An Alchemist's Path to Eternity-Chapter 94: Refining the Jade Essence Pill (I)

At the heart of the Alchemy Hall stood three alchemy rooms, arranged with the largest one positioned in the center. This room was not only the most spacious but also the most well-equipped.

It held something even more valuable than most cultivators could dream of—something second only to Luo Chen himself—the Drain Cloud Cauldron

This was no ordinary alchemical furnace. The Drain Cloud Cauldron was a first-tier mid-grade enchanted artifact, rumored to be among the most expensive of its class. It was said to be pricier than even some underwhelming mid-grade defensive artifacts, and its reputation extended far beyond the walls of the Poshan Gang.

At present, the grand alchemy room was silent, sealed off from the world. Even Mi Li had been instructed to remain outside. Luo Chen stood alone within, tending the fire and operating the cauldron himself. One by one, he added the prepared medicinal ingredients, each chosen and arranged by Mi Shuhua well in advance.

He began with the common auxiliaries—ginseng and fallopia. These staples were vital, even in basic qi-nourishing pills, as they provided cultivators with a foundation of physical vitality.

Following these, he carefully introduced rarer ingredients: Blue Citrus Grass and Snow Orchid. These supported the main ingredients, either enhancing their effects or suppressing unwanted properties.

After adding the auxiliary ingredients to the cauldron, Luo Chen's gaze burned intensely as he stared at the cauldron.

The Spirit Eyes had already been activated. Currently, his mastery of the Spirit Eyes was just one step away from reaching the Grandmaster level. When applied, his vision was so enhanced that he could easily see through the cultivation realm of ninth stage Qi-Refining cultivators.

Most cultivators at his stage would never invest so much time and effort into mastering such a technique, but Luo Chen was far from ordinary.

Sometimes, he even wondered—once the Spirit Eyes reached the Grandmaster level, would he be able to pierce through the disguises of Foundation Establishment cultivators?

His focus returned to the cauldron. "The medicinal properties of the auxiliary ingredients have mostly been released," he murmured. "It's time to add the main ingredient!"

He reached for a bamboo box resting on a nearby shelf. When he opened it, a soft glow spilled out, illuminating a palm-sized piece of luminous Washed Jade.

This Washed Jade is a first-tier spirit jade, was primarily found near rivers, coastal areas and occasionally in regions heavy with Yin energy. This jade had numerous uses: it could be crafted into jade boxes for sealing pills or used to create water-element jade scrolls.

Its core essence, the Jade Marrow, was especially valued for physical refinement. It was said to be popular in the mortal world as well, used as core materials for ice cellars or extensively in the construction of tombs.

In terms of price, it was somewhat expensive.

A palm-sized piece of Washed Jade cost an entire spirit stone, which was enough to buy ten jin of spirit rice.

The primary ingredient of the Jade Essence pill was none other than the Jade Marrow within this Washed Jade. The Washed Jade alone accounted for one-fifth of the total material cost.

By Luo Chen's estimate, the raw materials for one batch of Jade Essence pills cost about five spirit stones.

It was not cheap, but not overly expensive either. The price was comparable to the cost of Myriad Wonders pills.

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In fact, the Myriad Wonders pills shouldn't have been so costly; it was primarily due to one main ingredient sourced from the distant Northern Sea, inflating the cost. As for the Jade Essence pill, its production quantity per batch was still unclear to Luo Chen.

But as long as it exceeded the Myriad Wonders pill, it would definitely be profitable! After all, one was a vitality-boosting pill, while the other directly aided cultivation.

The markets for the two were simply incomparable.

With that motivation firm in his heart, Luo Chen steadied his breath and focused.

The Washed Jade hovered above the cauldron as Luo Chen continuously channeled his spirit power. The amount of spirit power released wasn't significant, roughly one-tenth of what his Fireball used.

However, this power had to be maintained with exceptional precision and stability. The prolonged exertion even induced a sense of fatigue.

To make matters more difficult, the spirit power had to be manipulated and compressed in a specific way—something he had learned from The Treatise on Green Origin Pills, a technique known as Jade Fracture, designed specifically for processing jade-based materials.

