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Chapter 94: Something's Off with Your Style
Chapter 94: Something's Off with Your Style
Uncle Hu came and went in a hurry.
He couldn't bear to...
Alright, he left in a rush, making sure to take the bottle of Jade Marrow Pills with him.
Luo Chen guessed that the man planned to use the refined Jade Marrow Pills to pave his way.
These Foundation Establishment cultivators, having practiced for many years, often become shrewd and calculating.
While they might not see ten steps ahead, seeing three to five steps is quite common.
Instead of waiting for Luo Chen to improve his alchemy skills and increase production before seeking out buyers, it was better to establish channels in advance.
Only then could he reap huge profits when the time came.
In contrast, Qi Condensation cultivators, whose lifespans were still within the normal human range, tended to be more shortsighted.
Luo Chen was one such "shortsighted" person!
In his limited field of vision, someone was about to slip away.
Fortunately, he was shortsighted and saw it right away!
Luo Chen moved as if by teleportation, blocking the entrance to the Alchemy Hall in a flash.
He held out his hand.
"Hand it over!"
Sikong Shoujia feigned ignorance, "What are you talking about?"
Luo Chen gritted his teeth, "You lost that game of chess just now. You can't cheat. Give me the bet!"
Bet?
What bet?
And why do you say I lost?
Sikong Shoujia widened his old, cloudy eyes, "How can you accuse me of such things? Who lost? I was just playing that silly game with you to pass the time."
Luo Chen took a deep breath and stared intently at the old man.
"Fine, if you say so..."
Heh, young man, what can you do to me!
Sikong Shoujia sneered, exuding a sense of world-weariness.
Then, the next moment, his face turned red.
Because Luo Chen cupped his hands to his mouth and shouted across the Slanting Moon Valley.
"Elder Sikong is cheating!"
"Our sect's Alchemy Hall, our sect's Alchemy Hall, the greatest elder, Sikong Shoujia, owes Hall Master Luo Chen three spirit stones for gambling. Now he's refusing to pay and trying to run away!"
"Alchemy Hall Elder Sikong..."
"Stop shouting!"
Sikong Shoujia's face turned red, then black as a pot of soot.
He threw a small book at Luo Chen and ran off.
As he left the Slanting Moon Valley, he noticed many cultivators looking up at him.
He grumbled to himself, "What kind of people are these! It's just a mundane martial arts manual, is it really that big a deal!"
Luo Chen didn't hear this.
If he had, he would have said, of course it is!
It was the bet from the chess game!
After teaching the two of them the rules, Luo Chen proposed a wager.
Each of the three took out a mundane martial arts manual.
These things were quite common in the Dahe Market and weren't worth much in spirit stones.
After all, no matter how good your martial arts were, they couldn't stop a simple Justice Fireball.
But Luo Chen was different; he had the Proficiency System.
He could push mundane martial arts to their limits.
Even if the improvement in combat power was minimal, it still counted for something.
Previously, he had been busy with alchemy, survival, and cultivation, so he hadn't focused much on this.
He had only practiced the lightness skill, Free and Easy Wanderer.
Now that he had some free time, he naturally started to think about it.
So, Luo Chen proposed a best-of-five match, with the winner taking all the wagers.
Sikong and Gu had no objections.
After all, these were just small trinkets that might not even sell.
After a few rounds, Luo Chen won two games, Gu Caiyi won two games, and Sikong Shoujia didn't win any.
In the final game, Luo Chen had a significant advantage, which was why he was so eager to claim his bet.
I, Luo Chen, don't let just anyone off the hook.
That Gao Tingyuan owes him five spirit stones, and the Jade Tripod Sword Sect owes him a spirit stone trophy. He still remembers those debts.
Scattered Flowers of the Celestial Maiden
Seeing the title, Luo Chen was stunned.
"You old geezer, why did you give me a martial arts manual that's completely out of place?"
Seeing him stand there in a daze, Gu Caiyi walked over.
She glanced at the title and couldn't help but giggle.
"So it's this manual!"
"You know it?"
