Chapter 267: Middle-Aged Worries, Inventory of Attributes

The clear breeze in the mountain stream disturbs people's thoughts. 【267-2

The silver dragon roared, the boom echoing in his ears.

Luo Chen stood tall on the edge of the cliff, his eyes filled with sorrow.

Suddenly, a voice of surprise came from beside him.

"Fellow Daoist Luo Chen, you've come here again. Don't tell me your Luo Tian Society needs someone to undergo Foundation Establishment again!"

Turning his head to look, it was indeed Nangong Jin, his face full of surprise.

He still lived nearby.

Luo Chen smiled reluctantly, "Someone is indeed undergoing Foundation Establishment, but unfortunately, they failed."

Hearing this, before Nangong Jin could express his sympathy, he subconsciously felt a sense of relief.

This bizarre scene made his expression somewhat strange.

Luo Chen frowned, staring at him.

Nangong Jin coughed dryly, "Failure in Foundation Establishment is a common human experience. As long as one is not a Heavenly Spiritual Root cultivator, even with the most excellent aptitude and the most thorough preparation, there is still that possibility of failure. Fellow Daoist, don't take it to heart."

Luo Chen was puzzled.

"Why do Heavenly Spiritual Root cultivators face no obstacles, while those with other aptitudes do? What about dual spiritual root cultivators? What about variant spiritual root cultivators?"

Nangong Jin smiled slightly.

"Why is the Heavenly Spiritual Root not called a single spiritual root, but instead referred to as a Heavenly Spiritual Root? Isn't it because they are uniquely favored by heaven and beloved by the Dao?"

"As for those with other aptitudes..."

Nangong Jin paused and said casually, "Let me ask you, how much can a low-grade Foundation Establishment Pill increase the success rate?"

"Thirty percent!"

"Then, can such Qi Refining cultivators, even if they have made ten thousand preparations, gather the remaining seventy percent?"

Luo Chen opened his mouth, finding himself speechless for a moment.

Even he, back then, had a physical body at the perfection of the Vajra Realm, a primordial spirit comparable to a Foundation Establishment cultivator, and a finesse in controlling spiritual power that was second to none among his peers.

Even with such thorough preparation, he had experienced four failures.

It was only on the final attempt that he barely succeeded!

If it weren't for his five-spiritual-root dantian, which provided him with a resilient and ample space, the immense medicinal power of those five Foundation Establishment elixirs would have long ago backflowed and surged through his meridians, leaving him severely injured.

He even felt that his cultivation realm at that time was no longer at the ninth-level perfection of the Qi Refining stage.

Instead, under the expansion of the five Foundation Establishment elixirs, he had once surged to the tenth, eleventh, twelfth, and thirteenth levels!

Watching Luo Chen's speechless appearance, Nangong Jin couldn't help but laugh:

"Don't worry."

"Did the person survive?"

Luo Chen nodded, "Although they were severely injured, after treatment, they are now out of danger."

"As long as they survived, just recuperate well, there will be opportunities in the future... How old is the person who attempted the breakthrough?" Nangong Jin asked one more question.

Luo Chen thought for a moment and gave an uncertain number.

"Around fifty-two!"

"That's still quite young!" Nangong Jin said casually, "After recuperating for a few years, they can try Foundation Establishment again!"

That's right!

Still young!

Luo Chen came back to his senses and thanked Nangong Jin solemnly.

Nangong Jin waved his hand, chatted for a few sentences, and then left Tianlan Peak.

Turning back, Luo Chen looked at the cave entrance.

"Brother Qin, you should have heard it too!"

Inside the cave, Qin Liangchen, with a weary face, walked out.

After three days of treatment, Murong Qinglian finally woke up from her coma.

Her current state was not very good.

Luo Chen's healing technique, based on his pure spiritual power, had an incredibly miraculous effect.

But in reality, injuries cannot recover out of thin air by relying on spiritual energy.

During the healing process, what was consumed was still the "vital energy" that Murong Qinglian had accumulated over many years.

This vital energy, according to Luo Chen's understanding, could be attributed to the vitality of human cells, the hidden blood energy from years of physical cultivation, dispersed spiritual power, and so on.

