Rogue cultivator, minion, wage-earner, tool, partner!
Through his own efforts, Luo Chen's standing was undergoing a subtle, continuous transformation.
The changes within the Pill Hall were likewise visibly unfolding day by day.
The group of herb apprentices, fire-tenders, and pill keepers were growing more accustomed to their roles with each passing day.
A month slipped by in the blink of an eye.
At the end of the month, Luo Chen took some time to attend a small internal meeting of the Mountain Breaker Gang.
Not many people were present: himself, Mi Shuhua, Mi Junping, the hall masters of the three combat halls—Zeng Wen, Luo Wudi, and Yang Wei—as well as the Pill Hall's two deacons, Sikong Shoujia and Gu Caiyi.
During the meeting, it was determined that each of the three combat halls would provide ten people, consisting of one late-stage Qi Refining cultivator and nine mid-stage Qi Refining cultivators.
Together, they formed three squads.
From then on, these three squads would serve the Pill Hall with all their strength.
Their duties included protection, transportation, and a portion of procurement.
During the meeting, Luo Wudi brought up an idea.
"I have a connection over at Snow Lotus Market. The risk is a bit high, but if we break through, the profits will definitely be immense."
"As the saying goes, wealth is sought amidst danger. Why not give it a shot?"
Hearing this, the others were somewhat eager to try.
However, upon learning of Luo Chen's current pill output, Mi Shuhua temporarily shelved the proposal.
"This month, the Pill Hall produced a total of nine hundred and eighty Myriad Wonders Pills."
"This quantity can barely satisfy the demand in Dahe Market. Even if we opened a channel to Snow Lotus Market, we wouldn't have any pills to supply there."
"Besides, Snow Lotus Market is a bitter, barren place, not even half as bustling as Dahe Market. There's no need to waste our efforts on it."
Those were Mi Shuhua's exact words.
Luo Wudi felt a pang of regret. He had hoped to use this opportunity to elevate one of his sworn brothers to take charge of a front of his own, just like Wang Yuan.
The insufficient pill output had stifled his ambition.
Faced with this reality, he could only encourage Luo Chen to concoct more pills.
Luo Chen chuckled dryly and said he would do his best.
Then, as the meeting adjourned, right in front of everyone, Luo Chen collected four bottles of Qi-Nourishing Pills from Mi Junping, whose expression was full of heartache.
Luo Wudi, Yang Wei, and the others stared with wide eyes.
Wasn't he only supposed to receive two bottles a month?
When did that kid get a raise?!
Are we sure Luo Chen isn't Mi Shuhua's illegitimate son?
As for what they were thinking, the man in question did not care in the slightest.
Go ahead and envy me—this is what I earned!
Nearly a thousand Myriad Wonders Pills a month brought in four to five thousand lower-grade spirit stones!
What did that mean? It could buy forty to fifty bottles of Qi-Nourishing Pills, two superior-grade dharma artifacts, or even more than a dozen inferior-grade dharma artifacts.
And that was just from a single month.
The lifespan of a Qi Refining cultivator was at least a hundred years.
Taking the long view, as long as Luo Chen continuously produced pills, he would bring a steady and substantial stream of revenue to the Mountain Breaker Gang.
Therefore, no matter how reluctant Mi Shuhua and Mi Junping were, this compensation had to be paid.
***
Under the pitch-black shroud of night, Luo Chen sat alone on his bed.
Circulating his master-level Eternal Spring Art continuously, the Qi-Nourishing Pill in his body dissolved, releasing vast amounts of spiritual energy that he steadily absorbed.
Ultimately, it merged seamlessly into his own spiritual energy.
This process of conversion and absorption lasted a long time.
The sensation of being brimming and full persisted throughout.
Finally, Luo Chen gritted his teeth and swallowed another Qi-Nourishing Pill.
*Breaking through to the sixth layer of Qi Refining happens today. Let's push through in one go!*
With that fleeting thought, he repeated the same process.
With fresh spiritual energy surging in, the brimming, full sensation grew increasingly intense, even creating the illusion that his meridians were swelling.
Before he realized it, Luo Chen drew his cultivation to a close and opened his eyes.
The spiritual energy fluctuations of the sixth layer of Qi Refining radiated from his body.
"It worked!"
After spending years, he had finally reached the realm of Old Daoist Chen.
Now, he was among the very strongest of mid-stage Qi Refining cultivators.
He cast a glance at his attribute panel.
