Eternal Life Begins with Learning

In the room next door, within a small isolation Restriction, Chu Mu sat cross-legged. His mind was calm and his spirit serene, free of all distracting thoughts.

Before him was a Pill Furnace, with a pile of Spiritual Charcoal.

To his side lay thirteen open Jade Boxes, containing thirteen rare Spirit Medicines seldom seen on the open market.

From Grain Avoidance Pills to Vein Nourishing Pills.

According to Chu Mu’s original plan, he had expected to find a pill recipe or two to aid his Body Refining Cultivation, building up his Alchemy System one step at a time to give it a rich and solid foundation.

However, the Soul Cleansing Pill, despite only being a Tier One Upper Grade pill, was on another level judging by the rarity of its thirteen required Spirit Medicines.

He had taken a rather large leap.

Chu Mu had no confidence he could land on his feet.

After nearly half an hour, Chu Mu slowly opened his eyes. The profound Spiritual Radiance within them had been present for some time.

In his mind, he had just run through the refining process for the Soul Cleansing Pill several times under the effect of his Spiritual Radiance.

He still didn’t know if the actual attempt would succeed or fail.

But as long as he tried refining it once, regardless of the outcome, he would have a better grasp of it.

If he succeeded, he would use that experience to succeed again.

If he failed, he would gain experience and practical knowledge, which would give him the confidence to succeed the next time.

A flame flickered to life, instantly roaring into a great fire that heated the Pill Furnace until it glowed red-hot.

One by one, he added the Spirit Medicines. Chu Mu’s expression was calm, his eyes profound. He moved like a flawless machine.

Sovereign, minister, assistant, and courier.

Heat control, medicinal efficacy, impurity removal, fusion, pill solidification, post-refining with residual heat...

Every step of the alchemy process flowed through his mind.

Before his eyes, inside the Pill Furnace, each of these steps was now playing out in reality.

The process was clear, but he didn’t know at which step an error might occur.

After all, "medicinal efficacy"—those two words encompassed countless variables, changing with every pill recipe, every Spirit Medicine, and every different age of the herbs.

All he could do was meticulously follow the ratios in the pill recipe, adhering to the formula to the letter.

BOOM!

His unprecedented focus ended with a loud bang as a plume of scorched smoke billowed upwards.

Although he couldn’t hide the ache of his loss, Chu Mu strangely felt a sense of relief.

For him, especially with his "Spiritual Radiance Blessing," failure inevitably meant that success would follow.

He cleaned the residue from the furnace, then carefully reviewed the refining process several times, pinpointing the source of the problem and identifying his mistake.

The furnace fire ignited once more.

The second attempt began...

After one failure, this second attempt, under his "Spiritual Radiance Blessing," was as smooth as flowing water.

Chu Mu had already mentally prepared himself for a second failure.

As long as the third attempt succeeded, this venture would still be a massive profit!

But the result exceeded his expectations.

The second attempt, smooth as flowing water...

’I succeeded?’

Chu Mu stared at the four pills floating inside the Pill Furnace, still not quite processing what had happened.

With a flick of his hand, four emerald-green pills materialized in his palm.

Among them, a single Pill Pattern was especially conspicuous.

The second attempt yielded four Formed Pills.

And one of them was a One-Patterned Soul Cleansing Pill!

Chu Mu stared blankly at the pills floating above his palm, a mixture of complex emotions welling up inside him.

He had succeeded.

He still had an Upper Grade Spiritual Artifact Magic Robe, two five-hundred-year-old Spirit Medicines, four three-hundred-year-old Spirit Medicines, and twenty Spirit Medicines ranging from fifty to one hundred years old.

If he were a bit greedier, he could even take one of the pills for himself.

After all, a yield of three pills from one batch was perfectly normal.

Huuuuu...

Chu Mu let out a long breath and silently placed the four pills into a Jade Bottle he had prepared earlier.

He wasn’t too greedy. His gains this time were already more than enough.

Besides, he still needed to ask Zhao Shuang about the Jade Scroll. A One-Patterned Soul Cleansing Pill should be enough to make her talk.

After cleaning up any remaining traces of his work, Chu Mu stood before the Pill Furnace, an undisguised fondness in his eyes.

He had no doubt that this Pill Furnace played a huge part in his success on the second try.

He had gotten quite used to his old, dilapidated Pill Furnace over time.

But now that he had experienced the effectiveness of a Middle Grade Spiritual Artifact Pill Furnace...

The problem was, he absolutely couldn’t afford a Middle Grade Spiritual Artifact Pill Furnace, even if he sold himself.

An item of this level was truly priceless, with no market to even sell it on.

He couldn’t even come into contact with such things without reaching that level himself.

’And even if I could come across one, even if I could afford it, would I dare to buy it?’ 𝒻𝑟ℯℯ𝑤𝑒𝑏𝑛𝘰𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝒸𝑜𝘮

’My Illusion God Mask is only an Upper Grade Spiritual Artifact. It can fool Qi Cultivation Realm Cultivators, but can it fool a Foundation Establishment Realm expert?’

’A mere Qi Cultivation Realm cultivator coveting a Foundation Establishment Realm item is just asking for death.’

’An opportunity like this is rare.’

As he pondered, Chu Mu could only let out a helpless sigh.

’It’s no use coveting it. In the end, it’s not mine.’

He tidied the room, ensuring no traces were left behind. Chu Mu then meditated for about an hour before pushing the door open and walking out.

"Were you successful?"

The moment he pushed the door open, an eager voice reached his ears.

"Fortunately, I succeeded."

Chu Mu handed over the Jade Bottle, feigning a look of exhaustion.

Zhao Shuang snatched the Jade Bottle and stared at it, and tears immediately began to stream down her face.

She clutched the Jade Bottle tightly, her choked sobs unending.

