Chapter 1220: Great-Grandmaster of Alchemy; A Network Of Connections (I)

Once the last traces of the disturbance vanished, the atmosphere inside Luo Tian Hall gradually settled once more into that of a typical ceremony.

From the beginning, however, Luo Chen's Nascent Soul Formation Ceremony had never been a typical one. He had formed his Nascent Soul decades ago, far from the Eastern Wilderness, so naturally there had been no friends or fellow cultivators to congratulate him at the time. Even now, this belated ceremony was hardly grand enough to resemble a true sect-wide celebration. None of the visiting Sages had brought younger disciples to listen to Luo Chen expound upon the Dao, nor had the Luo Tian Sect made elaborate preparations for such a purpose.

Clearly, everyone understood why he had still gone out of his way to arrange this belated ceremony: he wanted to build connections!

The claim written on his invitation had been enticing enough to persuade cultivators from across the five domains to give him face and travel all the way to Hundred-Li Green River. Even so, most had come out of respect and because establishing a relationship with him might prove useful in the future.

After his clash with Golden Plume, that was no longer the case. Luo Chen had not only emerged victorious but had done so without losing any of the momentum he had built since his return. If anything, his prestige had risen even higher. He no longer needed anyone else to lend weight to his name, and his own strength was enough to stand as an equal among the Sages of the Eastern Wilderness.

Of course, Luo Chen had never been particularly fond of settling everything through violence. If he could accomplish his goals without spilling blood, he naturally preferred to do so. Now that everyone had seen enough of his strength, it was time to return to the real purpose of the gathering.

"Some of you probably thought I was overstating things when you read the invitation, and I don't blame you at all. If I saw someone make a claim like that, I'd probably think the same. But there's no point pretending to be modest about something I'm genuinely good at. Alchemy happens to be one of the few things I'm very confident in. So rather than keep talking about it, why don't you all see for yourselves?"

The moment Luo Chen brought up the subject of alchemy, everyone's attention gathered upon him. With a slight motion of his hand, one top-grade Grand Origin Pill after another floated out and stopped in front of the gathered cultivators. The moment they took the pills into their hands, shock appeared across their faces.

"This medicinal fragrance... It's incredibly rich!"

"Fourth-tier, top-grade!"

"Fellow Daoist Luo, you refined this yourself?"

"Was this just a lucky success, or..."

Luo Chen answered the questions one by one with an easygoing smile. When someone asked whether he could consistently refine top-grade fourth-tier pills, he did not make an absolute promise. Even so, he did state that he was quite confident in both his success rate and the proportion of finished pills that reached top grade.

Ye Lingtian turned the Grand Origin Pill over in his hand in disbelief. A fourth-tier top-grade pill? Even Saint Alchemist Chu Yan couldn't do much better than this back in the day!

He remembered very clearly that Chu Yan could produce top-grade fourth-tier pills only on good days, and even then, such successes were rare. It was not until she unexpectedly refined an entire furnace of fifth-tier divine pills and earned the title of Saint Alchemist that her understanding of the Dao of Alchemy rose to another level. Only then had she become capable of producing top-grade fourth-tier pills with any real consistency.

In other words, Luo Chen's attainments were already almost comparable to Chu Yan's during the later years of her reign as the Saint Alchemist of the Eastern Wilderness. Perhaps he could not yet refine fifth-tier pills and therefore had no claim to the title of Saint, but calling him a great-grandmaster would definitely not be an overstatement.

The realization immediately changed the way Ye Lingtian looked at him. How could the Eastern Wilderness allow such a valuable person to serve as a guest elder of Star Gate and maintain ties with the Dao Sect?

While Ye Lingtian considered this, Luo Chen calmly endured the amazed, admiring, and disbelieving gazes directed toward him.

Hide my abilities? Why would I? Especially in front of a colossus like the Holy Land, there's even less reason to hide!

If such a power truly decided to abandon reason and crush him by force, hiding a little ability would accomplish nothing. It was far better to demonstrate enough value that those above would take him seriously, his peers would seek his favor, and those below would naturally look up to him. And true value came from what one could offer others. In the chaotic Eastern Wilderness of today, few things were more useful than fourth-tier spirit medicines capable of reliably strengthening Sages!

Once the murmurs around him began to subside, Luo Chen spoke again.

"This pill wouldn't be of much use to any of you. It's something I refined for my own cultivation. But I have indeed reached a high level of mastery in alchemy. If you give me a complete formula, some time to study it, and the appropriate ingredients, I can say with confidence that there are few pills I can't refine."

He was talking so casually that it almost sounded like a trivial matter, but his words sent waves through the hearts of everyone present.

Almost immediately, someone asked, "Can you refine other fourth-tier pills as well?"

Luo Chen turned toward the speaker. The man wore his hair in a gourd-shaped topknot and was dressed in a flowing robe that gave him an elegant, almost otherworldly air. He was Wind Listener, Supreme Elder of the Ethereal Sect.

Luo Chen nodded. "I can."

Wind Listener's face immediately lit up.

Before he could say anything more, another voice hurriedly cut in. "What about spirit medicines that help with breakthroughs? Can you refine those too?"

This time, the question came from Old Tal of the Divine Talisman Sect, and unlike Wind Listener's curiosity, the urgency in his eyes was impossible to hide. In truth, there was a good reason for that. The Divine Talisman Sect had once stood alongside the Medicine King Sect as one of the wealthiest forces in the Far East Six Domains. Over the years, however, the Medicine King Sect had gradually pulled far ahead, and eventually even Skysail City had overtaken them.

