Chapter 296: Ghost Mill Spirit Ling, Who Will Reign Supreme? (I)

The Luo Tian Society was preparing to leave, but it would not be a hasty retreat.

The three-month timeline had been set after careful consideration by Luo Chen. It would provide ample time to handle assets, gather resources, and make all necessary preparations. More importantly, it gave him the opportunity to refine a substantial stockpile of pills before they set out.

After hearing Sima Huiniang's report, Luo Chen finally had a clear understanding of the Luo Tian Society's current financial state.

Their books showed less than fifty thousand spirit stones.

That was far too little!

He couldn't help but compare it to that moment years ago, when Mi Shuhua had managed to scrape together eighty thousand spirit stones from the entire Poshan Gang just to purchase a single enchanted treasure.

And yet, for someone known as one of the wealthiest alchemists, this was all Luo Chen's organization had to show.

Truly, it was embarrassing.

Of course, he didn't blame Sima Huiniang's management.

In fact, she had done all she could. Whether it was increasing revenue or cutting expenses, She had risked offending others just to balance the books.

The main issue was that the Luo Tian Society had relied far too much on Luo Chen himself.

From preparing for his Foundation Establishment to his seclusion afterward, Luo Chen had spent a full six years!

And in all that time, his personal alchemy output was almost nonexistent.

That they still had fifty thousand spirit stones in reserve, that was entirely thanks to Sima Huiniang's efforts.

That said, credit is credit...

But they were still broke, and that couldn't be ignored.

Which was why, before their departure, Luo Chen would take advantage of Xiao Huan Mountain's earth fire to produce a massive batch of pills. This time, there is nothing that would hold him back.

Top-grade Jade Essence pills!

Every single batch would be aimed at top-grade quality.

He'd done the math, at a fifty percent success rate and twenty batches of ingredients refined each day over three months, he could produce a staggering eighteen thousand top-grade Jade Essence pills.

If sold on the market, especially amid the current chaos sweeping the Jade Cauldron Domain, these pills would fetch no small sum. They could at least rival the Medicine King Sect's low-grade qi-nourishing pills in price.

In other words, three months from now, he'd be sitting on a fortune worth one hundred eighty thousand low-grade spirit stones.

With that kind of capital, he could establish himself anywhere he went!

In the past, Luo Chen would never have dared to refine so openly and extravagantly. There would always be envious eyes and those who couldn't help but covet.

But things were different now. He had stepped into the Foundation Establishment Realm, and his methods had grown far more refined. So long as he didn't run into a cultivator in the late stage of Foundation Establishment, he had more than enough power to protect himself. That was why he now dared to mass-produce top-grade Jade Essence pills without fear.

Wealth was never just about quantity. It had to be proportional to strength.

Due to his advancement to the Foundation Establishment Realm, Luo Chen's divine soul foundation, spirit power capacity, and control over spirit power had all increased dramatically. Refining twenty batches of Jade Essence pills per day was not particularly exhausting for him. After all, he had a team supporting him.

If viewed from a modern world, his operation would resemble a small-scale assembly line. Any more than that, though, would have pushed the limits.

Not because Luo Chen himself couldn't manage it, but because among all his people, only Qu Lingjun could truly be called an alchemist.

Luo Chen could personally manage four alchemy chambers at once was already a testament to his exceptional alchemy skill and the strength of his spirit consciousness.

After each day's alchemy was complete, the cleanup and finishing work were left to Qu Lingjun, Mi Li, Tang Quan, and the others.

This allowed Luo Chen to preserve some spare time for handling other important matters.

***

Another day of alchemy came to a close.

As the last wisp of spirit fire faded from the cauldron and the scent of medicinal essence lingered in the air, Luo Chen turned his attention to Qu Lingjun, offering a few casual pointers on his cultivation.

The boy practiced a fire-elemental technique called the Blazing Flame, a first-tier method specifically tailored for beginners. It wasn't a method Luo Chen personally used, his own cultivation leaned toward the wood-element, but that hardly mattered.

It had been carefully selected by Qu Hancheng in his younger days, specifically for Qu Lingjun. Before he even began cultivating, Qu Lingjun had already memorized it by heart. Although the technique differed from Luo Chen's own wood-element cultivation method, offering guidance in cultivation was still effortless for him.

This wasn't just theory spoken from atop a high pedestal. His understanding of fire was practical, visceral, and deep-rooted. After all, his go-to combat spell had long been Fireball, his profession was alchemy, and even after slaying foes, he was in the habit of cremating them to ash with fire.

Ever since breaking through to Foundation Establishment, he had felt an inexplicable closeness to fire-based spirit power. It was subtle at first, a shift, a warmth, an ease with fire, but it had only deepened with time.

When it came to fire techniques, he certainly had the credentials to speak.

After the lesson, Qu Lingjun had gained considerable insight.

And Luo Chen, too, was pleased, experiencing what it truly meant to be a master. It was a different feeling entirely from instructing alchemy.

Luo Chen nodded, quietly satisfied. "Keep at it. I have two second-tier fire techniques waiting for you, when you reach Foundation Establishment."

"Yes, thank you, Master!"

Luo Chen chuckled softly, then turned and walked away, hands clasped behind his back.

The mountain path stretched before him, lined with ancient stone steps half-claimed by moss and fog. He strolled slowly, without hurry, the rhythm of his steps calm and even.

As he walked, the white fog that perpetually cloaked the peak began to part, gently, reverently, as if sensing his presence. It rolled aside in smooth curls, opening a path just wide enough for him to pass.

Such a responsive phenomenon, this wasn't the formation autonomously activating.

Soon, Luo Chen arrived at the summit, outside a simple thatched hut.

He didn't rush inside, instead pausing.

A smile tugged at his lips. "Come on out. I've already seen you."

