RUMBLE…
Thunder rolled across the sky, shaking the heavens. The entire Dahe Market went silent under the weight of nature's fury.
Normally, the skies would be full of flying cultivators coming and going.
But today, the number had visibly dropped.
After all — no one wanted to be the unlucky fool who got struck by lightning while flying.
Who knew if that counted as an early heavenly tribulation?
Dahe Market covered a huge area. Its inner city was protected by a third-grade grand formation — strong enough to withstand attacks from any beast below the third rank.
Even if a rank-three beast attacked suddenly, the formation could hold long enough for everyone inside to react.
But maintaining such a large formation every day consumed massive resources, so only the inner city enjoyed its protection.
Outside of it, where wandering cultivators lived… things were much less safe.
All around the inner city — east, west, south, and north —thousands of wooden and stone houses stood scattered like loose grains.
In the southwest corner, beside a small stream, stood a quiet wooden hut with one bedroom, one living room, and a kitchen.
The nearest neighbor was nearly two li away.
The surroundings were peaceful—
but inside the kitchen, things were lively.
"Slice one jin of wild yam.
Two liang of white poria.
Three liang of one-year ginseng."
"One jin of first-rank Yellow Ox beast meat—minced. Not a single bone chip."
"Add scallions, ginger, polished rice, and fennel…"
The calm chanting came from a shirtless young man. Luo Chen focused intensely on the pot as he skillfully grabbed ingredients from the wooden shelves and added them in.
His ladle moved like a blur.
When he poured in the pot of steaming white bone broth, Luo Chen finally let out a breath.
He stirred the firewood under the stove, pulled out a few pieces to adjust the heat, then quietly waited.
An hour later, he lifted the lid.
A thick, creamy paste filled the pot.
He inhaled deeply.
"The color is smooth and bright—top quality."
"The aroma is rich but not overbearing—also top quality."
Luo Chen dipped a finger into the paste and tasted it.
One sip.
"The spiritual essence is perfectly balanced. With the ginseng and angelica to activate it, the vitality from the five jin of first-rank Yellow Ox meat is fully infused into this Fasting Paste."
"Good. The flavor's perfect. Definitely top quality."
He licked his finger and smiled with satisfaction.
Based on his results these past days, this pot could be turned into at least five bottles of Fasting Pills.
It sounded funny… but he was genuinely refining pills.
The simplest, most commonly used pill for low-level cultivators—Fasting Pills.
Though his version was closer to the low-grade "Fasting Paste."
He poured the mixture onto a wooden board before it cooled.
Grabbing a yellowed bamboo slip, he spread the warm paste over it, dripped a few drops of Hundred-Flower Honey, then rolled the bamboo slip.
As it rolled, the hot paste transformed into long, cylinder-shaped medicinal strips, which turned light yellow due to the honey.
He quickly broke them into round pills, each as big as a thumb.
One, two, three…
By the time he finished, fifty neatly shaped Fasting Pills lined the board.
He didn't celebrate.
His gaze went straight to the invisible panel only he could see.
-
[Name: Luo Chen]
[Lifespan: 27 / 75]
[Spiritual Roots: Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, Earth]
[Realm: Qi Refining Stage 3 — 75 / 100]
[Cultivation Method: Evergreen Technique — Proficient (235 / 300)]
[Spells: Cleaning (Beginner 49/100), Entangle (Skilled 176/200), Fireball (Expert 268/300)]
[Skill: Rank-1 Alchemist — Fasting Paste (Master 501/1000)]
[Achievement Points: 10 (usable to unlock new realm techniques, spells, or skills)]
-
"Ten achievement points… enough to unlock the entry level of Wonder Elixir!"
Looking at his proficiency panel, Luo Chen felt emotional.
He had been here for a full year.
In his past life, he was just an overworked office worker—sleep late, wake early, grind all day.
Whenever he had free time, he played cultivation games on his phone.
He didn't have money to recharge, so he relied on grinding progress bars.
Who knew that one late night, while farming a dungeon, he would suddenly… cross over.
The original owner of this body was also named Luo Chen, same age too.
Ten years ago, he had ventured into deep mountains, found the remains of a cultivator, and thus stepped onto the path of cultivation.
Following a map found on the corpse, he arrived at Dahe Market to join a nearby sect.
But he was already seventeen — past the sixteen-year age limit.
Even worse, he had evenly distributed five-element spiritual roots, which were nearly as bad as having none at all.
No sect wanted him.
He should've returned home…
but his desire for the Dao was too strong.
So, with a single bottle of pills, one Evergreen Technique, and a few spirit stones, he settled in Dahe Market.
Too poor to live near the inner city, he rented a small hut by the creek.
Living in the Market wasn't easy.
Even the outermost houses required half a spirit stone per month in rent.
He built the house himself, but the rent still had to be paid.
After burning through his spirit stones, he didn't give up.
He took odd jobs, watched stalls, hunted beasts… barely surviving.
Eventually, he realized this couldn't continue forever.
He turned to the two pill recipes left by the cultivator's remains.
Wonder Elixir was too difficult.
So he started with the simplest Fasting Paste.
After several failures, he finally succeeded.
Low quality — but hunters who spent weeks in the mountains bought them regularly.
That was how the original owner survived.
But misfortune came.
Wanting to support his cultivation, he tried refining a second-rank pill based on a damaged recipe he found — Jade Dew Pill.
The pot exploded.
The house collapsed.
And the original Luo Chen died.
That was the moment the current Luo Chen crossed over.
He remembered waking up in the ruins, rain pouring down, covered in blood, confused and helpless.
But all that was in the past.
"One year… and I've finally pushed Fasting Paste to Master level. It's barely enough to keep me alive."
"But the real prize is the ten accumulated achievement points… enough to unlock the Wonder Elixir!"
Luo Chen had three pill recipes:
• Rank-1 Fasting Paste
• Rank-1 Wonder Elixir
• A damaged Rank-2 Jade Dew Pill recipe
The Jade Dew Pill could sell for one mid-grade spirit stone per bottle — an incredible fortune.
No wonder the original owner took the risk.
But Luo Chen wasn't that reckless.
"Wonder Elixir must be refined."
"I have to do it."
"Even if it ruins my reputation!"
He clenched his fists.
(End of Chapter)