Chu Mu was a bit stunned. He had imagined many scenarios and had even prepared his words, all in anticipation of prying the secrets of the Jade Scroll from Zhao Shuang.

But he had never expected a scene like this, with her crying so heart-wrenchingly.

"Uh..."

Chu Mu opened his mouth, but in the end, said nothing.

"It’s nothing, it’s nothing. I... I’m just too emotional."

Zhao Shuang wiped her tears and quickly explained.

"I’m just so emotional, I’m sorry, my apologies..."

"It’s fine. I understand."

Chu Mu offered a terse consolation, then immediately changed the subject, taking out the Jade Scroll.

"The pills are refined. Now, can you tell me about this?"

Zhao Shuang looked a little taken aback, but she quickly composed herself and pointed to the room behind Chu Mu. "Let’s talk inside."

Chu Mu glanced at the pedestrians on the street outside the window and nodded.

Once the door was closed and the isolation Restriction was activated, Zhao Shuang’s voice slowly began to speak.

About a quarter of an hour later, the door opened. The Pill Furnace in the room was gone.

Zhao Shuang walked out of the room with Chu Mu following close behind, escorting her all the way to the front door.

Standing at the door, he watched as Zhao Shuang walked farther and farther away until she vanished from sight. Only then did Chu Mu seem to snap back to his senses.

He scanned the street scene and subconsciously tightened his grip on the Jade Scroll in his hand.

In his mind, Zhao Shuang’s words from just now echoed over and over.

According to Zhao Shuang, this Jade Scroll came from East Lake.

Her younger sister, an Alchemist, had been passing by East Lake when she was suddenly engulfed by a mysterious, thick fog.

She ended up in an Ancient Secret Realm. Immediately upon appearing, she was attacked by a Demon Beast and, in her escape, stumbled into the ruins of an Ancient Cultivator, where she obtained some alchemy inheritances and some Spirit Medicines.

This Jade Scroll was one of the things she found there.

In the end, it seemed she triggered an Array Prohibition in the ruins. She was then pursued by Demon Beasts, suffered heavy injuries, and fell unconscious.

When she woke up, she was already floating on the surface of the lake.

Furthermore, the mysterious fog Zhao Shuang mentioned wasn’t in the same location where he had encountered it. It was on the northern shore of East Lake, in a Cultivation Immortal Marketplace called Changyue Island.

The truth of Zhao Shuang’s words obviously remained to be verified.

But one thing was certain: the Jade Scroll did indeed come from that mysterious fog.

That meant the source of his two Jade Scrolls was also clearly that mysterious fog, or perhaps the so-called Secret Realm.

Based on information from the Longevity Sect and the Imperial Gazettes previously issued by the Sun Family, the mysterious fog on East Lake had long been speculated to be a Secret Realm.

It was clear that quite a few Cultivators had gone to investigate.

So far, no other news had spread.

This undoubtedly proved that the so-called Secret Realm had not yet truly manifested.

After all, the existence of Secret Realms was no great secret in the Cultivation Immortal Realm.

According to the definition in the Cultivation Immortal Realm, a so-called Secret Realm is a separate Small World. Legend has it that they were created by ancient Great Divine Power Cultivators using Great Divine Techniques, existing as demiplanes attached to this Cultivation Immortal World.

Everything within them operates just like in the Cultivation Immortal World.

Having been passed down from ancient times, anything found inside would undoubtedly be considered a rare treasure in today’s Cultivation Immortal Realm.

Without a doubt, every time such a realm manifested, it would trigger a bloodbath, drawing in countless Cultivators who would flock to it in a frenzy, one after another!

Of course, due to the passage of time and the varying Divine Power used to create them, these so-called Secret Realms came in all sizes, some dilapidated and some complete.

But regardless, the essence of a Secret Realm is that it is a Small World.

When it manifests in the main world, the intersection of the two worlds would inevitably cause a huge commotion.

A commotion that would be impossible to hide!

If it had truly manifested, then without a doubt, the entire Great Chu Cultivation Immortal World would have already descended into chaos!

It might even attract Cultivators from neighboring countries to come and get a piece of the action!

Of course, some Secret Realms have unique rules for entry and exit, such as requiring a specific token or a particular type of person.

His own encounter on East Lake seemed to prove that these Jade Scrolls were some kind of token.

But why was he thrown out, while the sister Zhao Shuang spoke of entered successfully?

’Judging from my experience that day, it seems Zhao Shuang was lying.’

’Without a token, how could she have been drawn into the mysterious fog?’

’I drifted on East Lake for so long back then and never saw any other Cultivators get pulled in.’

’Assuming the Jade Scrolls are the tokens, then there must be another key factor.’

’This factor...’ Chu Mu thought to himself.

Regardless, it was clear he had to make a trip to East Lake.

He needed to witness the truth and falsehoods with his own eyes to know what was real.

Suddenly, Chu Mu was overcome with an impulse, an urge to rush to East Lake immediately.

But in the end, Chu Mu suppressed this urge.

’Now is not the time.’

His Cultivation was still too low.

On this point, it was unlikely that Zhao Shuang was lying.

After all, another function of the Soul Cleansing Pill was to purge Divine Soul contamination.

The sister she spoke of had clearly been injured in the Secret Realm.

Based on her account, it would be an understatement to say it was fraught with danger.

Besides, the mystery at East Lake had been unfolding for a long time. The lake was now the eye of the storm.

Countless Cultivators had been driven into a frenzy by the rumors of a Secret Realm.

With his current Cultivation at the mere Late Stage of Qi Cultivation, he wouldn’t even be able to protect himself if he rushed in rashly.

And most importantly, what exactly was that key factor?

He had a vague guess about this factor, but he wasn’t certain.

But in any case, this guess was consistent with his current path...

...