"Back when a martial arts expert managed to enter the Dao, he came to the Dahe Market with nothing and sold this manual." Gu Caiyi explained the origin of the martial arts manual, "He was smart and made many copies, each for one spirit stone or equivalent cultivation resources. So, this thing became widespread in the Dahe Market."
If something became widespread, Sikong Shoujia still wanted to cheat?
What a stubborn old man!
Wait!
Luo Chen suddenly thought of something, "Widespread? What's so special about it that it became popular among cultivators in the Dahe Market?"
Anything that could become a common commodity must have its value.
Just like storage bags and Qi Nourishing Pills.
Gu Caiyi smiled, "Of course it has value. It's a throwing technique, but cultivators found that the Scattered Flowers of the Celestial Maiden isn't just for ordinary throwing weapons. It also significantly improves the manipulation of magical weapons."
"Isn't the manipulation of magical weapons mostly about traction spells, spiritual energy control, or the strength of one's spirit sense?" Luo Chen asked curiously.
"You can't say it like that. In battle, timing, angle, and the rhythm of speed are all important factors."
Pointing at the book, Gu Caiyi casually said, "It's quite a coincidence. This book on concealed weapon techniques particularly emphasizes those aspects. It's said that the master who wrote it came from a place called the Tang Sect in the mortal realm."
"I know, I know! They have a concealed weapon called the Buddha’s Wrath Lotus!"
"Buddha’s Wrath Lotus? What on earth is that?"
Gu Caiyi looked utterly baffled.
Forget it, let's not worry about that for now.
Gu Caiyi took out a small booklet and casually handed it to Luo Chen.
"Since you seem interested in these martial arts, I’ll give you this one too!"
Luo Chen curiously took it, "Mountain Splitting Monument Breaking Palm?"
After reading the title, he looked at Gu Caiyi suspiciously.
"Don’t tell me you’ve practiced this?"
He found it hard to imagine a beauty like her, who appeared like a fairy on the Daoist discussion platform, using the Mountain Splitting Monument Breaking Palm.
This was all kinds of wrong!
An old coot gave him the Heavenly Flower Scattering technique, and a beauty handed him the Mountain Splitting Monument Breaking Palm.
The style was all over the place!
Gu Caiyi chuckled, "I haven’t practiced it, but someone you know definitely has."
"Who?"
"Wang Yuan!" Gu Caiyi smiled, "He’s also a martial arts master who entered the world of cultivation. He used to sell secret manuals at a stall. This is one of the manuals he sold, and I happened to get a copy."
Luo Chen was taken aback. A distant memory stirred in his mind, from before he crossed over, from the original host's memories.
So, my brother Wang also had to sell his possessions to make ends meet!
And it was even worse, as the manuals he sold were copied and resold by others.
In terms of business acumen, Brother Wang was far behind the concealed weapon master from the Tang Sect!
After a moment of reflection, Luo Chen put the martial arts manual away.
He planned to read it in his free time. If it suited him, he wouldn’t mind practicing the Mountain Splitting Monument Breaking Palm!
With the manual safely tucked away, Luo Chen still had some curiosity.
For example!
"Daoist Gu, what is your core cultivation technique? How about we practice together sometime?"
This time, Gu Caiyi didn’t tell him to "get lost."
She had already grown accustomed to Luo Chen’s occasional flirtatious behavior.
She just rolled her eyes at him, "I’m afraid you won’t be able to handle it. It’s a secret technique from the Joyful Union Sect!"
Luo Chen’s eyes lit up, and he shouted, "Perfect! Demoness, I want you to use the Joyful Union Sect’s secret technique to help me cultivate!"
"Get lost!"
Well, Gu Caiyi had overestimated her own composure.
She still had to get used to Luo Chen’s lack of boundaries.
Luo Chen slunk away.
A high-ranking cultivator at the Ninth Layer of Qi Condensation was best not to offend too many people.
Otherwise, even Old Man Mi, his guardian, wouldn’t be able to protect him.
Back in his stone hut, Luo Chen casually tossed a pill into his mouth and chewed it a few times. After sensing its effects, he nodded in satisfaction.