[Qi Refining Layer 6: 1/100]
Luo Chen's initial delight quickly gave way to a heavy mood.
The effectiveness of the Qi-Nourishing Pills seemed to be worsening.
Back at the third layer of Qi Refining, a single Qi-Nourishing Pill could advance his progress bar by two points.
At the fourth layer, one Qi-Nourishing Pill corresponded to one point.
At the fifth layer, it took roughly two Qi-Nourishing Pills to advance the progress bar by one point.
And now, having broken through to the sixth layer of Qi Refining, Luo Chen had already calculated through the system:
He would need at least five pills just to advance his progress by a single point.
A bottle of Qi-Nourishing Pills only contained ten pills.
In other words, if he wanted to advance to the seventh layer of Qi Refining, he would need at least fifty bottles of Qi-Nourishing Pills.
That was a whopping five thousand lower-grade spirit stones!
Moreover, there was a limit to the number of pills he could assimilate in a single day.
"Fuck! Grass is just a plant!"
"How is this cultivation? I'm practically eating spirit stones!"
Luo Chen the giant rat had turned into Luo Chen the money-guzzling beast.
His handsome face clouded with uncertainty; he couldn't shake the feeling that something wasn't right.
Other low-tier cultivators didn't waste spirit stones like this during their cultivation!
Was it due to his five-element spiritual root aptitude?
Or had his master-level Eternal Spring Art opened all his meridians, causing his body to require far more spiritual energy to break through each realm?
Or were there other factors?
For the moment, Luo Chen couldn't pinpoint the problem.
He only knew that he had to secure as many cultivation resources as possible, and he also needed to find a way to assimilate more pills each day.
Oh, and one more thing.
The effectiveness of the Qi-Nourishing Pills was steadily declining, pointing toward the looming dilemma of drug resistance.
He had to find a new pill to replace the Qi-Nourishing Pill.
A thousand tangled thoughts flooded his mind all at once.
Yet Luo Chen seemed to have grown accustomed to it.
Plotting through each plan in turn, Luo Chen finally got out of bed.
"No matter what, breaking through to the sixth layer of Qi Refining today is an occasion worth celebrating."
"A drink is definitely in order!"
Carrying his green gourd and sipping yellow pear wine, he stepped out into the courtyard.
At this moment, the moon was bright and the stars were sparse.
The small courtyard was dead silent, save for a solitary figure sitting on the swing, swaying lazily back and forth.
"Caiyi, you're not asleep yet?"
The moment Luo Chen emerged, Gu Caiyi had already noticed him.
She merely nodded gently, continuing to sway on the little swing.
Suddenly, she blinked.
"You broke through to the sixth layer of Qi Refining?"
"You caught me, haha! No matter how low of a profile a genius tries to keep, even in the dead of night, he shines as conspicuously as the bright moon."
Luo Chen chuckled.
After a brief thought, he formed a hand seal, guiding his spiritual energy along a specialized path.
The leaking fluctuations of spiritual energy gently receded, flowing into the specialized spiritual energy seed condensed within his body.
In the blink of an eye, the spiritual energy fluctuations radiating from him dropped to the level of the fifth layer of Qi Refining.
The Qi Concealment Incantation!
"Caiyi, take another look. What realm am I at now?"
Gu Caiyi took a look, her eyes brightening slightly before she said calmly, "Fifth layer of Qi Refining."
Sure enough, the Qi Concealment Incantation was effective.
Particularly over this past month, having practiced it from time to time, he had reached the proficient level and could manage a modest restraint over his spiritual energy fluctuations.
Luo Chen drew it in and released it, watching his spiritual energy fluctuations rise and fall, thoroughly amused.
After playing around for a while, he realized the atmosphere was as cold and quiet as the moonlight.
"Caiyi, what's wrong? Are you in a bad mood?"
Gu Caiyi let out a sigh. "Don't mind me. It's just that seeing how quickly your realm has grown since joining the Mountain Breaker Gang, while my own income has drastically fallen, has left me feeling rather down."
Luo Chen paused.
Income?
Indeed, back when Gu Caiyi was at Tianxiang Pavilion, her monthly income in spirit stones had been quite handsome.
Especially during the opening ceremony of the Dao Discussion Platform, her Performance of the Startled Swan had stolen the spotlight.
In the month that followed, she had made spirit stones hand over fist.
But what about after leaving Tianxiang Pavilion?
Even though she held the esteemed position of a deacon in the Pill Hall, her monthly salary was only around a hundred spirit stones.
