Chapter 106

Chapter 106: Frostglow Starforce

Master Luan.

He was the helm of Frostglow Sect’s Alchemy Branch—a true master of the pill path.

Alchemy Branch was divided into alchemy apprentices, pillmasters, master alchemists of the pill path, masters of the pill path, and celestial masters of the pill path.

Xia Xiao Nian was a master alchemist of the pill path, capable of refining pills required by Hundred-star Realm experts. Master Luan could refine pills required by Star-refining Realm.

His status in Frostglow Sect far surpassed Wang Jie’s. He even stood above Que Yi of the forging path.

Across the sect, aside from the Sect Master and the supreme elders, Master Luan held one of the highest positions. Ordinary elders couldn’t compare.

Wang Jie couldn’t figure out why someone like that wanted to see him.

Xia Xiao Nian had no answer. He’d only been told to bring Wang Jie.

Of course Wang Jie agreed.

Xia Zhen Zhen, however, was stopped outside.

“Master Luan only wants to see you,” Xia Xiao Nian said. “No one else can enter.”

As they walked, Wang Jie asked quietly, “You really don’t know what he wants?”

“I don’t.”

“Aren’t you curious why we were looking for you earlier?”

“Not curious.”

Wang Jie could only label him in his mind: a weirdo.

Along the way, he saw people doing all kinds of strange things. Some held Frostglow starforce in their palms as if weighing it. Some refined pills. Some even forged tools over open flame—people from every path crowded the same range.

“What are they doing?” Wang Jie asked. “Why are there forging-path people in Alchemy Branch?”

“Anyone who wants to see Master Luan must pass a trial,” Xia Xiao Nian explained. “Master Luan sets the trial according to the visitor’s identity. Fail, and you won’t see him.”

“What a display,” Wang Jie muttered. Then he smiled faintly. “Seems I’m lucky to get an audience.”

“You can set a trial for Master Luan as well.”

Wang Jie snorted. “That’s not funny.”

“I’m not joking,” Xia Xiao Nian said, serious as ever. “Everyone deserves respect. That’s Master Luan’s principle. If you don’t wish to see him, you may refuse.”

Wang Jie glanced at his face and realized he truly meant it.

So was Wang Jie the one trying too hard?

By the time they reached Master Luan’s residence, Wang Jie’s thoughts were already a tangle.

Master Luan turned out to be an elderly man with immaculate clothes and a face full of warmth—nothing like the aloof, distant master Wang Jie had imagined.

He personally welcomed Wang Jie inside, fussing over him with a smile that never faded.

The more hospitable he was, the more uneasy Wang Jie became. “Master, why did you call for me?”

“This old man has been in seclusion refining pills,” Master Luan said cheerfully. “When I came out, I heard the sect gained a new chen refiner. I was delighted, so I had Xiao Nian invite you at once. I hope I wasn’t abrupt.”

“It’s my honor,” Wang Jie said politely.

“Honor?” Master Luan waved a hand. “If anything, it would be my honor to receive a chen refiner’s help.”

“Help?” Wang Jie frowned.

Master Luan reached into his storage ring and produced a small bottle wreathed in pale white mist. “A first meeting calls for a small gift. Please accept it, Master.”

Wang Jie accepted the bottle, opened it, and found three pale-yellow pills inside. He looked up, puzzled.

Xia Xiao Nian spoke on cue. “Revival Pill. It can heal injuries left by a Roaming-star Realm expert and drive out the destructive power they leave behind. As long as you didn’t die on the spot, it can keep you alive.”

“Outside, a one-scent Revival Pill sells for one million starstone per pill.”

Wang Jie’s fingers tightened. Three pills.

Xia Xiao Nian continued, “These were refined personally by Master Luan and reached three scents. Each would sell for at least 1.6 million starstone.”

Wang Jie capped the bottle and tried to return it. “Senior, this is too valuable. Junior can’t accept it.”

Master Luan pushed it back with an untroubled smile. “This old man doesn’t reclaim gifts. Keep it.”

Wang Jie hesitated, then finally stored it away. “Then… thank you, Senior.”

Master Luan’s smile deepened, and his gaze turned sharp with intent. “Now, let’s speak plainly. Young friend—have you ever considered that star-refining might not be limited to forging tools?”

Wang Jie blinked. “What do you mean?”

“Why must star-refining be only for items?” Master Luan leaned forward. “Why can’t it refine pills?”

Wang Jie stared. “Refine pills?”

“You’ve never heard of it?”

“Never.”

“Then would you like to try?” Master Luan’s eyes gleamed. “I’ve had this idea for a long time. I want to treat starforce as an ingredient in pill-making.

“Starforce is not uniform. Planets differ. Cultivation methods differ. Starforce differs as well.”

He lifted a finger. “Frostglow starforce carries freezing qi. It should neutralize excessive fire qi in a pill. It could raise success rates, stabilize medicine, and…”

He spoke with the same fervor and obsession Wang Jie had seen in Master Que Yi.

Wang Jie listened, half dazed. It sounded ridiculous, and yet…

He wasn’t a standard forging-path cultivator. He hadn’t grown up in a proper cultivation environment. The rules other people assumed were iron might not bind him the same way.

