A Hundred Years in the Blink of an Eye

Time passed swiftly.

No one knew how many springs and autumns had gone by.

On this day, in the Alchemy Room.

Tang Wenhe stood before the Alchemy Furnace.

He looked to be in his early forties, with a steady face and a stern expression.

He skillfully controlled the flames, melted the liquid, spun and condensed it, solidified the pills, locked in the spirit...

The entire process.

Had already become muscle memory.

A quarter of an hour later, he reached the final stage.

"Out!"

Tang Wenhe rapidly cast more than ten Pill Collection Incantations.

The Alchemy Furnace opened.

A pale red pill slowly flew out and landed steadily in his palm.

Tang Wenhe held the pill in both hands and respectfully offered it to a vigorous White-haired Elder beside him.

"Grandfather, please give me your guidance."

This elder was Chen Sheng.

He accepted the pill, nodded lightly, and began his appraisal.

"A Good-grade Pill, with Eighty Percent Efficacy."

"The problem still lies in the timing of the Pill Condensation."

"Your technique and flame control are already sufficient, but you can never quite grasp the right time to condense the pill."

"If you solve this problem, you will not be far from becoming a High-grade Alchemist."

Tang Wenhe lowered his head. "This grandson is dull-witted."

Chen Sheng shook his head and sighed softly. "Watch me demonstrate."

"Yes!"

Tang Wenhe clasped his hands.

His burning gaze fixed upon his grandfather's movements.

Chen Sheng slowly raised a hand.

His withered fingers tapped the air several times.

Inside the Alchemy Furnace.

Eight Thousand Strands of Fire Threads immediately leaped forth.

With another tap.

Several prepared Medicinal Ingredients flew into the furnace.

Chen Sheng formed a Hand Seal with his left hand.

The Fire Threads, carrying intense heat, immediately swept over all the Medicinal Ingredients and rapidly melted them into liquid...

Only a moment passed.

Before it was time for Pill Condensation.

"Watch carefully!"

As Chen Sheng lowered his Hand Seal, the furnace lid immediately flew away.

He had opened the furnace in advance.

Only so Tang Wenhe could see more clearly.

At this moment.

The furnace mouth was wide open, and wisps of white mist slowly rose from within.

Three pills could vaguely be seen rotating inside.

The Spirit Veins upon their surfaces gradually changed from blurry to distinct.

Until the Spirit Veins completely formed.

"Now!"

"Wenhe, cast the technique and condense the pills!"

Chen Sheng shouted sharply.

Tang Wenhe suddenly jolted.

He had been completely immersed in his grandfather's dreamlike alchemy Hand Seal.

At this moment.

He snapped out of it and hurriedly used his family's Pill Condensation Technique.

"Condense!"

Tang Wenhe cried softly.

The Hand Seals in his hands shifted.

One after another, they entered the three pills.

Urged by this force, the pills completely took shape.

Chen Sheng nodded lightly, then formed several more Hand Seals—the Hand Seals for Pill Stabilization and Spirit Locking.

With a flick of his finger.

They all shot into the pills.

Finally, he tightly wrapped them in flames, using the flames as a furnace to merge the Pill Qi.

"Out!"

The flames dispersed.

Three dazzling pills spun once in the air.

Before finally landing in Tang Wenhe's palm.

The pills trembled faintly, as though they were breathing.

Chen Sheng stroked his beard and nodded lightly.

"Take another look."

Tang Wenhe did not dare be careless. He immediately used the Pill Appraisal technique and carefully examined the pills in his palm.

They were the size of longan fruits, perfectly round and flawless throughout.

The Spirit Patterns were picturesque, and the spiritual power they leaked was negligible.

Two hair-thin golden lines flowed along the patterns. They were precisely Pill Patterns.

Tang Wenhe's eyes lit up as he exclaimed repeatedly.

"Perfect Spirit Paths, Two Pill Patterns, and Self-generated Spiritual Light throughout. Grandfather, this pill can be called Top-grade."

Chen Sheng merely shook his head lightly.

"Three Spirit Patterns and 99% Efficacy are what count as Top-grade."

"This pill barely has 96% Efficacy. A tiny difference can lead to a vast disparity."

"Did you see it clearly just now?"

Tang Wenhe hurriedly nodded.

"This grandson understands."

Chen Sheng nodded lightly.

"Then withdraw and practice diligently."

"Yes."

Tang Wenhe nodded seriously, bowed, and withdrew.

Watching his retreating figure.

Chen Sheng sighed softly in his heart.

"My Descendants are disappointing indeed!"

Chen Sheng had always believed his talent to be mediocre.

Only the word "diligence" was worth mentioning.

The achievements of his eldest Disciple, Qin Yuan, in the Way of Alchemy had also proven this.

