Chapter 136: A True Man Born Between Heaven and Earth Should Not Long Remain Subdued (I)

What do I think of Mi Junping?

Luo Chen's initial reaction was feeling stunned and thinking,

Why bring up that woman out of the blue?

Sikong Shoujia stared nervously at Luo Chen; he had come with a mission and needed to learn Luo Chen's actual thoughts.

Then he noticed that Luo Chen's gaze was becoming increasingly peculiar. It was as if Luo Chen regarded him as a kindred spirit.

Suddenly—

"Elder Sikong, I understand you!"

"Understand me?"

"A true man born between heaven and earth should not long remain subdued!

"You are revered, your cultivation profound, your knowledge vast, and your demeanor approachable. Over the years, you've made countless contributions to the gang.

"And now, in your later years, you're reduced to being a mere steward in my Alchemy Hall. It's an outright insult!

"Honestly, as a Hall Leader, even I can't bear to see this.

"Rest assured, if you want to overthrow Mi Junping, I'll fully support you in becoming the leader of the Merit Hall!"

No! What are you even talking about!

Sikong Shoujia screamed inwardly.

To be fair, the earlier remarks stirred Sikong Shoujia's blood and even brought tears to his eyes. But that last line? It completely threw him off.

Luo Chen continued, "Mi Junping, as a woman, is long-haired but short-sighted! She's narrow-minded and harsh, and the brothers in the gang have long been dissatisfied with her.

"If not for her father being a Foundation Establishment cultivator... So what if he is! The Poshan Gang belongs to all of us—it's an alliance of rogue cultivators.

"She lacks both talent and virtue, unworthy of holding the Hall Leader position.

"Elder Sikong, I will definitely support you in taking her place!"

"Stop, stop, I beg you, don't say another word," Sikong Shoujia said as he hurriedly covered Luo Chen's mouth, his face now as pale as snow.

What on earth is this!

Sikong Shoujia thought.

Yet, Luo Chen was reluctant to stop, as it was rare for him to fan the flames. Unfortunately, the other party didn't take the bait.

"No, what I mean is, what do you personally think of Mi Junping?"

Sikong Shoujia gritted his teeth and went straight to the point: "I mean, if you were to become Dao companions with her..."

This time, it was Luo Chen's turn to cover the old man's mouth.

"Hold it! I don't like women older than me!

Sikong Shoujia was stunned.

Age? We're cultivators! Even a short lifespan is a hundred or two hundred years, and it can stretch to a thousand or more—what do you mean by age?

"Age is not a problem, Little Luo. Trust me, I've been around, and you—"

"Then why don't you go propose to her yourself?"

That single line choked Sikong Shoujia into silence.

Seeing his reaction, Luo Chen immediately understood that it was probably Mi Shuhua who sent him to sound out Luo Chen.

Thinking deeper, Luo Chen realized it all boiled down to the Jade Essence pill. Previously, he could only refine low-grade Jade Essence pills, so Mi Shuhua's regard for him wasn't very high.

Once, he even joked about recognizing Mi Shuhua as his adoptive father if it weren't too much trouble, but Mi Shuhua dismissed it without a second thought.

This was because refining low-grade Jade Essence pills wasn't particularly challenging.

Given a few decades and good development of the Alchemy Hall, Mi Shuhua could nurture a few talents capable of refining low-grade Jade Essence pills. But when it came to mid-grade pills, it was far from simple.

Mi Shuhua had no confidence in cultivating talents capable of refining mid-grade Jade Essence pills.

As a Foundation Establishment cultivator facing the pressure of forming a Golden Core, Mi Shuhua couldn't possibly handle it himself.

Under such circumstances, Luo Chen's importance stood out all the more.

Indispensable!

So, Mi Shuhua was tempted.

He wanted to use the simplest and most direct method—marriage—to tie Luo Chen to the Mi family's ship.

However, Luo Chen wasn't interested. He preferred to exchange benefits, collaborate, and ensure mutual prosperity.

But marriage? What could Mi Junping bring him? Nothing at all!

After this arrange marriage, all he would gain were some of the Mi family's resources—resources Luo Chen could already access on his own. For instance, treasures like the small spirit-gathering array.

By comparison, the cost-effectiveness of marriage was far too low. It would only benefit Mi Shuhua and the Mi family and for Luo Chen, it was a waste of effort.

In the end, Sikong Shoujia returned empty-handed.

When he reported this to Mi Shuhua, Mi Shuhua merely waved his hand dismissively, signaling that he wouldn't concern himself with the matter any further. It had merely been a minor gambit.

Luo Chen's refusal didn't hinder their relationship.

As long as the Jade Essence pills continued to be produced steadily, their relationship would remain as close as family.

Could Luo Chen consistently refine Jade Essence pills? What a rhetorical question!

A month later, in the Alchemy Hall's room.

The "Three pillars" accompanied Mi Shuhua as they counted the pills.

"Three hundred bottles of low-grade Jade Essence pills."

"One hundred bottles of mid-grade Jade Essence pills."

Hearing these numbers, Sikong Shoujia visibly relaxed, and Gu Caiyi was equally pleased.

Compared to the previous month, there were twenty fewer bottles of mid-grade Jade Essence pills, but the decline wasn't significant.

This was mainly because Luo Chen had spent some time hiding in the inner city and hadn't come to the Alchemy Hall to refine pills.

Mi Shuhua nodded in approval upon hearing the numbers.

"You've all done very well! Especially you, Luo Chen—your alchemy skills have become very stable."