“Have you tried other chen refiners?” Wang Jie asked.

“Once,” Master Luan said with a sigh. “It failed.”

“Then I might fail too.”

“That’s why we try,” Master Luan said briskly. “Whether it succeeds or not, we find out first. You’re in the sect now—you won’t mind if I ask you to try again in the future.”

Wang Jie nodded. “As long as Senior calls, I’ll come.”

Master Luan laughed. “Good. Then we begin now.”

“So soon?”

“How can cultivation be delayed?”

Xia Xiao Nian silently withdrew.

The first pill Master Luan wanted to test was the barrier-breaking pill.

Its purpose was to clear inner obstacles—calm the mind, settle the thoughts, and aid cultivation, especially when comprehending arts and techniques.

Wang Jie accepted the pill, surprised there was such a thing.

Master Luan gestured as he spoke. “A barrier-breaking pill uses nineteen ingredients. With different fire control and medicinal properties, you can refine different grades. I want to add Frostglow starforce as a twentieth ingredient—use its cold to freeze chaotic thoughts and strengthen the pill’s effect.”

He fixed Wang Jie with a steady look. “I cannot refine starforce into a pill myself. If it can be done, it must be through star-refining.”

Wang Jie hesitated. “Senior, I don’t cultivate starforce. When I star-refine, I transfer the starforce in starstone into tools.”

Master Luan smiled as if he’d been waiting for that. He produced a single starstone from his storage ring.

It was unlike any Wang Jie had seen. The moment it appeared, a faint chill spread, and wisps of cold mist rose from its surface.

“This is…?”

“A Frostglow starforce starstone,” Master Luan said. “Most starstone traded in markets are ordinary, but planets have special starforce. Naturally, starstone, star-river stone, and starsea stone can also carry such traits. They are born of the universe itself.”

Wang Jie took it. It was icy cold in his hand. The starforce within was distinctly different from ordinary starstone.

“Hard to find outside,” Wang Jie said.

“Extremely.” Master Luan nodded. “These starstone are worth far more than common starstone. Sects and clans rarely let them circulate. Trade? Only in desperation.

“You can exchange one for ordinary starstone easily. But buying one again is nearly impossible.”

Wang Jie looked up. “If you have these, I should be able to star-refine.”

Master Luan’s delight was immediate. He produced a small pile of Frostglow starforce starstone and placed them before Wang Jie. “Try these first. Here—more barrier-breaking pills. If you need more, come to me. As long as you can make it work, any cost is worth it.”

“You don’t need to return home for now,” he added. “There are plenty of places here. Choose what you like.”

Wang Jie chose a secluded valley far from Master Luan’s residence. He didn’t want a powerhouse like that watching him breathe.

He claimed he simply wanted quiet.

Master Luan nodded with satisfaction. “Those people who try every trick to see me are truly irritating. Your heart is calm. Keep it that way.”

Soon, Wang Jie settled in a beautiful hollow. Trees heavy with pink blossoms surrounded the place, breathtaking in their stillness. A cave prepared for seclusion sat within, once belonging to a master alchemist of the pill path. Formations lined its outer perimeter, all handed over to him.

Wang Jie closed his eyes, then opened them into his field. He tossed the Frostglow starforce starstone in.

Frostglow starforce rose in long strands, threaded with white cold mist—clearly different from ordinary starforce.

He steadied his breath, held a barrier-breaking pill, and guided the Frostglow starforce into it.

He’d never failed when infusing a tool. A pill, though—if anything was going to go wrong, it would be this.

The strands seeped in.

A thin layer of frost formed over the pill’s surface, visible even to the naked eye.

Wang Jie stared at it, uneasy. Was that success… or failure?

To test, he took out a second barrier-breaking pill—one untouched by star-refining—and swallowed it.

Coolness surged from his forehead to the crown of his head, then streamed through his limbs. His mind quieted. Even his heartbeat slowed.

In his head, sword steps unfolded with startling clarity, each movement crisp as if he were performing it himself.

Then he switched to the myriad-stars finger method.

He’d learned it long ago, yet he still couldn’t use it.

A finger technique wasn’t simply a combat move—fingers were fingers, and method was method. The myriad-stars finger method was more than a technique; it was also a chen art.

He understood the words. He’d memorized the form. But his control of lockforce wasn’t enough to bring it to life.

Now, as memory sharpened and deepened, he could feel his lockforce control improving—faster than even his training in the gravity zone.

If he’d had pills like this sooner, he might already be at one gaze, three thousand.

Three days later, he returned to Master Luan with the frost-covered pill.

“Junior doesn’t know what this counts as,” Wang Jie admitted, handing it over. “Senior, could you take a look?”

Master Luan snatched it up, held it to the light, sniffed it, then snapped, “Xiao Nian.”

Xia Xiao Nian appeared at once. “Master.”

“Bring the Scent Bird.”

“Yes.”

A parrot-like bird was brought in. It lowered its head, sniffed the barrier-breaking pill, then cried out—once, twice, three times, four.

Xia Xiao Nian’s eyes widened. “Four scents?”