Immortality begins with Becoming an Alchemy Grandmaster

This was Luo Chen’s first time seeing Mi Shuhua.

He was the same 01′ Mi mentioned by Qin Liangchen, the gang leader of the Broken Mountain Gang.

With grey hair and a round face, although wrinkled, he was rosy-cheeked. Together with his large belly, he resembled a jovially smiling Maitreya Buddha.

If placed in the mortal world, he would look like an everyday wealthy man.

However, Luo Chen, along with all the other rogue cultivators from The Great River District, knew there was more to him than his amiable appearance.

Everyone knew that the Foundation Establishment was the first major obstacle on the path of cultivation.

This world was rich in resources and full of Heaven and Earth Qi, so theoretically, it should be easy to break through this obstacle.

Yet, only one in ten thousand was able to successfully establish their foundation.

Among sect cultivators, Foundation Establishment was much simpler.

That’s because the method of refining Foundation Establishment Pills was held in the hands of the great sects.

Even if the pill formula for the Foundation Establishment Pill leaked out occasionally, it would be taken back at all costs by each great sect.

If they couldn’t take back the pill formula, they would take the person, whether dead or alive.

As a result, if ordinary rogue cultivators wanted to establish their foundation unless they have other opportunities, they could only look towards the Foundation Establishment Pills leaked by the great sects every year.

However, the appearance of each Foundation Establishment Pill always brought a great commotion.

At the auction, there are countless priceless Foundation Establishment Pills.

Therefore, despite the large number of rogue cultivators in The Great River District, very few have managed to produce a cultivator who has established their foundation over the years.

In almost a century, there have only been two Foundation Establishment cultivators in The Great River District.

Mi Shuhua was one of them.

After achieving the Foundation Establishment, he became the leader of the Broken Mountain Gang.

He was quite ambitious, very kind to lower-order cultivators, and generous in helping struggling cultivators.

Even when a cultivator died tragically in the mountains, he would go to great lengths to take care of their family members.

As a result, he slowly won over their hearts.

Under his leadership, what originally was a poor union of rogue cultivators struggling for cultivation resources in the mountains gradually grew stronger.

Up to now, the Broken Mountain Gang has become the most formidable power in The Great River District, apart from the six major Ascendant Sects.

There are more than a hundred Late Stage Qi Refinement cultivators in the gang, over a thousand Middle Stage cultivators, and countless lower-order rogue cultivators making a living by working for them.

Take Luo Chen as an example. When he was refining the Fasting Elixir, he actually reaped quite a few benefits from the Broken Mountain Gang.

Their cultivators who frequently ventured into the mountains had the highest demand for the Fasting Elixir.

Outside the Yu Ding Sword Pavilion, Mi Shuhua, along with hundreds of others, was gathered around a huge jade disc.

Unconcerned with the thousands of spectators outside, he pointed to the jade disc and loudly said, “In this battle, I hope everyone will unite and defeat the enemy.”

“The victor will receive all the spoils of war. I, Mi Shuhua, will not take a single cent.”

“Those who die in battle, their families will be entrusted to me. If they have offspring with a spirit root, I will do my utmost to cultivate them into cultivators.”

“Moreover, if we win this battle, I will reward everyone with a Foundation Establishment Pill. Of course, there is only one, so it goes to who reaches the Ninth Level Qi Refinement first.”

“Once that person achieves Foundation Establishment, I will also do everything I can to acquire more Foundation Establishment Pills for the rest.”

“Our Broken Mountain Gang only seeks to break through the great obstacle of the Path of Immortality, achieving Foundation Establishment for all!”

At his words, the few hundred cultivators of the Broken Mountain Gang, as if they had known it ahead of time, shouted in unison, “Victory is certain!”

The spectators outside were taken aback.

Mi Shuhua actually held a Foundation Establishment Pill.

Moreover, he was willing to give it to others as a reward.

This was really a grand gesture!

Similarly, they couldn’t stop discussing all sorts of promises made by Mi Shuhua.