Meanwhile, Luo Chen was off to the side happily counting spirit stones.

These were the spirit stones Mi Shuhua had just brought over—Luo Chen's dividends from the previous month. A total of one thousand three hundred spirit stones was a considerable fortune. With this added to his existing savings, Luo Chen's balance was restored to two thousand five hundred spirit stones. Moreover, the monthly earnings from the Chen Yue Snack Stall and Mi Xu Ice City hadn't been settled yet.

Although the accounts weren't finalized, Luo Chen had a clear idea of the profits based on the materials and sales data. After the settlement, his savings would surpass three thousand spirit stones for the first time!

Perhaps it still paled in comparison to long-established ninth-stage Qi-Refining cultivators.

However, over the past month, Luo Chen's spending had been relentless. Whether it was purchasing additional Dust Transformation pills or calming incense, he had spent a significant amount of spirit stones. On top of that, he had also invested six to seven hundred spirit stones into the milk tea shop alone.

In short, every spirit stone had been spent wisely.

After hearing Mi Shuhua's praise, Luo Chen grinned sheepishly.

He stored the spirit stones, four bottles of Dust Transformation pills, and a box of calming incense in his storage pouch.

Rubbing his hands, Luo Chen took advantage of Mi Shuhua's good mood to ask about some cultivation issues.

"You're asking about purifying spirit power?"

Mi Shuhua stroked his beard thoughtfully and swept his spiritual consciousness over Luo Chen, confirming that he was still at the seventh stage of Qi-Refining.

He smiled and said, "Purifying spirit power in the late stages of Qi-Refining isn't something you can rush. There's no shortcut—it's a matter of consistent effort over time."

"Really? No shortcuts at all?" Luo Chen pressed on, unwilling to give up.

He was making visible progress in his cultivation day by day. However, when it came to refining the purity of his spirit power, Luo Chen made little progress.

He occasionally noticed this issue while practicing spells in the back mountains. For the same basic spell, Zhou Yuanli could cast them effortlessly with just a small amount of purified spirit power, whereas he had to continuously inject a significant amount of spirit power to achieve the same effect. While his casting speed was quick, the actual power of the spell was not significantly different.

The difference lay in the purity of their spirit power. His spirit power was too superficial and unstable.

Perhaps it was due to his heavy reliance on pills for cultivation. While Luo Chen's total spirit power far exceeded that of others at his level, his spells consumed much more energy.

Hearing Luo Chen's persistent questions, Mi Shuhua pondered for a moment and said, "There is a way, but I'm afraid it's not something you can use right now."

"Hmm? Please, speak plainly!"

Mi Shuhua looked at Luo Chen and simply uttered one word. "Techniques!"

He then continued explaining, "All Qi-Refining techniques, especially those for the later stages, have some degree of actively purifying spirit power. But the extent of this effect depends on the technique's grade. You're cultivating Long Spring Art, which originates from the Medicine King Sect.

He shook his head. "Legend has it that the Long Spring Art was derived from the Evergreen Sutra of the Medicine King Sect. It only inherited the trait of continuous vitality but not the most renowned evergreen characteristic of the Evergreen Sutra.

"And this evergreen characteristic manifests in the Qi-Refining Realm as pure spirit power. Once mastered, the spirit power becomes as vibrant and verdant as nature itself, remaining exceptionally pure that it can preserve one's youthful appearance even in old age."

Listening to this explanation, Luo Chen was overwhelmed with frustration. When it came to his foundational technique, he was stuck. At this stage, it wasn't as if he could simply abandon and switch to a different technique better suited for purifying spirit power, could he?

However, Mi Shuhua's next words dashed even that faint hope.

"In reality, the techniques accessible to rogue cultivators, or those commonly found in the market, are mostly ones that have been repeatedly simplified by the major sects before being disseminated. Their core features are almost entirely stripped out of these simplified techniques."

Luo Chen was stunned. "Then how do we rogue cultivators address the issue of a foundational technique after breaking through to Foundation Establishment?"

Mi Shuhua chuckled bitterly. "How else? Either scour the black market, buy one at an auction, or try your luck in a Secret Realm."

Luo Chen frowned. "But in that case, the acquired technique likely wouldn't match one's spirit roots well, would it?"

Mi Shuhua sighed, acknowledging Luo Chen's concern.

Seeing Luo Chen frowned, Mi Shuhua offered some reassurance "Actually, you don't need to worry so much. Purifying spirit power is something that takes place gradually throughout the entire late stage of Qi-Refining. Only disciples of major sects start refining their power when they first entered the late stage.

"For us rogue cultivators, most don't even start thinking about it until they have reached the ninth stage of Qi-Refining.

"Even without good techniques, consistent daily training will eventually produce pure spirit power."

In most cases, the purity of one's spirit power didn't have much impact when fighting opponents at the same stage. After all, most cultivators relied on enchanted artifacts to fight. As long as there was enough spirit power to control the artifact, it didn't matter much whether it was pure or unstable.

But for Luo Chen, it was different as he excelled in spell-based combat.

Moreover, from the

Qi-Refining Insights

manual Mi Shuhua had given him, Luo Chen knew that aside from the Foundation Establishment pill, the purity of a cultivator's spirit power was key to breaking through to Foundation Establishment.

That was why he had been anxious about this since reaching the seventh stage of Qi-Refining.

Yet even Mi Shuhua couldn't provide him with much help.

"If nothing else works, wait for next year's auction and check out the Spirit Herb Pavilion's listings!"

"Hmm?" Luo Chen abruptly looked up.