!” The cultivators tending the fires in all three rooms promptly withdrew. According to Luo Chen, the moment alchemy concluded was the most dangerous phase. A cauldron explosion might occur, or toxic fumes from failed pills might leak out. For that reason, alchemists usually conducted the pill-retrieval process entirely alone. At this moment, the heavy doors of all three pill rooms stood wide open. Under everyone's watchful eyes, Luo Chen unleashed his spiritual power, executing his master-level Attraction Art. The lids of the three pill furnaces flew up in an instant, coming to rest neatly on the iron racks mounted against the walls. With a lift of both hands, a dense cluster of medicinal pills rose from one of the Purple Cloud Bronze Furnaces. At a glance, nearly fifty to sixty pills floated gently in the air. That was not all. As he gestured again, identical scenes unfolded above the other two furnaces. Above the great cauldron in the central pill room, more than a hundred pills hovered aloft. A rich aroma spread out in an instant. The fragrance of herbs, meat, and grains blended together, coalescing into a pill scent intimately familiar to everyone present. “Are those Fasting Pills?” “Looks like it!” “After such a grand display, it was just Fasting Pills all along?” “Wait, that's not right!” Amidst the hushed murmurs, Luo Chen flicked his sleeves. Those two hundred-plus pills drifted down, landing cleanly into the hands of each late Qi Condensation cultivator from the Mountain Breaker Gang—at least two for every person. In Mi Shuhua’s hands in particular lay two pills that were fleshy-pink and translucent throughout. “Superior-grade Fasting Pills?” A flash of astonishment crossed Mi Shuhua’s face. Although the Fasting Pills in his hand were merely Fasting Powder—an unranked medicine—reaching the superior grade gave them an efficacy no lower than authentic low-grade Fasting Pills. They could stave off hunger for ten days to half a month, sustaining enough physical energy for ordinary activity. Luo Chen’s refinement had actually yielded superior-grade Fasting Pills? He looked around at the others, only to realize that everyone was equally shocked. “Both of mine are superior grade!” “I’ve got one medium grade and one superior grade! The partial pill veins prove it!” “Two medium grade here!” “One inferior, one superior!” Taking advantage of the distraction, Luo Chen discreetly wiped away a bead of sweat. Refining Fasting Pills was not hard, and refining superior-grade ones was not difficult for him either. What truly cost him effort was refining pills of differing qualities within the very same furnace. Superior, medium, and inferior—all three grades represented. In reality, this was the normal outcome for any alchemist drawing pills from a furnace. Within a single furnace, due to the convergence of medicinal properties and the nuances of spiritual power manipulation, some pills would turn out ruined, some would be of exceptional quality, and others would barely form. Both the yield and the quality were inherently unpredictable. Only an experienced master alchemist could achieve relatively consistent results. Luo Chen unquestionably counted as a master when it came to Fasting Pills, and he was capable of reliably producing superior-grade pills with every batch. Yet he could not let that kind of skill be exposed before Mi Shuhua and the others. It would be far too monstrous! If word got out, not even Mi Shuhua would be able to protect him. Some stronger force might well swoop in and abduct him to use as an alchemy slave. Compared to unknown factions, the Mountain Breaker Gang was much more manageable. His grand campaign of fleecing them had only just begun. Therefore, once he resolved to become the master of the Pill Hall, he had spent a full ten days at home researching how to achieve a “normal pill formation.” Had his proficiency merely been at the novice level, he would never have pulled it off. With Fasting Pills, however, he already possessed master-level attainment. The knowledge bestowed by the panel covered the experience of every single stage. By working backward step by step, he had thoroughly grasped the underlying mechanics. Thus came today’s performance. “Sixty superior grade, one hundred twenty medium grade, thirty-one inferior grade.” Upon receiving the tallied figures, a smile of heartfelt joy broke across Mi Shuhua’s face. He patted Luo Chen on the shoulder. “With you here, I can rest easy regarding the Pill Hall!” Without waiting for Luo Chen to offer polite pleasantries, he turned to address the crowd. “Consider this batch of Fasting Pills a meeting gift for everyone. They aren't worth much, just a token of goodwill. “Our Hall Master Luo’s true specialty is far beyond unranked medicines like Fasting Powder. “When the time comes, he will display his full capabilities and refine outstanding pills for our gang. “With him joining us, our Mountain Breaker Gang will only grow more prosperous, and everyone’s cultivation resources will steadily increase. “So going forward, you all must give Hall Master Luo your full support!” *This old man sure talks a lot,* Luo Chen grumbled inwardly, though his face displayed an appropriately proud smile. The cultivators from the various halls began shouting in succession. “We’ll definitely support him! Absolutely!” “Having Hall Master Luo is a blessing for our Mountain Breaker Gang!” “I, Long Gen, am the first to support Hall Master Luo! He’ll lead our Mountain Breaker Gang out of Dahe Market to make a name across the Jade Cauldron Domain!” Hearing these flattering words that cost not a single spirit stone, Luo Chen wore a modest, reserved smile. From this day forward, he had truly established his reputation. The number one alchemist of the Mountain Breaker Gang! In the future, perhaps he would be the number one alchemist in Dahe Market, number one in the Jade Cauldron Domain, and number one in the Eastern Wilderness. After all, a man always had to have some dreams.