Chapter 238 – Creation's Might Revealed, Re-entering Instance, Dao Fragments

As Lu Chen mastered the Creation Pill Art, numerous insights immediately flooded his mind.

It was a profoundly mysterious experience, as if he had truly practiced the Creation Pill Art for a long time, evoking an inexplicable sense of déjà vu.

“Hah…”

After fully digesting the insights related to the Creation Pill Art, Lu Chen slowly opened his eyes.

It had to be said that the effects of the Creation Pill Art were even more powerful than Lu Chen had imagined.

Conventional Alchemy techniques involve selecting Materials, refining their essence, and fusing them into pills.

The difference between the Creation Pill Art and ordinary Alchemy lies in its ability to extract not only the medicinal potency of the Materials but also the Dao essence contained within them.

Of course, not every Material possesses Dao essence.

This depends greatly on the type, grade, growth environment, and age of the Material.

Generally speaking, only Materials over three thousand years old have a certain probability of containing Dao essence.

The longer the age and the higher the grade, the greater the likelihood of the Material containing Dao essence.

For the Creation Pill Art, the Materials themselves are not limited to “heavenly treasures.”

Spirit Beasts, Demons, and even Cultivators themselves can be considered as types of Materials.

In fact, the latter are even more likely to yield ‘Dao essence’ compared to ordinary Materials.

The cultivation guidelines of the Creation Pill Art include methods on how to “refine Cultivators.”

However, upon understanding this, Lu Chen’s first reaction was not to refine Cultivators.

Although Lu Chen had never claimed to be a good person, he was not an extreme egoist either.

Thus, he hardly entertained the idea of refining so-called “human pills.”

Even though he knew that doing so might grant him special talents otherwise unattainable, being human still requires some bottom line.

Only in this way could he prevent his Dao Heart from being tarnished.

Although Lu Chen had no intention of refining Cultivators, the moment he mastered the Creation Pill Art, he thought of an excellent alternative for Materials.

None other than the Gu Insects unique to the Great Ying Dynasty.

These Gu Insects inherently contain pure Dao essence, yet their individual strength is quite mediocre.

They are practically tailor-made Materials for the Creation Pill Art.

In addition, Lu Chen thought of another place where he could obtain Dao essence.

That was his game Instances.

The monsters in the game Instances can be respawned repeatedly.

Although the rewards from each Instance can only be taken out after Lu Chen clears it, during the process, he can infinitely hone his skills.

He had previously used this method in the Pot-Lifting Brute Instance to directly cultivate the Mountain Shaker Fist to the Dao Entry realm.

Therefore, for Lu Chen, aside from rewards, another important function of Instances is the ability to continuously experiment without consequences.

In the Instances, Lu Chen can utilize the respawn mechanism to repeatedly refine his Alchemy skills.

After all, while the Instance can reset Lu Chen’s state, it does not erase his memories.

Knowledge and memories are the most valuable assets for a Cultivator.

And at this moment, Lu Chen had a suitable Instance that had already cooled down—the “Pot-Lifting Brute” Instance.”The time flow within the True Immortal Trial differs from the outside world, and the time flow in instances further varies depending on the environment. Only the instance reset time follows the three-month rule of reality.”

“Factoring in the ten-to-one time ratio between the real world and the game world, the time differential between my current instance and reality might reach an astonishing hundredfold—essentially becoming a makeshift time chamber.”

Lu Chen chuckled softly, then looked down at his palm.

Floating above his hand were three Shards of Heavenly Dao:

The Shard of Heavenly Dao (Return), the Shard of Heavenly Dao (Insight), and the Shard of Heavenly Dao (Demon Slayer).

The Creation Pill Art’s function was to extract the Dao essence from medicinal materials.

In a sense, these Heavenly Dao shards were pre-refined ‘Dao resonance’—

and of exceptionally high quality at that.

Lu Chen’s reason for practicing the Creation Pill Art within the instance

was to avoid wasting these precious Heavenly Dao shards.

After all, he currently possessed only these three shards. Losing even one would pain him for a long time.

If he could refine these Heavenly Dao shards into special ‘Spirit Pills,’

their utility would undoubtedly be enhanced significantly.

Moreover, this process might even allow him to master the power contained within these shards.

[Shard of Heavenly Dao (Return): Can reverse heaven and sun, overturn Karma.]

[Shard of Heavenly Dao (Insight): Can perceive with clarity, see through falsehoods.]

[Shard of Heavenly Dao (Demon Slayer): Can slay demons and monsters, purge evil spirits.]

These three shards represented three fundamental aspects of the Heavenly Dao.

Although Lu Chen had only used the Shard of Heavenly Dao (Return) so far,

he could infer the value of the other two shards based on his experience with ‘Return.’

