An Alchemist's Path to Eternity-Chapter 29: A Glimmer of Hope for Breaking the Shackles
Night fell.
Luo Chen leapt from the rooftop, descending like a thousand-pound stone, yet landed as light as a feather.
He carried the last sieve into the house, checked on the herbs that had been drying since afternoon and nodded in satisfaction.
"The herbs from the Hall of Hundred Herbs truly live up to their reputation!"
The herbs he had previously purchased from rogue cultivators were often only half-processed. Some sellers deliberately left useless parts intact to inflate the weight.
Others sold herbs that were insufficiently dried, leaving too much moisture and weakening their potency. Anyway, there were always various shortcomings.
As a result, Luo Chen had to not only handle the special preparations himself but also reprocess the regular materials based on his own methods after every purchase.
However, the herbs from the Hall of Hundred Herbs had none of these issues.
With just minimal handling, they were ready for alchemy.
Indeed, quality comes at a price!
After storing everything, Luo Chen retrieved the spellbook he had purchased from Wang Yuan earlier that day.
Five Essential Spells for Qi-Refining Cultivators.
Fireball, Traction, Wind-Control Seal, Spirit Eyes, and Heal.
This set of spells would cost five hundred low-grade spirit stones at the Spirit Source Pavilion, and one had to swear an oath not to resell it.
As for teaching others directly, there weren't as many restrictions. However, not many would spend money to specifically learn such basic spells.
Luo Chen bought it from Wang Yuan for only two hundred spirit stones, saving a significant amount! Of course, the consequence was that his brows furrowed the entire time he read it.
"The cultivator who copied this book writes like a dog scratching the ground!"
"And this page is covered in bloodstains; I can barely make out the words."
With a sigh, Luo Chen could only endure and keep reading. After all, Wang Yuan had warned him about these issues beforehand.
It was a fair trade, one willing to sell, another willing to buy.
"I've already learned the Fireball, and I'm about to reach Grandmaster level, so I guess I lost forty spirit stones on that."
"Unfortunately, it's a package deal. I couldn't just tear out a few pages, could I?"
When he turned to the Traction page, Luo Chen's interest was piqued.
The book described the technique as “thus and so, in this manner.”
"So that's how it works!"
After reading the entire section on the Traction, Luo Chen felt enlightened.
Rather than being a spell, it was more of a method for refining one's control over spirit power.
Humans were born with souls, and when cultivators began refining spirit energy into their bodies, spirit consciousness then came into existence within their souls.
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However, spirit consciousness was limited by a cultivator's Qi-Refining Realm. During the Qi-Refining Realm, it can only be used for inner sight, not external projection.
This limitation would only be lifted when a cultivator advanced to the Foundation Establishment Realm.
In any case, during the Qi-Refining Realm, spirit consciousness couldn't be projected outward, making it impossible to perfectly control externalized spirit power.
So how could one achieve seamless control over externalized spirit power?
Some enlightened experts had devised a series of methods to gradually improve control over spirit power.
From the Beginner to Proficient, with time and consistent practice, one could effortlessly control externalized spirit power.
"Let's give it a try!"
Luo Chen picked up a small pebble and held it in his palm.
Rise! Fall! The pebble flipped up and down in his hand.
Go! With a swish, the pebble fell to the ground.
Return!
Reaching out, he extended spirit power from within himself, wrapping it around the pebble. Following the reversal of the Traction, the spirit power slowly retracted.
It did return, but the speed was slow, and maintaining the spirit power tether consumed quite a bit of energy.
If it had been an enchanted artifact inscribed with formations, it would have been impossible to retrieve. But Luo Chen was not discouraged. The fact that he could pull back the pebble proved this method worked.
From here, all he had to do was follow the steps, gradually enhancing his control over spirit power. Soon, he would be able to master the Jade Blade set.
He practiced several more times, Luo Chen stopped once he felt his spirit power depleted by about ten percent.
He opened his status panel.
[Status Panel]
Name: Luo Chen
Lifespan: 27/75
Spirit Roots: Gold, Wood, Water, Fire, Earth
Realm: Qi-Refining Realm Stage Four (1/100)
Achievement Points: 2
[Techniques]
Long Spring Art: Perfection (340/500)
[Spells]
Fireball: Perfection (432/500)
Carefree Wander: Proficient (275/300)
Entangle: Skilled (180/200)
Cleanse: Beginner (51/100)
Traction: Beginner (5/100)
[Skills]
First-tier Alchemist
"As expected, this spell isn't difficult. I could easily learn it on my own."
Looking at the newly added Traction in the spells section, Luo Chen was quite satisfied.
Aside from a minor spirit power reversal formula for the Traction, it was mostly basic training.
Its difficulty for beginners was far lower than spells like the Fireball, which required at least three formulas. In fact, this was only natural.
Even without learning the Traction, one could control enchanted artifacts in the Qi-Refining Realm with sufficiently skilled control over spirit power.
The reason this technique exists was that experts reverse-engineered its principles and then refined and popularized it.
After reviewing the Traction, Luo Chen casually glanced through the other details in his status panel.
"My lifespan still hasn't changed?"
He felt a bit disheartened.
Logically, after breaking through to the fourth stage of Qi-Refining, his body should have improved, granting him a lifespan longer than his previous life's limit!
Could it be that he was truly destined to live only to seventy five in this life? Or perhaps lifespan only increased after breaking into a higher realm?
He couldn't figure it out!
Still, his frustration eased a bit after seeing the progress in his spell proficiencies.
The Fireball was on the verge of breaking through to Grandmaster level, proving that Luo Chen's persistent practice had not been in vain.
His progress with the lightness skill, Carefree Wander, was the fastest. From beginner to proficiency, it seemed it would soon reach Perfection level.
Under Luo Chen's focused training, the proficiency of the Entangle, which had stagnated for some time, began to climb steadily.
The advancement of these spell proficiencies not only brought leaps in battle prowess but also rewarded Luo Chen with achievement points!
Previously, when Long Spring Art advanced to Perfection level, it had granted him one achievement point. If he could accumulate ten achievement points again, he could unlock a completely new pill formula.
He didn't even have a recipe for it yet. However, compared to the spells, Luo Chen's attention was most focused on his skills section.
Myriad Wonders Pill: Beginner (70/100)
He was just thirty proficiency points away from leveling it up!
At that point, the success rate of the Myriad Wonders pill should increase, and he would finally have a reliable skill to sustain a long-term life in the inner city.
After reviewing his status panel, Luo Chen exhaled deeply.
The shortage of spirit stones had always been the shackle restraining his cultivation progress. To break this, he had been increasing the production of Myriad Wonders pills to improve proficiency and generate actual profit.
Now, he finally saw hope of breaking free from this restraint!
"This calls for a celebration!"
Luo Chen stepped outside his house, realizing it was already late at night.
He glanced toward the direction of Tianxiang Tower and immediately shook his head.
No, no, that wouldn't do—he didn't have the money to spend.
"Forget it, I'll just treat myself to some fireworks!"
He cast four Fireballs into the sky.
As he watched the fireballs explode in the night sky, scattering brilliant sparks, he grinned. Then he heard an angry roar from the neighboring house.
"What's with all the noise in the middle of the night?!"
It was a woman's voice, full of vigor.
That was careless of me! Luo Chen pulled his head back, ensured there was no fire hazard, and quickly scurried back inside.
