Chapter 462: Hunyuan Treasure Cauldron, Danxia Alliance

Tao Wan had left.

As a Sect Master, she actually had many matters to attend to.

The sect provided her with spiritual land, helped her form her Jin Dan, and even prepared her natal magic treasure in advance.

All of this was certainly not free of charge.

Handling various trivial matters for the Green Pill Valley was the price she had to pay.

Consequently, this naturally occupied a great deal of her cultivation time.

However, for every gain, there is a loss; one must naturally pay a corresponding price.

She envied her Senior Martial Brother, Dan Yangzi, who could now focus entirely on quiet cultivation and delve into the Dao of alchemy.

She also held a sense of sympathy for Luo Chen, who was calculating every penny and running about in all directions to establish an alliance.

Without power, influence, or elders to provide guidance.

Some people are born with a life of toil and labor.

By comparison, her life was actually much more comfortable than Luo Chen's.

That was why she occasionally revealed a look of admiration for him.

Even with the protection of the sect, she still felt that doing things was troublesome.

For him, a mere rogue cultivator, to reach his current standing—how truly difficult that must have been.

Luo Chen himself, however, was not so self-pitying.

He was currently in high spirits, feeling quite satisfied with himself.

Although he had to personally receive one Jin Dan cultivator after another recently, and had to carefully weigh and measure every word in conversation, he had long since grown accustomed to such things.

The realm of the Jin Dan stage truly gave him great confidence.

At the very least!

He no longer needed to bow respectfully to every Jin Dan cultivator and address them as "my lord" in every sentence.

And just like that, having only just sent Tao Wan away, he was once again immersed in a sea of verbal praise.

"Big Brother Luo, you really have become a Jin Dan cultivator. If my grandfather knew about this in the afterlife, I reckon his eyeballs would pop out in surprise."

In the small courtyard among the mountains, Chen Shuyi looked at Luo Chen with a face full of admiration.

The grandfather she spoke of was naturally Old Daoist Chen, who had set up a stall with Luo Chen back in the day.

That person had already passed away from old age fifty years ago.

He lived to the age of ninety.

At that age, among Qi Refining cultivators, it was considered a short life.

However, it was also expected.

In his early years, he made a living through talisman-making, and in order to earn more spirit stones to support his granddaughter's cultivation, he also took up the craft of making talisman paper.

That talisman paper was not made of paper or tree bark, but animal hide!

Living in such an environment year-round, how could he not have a short life?

Back in the Dahe Market, he was already decrepit at just over sixty years old. Later, after much tossing and turning, he traveled ten thousand miles to the Divine Talisman Region.

Once there, he set up a stall again and returned to his old trade.

In the end, he unfortunately died of old age.

Perhaps, for him, the only consolation was seeing his granddaughter successfully reach Foundation Establishment before he passed!

Thinking of an old friend, Luo Chen felt quite melancholy.

In a trance, the scenes of them setting up stalls together, noisy and bustling, seemed to be right before his eyes.

He shook his head and handed over a jade bottle.

"This is?" Chen Shuyi asked curiously as she took the jade bottle.

Luo Chen smiled and said, "A bottle of Jade Dew Pills; perhaps it can help you break through the third level of Foundation Establishment and step into the middle stage of Foundation Establishment."

Chen Shuyi's eyes lit up, and she immediately hugged the jade bottle tightly.

Seeing her like this, Luo Chen was puzzled.

"The Divine Talisman Sect is a Nascent Soul sect after all; is the supply of elixirs really that scarce?"

Fu Xiuxiu, who was standing to the side, sighed, "It is precisely because it is a Nascent Soul sect that there are so many disciples and followers! The competition within the sect is immense, and wanting to get ahead is even more difficult. Little Shuyi reached Foundation Establishment in her forties, which is very excellent for a rogue cultivator, but within the sect, it is nothing special, and she doesn't receive any preferential treatment."

"Didn't she also inherit Old Daoist Chen's talisman-making techniques? She should be able to..."

Before he could finish his sentence, Luo Chen stopped himself.

Talisman-making techniques?

The Divine Talisman Sect was the last place that would lack talisman-making techniques.

It could even be said that within the Divine Talisman Region, businesses related to talismans were basically monopolized by the Divine Talisman Sect and the various large and small families within it.

