Chapter 127: Chapter 121: Sha Chen’s Alchemy, Even Tongtian Sect Hierarch is Astonished [Fourth Update, Please Subscribe]_1
BANG! BANG! BANG!
Sha Chen had failed at alchemy yet again, marking another failure in his long string of attempts.
Even though he had mastered the Dan Scripture, the actual practice of concocting Elixirs was still vastly different.
As he dwelled on his frustration, the Dragon Girl came over.
Seeing her, Sha Chen said, "Princess, have you finished your cultivation? Look at my hand—what does it remind you of?"
He rubbed two fingers together, challenging the Dragon Girl to pry them apart.
The Dragon Girl said, "Your grip is too tight; I can’t separate them."
Sha Chen snapped his fingers. "Precisely! My finances are too tight. If you have some spare money, Princess, could you lend me some? I can’t stop my cultivation."
The Dragon Girl was stunned. This was the first time she had heard that one could borrow cultivation resources.
Blushing slightly, she said, "I’ve used up all mine too. I wouldn’t have awakened this time if it weren’t absolutely necessary."
Sha Chen grew distressed; this was certainly a problem.
Suddenly, he became alert and said, "If you’ve used up your resources, how will you pay your rent in the future?"
The Dragon Girl asked, "Can I run a tab?"
Sha Chen replied, "No, this is a small operation."
The Dragon Girl, finding it difficult, said, "In that case, since the uproar about me running away from my wedding has probably died down, I’ll go out and try to raise some money."
Sha Chen thought it over and felt this wasn’t a bad idea.
He then said, "There’s no rush. Wait until I concoct some Elixirs for you to take out and sell. When you do, bring back some cultivation resources for me."
The Dragon Girl was startled and said incredulously, "You know how to make Elixirs?"
Sha Chen said proudly, "I’ve been practicing alchemy all this time. Can’t you tell?"
He pointed at the debris on the ground—blackened charcoal dust and various defective products.
The few Elixirs he had managed to produce were the size of human heads and looked quite frightening. Eating them wouldn’t guarantee bringing the dead back to life or fleshing out bones, but they could certainly choke a living person to death—the kind of choking from which resuscitation was impossible.
The Dragon Girl looked at them with a disgusted expression.
"With skills like these, you still practice alchemy? Just forget it. Indeed, no one is perfect."
Sha Chen retorted, "What do you know? I just lack a proper Alchemy Furnace. My Samadhi True Fire is too powerful, and I can’t control the heat or shape the Elixirs properly. That’s why I’ve failed."
The Dragon Girl said, "An Alchemy Furnace, is it? I have one."
She then opened her Qiankun Bag, rummaged through it, and pulled out a crystal-clear Alchemy Furnace entwined with nine dragons. The Alchemy Furnace was only palm-sized, exquisitely clear, with nine dragons coiling upon it, making it appear exceptionally delicate and translucent.
She tossed the Alchemy Furnace out. It enlarged rapidly in the wind, soon becoming seven to eight feet square, the nine dragons coalescing to appear even more majestic.
Sha Chen was dumbfounded. He felt as though the nine coalesced dragons on the Alchemy Furnace had come alive, coiling and moving.
The Dragon Girl said, "This Alchemy Furnace was gifted to me by Immortal Huolong, one of Lord Lao Zi of the Great Monad’s Disciples, on my thousandth birthday."
Then she added, "No one in the Dragon Clan knows alchemy, so I’ve always used it as a bathtub. Now that I’ve grown, I rarely use it. If you need it, you can borrow it."
Sha Chen’s eyes lit up. "Princess, let’s make a bet. If you lose, don’t just lend the Alchemy Furnace to me—give it to me."
The Dragon Girl was wary. "And what if you lose?"
Sha Chen considered for a moment. "I’ll cook for you for free from now on."
The Dragon Girl shook her head, clearly unsatisfied.
Sha Chen continued, "Then I’ll waive your rent for three years—no, ten years. Isn’t that generous enough?"
The Dragon Girl said, "Immortal Huolong once said this Alchemy Furnace, named Panlong, can not only be used to concoct Elixirs but also as a Magical Tool to suppress or for refining people. Although it’s not an Innate Spirit Treasure, it is still a Supreme Post-Heaven Treasure."
Sha Chen was secretly shocked. He hadn’t expected this woman to haggle. He had underestimated her, having previously thought her to be just a beauty without brains.
Sha Chen conceded again. "If I lose, I’ll waive your debt of fifty—no, thirty First-class Immortal Elixirs."
The Dragon Girl countered, "If you lose, waive one hundred for me."
