Chapter 396: Midlife Crisis and Attribute Review (I)

A mountain stream's breeze disturbed his thoughts, and a thunderous roar echoed like a silver dragon. Luo Chen stood at the edge of the cliff, his eyes clouded with worry.

Suddenly, a voice of surprise came from beside him. "Fellow Daoist Luo Chen, you’re here again. Surely your Luo Tian Society isn’t about to have another person attempt Foundation Establishment?"

Luo Chen turned. It was Nangong Jin, with curiosity written all over his face. It seemed like he still lived nearby.

Luo Chen forced a smile. "Yes, someone attempted Foundation Establishment, but unfortunately, she failed."

Nangong Jin's expression flickered between sympathy and something like relief, making his reaction hard to read.

Luo Chen narrowed his eyes, not bothering to hide his displeasure.

Nangong Jin cleared his throat and said, "Foundation Establishment failure is normal. Unless someone has a Heavenly Spirit Root, then even with excellent talent or thorough preparation, there’s always that chance of failure. Fellow Daoist, don’t take it too hard."

Luo Chen didn’t understand. "Why is it that Heavenly Spirit Root cultivators have no obstacles, but others do? What about dual-root? Or variant-root cultivators?"

Nangong Jin smiled faintly. "Why do we call it the Heavenly Spirit Root instead of just a single spirit root? It’s because they’re uniquely blessed and favored by the Heavenly Dao! As for those with other qualifications... Well, let me ask you: How much can a single low-grade Foundation Establishment pill increase the success rate?"

Luo Chen answered, "Thirty percent!"

Nangong Jin continued, "Then how could a Qi Refinement cultivator, even with thorough preparation, manage to ensure another seventy percent?"

Luo Chen opened his mouth but found himself at a loss for words. Back when he attempted Foundation Establishment, his physique was at the Vajra stage, his divine soul was comparable to a Foundation Establishment cultivator’s, and his spirit power control was unmatched among his peers. Even with such thorough preparation, he had failed four times, and it was only on the final attempt that he had barely succeeded!

If not for his five-spirit-root constitution, which provided the necessary toughness and capacity, the immense medicinal power from the five Foundation Establishment ingredients would have reversed course and severely injured him.

He even felt that at the time, his cultivation had somehow surpassed the Perfected Mastery of Qi Refinement. Rather, under the surge of five Foundation Establishment spirit medicines, it had felt as if he’d momentarily reached the tenth, eleventh, twelfth, or even thirteenth stage of Qi Refinement!

Seeing Luo Chen speechless, Nangong Jin couldn’t help but chuckle, "Don’t worry. Did she survive?"

Luo Chen nodded. "She was badly injured, but after treatment, she’s fine."

Nangong Jin asked. "That’s good then. Let her heal up, and she’ll have another chance later... How old is she?"

Luo Chen thought for a moment and gave a rough estimate. "Around fifty-two."

Nangong Jin said offhandedly, "That’s still pretty young! Give her a few years to recover, and she can try again!"

That’s right. She's still young...

Luo Chen returned to himself and sincerely thanked Nangong Jin.

Nangong Jin waved it off, chatted a bit, and then left Tianlan Peak.

Turning back, Luo Chen gazed at the cave entrance. "Big Brother Qin, I’m sure you heard that."

Inside the cave residence, Qin Liangchen emerged, looking haggard.

After three days of treatment, Murong Qinglian had finally regained consciousness. But although she was awake, her condition was far from good. Luo Chen’s Heal, powered by his pure spirit energy, had worked wonders, but injuries like hers couldn’t be fully healed by spirit energy alone. Ultimately, the healing process had consumed the years of accumulated yuan qi she had painstakingly built up.

In Luo Chen’s understanding, that yuan qi encompassed her body’s cellular vitality, the blood qi hidden within her physical body, and the scattered spirit power she’d cultivated over the years. Only by drawing on that, alongside the external healing, could he partially restore her severely damaged meridians.

The rest would be up to her, to quietly nurture her body back to health. She would need to take spirit medicines and eat foods infused with spirit energy, and this process couldn’t be completed overnight. So for the next year or two, she would need to focus on her recovery.

It was no wonder that cultivators were always advised to attempt Foundation Establishment before the age of sixty. Beyond that point, if one failed to break through, the time required to recover could stretch to five, six, or even ten years. The older one gets, the weaker the body becomes. A decline in blood qi wasn’t just talk.

Fortunately, Murong Qinglian was still relatively young. With a year or two of proper care, she would have a chance to try again.

But Qin Liangchen’s face remained clouded with worry. Luo Tian Society didn’t just have the two of them hoping to reach Foundation Establishment; there were others as well. And Foundation Establishment pills were always in limited supply. In a year or two, who knew if she would even get another chance?

Seeing Qin Liangchen at a loss for words, Luo Chen frowned. He could imagine what was on Qin Liangchen’s mind, but he couldn’t make any promises.

