Chapter 123

Wang Yuan completed the latter part of that sentence.

However, just those four words shocked Luo Chen.

"Since body refiners in ancient times could be on par with Qi refiners, how could they not attain longevity?"

"I don't know the specific reason either."

Wang Yuan sighed, "Perhaps the true body refining techniques have long since disappeared in the long river of history, and to this day, Qi refining true cultivators have occupied the mainstream of the cultivation world. Even if there are occasional body refiners, most are dual cultivators."

"Or perhaps, body refiners who were powerful for a time simply had no path to longevity; otherwise, how could they have been annihilated in the long river of history."

Next, through Wang Yuan's explanation, Luo Chen finally knew why the current path of body refining could not attain longevity.

Cultivators who focus on Qi refining gradually strengthen their primordial spirit as they continuously break through realms.

In the end, the body is merely a vessel for the primordial spirit.

The vessel is easily decayed, but the primordial spirit is immortal, naturally allowing for thousands of years of longevity.

But body refining is somewhat contrary to this.

Instead of refining essence into Qi, it uses a large amount of spiritual energy to nourish itself, making the physical body increasingly powerful.

This path is actually extremely similar to that of demonic beasts.

But the human physique has innate limitations, unlike some powerful demonic beast races that are born with hundreds or thousands of years of longevity.

Therefore, even if a human body refiner cultivates their physique to an incomparably powerful level, they ultimately cannot escape the predetermined limitations of their lifespan.

Moreover, in the process of body refining, various extreme methods cause great damage to the origin of the physical body.

The already limited lifespan instead becomes shorter and shorter.

When the end of their life approaches, a physique that has reached its peak might even collapse in an instant.

"Perhaps true body refiners have methods to increase their lifespan, but I haven't found any among all the body refining methods I've come into contact with so far."

Listening to Wang Yuan's words, Luo Chen couldn't help but ask: "Since that's the case, why not focus wholeheartedly on Qi refining?"

"Because the progress is fast!"

Wang Yuan seemed to take this matter very lightly, and he smiled: "As long as one's will is strong enough, one possesses the corresponding techniques, and the resources keep up, the cultivation speed of a body refiner is unimaginable."

Indeed.

Wang Yuan's current cultivation speed had already exceeded the cognition of ordinary people.

In a short period, he had come into contact with a physique strength approaching the Foundation Establishment level, with an incredibly fast speed.

If it were cultivators like Luo Chen, even with correct cultivation methods and abundant resources, cultivation would still be a slow, grinding process.

"I am anxious precisely because time is pressing."

"Moreover, I am not a pure body refiner, but rather focus on body refining while supplementing with Qi refining; after all, my cultivation base at the eighth layer of Qi Refining is right here."

Luo Chen was thoughtful and probed: "Are you planning to first raise your physique strength to a level comparable to Foundation Establishment combat power, and then use this to seek a breakthrough as a cultivator, thereby obtaining the longevity that comes after breaking through?"

Wang Yuan nodded, "That is indeed the case. You and I have both attended auctions and naturally seen the true faces of the large sects. Without strength at or above the Foundation Establishment level, it is impossible to participate in the normal competition for Foundation Establishment Pills."

The auction of Foundation Establishment Pills back then was still vivid in his mind.

There were five pills in total, but only one was provided for rogue cultivators to bid on.

And in ordinary small auctions, Foundation Establishment Pills might not necessarily appear every time.

Large auctions certainly have them, but they only happen once every ten years.

For Qi Refining cultivators, how many ten-year periods can one have in a lifetime?

Luo Chen strongly supported Wang Yuan's decision.

If it were himself, without any other choice, he would likely do the same.

After all, a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.

Of course, Luo Chen was not yet in such a predicament.

He still yearned for the immortal longevity of wandering the North Sea at dawn and Mount Cangwu at dusk, watching the sun rise and the moon float.

The purpose of today's meeting was mainly the Blood-Burning Elixir.

Since he now knew the general effect of the Blood-Burning Elixir on cultivators, Luo Chen quickly adjusted his overall strategy for this first-grade elixir.

Advantages: strong explosive power, can be used as a trump card.

