Chapter 363: Vacating the Lease, Seeking Shelter, The Decline of the Lianyun Trade Alliance

Inside a cave residence on Tianlan Peak, a man in loose Daoist robes sat cross-legged in stillness. His lips were slightly parted as he breathed, drawing in spirit energy from the surroundings like a stream flowing in reverse.

The air was laced with the gentle scent of sandalwood incense, its freshness keeping his mind alert and clear.

Suddenly, the man opened his eyes, and a faint glimmer of delight flashed within them.

Over a year had passed, and the effects of the Grandmaster level Yi Wood Medicine King Codex were finally beginning to show. Beyond its initial enhancement of wood-element techniques, the codex had revealed another hidden benefit. It nurtured and fortified the body.

Luo Chen could feel it clearly. After more than a year of consistent practice, the spirit energy absorbed and refined through this technique had toughened his physique. His physique had become stronger, more resilient, and filled with vigorous life.

In the past, Luo Chen had injured his body on more than one occasion. His meridians, internal organs, and other vital parts had suffered damage, which he had treated using pills and spirit liquids. Even then, some internal wounds had remained, hidden beneath the surface. But now, as the technique activated within him, refined spirit energy began to circulate, slowly healing his lingering injuries.

"No wonder it bore the name Medicine King," he muttered. "I used to think it was just a name borrowed from the sect. Turns out it really has self-healing properties."

He smiled. "With this, I can afford to be much bolder in my cultivation."

It was often said that Qi-Refining cultivators didn’t need to care about their physical bodies. That statement was both right and wrong. High-tier cultivators truly didn’t worry as much. At their stage, the divine soul could survive independently of the flesh.

However, for cultivators at the Foundation Establishment Realm, the physical body still mattered greatly.

Luo Chen had always understood this. Whether it was using essence nurturing liquid, Golden Jade liquid, or practicing the health-preserving martial arts from the Wang Secret Manual. He had consistently strengthened his body and prevented serious damage during cultivation.

Now, with the Grandmaster level Yi Wood Medicine King Codex automatically restoring his spirit energy, it was like having a pillow appear the moment he felt tired, effortless, and perfectly timed.

"Speaking of which, I must be close to a breakthrough!"

Feeling excited, Luo Chen opened his status panel.

[Status Panel]

Name: Luo Chen

𝚏𝐫𝚎𝗲𝕨𝐞𝐛𝕟𝚘𝐯𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝗺

Lifespan: 37/170

Spirit Roots: Gold, Wood, Water, Fire, Earth

Realm: Foundation Establishment Second Stage (87/100)

Achievement Points: 5

[Techniques]

Yi Wood Medicine King Codex: Grandmaster (660/1000)

Divine Breaker of Malevolence: Grandmaster (650/1000)

Myriad Beast Sutra: Beginner (10/100)

[Spells]

Tier Two

Tier One

Perfected Mastery Spells (click to view details)

[Alchemy]

Jade Fracture Hand: Perfected Mastery

Unadorned Heart Hand: Grandmaster (800/1000)

Flowing Creek Hand: Perfection (330/500)

Cloud Transformation Hand: Proficient (250/300)

Clear Origin Mystical Pill Method: Proficient (280/300)

[Martial Arts]

Mountain Cleaving Monument Breaking Palm: Perfected Mastery

Heavenly Maiden Scatters Flowers: Perfection (400/500)

Wang Secret Manual: Skilled (120/200)

[Skills]

Second-Tier Alchemist

As Luo Chen scrolled down, he noticed he had aged another year. However, his lifespan had also increased by five, now reaching one hundred and seventy years old.

This hadn’t happened all at once. The increase had been slow and gradual over the past year.

The increase wasn’t tied to his cultivation realm, but was instead a passive benefit of the Grandmaster level Yi Wood Medicine King Codex, which had healed all his hidden injuries.

After all, a healthy body naturally lives longer! It was really that simple.

Luo Chen didn’t dwell on it for long. His attention shifted instead to the section displaying his current cultivation realm.

"Only thirteen progress points left before I reach the third stage of Foundation Establishment," he murmured, a touch of anticipation in his tone.

