Chapter 161: The Last Alchemist, Part 2

“Senior, wait!” At this moment, Li Xian could no longer care about anything else. He shouted from the sky and instructed Cheng Jiming to control the flying machine to chase after the person.

But the man seemed indifferent. He continued to carry his shoulder pole, swaying as he walked forward, not fast, with an air of arrogance. Perhaps he didn’t take Li Xian seriously at all.

The flying machine flew to about a hundred meters in front of the man. Li Xian descended and stood by the roadside, waiting for the man to approach. Only up close did Li Xian see clearly that the man appeared to be quite young. But, being a cultivator, appearance doesn’t necessarily mean everything.

When the man was about ten meters away from Li Xian, Li Xian clasped his fists and said, “Senior, I am Li Xian from Anyang Mu. May I ask you to move your foot?”

The man slightly stopped and glanced at Li Xian, his expression showing a hint of indifference. “Li Xian? I’ve heard of you. But we have nothing to talk about. I am just an alchemist, and a useless one at that, the last generation of alchemists. I don’t know strategies, I don’t know civil governance, I know nothing about commerce, people’s livelihood, or military affairs, nothing at all.”

Saying this, he was about to continue walking.

At least he was willing to talk. Li Xian immediately threw out a heavy bombshell: “I know a better method of separating this underground foul air. I already have the basic equipment for it. What I lack is a senior like you, who understands the properties of this underground foul air.”

However…

The man directly passed by Li Xian, saying, “Everyone talks big. I’ve met many who talk big. You’re not the first one to come to me. What you care about is probably my method of refining the remnants of strong souls.”

He was about to continue walking.

Li Xian quickly took a step forward and followed the man. “Senior, what I care about more is the substance that you discard. That, now that’s the real good stuff. It contains liquid spiritual energy, contains immortal spiritual qi, contains the true essence refined by strong cultivators, and many other special substances.

As for the remnants of souls, they are what I care least about. These souls are violent and powerful, but they have no real value.”

“Oh?” The man stopped and looked at Li Xian. After a long pause, he finally spoke up. “What you’re saying, I know it. I’ve tried separating it myself. But everything is intertwined and cannot be separated.

Starting with my grandfather, my family has tried to use this underground foul air to replace the now-extinct genius earth treasures for alchemy. But now we can only separate a small portion of the remnants of souls.

You say you have a method. What method is it?”

Li Xian smiled. The initiative was finally back in his hands. Now that he had the initiative, he of course wanted to maximize the effect. “I swear to heaven, I, Li Xian, truly know the method of separation.”

“What method?” The man was a bit anxious. Since Li Xian swore to heaven, it must be true.

Li Xian smiled even more happily. “I can tell you, but… hmm…”

The alchemist looked at Li Xian with disdain. “People like you, always having ulterior motives when they speak. Isn’t it tiring? Fine, here’s the deal. As long as the method is real, I’ll work for you for ten years and guarantee that all methods will not be passed on to others.”

Li Xian stopped smiling. “Senior, some knowledge is priceless. My price is… forever.”

The alchemist glanced at Li Xian and finally turned around to leave.

This time, Li Xian did not stop him. He just sighed. Such matters couldn’t be forced; otherwise, it would be impossible to guarantee the absolute loyalty and reliability of the research team. Li Xian actually didn’t care about Anyang. What mattered most to him now was the brilliant Star Group, especially the research department.

The alchemist still walked slowly, step by step… but his pace grew slower and slower.

Seeing this, Li Xian finally smiled and spoke up proactively. “Senior, have you considered it? I dare say, in the Great Xia Kingdom, and even the entire Yingzhou, I am the only one who knows how to separate this underground foul air.”

The alchemist finally had no choice but to turn back. “Alright, you win.”

“Senior, please.”

Upon boarding the flying vehicle, Li Xian immediately instructed Cheng Jiming to fly directly to the Qingyun Valley, to the location of the Brilliant Star Group. During the flight, Li Xian and the alchemist had a brief conversation and exchanged oaths, establishing a preliminary understanding.

This alchemist was named “Zhou Likun,” and his family had been practicing alchemy for generations. It was said that their family history could be traced back tens of thousands of years. However, due to the increasing rarity of spiritual herbs and rare treasures between heaven and earth, the alchemy profession had rapidly declined.

Zhou Likun’s grandfather had turned to studying “oil,” a liquid containing remnants of ancient strong beings, souls, spiritual energy, and the essence of spiritual herbs.

Unfortunately, Zhou Likun’s grandfather died in a heroic accident during his research. Zhou Likun’s father continued the research, but when he found it unhelpful, he ceased his studies and later abandoned the alchemist path to focus on regular cultivation.

Zhou Likun himself, after reaching the Golden Core stage more than thirty years ago, discovered that cultivation after the Golden Core stage was slow and difficult. He had no choice but to pick up his family’s alchemy craft again. Like his grandfather, facing the dilemma of the absence of spiritual herbs and rare treasures, Zhou Likun turned to studying oil.

Now, Zhou Likun’s only accomplishment was to refine a small amount of strong souls from powerful beings every year on the ninth day of September. Then, over the course of the following year, he would gradually refine these souls, strengthening the soul and consciousness (the earlier mention of enhancing the spirit of the alchemy furnace was clearly a lie). This process was dangerous, as these were powerful souls that could easily trigger mental demons, and the results could only be described as marginal, but still worth the risk.

Li Xian, Xia Qingqing, Cheng Jiming, and the others all sighed after hearing this. Although this was a golden age for cultivation, as everyone had access to cultivation techniques and resources were abundant, it was also a barren period for cultivation, as almost all rare treasures had disappeared.

With the help of cultivation techniques and the cultivator’s own efforts, most people could reach the tenth level of the Qi Refining stage. However, the gap between the tenth level and the Foundation Establishment stage was a significant threshold; in the past, people relied on elixirs and spiritual stones to assist, but now they had to rely solely on hard work. This threshold had stopped countless people.

Moreover, human potential was ultimately limited, and after the Golden Core stage, most people’s potential was exhausted. Only a very few fortunate ones could reach the Nascent Soul stage.

As they discussed, the flying vehicle slowly descended into the Qingyun Valley.

Upon entering Qingyun Valley, Zhou Likun was stunned. The environment inside the valley was increasingly… ethereal! The first thing he felt was that the spiritual energy here was three times denser than outside.

The beautiful, flawless colored lights, adorable cartoon sculptures, the various green plants and flower beds, and the modern office buildings that blended steel concrete and glass with celestial palace culture—all of it was bustling and vibrant.

There were also smooth cement floors, iron tracks running through the area, and various workers moving around.

Next, Li Xian led Zhou Likun to see Xuan Iron, electricity, and numerous research achievements. When Zhou Likun saw the Xuan Iron, he kicked his alchemy furnace away, his eyes turning red.

And when he saw the spiritual energy charging technology, Zhou Likun’s eyes widened in shock. Naturally, after seeing all these things, Zhou Likun fully believed that Li Xian could separate oil!

When the door storing the spiritual stones opened, revealing two thousand spiritual stones before Zhou Likun, he no longer hesitated. He immediately swore—”As long as you, Li Xian, don’t betray me, I will be your person for life.”

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