Seeing this scene, Luo Chen couldn’t help but marvel at Mi Shuhua’s generosity, which is why Brother Wang and Big Brother Qin recognized and followed him.

His eyes scanned the Broken Mountain Gang cultivators. Each of them seemed excited, as if they couldn’t wait to go and fight.

Wang Yuan was among them, his eyes cold.

The couple Qin Liangchen and Murong Qinglian were also there, fearless.

Oh, Friend Zeng was actually among them, and even in the center of the circle closest to Mi Shuhua.

Listening to the others’ discussions, Zeng Wen was known as the “Sick Tiger” among the Seven Tigers of the Broken Mountain.

Just as he was curious, a rumbling sound came from the gateway next to the jade disc.

Then, with all eyes watching, the large door slowly opened.

A long, white passage was revealed, with seven Foundation Establishment cultivators standing in front of the door, their expressions calm.

Another Foundation Establishment cultivator came out from inside, it was none other than Miao Zhen, a manager from the Sword Pavilion who the cultivators in The Great River District were quite familiar with.

After giving a few polite remarks, he stepped aside and made way.

Mi Shuhua didn’t hesitate and led nine Late Stage Qi Refinement cultivators into the passage.

The rest of the gang members either entered the passage with their entry jade or a specially made iron plate. After verification, they also went inside.

Watching those iron plates, Luo Chen blinked. He seemed to have one too.

After all the Broken Mountain Gang members had entered, the other rogue cultivators finally approached the huge jade disc.

They didn’t rush in because everyone knew that their way of participating in this inauguration ceremony was different from those of the Broken Mountain Gang.

“This is the fight roster for the Eighteen Mortal Fights. I’ve waited for several days.”

“Let me see who’s fighting who, so I can place my bets easily.”

“With my experience of living in The Great River District for fifty years, I know most of the top fighters from both sides. It’s clear who will win and who will lose!”

There were nine fight orders, displayed vertically from one to nine.

Such large-scale battles between cultivators in the Late Stage Qi Refinement were rarely seen, so everyone was extremely interested.

Just as they gathered around, someone immediately let out a surprised shout.

“Who is this Min Longyu? Is there such a person in the Great Lake Gang?”

“And this Bai Qi, I have never heard of this person’s name.”

“Yang Rusheng? I think I’ve heard this name somewhere. Wait, isn’t he a rogue cultivator from the Tianyi District? When did he join the Great Lake Gang?” “Shameless! The Great Lake Gang has actually brought in outside help.”

“This is our local gang, and they have to find outside help for the competition, isn’t this against the rules?”

Against the rules?

Of course not!

The initial rules only set the boundaries, but never restricted either side from recruiting outside help.

The Broken Mountain Gang simply chose to let their powerful members who they were familiar with participate in the competition.

As for the weaker Great Lake Gang, they somehow managed to rope in four foreign rogue cultivators.

A few of them were occasionally mentioned, the other two, no one even knows where they came from.

But regardless of the scorn, what matters most to gambling dogs is guessing who will win the fight.

“No matter where they came from, they’re ultimately constrained by the level of the Qi Refinement Stage, so it depends on their individual abilities.”

“Have it your way, but to win five out of four matches, the order of battle becomes especially important.”

“The first battle is to kick off the competition, and both sides will fight to the death. Let’s see who will make the first move.”

“Han Dang, the first tiger of Broken Mountain’s Seven Tigers, Heart Eating Tiger, isn’t this just a sure win? I bet everything on it!”

“Brother, you have such courage? Betting is about wisdom, do you know what skills Min Longyu, Han Dang’s opponent has?”

“Heh, you don’t know anything. Who is Han Dang? He is a person at the Finalization stage of the Ninth Level Qi Refinement who can break through to the Foundation Establishment stage at any moment. That Min Longyu, who knows where that blockhead comes from, it’s a joke if he would be Han Dang’s opponent. Wisdom? Betting everything, that’s wisdom!”