Letting out a thoughtful breath, he began estimating how much longer it might take to reach the next stage. He used the past year of cultivation as a reference. With the aid of a second-tier low-grade cave residence, Ascending Dragon pills, Grandmaster level techniques, and even Divine Fiery Incense, he had been advancing at a steady rate with one progress point every seven to eight days.

That speed was a far cry from his early days, when he relied solely on techniques and cave environments. Since then, his cultivation speed had more than doubled.

The biggest boost had come from incorporating Divine Fiery Incense. With it, he could run his core technique two additional times each day. That alone gave him an edge beyond what even the Ascending Dragon pill could offer.

Still, the process remained tedious. But Luo Chen’s rapid advancement, despite having poor aptitude, was made possible by layering and leveraging external resources, gradually and strategically. And even with that, he was not yet satisfied.

"Thirteen points at seven to eight days each means I’ll need at least three more months," he calculated.

The conclusion brought a quiet sense of relief. Back during his Qi-Refining Realm, three months might have felt painfully long. But now, as a Foundation Establishment cultivator, that time would pass in the blink of an eye.

After confirming his realm, he skimmed past the spell section with little interest. Over the past year, nearly all his non-cultivation hours had been devoted to alchemy, leaving little time for spellcasting. As a result, most of his spell skills had stagnated except for one, the first-tier Heal technique, which had seen significant progress.

He focused on leveling that spell mostly because the Grandmaster level Yi Wood Medicine King Codex doubled the potency of wood-element spells. That alone gave him a strong incentive to push Heal toward Grandmaster level.

The Alchemy Hall now used first-tier earth fire, a major leap from the firewood of Crescent Moon Valley or the generic earth fire of Xiaohuan Mountain. However, the risk that came with using the first-tier earth fire was very much real. Several cultivators had been burned while assisting him, and one particularly serious incident had even left a cultivator disfigured after he was caught in a sudden earth fire flare-up.

Seeing that, Luo Chen took the opportunity to practice Heal on his injured assistants. In doing so, he not only increased his proficiency but also earned their loyalty.

Now, he was only fifty points away from Perfected Mastery. With a little more time, he could easily max it out.

Among all his skills, his alchemy techniques had progressed the most! The sheer volume of pill production over the year had accelerated his alchemical growth to an incredible degree.

His Unadorned Heart was nearing Perfected Mastery. Flowing Creek Hand had leapfrogged from Skilled straight to Perfection, bypassing the Proficient level entirely. Grandmaster level was now within sight. Even Cloud Transformation Hand, the newest of his alchemical skills, had already reached a solid two hundred fifty proficiency points.

These advancements might not boost his raw combat strength, but they have significantly increased his efficiency in making spirit stones. Whether it was the Jade Essence pill or the Spirit Passage pill, every pill he refined now took a third less time than before. Even the recently unlocked Jade Dew pill, which had once taken him a full day per batch, now took just over half a day.

Luo Chen even sensed that if he could elevate both Flowing Creek Hand and Cloud Transformation Hand to Grandmaster level, his refining efficiency for Spirit Passage pills and Jade Dew pills would skyrocket.

These two pills had very low yields per furnace and were highly difficult to refine, which made grinding proficiency painfully slow.

Last year, he had spent only seven months refining Jade Essence pills. The remaining five months were devoted almost entirely to refining Spirit Passage pills and Jade Dew pills, with a particular focus on Jade Dew pills.

There was no avoiding it. He had a standing obligation to supply five bottles each year to Tantai Jin. And judging by her character, Luo Chen had no illusions that this would remain the limit. The demand would grow with time, and he had to ramp up production.

"Why are they always like this..." he muttered, shaking his head. "Always insatiable, never satisfied.

"She might be tolerating my small production for now, but if this keeps up long-term, I won’t be able to hold the line."

Luo Chen saw the situation clearly.

Right now, the leverage that allowed him to act with such confidence, to bluff with borrowed prestige, came entirely from the Jade Dew pill. If the Luo Tian Society was to maintain its current rosy relationship with Ice Fortress and perhaps even strengthen it, there was only one path forward.

