Chapter 102: Seventh Stage Qi Refinement, Go Find a City Manager!

Chapter 102: Seventh Stage Qi Refinement, Go Find a City Manager!

Familiar steps, familiar place.

In the cramped cave, Lucas Chen once again began the Everlasting Technique.

The scent of the Tranquilizing Incense, light and elegant, calmed his excited and eager heart to a state of complete stillness.

A large amount of spiritual energy entered his body, absorbed, devoured, and refined, ultimately becoming a part of his own spiritual power.

But this was not enough!

The Qi Nourishing Pill in Lucas Chen's mouth grumbled as he swallowed it.

An even greater medicinal force surged through his meridians, eventually converging in his Dantian.

Suddenly, a sensation akin to a silver vase shattering flashed through his mind, vanishing as quickly as it had appeared.

Lucas Chen's mind wavered slightly, and he missed that feeling.

But he was not angry. According to Uncle Mei Hua's "Qi Refinement Insights", the late-stage Qi Refinement realm was vastly different from the early and middle stages.

The upper limit of spiritual power in the late-stage Qi Refinement realm was almost the sum of the first six stages, and even more.

Early and middle-stage Qi Refinement cultivators had very little spiritual power in their bodies, leading to a lack of combat techniques.

Even if they had enough magical tools, they could hardly use them effectively.

However, once they reached the late-stage realm, their spiritual power capacity increased, allowing them to break free from these limitations.

Just like on the Dao Discussion Platform, Zeng Wen had displayed a wide array of techniques, talismans, spells, and magical tools, showcasing everything a Qi Refinement cultivator could do.

This change was due to the principle of quantitative change leading to qualitative change.

Late-stage Qi Refinement cultivators had already opened most of the meridians they could.

Their Dantian capacity had also reached a certain point, unable to expand further.

Therefore, late-stage Qi Refinement cultivators focused more on purifying their spiritual power.

With the same Dantian capacity, they could purify several times the amount of spiritual power compared to their previous realm.

It was said that if the floating, formless spiritual power could be purified to a liquid state, a cultivator would have the opportunity to break through to the Foundation Establishment realm.

Lucas Chen did not understand the exact mechanism, but he was now following the methods described in Uncle Mei Hua's "Qi Refinement Insights", trying to circulate the Everlasting Technique repeatedly to purify his spiritual power and use this vast spiritual power to impact his Dantian.

Another Qi Nourishing Pill entered his body, and Lucas Chen's mind once again calmed to a state of complete stillness.

After a long while, that sudden sensation reappeared.

This time, Lucas Chen caught it perfectly.

The silver vase shattered, and his spiritual power burst forth.

Crack! Crack! Crack!

A series of crisp sounds erupted within his body, like bamboo splitting.

Suddenly, Lucas Chen's face turned pale, and he opened his eyes.

A contradictory aura of weakness and strength enveloped him.

Seventh Stage Qi Refinement!

"Two months and more, finally, I've broken through!"

Glancing at his attribute panel, he smiled in relief.

However, he did not have time to revel in his joy. His attention was immediately drawn to the meridians within his body.

"Late-stage Qi Refinement focuses on purifying spiritual power after the Dantian has solidified and the meridians have been opened."

"But to break through to the late-stage realm, one must primarily expand the Dantian capacity and open more meridians."

"My situation is different from others. The Master-level Everlasting Technique had already opened all my meridians. I didn't expect this innate advantage to almost become a hindrance."

"But, I succeeded in the end."

Breaking through to the late-stage realm should have involved opening more meridians.

But Lucas Chen's meridians were already fully open, causing the vast amount of spiritual power to surge out of his expanded Dantian all at once.

Without the natural blockage of unopened meridians to slow it down, this flood of spiritual power rampaged through his body.

Now, he had reined in this spiritual power back into his Dantian.

But the meridians that had been ravaged were left in a shattered state.

"Damaged meridians are a minor issue; there are many ways to recover, so I'm not too worried about that."

"However, the expanded Dantian can now hold nearly twice the amount of spiritual power as in the sixth stage."

After a thorough inspection, Lucas Chen finally put his mind at ease.

He put away his alchemy furnace and gathered the dust on the ground, planning to take it outside to dispose of later.

The time spent breaking through was not long.

In the past, Lucas Chen would have continued his cultivation.

But today, he could not. His meridians were injured and needed proper rest to recover.

It was still early, and Lucas Chen was not sleepy.

After all, he had just broken through, and he was still feeling a mix of joy and excitement.

He walked around the cramped, narrow cave and finally sat down on the block of Spirit Stone Ore.