It simply wouldn't be Chen Shuyi's turn.

If one were to subtract the time she had to spend on rotating duties for local businesses and taking care of sect industries after reaching Foundation Establishment.

For Chen Shuyi to be able to cultivate to the peak of the third level of Foundation Establishment now, she had already been very diligent.

Cultivating in a top-tier sect is just like this.

Resources are limited, opportunities are limited, but competition is infinite.

Luo Chen looked at the descendant of his old friend with pity, then looked at Fu Xiuxiu.

"Sister Xiuxiu, you are not bad; you are already a great cultivator at the seventh level of Foundation Establishment."

She had left the Dahe Market for over eighty years.

Now, she was only a little over a hundred years old.

To have reached this realm, there is hope for Jin Dan!

Fu Xiuxiu shook her head, "I just took advantage of my constitution, plus I successfully reached Foundation Establishment in the second year after joining the sect, which is why I was valued by Elder Ye and taken in as a disciple, which is how I reached this realm. Compared to you, it counts for nothing at all."

She said it lightly, but the hardship involved was likely not easy.

With Luo Chen's knowledge, he had naturally long since understood Fu Xiuxiu's constitution.

It was the rare "Descending Marsh Constitution." Although it couldn't compare to Li Yingzhang's "Nine-Turn Recirculating Constitution," in daily cultivation, her spiritual power was like the water in the bottom of a lake by a great marsh, quite pure.

That was why she dared to force a breakthrough to Foundation Establishment back then without a Foundation Establishment Pill.

Even if she failed, she could still save her life.

Luo Chen, as before, took out a bottle of superior-grade Jade Dew Pills and gave them to her.

Fu Xiuxiu, however, was embarrassed to accept them, "We didn't even send a congratulatory gift when you formed your Jin Dan; how can we accept your gift?"

"It is not a gift, just a token of my heart. Moreover, you brought that fellow Daoist Ye Xiang to congratulate me and bolster the prestige of my Luo Tian Sect; that in itself was a great gift!"

"My master was just passing through Tianlan and heard me mention you, so he was curious and came to take a look."

Seeing Fu Xiuxiu decline, Luo Chen's expression became serious, "Back then, you gave me Moonlight Grass, and I accepted it without the slightest hesitation. Now, it is just a bottle of pills; for a master alchemist like me who is renowned in the cultivation world, it counts for nothing at all. Sister Xiuxiu, are you still going to refuse?"

Fu Xiuxiu opened her mouth and had no choice but to accept.

Watching the way the other party rubbed the jade bottle, Luo Chen sighed in his heart.

The temperaments of the two women were now different from back then.

Thinking about it, within the Divine Talisman Sect, they were likely walking on thin ice and living quite difficult lives.

Especially in the subsequent conversation, after he learned the purpose of their visit, this thought was further verified.

Opening wars are risks, but also opportunities.

Those with abundant family wealth would naturally not take this risk.

It was only Fu Xiuxiu, Chen Shuyi, and others like them, who had no foundation, who volunteered to come to the front lines to earn resources for cultivation.

Especially Chen Shuyi, who only got this spot because she benefited from Fu Xiuxiu.

Yes, one even needs a quota to go to the battlefield!

From this, one can see how intense the competition in the sect is.

"Looking at it this way, we can be considered companions in misfortune," Luo Chen said with a smile.

Fu Xiuxiu was curious, "Are you also going to participate in the opening war?"

Luo Chen nodded.

Chen Shuyi, who was to the side, was puzzled, "Big Brother Luo, you are now a renowned master alchemist; there are plenty of people fawning over you, why bother taking the risk?"

Luo Chen sighed, but didn't explain too much.

Fu Xiuxiu squeezed Chen Shuyi's hand, stopping her from continuing to ask.

She knew that under any glory, there were unknown troubles.

If nothing else, just this Danxia Peak under their feet, a mere first-tier spiritual land, was simply not worthy of Luo Chen's realm.

He sought something much greater; how could the glory in front of others compare to the solid improvement of cultivation?

After a pleasant chat, Luo Chen said his goodbyes and left.

Before leaving, he pulled over Gu Caiyi, who had been reminiscing with them, and quietly transmitted his voice.

"From the treasury, select two high-quality low-grade magic treasures and send them over before they leave tomorrow."

