Chapter 146: Divine Breaker of Malevolence, I Am the Hall Leader (II)

Luo Chen had clearly underestimated the Divine Breaker of Malevolence.

At first, he treated it lightly, thinking it no more than a quirky method of refining willpower. But as his blood and qi stagnated, and the swelling pressure at his foot's acupuncture point began to build, the pain crept in slowly—dull at first, then sharp, hot, and pulsating.

This was only the first acupuncture point.

According to Wang Yuan, there were thirty-five more points after this. The Yinlingquan point on the foot was supposedly the easiest one.

Just the thought of thirty-five more pain-inflicting points waiting to be stimulated made Luo Chen's scalp tingle.

Still, Luo Chen could understand why this technique was so demanding. Whether one was a martial arts grandmaster or a cultivator, their bodies were inherently strong.

To make them feel pain required more than ordinary external forces—it had to come from within. Through repeated stimulation of the acupuncture points, one's tolerance for pain would gradually increase.

In other words, their willpower would grow stronger!

Only with sufficient willpower could one endure the agony of malevolent energy entering their body. The so-called "shatter" didn't mean breaking the malevolent energy itself but shattering the pain it caused.

That infamous devil of the past had found a place rich in malevolent energy but no spirit energy. Thus, he could only passively refine his essence and qi by using the malevolent energy to stimulate his body.

Unfortunately, his aging body eventually succumbed to the erosion of malevolent energy.

Wang Yuan, however, had been far more fortunate.

After achieving martial enlightenment, he discovered this very technique. Later, upon arriving in Dahe Market, he stepped fully into the world of cultivation—gaining access to external spirit energy.

With the balance of malevolent stimulation and spirit restoration, Wang Yuan had successfully stepped onto the path of true Physical-Refining.

Technically,

Luo Chen thought through clenched teeth

, this should count as a cultivation technique. So why isn't it appearing on my status panel?

Could it be that I haven't truly mastered it yet?

The question echoed in his mind as the pain throbbed at his foot, sharp as a heated brand.

At that moment of distraction, a burnt smell wafted into the air. "Hall Leader, this batch of Jade Essence pills failed."

"Mm, I know," Luo Chen replied calmly, his expression unchanged. He waved his hand, signaling them to stop what they were doing and prepare for the cleansing process.

After leaving the alchemy room, Luo Chen frowned.

The pain from stimulating the acupuncture point was something he could still endure for now. However, the distraction was having a negative impact on his alchemy

Although his proficiency with Jade Essence pills had reached the Grandmaster level, even at that level, the failure rate was as high as fifty percent.

But the last batch hadn't failed after the pills were formed. Instead, it failed before reaching completion due to a minor distraction.

"It seems I'll need to pay more attention in the future." Luo Chen muttered.

Luo Chen never considered giving up on cultivating this technique. Even though he hadn't yet reached the stage of malevolent energy integration, he knew he had to persevere. After all, it involved tempering his willpower and even his spirit essence later on.

To be honest, Luo Chen wasn't too confident about his own willpower. Someone who grew up in the safety of a secure nation claiming to have extraordinary willpower was a bit of a joke. A failed exam or a lost job might be enough to bring such a person down.

Even though he had been in this world for nearly two years, cultivating daily, that was largely due to his inherently persistent personality.

Luo Chen aspired to longevity!

In pursuing longevity, he was bound to endure an incredibly long journey through time. On this journey, he would face countless storms and trials. Without a sufficiently strong heart, he would eventually lose himself on the path of cultivation.

Now that he had this technique to temper his mind and sharpen his will, how could he give it up?

In comparison, a few failed alchemy were nothing. That was entirely acceptable.

Besides, the consequences of failure were borne by the Poshan Gang. In the end, it only cost him a few dozen spirit stones in lost earnings.

Minute by minute, time slowly passed as Luo Chen continued refining pills. By evening, as Sikong Shoujia tallied the Jade Essence pill output and material consumption, he noticed the failure rate was unusually high that day.

Usually, the pill formation rate was around fifty percent by the end of the day. But today, it barely reached thirty percent.

Luo Chen's explanation was straightforward. "My cultivation hasn't been going smoothly, which has been bothering me, causing unrest during pill refinement. Once I adjust, my state will recover." he said calmly.

Sikong Shoujia nodded, accepting the explanation without question.

***

Inside the cavern, spirit energy hung thick in the air, dense and nourishing. A single figure sat cross-legged atop a meditation cushion, his breathing slow, steady—lips moving ever so faintly as if whispering to the world. With a deep inhale, two faint, transparent vortices of spirit energy spiraled into his lower abdomen, vanishing beneath his robes.

Moments later, Luo Chen opened his eyes, satisfied as he concluded his cultivation for the day. His progress advanced a little further, bringing him closer to reaching the eighth stage of Qi-Refining.

His gaze fell to the ground, landing on the pot of Moonlight Herb gifted by Fu Xiuxiu, which had grown exceptionally well. Previously only a few centimeters tall, it now spanned the size of his palm.

"It seems the abundant wood-element spirit energy gathered by the spirit-gathering array is greatly beneficial to this herb's growth." After making the comment, Luo Chen donned his outer robe and exited the cavern.

Following the specially excavated underground tunnel, he soon arrived at Changyin Mountain. With the Spirit Suppression functioning normally, Luo Chen inhaled the fresh mountain air, feeling refreshed and invigorated.