Sikong Shoujia received the same salary, but don't forget, the old man also carried the title of elder, which brought other side income.
An income of a hundred spirit stones a month was already considered decent.
In the inner city, it was roughly comparable to a deacon at a small shop or a floor manager at a large establishment.
However, it was nowhere near enough to satisfy the cultivation needs of a cultivator at the ninth layer of Qi Refining.
With an income like that, how many years would it take to cultivate from the ninth layer of Qi Refining to the Great Perfection?
And from the Great Perfection to breaking through to Foundation Establishment, how much time would have to be spent earning spirit stones to purchase a Foundation Establishment Pill?
"I'm already thirty-nine years old."
"Even though I've always longed for Foundation Establishment, I know it's a fantasy."
"Yet the bottle of Dust-Cleansing Pills Fei Baiwen gifted me back then allowed me to luckily advance to the ninth layer of Qi Refining. Now that I'm only a single step away, I find myself trapped here simply because I lack cultivation resources."
"I can't accept this!"
"Luo Chen, was leaving Tianxiang Pavilion the right choice or the wrong one?"
Listening to her muttered words, Luo Chen found himself temporarily at a loss for an answer.
Back then, he had jokingly talked about "keeping" her and brought Gu Caiyi into the Mountain Breaker Gang, making her the current deacon of the Pill Hall.
Only now did he realize:
The mere salary of a Pill Hall deacon couldn't possibly sustain her cultivation.
Of course, this had never been his responsibility to begin with; introducing her to a livelihood was an act of goodwill no matter how one looked at it.
Facing Gu Caiyi's confusion, Luo Chen could only say:
"Even if it wasn't necessarily right, it certainly wasn't wrong. That Foundation Establishment cultivator surnamed Hua who arrived at Tianxiang Pavilion has only been there for a month or two, and I've already heard that two or three female cultivators died in the pavilion."
Luo Chen casually mentioned what he had heard, leaving Gu Caiyi falling silent for a time.
Seeing this, Luo Chen didn't know how else to comfort her.
He and Gu Caiyi were different.
On top of his monthly salary, he also received a cut of the profits from the pills.
Pondering this, Luo Chen suddenly realized something.
Mi Shuhua and the Mountain Breaker Gang were pouring more and more into the Pill Hall.
Aside from a few higher-ups, there were dozens of mid-stage and late-stage cultivators relying on the Pill Hall for their livelihoods.
If his own earnings couldn't be increased soon, the people depending on him might run into problems.
Would they jump ship?
Look for side gigs?
Gradually stop caring about the affairs of the Pill Hall?
*It seems the matter of the Jade Marrow Pill can't be delayed any longer!*
The thought crossed Luo Chen's mind.
For the sake of others, but even more so for himself!
The profit ceiling for the Myriad Wonders Pill was simply too low.
Only a pill beneficial to cultivation like the Jade Marrow Pill would be a true money-making juggernaut!
***
Today was another day to fire up the cauldrons and concoct pills.
Before lighting the fires, however, Luo Chen met with three late-stage Qi Refining cultivators alongside the two deacons.
These were the experts transferred from the three combat halls.
Their sole responsibility was to lead their squads in transporting the Pill Hall's pills to designated locations for sale.
A squad of thirty cultivators, yet escorting only a thousand Myriad Wonders Pills.
To be frank, it felt like using a cannon to shoot a mosquito, or an ox cleaver to slaughter a chicken.
Still, this was a strict order from the gang leader, and no one raised any objections.
Luo Chen knew very well that this organizational structure was not built to serve the Myriad Wonders Pill, but to serve the future Jade Marrow Pill.
After handing this batch of Myriad Wonders Pills over to the three men, Luo Chen casually inquired about where they would be delivered.
It turned out that the Mountain Breaker Gang had already rented a small shop in the inner city, typically used to sell assorted odd resources gathered from the Guyuan Mountain Range.
Most of those resources were items beneath the notice of the major sects and hardly worth the attention of the Lianyun Merchant Alliance.
The Mountain Breaker Gang had trouble digesting them on their own, so they simply displayed them in the shop for sale.
There were always rogue cultivators who might be interested.
Now, Luo Chen's Myriad Wonders Pills would become a specialty product in the shop.
In addition to the shop, the Rogue Cultivator Market in the southern part of the city and a small store in the outer city were also distribution points for the Myriad Wonders Pills.
