I Can Fix My Talent in Hundred Lives-Chapter 295 - 239: Five Hundred Years in a Snap

Time passed silently in the Four Seas Profound Mansion, where there was no alternation of day and night, only the occasional flicker of runes on the jade pillars of the palace, marking the passage of time.

Chen Sheng immersed all his heart and spirit into cultivation and alchemy.

The spiritual qi on the first level of the Profound Mansion was astonishingly rich, with the spiritual mist in the air emitting a faint luminous white glow, reaching the Tier Five standard.

With each deep breath, these spiritual mists poured into his body through his nose and mouth, transforming in his meridians into a fine stream that washed over his already condensed mana, making it ever more pure.

With the Tier Six inheritance of the "Four Seas Void Transformation Atlas" and the "Four Seas Pill Book" as guidance, along with the continuous supply of high-tier spiritual objects from the treasure vault,

his cultivation progress was like riding the great wind, several times faster than before.

The alchemy room was where Chen Sheng most often stayed. The ground was paved with fireproof black stone, and the walls were engraved with fire gathering runes to ensure the stability of the pill fire.

At the moment, the Five-Colored Dust Transformation Cauldron was floating mid-air, its body flowing with five streams of spirit light in blue, red, yellow, white, and black, like five lively ribbons entwining it.

The cauldron lid trembled slightly, and the thick and long-lasting fragrance of pills seeped through the cracks, carrying the freshness of Nine Heavens Jade Dew and the chill of Vast Sea Snow Lotus, filling the entire alchemy room.

Chen Sheng sat cross-legged on a cushion in front of the cauldron, wearing a plain-colored Daoist robe, flicking his fingers:

"Go!"

A wisp of golden pill fire, like a tamed spirit sparrow, flickered erratically at his fingertip, and with a slight movement of his heart spirit, it precisely fell into the cauldron.

Inside the cauldron, the Nine Heavens Jade Dew and Vast Sea Snow Lotus, already transformed into liquid under the baking of the pill fire, turned into transparent droplets, shimmering with a gentle light, like condensed moonlight, while the Snow Lotus became a milky white slurry, carrying a hint of ice crystal chill.

Under Chen Sheng’s control of his divine sense, the two masses of liquid slowly approached, his divine sense like a fine net, carefully perceiving every detail of their fusion.

This was his fourth attempt in crafting the Tier Four Middle Grade Elixir "Concentration Pill."

At this moment, he slowed his pace, letting the warmth of the Jade Dew gradually seep into the Snow Lotus slurry, like spring water melting icy ground, forming a clear light cyan liquid inside the cauldron.

Time passed slowly...

"It’s done!"

With a low shout, Chen Sheng suddenly executed a spell, runes flickered at his fingertips, infusing the cauldron body, and with a "clack," the cauldron lid suddenly flipped open, and three smooth pills slowly rose from within.

The pills were about the size of longan, their surfaces glowing faintly like the finest pearls, surrounded by a golden pill pattern.

He waved his hand, and a gentle spiritual power caught the pills, holding them in his palm, the fragrance of the pills becoming ever clearer, stirring a sense of relief and ease in his heart.

On this day, it had been exactly a hundred years since he had entered the Profound Mansion, and he finally refined his first batch of Tier Four Middle Grade Elixirs!

...

In the following three hundred years, alchemy became an unchangeable daily practice for Chen Sheng.

He gradually refined the Tier Four Middle Grade Elixirs recorded in the "Four Seas Pill Book" to enhance his alchemy skill.

With one batch of pills after another, his proficiency in Tier Four Middle Grade Elixirs increased, and later he could even produce a batch every three months, with the pill success rate stabilized at over eighty percent, occasionally crafting top-grade elixirs with three golden patterns.

These elixirs became a booster for his cultivation—taking a few Concentration Pills every ten years allowed him to achieve a calmer heart spirit while comprehending the "Four Seas Void Transformation Atlas."

The Tier Four Middle Grade Immortal Ascension Qi Gathering Pill accelerated his mana accumulation, sparing him the need to spend excessive time absorbing spiritual qi, transforming the mana in his dantian from initial luminescent white gradually to light blue, becoming increasingly condensed and substantial.

In less than three hundred years of entering the mansion, he reached the peak of Mid-stage Nascent Soul, with the sword-carrying Nascent Soul inside him swelling from five inches to seven inches.

The Nascent Soul wore a miniature version of the Daoist robe, and the long sword on its back became ever clearer, the hand gesture of holding the sword exuding a few more traces of imposing dignity capable of commanding the heavens, with a void mark between its brows subtly pulsating, emitting faint spatial fluctuations.

Yet at this moment, a bottleneck, like an invisible wall, quietly stood in front of him.

Beginning with the path of alchemy, he set his sights on the Tier Four High Grade Elixir, "Breaking Misfortune Pill," an area he considered himself most familiar with.

However, crafting a Tier Four High Grade Elixir not only required the combination of over ten kinds of Tier Four spiritual objects but also needed to integrate one’s understanding of the void during the alchemy process.

According to the "Four Seas Pill Book," one must use the void power to guide the circulation of "primordial spirit" in the pill liquid, allowing the elixir to contain a trace of spatial Dao rhyme.

Yet, no matter how Chen Sheng attempted, issues always arose from the fusion of void power and primordial spirit—sometimes the void power was too strong, tearing the primordial spirit apart, while other times the primordial spirit was too fragile to bear the spatial Dao rhyme.