Sha Chen exclaimed in shock, "Isn’t that too steep a bargain?"
The Dragon Girl asked, "Don’t you have confidence, General?"
Sha Chen really liked the Alchemy Furnace. Borrowing it always made him feel like something was missing. If he could win it through a bet, he would feel it was rightfully his. After much hesitation, he nodded in agreement.
Sha Chen said, "Fine. Since you don’t believe I can perform alchemy, I’ll bet you that I can."
The Dragon Girl said, "But I do believe you can."
Sha Chen was dumbfounded. That’s not right! Does she have the wrong script?!
The Dragon Girl’s eyes twinkled with cunning. "Let’s do this: I’ll bet that you can’t produce a Post-Heaven Supreme Elixir of Life. If you can make one, the Panlong Alchemy Furnace is yours."
Immortal Pills are graded. They are divided into Post-Heaven and Innate, with Post-Heaven being of a lower quality. Post-Heaven grades include Post-Heaven Spirit Product Elixirs and the superior Post-Heaven Supreme Elixir of Life. Innate grades also include Innate Spirit Product Elixirs, with the best being the Innate Supreme Elixir, and an even higher tier known as Magical Medicine.
Among these, Post-Heaven Spirit Product Elixirs are fairly common. A Post-Heaven Supreme Elixir of Life, however, is potent enough for Golden Immortals and Greater Primordial Golden Immortals to use and is considered quite rare. Innate Spirit Product Elixirs are valuable and essential even for Daluo Golden Immortals.
It is said that the Immortal Pills Sun Wukong stole from Tushita Palace in Paul et Virginie were, at the very least, Post-Heaven Supreme Elixirs of Life. Only Sun Wukong’s physical body could withstand such power; any ordinary person would have exploded and died on the spot.
Concocting a Post-Heaven Supreme Elixir of Life, usable by Golden Immortals and Greater Primordial Golden Immortals, is actually quite difficult. It requires the alchemist’s Primordial Spirit to have reached at least the Greater Primordial Golden Immortal realm. Sha Chen’s Primordial Spirit had already achieved the Great Perfection of the Greater Primordial Golden Immortal realm. Next, it demands precise control over the heat and mastery of advanced alchemy techniques. These were areas where Sha Chen would typically struggle.
However, Sha Chen possessed the Dan Scripture, which provided commentary on various alchemy methods, including simplified or optimized procedures for concocting Elixirs of all major grades. In essence, it gave him the greatest possibility to cheat.
Sha Chen hesitated for a moment but felt he could do it. Then he nodded in agreement.
The Dragon Girl was stunned for a moment. She truly had not anticipated Sha Chen would agree to such an unreasonable condition. Even an outsider could tell from the wasted Elixirs Sha Chen had produced that his skill was no different from an apprentice’s. And yet he aspired to concoct Post-Heaven Supreme Elixirs of Life—wasn’t that a joke?
Actually, Sha Chen wasn’t lying. His high failure rate was indeed due to the lack of an Alchemy Furnace, which made it difficult to control the fire. If he had an Alchemy Furnace, he could control the fire’s intensity, which would make it much easier to produce Elixirs of the appropriate grade. The success rate would greatly increase.
Sha Chen said, "The Elixir I plan to concoct next is a Post-Heaven Supreme grade Healing Pill, the ’Taiyi Rejuvenation Pill’. This pill’s grade is just right, and it can be completed in twelve days."
The Dragon Girl crossed her arms, clearly disbelieving. Having seen Sha Chen’s high rate of producing duds, she estimated he probably couldn’t even make a Post-Heaven Spirit Product Elixir, let alone a Post-Heaven Supreme Elixir of Life.
It’s true the Taiyi Rejuvenation Pill is of Post-Heaven Supreme grade and is relatively easier to concoct with a higher success rate compared to other Elixirs of the same grade. But still, a Post-Heaven Supreme Elixir of Life is, in the end, of Supreme grade. Failure to concoct it is simply failure.
She didn’t believe Sha Chen could do it.
Sha Chen believed he could.
Then he tried, step by step, following the method described in the Dan Scripture. He started the Alchemy Furnace, lit the fire, threw in Immortal Elixirs, controlled the fire, then added more Immortal Elixirs, continued controlling the fire, and repeated this process, adding various kinds of Immortal Elixirs multiple times.
After nine days, he stopped adding Immortal Elixirs.
On the twelfth day, he ceased the fire and opened the Alchemy Furnace.
When the lid of the Panlong Alchemy Furnace was lifted, beams of golden light burst forth, and a captivating fragrance wafted out.
