Chapter 8: Do You Know Yun Zhonghe?

"Why have the Frost Wolf packs been coming to the outskirts lately?"

"It’s truly rotten luck. What a pity about those two first-tier spirit beasts we hunted; we didn't even have time to butcher them and put them into our storage bags."

"It’s probably because the Howling Moon Mountain Range is going through another wolf king succession struggle. They say it happened a few hundred years ago, too—many packs fled to the outskirts just to avoid the disaster."

"Forget it, forget it. Let’s head back to the market to rest and regroup. I’m absolutely exhausted."

"Mm, as long as everyone is safe, that’s what matters."

A few sparse sentences, filled with both frustration and the relief of having survived a brush with death.

Several cultivators walked from the plains toward the center of the market. As they passed by Luo Chen’s home, they paused for a moment.

Then, a crisp, straightforward female voice rang out.

"Fellow Daoist, things aren't very peaceful around here lately. If you have the means, you should move closer to the inner city!"

Luo Chen did not reply.

If he had the means, he would have moved long ago.

Besides, the area near the inner city isn't the inner city itself—how could that be considered safe?

Those rogue cultivators live lives of licking blood off the edge of a blade; incidents of people being waylaid in the dark are far too frequent.

He had seen bloodstains and remains on the road into the city more than once.

Although this area was dangerous, the cultivators of the market laid out anti-beast barriers on the plains every year. Low-tier spirit beasts instinctively avoided them, and the stronger second-tier beasts didn't dare approach human settlements.

Relatively speaking, his current residence was still safe enough.

Moreover, he always acted as if he were dirt poor, struggling to earn a few spirit stones a month just to get by, so not many cultivators bothered to look his way.

"Hui-niang, why are you bothering with that kid?"

"Soaking in the creek and playing with mud in broad daylight—he’s probably just a newcomer who just arrived at Dahe Market!"

"Come on, let’s go home."

Perhaps because they didn't hear a reply, the people outside muttered a few more words before leaving together.

Listening to their footsteps fade, Luo Chen couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief.

Compared to spirit beasts, he feared human cultivators even more.

However, what that Hui-niang said made sense. Times change; if there really were disturbances in the Howling Moon Mountain Range, being in the southwestern region—the closest area—was indeed very dangerous.

"My mood is adjusted well enough now, neither too tense nor too relaxed. I’ll officially start alchemy tomorrow!"

"This time, I will succeed!"

After a day and a night of rest, both his body and mind were in peak condition.

At dawn, after running through his *Evergreen Technique*, Luo Chen put on his dusty apron and walked to the kitchen window.

A mud figurine with a long beard, holding a wooden blade, stood there. It had phoenix eyes, silken-worm eyebrows, and red paint on its cheeks.

"Lord Guan, bless me with success!"

Calming his mind, he started the fire, added water, and ignited it with a Fireball Technique.

First, he simmered the auxiliary materials, then stir-fried the mineral ingredients, added broth to bring it to a boil, and added the Fleeceflower, Jade Yam, and Fire Dog Whip in sequence.

After simmering for about three hours, he added the final water-element spirit herb, dried scallops, to balance the yin and yang.

He controlled the heat throughout, alternating between high and low flames.

Two hours later, he opened the pot!

A pot of pale red paste sat in the pot. When he poked it with a newly replaced wooden spoon, it wobbled just like jelly.

It was actually quite bouncy!

However, this was still a failure.

According to the alchemy recipe, the finished paste should be deep red; only then would the *Zhongmiao Pill* have its maximum aphrodisiac effect.

Although he failed, Luo Chen wasn't overly annoyed.

Clearly, this batch was very close to success.

At least it had solidified well, achieving that bouncy texture.

For a cultivator, if someone didn't fear the medicinal toxins and ate the whole pot, it would probably still have an effect.

Of course, the side effects would definitely be severe.

So, Luo Chen didn't plan to sell it; that would be an easy way to get beaten up.

He tasted a tiny bit to determine the gap in medicinal potency, recalled the process once more, and then poured the dregs across the creek.

The night was spent in cultivation and sleep.

The next day, he paid his respects to Lord Guan on time, then began alchemy.

Failure!

The third day, he paid his respects to Lord Guan on time, then began alchemy.

Success!

Yes, success!

Luo Chen looked at the big pot of bright red jelly, feeling that his bitterness had finally turned to sweetness; his eyes couldn't help but moisten.

"I failed eight sets of materials, which is equivalent to losing forty spirit stones. If I deduct the forty bottles of *Bigu Powder* I could have made during these eight days, that’s another eight spirit stones lost."

"Wuwu, I almost lost my entire net worth."

Luo Chen hurriedly took out all the medicinal paste. Ignoring the heat, he cut the paste into blocks with a bamboo knife and rolled them into little spheres by hand.

Let them air-dry for a night, and it would be a success!

He had one set of materials left, so he could try again tomorrow.

