Chapter 1

"Who am I? I am Long Chen."

"Am I the peerless Alchemy Emperor who looks down upon the world and the nine heavens—Long Chen? Or am I the wretched good-for-nothing who is bullied by everyone and cannot cultivate—Long Chen?"

His mind was in chaos, and his entire body was in excruciating pain. Long Chen couldn't help but stop his chaotic thoughts and let out a groan of pain.

"Chen'er, you're finally awake? That's great, Mother was so worried. Why did you have to challenge someone to a duel?"

A gentle voice sounded in Long Chen's ear, filled with joy and comfort, but it carried a hint of choking as it continued.

Long Chen slowly opened his eyes, and everything was blurry. As the scene gradually cleared, a woman's face appeared before him.

The woman looked to be in her thirties, very beautiful, but the deep crow's feet at the corners of her eyes betrayed her age.

At that moment, the woman was looking at Long Chen with tears in her eyes, filled with maternal love and indulgence, making Long Chen feel a warm sensation in his heart.

"Child, you scared Mother to death," the woman said, her eyes reddening even more, tears streaming down her face.

"Mother?"

Long Chen looked at this familiar yet somewhat unfamiliar face, calling out hesitantly, his face showing a hint of surprise.

"Child, don't scare Mother. Don't you recognize Mother anymore?" The woman's face immediately showed panic.

At that moment, an old man appeared beside the woman. He looked at Long Chen and said, "Lady Long, Young Master Long Chen's head suffered a severe blow. His mind might need some time to recover. Don't be too anxious. We just gave him some medicine, and the effects haven't fully taken hold yet. Let him rest more."

Lady Long looked at Long Chen with worry, nodded reluctantly, and left the room with the old man, somewhat reluctantly.

Long Chen faintly heard the old man whisper to the woman, "Lady Long, Young Master Long Chen has been fortunate to survive this time. We can't force everything."

Lady Long's voice trembled, "Master Alchemist, do you mean that my son..."

The old man, known as the Master Alchemist, sighed and said, "Young Master's head suffered a severe shock. To be honest, it's a miracle that he woke up. However, the aftereffects are very serious. Even amnesia is understandable..."

As they moved further away, Long Chen could no longer hear them clearly, only faintly hearing Lady Long's sobs.

Long Chen looked at the ceiling, feeling the intense pain all over his body, especially the throbbing pain in the back of his head.

"What's going on? I am Long Chen, and Lady Long is my mother. Why do I feel a sense of unfamiliarity towards her?"

"And all these chaotic memories, where do they come from? I seem to be an incredibly powerful figure, yet I'm also a wretched good-for-nothing."

"Alchemy Emperor Long Chen? Wretched good-for-nothing Long Chen? Which one is the real me? Is it the Alchemy Emperor reborn, or the wretched good-for-nothing who has merged with the Alchemy Emperor's soul?"

Endless questions swirled in Long Chen's mind. No matter what, I am Long Chen. Whether I'm a wretched good-for-nothing or an Alchemy Emperor, the most important thing is that I'm still alive.

Since the two sets of memories have merged, there's no point in dwelling on this foolish question. What I need to do now is to recover as quickly as possible.

He felt his body and found multiple fractures, three broken ribs, and two broken bones in one arm. The back of his head was severely damaged, with a large part of his skull caved in. It was a ruthless attack.

"Strange, I can't gather qi, but my soul power seems to be very strong, allowing me to sense the area within ten zhang around me."

Long Chen was pleasantly surprised. According to his chaotic memories, he knew that soul power was extremely valuable, especially for an alchemist.

He had gained a lot, whether it was the Alchemy Emperor reborn or the fusion of the Alchemy Emperor's memories. The former gave him another life, while the latter gave him the soul of an unparalleled powerhouse.

However, when he carefully examined his body, Long Chen's face changed.

"My spirit root has been sucked out, and a piece of my spirit bone in my chest is missing, as if it was dug out. There's a hole in my heart. Who could be so ruthless, taking away my spirit root, spirit bone, and spirit blood? No wonder I can't cultivate." Long Chen was furious.

Now, with his powerful soul power, he could see inside his body and discovered the secret of why he was a wretched good-for-nothing.

The spirit root, located in the dantian, is the root of cultivation. Without it, one cannot sense the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, let alone absorb it for cultivation.

The spirit blood is a trace of innate blood present at birth, which almost everyone has, though most cultivators are unaware of it.