Gu Caiyi was puzzled: "Are they lacking magic treasures?"

"They are!"

With Luo Chen's keen spiritual sense, he could naturally judge whether Chen Shuyi had the aura of a magic treasure on her.

Moreover, he knew very well that the Jade Yu Dingyu and the Divine Talisman Region were completely different.

Or rather, they were different from all other cultivation regions.

Because of the behind-the-scenes manipulation of Tianfan City, inferior magic treasures were rampant in the Jade Yu Dingyu.

Other cultivation regions had their own overlords to suppress things and would not allow Tianfan City to mess around like that.

Even inferior magic treasures had lethality far exceeding peak-grade magic tools; for Foundation Establishment cultivators, they were definitely great killing weapons.

It could even be said that this opening war, which involved twenty-seven sects, very likely had the pushing hand of Tianfan City behind it.

After all, with the quality of magic tools and magic treasures, they are used for a hundred years, passed down for a hundred years, and mended for another hundred years.

If they don't experience war, how can they be consumed? How can they be updated?

Without damage and destruction, how could a super casting sect like Tianfan City profit from it?

As his realm rose, Luo Chen's vision broadened, and some of his previous so-called guesses were now certainties.

In his view.

When the Luoyun Sect raided the Yan Alliance back then, just as the war was about to subside, it was very likely at the instigation of Tianfan City.

They were well-informed and knew that the appearance of the Soul Transformation ruins would inevitably attract cultivators from the Holy Land Mingyuan Sect.

As long as the Holy Land powerhouses descended, the Jade Cauldron civil war naturally could not continue.

Then, under the mediation of the Holy Land, the human conflict would be shifted outward, and an opening war would inevitably have to be conducted.

In this way, eliminating the Yan Alliance, which was also a casting sect, in advance could create a better environment for Tianfan City's subsequent profits.

In Luo Chen's view, this guess was nine times out of ten true!

Otherwise, there was no way to explain why the Jade Cauldron Sword Sect didn't go to rescue the Yan Alliance, but instead turned around to attack the Green Pill Valley.

Both sides were clearly engaged in a tacit war.

Each was eliminating the side that threatened them.

The tacit understanding here was not just between the Luoyun Sect and the Sword Sect, but also between the Sword Sect and Tianfan City.

Having reached his current status.

Luo Chen could already see the big picture and judge the situation of the large sects and superior sects.

The only thing he still couldn't figure out was the scale of this opening war.

Although the range of the Xiaoyue Mountain Range was large, it far exceeded the Jade Yu Dingyu.

But it shouldn't reach the point of mobilizing the power of twenty-seven sects.

He had previously assumed that True Person Canglong of the Ice Fortress had some ulterior motives.

But True Person Canglong had failed to form a Nascent Soul, so naturally, he couldn't set up another banner and hold an opening war at the same time.

It was precisely this doubt that led Luo Chen to make the decision for the three parties to form an alliance!

With many monks and little gruel, if one wanted to get a share of the pie, one couldn't do it without a certain amount of strength.

He even felt that the strength of the Luo Tian Alliance was still a bit weak, so Luo Chen continued to maintain friendly relations with Jin Dan sects like the Ice Fortress and Green Pill Valley, just in case.

While waiting for the three-party alliance meeting in half a month, Luo Chen was not idle.

He was studying the iron slip that Tao Wan had given him.

Perhaps it was because Luo Chen's reputation for keeping his word was known abroad, or perhaps it was because he had deep ties with the Green Pill Valley.

This time, the cooperation, the Green Pill Valley was very generous.

Before Luo Chen had truly taken action to help refine the Nascent Soul Formation Pill, Tao Wan had already handed the iron slip recording the natal magic treasure to Luo Chen in advance.

Involving a natal magic treasure, Luo Chen was naturally attentive.

In the cave dwelling.

Luo Chen looked at the empty iron slip, stroking it, and his spiritual sense extended out, covering it.

Immediately.

Archaic characters emerged one by one.

"Hunyuan Cauldron..."

According to Tao Wan, the Green Pill Valley had three methods for casting natal magic treasures of the cauldron type.

They were the Hunyuan Cauldron, the Liangyi Cauldron, and the Liuli Cauldron.