Before achieving major mastery or even Grandmaster level proficiency, he couldn’t refine these pills on a large scale. For now, all he could do was slowly grind away at his proficiency, step by painstaking step.

All the other alchemists in the cultivation world were likely the same!

In fact, most were far inferior to Luo Chen and couldn’t even assist during refinement. It would be nearly impossible for them to refine a single pill type to top-grade consistently, let alone stabilize production.

Only true alchemy masters could even come close to matching Luo Chen. That was one of the reasons he dared to stake his claim in Tianlan Immortal City’s low-tier pill market.

Among Qi-Refining and Foundation Establishment factions, true alchemy masters were almost unheard of. Even having a second-tier alchemist was a sign of an exceptionally solid foundation.

"Speaking of which... I wonder how far the Zheng family of Rolling Dragon Ridge has gotten?"

***

The next day, Luo Chen tidied himself up and prepared to head out. As he stood at the entrance of his cave residence, his eyes caught movement from a nearby cave. To be more specific, it was the one that Li Yixian had rented. Frowning, he walked over.

As he approached, the Li family cultivators quickly recognized him. "Senior Luo!"

Luo Chen asked curiously, "What are you doing here?"

The Li family cultivator looked slightly embarrassed and gestured toward the cave. "The lease on the cave residence has expired. We’re moving out."

Expired? Moving out?

Luo Chen asked with a puzzled look, "Fellow Daoist Li Yixian didn’t renew the lease? Now that I think of it, I haven’t seen her for over a year. Where has she gone?"

With respect, the Li family cultivator answered, "The Grand Elder is now a consecrated member of the Lianyun Trade Alliance. She’s leading our family’s cultivators on missions for them. Since she’s stationed long-term elsewhere, there’s no need to renew the lease here."

Working for the Lianyun Trade Alliance!

Luo Chen’s expression stiffened slightly.

How dare Li Yixian!

After arriving in Tianlan Immortal City, Luo Chen had made inquiries about the Lianyun Trade Alliance.

That alliance, once boasting over a dozen Foundation Establishment Initiates, had indeed been a dominant power in Tianlan Immortal City, second only to the major sects. Its business network had spanned over a dozen large and small marketplaces!

Luo Chen even knew they had once secretly recruited a Golden Core rogue cultivator named Lu Jiushi.

However, times had changed.

The Lianyun Trade Alliance was far from its former glory. They had once been a dominant force, but their suspected role as early infiltrators for the Luoyun Sect during the war with the Jade Cauldron Sword Sect had led to them being accused of being spies. As a result, they were especially targeted by the Jade Cauldron Sword Sect. Even without Jade Cauldron sword cultivators striking directly, their vassal forces had struck ruthlessly.

Now, the Lianyun Trade Alliance retained only five Foundation Establishment Initiates. The rest had either died in the early conflicts or later abandoned the alliance and fled. And throughout all of this, the Luoyun Sect hadn’t lifted a finger to help, which clearly meant the Lianyun Trade Alliance hadn’t been as closely tied to the Luoyun Sect as many had assumed.

"

If the Sword Sect suspects you’re a Luoyun Sect's lackey... then you’d best actually be one!

"

And it was precisely under such conditions that even when Luo Chen himself had yet to find footing in the city, he had never once considered contacting his old acquaintance, Elder Zhou Qing.

He had no desire to be tied in any way to the Lianyun Trade Alliance. Yet Li Yixian dared to do so!

Watching the Li family cultivators as they packed up, from their faces now stripped of the pride they once held as Dahe Market's Li family, Luo Chen caught a glimpse of the truth.

Perhaps... life had forced their hand.

Sure enough, when Luo Chen asked where the Li family resided now, he received a straightforward answer.

"We’re living on Small Cloud Mountain now. If you wish to find our Grand Elder, Senior Luo, that’s where she is."

Small Cloud Mountain was a small hill with only a faint concentration of spirit energy. Most importantly, it was part of the Lianyun Mountain Range. That confirmed it that the Lianyun Trade Alliance had given the Li family shelter.

Luo Chen shook his head. He had no desire to get involved in such muddy waters. With a parting phrase, "If Fellow Daoist Li returned, meet when fate allows," he drifted away.

