Chương 74: The Peerless Pill Venerable (Part 2)

Alchemy? The old man was actually an alchemist? Su Chen was genuinely surprised. In this world, alchemists enjoyed extremely high status and were by far the wealthiest profession, without exception. Still, to avoid revealing anything unusual, he played dumb and asked anyway.

"Alchemy… that's the most revered profession in the world. Once you become an alchemist, power, status, beauties—everything becomes within reach." Speaking of alchemy, Su Weichang's face lit up with pride. Su Chen was curious.

"Old man, since you're an alchemist, why are you still living in this remote corner?" At the question, Su Weichang's expression darkened.

"That matter… if the time comes, you'll understand naturally." And so Su Chen began learning alchemy under Su Weichang. His physique in this life was called the Seven Apertures Exquisite Body—a supreme enlightened constitution that made learning anything twice as effective with half the effort.

"Chen'er, alchemy is an extremely difficult art. Even the most ordinary first-grade alchemist cannot be achieved overnight." After Su Chen broke through to the Spirit Gathering Realm, Su Weichang led him to a certain mountain peak. From beneath the earth, he unearthed a long-hidden alchemy cauldron—pitch-black, covered in rust, and looking thoroughly dilapidated. Su Chen couldn't help asking, "Old man, can this black pot really refine pills?"

Although Su Chen was not an alchemist himself, across several lifetimes, he had seen plenty of them. The cauldron was the lifeblood of any alchemist—its single most important possession. He had never seen anyone use such a… wretched-looking furnace. Su Weichang smiled.

"As the saying goes, true experts never complain about their tools. A genuine alchemist can turn anything in heaven and earth into a cauldron." Su Chen nodded. Sure, old man. I believe you. This crafty geezer was full of nonsense, spouting serious-sounding nonsense. Su Chen strongly suspected the old man had pawned or sold his real cauldron for wine during retirement and was now improvising with whatever junk he could find. Su Weichang gave a faint smile.

Flames suddenly wreathed his body, coiling into eight fiery dragons that encircled the cauldron in every direction. With a casual toss, he threw in several medicinal herbs. The ingredients instantly liquefied, took shape inside the furnace, and in mere moments condensed into round, lustrous pills—top-quality first-grade ones. Su Chen was stunned. Judging from that technique alone, the old man was at least a fourth-grade alchemist.

"This is my signature art—the Eight Desolations Alchemy Method. I once thought it would be lost forever, carried with me into the grave. Looks like it's your good fortune now, kid." Su Weichang sighed with emotion. His lifespan was nearing its end. He had originally hoped to live out a simple, ordinary life together with Su Chen. But once Su Chen stepped onto the path of cultivation, that ordinary life was no longer possible.

No one who had tasted the pursuit of immortality would willingly abandon it and return to mundanity. If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it's taken without the author's consent. Report it. Su Chen carefully replayed the old man's pill-refining technique in his mind. Wisps of deep blue flame appeared in his palm, splitting into eight directions just like the Eight Desolations method. He placed the prepared herbs inside. One day later, Su Chen looked at the pills that had formed in the cauldron.

Su Weichang stared at them too. Su Chen sighed.

"Alchemy doesn't seem all that difficult after all." His very first attempt had succeeded. Su Weichang said nothing. He simply vanished from Su Chen's sight, disappearing who-knows-where. For the next several days, Su Chen did not see the old man at all. During that time, he focused entirely on refining pills. In just three days, he successfully produced second-grade ones. With pills to aid him, his cultivation speed soared. Another week passed.

While continuing to refine and consume pills, Su Chen reached the fourth layer of the Spirit Gathering Realm. The stock of medicinal herbs left by the old man finally ran out. Su Chen had no choice but to descend the mountain in search of more. At the foot of the mountain, he suddenly frowned. The faint scent of blood hung in the air. Su Chen was extremely sensitive to the smell of bloodshed.

"Something's happened in the village!" In this life, the villagers had often helped both him and the old man. Su Chen genuinely felt goodwill toward these simple, kind-hearted people. Sensing danger in the village, he wasted no time and hurried straight toward it. Inside the village… Just as Su Chen had expected, a band of mounted bandits had wandered into the area and discovered the village. Their leader was a brutal giant of a man with a bald head and a hideous centipede-like scar crawling across his face.

He gripped a nine-ringed broadsword nearly as tall as a man; fresh blood still dripped from its edge. The villagers trembled in terror. These bandits were all martial cultivators. The ordinary villagers stood no chance and could only await slaughter.

"Boss, we've got a pretty little thing here!" One of the horse-faced underlings yanked a delicate young girl by the hair, leering obscenely.

"Ah Fang!" The son of Old Ox the fool spotted Ah Fang being seized and charged forward without a second thought, desperate to fight the horse-faced man to the death. A single kick sent him flying into a nearby haystack, where he lay motionless.

"Pah! Playing the hero to save the beauty? Know your own weight first!" The horse-faced thug burst into mocking laughter. Ah Fang fell into despair. Captured by these demonic bandits, she knew nothing but unimaginable torment awaited her. The horse-faced man's laughter cut off abruptly. He clutched his throat as blood sprayed outward, splattering across Ah Fang's body. The blood was scalding hot. The horse-faced thug collapsed dead. The horrifying scene left Ah Fang frozen in shock.

It also put the remaining bandits on high alert. The scarred leader turned his gaze to a single leaf—stained with fresh blood.

"This leaf… killed Horse-face?" The others stared in disbelief. The giant raised his nine-ringed broadsword, shook it a few times, and called out into the empty air: "Who are you, sir? Why interfere and kill my brothers from the Horse-Head Stronghold for the sake of these villagers?" No answer came. In the next instant, a youth leaped down from above and landed lightly on the ground. When the villagers saw who it was, shock and incredulity filled their faces.

Ah Fang stared wide-eyed at the youth standing before her.

"Brother Chen?" Su Chen nodded calmly.

"It's me." With a casual gesture, he drew the broadsword from the dead horse-faced thug's grip into his own hand and turned his gaze toward the remaining bandits. That look sent an icy chill through the battle-hardened bandit leader's bones. It reminded him of years ago, back when he had still been a soldier before deserting. He had once glimpsed a great figure of immense power. The gaze of that figure… was exactly the same as this youth's. Utter indifference.

As though the two of them existed on entirely different planes of reality.

"Run… I have to run…" In that single moment, the ruthless bandit leader—who had killed countless men—was utterly broken. He spurred his horse and fled without looking back. Seeing their boss bolt, the other bandits tried to follow. But they were far too weak in front of Su Chen. Like shadows, he moved among them, cutting them down one after another. Su Chen casually mounted one of the abandoned horses and set off after the fleeing leader. When cutting weeds, one must remove the roots.