The currently renowned Green Sky Liuli Cauldron of the Green Pill Valley used the casting method of the Liuli Cauldron, which was cast by the founding ancestor and nurtured to the level of a superior-grade magic treasure before they passed away.

Over so many years, through the continuous refining of generations of disciples and followers in the Green Pill Valley, its grade had not been lost, and its power was even more outstanding.

These three types of cauldrons each had their own wonders.

Like the Liuli Cauldron, once cast, it would strengthen the grade of the elixirs, often allowing it to exert unimaginable effects in the hands of the magic treasure's owner, frequently allowing the refining of higher-grade elixirs across realms.

For an alchemist, it was absolutely a one-in-a-million choice!

The Green Pill Valley naturally couldn't bear to give such a casting method to Luo Chen.

However, the Hunyuan Cauldron was also quite extraordinary.

Hunyuan—Chaos as one, the beginning of primordial energy!

All-encompassing, containing everything!

The concept was very grand.

The reality was naturally impossible; even Nascent Soul True Persons and Soul Transformation great beings couldn't make such big claims.

However, when implemented in practice, it was still quite pertinent.

The advantage of the Hunyuan Cauldron was that if an alchemist used this as their natal magic treasure, then this cauldron could almost be applied to the refining of any kind of elixir.

In the cultivation world, there are countless elixirs, and naturally, there are countless refining methods.

And the refining of many elixirs had completely different requirements for refining utensils.

Mainstream elixirs mostly used ordinary refining utensils.

But some powerful elixirs had very high requirements for refining utensils.

Either it must be a purely attribute-specific utensil, for example, it cannot contain other attributes, and only a cauldron cast from gold-attribute materials is allowed.

Or it cannot use utensils containing metallic substances, and must use innate objects or symbiotic objects to wrap and refine.

Even, there was the so-called "living creature refining method," using living creatures as containers to refine elixirs.

Such things were extremely harsh.

Luo Chen previously just didn't have a high enough realm, and didn't refine many types of elixirs, so he hadn't encountered such things yet.

But as his realm rose, if he wanted to continue walking on the path of alchemy, he would very likely encounter such situations.

And the Hunyuan Cauldron could solve this problem!

As long as it wasn't that kind of extreme requirement, the Hunyuan Cauldron could basically satisfy it.

In other words.

If Luo Chen truly cast the Hunyuan Cauldron, he wouldn't need to bring other refining utensils when refining elixirs in the future.

In addition, the Hunyuan Cauldron also had some incidental effects.

Such as the ability to suppress, the ability to defend, and so on.

These were all incidental.

Finally!

That was a common advantage of the three Green Pill cauldrons: they could use elixir energy to upgrade!

Cultivators refine elixirs year-round, and their bodies will be stained with a small amount of elixir energy.

In fact, there is even more residual elixir energy on refining utensils!

For this kind of elixir energy, alchemists often clear it away, otherwise, the accumulation of mixed elixir energy will affect the refining of new elixirs.

This is also why, in the past, every time Luo Chen finished refining elixirs, he would let the people below him help him clean the cauldron.

Elixir energy is harmful!

But the three Green Pill cauldrons did the opposite, absorbing various residual elixir energies to promote the upgrading of the magic treasure.

It sounds unbelievable, but the Green Pill Valley had indeed achieved it.

Their sect-protecting magic treasure, the Green Sky Liuli Cauldron, was able to maintain its grade for many years because it was often taken out and allowed to be used by alchemists of all sizes in the Green Pill Valley to refine elixirs. Then, the residual elixir energy was used to nurture the treasure cauldron!

"If I use the Hunyuan Cauldron as my natal magic treasure, apart from daily elixir fire refining, combined with the frequency of my elixir refining, I will definitely be able to quickly improve the grade of the magic treasure."

"Such advantages are indeed far greater than other magic treasures."

No wonder it is said that an alchemist's natal magic treasure is best chosen as a refining utensil.

Not to mention the ability to attack and defend, just the advantages of quick refining and quick grade improvement are enough to cover other shortcomings.

Having only read the iron slip a few times, Luo Chen had already decided to use this treasure as his natal magic treasure!

The description above was truly tempting!

"However, to cast this thing, the materials required are simply too many."

Luo Chen muttered to himself.

The reason why the Hunyuan Cauldron could satisfy the refining of most elixirs and even have incidental effects like suppression and defense was naturally not something that could be achieved with mere ordinary materials.