When he woke up the next morning, Luo Chen couldn't wait to go to the kitchen workbench.

Sure enough, the ten little spheres had shrunk to the size of dragon eyes.

The moisture had evaporated, leaving only the essence behind.

Just one pill would be enough to make any man take flight!

He carefully placed the little red pills into a jade bottle and bowed to Lord Guan again.

"Lord Guan, you have a heart. Even after I transmigrated, you’re still looking out for me. Once I make it big, I’ll definitely build you a temple and cast a golden statue!"

After bowing, Luo Chen clenched his fists tightly while putting on his apron.

"As expected, I am a genius at alchemy! I was born for this!"

"I’ll be famous in the future. I’ve even thought of my nickname: The Alchemy God of the Eastern Wasteland. That sounds just as prestigious as that Alchemy Saint of the Central Plains!"

After encouraging himself, Luo Chen busied himself once more.

The smoky kitchen was filled with a hot and cheerful atmosphere.

However, when the bright sunlight spilled in, what met his eyes was that same expressionless face.

"Hehe, even the best horse stumbles. Even the Alchemy Saint blew up his furnace when he was learning first-tier alchemy."

"Next time, it will definitely succeed. It will!"

Though he said that, Luo Chen still felt the sting in his heart.

The cost of a single set of raw materials was five spirit stones!

He had lost a fortune!

"No, this only bottle of *Zhongmiao Pills* must be sold at a high price, or I won't even make back the cost!"

The sky was just beginning to brighten.

The world seemed shrouded in a white mist, and the Million Mountains looked like a gaping abyss, waiting to swallow Dahe Market whole.

A young man wearing a washed-out, low-grade dharma robe ran like a gust of wind through the muddy shantytown of the rogue cultivators.

A female cultivator who had come out early to dump her chamber pot saw this and couldn't help but laugh and scold.

"Little guy is running fast! Is there a dog chasing you?"

Fast—it was indeed quite fast.

It seemed Luo Chen really had some affinity for martial arts. He had spent only a few days bringing that manual, *Roaming Dragon Steps*, from entry-level to the proficient stage.

Not only did it provide him with an achievement point, but the speed bonus it gave him had also doubled.

Before, he could barely manage a nine-second hundred-meter dash.

Now, with a few leaps, he covered more than a hundred meters.

The journey into the city, which usually took an hour and a half, now took him only thirty or forty minutes to run!

He had arrived at the city gate today in just twenty minutes!

Luo Chen hadn't experienced the effects of the *Wind-Riding Technique*, but he felt *Roaming Dragon Steps* wasn't bad at all. And this was only at the proficient stage; there were still mastery, perfection, and grandmaster levels to go.

There was plenty of potential to tap into!

When he arrived at the southwestern rogue cultivator area, the sun hadn't even risen yet. This time, the old man Chen Xiuping wasn't earlier than him.

In the vast area for stalls, only a few people were set up.

Luo Chen looked around and didn't take out his pills to display yet; instead, he wandered over to a street stall.

"Brother Wang, you’re here early!"

Wang Yuan glanced at him without saying a word.

Luo Chen chuckled, not embarrassed in the slightest, and squatted down to flip through a few books.

"Don't touch the *Five Must-Know Spells for the Qi Refining Stage*. That costs money."

"How much?"

"Two intermediate spirit stones."

"Why don't you just rob someone!"

"I did rob someone for this!"

"Uh, never mind."

Wang Yuan, at the seventh level of Qi Refining, was one of those "blood-licking" types Luo Chen often muttered about—he was no stranger to village-gate brawls and highway robbery.

Luo Chen couldn't afford to offend him, and Wang Yuan didn't think much of him, so they only chatted occasionally when setting up stalls.

Oh, and back when Wang Yuan was down on his luck and forced to hunt in the Guyuan Mountains, Luo Chen had sold him some *Bigu Pills* on credit.

So, the two of them actually had a bit of history.

"Don't touch that one either; it records a sinister, evil art."

"Heh, your hands are really itchy, kid. Be careful, or I’ll rob you once you leave the inner city!"

"Here, you can look at this one all you want. If you want to buy it, I’ll give you a fifty percent discount—five spirit stones."

Why buy it when you can get it for free?

Even if he had money, he wouldn't waste it like that!

Luo Chen excitedly picked up the *Records of the Six Domains* and began reading with great interest.

An hour passed just like that.

Only when the market crowd began to grow did Luo Chen reluctantly put the book down.

"Brother Wang, I’m heading over now. This bag of spicy beef jerky is for you—eat it when you’re craving a snack."

Wang Yuan glared at him. "Get lost!"

Looking at the bag of beef jerky, he swallowed his saliva imperceptibly and shifted his posture.

Returning to his bluestone stall, Old Man Chen was already busy with talisman paper and talismans.

"Uncle Chen, do you know about the Cloud Crane?"