Chapter 253: Chapter 206 Analyzing the New World——
Cultivation.
Cultivation Techniques.
Spells.
In this life, all three have seen significant breakthroughs.
Compared to these, Chen Jichuan’s advancements in Alchemy are somewhat lacking.
Although he has fully mastered the refinement of various First-order Spirit Pills,
he has even enhanced the pill recipes.
The First-order Pills he crafts have seen improvements in success rate, quality, and material cost, however slight.
It is precisely these minor enhancements
that have earned the pills refined by Chen Jichuan an excellent reputation and strong market competitiveness.
Chen Jichuan’s Pill and Artifact Workshop has thrived, earning him a considerable amount of Spirit Stones, owing in great part to the enhancement of pill recipes through ’Creation·Derivation.’
However, due to the lack of Second-order Spiritual Medicines in the Qinling World and the Great Hui World, Chen Jichuan has rarely had the opportunity to refine Second-order Spirit Pills, let alone advance to become a Second-order Alchemist.
For now, he remains at the First-order level.
When compared to his cultivation within the Dao Fruit Worlds, this advancement seems quite inadequate.
Fortunately, his foundation is solid, and his theoretical knowledge has reached a certain depth. When he enters a new Dao Fruit World with ample materials to practice on, becoming a Second-order Alchemist should not be too difficult.
As for Artifact Refining,
it remains at the First-order as well due to similar limitations, keeping pace with his level of Alchemy.
Over five centuries of cultivation.
For five hundred long years, Chen Jichuan has been crafting Magical Treasures.
In the Qinling World, as the master of the Taixu Sword Sect and the Sword Tower, he had no shortage of refining materials.
In the Great Hui World, as the City God and the Hui Grand Ancestor, he similarly lacked no resources for refining.
With an abundance of materials at hand,
Chen Jichuan spared no expense, using everything to temper his refining skills. The number of completed, flawed, and failed treasures he crafted numbered in the thousands.
Such extravagance, combined with his willingness to deeply reflect and study, led to his Artifact Refining skills improving significantly as the number of treasures he refined grew.
"Cultivation."
"Spells."
"Alchemy."
"Artifact Refining."
Chen Jichuan reviewed himself overall and was thoroughly satisfied.
This was an all-encompassing improvement—
As the foundation, cultivation wasn’t lacking.
As a means of self-protection, neither were spells neglected.
As a means of livelihood, Alchemy and Artifact Refining were at high enough standards. In the real world, through these two crafts and operating his Chen’s Pill and Artifact Workshop, he had carved out a modest reputation and fortune.
If there were any regrets—
"Failing to form a Dao Fruit in the Great Hui World would be one."
"The lack of experts in the Qinling World would be another."
In the Great Hui World, to break through, Chen Jichuan transformed into the ’Nine Mountains King’ and engaged in a life-and-death battle against righteous path champions. In the brink of death, he glimpsed the key insights into the Life Dao’s Second-order Soul Refining Realm, but ultimately perished, turning to ashes.
Without being able to condense a Dao Fruit, it was naturally impossible to form affiliated Dao Fruits either.
In the Qinling World, despite reaching the summit and condensing a Dao Fruit capable of giving rise to eight affiliated Dao Fruits,
the world itself was critically lacking in experts.
Over the years, whether fighting against them or escorting them to their end, those who reached the Qi Refining Realm or Core Formation Tenth Layer numbered barely ten people.
And all of them were gathered in the last forty years.
From those ten, selecting eight to condense into affiliated Dao Fruits left almost no room for choice.
Moreover,
while Chen Jichuan’s cultivation had reached the Second-order, the highest among these individuals had only achieved the Tenth Layer of Qi Refining or Core Formation, rendering them of little use to him. At most, they could consolidate his foundation somewhat or offer minor insights into Swordsmanship.
"Not much use."
"Especially for martial artists pursuing the Life Dao path."
Shaking his head, Chen Jichuan no longer felt the excitement of his earlier attempts.
He casually selected eight martial artists who had either followed the Qi Refining path to the Tenth Layer or achieved notable accomplishments in Swordsmanship to form affiliated Dao Fruits.
Deep down, he was far from satisfied.
He couldn’t even bother to look at their names a second time.
...
[Would you like to consume 8 million Source Power to condense eight affiliated Dao Fruits?]
[Yes.]
After confirming his choice,
Chen Jichuan saw eight flower buds bloom on both sides of the freshly condensed fourth Dao Fruit. Eight million silver threads poured into the buds, causing them to rapidly grow into eight lotus blossoms.
