Chapter 42: Heart Tribulation (Additional Chapter, Seeking Readers!)

"He is a late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator from Mount Ailao!"

"This time, he came to the Great River Market to inspect and maintain the various spirit dwellings, as the Great River Market was originally designed and built by Mount Ailao for the Jade Tripod Sword Sect."

"Not only that, the Jade Tripod Sword Pavilion is planning to invest a large sum of money to have him redesign and construct new landmark buildings."

Upon hearing Gu Caiyi's words, Luo Chen's eyelids twitched.

Damn, he's a contractor!

No wonder he's so rich, casually giving away low-grade elixirs and magical artifacts.

But no matter how rich he is, he shouldn't be spending spirit stones like this!

Faced with Luo Chen's confusion, Gu Caiyi thought for a moment and tentatively said, "He has feelings for me?"

Upon hearing this, Gu Caiyi's mouth opened slightly, and she grabbed Luo Chen's arm.

"I have a chance at the Great Dao!"

Luo Chen rolled his eyes, "It's shameful to rely on a rich man, you know!"

Rely on a rich man?

Being a cultivator, Gu Caiyi instantly understood the term.

She fiercely hit Luo Chen, then seriously thought for a moment, muttering to herself, "I heard Fei Baiwen is a赘婿, with a Dao companion. And his Dao companion is the granddaughter of a Golden Core cultivator from Mount Ailao, so he probably doesn't dare to take a concubine."

So he's still a赘婿凤凰男?

She huffed, thought carefully, and sighed.

"Forget it, I shouldn't provoke such a person. Even if he has feelings for me, I can't afford to offend his Dao companion."

"Besides, it's not what I want."

After saying this, she prepared to leave.

Luo Chen called out from behind, "When you come back tomorrow, remember to buy five hundred jade bottles at the Auspicious Market, just this style. I'll give you the spirit stones later."

Gu Caiyi didn't turn back, just waved her hand.

Seeing her walk away, Luo Chen sighed and entered the alchemy room again.

"Failed again, why is the success rate so low in the afternoon?"

"Is two furnaces a day too much of a stretch?"

Luo Chen, covered in soot, looked at the pile of medicinal residue he had scooped out, feeling dejected.

One failure means five spirit stones down the drain.

But he was sure he had done his best!

He cleaned the alchemy furnace and tidied up the alchemy room.

After practicing some spells in the room, Luo Chen washed up and went to bed.

He took the last few Qi Nourishing Pills and circulated the Eternal Spring Technique.

He felt that it might be because his cultivation realm was too low, leading to a much lower success rate in the afternoon compared to the morning.

This made him more anxious during practice.

With his eyes tightly closed, he breathed in a special rhythm, but it seemed a bit heavier than usual.

"When will this life end?"

"Gu Caiyi is really lucky, getting elixirs and magical artifacts as gifts, while I have to earn them myself."

"Is a Foundation Establishment cultivator really interested in her? She is quite beautiful, though her face isn't as delicate as Xiang Xiang's, but her figure is really good."

"Why can't such a woman be mine, Luo Chen?"

"Ha, can a mid-stage Qi Condensation cultivator even deserve such a beauty? Unless I go to the mortal world and give up."

"But with five spiritual roots, can I even reach Foundation Establishment?"

"If all my hard work ends up being for nothing, wouldn't it be a waste of my youth?"

"Maybe I should relax a bit and not be so hard on myself."

"Perhaps there will be another reincarnation, and next time I'll be born with a heavenly spiritual root and powerful parents, hehe."

A faint fragrance, almost imperceptible, wafted into his nostrils, penetrating his soul.

"No, what am I thinking!"

Suddenly!

Luo Chen opened his eyes, a feeling of depression and oppression surged to his chest.

Pfft!

A mouthful of fresh red blood spattered on the floor tiles.

Staring blankly at the glaring red blood, a word popped into Luo Chen's mind.

