Chapter 1

Rumble...

The thunder rumbled, and the might of heaven and earth made the entire Dahefang quiet down.

The bustling scene of flying lights that usually filled the sky was much diminished at this moment.

After all, no one dared to guarantee that if they flew in the sky, they wouldn't be unlucky enough to be struck down by lightning.

In that case, one wouldn't even know if it counted as undergoing the tribulation early.

Dahefang Market covered a vast area and had an inner city, protected by a third-grade grand formation, sufficient to defend against attacks from monsters below the third rank.

Even if a third-rank monster suddenly attacked, it could often hold out for a while, enough for those inside the city to react.

Of course, the daily operation and maintenance of such a grand formation required a great deal, so it only encompassed the inner city.

By comparison, the gathering place for rogue cultivators that spread out from the inner city as its core was not so safe.

In the four directions of southeast, northwest, tens of thousands of wooden and stone houses stood scattered about.

Beside a stream in the southwest corner, a wooden house with one room, one living room, and one kitchen stayed quietly there, separated by nearly two miles from the nearest rogue cultivator's dwelling.

It was quiet outside, but inside the house, the kitchen was a hive of activity.

"One jin of yam, sliced; two liang of white poria; three liang of one-year-old ginseng..."

"One jin of first-rank monster yellow beef, minced, without a single bit of bone shard."

"Add scallion, ginger, japonica rice, small fennel..."

The muttering voice came from a shirtless young man, who stared intently at the pot, from time to time skillfully taking some materials from the wooden shelf beside him and adding them to the pot.

The ladle in his hand was flipping and stirring rapidly.

As a large pot of snow-white beef bone soup was poured in, Luo Chen couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief.

Fiddling with the firewood in the stove, pulling out a few pieces of wood from time to time, and then quietly waiting for the finished product!

An hour later, the young man lifted the pot lid and, looking at the thick concoction inside, couldn't help but take a deep breath.

"Look at this color, moist, white, and bright, top grade!"

"Smell this aroma, thick but not dry, top grade!"

Luo Chen stretched out his finger, poked a little from the ladle, and stuffed it into his mouth.

He pursed his lips!

"The essence is fully manifested; under the stimulation of the angelica and ginseng, the spiritual energy of those five jin of first-rank monster yellow beef has been evenly distributed into this Grain Bigu Powder."

"It works, the taste is also perfectly handled, top grade!"

Licking his fingers, Luo Chen couldn't help but reveal a satisfied smile.

According to his experience these past days, just this one pot of Grain Bigu Powder could at least make five bottles of Grain Bigu Pills.

It sounds a bit funny, but in fact, Luo Chen was refining pills!

And it was the Grain Bigu Pills most commonly used by most cultivators, although it was only a low-end version, at most it could be called Grain Bigu Powder.

Without waiting for the temperature to drop, he took it off the stove and poured it onto the cutting board.

Luo Chen picked up a yellowed bamboo slip, poured the thick paste onto it, added a few drops of hundred-flower honey, and then began to roll the bamboo slip.

Under the rolling of the bamboo slip, the hot Grain Bigu Powder gradually turned into a cylindrical shape, and the color also became yellowish due to the integration of the hundred-flower honey.

His hand movements were extremely fast, pinching the strips of cylindrical ointment into round pills, each the size of a thumb.

One, two, three...

When Luo Chen stopped working, fifty Grain Bigu Pills were already neatly arranged on the cutting board.

Looking at this result, Luo Chen didn't have time to be happy before his attention shifted to the panel in front of him that was invisible to others.

[Name: Luo Chen]

[Lifespan: 27/75]

[Spirit Root: Gold, Wood, Water, Fire, Earth]

[Realm: Qi Refining Stage Level 3: 75/100]

[Cultivation Method: Changchun Gong Proficiency: 235/300]

[Spells: Cleaning Spell Entry 49/100, Entanglement Spell Skilled 176/200, Fireball Spell Proficiency 268/300]

[Skills: First-rank Alchemist: Grain Bigu Powder Grandmaster 501/1000]

[Achievement Points: 10 points (can be used for corresponding realm cultivation methods, spells, and skill entry)]

"Ten achievement points in hand, I can use them to enter the Zhongmiao Pill!"

Looking at this proficiency panel, Luo Chen was actually a bit moved for a moment.

He had been here for a year!