“If everything proceeds as I envision, the value of these Heavenly Dao shards to me… would be immeasurable.”

With these words, Lu Chen directly chose to enter the instance.

Simultaneously, within the Bamboo Heart Abode somewhere on Penglai Island,

Gu Yue True Immortal suddenly looked toward Lu Chen’s direction with astonishment.

For at this moment, he could no longer sense Lu Chen’s presence.

This was highly telling.

It meant Lu Chen either possessed a Celestial Artifact comparable to the Gathering Immortal Bell,

or had some unique talent allowing him to conceal his aura completely from Immortals’ perception,

or could traverse special grotto-heavens without causing spatial disturbances.

Gu Yue True Immortal couldn’t determine which possibility it was, nor could he deduce the answer.

After all, Lu Chen’s nature as a variable stemmed from his untraceable existence—

as if he had suddenly appeared in this world without historical precedent.

Gazing toward Lu Chen’s direction, Gu Yue True Immortal suddenly sighed:

“Without attaining true freedom, how can one speak of Immortal Ascension?”

“So-called Immortals merely exchange one cage for a larger one.”

“The Great Luo Realm cannot be the ultimate end—realms beyond must exist.”

“Without breaking the shackles of this heaven and earth, none can achieve true transcendence.”

“But our strength alone is insufficient—we need to introduce external forces.”

“After all, how can one win half a move against heaven without joining the game oneself?”

“And even if we fail in our endeavors… won’t successors inevitably follow?”With that said, Gu Yue True Immortal’s Bamboo Heart Abode slowly faded away, its destination unknown, leaving only an ancient bamboo full of vicissitudes standing in its place.

Carved prominently upon this bamboo was a poem.

The characters were neatly written, each stroke exuding a sense of resolute determination and the weight of passing years, clearly etched upon the bamboo long ago.

The poem was titled… “Seeking Immortality.”

‘My heart yearns to trace the immortal’s trail,

To ride auspicious clouds through heavens nine.

Alchemy fumes veil jade dew, ethereal,

Golden visages hide in palaces divine.

Through the Mortal World I tread unburdened,

Grasping truth’s mystery, profound and clear.

Why seek elixirs for life unending?

Finding carefree joy makes the immortal here…’

Instance: Atlas Laborer.

“Moo!”

Lu Chen watched the Black Iron Cauldron Man swaying nearby, emitting dull metallic roars, and couldn’t help but laugh.

The mine remained the same mine, the Cauldron Men remained the same Cauldron Men.

But the one who had once barged into these caves was now completely transformed.

Before the Black Iron Cauldron Man could approach him, Lu Chen extended his hand.

In the next moment, a Mystic Cauldron materialized around the Black Iron Cauldron Man.

Trapped within the Mystic Cauldron, the fearless Black Iron Cauldron Man showed no intention of stopping, continuing its charge toward Lu Chen.

But when it collided with the edge of the Mystic Cauldron, it immediately met an impenetrable barrier.

Thud!

The Black Iron Cauldron Man stumbled and fell, its rotund body preventing it from rising quickly. Like an overturned turtle, it flailed helplessly within Lu Chen’s conjured Mystic Cauldron, struggling in disarray.

Observing it calmly, Lu Chen spoke a single word: “Refine.”

Instantly, the previously empty Mystic Cauldron filled with vast quantities of purple flames.

“Moo!”

The Black Iron Cauldron Man, now burning in the purple fire, let out agonized cries.

Lu Chen remained unmoved, continuing the refinement process.

As the creature’s screams faded, its body was quickly refined into a black iron lump.

But the lump didn’t last long—with a loud ‘bang,’ it exploded into dust.

Watching the iron powder dissipate, Lu Chen sighed regretfully: “Still not proficient enough to truly extract the Dao essence within it.”

Indeed, what Lu Chen had just attempted was using the Creation Pill Art to extract the Dao essence contained within the Black Iron Cauldron Man.

Normally, the method for employing the Creation Pill Art involved placing ‘ingredients’ into a physical Alchemy Furnace for refinement.

But Lu Chen had accomplished this using a Mystic Pill Furnace instead.

He had two reasons for doing so.

First, the Mystic Pill Furnace was connected to his will, allowing Lu Chen to control the furnace’s interior with one or two levels greater precision.

Second, the Mystic Pill Furnace originated from the special Divine Power: Body-Forging (Furnace Form) that Lu Chen had studied earlier.

As all know, the potency of a Divine Ability largely depends on the Cultivator’s own cultivation base.