Under the application of this technique, cracks began to appear on the shell of the Washed Jade. Then, drop by drop, a crystalline liquid, resembling bone marrow, seeped out.

This was the Jade Marrow from the Washed Jade!

Originally solid, it had been transformed into a semi-solid, semi-liquid state under the manipulation of spirit power. Once extracted, each droplet of Jade Marrow was carefully guided into the cauldron, where it would fully liquefy under the heat.

The process was meticulous, delicate—and exhausting. It took Luo Chen a full hour just to extract the marrow properly, each moment requiring precision and control.

"One of the two most challenging steps is complete," he muttered to himself, wiping a sheen of sweat from his brow. "Now comes the other challenge."

Unlike most pills he had refined before, the Jade Essence pill wasn't a medicinal pill—it was a mineral pill. In the cultivation world, medicinal pills were the absolute mainstream. Within medicinal pills, there were many classifications and its specific classifications depended on their main ingredients and effects.

For example, if herbs were the primary ingredient, it was a medicinal pill. If a demonic beast's inner core was used, it was called a beast pill. And If minerals were the primary ingredient, it was a mineral pill, also known as a Golden Stone pill.

And beyond those were even more exotic classifications: soul pills crafted from spirit essence, qi pills formed from raw energy, rare pills derived from the earth's unique treasures. There were even rumors of alchemical masters refining Dao pills using the intangible laws of the Great Dao as the main ingredient!

Swallowing a single Dao pill could promise enlightenment of the Great Dao, making one's destiny their own, no longer bound by the heavens.

Luo Chen, however, had little interest in such abstract mysteries.

He had only ever worked with medicinal pills, and now, mineral ones. The Jade Essence pill was his first true venture into the latter, and refining a mineral pill came with its own host of problems.

The greatest hurdle lay in purifying the mineral while ensuring it blended harmoniously with the herbal ingredients. If the impurities weren't thoroughly removed, the final product would contain lingering metallic toxins. If the fusion failed, the mixture would destabilize, and the resulting pills would mineralize into useless lumps.

And the result of mineralization?

Unfortunately for Luo Chen, he got to witness that outcome firsthand.

Not just him—Mi Shuhua and the others saw it too.

"Is this... what you're calling the Jade Essence pill?" Mi Shuhua asked, holding up a handful of colorful little stone beads in disbelief. His voice was flat, but his expression said it all.

Luo Chen scratched the back of his head sheepishly. "Well... people make mistakes, and even horse trips, right?

"Besides, who succeeds on their very first batch of pills? Even that Saint Alchemist from the Central State wouldn't dare to boast."

Saying this, Luo Chen raised his voice in self-defense.

He tried to sound confident—solid reasoning, firm tone—but the sting of failure clung stubbornly to the air. His logic was sound, yet the disappointment was palpable.

Mi Shuhua sighed deeply and let the useless stone beads fall from his hand, scattering them across the floor with a dull clatter. "I was too impatient," he muttered.

Luo Chen instinctively reached out and patted the old man on the shoulder in consolation—then froze. Wait... since when did I get so casual with a Foundation Establishment cultivator?

But Mi Shuhua didn't seem to mind. If anything, he looked too tired to care. Seeing that, Luo Chen offered a wide grin and said with a chuckle, "Hey, failure is the mother of success. It didn't work out this time, but next time for sure. Don't be discouraged, Old Mi. I actually gained a lot of insight into refining the Jade Essence pill."

Mi Shuhua, still mumbling "failure is the mother of success" under his breath, wandered away in a daze.

After guarding Luo Chen's seclusion for three whole days with high hopes, this was the reward he received the moment Luo Chen emerged—a handful of rainbow-colored mineral junk.

After Mi Shuhua left, Luo Chen shook his head in amusement. "That old fellow is already so senior... and yet he's still so impatient?"

Back when Luo Chen was first refining the Myriad Wonders Pill, he had failed for several days in a row—but even then, he had remained full of confidence.