The Dragon Girl came closer to look and was instantly dumbfounded. Indeed, there were perfectly round, spinning Immortal Pills—actual Taiyi Rejuvenation Pills.
She was baffled, genuinely astounded.
It wasn’t just her.
Actually, at this moment, the Tongtian Hierarch, leader of the Sect of Interpretation at Zi Zhi Cliff, was also baffled.
He had known the moment the Dragon Girl entered the Flowing Sand River and was aware of everything happening inside, including Sha Chen’s persuasive talk and analysis of the situation. He had even found Sha Chen exceedingly wise and knowledgeable, possessing such a forward-thinking perspective that he grew increasingly inclined to recruit him.
Until Sha Chen failed countless times in alchemy, the Hierarch had jovially drunk several cups of spirit wine. His Disciples didn’t know why their Sect Hierarch was so happy, but they were merry along with him.
And then, when Sha Chen claimed he could make an Elixir with an Alchemy Furnace—even a Post-Heaven Supreme Elixir of Life—the Hierarch had been dismissive. Although he himself wasn’t skilled in alchemy, it was all relative. He might not compare with figures like Lord Lao Zi of the Great Monad, but making Innate Spirit Product Elixirs was not an issue for him. He could even occasionally produce an Innate Supreme Elixir. So he knew how difficult it was to concoct a Post-Heaven Supreme Elixir of Life. Among Lord Lao Zi’s followers, fewer than ten people could achieve it.
And Sha Chen—with such a high failure rate! The Tongtian Hierarch had witnessed his countless failures with his own eyes. Yet he dared claim he could produce a Post-Heaven Supreme Elixir of Life? Does he think I, the Tongtian Hierarch, am blind?!
Then, after twelve days, Sha Chen succeeded.
The Tongtian Hierarch was also baffled. He was a Saint; Sha Chen couldn’t deceive him. It was a genuine success, not something Sha Chen could have faked by sneaking the Elixirs in, as the Dragon Girl currently suspected.
Murmuring to himself, the Sect Hierarch said, "Truly a heaven-bestowed genius. I mustn’t let Li Er discover his existence, or he will surely snatch him away.
"Nor can I let Yuan Shi find out. If he can’t acquire Sha Chen, he would destroy him."
Excitement shone in the Sect Hierarch’s eyes. "You are becoming more and more intriguing. That alchemy technique seems to be from the Shennong Danjing. What exactly is your relationship with Shen Nong?"
With a smile playing on his lips, he continued, "You wish to keep a low profile; well, I refuse to let you have your way.
"Watch, soon enough, someone will come looking for you. There is no one I wish to acquire whom I cannot obtain."
「 」
Sha Chen, inside his cave dwelling and feeling the heat from working next to the Alchemy Furnace, suddenly shivered.
The Dragon Girl said, "Still claim you didn’t cheat? You’re shivering; you must feel guilty."
Sha Chen replied, "I swear I haven’t cheated. If I have, may my good brother Ao Lie meet an untimely fate."
The Dragon Girl furrowed her brows. Although she harbored suspicions, she hadn’t actually witnessed Sha Chen cheating. She had observed the entire alchemy process; Sha Chen had no opportunity to cheat. It was simply that his actions were too inconceivable for her to fathom and accept.
Sha Chen, however, was not bothered. "Don’t even think about going back on your word now. The Alchemy Furnace is mine."
The Dragon Girl pouted. "Fine, keep it. I used to bathe in it anyway, and lately, I’ve just used it to wash my feet. You’re the one using it to make Elixirs you’ll consume; it’s not me who should be disgusted."
Sha Chen laughed. "I can’t afford to eat these things. They’re meant for the wealthy."
The Dragon Girl was puzzled. "What do you mean?"
Sha Chen’s eyes gleamed. "Princess, there’s a big business opportunity. How about we make a fortune together?"
The Dragon Girl grew wary. "You’re not planning to sell me off and make me help you count the money, are you?"
Sha Chen’s cheek twitched. Is a woman’s intuition really that sharp?
Then he shook his head. "You do nothing but eat and sleep. Whoever ’buys’ you would be making a loss. Do you think anyone would be foolish enough to take on such a liability?"
Seeing the Dragon Girl about to get angry, he quickly continued, "I’m talking about me concocting Immortal Pills, and then you take them out to sell. After they’re sold, you get one..."
The Dragon Girl interrupted, dissatisfied, "I do all the hard work, and you only give me ten percent?"
Sha Chen retorted, "Ten percent? In your dreams! I’m giving you one point out of a hundred."
That meant one percent.