Crack!

He gently broke off a piece of the transparent Spirit Stone Ore.

With the aid of the Spirit Vision Technique, he could easily detect the pure threads of spiritual energy within the transparent ore.

"Hmm?"

Lucas Chen was taken aback.

He had originally thought the spiritual energy in the ore veins could be directly absorbed because it was filtered as it seeped out.

But now, upon closer inspection, it seemed that was not the case.

The spiritual energy within the ore veins was incredibly pure and could be directly absorbed!

"Why, then, is the spiritual energy in our Spirit Stones so impure that it becomes chaotic and rampant once absorbed?"

Lucas Chen took out a standard low-grade Spirit Stone.

He tried to break it, but it did not budge.

Thinking for a moment, he tried with the Jade Green Blade, but it also failed.

"Quite sturdy!"

Lucas Chen's temper flared, and he directly took out the Soul-Piercing Spike.

A high-grade magical tool, it had no first-stage array inscribed but instead had a second-stage Piercing Armor array.

Go!

With a flick of his finger, the Soul-Piercing Spike grazed the diamond-shaped crystal.

A crack appeared.

At the same time, the spiritual energy within began to frantically erupt.

Perhaps due to the proximity, most of it gathered around the Spirit Stone Ore.

But a small portion still lingered in the air.

Luo Chen’s Spirit Vision Technique was pushed to its limits as he stared intently at the spiritual energy emanating from the nearby spirit stones.

"What are these black wisps?"

Suddenly, Luo Chen noticed that among the spiritual energy, there were strands of black vapor.

They were in a state of contradiction with the spiritual energy, yet somehow compatible, and also repelling each other.

As soon as they were released, they darted outward, dragging some of the spiritual energy along with them in a chaotic spree.

Watching this peculiar scene, Luo Chen’s mind raced with various speculations.

"Is this the unique method that major sects use to create spirit stones?"

"Is it a mark of authenticity? An exclusive emblem?"

"Is it a technique to stabilize the spiritual energy inside the spirit stones? Or perhaps a method to prevent cultivators from directly absorbing the energy?"

Luo Chen tried to capture the drifting black wisps with his spiritual energy, but he grasped nothing.

He could clearly see them, so why couldn’t he catch them?

Luo Chen frowned, watching as the black wisps dissipated into the air.

"Do they just disappear?"

"They seem like some kind of one-time consumable."

Luo Chen stared at another low-grade spirit stone he had taken out.

After hesitating for a moment, he put it back.

Forget it. Since he had no way to capture these black wisps, destroying more spirit stones would only be a waste.

However, if one day he could master a method to eliminate or control these black wisps, he could absorb the spiritual energy from the spirit stones while fighting enemies.

It was said that cultivators from major sects had similar techniques.

That’s why ordinary wandering cultivators found it difficult to face off against sect cultivators, let alone engage in prolonged battles.

"But in the future, if I no longer cultivate here, I could consider taking this raw spirit stone ore as a backup energy source!"

Luo Chen stared at the raw spirit stone ore, contemplating a plan to disrupt the foundation of others.

...

After a night of rest, Luo Chen’s complexion had improved considerably.

However, at first glance, he still looked weak and pale.

When Uncle Mi Shuhua arrived, this was the state he found Luo Chen in.

He had come with great joy, as yesterday Sima Shoujia had brought him a middle-grade Jade Marrow Pill.

This indicated a breakthrough in Luo Chen’s alchemy.

Low-grade and middle-grade were worlds apart!

A bottle of low-grade Jade Marrow Pills could only sell for ten spirit stones, and due to its side effects, many cultivators would hesitate to buy it.

But a bottle of middle-grade Jade Marrow Pills, with its potent medicinal effects, could support the cultivation of early and mid-stage cultivators, and could be priced at forty to fifty spirit stones!

This meant that the Alchemy Hall would see a massive increase in revenue.

Far surpassing the benefits of the Wondrous Pill!

That was why the delighted Uncle Mi Shuhua had not come empty-handed.

He had brought a large amount of beast meat and spirit rice to reward the internal staff of the Alchemy Hall.

After all, one death and one injury had occurred yesterday, and he didn’t want to dampen their morale.

For Luo Chen, he had prepared a grand gift, hoping that the other would continue to excel.

However, seeing Luo Chen’s sickly appearance, his heart grew as cold as the impending winter.

"Xiao Luo, Xiao Luo, what’s wrong with you!"

Lying in bed, Luo Chen weakly opened his eyes. "Leader Mi, I fear I am not going to make it."

"Uh..."

