Immortality begins with Becoming an Alchemy Grandmaster

When Luo Chen arrived, Mi Shuhua laughed from the heart.

When Luo Chen left, his laughter was somewhat forced.

In the Bright Moon Hall, Sikong Shoujia and Luo Chen had already left, leaving only Mi Junping who came later.

“Father, does building a Pill Room require such a big investment?”

Unable to restrain herself, Mi Junping asked.

As the Halls Master of the Merits Hall, she was not only responsible for managing staff but also part of the financial accounting.

Just the items proposed by Luo Chen earlier, at a quick estimate, would require an input of thousands of Spirit Stones.

Moreover, this was just for building the Pill Room.

The Mi Family had also invested a Xuanyun Tripod valued at nine hundred Spirit Stones and a Purple Cloud Bronze Furnace valued at four hundred Spirit Stones.

In addition to this, when the Pill Room was fully constructed and actual Pill Refinement was to begin,

the Broken Mountain Gang would still have to provide countless raw materials.

Even though Mi Junping handled thousands of Spirit Stones daily, Spirit Stones are not just for spending!

Mi Shuhua sighed, revealing a bitter smile.

When in front of his family, he wouldn’t constantly conceal his real feelings.

“Ping’er, you don’t understand. The amount we are investing right now is just the beginning.”

Surprisingly, Mi Junping inquired, “But we’ve already invested quite a lot!”

Mi Shuhua shook his head, “Why do you think only a Great Sect would have an alchemy master, or even if it’s a pill refiner of a clan, it generally has to be a Golden Core clan, or an old Foundation Establishment clan.”

“The amount of investment that outsiders don’t know about is also a reason!”

“We, the Mi Family, are just a newly emerged Foundation Establishment clan, we cannot support the extravagance of a true alchemy master. Now that we have established the Pill Hall, it’s just because we have borrowed the power of the Broken Mountain Gang.”

Being aware of her own family’s situation, Mi Junping clearly comprehends this.

Thinking of supporting a cultivator’s pill refining for tens or hundreds of years, she also felt a bit frightened.

This is beyond the capability of an emerging Foundation Establishment clan.

“What Luo Chen is doing here can be considered as minor.”

“Second Order Alchemy Masters are even more illustrious, at least one should have an Ascendant Grade Magic Tool in their refinement equipment. They disdain common fire, they only use Earth Fire, do you know the construction cost of a Pill Room equipped with Earth Fire?”

Whispering, Mi Junping asked, “How much does it cost?”

“To have a spring eye for Earth Fire, draw out Earth Fire, build a defensive array, isolate the inside and outside, and build a Pill Room. A cultivator from Ailao Mountain once quoted a price of eight thousand Spirit Stones!”

“Sss, why not just rob?” Mi Junping gasped.

Mi Shuhua sighed, “That price is just the service charge excluding the cost of the building materials, which also need to be purchased from Ailao Mountain’s Immortal Residence, they also want to earn a sum.”

“So, it seems that Luo Chen’s requests seem high, but it is merely incurring an expenditure of a few thousand spirit stones, I can afford this, and the Broken Mountain Gang can as well.”

Concerned, Mi Junping asked, “Can we earn this back in the future?”

“We can definitely earn back, but if we want to earn more, it depends on whether the boy is able to refine the pill formula I gave him.”

Mi Shuhua said blandly. There was some hope in his words, but also hesitation.

“Elder Sikong, I’ll have to trouble you with the matters of the Pill Hall.”

“No problem, since the Gang Leader has said to fully support you, I definitely cannot be a drag.”

“So, see you tomorrow?”

“See you tomorrow!”

At the crossroads of the Inner City, watching Sikong Shoujia hurry away, Luo Chen smiled slightly.

He also hurriedly headed towards his home.

In a short while, he arrived back at the quadrangle courtyard.

After closing the door, there was no need to turn on the light.

The new Reverse Room had added two glazed skylights, so the light was much better than before.

Sitting at his desk, Luo Chen took out several items from his storage bag.

Two vials of Qi Nurturing Pills were his steady salary for the coming month, which he had just received.

The previous batch of five vials that he had saved up to buy was almost consumed, so these could just replenish his stock.

Apart from the Qi Nurturing Pills, there was also a somewhat yellowed book and two bamboo scrolls.

First, he used the Spirit Vision Technique to carefully inspect them, making sure there were no hidden hands.

Only then did Luo Chen pick up the book with ease.

“Qing Yuanzi’s Detailed Explanation of the Path of Pill”

This was the book related to the Dao of Alchemy that Mi Shuhua had promised before.

The paper was yellowed, with quite a few annotations.

It was clear that Luo Chen was not the first person to read this book, other than the author himself.

The people from the Mi Family must have read it many times as well.

“The Path of Pill Refinement is profound and deeply intricate, situated at the forefront of the spectrum of Cultivation. Although it does not display external power similar to tools, symbols, or puppets, it assists practitioners like us to tread on the path of the Great Dao.”

“I am but mediocre, my realm only in the Late Stage of Foundation Establishment, yet, I am ranked as a Third Order Pill Refiner, a Grandmaster of an era.”

“This book is a collection of my random thoughts during my idle time from Pill Refinement, it has recordings from beginner levels of Pill Refinement, to …”

From just the beginning, Luo Chen could feel the arrogant attitude of the Pill Refiner named “Qing Yuanzi” between the lines.