The spirit bone is located in the chest, slightly protruding. Normal people don't have spirit bones, and even among cultivators, they are extremely rare, marking a supreme genius.

The place where Long Chen's spirit bone should be was clearly missing a piece, clearly a sign of it being dug out.

Long Chen's face was extremely grim. If not for the merged memories, he wouldn't have known that someone had tampered with his body.

Logically, these three things, though precious, are useless once removed from the body. Why go to such lengths to harm him? Such a method made his life worse than death.

However, no matter how angry he was, the three things were gone, and anger was meaningless.

"Better not let me find out who did this."

Long Chen gritted his teeth, it was too despicable. With a spirit bone, he was an absolute genius, no matter how he thought about it. Now, because of this despicable scoundrel, he had become a wretched good-for-nothing, bullied and looked down upon by everyone.

Just as Long Chen was seething with anger, the door was gently pushed open, and a pretty girl, about thirteen or fourteen years old, walked in. She was Long Chen's personal maid, named Baor.

"Master, it's time to take your medicine."

"Medicine? What medicine do you have in your hand?" Long Chen asked, his nose twitching slightly.

"This is the Tiger Bone Pill, which Lady spent a great deal to obtain. It can quickly heal your external injuries," Baor replied.

She opened a small, exquisite box, revealing the pill inside and said, "This pill is said to be made by the great alchemist Yun Qi, with very powerful medicinal effects. Master, let Baor help you take it."

Long Chen looked at the pill with a strange expression. Could this be called a pill? It was irregularly shaped, more like a meatball.

Not to mention the shape, the color was pitch black with no luster. If it weren't for the faint medicinal fragrance, Long Chen would have suspected it was a sheep droppings.

After a long look, Long Chen sighed. To waste over eighty percent of a pill's medicinal effects was quite a feat. He wondered how the "master" managed to do it. Even a bad pill could be this bad.

Pills are divided into five grades: inferior, middle, superior, supreme, and ultimate. The pill in his hand clearly didn't belong to any of these grades. Long Chen realized it was a defective product, a failed pill, which alchemists usually wouldn't sell because it would be embarrassing. They would often convert it into a medicinal liquid or throw it away.

"Master, don't just stare. Lady sold her jewelry to get this precious pill. Please take it quickly," Baor urged.

Long Chen felt a pang in his heart. In his memory, his mother loved him immensely, almost to the point of indulgence, rarely refusing him anything.

She had worried a lot about him. Lady Long was once a beauty, and though she was only in her thirties, the deep crow's feet at the corners of her eyes showed how much she had sacrificed for Long Chen.

Looking at the pill, though it was a defective product, the ingredients were of good quality. Even with eighty percent impurities, it would still be effective in treating his injuries.

After taking the pill, Long Chen instructed Baor not to reveal his recovery to anyone, including his mother.

Though Baor was puzzled, she nodded obediently out of trust in Long Chen.

Although Long Chen couldn't use his cultivation to refine the medicinal effects, he used his powerful soul power to guide the medicine to his injuries, resulting in a rapid recovery.

The next day, Long Chen slowly opened his eyes, a smile appearing on his lips as he moved his limbs.

Very good. Though the pill wasn't great, the quality of the ingredients was excellent. Except for the back of his head, most of his injuries had healed, and the pill was more than sufficient for treating external injuries. He walked slowly to the mirror.

Looking at the handsome young man with sharp eyebrows and bright eyes in the mirror, Long Chen said in a deep voice, "From today, I, Long Chen, will no longer be the same. I will rise."

Though his body was still weak, he could walk without any problems. Long Chen left the room, and the sun was already rising.

After half an hour of careful thought, Long Chen called Baor over and wrote down a list of medicinal ingredients, instructing her to buy them.

However, Baor looked troubled, and Long Chen immediately understood. The Long family was in dire straits, and Baor couldn't get money from the accountant.

Otherwise, his mother wouldn't have sold her jewelry, which was her dowry, something very precious. The Long family was truly in a sorry state.

Feeling in his pocket, he found over eighty silver coins, not much, but enough to buy the ingredients.

Baor was very diligent and returned with the ingredients in less than an hour. Long Chen immediately started mixing the ingredients in different proportions and placed them in a pot to boil.

After three hours, the thick medicinal liquid emitted a fragrant aroma. Long Chen looked at the cheap medicinal liquid and smiled.

"My rise will begin with this bowl of medicinal soup."