"Heart Tribulation"

A somewhat unfamiliar but very fitting term.

During his practice just now, he had spontaneously generated many negative emotions.

These thoughts almost made the spiritual energy in his dantian boil during the circulation of the Eternal Spring Technique.

But shouldn't heart tribulations only appear in Golden Core cultivators or Nascent Soul Realms?

What virtue does he, a low-level Qi Condensation cultivator, have to encounter such a thing?

In a daze, Luo Chen began to actively sort out his emotions and recall what had just happened.

Gradually, he had a bit of insight.

"Perhaps it's because I've been in a new alchemy environment recently, causing my body to be overly fatigued."

"It's also possible that the low success rate and high costs have made me too anxious."

"Gu Caiyi's influence on me recently might also be a trigger."

Luo Chen thought a lot, even about the huge changes in his worldview and lifestyle before and after his reincarnation, which had accumulated many negative emotions.

It was just that the previous busyness had temporarily suppressed them.

Recently, as he relaxed, they gradually surfaced.

"If I hadn't woken up in time just now, I might have gone mad and died."

Recalling the feeling of spiritual energy boiling and raging through his meridians, Luo Chen felt a chill.

"Fortunately, the Moonlight Grass saved my life."

His gaze fell on the small white crescent grass on the bedside table, and he felt immensely relieved.

Moonlight Grass has the effect of calming the mind and stabilizing the soul, with better effects the older it is.

It is said that a thousand-year-old Moonlight Grass can even assist Nascent Soul Realms in cultivation.

Luo Chen didn't have a thousand-year-old Moonlight Grass, but he was only at the mid-stage Qi Condensation level.

Just now, it was the fragrance of this Moonlight Grass that suddenly woke him up, saving his life.

Shaking his head with a smile, he had unintentionally received a favor from Fu Xiuxiu.

But if he told others that he encountered a heart tribulation at the Qi Condensation stage, they probably wouldn't believe him!

After washing up, Luo Chen went outside.

It was late at night, and all was quiet.

Sitting on the small child-sized swing, Luo Chen gazed at the starry sky.

"It's just a minor obstacle on the path to immortality."

"So what if I have five spiritual roots? With enough resources, even a pig can become an immortal. Why should I belittle myself?"

"Strive, fight, until death!"

Under the starry sky, the man was as humble as dust, but his heart shone like a star.

The next day, it was still the same mundane tasks.

Luo Chen had already gotten used to it, especially after the heart tribulation last night, his mindset became even more peaceful.

Even though he failed in the morning, he didn't rush the second furnace of the Wondrous Pill in the afternoon.

"Rise!"

With a hand seal, the familiar Traction Technique, now at a proficient level, lifted the warm furnace lid slowly.

A familiar strange fragrance wafted into his nose.

Luo Chen smiled.

Success!

Unlike the spirit iron pot, the elixirs in the alchemy furnace can form under the control of the array.

Therefore, Luo Chen directly collected the ten Wondrous Pills with a jade bottle.

During the collection, he rubbed his temples.

Previously, every afternoon when he alchemized, he would often feel exhausted in the later stages.

But today, he didn't have that feeling?

And subtly, his mental energy seemed to have increased.

About twice as much.

"Is this the reward for breaking through the mental barrier last night?"

Luo Chen pondered.

It is said that when high-level cultivators transcend, besides the external thunder tribulation, there is also an internal heart tribulation.

Whether it's obsession, mental barriers, or external demons stirring the heart, high-level cultivators who endure the internal heart tribulation will gain unexpected benefits.

Luo Chen admitted he wasn't at that level, but others wouldn't encounter heart tribulations at the Qi Condensation stage.

So, this might indeed be the case.

This is naturally a good thing. At least, Luo Chen now had more confidence in alchemizing two furnaces of Wondrous Pills a day.

Moreover, he had a feeling that this experience might bring unexpected benefits in his future cultivation.

(End of Chapter)