In his previous life, he was just a corporate slave who left early and returned late, and in his spare time, he could only play small Xianxia upgrade games on his phone.

Because he had no money, such games could only rely on grinding, grinding the progress bar of cultivation methods whenever he had nothing to do.

Who knew that one night he couldn't sleep, grinding game dungeons, and while grinding, he transmigrated.

The original owner of this body was also named Luo Chen, and his age was even the same as his.

In his early years, he went deep into the mountains and had an encounter in a cave, meeting the remains of a cultivator, and thus embarked on a ten-year path of immortality.

Following the map guidance in the remains, he came to this Dahefang Market, wanting to participate in the disciple recruitment of nearby sects.

However, ten years ago he was already seventeen, past the sect's sixteen-year age limit.

Coupled with his balanced five-spirit-root constitution, comparable to a mortal without spirit roots, no sect wanted him.

Logically, he should have gone back to where he came from.

But the original owner's heart for seeking the Dao was very firm, and relying on a bottle of pills, a scroll of Changchun Gong, and a few spirit stones from his encounter, he settled down in this Dahefang Market.

Even in the early days, because his pockets were empty, he couldn't afford to live in a wooden house near the inner city and could only rent a house by the small stream on the outermost periphery.

Living in the market is not easy.

Even the outermost house required half a spirit stone in rent per month.

Although he built the house himself, half a spirit stone still had to be paid every month.

After spending all his few spirit stones, the original owner did not sit still and wait for death.

Either helping others watch stalls or going into the mountains to hunt with others, in any case, he struggled to stay.

Later, he also felt that this was not the way, so he simply pondered the two pill recipes in the remains.

The Zhongmiao Pill was a bit difficult, so he could only start researching from the lowest-level Grain Bigu Powder.

It can only be said that people with encounters all have a bit of good fortune.

After experiencing several failures in the beginning, he successfully refined Grain Bigu Powder.

Although the quality was average, for some rogue cultivators who often went into the mountains to hunt and stayed for ten days or half a month, there were always people buying it.

Thus, the original owner barely settled down in this Dahefang Market.

However, heaven has unpredictable winds and clouds, and people have misfortunes and blessings.

Feeling that Grain Bigu Powder was not enough to support his cultivation, the original owner set his sights on a broken pill recipe he had collected.

Then, during his first attempt at pill refining, the pot exploded!

The violent explosion even blew down this wooden house at the time.

It was at that moment that Luo Chen transmigrated and occupied this body.

Thinking of his situation at the beginning of his transmigration, Luo Chen wanted to cry but had no tears.

It was also raining heavily at that time, and in the ruins, he faced this world with a face full of blood, bewildered and helpless.

But fortunately, everything was already in the past.

"A year has passed, and Grain Bigu Powder has finally reached the Grandmaster level of proficiency from the perfect level, just enough to satisfy daily life."

"The biggest harvest is that the achievement points have accumulated to ten, which can be used to enter the Zhongmiao Pill!"

Luo Chen currently had three pill recipes in his hands.

The first-rank Grain Bigu Powder recipe, the first-rank Zhongmiao Pill recipe, and a second-rank broken pill recipe that the original owner luckily obtained.

That pill recipe was called Jade Dew Pill; if successfully refined, one could obtain the second-rank Jade Dew Pill, which was of great use to cultivators practicing water-attribute cultivation methods.

A bottle usually sold for as much as one middle-grade spirit stone!

Such a huge profit, no wonder the original owner was impulsive at the time.

Perhaps he believed in his own luck, perhaps the easy entry of Grain Bigu Powder gave him confidence, or perhaps the reality of poverty made him take a risk.

Anyway, he bravely rushed into it.

The final result was that the pot exploded, the house collapsed, and the person was gone.

Now Luo Chen had also reached this moment of choice.

Relying solely on Grain Bigu Powder could only keep him alive; it was definitely not enough if he wanted to cultivate.

If he wanted resources to cultivate, he had to open another path of wealth besides Grain Bigu Powder.

His goal was not at all on the Jade Dew Pill, and ten achievement points were not enough to allow the second-rank pill refining to enter the entry level.

Therefore, after discovering the achievement point function on the proficiency panel, he had already made up his mind.

"The Zhongmiao Pill must be refined!"

"It must be refined!"

"Even if I don't want a reputation!"