Similarly, possessing a First-Grade Great Dao Immortal Foundation and an astonishing twenty million units of cultivation power,

the Mystic Pill Furnace conjured by Lu Chen far surpassed the actual Alchemy Furnace he possessed.

Not to mention that Body-Forging Art (Furnace Form) inherently possessed the effects of refining enemies and absorbing their essential energy.

Using the Mystic Pill Furnace to execute the Creation Pill Art was undoubtedly a perfect match.

Moreover, the Mystic Pill Furnace had one advantage that ordinary Alchemy Furnaces couldn’t rival:

It possessed limitless potential for growth.

For now, Lu Chen was only using Purple Dawn Divine Fire to conduct the alchemy process within his Mystic Pill Furnace.When he reached the Golden Core Stage and mastered the Samadhi True Fire,

the Mystic Pill Furnace he manifested would no longer be so simple.

By then, with suitable conditions, Lu Chen believed he could even refine Nascent Soul Stage cultivators.

Ordinary alchemy furnaces couldn’t withstand the Samadhi True Fire.

Rather than exhaust himself searching for a furnace capable of enduring the Samadhi True Fire, Lu Chen preferred to focus his efforts on improving his Mystic Pill Furnace in advance.

This was undoubtedly the most rational approach.

It was also the fundamental reason why Lu Chen chose to use the Mystic Pill Furnace to refine the Black Iron Cauldron Men.

Although his first attempt at alchemy ended in failure, Lu Chen wasn’t discouraged.

After all, within the instance, he possessed unlimited trial-and-error capability!

If once wasn’t enough, he’d try a hundred times, a thousand times, ten thousand times!

Without glancing at the Black Iron Cauldron Man’s corpse that had turned to dust in the mine, Lu Chen immediately headed out of the cave.

He clearly remembered that outside this cave, there were also numerous Black Iron Cauldron Men, and even Bronze Cauldron Men.

Of course, these Cauldron Men were merely one of Lu Chen’s targets.

His true objectives were actually the Aura Golden Dragon deep within the mine and the Shard of Heavenly Dao in his storage space.

For now, these Cauldron Men were nothing more than practice materials to him.

Before long, the previously quiet mine became noisy.

Dull screams and explosions could be heard intermittently.

A short while later, Lu Chen stood before the entrance to the Nine Dragon Cave where the Little Gold Dragon resided, surveying his surroundings.

All the Cauldron Men in the mine had been refined by him.

Yet up to this point, he hadn’t successfully refined even a single wisp of Dao Rhyme.

Even though he’d directly used experience points to elevate his Creation Pill Art to the Enlightenment Realm.

But the path of alchemy was inherently full of variables—no one could guarantee one hundred percent success.

Nevertheless, Lu Chen had gained considerable experience during this process.

It had also given him some insights.

Looking calmly at the entrance to the Nine Dragon Cave, Lu Chen said, “First, achieve stable refinement of the Cauldron Men’s Dao Rhyme. Then I’ll go meet my old friend.”

“After all, once the Little Gold Dragon falls, the instance will end. I don’t need to leave so early yet.”

With these words, Lu Chen immediately chose to reset the instance.

When he opened his eyes again, he was back in the familiar mine.

Facing the Black Iron Cauldron Men charging at him once more, a déjà vu scene unfolded.

Just like last time, this attempt also ended in failure for Lu Chen.

Without any delay, Lu Chen headed deeper into the mine again, leaving… continuous screams in his wake.

One hundredth instance reset.

[Shard of Dao (Black Iron)]

[Effect: Can master basic Metal Element Dao]

Holding the small black crystal in his hand, Lu Chen sighed, “After so many attempts, I can finally achieve over ninety-five percent success rate.”

Indeed, this wasn’t actually Lu Chen’s first time extracting a Black Iron Cauldron Man’s Shard of Dao.

But since the success rate had been mediocre before, Lu Chen had repeatedly chosen to reset the instance.

His goal was to increase the success rate.

After resetting the instance over a hundred times, Lu Chen finally reached a level that satisfied him.

Now that he could extract the Shard of Dao, Lu Chen could finally proceed to the second step:

Integrating this Shard of Dao into his elixirs.The pill Lu Chen intended to refine next was a very common body training elixir in the Immortal Cultivation World called the ‘Body Tempering Pill’.

Although the Body Tempering Pill was merely a foundational elixir, precisely because its refinement process was not complex, it held greater potential for modification.

Moreover, Lu Chen had a feeling that incorporating a Shard of Dao into the Body Tempering Pill would bring him unexpected gains.

For instance, further enhancing his current physical potential.

If that were truly the case, he might not even need to exchange immortal techniques with the real-world Longevity Xu Family to achieve an early breakthrough to the Golden Core Stage.

(End of Chapter)