"The potency is only one-tenth that of a Qi Nourishing Pill, but it’s perfect for my current situation!"
If Uncle Mi were here, he would probably be furious and brandish his supreme magical weapon to strike down Luo Chen, the wretch.
Because what Luo Chen had just eaten was a Jade Marrow Pill!
He actually had extra Jade Marrow Pills!
He had clearly said that only eleven pills were successfully refined in the last batch.
But after giving all the pills to Uncle Mi, he still had some left.
And not just one.
In his storage bag, there were eight more.
Including the one he just ate, he had actually refined twenty pills in total!
"Thanks to the system’s help, the success rate and number of pills refined are consistently stable."
Indeed, Luo Chen’s success rate and number of pills refined had always been very stable!
Unlike other alchemists, who might get five pills in one batch and double that when they were in good form, Luo Chen’s results were always consistent, whether it was for Fasting Powder or the Marvelous Pill.
With the Jade Marrow Pill, he had figured out that he could consistently refine around twenty pills per batch!
And there were no failed pills—either all of them succeeded, or the entire batch failed!
This terrifying consistency, if it became known, would surely shock the cultivation world!
That’s why Luo Chen had been careful to hide it. He even used his magical power to sabotage a small portion of the raw materials during the refining process to create the illusion of varying yields.
"For now, I can still hide it and secretly keep some Jade Marrow Pills."
"But once I start large-scale production, I can’t be so blatant."
Luo Chen smiled. A chef wouldn’t starve during a famine, and he wouldn’t starve himself either.
Currently, his body could absorb two Qi Nourishing Pills a day at most.
But this didn’t mean he couldn’t absorb other pills.
Especially a low-grade pill like the Jade Marrow Pill, which had a low potency.
He could eat it like candy.
He didn’t even need to deliberately activate the Eternal Spring Technique to refine it.
He could just let the Jade Marrow Pill dissolve in his body, and the released potency would be stored in his twelve main meridians and eight extraordinary vessels.
During everyday activities or when casting spells, this subtle potency would gradually convert, either being consumed or absorbed.
At this stage, he didn’t need to worry about drug resistance or side effects.
As the alchemist, Luo Chen knew the Jade Marrow Pill’s effects and restrictions better than anyone, and he would control the dosage carefully.
In short!
"Right now, I should take as much as I can!"
With a light laugh, Luo Chen opened the Heavenly Maiden Scatters Flowers manual. Who doesn’t have a dream of being a beautiful maiden at some point?
...
Heavenly Maiden Scatters Flowers, authored by Tang Wuchen.
Flipping through the manual, Luo Chen immediately gave it a thumbs up. With "Chen" in the name, the author must be a graceful and extraordinary person.
Just like him!
If that’s the case, doesn’t it mean this manual was tailor-made for him?
Unfortunately, after thoroughly reading it, Luo Chen felt a bit frustrated.
The manual contained thirty-six different methods of using concealed weapons, each with its own unique techniques.
To master them all, he would need to find those specific weapons and practice with each one.
"This is way too troublesome!"
"I wonder how other cultivators manage to learn the techniques for these magical weapons."
Without anyone to guide him, Luo Chen could only experiment on his own.
But that would take a lot of time.
"Too bad, I was hoping to use this to earn some achievement points."
Indeed, Luo Chen’s interest in these secular martial arts wasn’t just about gaining a slight edge in combat.
What he really wanted was to use martial arts to boost his skill proficiency, thereby earning more achievement points.
As he acquired more and more elixir formulas, his originally ample achievement points became increasingly scarce.
The Marvelous Pill reaching Master proficiency had given him one achievement point, bringing his total to twenty-three.
But the Jade Marrow Pill had cost him ten points right away.
He still had the incomplete Passage to the Netherworld Pill (1st Rank), the incomplete Jade Dew Pill (2nd Rank), and the complete Blood Fiend Pill (2nd Rank).
Whether it was completing the formulas or reaching the initial stages, it would all require a significant amount of achievement points.
