An Alchemist's Path to Eternity

Chapter 1136: Withering Origin Fire Essence

The four jade bottles were different in color, but Luo Chen immediately recognized the two largest among them. They were Glazed Jade Soul Bottles; they were filled with swirling golden mist, identical to the one Netherfire had given him not too long ago. Clearly, these were the two bottles of soul essence Fu Chaosheng had promised him.

According to their agreement, however, Luo Chen was not supposed to receive them until he had fulfilled his end of the deal. Yet now, immediately after arriving in the Central Continent, Fu Chaosheng was already handing over the payment.

Pleased though he was, he still frowned. "The agreement is not settled yet. Fellow Daoist Fu, are you really sure of paying me in advance?"

Fu Chaosheng's expression turned somewhat derisive. "What is there to be sure about? Are you planning to disappear without a word? Or take the payment now and barely put in any effort when the time comes?"

Luo Chen was rendered speechless. He certainly had no intention of doing either. Still, Fu Chaosheng certainly had a keen eye for character!

In any case, Luo Chen saw no reason to refuse. The soul essence had arrived at exactly the right time. Great Soul Pills were considerably harder to refine than Grand Origin Pills, and even with the system ensuring that his efforts were never wasted, his proficiency was rising rather slowly. At his current pace, the soul essence he had obtained from Netherfire would only last a few more years. With these two bottles, he could continue refining without worrying about exhausting his supply and work toward producing higher-grade Great Soul Pills as soon as possible.

With this matter concluded, Luo Chen turned his attention to the other two bottles. One was white, while the other was crimson. "What are these?"

"Great Harmony Pills and Firestream Essence."

Luo Chen looked puzzled, so Fu Chaosheng explained. "The Great Harmony Pill used to be one of the Dao Sect's most famous high-tier pills. It's a cultivation pill for Sages, and it's extremely effective at increasing mana. Unfortunately, the original pill has serious drawbacks. If you take too many or fail to refine them properly, they can weaken the barrier of your Purple Mansion and even leave your Nascent Soul impure and unstable. Because of that, the old version was discontinued 500 years ago. The ones used by the sect today are actually an improved version created by Saint Alchemist Chu Yan, but those pills are reserved for the sect's own Sages.

"In a way, that worked out well for the major families. When the old pills were discontinued, the remaining top-grade ones were divided among us. This bottle is the last one I have, and every pill inside is top-grade. I know that I have no hope to advance any further, so using them would be a waste. As for Qinglan, if she does well in the grand competition, the sect will give her the improved version anyway. She has even less need for these. You, on the other hand, can still put these to good use. Take them and raise your cultivation while you have the time. As for the drawbacks... Well, there's only one bottle. As long as you take the time to refine each pill properly, it shouldn't harm your foundation."

That immediately caught Luo Chen's interest. He opened the jade bottle, and sure enough, a dense surge of medicinal power spilled out. He took out one of the white pills and examined it between his fingers. Without actually consuming it, he could not judge its true effects, but even at a glance, it seemed far superior to the low-grade Grand Origin Pills he had been using.

While Luo Chen examined the pill, Fu Chaosheng continued, "As for the Firestream Essence, it comes from the Western Deserts. Long ago, there was a river of flame there that gave birth to a fifth-tier Sourceless Flame. This essence is what remained after that fire sprite absorbed most of the river's power. Its own power isn't anything special, but it has one very useful property: it can help primordial true fire advance. You made quite a name for yourself in the Northern Sea as Devil Lord Azure Yang. I've heard plenty about your mastery with fire. With this Firestream Essence, your primordial true fire may be able to advance another step!"

Luo Chen's hand stilled. He did not doubt Fu Chaosheng's explanation. What surprised him was that the description matched a material recorded in the alchemical inheritance left behind by Devil Lord Heaven Refiner, Withering Origin Fire Essence!

According to those records, when a highly sentient Sourceless Flame absorbed most of the power accumulated within its birthplace and eventually departed, it often left behind fire essence of this kind. The Monarch had called it Withering Origin Fire Essence. In the Mountains and Seas Realm, it was apparently known as Firestream Essence.

That also meant the Western Deserts were not the only possible source. Any sufficiently powerful fifth-tier fire sprite could leave behind such a fire essence under the right circumstances. The Sourceless Flame within Vermilion Bird Mountain in Blazing Purgatory, for example, was probably capable of producing the same thing.

Luo Chen truly appreciated what Fu Chaosheng had placed before him. The two bottles of soul essence were part of their original agreement, but the Great Harmony Pills and Firestream Essence were not. It seemed the elder was truly staking everything on his granddaughter's performance in this grand competition!

Furthermore, judging from what Fu Chaosheng had said about the competition among families in the Central Continent, the pressure had to be immense. That was why he kept raising the stakes beyond the terms of their original agreement.

At this point, Luo Chen should have offered some polite acknowledgement of how much effort the old man had made. But when his fingers closed around the crimson bottle containing the Firestream Essence, the words that came out were entirely different. "I will do everything in my power to help Qinglan succeed."

