An Alchemist's Path to Eternity-Chapter 43: Grandmaster Level Fireball

Five days later.

In the dead of night, Luo Chen was still busy.

He washed the Purple Cloud Copper Furnace and cleaned the alchemy room. He packed the ash from the fire pit into a large bucket to be discarded outside. Someone would come to collect it the next day. After all, he had paid a monthly fee of one spirit stone for night waste disposal. The person responsible for night waste collection would naturally take away the garbage.

Once everything was cleaned, Luo Chen took the opportunity to shower in the courtyard with cold water, while everyone else was asleep.

He also brought the potted plants entrusted to him by Fu Xiuxiu back into the house to prevent them from being stolen. Although most were merely ornamental plants, some were first-tier spirit plants like the Moonlight Herb.

When everything was finally in order, Luo Chen felt a sense of relaxation throughout his body. It was only then that he returned to his bed, sat cross-legged, and took out a jade bottle. He tilted it gently, revealing a dragon-eye-sized medicinal pill.

"This is my last qi-nourishing pill," he muttered to himself.

Without hesitation, Luo Chen swallowed it and began practicing the Long Spring Art to refine the pill while absorbing the ambient spirit energy.

Half an hour later, he slowly opened his eyes.

The slight swelling sensation in his dantian indicated that his cultivation had progressed further.

He opened his status panel.

[Status Panel]

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Name: Luo Chen

Lifespan: 27/75

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

Realm: Qi-Refining Realm Stage Four (61/100)

Achievement Points: 11

[Techniques]

Long Spring Art: Perfection (490/500)

[Spells]

Fireball: Grandmaster (630/1000)

Carefree Wander: Perfection (451/500)

Entangle: Proficient (278/300)

Cleanse: Skilled (120/200)

Traction: Perfection (310/500)

Spirit Eyes: Proficient (237/300)

Wind-Control Seal: Beginner (56/100)

[Skills]

First-Tier Alchemist

Luo Chen stared at the panel, a complex mix of emotions washing over him.

Everything had changed—except for the fixed attributes of lifespan and spirit roots. Compared to the blank panel he had started with when he transmigrated, his progress felt like a complete transformation.

The first change was in his cultivation realm, though there wasn't much to elaborate on. After spending a total of five hundred spirit stones on qi-nourishing pills—along with the support of a first-tier spirit vein, his Perfection-level Long Spring Art, and half a month's assistance from Moonlight Herb—his progress bar had risen to 61.

If he could secure enough qi-nourishing pills, breaking through to the fifth stage of Qi-Refining would only be a matter of time.

Next was his cultivation method. His proficiency in the Long Spring Art was steadily inching toward the Grandmaster level.

Luo Chen wasn’t impatient. While eager to uncover the transformations the Long Spring Art would undergo at the Grandmaster level, he had learned to bide his time. Having endured far harsher days, waiting a little longer felt like nothing more than the solitude before dawn.

Then came his enchanted spells—the area with the most and greatest changes. So much had evolved that Luo Chen hardly knew where to begin summarizing it.

Simply by learning from Gu Caiyi and incorporating these spells into his daily life, his proficiency had skyrocketed. With his Perfection-level Carefree Wander paired with the newly mastered Wind-Control Seal, his speed had already far surpassed that of any flying enchanted artifact.

Just yesterday, he had tested it against the Lotus Leaf Flying Disc and confirmed that his own running speed was indeed faster.

As for the other spells, Entangle and Cleanse were little more than part of his daily practice—useful in life but offering little value in combat.

Spirit Eyes, on the other hand, had improved rapidly over the past half month, likely due to his frequent use of it during alchemy. In a short time, it had already reached the Proficiency level.

Traction had improved even faster, now reaching the Perfection level, allowing him to wield the jade blade with expert precision. If he were to face an enemy in the future, he now had another powerful method of attack.

A cause for celebration!

What delighted Luo Chen the most, however, was Fireball. From its initial Proficiency level to the current Grandmaster level, he had poured an immense amount of effort into mastering it. The sheer volume of spirit power he had expended was immeasurable, but the results made it all worthwhile.

With just a thought, ten sparks of fire ignited in his palm in the span of a single breath, The sparks of fire danced like fireflies and they shone with such mesmerizing brilliance.

This was the qualitative transformation of Fireball at the Grandmaster level. No casting seals were required—only a steady flow of spirit power. While the speed remained unchanged, the quantity had undergone a revolutionary shift. Instead of shooting fireballs one by one, he could now shoot ten at once.

If he was willing to channel enough spirit power, each of the ten fireballs could match the full strength of a single, individually cast one. From now on, Luo Chen’s turret-style combat had reached an entirely new level.

That was concentrated firepower in a small area! Ten fireballs of maximum power launched simultaneously—unavoidable and inescapable.

Luo Chen had already renamed this move. Fireball was far too plain a name for such a technique, so he called it "Blazing Fireflies!"

With a casual flick of his wrist, the ten fire sparks landed on the tiles, sizzling audibly.

After reviewing his enchanted spells, all that remained was the skills section.

He was still a first-tier alchemist, and until he successfully refined a second-tier pill, that status was unlikely to change.

His Fasting Pill remained at the Grandmaster level—a staple in his refining practice, allowing him to expand his product line.

The biggest improvement, however, was the Myriad Wonders pill.

Looking back, it had taken him a full four months to advance from Beginner to Skilled.

During that time, he failed over a hundred times, investing as much as four to five hundred spirit stones. At one point, he could only rely on the meager income from fasting pills to sustain himself.

Every day back then was nerve-wracking—his heart constantly on edge, fearing that he would lose all his investment.

It wasn't until last month that he barely advanced to the Skilled level.

But now, everything had changed.

Like capital, the initial accumulation phase was always the hardest. As long as one could secure that first pot of gold and taste that first success, everything afterward felt like activating cheat codes.

Fortunes skyrocketed into behemoths in just a few short years.

Luo Chen was now in exactly this position!

After a year of preparation and four months of grinding proficiency, this month had finally seen him take off.

In just half a month, he had refined thirty batches, with six successful ones—yielding a total of sixty Myriad Wonders Pills. His proficiency had increased by sixty, and with the five successful batches from the previous month, he had advanced from Skilled to Proficient level.

Luo Chen had yet to test the effects of a Proficient-level Myriad Wonders Pill, but one thing was certain—he had entered the snowballing stage. His skills were improving, his earnings were growing, and his proficiency would only increase at a faster pace from here on.

Grandmaster level was within reach!

Moreover, the surprises didn't stop there.

The status panel showed that he had 11 Achievement Points. Once again, his points had exceeded ten, meaning he had another chance to improve himself. Be it techniques, spells, or skills!

However, Luo Chen hadn't yet decided how to use these eleven points.

Aside from the technique Heal, which he had yet to learn, the only thing left was an incomplete recipe for the Jade Dew pill.

The Jade Dew pill was not a suitable recipe for him to learn. As a second-tier pill, it exceeded his current realm, and its primary ingredients were already second-tier materials—resources meant for Foundation Establishment cultivators and second-tier demonic beasts.

"I'll save them for now; they'll come in handy someday. No need to rush into refining more pills—I need to recover some funds first," Luo Chen muttered to himself, glancing at the empty jade bottle of qi-nourishing pills. A twinge of nostalgia washed over him as he recalled the rocket-like progress of pill-assisted cultivation.