Only by doing this, using both methods simultaneously, could her severely damaged meridians be mostly restored.

But for the rest, she would have to rely on herself to recuperate quietly.

Taking medicinal herbs and eating more food containing innate energy and spiritual energy.

This process cannot be achieved overnight.

Therefore, for the next year or two, she would have to carefully recuperate her body.

That is why they say it is best for cultivators to undergo Foundation Establishment before the age of sixty.

If the breakthrough fails after the age of sixty.

Even if they do not die on the spot, the time required to recuperate the body would take five or six years, or even more than a decade.

The older one gets, the worse the body's functions become.

The decline of blood energy is not just empty talk.

Fortunately!

Murong Qinglian is still young; after spending a year or two recuperating her body and recovering to her original state, she will still have the opportunity to attempt Foundation Establishment.

It's just that, by then...

Qin Liangchen's expression was sorrowful.

In the Luo Tian Society, they are not the only couple hoping for Foundation Establishment!

But the Foundation Establishment Pills that can be obtained are, after all, few.

A year or two later, it simply won't be Murong Qinglian's turn.

Watching him speechless and sorrowful, Luo Chen frowned.

He could roughly guess what the other person was thinking.

But he could not make a promise to his face.

Patting Qin Liangchen on the shoulder, Luo Chen consoled him, "At least, the person is fine."

Qin Liangchen nodded, "It's me thinking too much. It's already incredibly fortunate that the person is still here. Luo Chen, I've delayed you too much these past few days. You go ahead and get busy, I'm enough here."

Luo Chen gave a hum and left.

Returning to Cave No. B-17.

Luo Chen sighed and stopped dwelling on this matter.

For some things, he had already done his best.

Whether it succeeds or not depends on one's own fate.

Murong Qinglian had clearly made all kinds of preparations, and they were extremely sufficient.

She didn't even have the hidden danger of an unsteady Dao heart like Min Longyu.

Even so, she still failed.

"Success rate..."

Luo Chen muttered this term; whenever breaking through a major realm, failure and success always accompany each other.

If one wants to increase the success rate, besides elixirs and miraculous medicines, there is actually another way.

That is to increase the number of attempts!

But attempting to break through multiple times requires a greater price.

Sufficient Foundation Establishment elixirs, plus a physical body capable of withstanding the backlash brought by each failure.

These two are indispensable!

"Then, when I form my Core in the future, can I still use the same approach as Foundation Establishment?"

"With my aptitude, I'm afraid one portion of Core Formation elixirs will definitely not be enough."

"It seems that in every future large-scale auction, I must keep an eye out for Core Formation elixirs."

"However, the most urgent task is to raise my cultivation realm first. Without reaching the late Foundation Establishment stage, it is very difficult to participate in the competition for Core Formation elixirs!"

Taking a deep breath, Luo Chen adjusted his mindset, emptied his brain, and entered a meditative state of cultivation.

After President Sima Hui Niang formulated the new merit policy, the Luo Tian Society once again embarked on a path of full-speed development.

This time, because of the new merit policy, the motivation of the Luo Tian Society cultivators was boosted in a short period of time.

Whether it was the Biyou Valley market or the spiritual fields of the Medicine Hall, cultivators were running back and forth all day long.

The other halls were also unwilling to fall behind.

Good news came first from the Alchemy Hall.

People from Taoshan had arrived!

As an industry of the Peach Blossom Ancestor of the Hundred Flowers Palace, Taoshan's business had always been extremely good.

As the actual manager, Xuan Yu, at the late Foundation Establishment stage, had also gained a lot from it, which provided huge help for him to compete for the Core Formation elixirs of the Ice Fortress.

But obviously, they were not just satisfied with this.

Therefore, Taoshan set its sights on the Zhongmiao Pills sold by the Luo Tian Society.

A Foundation Establishment cultivator from Taoshan went to Danxia Peak in person and signed a batch of orders with President Sima Hui Niang.

With a fixed price of ten spirit stones per pill, they directly bought out all the Zhongmiao Pills that Sister Mi Li refined every month!

In this way, just this one order alone could create nearly a thousand spirit stones of profit every month.

Over a year, that would be over ten thousand!