The moment the words left his mouth, he saw the man's face break into a radiant smile. That was clearly the commitment he had been waiting for.

***

The Fu family's stronghold lay within the Kinghouse Mountain Range. It was not far from Star Island but quite a distance from the heart of the Central Continent. For a Noble House, its location alone said a great deal about its standing. The stronger families naturally occupied the richest regions closer to Heaven-Earth Peak, which meant the Fu family had already fallen near the bottom of the rankings. Had they still been at the height of their prosperity, they would never have been located so far from the Central Continent's most flourishing region.

Of course, distance was relative here. The entire Central Continent lay beneath the authority of the Dao Sect, so in a sense, nowhere on the continent was truly far from the sect.

On a mountain peak shrouded in clouds and mist, Fu Chaosheng watched the doors of the cave residence slowly close and finally relaxed.

Fu Hongzhang, who stood beside him, looked far less pleased. "Family Head, did we really need to give him this much?"

Fu Chaosheng clasped his hands behind his back and leisurely made his way down the mountain. "Why not?"

Fu Hongzhang followed closely behind him. "The original agreement was fine. Even if we had to take a small loss, it would be worth it for Qinglan and the family's future. But you paid him in advance, gave him those pills for free, and now you've even let him use your own fourth-tier cave residence. Oh! And the trouble caused by his spirit pet! We ended up paying for part of that too. At this point, are we really hiring him to help Qinglan? Anyone who didn't know better would think you were trying to make him your grandson-in-law."

"My grandson-in-law?" Fu Chaosheng burst out laughing. "Why, if he's interested, I really won't mind. He can choose any suitable woman in the family; in fact, if Qinglan agreed to it, I'd let him marry her too."

Fu Hongzhang could only smile helplessly. How could an ordinary woman ever catch Wilderness Hermit's eye? And as for marrying into the family, that seemed even less likely. The man had chosen to be a rogue cultivator in the Northern Sea rather than place himself under a major power. Someone who valued his freedom that much would hardly agree to marry into another family.

Suddenly, the man ahead stopped walking and let out a faint sigh. "Hongzhang, do you know why I'm still both patriarch and family head? My lifespan is nearly exhausted, yet I still haven't handed the position of family head over to you. Why is that?"

Fu Hongzhang froze. "Because I can't carry the whole family on my shoulders."

He had meant it as a humble answer, but Fu Chaosheng simply nodded. "That's right. But that's not because you're incapable. You have the ability. What you lack is the courage to take risks when it matters."

"Ahh..."

Fu Chaosheng looked out over the mist-covered Kinghouse Mountain Range as his divine consciousness brushed past his clansmen one after another. He had been away for two whole centuries. To him, it felt like no more than two years, but for the younger cultivators of his family, an entire generation had come and gone. Most of those auras had become unfamiliar to him, and only the faint pull of shared blood made them feel familiar.

"You said it yourself," Fu Chaosheng began. "If a small loss can secure Qinglan's future and protect the family's standing, then it's worth paying. That's why I told you to gather everything he asked for. So if we can afford to give a little more, why shouldn't we? If Qinglan truly has a chance to become an Ascendant, then whatever we spend now could come back to the family tenfold, even a hundredfold, in the centuries ahead."

Fu Hongzhang nodded slowly. "I understand that, but..."

"No, you don't." Fu Chaosheng shook his head. "You still have no idea what Wilderness Hermit is thinking. He didn't come here because he dreams of becoming a guest elder of the Star Gate, and he certainly isn't desperate to join the Dao Sect. As for the resources he asked us to gather, they may be troublesome to find, but they're hardly impossible for a Sage to obtain. Do you really think someone like him couldn't gather them himself if he wanted to?"

There were indeed cultivators who spent their entire lives in seclusion and knew almost nothing about worldly affairs, but Wilderness Hermit was clearly not one of them. Fu Hongzhang had dealt with Luo Chen's underlings often enough to know that. Sang Jinghe might appear honest and straightforward, but he was perfectly capable of handling many matters on his own. Heavenjade was even sharper and more capable. Black King was a powerful Demon Emperor with an archaic beast bloodline. Even Zhang Jingqing, who looked harmless and pitiful at first glance, was far more perceptive than her cultivation suggested. Someone capable of gathering people like that around him could easily build a force of his own if he ever chose to.

He hesitated, then asked, "Then... what does he actually want?"

"I don't know."

"You don't?"

"I don't. And that's precisely the problem. Until I know what he truly wants, I have to keep giving him reasons to stay invested in the competition."

With this comment, things finally clicked into place. Fu Hongzhang had seen the same tactic used in business many times. If you don't know what the other person wants, you keep adding weight to your offer until walking away becomes less attractive than staying. The difference was that Fu Chaosheng was being far more generous than usual. Whether the old version of top-grade Great Harmony Pills, the Firestream Essence from the Western Deserts, or even the newly refurbished cave residence on Kinghouse Mountain, none of those were things an ordinary Sage would give away lightly.

Thus, with so much being offered, Fu Hongzhang could not help feeling somewhat worried. "What if he takes everything and doesn't follow through?"