Disadvantages: high cost, obvious sequelae.

In that case, it was not suitable for mass production and sale as a conventional elixir.

But it was, after all, a first-grade elixir that cost ten achievement points to learn, and he was unwilling to give it up just like that.

Therefore, he planned to secretly refine some from time to time and then find other channels for sale.

Well, the channels he thought of were actually very simple.

Auctions, the black market!

In these two types of places, elixirs with unique effects can often be sold at sky-high prices.

This strategy could not be said to be completely correct, and there would certainly be many shortcomings.

However, Luo Chen still intended to do so.

The reason was simple: others were doing the same thing.

The Spirit Elixir of the Medicine King Sect also belonged to that kind of elixir with unique effects and high costs.

It was not sold in the Spirit Medicine Pavilion usually and could only be encountered occasionally at auctions.

Luo Chen was just learning from them.

When leaving the main altar, Luo Chen suddenly thought of Deacon Miao, whom he had met briefly just now.

"If nothing unexpected happens, the backer of the Poshan Gang, or rather their partner, is this Yuding sword cultivator."

Returning to the inner city, Luo Chen followed his usual practice and went to check on his two small shops.

In the White Stone Plaza, looking at the lower-than-usual foot traffic, Luo Chen frowned.

"Why does it feel like there are many fewer people than before?"

Yuan Xiaoyue stood by, "In the last few days, there have indeed been fewer people."

"Did something happen?"

"Nothing much, even because of the arrival of that Core Formation True Person, the combat rewards provided by the Discussion Platform are even better."

More rewards?

Then shouldn't there be more people participating, and the atmosphere should be even better?

Luo Chen couldn't figure out this problem.

It wasn't until the next morning, when his bodyguard Dongfang Jing mentioned that someone had been killed in a nearby large courtyard, that he realized something.

"What about the Law Enforcement Team?"

"They sent someone to take a look, and then there was no follow-up." Dongfang Jing said so.

Luo Chen wondered: "Is the Law Enforcement Team no longer managing things?"

The inner city was not absolutely safe; this was something Luo Chen had known for a long time.

But with the opening of the Discussion Platform and the establishment of the Sword Pavilion Law Enforcement Team, such incidents of entering the inner city to kill and rob had become increasingly rare.

Even if they occasionally occurred, the culprits would be quickly found and punished according to the law.

Dongfang Jing did not give a specific answer; he was just a seventh-layer Qi Refining rogue cultivator who was not highly valued.

Even in Luo Chen's bodyguard team, he was the weakest one.

The things he usually did were either guarding the rear and checking for sentries, or running errands for Luo Chen and transporting goods for the two small shops.

Regarding Luo Chen's questioning, he could only smile bitterly: "I don't know what the situation is, but the Law Enforcement Team hasn't been idle. They seem particularly busy recently, just not very attentive to public security and such."

Very busy, yet not managing public security?

Luo Chen was thoughtful.

By the time he arrived at the Elixir Hall, the situation he heard from others was even more serious than in the inner city.

"The outer city area is becoming more and more chaotic now; there are robbery cultivators appearing in the alleys at dusk."

"You still dare to go out at night? I have always kept my doors and windows tightly closed, and I don't even dare to sleep soundly."

"When there were fewer people before, how could it be this serious? If you ask me, it's all the fault of the rogue cultivators who came from other places; a group of outsiders has ruined the atmosphere."

"Not only ruined the atmosphere, but they are also stealing jobs. My brother was working at the docks, and he was fired two days ago, saying that cheaper rogue cultivators had been hired."

"Actually, the atmosphere issue was started by the Yuding Sword Pavilion. But before, with the Law Enforcement Team suppressing them, the robbery cultivators didn't dare to act so blatantly. However, recently the Law Enforcement Team has long since stopped caring about the outer city area, so naturally, incidents of killing and robbing are emerging one after another."

"Hmph, if this continues, sooner or later someone will run to a safer market."

At lunch, after Luo Chen guided the topic to this, he heard many complaints.

The cultivators in the Elixir Hall were mostly ordinary rogue cultivators who were not good at and did not like fighting.

