Chapter 624: The Heavenly Mountain Alliance; The Frontier War; The Fifty-Year Accord; He Lianyun's Invitation (I)

Time passed by like the wind.

Three years had gone by since Luo Chen's return from Ice Fortress. During these three years, he had thrown himself wholly into alchemy. Through relentless refinement, he had finally managed to restore the supply of top-grade Jade Dew Pills for the Ice Fortress.

He had also managed to create a second-tier Spirit Passage Pill formula. After improving the primary ingredient and replacing eighteen auxiliary materials, Luo Chen confirmed through his system that the new formula had reached the Beginner level. Indeed—he had only used the system to confirm that he was going in the right direction; the development itself had relied solely on his own alchemical skill, and he had succeeded in reaching the Beginner level independently. Though he had wasted some raw materials in the process, he had conserved a significant amount of precious achievement points, and he had improved his own abilities as well.

Each batch yielded only three pills. Luo Chen kept two for himself and sent one to Chu Kui, allowing him to strengthen his divine soul while practicing Beaded Curtain Lock.

But Luo Chen's greatest gains went far beyond that. He had also honed his skill in refining the Blood-Boosting Pill and Dustfall Pill to Perfected Mastery and was able to craft supreme-grade versions. With those pills, his cultivation speed skyrocketed.

One day, within his cave residence, Luo Chen suddenly opened his eyes. His gaze shone with delight. "Twice as fast! Even without the aid of a lesser third-tier spirit land, I've still managed to double my cultivation speed!"

He could feel the rolling waves of residual blood qi being absorbed into his body, while pure new spirit power surged within his sea of qi. The joy it brought lingered long after.

The supreme-grade Blood-Boosting Pill's potency was nothing short of terrifying. Even the supreme-grade Dustfall Pill could not fully neutralize it; it often took two Dustfall Pills just to refine vital essence into qi and barely absorb the power of one Blood-Boosting Pill. Even then, excess blood qi remained, naturally strengthening his body.

This was not because the Blood-Boosting Pill was so high-level, but because the pill had been refined using the blood essence of Initiates. This was not something that could be bought from a random cabbage stall.

Technically, Luo Chen was cultivating through the aid of pills; practically, he was absorbing not the energy of plants and mineral powders, but the vital essence of Initiates slain by Blood Devil. The condensed vital essence of over a hundred such cultivators now resided within him alone, and under such conditions, making rapid progress was to be expected. Moreover, the Clear Origin Mystical Pill had finally been perfected and it now displayed its promised effect: complete absorption of a pill's potency without leaving behind even a trace of pill toxins.

It was precisely through the synergy of these two advantages that his cultivation speed had doubled once again."

In the entire cultivation world, who else could continuously take supreme-grade second-tier pills as cultivation aids? The rarity of the ingredients alone was daunting, and that was only part of the issue. These two kinds of pills demanded nearly a hundred thousand spirit stones in main and auxiliary materials each year. Even with his annual income of three hundred thousand, this was no small sum.

In other words, Luo Chen was on a pay-to-win streak, and he was paying through the nose.

With a single thought, his status panel unfurled before him like a shimmering curtain of water.

[Status Panel]

Name: Luo Chen

Lifespan: 60/170

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

Realm: Foundation Establishment Stage Eight (12/100); Archaic Tier Three(7/100)

Achievement Points: 59

[Techniques]

Eternal Youth Evergreen Sutra: Grandmaster (950/1000)

Myriad Path Convergence: Proficient (270/300)

Myriad Beast Sutra: Beginner (10/100)

[Spells]

Third-Tier

Second-Tier

First-Tier

Perfected Mastery Spells (click to view details)

[Alchemy]

Clear Origin Mystical Pill Method: Perfected Mastery

Essence Restoration: Perfected Mastery

Scaled Shift: Perfection (375/500)

Star-Plucking: Grandmaster (700/1000)

Perfected Mastery Alchemy (click to view details)

[Martial Arts]

Cloud-Seizing Divine Claw: Perfection (391/500)