He patted Qin Liangchen on the shoulder and said gently, "At least she’s okay."

Qin Liangchen nodded. "I’ve been worrying too much; having her alive is enough of a blessing. Luo Chen, I’ve taken up enough of your time these past few days. Go handle your own affairs. I’ll take care of things here."

Luo Chen gave a light grunt of acknowledgement and then left.

***

Back inside Cave Residence Bing Seventeen, Luo Chen exhaled softly and decided not to dwell on the matter any longer. He had already done everything he could. Whether it succeeded or failed, it all depended on fate.

Murong Qinglian had clearly made every possible preparation. She didn’t even have the hidden instability of Min Longyu’s state of mind. Yet even so, she still failed.

"Success rate..." muttered Luo Chen. Whenever one tried to break through a major realm, failure and success always went hand in hand. If he wanted to improve the success rate, aside from using precious spirit medicine, there was actually another way. That was to increase the number of attempts!

However, repeated attempts demanded a tremendous price: a sufficient supply of Foundation Establishment spirit medicines, plus a body strong enough to withstand the backlash of each failure. Both were essential.

When I attempt to form a Golden Core in the future, could I apply the same approach as with Foundation Establishment? With my aptitude, I’m afraid a single portion of Core Formation spirit medicine simply won’t be enough. It seems from now on, at every large-scale auction, I’ll need to keep an eye out for Core Formation spirit medicines. Still, the most urgent matter is to raise my cultivation first. If I don’t reach the late stage of Foundation Establishment, it’ll be hard to compete for Core Formation spirit medicines!

Luo Chen took a deep breath, composed himself, emptied his mind, and entered a meditative state.

***

After Sima Huiniang implemented the new merit system, the Luo Tian Society once again entered a period of rapid development.

Thanks to the new merit policy, the cultivators of the Luo Tian Society were more motivated, whether it was the Biyou Valley marketplace or the spirit fields of the Medicine Hall; cultivators moved back and forth without rest. The other divisions were also eager not to fall behind.

The first good news came from the Alchemy Hall. People had arrived from Peach Mountain! As the property of the Hundred Flowers Palace’s Grand Elder Peach Blossom, Peach Mountain’s business had always been excellent. Its actual overseer was, of course, Xuan Yu, who was at the late stage of Foundation Establishment. It was precisely this wealth tht helped him compete for Core Formation spirit medicines at the Ice Fortress. Yet, clearly, they weren’t content with their gains, so Peach Mountain had set its sights on the Myriad Wonders pills sold by the Luo Tian Society.

A Foundation Establishment cultivator from Peach Mountain had personally come to Danxia Peak to sign a contract with Sima Huiniang. For ten spirit stones each, they bought up every Myriad Wonders pill produced by Mi Li each month. This single order alone would bring in nearly a thousand spirit stones in profit every month. Over a year, that would total more than ten thousand.

Admittedly, this figure couldn't rival the astonishing profits Luo Chen once generated with his Jade Essence pills. Within the grander scale of the Luo Tian Society's finances, it wasn’t even a huge sum, but it was an excellent start! In recognition of this, Sima Huiniang gave Mi Li a special reward. Motivated by this success, the other three alchemists in the Alchemy Hall doubled their efforts, focusing on refining their specialty pills.

And the changes in the Alchemy Hall were just the tip of the iceberg.

The most dramatic changes were taking place in the Artifact Hall. Duan Feng’s advancement to the Foundation Establishment Realm made him more comfortable and confident in artifact forging. At the same time, Min Longyu joined the Artifact Hall as an elder, bringing with him the skills of a Foundation Establishment formation master. And his assistance turned out to be priceless: In just three months, Min Longyu and Duan Feng successfully crafted a top-grade enchanted artifact!

Even the lowest quality top-grade enchanted artifact could sell for over a thousand spirit stones. If the attributes were excellent, it might fetch four or five thousand. It was clear that the two were working together to prepare for repairing the Wandering Eighteen-Formation Disc and completing two treasure embryos.

In the process of collaborating, they had also strengthened the Artifact Hall’s overall capability. The apprentices Duan Feng had trained over the years had also started working on increasingly complex artifact forging tasks. Overall, everything in the Luo Tian Society was moving in a positive direction.

As the leader of the Luo Tian Society, Luo Chen appeared less frequently, choosing to remain in seclusion atop Tianlan Peak. To outsiders, his daily routine must have seemed extremely monotonous—reading, practicing spells, alchemy, and cultivating. And yet he found endless satisfaction in this rhythm.

Time passed swiftly. As if in the blink of an eye, half a year had gone by.

One day, Luo Chen sat cross-legged on an Ice Silkworm Meditation Mat. The cool, refreshing chill cleared his mind, and in front of him, the status panel only he could see glowed brightly.