Stepping out of the narrow exit, Luo Chen ventured further into the surroundings. He intended to thoroughly explore Changyin Mountain.

Of course, he wasn't foolish. This was still demonic beast territory, after all. Charging around openly would be a death wish. Hence, Luo Chen planned to cautiously explore the area, aiming to familiarize himself with the surroundings bit by bit. Even if danger arose in Crescent Moon Valley in the future, he wouldn't be caught off guard using the tunnel to escape here.

A clever rabbit has three burrows [1]; naturally, Luo Chen needed to secure more safe havens for himself.

This time, his exploration radius was limited to just five li. Occasionally encountering potentially dangerous spots, he would proactively toss out discarded Jade Essence beads to probe the area.

If anything seemed amiss, he would immediately retreat.

When the sky began to brighten with the first light of dawn, Luo Chen sensibly returned to Crescent Moon Valley. Today's exploration went well, which allowed him to map out most of the surrounding area.

In the course of his exploration, Luo Chen began to notice something strange—the number of spirit wolves in the surrounding area had dropped significantly compared to before. He wasn't sure if it was because many had died in the internal conflict or if they had moved elsewhere.

Before heading back, Luo Chen habitually cleansed any demonic energy that might have clung to him in the mountains. During this process, he was careful to avoid disturbing the wisp of spirit power on his shoulder.

Huh?

With a light exclamation, Luo Chen's expression gradually darkened.

Last time he checked, the wisp of spirit power lingering on his shoulder—the one left by Mi Shuhua—had shown clear signs of fading. Though still pure and stable, it had been in a dissipating state, slowly weakening with time.

But this time, he discovered that the spirit power had been fully restored.

Legends spoke of high-tier cultivators possessing everlasting power that endured endlessly. However, he had never heard of any permanent spirit power at the relatively early stage of Foundation Establishment.

In other words, this restored spirit power must have recently received additional spirit power from the same source.

Was it yesterday? Mi Shuhua didn't just call me to discuss Earth Fire Fiend, he must have secretly reinforced this spirit power marker during our meeting.

Luo Chen exhaled slowly, his breath curling into mist in the cold mountain air. His expression flickered with emotion, then settled into something unreadable.

"That old fox..." he muttered, half amused, half exasperated. "He really has no plans of letting me out of his sight."

***

Ten days later.

"Fifty-seven pills retrieved—forty-one low-grade, sixteen mid-grade." After reporting this number, Sikong Shoujia looked puzzled. To prevent any errors, he counted the pills again.

No matter how many times he counted, the number of pills on the plate remained the same. Unable to hold back, he asked, "Hall Leader, why is the pill success rate even lower today than it was yesterday?"

You're asking me?

Luo Chen shot him a blank look before turning to leave.

What nonsense. Last night, he had stimulated another acupoint, leaving him in excruciating pain. The fact that he could barely manage to oversee alchemy today already counted as diligence.

I'm working while practically sick, and anyone else would've praised me for it. But you're here questioning me instead.

"I'm the Hall Leader, and I don't need to explain alchemy matters to an outsider like you."

With that, he stepped into the stone chamber, flicked his sleeve, and activated the defensive formation, shutting everyone out.

He had no intention of explaining himself.

But Sikong Shoujia wasn't someone who could simply let it go. Not anymore.

Five days ago, his son had married into the Mi family, officially making Sikong one of their own—at least in name. With that marriage, the Alchemy Hall's profits had suddenly become his family's business, directly linked to his son's future cultivation path.

Now that the profits were decreasing, he was more anxious than anyone else.

That very evening, after finishing his work, Sikong Shoujia hurried straight to the Mi family estate to seek an audience with Mi Shuhua.

"Gang Leader, the pill output from the Alchemy Hall this month is lower than expected!"

"Hmm?" Mi Shuhua appeared to have just returned from outside, his face showing traces of fatigue. He rubbed his temples and asked about the situation.

"In a total of eleven days, Luo Chen has only refined eight hundred twenty low-grade Jade Essence pills and three hundred and fifty seven mid-grade Jade Essence pills.

"Compared to the previous months, this number is almost twenty percent lower!"

Upon hearing this data, Mi Shuhua couldn't help but become serious. "Did Luo Chen give any explanation?"

Sikong Shoujia replied, "He said his cultivation isn't going smoothly, and his restless mind has prevented him from focusing during pill refinement."

A cultivation-related issue?

Mi Shuhua squinted his eyes slightly and subconsciously stroked his beard.

Luo Chen's five-element spirit root made cultivation problems entirely normal for him.But such an issue had never occurred before!

Perhaps he had also hit a bottleneck in alchemy. Last time, he mentioned wanting to use Earth Fire Fiend to enhance the pill grade.

Could his failure to break through have caused his skills to regress instead?

The specifics were something even Mi Shuhua couldn't ascertain. Alchemy was a technical skill that outsiders could hardly meddle in.

Mi Shuhua thought for a moment and said, "He's a smart person. He'll figure it out. We just need to give him more time.

"Also, give him some good news tomorrow." As he spoke, he handed something over.

Sikong Shoujia looked at the item, and his eyelids couldn't help but flickered.

1. Chinese idiom conveys the idea that a wise or resourceful individual always prepares multiple options or backup plans to ensure survival or success, especially in challenging or dangerous situations. It highlights the importance of foresight, caution, and adaptability. ☜