Red Eyes, Eyes Turned Red (Seeking Follow-up Reading)

Cultivators' appearances and ages were often wildly disproportionate because they circulated spiritual energy and consumed pills.

Therefore, in the Cultivation World, the one thing one must never do when judging someone was judge by appearances.

Luo Chen did not know what Gu Cai Yi's spirit root attributes were.

But when he had chatted with Bai Mei Ling, he had asked about other people's ages.

He remembered that Gu Cai Yi was already thirty-seven years old.

Qi Refining Eighth Layer at thirty-seven was neither good nor bad. Her aptitude should not have been poor, but it was not especially outstanding either; otherwise, she would have been admitted into a sect long ago.

Yet after only a few days apart, she had actually broken through to the Qi Refining Ninth Layer.

That left Luo Chen thoroughly shocked.

"How did you do it? Did you eat some miraculous pill?"

"Hehe, you actually guessed right."

Gu Cai Yi pursed her lips. "For some reason, Great River Market has had a lot of new faces lately, and quite a few of them are Foundation Establishment Cultivators."

"Zhong Ding Restaurant and our Heavenly Fragrance Pavilion are the places they visit most often."

"To us Qi Refinement Cultivators, pills are precious, but in the eyes of Foundation Establishment Cultivators, they are not worth mentioning. We performed a new dance before, pleasing a Late-Stage Foundation Establishment Great Cultivator, and he casually rewarded us with a bottle of Dust Transformation Pills."

Luo Chen's eyes widened. "Dust Transformation Pills!"

"Looks like you're not completely ignorant after all!"

Of course Luo Chen was not foolish enough to know nothing about Dust Transformation Pills.

They were Top Grade Pills for the Qi Refining Stage, capable of shedding the mortal and transforming the dust.

The medicinal power of a single pill surpassed that of the Qi Nourishing Pill, a pill of the same tier, several times over! Its price was ten times higher as well!

Low-level cultivators would even use Dust Transformation Pills to attempt a breakthrough into the Foundation Establishment Stage when they could not obtain a Foundation Establishment Pill.

Though the effect was nowhere near that of a Foundation Establishment Pill, it was still better than nothing.

"We received a bottle of Dust Transformation Pills. Everyone got one, and as the lead dancer, I received two."

Gu Cai Yi smiled proudly. "I stayed in Feather Robe Pavilion these past two days and used those two pills to break through to the Qi Refining Ninth Layer."

"Is Heavenly Fragrance Pavilion still hiring?" Luo Chen's voice dripped with jealousy. He was so envious that his eyes had turned red.

"What would you go there for, to be a pimp?"

"What nonsense are you talking about? I've been talented since childhood—equally unmatched in song and dance!"

"Enough, I won't tease you anymore." Gu Cai Yi's expression turned serious. "I wanted to tell you that something may happen in Great River Market soon. So many unfamiliar cultivators have come here. Be more careful when you go in and out, and do not offend someone you should not offend."

Luo Chen nodded heavily.

Outside cultivators were the most frightening.

Their roots were not here, and they did not care much for Great River Market's rules.

Sometimes, they would kill in a fit of rage, then flee a thousand miles away. Even the Jade Cauldron Sword Sect cultivators stationed here could do nothing about them.

Late at night, when all was still, Luo Chen recalled the events of the day, his feelings complicated.

Others had broken through to the Qi Refining Ninth Layer with ease, only one step away from Foundation Establishment.

Meanwhile, he was still struggling bitterly at the Qi Refining Fourth Layer.

Such an enormous gap made it hard not to feel miserable beneath a forced smile.

Still, amid his sourness, Luo Chen was happy for Gu Cai Yi.

Ever since he had moved here, this woman had taken especially good care of him.

She greeted him whenever they came and went, giving him, an unnoticed nobody in the Cultivation World, a sliver of presence.

When she learned of his predicament with pill-refining tools, she had also used her connections to help him find an affordable and reliable alchemy furnace.

Now that Gu Cai Yi had made a breakthrough, he should naturally be happy for her.

"Still, I can't slack off either."

"These peaceful days lately seem to have worn away my edge."

"Gu Cai Yi's aptitude is definitely better than mine, yet she still works hard to earn cultivation resources. I'm only a Five Spirit Roots cultivator, with merely a few decades of lifespan left, and I only have one bottle of Qi Nourishing Pills remaining."

"What right do I have to live in carefree leisure?"

Starting tomorrow, he had to work even harder!

A brand-new Pill Room.

The Purple Cloud Copper Furnace, a Dharma Artifact made especially for pill refining.

The All Wonders Pill Alchemy Art, whose proficiency had reached the second level.

Never had there been such a wonderful beginning!

Everything was ready but the spark!

Luo Chen's expression turned solemn. With practiced ease, he cast a Fireball Spell and ignited the firewood stacked inside the fire pit.

The flames roared and surged upward. Before long, waves of heat rolled through the small Pill Room.

Standing within it, Luo Chen seemed not to notice at all as he tossed the prepared medicinal herbs into the alchemy furnace one after another.

Not only that, he formed hand seals and activated the Purple Cloud Copper Furnace.

The simple patterns carved upon it gave off a faint glow, as though they were breathing.