Luo Chen scanned it at a glance, and the names of those precious materials made his eyelids jump wildly.

Geng Metal, Black Sink Wood, Cold Marrow, Fire Spirit Diamond, Trace Mud.

The five main materials were all at least third-tier!

Moreover, from the attributes of the main materials, one could also see why this magic treasure was named "Hunyuan Cauldron."

Gold, wood, water, fire, and earth were all complete; wasn't that Hunyuan as one!

Besides this, the list of auxiliary materials was also staggering.

Mysterious Iron, Ink Lead, Flowing Sand Essence Gold, Soft Thunder Sand, Mysterious Luo Gold, Copper Essence...

Finally, the iron slip also recorded that if one could add heavenly materials and earthly treasures, as well as mineral materials of various attributes like wind, thunder, ice, and darkness, that would be best.

After studying it, Luo Chen roughly understood why it was said that the more precious mineral materials added, the better.

It was to achieve that so-called "Hunyuan" meaning.

"If it were an ordinary Jin Dan cultivator, I'm afraid they wouldn't be able to collect them all in a lifetime."

"Such material requirements must be met by someone with abundant family wealth."

"It is worthy of being a natal magic treasure tailored for alchemists!"

Alchemists, after all, are existences that are rich as oil.

As a famous alchemist, combined with the spoils of many battles, Luo Chen was naturally quite wealthy.

Even if he didn't have many spirit stones on hand right now.

But at the time of Foundation Establishment, considering the refining of a natal magic treasure after forming a Jin Dan, he didn't let the Luo Tian Sect dispose of resources related to mineral materials.

At this moment, comparing it with the material list of the Hunyuan Cauldron, he counted them one by one.

The five main materials.

Geng Metal, he had one piece.

Black Sink Wood, missing.

Cold Marrow, he had two bottles of Ice Soul Cold Marrow, which Fairy Jueqing gave him on behalf of the Ice Fortress during the Jin Dan ceremony. Not only could it satisfy the needs of water-attribute mineral materials, but it also contained ice attributes.

Fire Spirit Diamond, missing.

Trace Mud, he had three catties on him, which he traded from Fei Ming back then to treat Murong Qinglian's broken hand. However, treating Murong Qinglian only required two taels of Trace Mud, so after giving her four taels, he still had a lot left, enough to satisfy the needs of the Hunyuan Cauldron.

"So, in terms of main materials, I only lack Black Sink Wood and Fire Spirit Diamond. In addition, the quantity of Geng Metal is a bit small, so I have to find a way to collect more."

"And in terms of auxiliary materials, although there are many types, with my accumulation over the years, I'm actually not lacking much. The missing part can also be left to the Luo Tian Sect cultivators to keep an eye out for and collect."

"Heavenly materials and earthly treasures, wind, thunder, ice, darkness... I think it's to satisfy the missing parts of attributes other than the five elements."

"I have accumulated a large amount of Profound Heaven Crystals on me, which are fourth-tier mineral materials, and they are extremely suitable for refining magic treasures, so they can be counted as heavenly materials. Earthly treasures... where am I going to find earthly treasures."

The "heavenly materials and earthly treasures" recorded on the iron slip were naturally not common treasures and resources in the common sense.

It represented the literal meaning of "heavenly materials" and "earthly treasures."

Profound Heaven Crystals were famous heavenly materials in the cultivation world.

It could fuse various materials with different attributes together and make them communicate with each other,

Not only that, Profound Heaven Crystals even possessed a trace of growth.

If one used this as the main material to cast a natal magic treasure, it could raise the upper limit of the magic treasure!

Besides this, as a fourth-tier mineral material, Profound Heaven Crystals also had many wonders.

Ventilating, melting objects, absorbing spirits, transforming filth, and so on.

It was precisely because of this that there was the saying of "Heavenly Crystal."

Back then, Fei Changqiu of the Divine Casting Gate used a piece of Profound Heaven Crystal as the price to persuade Zuo Song of the Iron Sword Hall to help him fight.

In the end, that piece of Profound Heaven Crystal fell into Luo Chen's hands.

Over the years, Luo Chen had seized many spoils of war and had also successively collected quite a few.