Within each blossom was an image of the eight top practitioners from the Qinling World. As the flowers bloomed and the petals fell, they condensed into eight smaller lotus pods, each carrying seeds.
"8 million Source Power."
For the first time, Chen Jichuan felt a pang of pain for the Source Power spent on condensing affiliated Dao Fruits.
Though in monetary terms, it only equaled 80,000 low-grade Spirit Stones, the cultivation level of these eight affiliated Dao Fruits was too low, and they had no Alchemy or Artifact Refining abilities, rendering them of limited value to Chen Jichuan.
But still, it was just 80,000 Spirit Stones.
Chen Jichuan had spent more to bribe Luo Ming and others in the past, so spending this amount wasn’t extraordinary.
While they held little direct value for him, for Chen Shaohu’s cultivation journey in the future, the existence of his Dao Fruit coupled with these affiliated Dao Fruits would reduce many detours.
In comparison, 80,000 Spirit Stones were insignificant.
After a momentary pang of regret,
he quickly put it out of his mind.
Chen Jichuan turned his attention again to the sea of consciousness—
"A new world."
Chen Jichuan’s gaze fell on the Green Lotus Jade Pendant within his sea of consciousness. Four root stems grew from it, with one bearing the ’Great Yann Dao Fruit’ and the ’Da Liang Dao Fruit.’
On either side of the Da Liang Dao Fruit were two smaller affiliated Dao Fruits, representing ’Qizhenzi’ and ’Ann Jishi.’
Another root stem bore the ’Jade Spring Dao Fruit,’ flanked by four smaller affiliated Dao Fruits, representing ’Qing Songzi,’ ’Gan Shisi,’ ’Wuk Yuanzi,’ and ’Situ Kong.’
The third root stem carried a newly condensed ’Qinling Dao Fruit,’ along with eight affiliated Dao Fruits. There was also a withered flower, symbolizing the unsuccessfully conquered ’Great Hui World.’
Having already succeeded in a world of a similar level like the Qinling World, Chen Jichuan had no need to restart in the Great Hui World.
He focused his gaze forward.
At that moment,
beside the three root stems, a fourth had unknowingly sprouted. At its top, eight unopened flower buds awaited. As he looked at them, information poured into his mind—
...
"As expected."
"Ten million!"
Chen Jichuan silently mused.
In recent years, as he opened one Dao Fruit World after another, the required Source Power had increased—from one thousand for the Great Yann World, to ten thousand for the Da Liang World, to a hundred thousand for the Jade Spring World, and then to a million for both the Qinling and Great Hui Worlds.
Now, it had finally reached the tens of millions.
"At this rate, even if I have enough Source Power to open Dao Fruit Worlds in the future, I won’t be willing to spend it on condensing affiliated Dao Fruits."
Chen Jichuan shook his head.
The demands of rigorous cultivation in the real world, alongside the need for vast quantities of Source Power and countless Spirit Stones to exchange for resources, already made finances tight.
It was a small relief that during his time as the City God in the Great Hui World, his Immortal Salary had doubled. Over the years, he had accumulated a good amount of Source Power.
Furthermore, since his ascension to Supreme cultivation and subsequent marriage to Wang Yan, he had mostly refrained from using any Source Power, thereby slowing its depletion.
However, even with these measures,
after spending 8 million Source Power to condense eight affiliated Dao Fruits, his remaining balance had dropped to just 7 million, leaving a shortfall of 3 million.
"Three million Source Power."
"Thirty thousand Spirit Stones."
Chen Jichuan retrieved a storage bag from his waist and gave it a shake, pouring out piles upon piles of Spirit Stones that formed thirty neat heaps, each radiating potent Spiritual Energy.
With a wave of his hand, he absorbed all the Spiritual Energy contained within, converting it into 3 million Source Power.
The total of 10 million Source Power was instantly replenished.
Given Chen Jichuan’s proficiency in Alchemy and Artifact Refining, he had more than enough wealth for such expenses. Until now, he had been reluctant to convert Spirit Stones into Source Power because once the conversion was made, the Source Power couldn’t be reverted back into Spirit Stones.
Since purchasing refining materials and cultivation resources all required Spirit Stones, unless Source Power was immediately needed, he always preferred to keep his wealth in Spirit Stones as a reserve.
To an outsider, 30,000 Spirit Stones might seem like a fortune; indeed, it wasn’t a trivial amount.
But within the Panlong Mountain region and the broader Immortal Cultivation World, it was merely the marker of modest wealth. For cultivators at the Qi Refining or Enlightenment Realms, measuring their worth in Spirit Stones would be almost an insult.
For high-level cultivators, whether for cultivation or transactions, focus shifted increasingly toward the more refined and Spiritual Energy-dense ’Spirit Crystals.’