After seeing them off, Luo Chen unhurriedly entered the alchemy chamber.
Gu Caiyi directed a large group of herb apprentices to carry various prepared raw materials into the chamber.
The fire-tenders took their positions one after another.
With a broad wave of Luo Chen's hand, today's pill concoction began!
Watching his spirited demeanor, the cultivators handling the chores couldn't help but look at him with envious eyes.
This past month of work had truly numbed them.
Every single day, they repeated the exact same tasks.
Even as cultivators, they found it utterly monotonous.
What they didn't know was that if placed in a modern society, they were essentially assembly line workers, doomed to day after day of monotonous repetition.
As for the future?
Becoming an esteemed alchemist?
Luo Chen had never heard of an assembly line worker rising through the ranks to become a CEO.
Under his watch, it was plainly impossible.
Luo Chen paid no heed to any of this; even Lady Xiangxiang of Tianxiang Pavilion had spent three years as a fire-tending apprentice in her sect back in the day.
He simply concentrated on refining the pills.
Beside him, Mi Li was also bustling about, occasionally wiping the sweat from Luo Chen's brow and handing him his wine gourd.
She had supposedly come to observe the pill concoction, so why did it feel like she had turned into a personal maid?
Mi Li felt rather bewildered as well.
When had this situation even started?
It seemed to have begun that time Luo Chen told her to go buy green cucumbers.
Despite her internal grumbling, Mi Li knew what she was there to do.
She was doing her utmost to study and imitate him, but a month had passed, and she still hadn't made any progress.
As another round of alchemy concluded, she knew she had failed to learn anything once again.
Just as disappointment washed over her, the cauldron opened.
An intensely rich herbal aroma instantly captured her attention.
"What is this?"
A pill the size of a longan, radiant with a red that bordered on purple, was gleaming brightly between Luo Chen's fingertips!
"A superior-grade Myriad Wonders Pill!"
Mi Li cried out in utter shock.
The cultivators responsible for tending the fire all turned to look.
Looking at the superior-grade pill in his hand, Luo Chen wore an expression of wild joy, though his heart remained entirely calm.
After concocting over a thousand Myriad Wonders Pills the previous month, his proficiency had long reached the master level.
The reason he hadn't revealed it earlier was simply because he felt the timing wasn't right.
After all, concocting a superior-grade pill right after joining the Mountain Breaker Gang would have been too sensational.
Now, however, there was no need to hide his talents.
For the sake of cultivation resources, one had to be a little audacious at times.
He tossed the superior-grade Myriad Wonders Pill to Mi Li.
The young woman caught it in a fluster, only to see Luo Chen drifting into the stone house built specifically for him.
"During today's alchemy, I gained a sudden insight. I must enter secluded cultivation for three days; do not disturb me!"
With that, the stone door slammed shut.
A shimmering wave of light spread outward.
It was a Tier 1 formation that Mi Shuhua had specially set up for the Pill Hall.
Mi Li stared blankly at the scene before remembering something.
Without lingering, she left the Pill Hall immediately and flew toward the Mi family ancestral grounds.
Inside the stone house, Luo Chen looked through the window in the mountain wall, watching the scene unfold with deep, quiet eyes.
***
"Come in. Why the rush to see me?"
Mi Shuhua emerged from his meditative state.
Normally, the affairs of the family and the gang were so overwhelming that they had begun to delay his cultivation.
Only recently, after finally finishing the entire organizational framework of the Pill Hall, had he managed to find time for a brief session of secluded cultivation.
Yet just two days in, he had been roused by a sound transmission talisman.
Naturally, his expression was rather displeased.
Unaware of her grandfather's annoyance, Mi Li held up the purplish-red Myriad Wonders Pill and dropped to her knees before him.
"A superior-grade pill!"
"Hall Master Luo refined it, just today!"
Reaching out with a beckoning motion, Mi Shuhua drew the pill into his hand.
Looking at the three purplish-red pill veins, Mi Shuhua was utterly astonished.
How long had that boy been studying the alchemy Dao?
Ten to twenty years at the very most, and he had already concocted a superior-grade pill!
This child's alchemical talent is truly terrifying!
"Hall Master Luo said he had a sudden insight into the alchemy Dao, so he decided to enter seclusion for three days," Mi Li added.
This time, Mi Shuhua could no longer sit still.
"An insight into the alchemy Dao!"
"Seclusion for three days!"
"Perhaps once he comes out, he'll be able to refine the Jade Marrow Pill!"