Luo Chen needed to plan ahead!
He couldn’t wait until the last minute to frantically boost his proficiency.
Compared to the difficulty of mastering magical techniques, martial arts were much simpler.
In essence, secular martial arts were mostly based on the physical strength of mortals.
The stronger the physique, the higher the upper limit of martial arts.
Cultivators, after years of being infused with spiritual energy, already had extremely strong physiques. As long as they followed the requirements of the martial arts and did a bit of training, they could easily achieve some success.
This was why the proficiency of Leisurely Journey had skyrocketed in the past.
Now, Luo Chen wanted to use the same trick again.
Unfortunately, the intricate practice requirements of Heavenly Maiden Scatters Flowers left him stumped.
"Abandoning it is out of the question. If everyone practices it, it must have its merits."
"But there’s no need to rush right now."
Luo Chen shook his head, noted down the technique for the Primordial Sphere, and then put the Heavenly Maiden Scatters Flowers manual back into his storage bag.
The reason he chose the Primordial Sphere was that it was just a small round bead.
When it entered the enemy’s body, the latent force inside would instantly explode, causing significant internal injuries with the force and the fragments from the explosion.
Not only was it powerful, but it was also difficult to treat.
A truly dark and vicious concealed weapon!
Luo Chen didn’t have time to create the Primordial Sphere, but he had similar beads that he could use for training.
The stone beads left over from the failed Jade Marrow Pill were perfect!
After all, these were the failed pills made from the Jade Marrow of the 1st Rank Jade Wash Spirit, and the material quality was no less than the Primordial Spheres used in the secular world.
After putting away the Heavenly Maiden Scatters Flowers, Luo Chen casually flipped through another martial arts manual.
The Mountain-Cleaving Stele-Breaking Palm—a martial art from Wang Yuan's early days, given to him by Gu Caiyi!
Originally, he hadn’t had high hopes for this palm technique manual.
It was probably something like Iron Sand Palm, relying on external forces to forge iron hands.
He definitely didn’t have the time for such tedious practice.
However, as he read, he became engrossed.
"Turns out it’s a palm technique focused on controlling qi!"
This was quite rare. The technique wasn’t an external martial art but an internal one!
It described how martial arts experts could release their internal energy or true qi from their body through specific meridians and acupoints.
Wow, this was impressive!
As far as Luo Chen knew, in the secular martial arts world, only Grandmasters could achieve the external release of true qi.
This technique took a different approach, allowing one to reach the level of external qi release even without becoming a Grandmaster.
He glanced at the author’s name.
Hey, what a coincidence!
Wang Yuan!
"It’s actually my brother’s unique martial art. The name isn’t great, though. Sky-Piercing Palm or White Rainbow Palm would sound better, or at least Air-Cleaving Palm!"
Luo Chen teased Wang Yuan’s naming skills but felt a surge of excitement.
Internal energy? He didn’t have it.
True qi? He didn’t have it either.
But he had something even better—spiritual energy!
Moreover, the specific meridians mentioned in the book weren’t a problem for him, as he had already opened all twelve main meridians and had all eight extraordinary meridians connected.
As for the specific acupoints—Shaofu, Laogong, Zhongzhu, Zhongchong, and Hegu—he had no issues with those either.
Both the Green Essence Pill formula and the Hundred Grasses Compendium had corresponding human anatomy charts.
With just a slight stimulation of his spirit energy, Luo Chen could easily unblock these acupoints.
This made learning the Basic Mountain-Breaking Palm a breeze.
Think and act!
Luo Chen channeled his spirit energy, following the crude methods recorded in the book, and stepped onto the Hand Three Yang Meridian.
The journey was smooth and unobstructed.
When he reached his palm, the spirit energy transformed into a needle, piercing through with a gentle push.
Break! Break! Break! Break! Break!
In no time, the five acupoints in his palm were all opened.
With this, the channel for external spirit energy release was now open.
When not in use, he could easily close it.
Worried that the channel wasn't wide enough, Luo Chen widened it several times with his spirit energy until he felt a cool breeze from his palm. Only then did he stop.