"Spirit Crystals."
Chen Jichuan retrieved a beautifully transparent twelve-sided crystal from his robes—
[Name: Spirit Stone]
[Grade: Low Grade]
[Description: Classified into four tiers by the Upper Heaven Palace, with Standard Spirit Stones at the fourth tier, being the lowest quality. Impure and difficult to refine. Low Grade Spirit Stones contain more pure Spiritual Energy, easier to refine. Note: Once fully refined, Spirit Stone remnants are good materials for crafting Magic Artifacts and Treasures. Second Note: Spirit Stones are toxic; mortal contact is fatal.]
Referred to as ’Spirit Crystals’ in the Panlong Mountain’s Immortal Cultivation World, these Low Grade Spirit Stones classified by the Upper Heaven Palace were of substantial value.
In terms of Source Power,
one standardized thumb-sized Spirit Crystal contained 10,000 Source Power, equivalent to 100 Standard Spirit Stones.
However, within the Immortal Cultivation World,
Spirit Crystals were more efficient for refining, held purer Spiritual Energy, and served as superior materials for crafting artifacts.
As a result, one typically needed 200 Standard Spirit Stones to exchange for a single Spirit Crystal, setting the conversion rate at 20:1.
For fueling Source Power directly,
even impure Spirit Stones would suffice.
...
Now flush with Source Power,
Chen Jichuan wasted no time and immediately set about opening the next Dao Fruit World, eager to see whether there would be any new developments in a Second-order Dao Fruit World.
And so—
[Would you like to consume 10 million Source Power to open a new world?]
Having done this several times before, Chen Jichuan was familiar with the process and promptly responded, "Yes!"
The next moment.
As the flower bloomed, its essence called to him.
His consciousness surged.
He entered a new world...
...
[Ding!]
[New world reached. Scanning in progress—]
[Scan complete.]
[Warning! Warning! Warning!]
[The current world level is too high. Host cannot be deployed yet. Parsing in progress—]
[Current parse progress: 1/100]
Mind spiraling into the lotus.
The heavens and earth spun.
When he opened his eyes again—
...
"This—"
Chen Jichuan stared at the lotus flower that had just bloomed within his sea of consciousness, only to find it shrouded entirely in mist. His thoughts couldn’t penetrate it, let alone access the new Dao Fruit World.
"A whole 10 million Source Power wasted?!"
Chen Jichuan frowned.
He had entered five Dao Fruit Worlds before, but this was the first time he encountered a situation where entry was impossible.
"The world level is too high?"
"Could it be that a Second-order world is harder to bypass compared to the previous worlds?"
"Or does this newly opened Dao Fruit World contain extraordinary figures capable of influencing the ’Dao Fruit’?"
A torrent of questions and considerable worry flooded Chen Jichuan’s mind.
There was no overstating how crucial the Dao Fruit Worlds were to him.
To lose access to them entirely would be a great blow.
However,
upon seeing the parsing progress bar, Chen Jichuan felt somewhat reassured. It was likely that this new world was so unique that the ’Dao Fruit’ required a certain period of ’buffering.’
"In the past, the more expansive the game, the harder it was for it to load."
"The Dao Fruit Worlds are probably the same."
Chen Jichuan’s thoughts meandered aimlessly.
For the moment,
he had no mood to explore the workshop or wander about. He remained secluded in his cave dwelling for three straight days.
Only after those three days did the weight on his chest lighten—
[Current parse progress: 3/100]
...
"Parse progress seems tied to the time flow in the Dao Fruit World. Three days in this world equals a little over three years in the Dao Fruit World, increasing the parse progress by 3%."
"This means that in a hundred years of Dao Fruit World time, the parsing for the new world will be complete."
"In this reality, that’s merely 91.25 days, just a little over three months."
Perfectly acceptable.
"A false alarm."
The taut string in Chen Jichuan’s heart relaxed.
Moreover, the three months felt fortuitously timed.
For years now,
he had been living with constant tension, splitting half his time between struggling and cultivating in the Dao Fruit Worlds, and the remaining half solely focused on training—barely enough time for anything else, let alone making Spirit Stones from Alchemy and Artifact Refining.
The constant strain,
and the overlap between the passage of time in the two realms, had left Chen Jichuan somewhat fatigued and disoriented.
These three months offered an ideal opportunity to cultivate fully and relax, recalibrating himself.
With that thought,
Chen Jichuan deliberately slowed down and decided not to rush into training. Instead, he left the cave dwelling he had stayed in for more than forty days and made his way straight to ’Chen’s Pill and Artifact Workshop’!
...