But he truly had the qualifications to be arrogant.

At the Foundation Establishment realm, he refined a Third Order Pill.

And this book, the contents written were very detailed.

It practically covered every technique needed for an alchemy beginner, including some professional terms that even Luo Chen found a bit headache-inducing.

“The book is a good one, but it’s not one I can finish in just a short period of time. I should spend more time studying it.”

After treasuring and carefully storing the “Qing Yuanzi’s Detailed Explanation of the Path of Pill”, Luo Chen’s attention fell onto the two bamboo scripts.

One of the bamboos scripts was intact, while the other had traces of having been burned.

In actuality, Mi Shuhua had given him two pill formulas, but one of them was incomplete, so he didn’t have any expectations of Luo Chen.

What the old man really cared about was the intact pill formula.

“Jade Marrow Pill!”

Luo Chen studied the pill formula meticulously, from the main ingredients, to the ratio of components, and then the effects and prohibitions.

After studying it, he unexpectedly realized that it was already evening.

Rubbing his slightly aching brows, he couldn’t help but feel emotional.

“No wonder Mi Shuhua went to such lengths to rope me in, even sparing no expense to establish the Pill Hall.”

“If I can really refine this Jade Marrow Pill, then the Broken Mountain Gang will strike it rich!”

“No, no, it’s Mi Shuhua who’ll strike it rich.”

Luo Chen discreetly asked Qin Liangchen how the profits generated by the Pill Hall were distributed among them, excluding his own share.

Although there was no specific distribution ratio, Gang Leader Mi Shuhua would definitely take the largest share.

The other divisions apart from the hall master and the Ninth Level Qi Refinement Cultivator, hardly got any Spirit Stones.

In other words, the majority of the Pill Hall’s profits would end up in Mi Shuhua’s pocket.

And this Jade Marrow Pill was what could generate a huge profit.

“It’s actually a traditional cultivation pill!”

This one label alone could account for the value of the Jade Marrow Pill.

According to the effects listed on the pill formula, taking a Jade Marrow Pill can enhance a cultivator’s Spirit Power.

Quite a common effect, right?

But the more common it is, the more mainstream it becomes.

However, this mainstream elixir, whether it’s the formula or the supply chain, is controlled by the Great Sects.

Normal forces simply do not have similar elixirs for sale. Even if they do, there will definitely be some involvement from the Sect forces.

“However, this pill also has a lot of shortcomings!”

Luo Chen recalled the prohibitions listed on the pill formula, feeling rather disappointed.

Although the Jade Marrow Pill is a mainstream elixir, the Spirit Power contained in it is not substantial, only about one-tenth of the Qi Nurturing Pill.

Not only that, taking too much can lead to drug tolerance.

Drug tolerance is still manageable, as most elixirs have this drawback.

The biggest drawback of the Jade Marrow Pill lies in the fact that overdosing can lead to jade formation in one’s Dantian!

This is absolutely unacceptable for cultivators.

The Dantian is the most vital part of a lower-order cultivator.

If damaged, it could lead to a cut-off cultivation pathway at best, or death from rampaging Spirit Qi at worst.

Jade formation is not a pleasant term either.

Once jade forms, it will be extremely difficult for the cultivator to break through to the next realm.

In the professional terminology of Dao of Alchemy, this is referred to as a “Pill Barrier”, the obstacles caused by taking elixirs.

Many alternative elixirs can easily lead to Pill Barriers.

Only elixirs like the Qi Nurturing Pill, Dusting Pills, and Jade Dew Pill that have been researched thousands of times by people have managed to resolve the Pill Barrier issue.

If taken excessively, the most that can happen is no effect at all.

“Although it has many drawbacks, it’s still seen as a miraculous pill for lower-order cultivators!”

Luo Chen had painstakingly journeyed here from the First and Second Levels of Qi Refinement, so he had deeply experienced the difficulties brought on by elixirs!

Spirit Medicine Hall’s Qi Nurturing Pills are not sold individually, but at least by the bottle.

And a bottle costs a hundred Spirit Stones!

A hundred Spirit Stones, Foundation Establishment Cultivators wouldn’t even bat an eyelid at that. Late Stage Qi Refinement cultivators could easily take that out, while Middle Stage cultivators could grit their teeth and occasionally buy a bottle.

But for early-stage cultivators, it’s a huge sum of money!

One might not necessarily be able to afford a bottle even after spending all one’s savings and assets.

The Jade Marrow Pill is different though.

The main ingredients, effects, and drawbacks all indicate that its selling price won’t be high.

In other words, lower-order cultivators can afford it!

“Although they’re poor, it doesn’t mean they don’t have Spirit Stones.”

“If I knew about this kind of pill back then, I would have gritted my teeth and been able to buy some every year.”

“Once this pill is refined, it will specifically aim to scrape Spirit Stones from these poor people!”

Luo Chen set down the bamboo script, no longer harboring any doubts.

As for what Mi Shuhua was worried about, whether or not he could succeed in refining it?

Joking, he is a man with a system after all!

Of course, he definitely won’t be able to refine it easily.

Luo Chen had his own plans in mind, his gaze then fell on the scorched bamboo script.

“Tongyou Pill?”