There wasn't a soul in sight. It seemed as if he were speaking to thin air.

And yet a crisp, bell-like giggle rang out behind him.

Hehe...

Luo Chen turned around with a helpless look and found a petite figure standing there.

"Little Ling, don't sneak around like that anymore. You never manage to scare me anyway."

Hehe...

The girl didn't speak, only giggled, as if that were all she knew how to do.

She instinctively threw herself toward Luo Chen, reaching for his shoulder. Her translucent body simply passed through his, like smoke through stone. Startled by the result, the girl froze in place.

Yiyi...

Seeing that familiar face, Luo Chen's heart inevitably softened.

She was far more sentient now than she had been in the ghost city.

No longer a wild, wandering soul.

If Feng Xia or Gu Caiyi were here, they would surely cover their mouths in shock. Because the face of this ghostly spirit... was none other than their long-time neighbor,

Bai Meiling!

She had clearly died, so why was she now appearing atop Xiao Huan Mountain?

To answer that, one would have to start with the moment Luo Chen subdued the Ghost General.

***

After descending from the second floor of the Spirit Herb Pavilion, Luo Chen was ready to leave the city and return to Xiao Huan Mountain.

But as he reached the stairwell, his steps came to an abrupt halt.

There, by the side of a decaying wooden window, a faint, feminine figure crouched low, her translucent form barely clinging to shape, her wide, timid eyes watching him with a mix of fear and curiosity.

Luo Chen's sleeve billowed, ready to sweep outward.

"A pitiful shade dares spy on me?" he muttered coldly. Not even a Ghost Soldier... nothing more than a stray wisp of resentment."

This spirit wasn't even strong enough to be called a Ghost Soldier, it was far too feeble.

It had died too suddenly. It bore no lingering obsession, no unresolved regret, no hatred or rage. Even if it had possessed cultivation in life, in death it could only become a pitiful wandering spirit within the ghost abyss.

Luo Chen's Perfected Mastery Cleanse might not be efficient against stronger Ghost Soldiers or Ghost Generals on par with Foundation Establishment. But against these weak little shades, it was like sweeping leaves from a path. He had used this very method to clean out the Spirit Herb Pavilion earlier.

Yet just as his sleeve stirred, ready to strike, his hand froze.

Something about those timid eyes made his heart skip a beat.

On instinct, he called out, "Little Ling?"

The girl's spirit trembled all over, then bolted like a frightened animal.

Luo Chen paused, something clicked in his mind.

Without hesitation, he chased out of the Spirit Herb Pavilion. He came to a halt in front of a place he knew well, the Hall of Hundred Herbs.

Did she only dare show herself now because I cleared out the surrounding ghosts?

As this thought surfaced, Luo Chen stepped boldly into the Hall of Hundred Herbs.

Inside, the building was deserted, the apothecary drawers overturned and in disarray. Everything had been cleared out years ago, when the Foundation Establishment cultivator who once owned this place had fled. Luo Chen walked through the empty corridors of the hall.

The first floor, second, even the third, there was no sign of the spirit girl.

Finally, he reached the courtyard out back.

In an instant, his gaze landed on the large stone mill at the center.

Luo Chen was no stranger to the process. There were many methods for preparing medicinal materials, and grinding powders was just one among them.

The more manageable herbs were typically crushed with a mortar and pestle, a toolset Luo Chen always kept handy in his storage pouch. But larger, more fibrous materials required something sturdier: a stone mill.

As he released his spirit consciousness, Luo Chen's gaze fell gently on the small hole at the center of the millstone. A faint trace of yin energy lingered there, cold, fragile, and trembling.

"Little Ling... is that you?" he called softly. "If it is, come out, won't you?

"I'm Luo Chen. Your neighbor from across the courtyard.

"The one who used to come by daily to buy herbs from you?"

No response. Only a soft tremble of yin energy, curling up in fear.

Luo Chen paused, then coaxed gently, "Do you want to know how to use Fire Hound Whip to refine a fasting pill?"

Whoosh!

A tiny ghostly head, formed of yin energy, peeked out from the millstone hollow, gazing curiously at Luo Chen.

Seeing that familiar face, Luo Chen was finally sure. This was the ghost that Bai Meiling had become after death.

Who would have thought that in this ghost-infested city, teeming with malevolent spirits and vengeful souls, such a fragile wisp of a soul had managed to survive, unclaimed, untouched, and not devoured by her more powerful kind.

It wasn't until he approached that Luo Chen understood why she had managed to endure.

"This medicinal grinder... it's been infused with so much yin energy, it's actually evolved into a low-grade enchanted artifact.

"No, not an enchanted artifact, a ghost artifact!"

Tools used to process rare medicinal materials were seldom of low quality. They were typically at least of the low-grade tier.

To a Foundation Establishment Initiate like the Hall of Hundred Herbs' former owner, this would have seemed too mundane to keep.

And yet, that very oversight had granted Bai Meiling's spirit a sanctuary.

Luo Chen could even sense that if Bai Meiling spun the millstone, it would grind down weaker ghosts that dared attack her.

Once a tool for grinding herbs...It had now become a ghost mill.

After years of symbiosis, Bai Meiling's spirit had become deeply linked to the ghost mill.

"The ghost city will soon change. It will no longer be a haven for spirits like you.

"I'll take you away from here." Luo Chen laid his hand on the stone mill, and to his surprise, Bai Meiling didn't resist.

She simply lay still in the mill's hollow.

Luo Chen gave a soft nod, then carefully stored the stone mill away.

With that, as long as he took the ghost mill artifact out of the ghost city, Bai Meiling's spirit would be able to leave with him.

Even in the outside world, where yin energy was scarce, Bai Meiling would be able to live peacefully, so long as the artifact remained intact.