Blazing Fire Miasma: Perfection (375/500)

Heavenly Maiden Scatters Flowers: Grandmaster (771/1000)

Mountain Cleaving Monument Breaking Palm: Perfected Mastery

[Skills]

Second-Tier Alchemist; Second-Tier Healer

𝘧𝘳𝘦ℯ𝓌𝘦𝒷𝘯𝑜𝑣𝘦𝓁.𝒸𝘰𝓂

Second-Tier Pills

First-Tier Pills

Perfected Mastery Pills (click to view details)

As Luo Chen gazed at the countless entries spread before him, a flicker of awe passed through his mind before he steadied his thoughts. He began examining each line carefully. He reviewed his realm and lifespan every so often, and there was nothing surprising. After advancing to the eighth stage of Foundation Establishment, his lifespan had indeed increased by ten years, slightly compensating for his previous deficiency.

The real concern lay in his trump card, his Physique Refinement, which had been advancing at an unreasonably slow pace. Even Myriad Path Convergence, which he had once spent numerous achievement points on, showed almost no progress. The cause of this was not difficult to understand.

"It's because I lack an external force," Luo Chen muttered.

The technique was excellent in every aspect, almost without any weaknesses or flaws. Only one thing was missing: an external force!

After all, when Myriad Path Convergence was first created, it was meant to refine and absorb the immense lightning power entering the body. In truth, his current third-tier Archaic Physique Refinement realm owed both its advancement and its limitations to lightning power. If things stayed as they were, his progress in Physique Refinement would remain forever stalled. Even a comprehensive art like Myriad Path Convergence would eventually lose its value without this crucial factor. However, Luo Chen had already begun to think of alternatives.

When he first developed Myriad Path Convergence, its foundation lay in the Sky Roc Transformation; he had imitated the Fire Roc's path to develop a personal path of the Lightning Roc, and used lightning to temper the body. Though he no longer possessed lightning power, he now had the fourth-tier Withering-Flourishing Fire, which was by no means weaker than lightning.

"Then perhaps I can return to the technique's foundation and use fire to temper the body?"

The thought was not some baseless fantasy. The Sky Roc Transformation had always been a half-demonic Physique Refinement art. Those who used the blood essence of the Fire Roc would cultivate its fiery true form, while those who drew upon the blood essence of the Lightning Roc or the Golden Roc would advance along those respective paths.

Since Luo Chen had begun with the blood essence of the Blazing Cloud Roc and further refined it with the Withering-Flourishing Fire, he could fully retrace the original path. In fact, it was likely an even better fit for him than the Lightning Roc path, which had been a bit of a stretch. The Withering-Flourishing Fire had been fully refined and would not harm his body the way the heavenly lightning of the Divine Transformation pocket world once did. In other words, it was an entirely possible path forward, and as Luo Chen studied and experimented with the Withering-Flourishing Fire, he increasingly felt that it was the most feasible way to go.

"Still, there is no need to rush," he murmured. "I still don't know enough about the Withering-Flourishing Fire. I need to find the records of this fire that were in Incense Burning Valley. Once I have studied them, I will decide how to proceed. In any case, body tempering will have to wait. The immediate priority is to form my core."

Although he was still young, the limit of his lifespan remained a weight pressing upon his heart. Forming the core was the only thing that could guarantee him the time to do anything else.

His gaze moved downward across the panel. Having reached Perfected Mastery of Water Mirror, and advanced in Flower Fairy and Spirit Beguilement, the third-tier illusion spell Mirror Flower Water Moon had risen to Proficient. With proper preparation, it could now be used in actual combat. Among all his third-tier spells, this one was second only to Ninety Thousand Li, in which he had already gotten to Perfected Mastery.

It was precisely for this reason that he was confident to challenge the Flame Alliance. If he could not win, he could at least escape. After transforming into the true form of the Sky Roc, his speed in flight far surpassed that of all the Initiates he knew. Even ordinary early-stage Adepts were unlikely to catch up with him, unless they somehow specialized in speed.

