Chapter 237: Divine Soul Surge, Cultivating the Soul-Intimidation (I)

Luo Chen remained silent, merely glancing at the young cultivator beside him. His indifferent expression made it clear he had no intention of entertaining such antics "Where are you from? What stage is your cultivation realm?"

"A commoner from Yuan Zhao Nation, at the third stage of Qi-Refining."

The cultivator at the Merit Hall frowned in obvious disdain upon hearing Luo Chen’s response. "That low?" he muttered before flipping open a thick ledger and scrawling down Luo Chen’s name without further comment.

Without looking up, he called out toward the doorway. Almost immediately, a pale-faced young cultivator jogged inside.

"A new recruit. Take him to the Mining Hall!" the steward instructed.

"Understood, Steward Mi." the young cultivator responded respectfully. Then, turning to Luo Chen, he gestured for him to follow and led him out of the room.

As they walked through the sect’s corridors, the young man grinned and asked, "What's your name?"

"Luo Chen," he replied, his voice low.

Sensing his sullen mood, the young cultivator casually threw an arm around his shoulder. "Something on your mind? Talk about it. Maybe it’ll amuse me."

Luo Chen's expression stiffened. He shook his head and remained silent.

Before long, they arrived at the headquarters of the Mining Hall. A cultivator there handed Luo Chen a carrying basket and a sturdy shovel.

"Each month, you’re required to mine six hundred jin of refined iron ore," the cultivator instructed.

Luo Chen accepted the tools, then hesitated before asking in a hushed voice, "What happens if I don’t meet the quota?"

The cultivator rolled his eyes. "Then you don’t get paid, obviously. Finish the quota, and you get ten spirit stones. Anything beyond that? Every extra hundred jin earns you one additional spirit stone."

Luo Chen opened his mouth as if to speak but ultimately said nothing.

For a cultivator at the third stage of Qi-Refining, the only way to make money was through grueling manual labor like mining.

As he stepped outside, he spotted the young cultivator who had escorted him earlier. The man was crouched near the ground, idly playing with ants. Noticing Luo Chen, he immediately sprang to his feet.

"Got your gear? Come on, I'll take you to the mountains!

As they walked, the young cultivator continued chattering. "Listen, the iron mine is at Hualuo Mountain in the Ancient Plains range. Not too many demonic beasts there, so it’s relatively safe.

"Since I brought you in, if you ever run into trouble, you can come find me.

"Remember my name, I'm Tang Quan!"

Tang Quan...

For a moment, Luo Chen felt a strange sense of déjà vu. Yet under the weight of survival, he still went to Hualuo Mountain in the Ancient Plains with a sliver of hope.

At dawn, hundreds of blank-faced workers trudged into the vast underground mining tunnels, baskets strapped to their backs and shovels in hand. Luo Chen was among them.

On his first day, he experienced the brutal hardship of mining firsthand. His hands, once steady and unscathed, were soon rubbed raw and bloody. By the time exhaustion finally overtook him, he had barely managed to extract a meager lump of iron ore.

When it was weighed at the end of the day, it amounted to less than ten jin.

He said nothing and went back to rest.

On the second day, it was even worse, he hadn't dug up a single piece of ore.

The cultivator in charge of collecting ore shot him a disdainful glare.

However, the situation improved by the fifth day.

"Twenty-two jin. Luo Chen, right?"

"Yes."

"Alright, it's recorded. You can go."

Luo Chen let out a sigh of relief and forced a faint smile.

For the first time, he was given a rice ball made from spirit grains, a reward exclusive to miners who met their daily quota. Clutching the food tightly, he retreated to a quiet corner and devoured it in hungry bites.

As he ate, his gaze drifted toward the other miners, rogue cultivators whose eyes were void of light, their expressions empty and soulless.

Luo Chen swore to himself that he would never end up like them. He had not come to the Poshan Gang to mine.

He was here to earn enough spirit stones to continue refining pills!

By the end of the first month, Luo Chen barely met the quota, managing to mine exactly six hundred jin of refined iron ore.

Tang Quan, the one who had initially brought him in, regarded him with surprise. He had assumed that Luo Chen would accomplish nothing for his first few months.

Unexpectedly, Luo Chen had met the quota in his very first month.

"You're a competent miner!"

"No, I'm not a miner!"

"Huh?"

Luo Chen did not explain. He simply continued to chew on his rice ball in silence.

And so, five months passed. Through relentless labor, he had once again saved up fifty spirit stones, with a few extras to spare.

With his goal in mind, he sought out Tang Quan, who he had grown familiar with over time, and requested a leave of absence.