As they watched Luo Chen’s graceful figure vanish, the Li family cultivators couldn’t help but show envy on their faces.

The Luo Tian Society’s reputation was now steadily rising throughout the Tianlan Immortal City. Its cultivators all looked confident and hopeful for the future. Unlike them, living each day on the edge, barely scraping by. Missions were constant, dangerous, and often life-threatening. There was no stability, no promise of anything better.

Who could they blame? Was it their Grand Elder Li Yixian’s fault?

Everyone knew she had already done her best, risking her life by joining the crumbling Lianyun Trade Alliance, all to carve out a cultivation haven for the Li family. It could only be said that, Foundation Establishment or not, there was still a gulf between people!

***

On a wide thoroughfare, the streets were bustling with life. Pedestrians flowed like rivers, and small flying boats zipped past like shuttles weaving through a loom.

This mode of transportation had only emerged in the past year or two. Launched by Treasure Pavilion, these compact flying vessels came in upper, middle, and lower grades. Not only could they soar through the skies, but they also glided along the city’s roads, making them a favorite among the wealthy.

Yet, even among flying boats, there was disparity!

Luo Chen’s Langqi Flying Boat, for instance, was in a league of its own. At full size, it could carry more than a thousand passengers. When minimized, it was swift and equipped with concealment formations that kept the interior hidden from prying eyes. To this day, Treasure Pavilion has never released another one like it.

This confirmed what Luo Chen had suspected: the attendant who once claimed it had been custom-made was clearly exaggerating. In truth, the Langqi Flying Boat had been forged to enchanted treasure specifications, only falling short of that grade during refinement. The result was a supreme-grade artifact.

As he cruised along the wide streets, Luo Chen’s mind lingered on the Li family. That old transmission talisman from Li Yixian, sent over a year ago, must have come during a moment of desperation. At the time, he had been in seclusion and missed the message entirely. There had been nothing he could do.

Everyone had their own fate. Their shared journey to Tianlan Immortal City and the mutual pledge of support had already run its course. When he asked her and Nangong Jin to assist Luo Tian Society once, that had been enough to settle the debt of camaraderie from their travels.

As for now...

The flying boat suddenly halted. Luo Chen stepped off, and with a flick of his hand, the Langqi Flying Boat shrank and slipped into his storage pouch. Several nearby cultivators looked over in surprise, but he ignored them and continued toward a nearby intersection.

Luo Chen then called out, "You there, what sect are you from? Give me one of your flyers."

That’s right! It was not just the Danxia Hall cultivators handing out flyers at the intersection. Others were doing the same thing.

Sensing Luo Chen’s Foundation Establishment pressure, the cultivator nervously swallowed and carefully handed over a flyer.

"We’re cultivators from the Zheng family of Rolling Dragon Ridge," the young man said nervously. "Senior, would you like to learn more about our alchemical products? They’re all first-tier pills, but perfect for your juniors or disciples.

"Also, our patriarch is refining them personally. We now have a stable supply of top-grade Flame Ganoderma pills. They’re excellent quality!

"Our patriarch is a second-tier alchemist..."

The more he spoke, the more confident he became. Soon, he was eagerly pitching like a seasoned merchant.

Luo Chen gave him a curious glance.

So passionate... I had only seen this kind of salesmanship in the cultivators trained by the Luo Tian Society’s Outer Hall. I didn’t expect the Zheng family to go that far.

With a glance at the flyer, he saw that it mirrored the design of Luo Tian Society’s promotional materials. Even the back had a hand-drawn map showing the route to the Zheng family’s pill shop, clearly inspired by Luo Tian Society’s leaflets.

Looks like the Zheng Kejian have some capable people of their own,

Luo Chen murmured with a small, intrigued smile

. A second-tier alchemist... Zheng Kejian, is it?

Luo Chen’s lips curved slightly. Everything was unfolding exactly as he had expected. If anything, Zheng Kejian’s competent leadership had only accelerated the pace.

Very well then,

Luo Chen thought, eyes sharpening.

Let’s see who gets the last laugh.