They were particularly sensitive to the incidents of killing and robbing around them because those things would affect their survival.

But because of their financial resources, they had to live in the outer city area.

The outer city area at the very beginning was actually only dangerous at night.

Later, with the opening of the Discussion Platform and the Yuding Sword Pavilion setting up various policies favorable to rogue cultivators, coupled with a safe cultivation environment, in just over half a year, it attracted tens of thousands of rogue cultivators from other places.

With more people, naturally, there would be more incidents.

But with the Law Enforcement Team suppressing them, some lawless elements could only hold back.

But recently, the Law Enforcement Team stopped managing things.

The hidden dangers brought about by the population explosion had begun to emerge bit by bit.

"The current Dahe Market feels quite like a powder keg, just waiting for a spark to ignite it."

Luo Chen felt increasingly urgent.

But having just broken through to the eighth layer of Qi Refining, it was absolutely impossible to reach the ninth layer in a short time.

"I must possess enough power to protect myself!"

"Since the cultivation base cannot be improved quickly, I will put more effort into combat methods."

Luo Chen looked at the transparent attribute panel, his gaze falling on several spells, and he fell into deep thought.

In the dense forest, air waves rolled, and murderous intent was everywhere.

Two figures were constantly exchanging blows, gold and cyan lights crisscrossing. Wherever they passed, hundreds-year-old trees fell with a rumble.

One was as steady as a mountain, and every move was thunderous.

The other was like a ghost; even if the opponent used their spiritual sense to the extreme, it was very difficult to catch the tail of the other's trail.

Suddenly, the ghostly figure leaped into the high sky, and their body paused.

Seven cyan-green streams of light scattered in all directions, merged into one, turned into a storm of blades, and covered down from above.

Qin Qin Liangchen's expression was stern, and the golden giant sword hovering above his head slashed upward violently.

Boom!

The storm of blades only resisted for two breaths before collapsing instantly.

But the momentum of the collapse did not mean the disintegration of the attack.

The seven flying knives were knocked away, but under the manipulation of that ghostly figure, they attacked Qin Qin Liangchen again from different angles. Not only that, the figure blurred, leaving behind trails of afterimages wherever they passed, and no one knew which was real and which was fake.

Seeing this scene, Qin Qin Liangchen's eyelids jumped wildly.

"Stop fighting, stop fighting!"

"Your method of manipulating magic tools is too outrageous. In my whole life, I have never seen anyone who could use a set of mid-grade magic tools like high-grade magic tools."

In the sky, the ghostly figure that was about to keep moving suddenly stopped.

Several afterimages gradually dissipated, leaving only the real body in the distance.

Luo Chen put away his serious and earnest expression and smiled.

"That's because Brother Qin, you were showing mercy!"

Qin Qin Liangchen curled his lips and flew out of the dense forest.

He swore that he really hadn't shown mercy before.

Even if they weren't fighting for their lives, the methods used were at a normal level.

After all, he also needed to get familiar with the high-grade flying sword he had just obtained.

It was just that Luo Chen's manipulation of magic tools had reached an unimaginable level.

He, Qin Qin Liangchen, had never seen such a genius in his life.

Facing Qin Qin Liangchen's strange gaze, Luo Chen smiled without saying a word.

After half a month of hard training, he finally brushed the proficiency of the Traction Technique to the Great Perfection level.

It was precisely because of this that he dared to use the mid-grade Jade Jasper Knives to fight against Qin Qin Liangchen.

The Great Perfection level Traction Technique had no special effect, it just made the cultivator more handy in controlling magic tools.

This handiness might not be so obvious with a single magic tool.

But with a set of magic tools like the Jade Jasper Knives, the effect was extremely prominent.

It could be said that the Great Perfection level Traction Technique could fully exert the power of a set of mid-grade magic tools, not inferior to high-grade ones.

And in this half month, his gains were not limited to this.

The Wind-Riding Technique was also about to reach Great Perfection.

The proficiency of the Entanglement Technique had also been brushed a lot, not far from Great Perfection.

As for others like the Spirit Eye Technique, Healing Technique, and Cleaning Technique, he hadn't neglected them at all.