But even with all these achievements, Luo Chen knew that his greatest progress over the years was not in terms of cultivation, spells, or combat techniques, but in alchemy! Through tireless daily refinement, his foundation in alchemy had become astonishingly deep.

He had reached Perfected Mastery in the Clear Origin Mystical Pill and Essence Restoration, Grandmaster level in Star Plucking, and Perfection of Scaled Shift; and given the many foundational techniques he had perfected earlier, such as Flowing Creek and Unadorned Heart, his command of basic alchemical techniques could be said to have reached a level of divine mastery—every use was effortless and instinctive.

It was precisely because of this foundation that he could, without relying on the system, derive a formula for the second-tier Spirit Passage Pill. Moreover, in just three short years, he had pushed the Blood-Boosting Pill, Dustfall Pill, and Spirit Feed Pellet to Perfected Mastery. He had even taken time to refine three portions of Imperial Nectar for future emergencies.

Beyond these achievements, another unexpected gain came from his secondary pursuit as a healer; he had finally filled in the gaps in his knowledge. He had learned Heal and Bone Mending, and from Sun Sifang's

Radiant Youth Scripture

now stored in the Succession Palace, he had learned a first-tier Limb Restoration.

This was, of course, not the famed Golden Silkworm Restoration, but rather a simple spell for reattaching severed limbs. If someone were to tear off Luo Chen's arm from the shoulder, he could reattach it within a short period. It was a rather practical medical art. As for more advanced methods, he had also studied the Organ Realignment and the Spring Wind Rain Transformation.

It could be said that Luo Chen had already grasped the fundamentals of medical arts and healing spells. If he were to learn a few more medical prescriptions and healing pill formulas, he could even open a hall and earn spirit stones.

Lastly, there were his achievement points. Seeing the number 59 displayed before him, Luo Chen could not help but smile. After years of accumulation, he had once again raised his achievement points to a figure that gave him peace of mind. At first glance, these points seemed unimportant, yet in critical moments they could prove invaluable—whether it was using Imperial Nectar for Foundation Establishment, winning the Green Pill Valley competition, or creating Myriad Path Convergence, their importance was undeniable.

"The more, the better. Only then will I have the confidence to face unexpected challenges."

After reviewing everything, Luo Chen sank into deep thought.

His daily routine would undoubtedly continue to revolve around alchemy and cultivation. Yet, the status panel still revealed numerous areas that could be improved or refined. For instance, he was finally approaching Perfected Mastery of the Eternal Youth Evergreen Sutra after many years of practice. He could not help but wonder whether this core technique of a major sect would go through any changes once it reached that level. It was something worth anticipating.

As for the idea of using fire to temper his body, that plan would remain on hold until after he formed his core. There was also no need to delve deeper into spells or medical arts for the time being, and as for alchemy, it was already part of his daily work and required no special attention.

"The Blazing Fire Miasma, then. It is a fine art, strong enough to contend with Golden Core cultivators. However, its power depends greatly on the tier of fiend qi refined."

Luo Chen recalled the battle at Incense Burning Valley. Blazing Fire Miasma had originally been intended merely as a cover for the Lightning Immortal Pearl, yet when faced with Qin Tairan's Flame Yang True Fiend, it had completely collapsed. The reason for that defeat had nothing to do with the art being inferior; it was because the mishmash of second- and third-tier Earth Fire Fiend Qi he had refined were of a far lower tier than the Flame Yang True Fiend.

"Next, I should mobilize the Luo Tian Society and my network of contacts to purchase large quantities of high-tier fiend qi. Ideally, it should be fiend qi of the fire element. Something like the Flame Yang True Fiend would be perfect."

Reviewing the past, examining the present, and planning for the future—this had always been the purpose of studying his status panel after each breakthrough in cultivation. After making his calculations, Luo Chen closed the status panel and cast Cleanse on himself. He stepped out of the cultivation chamber as his sharp spirit consciousness had already detected someone approaching.