Fu Chaosheng laughed. "And how exactly would he do that? Leave the Central Continent altogether? This is the territory of the Dao Sect after all! As for what you're really worried about, I'm not too concerned. I looked into him carefully. The two human cultivators following him aren't even particularly close to him. One is the disciple of someone he met through the Society. The other is the daughter of an old subordinate, and not even a daughter that man valued very much. Yet he still brought both of them with him because of those old ties.

"He even sent Black King into the middle of the demonic beast siege at the Coral Sea to bring them out. That alone shows he is someone who values loyalty and keeps his promises. Oh, and speaking of Black King, when he almost ruined Star Island's teleportation formation, Luo Chen was also willing to pay spirit stones to settle the matter. And most importantly, after all these years, he still remembers the guidance I gave him in Jadecold City."

Only then did Fu Hongzhang fully grasp what the family head was counting on.

Still, one question remained. If Fu Chaosheng had understood Luo Chen's character so well, why had he not treated him this generously from the beginning? Why wait until they reached the Central Continent before going so far beyond the terms of their agreement?

What he did not know was that Fu Chaosheng's change of mind had only happened recently. Back on Star Island, when Luo Chen insisted on paying for the trouble caused by Black King, he had made his position clear: He did not want to owe Fu Chaosheng anything beyond what their agreement required.

Those words had struck Fu Chaosheng harder than he had expected. Thus, if he wanted more than the bare minimum, he needed to give Luo Chen a reason to care about the outcome.

"Hongzhang, gather all the information we've collected over the years and send it to me. And tell the clansmen at the Woodrot Mountains[1] to keep watching the grand competition. I want every scrap of information they can find."

Fu Hongzhang immediately bowed. "Yes, Family Head!"

***

The Woodrot Mountains stretched across the heart of the Central Continent for many thousands of li. Ridges rose and fell like the spine of an azure dragon, with strange peaks scattered among the mountains and rivers winding through the valleys below. For tens of millions of years, this range had stood at the center of the continent, silently watching generations of cultivators rise and fall.

This was the richest region of the Central Continent and the stronghold of the Dao Sect. At its heart rose a solitary mountain soaring so high that it seemed to connect the ground to the sky—Heaven-Earth Peak.

That evening, three figures emerged from the peak and began making their way down the mountain. Two young women walked ahead, talking quietly between themselves, while a man followed several steps behind. He remained silent, his expression still somewhat dazed by whatever he had just experienced.

Yu Xu turned to her companion. "Qinglan, what did you think of Sage Heavengazer?"

Fu Qinglan thought for a moment before answering. "His presence is imposing, and his mana is profound."

Yu Xu smiled, clearly pleased. "If even you think so highly of him, then my family chose well. He came from the Southern Frontier and he was once the leader of the Heavenly Mountain Sect. His cultivation is pretty profound, and unlike Sages raised within families like ours, he has already spent years tempering himself through real combat. With him as my Dao Protector, I should have much less to worry about inside the pocket world."

Had word of this spread, countless cultivators would have been astonished. For the former leader of an upper sect to abandon his old position and join the Dao Sect was remarkable in itself. Whatever had led Heavengazer to make that choice, the Yu family had unquestionably benefited from it.

Yu Xu then asked, "What about you? Has your Dao Protector been decided?"

Fu Qinglan shook her head.

Yu Xu immediately frowned. "You are not planning to enter alone like those from the master-disciple lineages, are you?"

Fu Qinglan bit her lip but said nothing.

Yu Xu's eyes shifted thoughtfully. "What about Qi Xiongcheng, the one I mentioned before? He was born a servant of the Shi family, but he still managed to reach the Nascent Soul Realm. He broke through less than a hundred years ago, so he meets the requirements, and he has not yet left the Shi family to establish a family of his own. Since you know Shi Yue, asking for his help should not be too difficult."

"My grandfather has already made arrangements," Fu Qinglan replied softly.

Yu Xu still looked unconvinced. "Your family has been declining for years, and Elder Fu has spent the last two centuries in the Northern Sea. Do you think he could just find an outstanding Dao Protector there? Whoever he chose probably cannot compare with Qi Xiongcheng."

Fu Qinglan shook her head, unwilling to continue the subject. "Let's talk about it another time. My grandfather should be back soon."

A gentle breeze swept across the mountain and stirred the loose strands of hair beside her face. Even so, uncertainty lingered in her eyes. The letter from her grandfather said he was an extremely powerful rogue cultivator. But just how powerful could a rogue cultivator really be?

1. This is the name of a real-life mountain (烂柯山, Mt. Lànkē) that comes with a real-life myth. It's said that a woodcutter named Wang Zhi stumbled upon a stone house in the mountains. Inside, two elders were playing Go. He stood there to watch until sunset, and when the game concluded, he noticed that the handle of his axe had rotted. When he returned home, he found everything unfamiliar; as it turned out, two entire generations had gone by while he was watching the game. Now, the term 烂柯 lànkē has come to be associated with the game of Go. ☜