The price paid for this was that most of the high-grade Jade Marrow Elixirs he had embezzled were used to replenish his spiritual power consumption.

"I say, why are you so keen on fighting recently, kid?"

Qin Qin Liangchen said depressingly; this was already the tenth time Luo Chen had asked him to fight in the past half month.

"It's not that I want to! It's just that the Dahe Market is getting more and more chaotic, I have to have some means of self-protection!"

Luo Chen sighed.

Without refuting his words, Qin Qin Liangchen also sighed tacitly.

As an Elder, he was actually the most idle one.

Unlike Wang Yuan and Luo Luo Wudi who managed a hall alone, nor was he like Elder Sikong Elder Sikong Shoujia who was busy with the Elixir Hall's affairs.

He had always been concentrating on his cultivation, and the affairs at home were mostly left to Murong Murong Qinglian to manage.

But recently, he had also gradually become busy.

The three combat halls had frequently encountered trouble recently, and he had to step in to help.

"The Yu Xuan Yi Society is getting more and more excessive. Before, they were just using the excuse of going into the mountains to fight demonic beasts and hone themselves."

"But now, their manpower is expanding rapidly, and they seem to have intentions to get involved in the business in the big mountains."

Luo Chen frowned, "History repeating itself?"

"No!" Qin Qin Liangchen shook his head, "They are much more aggressive than the Dahe Gang back then. After all, they have already paved their own way."

"Will there really be a fight in the future?"

"Such things are hard to say."

The Yu Xuan Yi Society was much fiercer than the Dahe Gang.

Behind them were five cultivation families, among which the Foundation Establishment cultivators on the surface included the Duan family ancestor, the Nangong family's Nangong Jin, and the Li family ancestor.

Although these three were only in the early stage of Foundation Establishment, they were not as good as Mi Mi Shuhua, who was in the middle stage of Foundation Establishment.

But there was strength in numbers!

The other two cultivation families also couldn't be guaranteed not to have Foundation Establishment means left by their ancestors.

If they really fought, the Poshan Gang would be in danger.

Regarding this kind of struggle involving Foundation Establishment, neither Luo Chen nor Qin Qin Liangchen had the ability to do anything.

What they could do was to protect themselves as much as possible.

If it really didn't work, when the time came, they would either surrender or run away!

The world is vast; it could always accommodate them, these Qi Refining cultivators.

"By the way, Mi Mi Shuhua has been very concerned about the output of Jade Marrow Elixirs recently. You keep dragging me to fight every day, don't provoke him to get angry."

"Get angry?"

Luo Chen chuckled; Mi Mi Shuhua naturally wouldn't get angry at him.

During this period, he hadn't relaxed regarding elixir refining matters.

Or rather, he had revealed a little more of his elixir refining attainments.

The success rate was much higher than before, and the output of mid-grade Jade Marrow Elixirs had increased by ten percent compared to before.

Under these circumstances, Mi Mi Shuhua was too happy to be angry.

The two returned to Xieyue Valley, called Gu Gu Caiyi and Murong Murong Qinglian, and returned to the city together.

Zhou Zhou Yuanli and other bodyguards also followed far behind.

The more tense the atmosphere, the harder the bodyguard work became, and they had also spent a lot of effort recently.

Privately, Luo Chen also subsidized them with some mid-grade Jade Marrow Elixirs.

As for whether such things would reach Mi Mi Shuhua's ears, he wasn't worried.

Small actions like embezzlement wouldn't be discovered if done occasionally.

But after such a long time, Mi Mi Shuhua must know everything he should know.

It was just some mid-grade Jade Marrow Elixirs, which were beneficial to early and middle-stage Qi Refining cultivators; as long as it didn't affect the overall situation, Mi Mi Shuhua wouldn't fuss about it.

On the way back to the city, the four chatted and laughed.

Suddenly, Luo Chen stopped his steps.

Seeing this, the other three also stopped.

They saw two figures on the ground ahead, chasing each other frantically, occasionally firing talismans and magic tools at each other.