Uncle Mi Shuhua couldn’t hold back. Releasing his spiritual sense, he quickly assessed Luo Chen’s condition.

"Nonsense, it’s just damaged meridians. I have a bottle of Meridian Repairing Liquid here, specifically for Foundation Establishment cultivators. Take it with water, and you’ll be fully recovered in a month."

Swoosh!

The bottle of spiritual medicine was already in Luo Chen’s hands before Uncle Mi Shuhua finished speaking.

Sitting up, Luo Chen curiously examined the pill.

"Meridian Repairing Liquid?"

Uncle Mi Shuhua said helplessly, "Yes, once a cultivator reaches Foundation Establishment, their dantian solidifies and becomes indestructible, rarely experiencing the plight of a Qi Condensation cultivator whose dantian is broken."

"In such a state, Foundation Establishment cultivators try to open all their meridians and acupoints to store spiritual energy in these additional places."

"Opening meridians and acupoints rashly can cause minor damage. That’s why the Spirit Medicine Pavilion specializes in selling Meridian Repairing Liquid, which is highly effective."

Hearing this explanation, Luo Chen felt as if he had found a treasure.

Holding the jade bottle, Luo Chen said gratefully, "Leader Mi, you are truly kind to me. If you weren’t so old, I would have considered you my adoptive father."

Who’s old!

I still have a good hundred years left to live!

A vein throbbed on Uncle Mi Shuhua’s forehead, and he didn’t respond.

Luo Chen’s words clearly meant he didn’t want to recognize him as an adoptive father.

He wasn’t in the mood anyway. Luo Chen’s value lay in alchemy, but his poor aptitude meant he would never reach Foundation Establishment in his lifetime.

His current investment was already substantial.

If he were to become Luo Chen’s adoptive father, it would only lead to more losses!

Mentioning aptitude, Uncle Mi Shuhua realized something was amiss.

"You’re at the seventh level of Qi Condensation?"

Luo Chen’s heart skipped a beat. His earlier attempts to divert attention hadn’t worked.

He had indeed been discovered.

A perfect Concealment Technique couldn’t withstand the spiritual sense of a Foundation Establishment cultivator.

However, it wasn’t entirely ineffective. At least Uncle Mi Shuhua hadn’t noticed when he first checked his injuries.

Luo Chen smiled helplessly. "Yes, these injuries are from my forced breakthrough to the seventh level of Qi Condensation."

"Why such a rush?" Uncle Mi Shuhua frowned.

"How could I not be in a rush? The gang needs me to refine pills, and everyone in the Alchemy Hall is working hard, even paying with their lives."

"Xiao Luo regrets his low cultivation, unable to contribute more to the gang."

"I am filled with regret!"

"That’s why last night, after much deliberation, I used the entire bottle of Qi Nourishing Pills you gave me to force a breakthrough."

Luo Chen spoke with deep sorrow, his face then turning desolate.

"Pity that my aptitude is so poor. Just one attempt left me battered and bruised. Sigh... The path to enlightenment seems out of reach, out of reach indeed!"

As he trailed off, his voice grew desolate, and his expression weary, as if he had lost all interest in everything.

Uncle Mi Shuhua initially found his words familiar, as if he had heard them somewhere before.

But as he saw Luo Chen's dejected and heartbroken demeanor, he became increasingly anxious.

"You're just a young boy, and you're already losing heart over a little setback!"

"And didn't you succeed? You should be proud of yourself!"

"Cheer up, I won't allow you to fall into despair!"

Luo Chen, with his big, bright eyes, asked, "Boss, can someone with five spiritual roots really build a foundation?"

Uncle Mi Shuhua spoke earnestly, "With enough resources, even a pig can become a demon king. You... of course, I don't mean you're a pig."

After a moment's thought, he added seriously, "You can now refine middle-grade Jade Marrow Pills. The Alchemy Hall's income will only improve, and your dividends will grow. You have a good chance of building a foundation."

"Then I can rest easy!"

Luo Chen hopped off the bed with surprising agility, showing no signs of weakness.

After all, his realm had advanced, and his strength had increased. A minor internal injury wouldn't hinder his movements.

In truth, what he really wanted was Uncle Mi Shuhua's last words.

With those words, others would think twice before trying to cut into his share of the Jade Marrow Pill dividends.

Smiling, Luo Chen looked at Uncle Mi Shuhua and held out his hand, "I heard you came to reward everyone today. Is there a share for me too?"

Uncle Mi Shuhua's face twitched. This guy was waiting for him!

With a flick of his right hand, he dropped a piece of paper in front of Luo Chen.