"Alright, let me see the power of Brother Wang's self-created technique!"
Luo Chen chuckled and slammed his palm onto the hard ground.
A vast amount of spirit energy surged out like a mighty river.
Boom!
A deafening sound echoed inside and outside the stone room.
"Luochen, are you okay?"
It was Gu Caiyi's worried voice.
"Fine, I'm fine, achoo!"
"Tell you what, I'm going to seclude myself. Don't let anyone in to disturb me."
After a while, Luo Chen's voice finally came from inside, sounding a bit hollow, as if it was coming from a cave.
Gu Caiyi let out a sigh of relief.
She turned around and continued supervising the fire workers, who were practicing the new fire control techniques Luo Chen had taught them.
These fire workers were the same ones from before.
They had a month of foundation, so they could quickly adapt to controlling the fire for the Jade Marrow Pill.
However, being near the fire pits every day had made their skin red and a bit dry.
Gu Caiyi realized that alchemy was indeed not an easy task.
She wondered how Xiang Xiang managed to maintain her skin after three years of watching the fire.
Luo Chen would have a lot to say about her question.
Alchemists not only had to learn fire control but also fire avoidance.
Elders often taught them some useful tricks.
But now, Luo Chen had no time to answer Gu Caiyi.
Because he was in a cave.
Or rather, not a cave, but a vast, interconnected underground tunnel!
Looking at the spider-web-like network of tunnels, a thought crossed Luo Chen's mind.
"Mine shafts!"
His guess was correct. Beneath the Alchemy Hall were the mine shafts left by the Jade Cauldron Sword Pavilion when they mined star silver in the Crescent Moon Valley.
However, when the Jade Cauldron Sword Pavilion moved away, these mine shafts were sealed.
The Mountain Breakers probably checked them out after taking over, but finding nothing of value, they left them alone.
"Allegedly, the Medicine Hall manages several larger mine shafts, where they dry herbs that can't be exposed to sunlight."
"So, this one should be a main mine shaft."
Luo Chen glanced at the attribute panel, where the new entry [Basic Mountain-Breaking Palm: 1/100] had just appeared.
He couldn't help but laugh and cry at the same time. This was quite a surprise.
His first palm strike, without proper control, had punched right through the ground.
Did I just break through the earth and become a dragon?
Standing in the center of the vast main mine shaft, Luo Chen felt a bit lost.
"Should I explore a bit?"
"Where should I go first?"
Luo Chen hesitated for a moment and chose the widest tunnel.
The widest tunnel meant it was the most frequently used in the past, and thus, the safest.
He didn't expect to find a powerful cultivator who had left behind a treasure leading to the Core Formation stage.
He just hoped there wouldn't be any underground monsters.
"Spiders, snakes, pangolins, please stay away!"
Thinking of pangolins, Luo Chen had a thought.
A small puppet fell to the ground and quickly scurried forward.
"Puppetry is a great skill, essential for travel, home protection, and treasure hunting! I should learn it when I have the chance."
With that, Luo Chen began his rare adventure.
...
"Is Luo Chen not here?"
Mi Junping stood in the Alchemy Hall, her face dark.
Seeing her expression, Gu Caiyi hesitated.
"He's here, but..."
"If he's here, call him out to see me."
"He's in seclusion and might not be able to come out." Gu Caiyi spoke the truth, as Luo Chen had instructed her not to let anyone disturb him.
Seclusion?
A mere mid-stage Qi Condensation cultivator, secluding himself frequently. What was this all about?
If someone didn't know better, they might think he was a true cultivator who would seclude himself for hundreds of years.
Mi Junping thought angrily and then shoved a pile of things into Gu Caiyi's hands.
"This is his share from last month. When he comes out, give this to him. Also, check the accounts. Don't come to me if anything is missing!"
After she left, Gu Caiyi opened the bag.
A pile of perfectly standard low-grade spirit stones immediately caught her eye, along with a familiar small wooden box.
Gu Caiyi's mouth opened in surprise. Was Luo Chen's income really that high now?
(End of Chapter)
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