One of them was clearly no match, and after resisting with difficulty for a few rounds, they flew toward Luo Chen and the others.

"Fellow Daoist, save me!"

"Get lost!"

Qin Qin Liangchen let out a low roar, stepped forward, and blocked in front of Luo Chen and the others.

The golden giant sword slashed out horizontally!

Before that figure could get close, they were knocked away in another direction.

The enemy chasing from behind was stunned, only then discovering that the four people in front of them, three at the ninth layer of Qi Refining and one at the seventh layer, were simply not people they could afford to offend.

"Sorry to disturb you!"

Arching his hands, he hurriedly chased after his prey.

"Hall Master, are you okay?"

Zhou Zhou Yuanli and Liu Liu Qiang hurriedly chased up and asked with concern.

Luo Chen shook his head, his gaze looking into the distance as he overlooked the front.

The outer city area of the Dahe Market, which covered an area of over a hundred miles, had already lost its former peaceful atmosphere and was becoming increasingly restless.

Now, incidents of killing and robbing had already happened right before his eyes.

"Great chaos is coming!"

Luo Chen felt deeply moved inside.

On the rest of the journey, the topics they chatted about also fell onto the current chaos in the outer city.

The arrival of the Core Formation True Person not only didn't bring people a sense of security but instead exacerbated the chaotic situation.

It just gave people the feeling that he was the one who actively started it.

Of course, rashly discussing a Core Formation True Person was a very dangerous thing, so everyone just mentioned it simply and vaguely.

After returning to the courtyard, the more Luo Chen thought about it, the more he felt something was wrong.

"No matter what happens next, it cannot affect my cultivation!"

And cultivation could not be separated from elixirs!

Early the next morning, Luo Chen hurriedly went out.

Inside the Spirit Medicine Pavilion, Luo Chen saw an old acquaintance after a long time.

"Senior Liu, long time no see."

The old man smiled slightly, "I still prefer you calling me Shopkeeper Liu."

Liu Liu Hecai, the former shopkeeper of the Baicaotang, was now the shopkeeper of the Spirit Medicine Pavilion.

Seeing Luo Chen, he was also very happy.

"I didn't expect it; I underestimated you before, actually having such superb elixir refining attainments."

Luo Chen smiled awkwardly, "Shopkeeper Liu is too kind."

"It's not kindness!" Liu Liu Hecai said seriously: "I have obtained the elixirs you refined later, whether it's the high-grade Zhongmiao Pills or the mid-grade Jade Marrow Elixirs, they all have their unique points. Especially that high-grade Zhongmiao Pill!"

Speaking of this, he paused.

"Do you still remember the Foundation Establishment True Person I introduced you to before?"

Luo Chen hesitated: "Are you talking about Senior Kang?"

Kang Kang Dongyue, the Pavilion Master of the Jin Shi Pavilion in Taishan Market, was also the ancestor of a cultivation family.

"Yes, he asked me a while ago if you were interested in supplying a batch of high-grade Zhongmiao Pills for his Jin Shi Pavilion to sell?"

Elixirs like the Zhongmiao Pill could not be presented on the stage of elegance.

Although Liu Liu Hecai admired them, the Spirit Medicine Pavilion he managed certainly wouldn't look down on such elixirs.

But a family business like the Jin Shi Pavilion would be very interested.

If it were before, Luo Chen would be very happy.

But now, he could only shake his head and smile bitterly: "The elixirs refined by this junior can only be supplied to the Poshan Gang for sale, so I have failed the good intentions of that senior."

Hearing him say this, Liu Liu Hecai didn't force it.

Although he was a member of the Medicine King Sect, this place was the Yuding Domain, under the jurisdiction of the Yuding Sword Sect.

Coming here from thousands of miles away, he only had a fellow disciple from the Baicaotang to rely on.

Offending a local middle-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator was truly unwise.

"Coming so early, what do you want to buy?"

Luo Chen took a deep breath and said solemnly: "Twenty bottles of Hua Chen Elixirs, ten boxes of An Shen Incense!"

"Wow, what a big deal!"

Liu Liu Hecai blurted out, and the gaze he used to look at Luo Chen carried even more admiration.