Chapter 28 - 24: Alchemy Requires Luck

Chapter 28: Chapter 24: Alchemy Requires Luck

Luocheng First High School, rest area for eliminated students.

Xu Jianliang walked out of the passage dejectedly. "Damn it," he said in frustration. "If I had known we would run into such a ruthless guy like Lu Tongxue, we shouldn’t have played smart."

Zheng Liu, standing beside him, complained, "Isn’t it all your fault, Jianliang? Lu Tongxue was ready to let us off the hook at first, but you just had to go and provoke him. Weren’t you just asking for trouble and pushing us into the fire pit?"

"Can you really blame me?" Xu Jianliang retorted. "I was also tricked by Chai Xi. He insisted on pointing out that Lu Chen’s Protective Wristwatch had no Spiritual Power, hinting that he was at the end of his rope.

"If you want to blame someone, blame Chai Xi. It’s all his fault for giving us false intelligence."

"Oh, come on," Zheng Liu shot back. "Chai Xi only pointed it out, but you were the one who told me to attack! If you had realized earlier that Lu Chen was deliberately baiting us to strike first to avoid point deductions, we wouldn’t have been eliminated so early."

Xu Jianliang and Zheng Liu continued to bicker as they walked into the rest area. By now, quite a few students were already seated there, including some who had previously been duped by the two of them. However, those students merely glared at the duo without saying a word. After all, they could only blame themselves for being so naive as to trust others so easily, ending up thoroughly taught a lesson by this insidious trio. They were simply inferior in skill!

"Chai Xi, how did you get out here too?" Zheng Liu asked in surprise, looking at Chai Xi who emerged just a few seconds after them.

Chai Xi threw his hands up helplessly. "What else could have happened? Lu Tongxue sent me out with a single sword strike."

"I remember you didn’t attack him, though. If Lu Tongxue attacked you, he would have points deducted."

"Do you think he cares about that tiny bit of points?"

Zheng Liu froze for a moment before saying dejectedly, "That’s true. With his Power, earning points is a breeze. He doesn’t need to scheme like we do."

Chai Xi shrugged. "Exactly. If we had his Power, we wouldn’t be throwing a loser’s party here either."

Zheng Liu stared at the exam broadcast on the rest area’s large screen, speaking with a hint of envy. "To have such Sword Skill Cultivation and Body Technique mastery at just the Qi Cultivation Third Level... Lu Tongxue’s Comprehension is truly terrifying. I wonder how he goes about his daily Cultivation. I should ask him later."

Hearing this, a random student nearby who had been eliminated early couldn’t help but interject. "I advise you not to try copying him. You won’t be able to learn it."

"Why?" Zheng Liu asked in confusion.

The student pointed at Lu Chen, who was playing on his phone on the large screen, and said sourly, "Because he’s been holding his phone playing games ever since the mock exam started. The only time he briefly put it away was when he ran into you guys.

"He plays the rest of the time. If he’s like this even during an exam, do you really think he cultivates properly on a normal day?"

"Ah?!"

Upon hearing this, the trio was so shocked that their mouths fell slightly open. For a moment, they didn’t know what to say. Although the student’s words were few, the amount of information was massive.

Zheng Liu looked at Lu Chen on the screen, who had already returned to the cave and was sitting by the campfire playing on his phone. He still found it somewhat hard to believe. "Has he really been playing mobile games since the exam started? Could he be reading information on his phone?

"After all, even though there’s no internet in the Secret Realm, he could have prepared some information on Demon Fiends beforehand and read it once inside."

However, without waiting for the random student to answer, Chai Xi couldn’t help but chime in. "Idiot, have you ever seen anyone turn their phone sideways and use both hands at the same time when looking up information?"

"..."

Zheng Liu slapped his forehead, realizing he really had said something stupid. If he were just looking up information, one hand would be more than enough; there would be absolutely no need to hold the phone horizontally. Therefore, Lu Chen’s current posture left only one possibility: he was playing a mobile game. To not let go of his phone even during an exam... was this guy’s gaming addiction really that severe? And how much time would someone so obsessed with games actually dedicate to Cultivation on a daily basis?

At this moment, an identical picture formed in the minds of Zheng Liu and the other two. While others made time to play games after cultivating, Lu Chen made time to cultivate after playing games. He was practically the poster child for squandering talent and losing his ambition to a plaything!