The reason for all of this was that the sect had suffered a gap between generations within the Divine Talisman Sect. Old Tal was already 900 years old, and he had formed his Nascent Soul 500 years ago. Yet for a full five centuries, the sect had failed to produce a second Sage! This had not only hindered the sect's development but even caused it to decline steadily over time.

Had Old Tal not been experienced enough to pull back whenever the situation turned unfavorable, the sect might have been destroyed long ago amid repeated struggles between sects and the devastation wrought by demonic beasts. So when he asked about spirit medicines that could assist with breakthroughs, everyone in the hall understood exactly what he was hoping for.

Faced with Old Tal's eager gaze, the corner of Luo Chen's mouth slowly lifted. "Those are no problem either."

Thud!

The sudden sound of a hand smacking a table drew everyone's attention.

Luo Chen glanced sideways and saw Ye Lingtian with one hand braced against the tabletop, his usual composure slipping just enough for a complicated expression to show on his face. Everyone else saw it as well, but at that moment, they were far more interested in whether Luo Chen could truly back up what he had just said.

Nine Spirits suddenly stood up. "Fellow Daoist Luo, what if the fourth-tier formula is incomplete? Could you still refine the pill?"

Luo Chen smiled. "I can't promise anything without seeing the formula first. But if I can make it work, the price won't be the same. Fellow Daoist, you'd better think carefully before asking me to take it on."

Rather than being discouraged, Nine Spirits looked rather happy. In fact, it was also his reaction that quickly made the others realize something they had nearly overlooked. Luo Chen's willingness to refine spirit medicines for them was already a huge favor, but favor and compensation were two entirely different matters. In times like these, money alone was not enough to secure the help of a truly capable alchemist. Even if someone possessed all the necessary ingredients and could afford the cost, the alchemist still had to be willing to take the commission in the first place.

Now that Luo Chen had openly declared that he was willing to do so, the next question everyone wanted to know was what he expected in return.

Luo Chen also did not beat around the bush and openly named several things: crimson firmament energy, preferably in large quantities; high-tier physique refinement techniques, regardless of whether they came from ancient times or the modern age; and alchemical formulas of any tier. Anyone who possessed even one of these could approach him to discuss pill refinement, though the exact terms would still have to be negotiated separately. After all, every formula differed in difficulty, while the time, materials, and effort required to refine each pill could vary greatly. Naturally, there was no way to set a single fixed price for every commission.

Once Luo Chen finished laying out his conditions, the atmosphere in the hall quieted somewhat as everyone considered whether they possessed anything that met his requirements.

Someone, however, had their mind elsewhere.

Divine Fire watched the scene unfold and could not help recalling Golden Plume's words from earlier. In barely the span of a single banquet, Luo Chen had already become the center of everyone's attention. If he truly began refining spirit medicines for them in the future, each successful deal would strengthen another relationship and leave behind another favor owed. By then, if the Divine Sect ever decided to move against him, then it would probably...

Suddenly, a voice sounded. "Divine Fire, I heard Elder Clear Spring was killed by several Demon Emperors. Is there anyone else in your sect who can still refine the Great Five Elements Divine Pill?"

Divine Fire's head snapped up. The moment he met Luo Chen's smiling gaze, it felt as though something had lodged in his chest. He had touched upon one of the Divine Sect's deepest wounds.

At its peak, the Divine Sect had been the strongest force among the Far East Six Domains, powerful enough to rival some of the great sects in the Eastern Wilderness. Much of that strength had rested upon the elders of the Five Peaks, each of whom excelled in a different field. Golden Plume was renowned for his combat strength, Coldwood specialized in nurturing, and Divine Fire himself was accomplished in artifact creation. But if one were to ask which of the five had been the most important to the sect as a whole, the answer would undoubtedly have been Clear Spring.

As the sect's chief alchemist, she had refined nearly every pill required by its cultivators. From the Weak Water Pill used by the Initiates to the Five Elements Divine Pill favored by Adepts and even the Great Five Elements Divine Pill that supported the cultivation of the Sages, all of them had come from her hands.

Then a battle happened in which two of the Five Peak Elders died and one was injured. Clear Spring was one of those who perished under the combined assault of several Demon Emperors, and with her death, the Divine Sect had effectively lost its source of high-tier spirit medicines. For Luo Chen to bring the matter up now was practically the same as tearing open an old wound in front of everyone present.

Divine Fire suppressed his anger and stared at him coldly. "Luo Chen, what exactly are you getting at?"

Luo Chen smiled. "Nothing complicated. If no one in your sect can refine the Great Five Elements Divine Pill anymore, I can do it for you."

Divine Fire narrowed his eyes. "You're suddenly that generous?"

Luo Chen shrugged. "I've always been generous. I hate seeing people struggle when I can help. Just have your supreme elder bring me the formula himself. Once I have it, I don't mind refining a batch for you."

Divine Fire fell silent for a moment before immediately understanding what Luo Chen was really after. "I'm afraid that won't be possible. Our supreme elder isn't in good health and doesn't see outsiders."

With that, Divine Fire found an excuse to take his leave and departed soon afterward.

Luo Chen watched his retreating figure disappear from the hall, and his eyes narrowed slightly.