"Let's take it one step at a time, at least in terms of thunder-series mineral materials, I have eighteen thousand-year Lei Ying. On this point alone, I can surpass ninety-nine percent of Jin Dan cultivators."

The natal magic treasure blueprint was available.

Most auxiliary materials could also be collected.

As long as the five main materials were collected, refining could be carried out.

The remaining precious materials were just icing on the cake, raising the upper limit.

And!

To cast the Hunyuan Cauldron, besides materials, one also had to master several arrays.

Otherwise, even if the materials were melted together, it would only be a magic treasure embryo.

In terms of arrays, Luo Chen planned to engrave them and hand them over to Min Longyu to study, and he would also study them a bit himself.

Not only that, he also planned to find Duan Feng to learn some casting techniques.

Even if it was just a superficial introduction, it would be fine.

Otherwise, when refining the magic treasure embryo with the Withered Glory Fire, there would inevitably be big problems.

After some calculation.

Luo Chen couldn't help but sigh:

"So many things to do!"

"Although this opening war is an opportunity for me, it also consumes a lot of time; I only hope it ends as soon as possible."

Regarding the opening war, Luo Chen didn't covet any Nascent Soul opportunities.

He only sought a large third-tier spiritual vein.

It could serve as a place for cultivation and also as a place for the Luo Tian Sect to reside.

Luo Chen engraved the several arrays needed to cast the Hunyuan Cauldron and handed them to Min Longyu to study.

He himself also went to Duan Feng to simply learn some casting techniques.

With his current realm, getting started with a skill was actually very simple.

Or rather, for most high-level cultivators, learning a common cultivation skill from scratch was not a difficult task.

The difficulty was just limited by talent; one couldn't go further or delve deeper than those who possessed talent.

Combined with the pressure of lifespan, high-level cultivators often only concurrently practiced one or two cultivation skills.

Luo Chen didn't think about having any great achievements in the casting path.

But he still needed to understand the simplest processing of mineral materials and the fusion of characteristics.

Regarding his needs, Duan Feng naturally wouldn't refuse.

Not only did he teach him everything he knew, but he even made a copy of the various casting classics he had collected over the years and gave them to Luo Chen.

In addition.

Luo Chen also handed the list of various mineral materials he needed to Sima Hui Niang, letting her order the Luo Tian Sect cultivators to collect them for him as much as possible.

Even if they encountered something they couldn't buy, they should try to keep an eye out for it.

In this way, half a month passed in the blink of an eye.

This day.

On Danxia Peak, five great Jin Dan cultivators gathered!

Di Wuqi and Jiang Yu, who arrived together, and Cen Qiusheng, who led the Cen family cultivators, all cast their attention at the first moment to the middle-aged man with a red face.

Fu Jiusheng!

A rare rogue Jin Dan cultivator in the cultivation world, hailing from the Medicine King Region.

He was a well-known herb gatherer in the past.

Di Wuqi and Cen Qiusheng had seen him before at Luo Chen's Jin Dan ceremony and had also exchanged their backgrounds.

At this moment, he appeared at the alliance meeting site; what did this mean?

"Is Fellow Daoist Fu also going to join the Luo Tian Alliance?" Di Wuqi couldn't help but ask.

Fu Jiusheng looked at Luo Chen.

Luo Chen did not yield, laughing freely: "Daoist Friend Fu is now a guest elder of my Luo Tian Sect; of course, he has a place in this alliance!"

As soon as these words were spoken, Di Wuqi, Jiang Yu, and Cen Qiusheng looked at each other.

This alliance was based on Luo Chen, and even the name of the alliance was crowned with "Luo Tian."

But they mostly wanted to use the name of Luo Chen, this master alchemist, to act.

After all, in the cultivation world, there is still great respect for master alchemists.

When it comes to fighting, they often give way by three points.

Borrowing the name is one thing, but in terms of dominant position, Di Wuqi and the others still wanted to hold some sway.

But now, the Luo Tian Sect had an extra guest elder, Fu Jiusheng, which was on par with their Wind and Rain Villa.

This dominant position...

While they were hesitant, Luo Chen's eyes narrowed slightly.

"Why, do the three of you not welcome the joining of Fellow Daoist Fu?"

Thanks to the brother "Just One Piece Left" for the 100,000 starting point coin reward, becoming the fourth alliance leader of this book!

(End of chapter)