That same spirit hadn't dimmed now, even after his initial attempt at crafting the Jade Essence pill had ended in failure. In front of the gathered subordinates, he crouched down and calmly picked up the colorful, glassy stone beads scattered across the ground.

After all, the materials were worth five spirit stones, and the little trinkets produced weren't entirely useless.

If nothing else, these could be used to string beads or play Chinese checkers during leisure time! However, the quantity wasn't enough yet. With a few more failures and all the colors collected, I could set up a proper game.

That's what he thought, and the others watched him cheerfully picking up the beads with similar amusement.

Over the next few days, every failed batch of beads was carefully collected and delivered to Luo Chen.

During those days, Luo Chen actually began to put some genuine effort into refining pills.

He refined a batch of Myriad Wonders pills every morning and afternoon.

With deliberate control, the success rates for low-grade, mid-grade, and high-grade pills were maintained at a three to six to one ratio. This method slowed down the improvement of his Grandmaster level proficiency in Myriad Wonders pills.

However, it effectively concealed his true alchemy skills. After all, no one would believe a new alchemist could consistently produce top-grade pills without raising eyebrows.

In response to this production, the Poshan Gang convened another meeting, this time chaired by Mi Junping. She proposed pricing tiers based on pill quality. After some discussion, the gang settled on a structure: low-grade Myriad Wonders Pills would sell for three spirit stones, mid-grade at five, and top-grade at ten.

The top-grade price nearly rivaled that of a qi-nourishing pill. Naturally, demand was low. Still, the gang reasoned there would always be a few desperate—or wealthy—cultivators willing to pay.

Besides, the medicinal properties differed significantly between grades. According to an internal report from Zeng Wen, a seasoned user, mid-grade pills were twice as effective as the low-grade pills. Top-grade ones not only eliminated all prior side effects but also offered genuine foundational stabilization and revitalization.

Even with long-term use, it wouldn't cause loosening of the body's foundational seals and it genuinely provided foundational stabilization and vitality restoration.

Zeng Wen had even claimed, with no small amount of drama, that he had found a glimpse of the Great Dao through those pills.

Luo Chen was deeply moved by himself, feeling that he had brought a touch of warmth and a splash of color to the cold and indifferent cultivation world.

I, Luo Chen, was destined to be one of the top ten outstanding young representatives of the Jade Cauldron Domain's cultivation world. The Jade Cauldron Sword Sect owed me a trophy crafted from top-grade spirit stones!

Alright, enough self-congratulations. He thought sheepishly.

Aside from the daily refinement of Myriad Wonders pills twice a day, Luo Chen would spend his evenings attempting to refine Jade Essence pills alone. Which, of course, explained the ever-growing pile of colorful stone beads.

Time slipped by swiftly.

In the blink of an eye, ten days had gone by.

Mi Shuhua once again stepped into the Alchemy Hall of Crescent Moon Valley. However, upon arrival, he was greeted by a sight that made him bristle with anger.

"What are you doing!?"

His voice boomed across the hall.

On the left side of the hall, where a stone table sat perched at the edge of a raised cliff platform, three figures were gathered. Normally, this was Luo Chen's spot for eating, drinking, or watching the sunrise. But today, Luo Chen, Gu Caiyi, and Sikong Shoujia were huddled together around a hexagonal wooden board.

The board was covered in beads—six distinct colors, densely arranged in complex formations. It was clearly a game in progress. At that very moment, it was Sikong Shoujia's turn.

Startled by Mi Shuhua's sudden outburst, Sikong Shoujia flinched and reflexively flipped the board over with both hands.

"Reporting to the Gang Leader!" he blurted out. "We're analyzing the properties of failed Jade Essence Pills to explore possible improvements!"

His words sounded lofty—noble, even.

But Luo Chen gritted his teeth and glared at the old man. What nonsense! He was about to win that round! Sikong had been losing, and instead of facing defeat honorably, he'd flipped the board like a sore loser!

I don't care, Luo Chen growled under his breath. You still owe me that book from the bet!

***