"Here, take a look. It should be very helpful for your alchemy."

Luo Chen curiously unfolded the paper. It looked familiar...

Wait a minute, this is the same paper as the Qingyuan Dan Jie!

You were holding back on me before, weren't you?

...

...

Uncle Mi Shuhua went to reward the internal alchemists of the Alchemy Hall.

With his status as a Foundation Establishment cultivator, his personal involvement in such tasks could greatly boost the morale of those who had been feeling discouraged.

Luo Chen, meanwhile, took the paper and began to study it.

He confirmed that it was indeed a page from the Qingyuan Dan Jie.

He hadn't noticed the missing page before because the content on it was completely unrelated to the rest.

It seemed like Qingyuanzi had added this particular alchemy technique separately.

Yes, an alchemy technique!

Just as spirit cultivators have specific spells that are useless in combat but highly beneficial for growing spirit plants, such as the Little Cloud Rain Spell, Cinnabar Fire Clearing Spell, and Great Yin Ethereal Swamp Spell,

Alchemists also have some auxiliary techniques, known as alchemy techniques.

For example, the Jade Folding Hand and Pure Heart Hand that Luo Chen had learned were the most basic alchemy techniques, which were excellent for processing minerals, herbs, and fruits.

This separate page described an alchemy technique called the Qingyuan Nurturing Pill Technique.

This technique had no effect on processing raw materials or refining pills, nor did it help in combat between cultivators.

However, if practiced, it could potentially elevate a fixed-grade pill to a higher grade.

"Is there really such an alchemy technique in the world?"

Luo Chen's gaze fell on the pill room, where a group of pill nurturers he had trained were working.

While their name included "pill nurturing," their usual tasks involved storing and protecting pills to prevent the loss of their medicinal power due to improper storage.

But the Qingyuan Nurturing Pill Technique was entirely different.

With specific techniques and a suitable environment, it had the potential to elevate a fixed-grade pill to a higher grade.

Qingyuanzi had used this technique to refine third-grade pills during his Foundation Establishment stage.

The technique itself wasn't hard to learn, and Luo Chen felt confident he could master it in a short time.

However, the "specific" methods described on the paper were quite challenging.

"At the very least, a first-grade superior pill furnace is needed, with an excellent one being ideal, and a treasure-grade pill furnace being the best!"

"The chosen pill must be of the highest grade."

"The furnace must always maintain at least ten portions of raw materials to replenish the medicinal power."

"The location of the pill room should be a spirit vein, with a special environment beneficial to the pill being the bare minimum."

"The cultivator must continuously refine the pill's quality with Foundation Establishment true fire. If true fire is unavailable, various heavenly fires, earthly fires, or rare fires can be used as substitutes."

"The duration of the nurturing technique must be at least half a year, with a maximum of a hundred years."

Luo Chen's scalp tingled as he read through the "specific" methods.

None of these requirements were easy for him to meet.

Even the seemingly simplest requirement of ten portions of raw materials had the caveat of "at least."

In other words, if the raw materials ran low, they would need to be replenished immediately.

And with a minimum duration of half a year, who knew how much raw material would be consumed.

Moreover, the "spirit vein" location, which seemed feasible, was actually a pipe dream.

The spirit vein cave he had discovered was just a branch.

It could barely support his own cultivation, let alone the demands of pill nurturing.

"No wonder Uncle Mi Shuhua didn't give me this paper before. He was afraid I would set my sights too high and have unrealistic expectations."

"Now that he's decided to give it to me, it must be because I've been stuck refining low-grade Jade Marrow Pills and can't break through. He wants me to use this technique to study and come up with something new."

In summary, the Qingyuan Nurturing Pill Technique was of little practical use to Luo Chen at the moment.

Restrictions are too numerous.

"Well, I'll put it away for now. Who knows, I might have a need for this technique in the future."

Lu Chen sighed but still happily stowed it away.

Anything that benefits his alchemy is a boost for him!

He has been refining elixirs for quite some time now, and the more he delves into it, the more he realizes the profound depth of the alchemy path.

Before, he was just dabbling in minor techniques. Now, he has only glimpsed the tip of the iceberg.

Perhaps he will truly delve into the grand path of alchemy after advancing to the Foundation Establishment stage.

While Lu Chen was lost in his thoughts, Uncle Mi Hua had finished the rewards and approached him.

"Next month is the auction. Are you sure you want to attend?"

Lu Chen patted his storage bag, "I have quite a bit of savings!"

The old man laughed, a laugh tinged with disdain.

Lu Chen’s face turned red, "Even if I can't afford anything, just seeing and gaining some knowledge would be worth it!"