Though the Purple Cloud Copper Furnace was only a Tier 1 Lower-Grade Dharma Artifact, it had still crossed the threshold into the ranks of Dharma Artifacts.

Compared with the shoddy Spirit Iron Pot he had used before, it was simply far superior.

Luo Chen stared intently at the changes in the medicinal herbs within the copper furnace, and he had long since enhanced his eyes with the Spirit Eye Art.

Even with the furnace blocking his sight, he could sense the changes in the flow of spiritual energy inside.

From time to time, he also opened the lid and stirred the ingredients with a wooden stick to keep them from burning onto the bottom.

Before long, noon arrived.

It was also time to open the furnace.

The fire had been extinguished for half an hour, and the furnace's temperature had gradually fallen.

"Rise!"

Forming hand seals, he used the Attraction Art—which had reached the Proficient level—to seize the still-warm furnace lid from afar and slowly lift it.

A strange fragrance spread out, mixed with a trace of burnt smell.

With the Spirit Eye Art enhancing his eyes, Luo Chen looked down from afar and frowned slightly.

The first batch of All Wonders Pills had failed.

That had been foreseeable. Everything was new; no matter how much preparation he made, he could not guarantee a hundred percent success.

Luo Chen was not discouraged in the slightest. Taking a shovel, he scooped out the medicinal dregs inside.

After a simple cleaning, he left the Pill Room.

The moment he stepped out, even though it was noon, he still felt a refreshing coolness seep into his skin.

The temperature difference between the Pill Room and outside was simply too great.

At that moment, Luo Chen instead found himself missing Sun Shou's good points.

Putting everything else aside, without any means of cooling things down, that inverted house located at the center of the Ghost King's suppression had at least brought him threads of coolness.

"Cook, take a shower, then keep going this afternoon!"

After setting rice to steam, he went to the corner of the courtyard and, imitating Gu Cai Yi, used the Attraction Art to draw up a bucket of water from the well.

Splash!

He poured it directly over his bare upper body.

"Comfortable!"

Luo Chen could not help letting out a groan.

He had not noticed while concentrating completely inside, but after coming out, he realized the Pill Room was practically a blazing furnace.

"It should be an issue with my design and materials. Otherwise, it wouldn't be this hot."

"If only an Ailao Mountain disciple could design a Pill Room for me."

After indulging in that fantasy for a moment, Luo Chen shook his head with a laugh.

Where would he get the Spirit Stones to hire a disciple from a famous great sect to design a Pill Room for him?

The appearance fee alone would probably start at seven or eight hundred Spirit Stones, no matter what!

After a simple lunch, Luo Chen gritted his teeth and entered the Pill Room again.

The second batch, begin refining!

"Is Little Luo home?"

"I'm busy. Is something the matter, Sister Cai Yi?"

"Nothing. Go on with your work!"

"Refining pills again?"

"Can't be helped. Life forces my hand."

"Listen to how pitiful you sound. Your sister brought you a box of Azure Essence Cake. Eat it while it's hot."

"Just leave it outside for now. I really can't step away; I'm about to change the fire and add the main ingredient."

"Then I'll be going. Come out and chat after you're done."

That afternoon, Luo Chen sat blankly in front of the well, looking utterly haggard.

Gu Cai Yi came out the door and happened to see him.

She walked over with a frown. "Luo Chen, what's been wrong with you lately?"

"Nothing. Just my usual pill refining." Luo Chen snapped back to his senses, rubbed his eyes, and hurriedly stood up.

"And you say it's nothing? Look at yourself."

Mana circulated, and the remaining water on the ground gathered into a mirror of water.

Luo Chen lowered his head and saw that his eyes were red and swollen, heavy bags hung beneath them, and his lips were dry and peeling.

His disheveled long hair had long since slipped free of its binding hair ribbon and lay messily against his face.

At a glance, he looked like he had spent a month working overtime in front of a computer in his previous life.

Was it because the temperature during pill refining was too high?

Luo Chen was not sure. Over the past ten days of pill refining, he had done his best to make two batches a day.

His success rate had been passable. It had not quite reached the twenty percent rate he had expected, but it was much better than during the Entry Level stage.

The thing was, refining pills with a Dharma Artifact required him to keep watch at all times with the Spirit Eye Art.

It not only consumed spiritual energy, but also strained his eyes terribly. Especially after sustained attention, his mind was exhausted.

Not wanting to show weakness before a woman, Luo Chen casually changed the subject.

His gaze unconsciously fell upon Gu Cai Yi's arm, where a translucent white gauze robe was draped.

"Is that a newly bought Dharma Artifact?"

"You've got a good eye!" Gu Cai Yi lifted the gauze robe, her face glowing with excitement. "A Foundation Establishment Cultivator named Fei Bai Wen gave it to me. It's a High-Grade Defensive Magic Tool."

Luo Chen froze.

A High-Grade Magic Tool, and one with defensive properties?

Someone was actually willing to give away something like that?

He could not help asking, "Are Foundation Establishment Cultivators all this wealthy? This Dharma Artifact must be worth four or five thousand Spirit Stones at least, right?"

Gu Cai Yi covered her mouth and smiled. "Ordinary Foundation Establishment Cultivators really aren't wealthy. They may even be stingier than us independent cultivators. But Fei Bai Wen is different."

"Hm? How so?"

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