Then, he shut himself in his room and began refining pills.

Tang Quan squatted nearby, watching him work and he bore witness to repeated failures.

"Are you insane?

"A rogue cultivator refining pills? Do you even deserve to?

"If you ask me, you'd be better off spending those spirit stones on pills for your own cultivation. Once you reach the fourth stage of Qi-Refining, I can transfer you to the Battle Hall. The Battle Hall is dangerous, but the rewards are far greater!"

Luo Chen forced a smile but remained silent.

He had spent all his savings. The few remaining spirit stones were not enough to continue refining the Myriad Wonders pill. With no other choice, he returned to the Mining Hall of the Poshan Gang and resumed mining.

When Tang Quan saw him heading out to buy medicinal ingredients again, he could no longer hold back his frustration.

"Luo Chen!" he called out, his voice filled with exasperation. "You really have no sense of your limits! Without a mentor to guide you or a powerful sect backing you, how could you possibly refine a first-tier pill?"

Luo Chen pushed him aside and walked into the Hall of Hundred Herbs on his own.

"Shopkeeper Liu, ten portions of Fire Hound Whip, Northern Sea Conpoy..."

Tang Quan stood behind him, shaking his head with a sigh.

This guy was unbelievably stubborn. But how could a mere rogue cultivator ever become a prestigious alchemist?

Forget it. A few more failures, and he would surely give up!

That assumption was both right and wrong.

Luo Chen continued to fail, his failures accumulating over the years, so many times that he had lost count.

But he never gave up.

Ten years passed.

Tang Quan had reached the sixth stage of Qi-Refining. No longer a mere errand-running labor, he had become an honored member of the Battle Hall.But Luo Chen remained at the third stage of Qi-Refining.

Due to years of mining, his figure had grown hunched, and he had become silent and withdrawn. Yet his gaze remained different from those of the other miners, it was never dull or lifeless.

When he had once again saved up fifty spirit stones and was about to request leave to focus on alchemy, the Mining Hall steward blocked his way.

"No more leave requests.

"Do you think the Poshan Gang is some disorganized, undisciplined little sect?"

Luo Chen looked up in confusion.

Was it not?

"Hmph. If you step out of this door, don't ever come back. No other hall will take you in either!"

Luo Chen pressed his lips together and nodded.

Then, without hesitation, he left the Mining Hall for good.

Back home, he cleaned himself up and looked at his rough, calloused fingers.

Luo Chen let out a faint smile. "Perhaps I really am not suited for alchemy.

"After all, what kind of alchemist has hands this rough? But the Myriad Wonders pill... I must refine it. I have no choice!"

Clenching his teeth, he lit the firewood.

After another failure, he slumped against the door, utterly dejected.

"Failed again?" Tang Quan stood over him, holding a rabbit by its legs.

Luo Chen said nothing, making Tang Quan feel awkward for bringing it up.

"Forget it, I can't be bothered with you. I'll cook today. Let me show you my skills!"

His cooking, of course, was terrible.

The burnt and charred rabbit meat was inedible. But Luo Chen, as if snapping back to his senses, devoured the rabbit meat in large bites.

Tang Quan frowned deeply. "Does it really have to come to this? Must you go this far?"

"No, you don’t understand." Luo Chen swallowed a mouthful of meat, his eyes burning with determination.

"Yeah, I don't understand, but you do!

"If you really understood, you wouldn’t have spent your entire life as a useless rogue cultivator stuck at the third stage of Qi-Refining! You've been like a man possessed for the past ten years, and nothing could drag you back.

"I can’t be bothered with you anymore." Cursing under his breath, Tang Quan tossed away the rabbit leg and strode off.

Luo Chen watched his retreating figure without saying a word to stop him.

He merely returned to his room and lay down on his bed.

The next morning, he rolled out of bed and immediately started preparing for alchemy.

Watching the flames roaring within the stove, Luo Chen’s resolve hardened like steel.

"Am I really possessed?

"No, I am not!

"No matter how many times I fail, I will never give up! The Myriad Wonders pill is my chance to change my future, I must seize it!"

Clinging to this obsession, he began refining pills once more.

When an entirely different and rich fragrance wafted from the iron pot, tears streamed uncontrollably down his face. Choking up, he murmured, "I, Luo Chen, truly have a talent for alchemy. My persistence was not in vain!"

Pushing open the door, he was greeted by the golden hues of dusk.

In the distance, a familiar figure was walking toward him, carrying a rabbit. And in that moment, a phantom-like, snow-white figure flickered past.