This income naturally could not compare to the results of Luo Chen refining Jade Marrow Pills back then.

In the entire Luo Tian Society, it didn't count for much either.

But this was a very good beginning!

For this reason, President Sima Hui Niang specially rewarded Sister Mi Li.

Stimulated by this, the other three alchemists in the Alchemy Hall also worked harder to refine their own types of elixirs.

The changes in the Alchemy Hall were just the tip of the iceberg.

The Weapon Hall was where the truly earth-shaking changes were happening!

Duan Feng's Foundation Establishment made him even more at ease in the way of weapon casting.

Min Longyu, the Foundation Establishment array master, also hung his name in the Weapon Hall as an Elder.

With his array ability, he could provide great help in refining magic tools!

In just three months, he and Duan Feng successfully refined a high-grade magic tool!

You must know that a high-grade magic tool, no matter how trashy, can sell for a thousand spirit stones.

If the attributes are excellent, selling it for four or five thousand is not impossible.

It can be seen that the two of them cooperating in weapon casting was making preliminary preparations for repairing the Zhouyou Eighteen Array Disks and completing the two magic treasure embryos.

But in the process of these adjustments, it also indirectly improved the strength of the Weapon Hall.

The weapon casting apprentices that Duan Feng had brought out over the years also began to handle various difficult magic tool casting tasks.

It can be said that everything in the Luo Tian Society was developing in a good direction.

And as the master of the Luo Tian Society.

Luo Chen appeared less and less, living on Tianlan Peak year-round, rarely going out.

What he did every day would only seem very boring to outsiders.

Reading books, practicing spells, refining elixirs, cultivation.

Just these four things, repeated over and over, yet he never tired of them.

Time flew by.

Half a year passed.

On this day, Luo Chen sat cross-legged on the Ice Silkworm cushion.

The icy cold air made his mind clear.

In his vision, an attribute panel that only he could see was shining brightly.

【Longevity: 40/190】

【Spiritual Root: Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, Earth】

【Realm: Foundation Establishment 3rd Layer 60/100, Blood River Realm 20/100】

【Cultivation Method: Yi Wood Medicine King Scripture Master 840/1000, Bright Spirit Breaking Evil Master 700/1000, Ten Thousand Beasts Scripture 10/100】

【Spells: Tier 2: Mountain Collapse Perfect 350/500, Glazed Liuli Liuli Tianmu Proficient 200/300, Turtle Spirit Covering Armor Skilled 101/200

Tier 1: Healing Technique Perfection, Earth Mountain Technique Master 625/1000, Wave Technique Master 650/1000, Sound Insulation Technique Master 570/1000, Spirit-Aweing Technique Perfect 310/500, Perfection Spells (Click to query details)】

【Alchemy Technique: Jade-Folding Hand Perfection, Pure Heart Hand Perfection, Huanxi Hand Master 650/1000, Cloud-Transforming Hand Perfect 1/500, Clear Source Miraculous Alchemy Method Master 510/1000】

【Martial Arts: Mountain-Opening Stele-Breaking Palm Perfection, Heavenly Maiden Scattering Flowers Master 501/1000, Wang Family Secret Manual Skilled 249/300】

【Skills: Tier 2 Alchemist: Grain-Avoiding Powder Perfection, Zhongmiao Pill Perfection, Jade Marrow Pill Perfection, Deep-Quiet Pill Perfection, Blood-Burning Pill Proficient 204/300, Jade Yu Yu Ludan Proficient 201/300, Emperor Flowing Pulp Entry 3/100.】

【Achievement Points: 25】

Staring blankly at the attribute panel, Luo Chen, with a clear mind, felt a moment of trance.

Is this the achievement I have attained now that I have reached "middle age"?

The realm of the third layer of Foundation Establishment, the physical cultivation level of the Blood River Realm.

Even in a large sect, this can be considered an absolutely heaven-defying existence!

After sighing, he browsed through the attribute panel to confirm his gains over the years.

The proficiency of the main cultivation method, "Yi Wood Medicine King Scripture," had been brushed to 840, and it was still 160 proficiency points away from perfection.

To brush it to perfection would take about a year or so.

This is not urgent.

As long as he practices every day and keeps running his life-bound cultivation method, he will always reach the end.