Gradually, an even more terrifying thought surfaced in their minds. If Lu Chen could achieve such terrifying mastery in Sword Skill and Body Technique despite spending most of his time gaming, then if he saved that gaming time for Cultivation, wouldn’t he be...

Damn it, this was too infuriating!

So hard work really was worthless in the face of sheer talent! They cultivated painstakingly, only to pale in comparison to someone who casually practiced after gaming. It couldn’t possibly be that Lu Chen was uniquely gifted in a way where normal Cultivation yielded little results, and he could only grow stronger rapidly by playing games, right? How could something so absurd exist in this world? The reason he was so strong had to be his heaven-defying Comprehension. Gaming... had actually limited his talent!

Right then and there, in the eyes of the teachers and students of First High School, Lu Chen had completely transformed into a rebellious kid with average Spirit Root Talent but heaven-defying Comprehension, suffering from a severe gaming addiction. With such talent, why wasn’t he cultivating diligently to make a name for himself in the Cultivation Realm in the future, instead of holing up here to play games? What a waste of God-given gifts! It was an absolute waste! Why did such heaven-defying Comprehension have to go to such a slacker... Damn it!

...

Inside the Five Springs Mountain Secret Realm.

[Name: Lu Chen (Cyan Cloud Sect Handyman)]

[Talent: Top Grade Mixed Spiritual Root (Gold, Wood, Water, Fire, Earth)]

[Cultivation: Qi Cultivation Third Level (3700/20000)]

[Current Experience Points: 2500]

He thought, "I originally planned to save my Experience Points to raise my Alchemy Skill Level, but why didn’t anyone tell me beforehand that Alchemy relies mostly on... Luck!"

Lu Chen stared at the Pill Furnace on his phone, which was billowing thick black smoke after yet another failed Alchemy attempt. He admitted he was a little tilted. Fifty-one times. He had tried Alchemy exactly fifty-one times! Yet, he hadn’t successfully refined a single Qi Gathering Pill. This made no sense. Was he truly not cut out for Alchemy? If this kept up, the Spirit Stones he earned from doing quests... would be completely gone!

Lu Chen looked at the measly 200 Low Grade Spirit Stones he had left in the game, knowing he had at most four more chances at Alchemy. Once these Spirit Stones were spent, he would have to bitterly trudge over to the Cyan Profound Forest to chop trees and earn more.

He thought, "Forget it. My Luck has never been great since I was a kid. These luck-based things aren’t for me.

"I’ll borrow some Luck from Yezi later. She’s got that lucky koi Physique where she can find cash just walking out the door.

"With her beside me, I might succeed on the first try.

"For now, I should focus on raising my Cultivation. I can’t wait any longer."

True Cultivation, add points!

[Name: Lu Chen (Cyan Cloud Sect Handyman)]

[Talent: Top Grade Mixed Spiritual Root (Gold, Wood, Water, Fire, Earth)]

[Cultivation: Qi Cultivation Fourth Level (4700/20000)]

[Current Experience Points: 1500]

He thought, "If I had my original Low Grade Spiritual Root, then reaching a Spiritual Power Value of ten thousand points would be the limit of the Qi Cultivation Stage, and I wouldn’t be able to progress any further.

"But the Top Grade Spiritual Root has raised my Spiritual Power cap to twenty thousand points.

"In other words, while a Low Grade Spiritual Root can only cultivate up to the tenth level of the Qi Cultivation Stage, I can cultivate to the twentieth level.

"However, I haven’t heard of any Realm beyond the tenth level of Qi Cultivation before. I suppose most people consider anything beyond the tenth level as an unconventional Realm.

"No wonder I always hear about geniuses reaching the Peak of Qi Cultivation Stage early on but being in no rush to break through. It turns out they only reached what ordinary people consider the peak, not their own true peak.

"The gap between ordinary people and geniuses is indeed visibly massive.

"But now... am I not an absolute genius too?

"I’ll put Alchemy aside for now and just let my game character focus on Cultivation for the next few days.

"At my current Cultivation speed of around fifty Experience Points per in-game day, I can increase my Cultivation by a thousand points in twenty in-game days.

"And that... is merely two days in reality.

"Even if I don’t use all my Experience Points to increase my Cultivation, this speed is still absolutely astonishing.

"It seems there really is no rush to raise my Cultivation. I should focus on seeing if there’s any way to increase my chances for Foundation Establishment.

"After all, if I can’t even achieve Heavenly Dao Foundation Establishment with this setup, it would be downright embarrassing."

...