"Yes, he definitely will. They're both Tier 1 pills; if he can refine a superior-grade Myriad Wonders Pill, there's no reason he can't refine an inferior-grade Jade Marrow Pill."
Mi Shuhua paced continuously in the quiet chamber, muttering incessantly under his breath.
His weathered face shifted through waves of emotion out of sheer excitement.
"Inferior grade is already enough! It doesn't need to be priced too high—selling it for a dozen or so spirit stones will surely trigger a purchasing frenzy among early- and mid-stage cultivators."
"A bottle of Qi-Nourishing Pills costs a hundred spirit stones; ordinary people can't afford it at all."
"As long as he can refine the Jade Marrow Pill, my Grand Dao is within reach!"
Abruptly, he stopped in his tracks.
"Let's go, to the Pill Hall!"
"During these three days of seclusion, I won't allow anyone to disturb Luo Chen!"
"I will guard his Dao myself!"
The moment his words fell, an escaping light unfurled, sweeping up Mi Li and flying straight out of the Mi family ancestral grounds.
***
How was he supposed to kill three days?
Stuck inside the stone house, Luo Chen felt a twinge of regret.
The thought of being cooped up in this room for three full days made him a bit restless.
Heaven knew that although cultivators were said to enter seclusion for centuries or millennia at a time, in reality, ever since crossing over, he had never once cultivated in seclusion for an entire day.
It wasn't for a lack of diligence.
Rather, due to the physical body and divine sense of low-tier cultivators, there was an upper limit to the number of times one could circulate a cultivation technique each day.
Exceeding that limit led to mental and physical exhaustion, and could even cause various lingering injuries.
This predicament would only begin to change once one reached Foundation Establishment at the very least.
"Forget it. With the formation concealing everything, even a Foundation Establishment cultivator's spiritual sense won't be able to detect what I'm doing in here."
"I might as well find something else to do!"
Luo Chen retrieved an animal hide from his storage bag.
It was none other than the Tier 2 pill recipe recording the Blood Fiend Pill, given to him by Wang Yuan.
He had possessed this item for quite some time and occasionally flipped through it, but his progress had been minimal.
It was a Tier 2 recipe, after all.
"The primary ingredient must be replaced; otherwise, if I ever start refining it and get discovered, I'll be dead without a doubt."
"So what raw material should I use instead?"
"Cultivator essence blood? I wonder if monster beast blood would work."
"Netherworld Yin Fiend Qi... that stuff isn't easy to find. On top of that, I don't even have a method to collect fiend qi. I'll need to think on it some more..."
For a time, Luo Chen lost himself in the work of studying the Tier 2 recipe.
Occasionally, when he woke up, he popped a Fasting Pill.
When he grew tired, he switched to something else.
He either read the *Qingyuan Alchemy Exposition* (Qing Yuanzi's Detailed Explanation of the Alchemy Dao) or practiced the Qi Concealment Incantation.
Occasionally, he even engaged in a bit of self-mutilation!
Cutting a small nick into his hand or something similar, he would then use the Healing Art to mend it, treating it as grinding spell proficiency.
As for the Jade Marrow Pill that Mi Shuhua cared so much about?
Luo Chen didn't care in the slightest.
It was a Tier 1 recipe; he could achieve entry-level mastery with achievement points whenever he wished!
In fact, he planned to master it on the very day he emerged from seclusion.
Just like that, three days passed in a flash.
When the formation faded, Luo Chen slowly stepped out of the room.
Looking at the old man waiting quietly outside, Luo Chen felt a sudden, fleeting sense that the world had changed and time had slipped away like a white colt leaping over a crevice.
Was this what cultivator seclusion felt like?
It had only been three days, yet it felt as though an eternity had passed.
If his realm grew higher in the future and he entered true seclusion, would it feel like seas turning into mulberry fields and white clouds shifting into gray dogs?
As he stood in a daze, an aged voice sounded by his ear.
"After three days apart, one must look upon another with new eyes."
"Little friend, you have actually broken through to the sixth layer of Qi Refining."
Before Luo Chen could offer a polite response, the other man asked impatiently:
"Can you refine the Jade Marrow Pill now?"
Luo Chen's face froze!
*Old man, give me some face, will you? Don't be so blunt.*
*Besides, I just broke through a realm. Shouldn't you give me a congratulatory gift?*
*A dharma artifact, some pills... I wouldn't turn them down, you know.*
Chapter 91