In terms of spells, the gains were not small.

Thanks to the Earth Mountain Technique and Wave Technique being brushed to the Master level, "Mountain Collapse," on which he had high hopes, finally reached the Perfect level.

At this level, it can already be preliminarily used in combat.

The power at this time is not much different from the Fierce Sun Technique stacked to the extreme.

However, casting this technique requires merging three Tier 1 spells, which is quite cumbersome.

Without achieving an instantaneous casting state, one still needs to carefully consider and weigh the battlefield environment when casting this technique.

The promotion of the Tier 2 defensive spell "Glazed Liuli Liuli Tianmu" was much slower.

After all, the former was a spell he started practicing during the Qi Refining stage.

This one, however, was only picked up after Foundation Establishment.

However, the advantages of this technique are still quite obvious.

When defending at close range, the effect is extremely outstanding, and it has currently been listed by Luo Chen as a conventional combat method.

"Turtle Spirit Covering Armor" is a spell he picked up a year ago.

The cultivation is somewhat cumbersome, divided into four stages.

For a year, whenever Luo Chen went out, he had been adjusting the breathing rhythm of his whole body.

Now, he has finally completed the "Turtle Breath" part of the cultivation.

"If I cast Turtle Breath, the effect will probably be even better than that loose cultivator on the Gaoling Plain battlefield!"

With a light laugh, Luo Chen skipped the Tier 1 spell column.

The only one worth mentioning among them was the Spirit-Aweing Technique, which had barely been promoted to the Perfect level.

As for the others, there was nothing much to say.

What Luo Chen was most concerned about was the Alchemy Technique column.

Leaving Dahefang and coming to this Tianlan Immortal City, about five years had passed in total.

During these five years.

He personally took action and refined hundreds of thousands of Jade Marrow Pills.

Thousands of Deep-Quiet Pills.

Two hundred Jade Dew Pills!

With such a huge quantity of alchemy, his alchemy technique had obtained an unimaginable improvement.

Unimaginable, but not really unmeasurable.

This can be seen from the improvement of his alchemy techniques.

Needless to say, the Jade-Folding Hand was at perfection.

The Pure Heart Hand, an alchemy technique specifically for processing herbal medicine, had also been promoted to the perfection level.

The Huanxi Hand was promoted to the Master level, and the Cloud-Transforming Hand was promoted to the Perfect level.

This super-fast speed of improving alchemy techniques is jaw-dropping.

And among the many alchemy techniques, "Clear Source Miraculous Alchemy Method," the last alchemy technique he picked up for resolving elixir poison, was what Luo Chen was most concerned about.

For a full five years, he had built it from scratch and promoted it to the Master level.

At this moment, inside his Qi Sea.

A resilient and huge vortex was rotating automatically and continuously.

Strands of spiritual energy entered it, then were flung out, washing the shores of the Qi Sea.

On the shore walls, the attached elixir poison was washed away by this pure spiritual power, falling down with a rustle, and then discharged from Luo Chen's body.

The Master-level "Clear Source Miraculous Alchemy Method" could already thoroughly resolve the legacy of elixir poison!

Now.

Luo Chen finally didn't have to worry about elixir poison affecting his future breakthrough in realm.

He could even take elixirs with peace of mind to accelerate his cultivation!

Such a huge improvement in alchemy technique naturally also represented the improvement in the proficiency of Luo Chen's specialty elixirs.

The perfection of the Deep-Quiet Pill was his biggest gain over these years.

The Tier 2 Jade Yu Yu Ludan, which he occasionally refined, had also been brushed to the Proficient level.

Now, his success rate for Jade Dew Pills was as high as thirty percent, and he could even refine medium-grade Jade Dew Pills.

Supplying the Fairy of Absolute Emotion was no longer a problem.

It's just that he was still holding onto this secret.

The time limit the other party gave him was ten years later.

Now only a year and a half had passed, it was still early, no need to worry at all!

In terms of martial arts, Luo Chen didn't care much now.

The improvement of the Wang Family Secret Manual stemmed from him practicing the Five Viscera Health-Preserving Fist every day and taking a few steps of the Rising Dragon Step.

But this set of secret manuals involved too many things.