More often than not, when the elixir liquid fuses, it causes minute spatial disturbances, ultimately either turning into a pool of useless paste or forming a half-wasted "residual pill," devoid of any medicinal effects.

After failing repeatedly, Chen Sheng had no choice but to admit that he seemed to have reached the limit of his talent.

The threshold to becoming a Tier Four High Grade Alchemist was like an invisible barrier that no matter how he tried to breach, he could never cross.

His path of cultivation had also come to a halt. He had long since refined a Tier Four Middle Grade "Realm-Breaking Pill." The pill was entirely light-golden in color, containing overwhelming mana, enough to ensure that he wouldn’t be bound by mana bottlenecks when he advanced.

However, the key for a Late-stage Nascent Soul Great Cultivator was not merely the accumulation of mana, but mastering the "Void Domain."

One must condense their understanding of Void Power into a domain, deploy the void domain with a thought, control the spatial flow within it, and even momentarily distort the trajectory of an enemy’s attack.

Over the years, Chen Sheng has been comprehending the "Four Seas Void Transformation Atlas," and he could already skillfully deconstruct and reconstruct Void Power.

With a flick of his finger, he could tear open minute spaces, and the small void vortex condensed in his palm could absorb the surrounding spiritual qi, yet he was always separated from "domain formation" by a faint film.

At times in meditation, he seemed to touch the edge of the domain, envisioning a region constructed by Void Power before his eyes, where spiritual qi flowed slowly, and the light became distorted.

But upon opening his eyes, such understanding vanished like bubbles, elusive like a flower in the water or the moon in a well, visible yet unreachable, illusory and distant.

On this day, Chen Sheng ceased his alchemy and put away the Five-Colored Dust Transformation Cauldron, standing alone on the black stone floor of the palace.

He looked up at the exotic beast carvings on the dome—a statue of the Kunpeng with wings spread wide, its feathers clearly visible, as if it might dive down the next moment.

The silence within the Profound Mansion enveloped him like a tide, without the sound of wind or birds, only the sound of his own breathing echoing in his ears, with a sense of frustration filling his heart.

He muttered to himself in his heart:

"Alchemy and cultivation, both at a bottleneck, progress over two hundred years is minimal."

"Logically, I should venture out to the Great Wilderness to observe void transformations—witness double star black holes devour the void and the flames of Red Flame Volcano warp space. Perhaps I could find a breakthrough opportunity there, but the Profound Mansion has confined me here."

He sighed slightly, a hint of self-mockery flashing in his eyes:

"Still lacking comprehension and aptitude. The Refining Void Great Power choosing a successor perhaps assumes that Nascent Soul cultivation with sufficient resources is a straightforward path, no need to accumulate worldly insights through travel. But I don’t have such heaven-defying talent and perception." 𝒇𝒓𝙚𝒆𝔀𝓮𝓫𝒏𝓸𝙫𝓮𝓵.𝓬𝙤𝙢

Taking a deep breath, he slowly suppressed the agitation in his heart, trying to calm himself down.

Years of cultivation had taught him that forcing a breakthrough would only backfire; it’s better to go with the flow. He muttered in his heart:

"After five hundred years of seclusion, perhaps it’s time to relax and let the tense heart and spirit take a break."

As for the way to relax, he had already thought it through—sword refining, array formation, artifact refining, and tea meditation, all capable of calming his heart.

...

As time slowly passed, in the days that followed, besides his daily alchemy and cultivation, Chen Sheng gradually put more energy into other affairs.

In the early mornings, he would wield the Tingyu Flying Sword in the open space of the palace, cutting through the void with the sword light, leaving behind transient ripples, like water waves gradually spreading out.

He no longer deliberately pursued the sharpness of the sword momentum, but rather felt the flow of the void in his sword swings!

How the sword light merged into the void, how it used the power of space to accelerate, and how the Sword Qi remained longer in the void, understanding the connection between sword momentum and the void with each strike and move.

In the afternoon, he would take out seventy-two array banners, using the profound restrictions around the Profound Mansion as a reference, setting up various arrays within the palace.

Starting with the basic Five Elements Array, arranging the banners in the order of metal, wood, water, fire, and earth, feeling the resonance of the Five Elements and space.

Then, a complex Void Array, hiding the banners in the void, using spatial fluctuations to confuse sight, honing his array dao insights during the array’s operation, and occasionally attempting to integrate two types of arrays to create new small arrays.

In the evening, Chen Sheng would go to the Artifact Refining Room, taking out ore from the Profound Mansion Treasure Vault, trying to refine some small magical artifacts, like storage pouches, protective talismans, and sword scabbards.

He infused his alchemy fire technique skills into artifact refining, using the precision of controlling pill fire to master the fire control in artifact refining, letting the ore slowly take shape in the flame, and occasionally carving simple runes on the magical artifacts to enhance their power.

Though most were Tier Three and Tier Four Lower Grade Magical Artifacts, it deepened his understanding of the Artifact Dao.

When occasionally free, Chen Sheng would brew a pot of Spirit Tea beside the Jade Stele, savoring the bitterness and aftertaste in the tea.

He quietly felt the warmness of the tea sliding down his throat, gradually soothing his tense heart and spirit, as if the fatigue of five hundred years dissipated somewhat in this cup of tea.