"Alright, I'll count you in. You can come with me and broaden your horizons."

...

After work, Lu Chen didn’t stay at the Alchemy Hall.

Firstly, his meridians were damaged, making it unsuitable for cultivation.

Secondly, staying here every day would eventually arouse suspicion.

The life in the Alchemy Hall is indeed quite austere, with days filled with alchemy and cultivation.

For a Qi Condensation cultivator who hasn’t yet reached the Foundation Establishment stage, few can endure such a life.

Lu Chen isn’t unable to endure it, but doing so every day would eventually lead to a mental breakdown.

Sometimes, a bit of necessary relaxation and adjustment is essential.

Back at his courtyard, Lu Chen first used a cleaning spell to tidy up, then went out to do some simple shopping.

He also visited the Yuan family to discuss the earnings from last month’s snack stand with Elder Yuan and Xiao Yue.

"Six hundred and twenty spirit stones. Not bad, it seems the monthly income is stabilizing."

Lu Chen took the spirit stones and did a quick calculation.

He then gave Xiao Yue thirty spirit stones as her monthly wage.

He also took out another hundred spirit stones, which was roughly the cost of the batch of yellow pear wine Elder Yuan had bought.

Xiao Yue happily took the spirit stones and lifted her oval face, saying, "Actually, the previous month, we made over nine hundred spirit stones. I feel we can sell even more."

"Oh?"

Lu Chen’s interest was piqued. He hadn’t expected such a small snack stand to have such a large market.

Should he consider scaling up and achieving greater success?

"But starting this month, others have also started selling various snacks." Xiao Yue pouted, clearly unhappy. "Aunt Li next door introduced a tofu pudding dish, claiming it’s a simplified recipe from the Zhongding family. It’s filling and can replenish spiritual energy."

"Across from me, someone set up a stall selling various monster jerky. While it’s not as good as the spicy beef jerky you make, Brother Lu, it has a wider variety."

"And there’s more..."

As she rambled on about the competition, Lu Chen, who had initially been impressed that cultivators in this world could also jump on business trends, couldn’t help but laugh.

He gently ruffled the little girl’s increasingly lustrous black hair.

"Xiao Yue, you can never earn enough spirit stones. Others need to earn for their cultivation and living too. Just focus on selling our own products well."

This little girl, who was initially timid and shy, had become more confident after running the stall for months.

But she had also become more nitpicky.

Xiao Yue pulled away from Lu Chen’s hand, her large eyes wide, "But some of them are clearly copying Brother Lu’s secret recipes!"

"Like that monster jerky vendor. Before setting up the stall, he bought beef jerky from me for half a month, clearly trying to figure out the secret."

"And that exploding beans vendor, their product is very similar to our Immortal Beans."

Lu Chen was speechless for a moment, then shook his head with a light laugh, "A secret recipe that can be easily copied isn’t much of a secret."

"Besides... have they paid the protection fee?"

"Eh?"

Xiao Yue was confused.

Elder Yuan, who had been sipping wine silently, also put down his gourd, curious.

Lu Chen tapped Xiao Yue’s forehead, "Dumb girl, the wine you send to the Sword Pavilion cultivators every month isn’t for nothing."

"Tomorrow, go to that Sword Pavilion cultivator and tell him the square is too dirty, affecting the environment of the Yuanding Sword Pavilion’s carefully crafted discussion platform."

"Also, I remember the White Stone Square is full of scattered stalls."

"Propose that the Yuanding Sword Pavilion lay down a large stone slab to standardize the stalls. Charge each stall one or two spirit stones."

"Remember to reserve the best spot with the highest foot traffic, and we’ll pay the spirit stones too."

Xiao Yue was stunned, her eyes wide.

Her grandfather, who was also listening, looked bewildered.

Lu Chen didn’t elaborate, "The ‘city management’ trick has been useful for a long time."

As for future competition?

With the best stall location, they would be invincible.

He would find time to develop a few new snacks, enhancing their product competitiveness.

The Alchemy Hall has many people, and the alchemy furnaces are often idle.

Getting the internal cultivators to help him cook a few snacks would be a breeze.

He didn’t believe individual vendors could compete with him, who had a full-service operation.

"Oh, by the way, it’s my birthday next month. I’ll be hosting a small party at my courtyard. Will you come?"

Seeing their hesitation, Lu Chen added, "It won’t be a big affair, just a few friends getting together for a meal and some drinks."

Xiao Yue was tempted, and her grandfather spoke up.

"I won’t go, but Xiao Yue can come and play. Meeting a few seniors would be good for her."

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end