Fists, palms, fingers, leg techniques, light body techniques, footwork, hidden weapons, knives, spears, sticks, and clubs, all-encompassing and proficient in everything.

It was truly the life's work of a great martial arts master!

But he was only dabbling in it.

The reason for the improvement in his strength realm was not practicing this set of secret manuals, but the slight improvement that came with his body being soaked in spiritual energy over a long period of cultivation.

One can imagine that this kind of automatic improvement, without active cultivation, would become slower and slower as he went further.

Luo Chen didn't care much about these either.

The achievement points, however, had accumulated to 25, which was truly surprising.

He didn't pay much attention to it usually.

A spell improvement, a proficiency promotion of an elixir, or other slight improvements.

Unknowingly, he had hoarded 25 achievement points.

The bulk of it was mainly related to alchemy.

"25 achievement points can be used to pick up new Tier 2 spells or Tier 2 elixirs."

"But right now, I don't have any needs in this regard."

He already knew enough spells!

Among his peers, no one would pour part of their time into spells like he did.

In the eyes of ordinary cultivators, this is a practice that does more harm than good.

But Luo Chen had killed enemies across realms several times back then by relying on his exquisite spells, so how could he easily give up on this aspect of cultivation.

There's nothing to say about elixirs either.

Jade Marrow Pills provide financial resources, Jade Dew Pills are the key to maintaining connections, and Deep-Quiet Pills are used for cultivating the primordial spirit.

Unless someone gives him a pill formula comparable to the Harmony Pill or the Rising Dragon Pill now, he would probably not hesitate to get started and promote it to the level of refining high-grade elixirs!

There's no way, Luo Chen has been suffering from the lack of elixirs for a long time!

The reason why he could improve from 【Foundation Establishment 3rd Layer 10/100】 to 【60/100】 in just one year after the auction.

Besides the high-grade cave dwelling, the Ice Silkworm cushion, and the primordial spirit being promoted to the late Foundation Establishment stage so that he could run his life-bound cultivation method multiple times.

The biggest contributor was still those thirty bottles of medium-grade Harmony Pills!

These medium-grade Harmony Pills were of great help to his cultivation.

But now?

Gone!

All used up.

That's why he had time to browse the attribute panel comprehensively today.

"Without Tier 2 medium-grade elixirs, I have to return to the cultivation state of low-grade Rising Dragon Pills."

Luo Chen was a bit depressed.

After experiencing better elixirs, who would want to return to the "snail" crawling cultivation speed from before.

But some things are not transferred by human will.

When it comes to orthodox cultivation elixirs of higher grades, no large sect will easily release them.

They will only use them for themselves or circulate them among sects.

Even these medium-grade Harmony Pills were only released periodically at auctions because the Medicine King Sect was wealthy and wanted to maintain its signboard as a top alchemy sect.

"It's a pity that Jade Dew Pills are only suitable for female cultivators, otherwise if I refined them to high-grade or even top-grade, my cultivation speed would take off!"

Jade Dew Pills have unique effects, but they are only aimed at female cultivators.

For male cultivators, they are actually defective elixirs.

After swallowing and refining, the cold energy lingering inside the dantian will greatly affect male cultivators.

The higher the grade of the elixir, the heavier the cold energy!

Female cultivators naturally like them, but Luo Chen doesn't.

Yet, this "defect" aimed at male cultivators is not an innate defect like the dantian solidification of Jade Marrow Pills.

It has benefits for female cultivators.

This is a defect deliberately created by humans, and even one that can be dominated.

Therefore, even the system will not optimize this kind of "defect."

"No, I must find a way, find a path, and must get more medium-grade and high-grade Harmony Pills besides the auction."

"Rising Dragon Pills are fine too!"

"Calculating the time, Li Jinhuang should be back too."

"He is old, has wide connections, and many paths; perhaps he will know some ways to get high-grade elixirs."

With his mind made up, Luo Chen really didn't want to drag down his cultivation speed because of the grade of elixirs.

A few days later.

A sound-transmitting paper crane passed through the Tianyi Water defense array and fluttered to the front of Luo Chen's cave dwelling.

Subsequently, a figure left Tianlan Peak directly.

(End of chapter)