Amidst the discussion, Luo Chen applied the Spirit Vision Technique and saw the list of participants and the order of battle.

The first, fifth, and final ninth battles will undoubtedly be the most crucial encounters.

Neither side would likely give up these three fights, they are sure to send out the strongest people on their team.

Han Dang, Heart Eating Tiger versus Min Longyu, Broken Blade Xu Renke versus Jiang Dragon Gao Tingyuan, Mad Blade Wang Yuan versus Xiao Wuyan.

Seeing these match-ups, Luo Chen’s heart pounded.

He was surprisingly familiar with most of the participants in the last two fights.

Was Brother Wang this powerful? He was placed last by Uncle Mi Shuhua.

It was obvious Gao Tingyuan would be participating, but it seemed he was unlucky, for he would be facing Xu Renke.

The name of Broken Blade was even more renowned than The Heart Eating Tiger amongst the seven tigers, his fighting skill was robust, truly unrivaled amongst those at the same Qi Refinement level.

If he dies on the Dao Debate Platform, then that would be great.

He had made his choice. Now he was a ten-year-old fan of Xu Renke the Broken Blade, he would support him fanatically!

Just as he pondered this, the ticket sales and admission started at the entrance of the Dao Debate Platform.

A few cultivators placed their bets right away and couldn’t wait to enter the aisle.

“Don’t worry about it now, let’s hurry up and buy tickets!”

“Only 10,000 tickets go on sale. After deducting the free family tickets for the observers from both gangs, there aren’t many left.”

“Give me one, here’s one hundred Spirit Stones!”

There were still more than 9,000 tickets left, even after deducting some free tickets.

Say what you want about the Yu Ding Sword Pavilion, but just from this opening ceremony, they could earn nearly a million Spirit Stones from ticket sales alone!

This was not to mention the various sources of income from the exchange meeting, auctions, and gambling stalls.

Luo Chen patiently meandered outside, occasionally glaring at the gambling stalls, listening to who would win or lose under the jade wall.

This felt like watching the World Cup in his previous life, where the fans compared each player on both teams, one by one.

From defense to offense, from an overall view to individual stunts, even their appearance and murderous aura could be discussed.

Hey, you can even say the atmosphere is quite good!

Time flew by quickly, and hundreds of people from the Great Lake Gang also arrived halfway through.

They however, didn’t linger at all. They only glanced at the jade wall and then walked in.

Luo Chen paid special attention to Jiang Dragon Gao Tingyuan, who everyone was discussing.

He was a robust and short man, with an air of fierceness all over him.

He didn’t look at all like his dead brother, Gao Tingye, which made one doubt they were siblings.

Gao Tingyuan probably saw his opponent’s name, and so his face wasn’t too good.

But he could not let out his anger.

Being placed at the critical position of the fifth battle meant that the gang leader, Wang Haichao, acknowledged his strength and hopes he could win the battle for the gang.

Could he show cowardice?

To this, Luo Chen could only say “Good riddance!”

As the cultivators entered one by one, even some Foundation Establishment Cultivators made their way inside, the number of spectators outside did not decrease.

Thousands of people were standing in front of the jade wall, waiting for the opening ceremony of the Dao Debate Platform to begin.

Because the personnel of the Yu Ding Sword Pavilion said that a Water Mirror Technique had been applied to the jade wall, which would synchronously transfer the scene inside.

It was said that in order to maintain the Water Mirror Technique, the Yu Ding Sword Pavilion had arranged for two Foundation Establishment Cultivators to take turns performing the technique.

Of course, there were also some people painfully regretting that they did not get an entrance jade jue ticket.

After all, the Water Mirror Technique on the jade wall could only convey the scene and not any sound.

But the information displayed showed that there would be song and dance performances!

Just as there was lively and noisy chatter.

A man suddenly stepped forward, raising his arm high, and shouted.

“I have an emergency at home, and I am reselling an entrance ticket, it will go to the highest bidder!”