Qin Yuan had surpassed his master long ago.

Chen Sheng had painstakingly cultivated for more than eighty years before he could barely divide his flames into Eight Thousand Strands of Fire Threads.

Yet Qin Yuan had reached Ten Thousand Strands in his early thirties, attaining the pinnacle.

Chen Sheng deeply felt that his own talent was lacking.

He had wanted to cultivate Descendants and carry forward the art of alchemy.

Yet unexpectedly.

The many Descendants in his family.

Were even less gifted and perceptive than he was.

As for diligence, they were even more unsatisfactory.

Over the years.

Chen Sheng had nurtured the family's Juniors.

He had exhausted all his efforts.

He had taught them hand in hand, practically feeding them the answers.

He had worked even harder than when he had trained his eldest Disciple.

Yet there had been few accomplishments.

Now, the family had grown increasingly large.

It had become a small cultivation clan.

There were more than thirty cultivators in the clan, most of whom had been stationed in the Market Town.

Several hundred clan members without Spirit Roots lived in a town not far from the Market Town.

Among all the Juniors.

Tang Wenhe, whom they had just seen, had achieved the most.

He was now forty-two years old, a Qi Condensation Eighth Layer cultivator and a Mid-grade Alchemist.

He still had some way to go before becoming a High-grade Alchemist.

Chen Sheng sighed softly.

"Before my Father-in-law passed away, he witnessed Yuan'er's peerless Flame Control Technique. No wonder he was so happy."

At dusk, in the inner hall.

Before an altar made of Pear Blossom Wood.

Chen Sheng stood firmly.

His face was filled with nostalgia.

His gaze rested directly upon the Spirit Tablet on the altar—his beloved wife, Huang Wangyou.

A delicate Phoenix Hairpin lay beside it.

It was their token of love.

Chen Sheng reminisced over scenes from the past, recalling every little memory they had shared.

After a long while.

He took a deep breath.

Then he drew three sticks of incense from the Incense Box.

And lit them.

He placed them into the Incense Burner, where the three sticks stood side by side.

Allowing the green smoke to curl upward.

The smoke entwined in wispy coils.

As though it had formed that lively, playful face before the Spirit Tablet.

Chen Sheng sighed inwardly.

"Wangyou, you left too early."

That year.

Chen Sheng's young son, Yi Jing, went out and encountered Robber Cultivators, dying tragically.

The Second Year.

His wife, Huang Wangyou, passed away from overwhelming grief.

She was only eighty-one years old.

In the end, she was not as hard-hearted as Chen Sheng.

Her young son, Tang Yijing, had died before her very eyes.

Her Eldest Daughter, Tang Xichen, had been hunted down and had now been missing for decades.

And there was Qin Yuan, the Disciple she had raised since childhood, who had also left and never returned, with no news for decades.

One after another, they had all gone before her.

She could not bear it and followed after them.

Leaving Chen Sheng alone.

In the blink of an eye.

Ten years had already passed.

Chen Sheng was ninety-three years old this year.

He had spent years cultivating the Body Tempering Cultivation Method his daughter had given him.

He persisted in nourishing his qi and blood.

He had now reached the Body Tempering Third Realm, comparable to the Qi Condensation Late-stage.

He remained vigorous and spirited, still strong in his old age.

Chen Sheng silently thought to himself:

"Just wait a few more years, until the pill workshop produces another High-grade Alchemist."

"Then it will be time for me to leave."

Another two years passed.

Alchemy Room.

Chen Sheng looked at the High-grade Pill in his hand, the Yi Fa Pill, and finally smiled. He patted Tang Wenhe's shoulder with satisfaction.

"The pill workshop will be entrusted to you from now on."

"Your grandfather should retire too."

Time slowly passed.

Chen Sheng gradually handed the matters in his care over to Tang Wenhe.

The following year.

He also held a Pill Appraisal Convention.

He invited a host of friends and relatives.

They witnessed the workshop produce another High-grade Alchemist.

At the convention.

Chen Sheng formally announced it.

Tang Wenhe would be the next master of the pill workshop.

Taking this opportunity.

He introduced everyone to Tang Wenhe one by one.

Chen Sheng passed down the vast network of connections he had built over decades.

From then on.

Chen Sheng lived like an idle cloud and a wild crane, alone in the rear courtyard.

He looked as though he was peacefully enjoying his remaining years.

Two more years passed, and the pill workshop operated smoothly.

Chen Sheng was finally completely at ease.

By then.

He was already a hundred years old.

One bright and breezy afternoon.

Chen Sheng changed his appearance and quietly left Qianji Market.

After keeping a low profile for nearly a century.

It was Chen Sheng's first time leaving the market town.

The last time he avenged his young son, he had merely offered a hefty reward for Robber Cultivators and had not gone out himself.