Read until official chapter 350 (chapter 858 on Wuxiaworld)

I wish I could say I genuinely enjoyed this novel. It started off promising, with decent pacing and a protagonist focused on cultivation and alchemy. But then came the slow, realization that I had accidentally sunk hours into what eventually morphs into a harem story.

At first, it’s ambiguous, does it have harem elements or not? The early romance is almost non-existant with only a few flirtations. But that illusion breaks once the MC hits Foundation Establishment. Suddenly, women around him flock... more>> to him like no other. Deep friendships turn into romantic feelings and a woman who has never even glanced at the MC is throwing herslef into his arms. Although the relationship that starts from this seems casual it quickly turns into him proclaiming her as his "wife" although their relationship is non-existant outside of ho*kups and business related matters.

As the MC rises in fame, the author seems intent on sprinkling in more female cultivators who fall for him with zero buildup or reason beyond proximity and his pill-making prowess.

To make matters worse, the story starts to feel shackled by its own cast. The author develops side characters early on, only to later keep them around indefinitely, regardless of talent, benefiting from the MC’s divine alchemy. There's a brief moment of emotional weight when one character dies, but afterward, everyone seems to only suffer injuries from failed breakthroughs which can always be healed due to the MC.

The writer only makes it worse as he even has to resort to forcibly separating the MC from his sidecast and "wives" for hundreds of chapters so he can go out and seek power and, accidentaly, acquire a new "wife". <<less

As far as novels in its category go Immortality Begins as an Alchemy Master is definitely top-tier. I've seen a ton of similar system tropes but few are nearly as well paced as this one (like My Longevity Simulation or I Can See Through Everything). The aspect of gradual progression with alchemy as the true main path is very gratifying, which I would recommend. If this sounds like what you like it could be an enjoyable read for you too.

On another note, the page for Immortality Begins as an Alchemy Master has changed recently to include harem but from the current pacing of the novel and temperament of Luo Chen it feels really unlikely- can fellow readers please confirm?

Review: Confusing Harem Status & Translation Transparency

I've been following An Alchemist's Path to Eternity on Wuxiaworld and was initially drawn in by its focus on alchemy and cultivation. However, I ran into a frustrating and confusing issue regarding the presence of harem/polygamy elements—something I actively avoid.

1. Is it a harem or not?

... more>> On Wuxiaworld, the translated version has no harem or polygamy tags, and early chapters seem romance-light or focused entirely on cultivation and personal growth.

However, after digging deeper and asking ChatGPT to help investigate, I discovered something surprising: on Novel Updates, the novel is tagged with "Polygamy."

This discrepancy is critical for readers like me who rely on accurate tagging to choose what we read.

2. The Translation/Title Confusion

Wuxiaworld hosts the novel under the title:

An Alchemist's Path to Eternity

But the same novel appears on Novel Updates as:

Immortality Begins With Becoming an Alchemy Grandmaster

Both versions are based on the Chinese novel 长生从炼丹宗师开始 by 雨去欲续.

The Novel Updates page confirms they are the same work, listing "An Alchemist's Path to Eternity" as an associated name. However, only Novel Updates includes the "Polygamy" tag, which is entirely absent from Wuxiaworld's page.

3. Why This Matters

This creates confusion and potentially misleads readers. Someone avoiding harem tropes (like me) might begin reading on Wuxiaworld, unaware that the full story might include multiple romantic partners or harem elements later. The fact that this important detail is omitted from the translation platform is disappointing.

Final Thoughts

At some point, while squinting at three open tabs, scratching my head over character names, and typing "is this secretly a harem??" into Google for the third time, I gave up and asked ChatGPT to be my literary bloodhound. And, to its credit, it sniffed out the whole trail — title changes, hidden tags, alternate translations, and all.

So props to ChatGPT for doing the digital equivalent of rummaging through dusty scrolls in a library, only to confirm: yes, this might indeed be a slow-burn harem wrapped in a robe of serious alchemy. I asked for clarity, and instead got a well-reasoned "maybe—but here's all the evidence."

Thanks, robot friend. You might not be immortal, but you sure know how to read the fine print. <<less

The System is not OP.

There are other novels with a similar system, but one with pacing as good as this is super rare.

The character development is captivating because it involves real-life daily routines, which some might find boring.

Like bloody romance and fights???? THIS NOVEL IS NOT ABOUT THAT... until now

It's slow-paced and talks a lot about everyday situations, neighbors, and such.

FOCUSED ON ALCHEMY, plus cultivation descriptions that are SUPER detailed lol.

Clear separation between the Mortal world (martial arts) and the cultivators who are seeking immortality.

Read till 100.

A novel about an alchemist MC with a system. I tend to avoid novels that have MC with exclusive system. This time, I gave it a try. The System is not too OP. There's no system's quest/mission that boosts him or a lazy way to develop a story. The system reflects his proficiency on his current skill and realm. Then gave him some bonus everytime he reaches a milestone in his proficiency.

I'm making this review because of Pane's review. It's a slice of life so it will have... more>> a lot of mundane things such as getting to know your neighbors, selling his pills, etc. BUT, it's not completely irrelevant to the plot. The orgs are important. His neighbors do have a part in the plot. He's not a big shot. He's transmigrated there and knows no one else. Thus, he needs these connections to navigate through this new world.

Again, it's a slice of life. There will be parts that will bore you but it enriches the story.

I like the characters. The slice of life part of the story develops and humanise them well. It makes you gave a f*ck about his little neighborhood. I can't say much about the villains since there's no clear villain yet more of a potential enemy except that one character but He's more of a goon than an actually a big bad guy.

I will gave it a 5 for the mean time. Would recommend if you like alchemy, a little bit of slice of life, and cultivation. If it goes where I want it to go, it will be one of my favorite novels. <<less

A novel about a MC with a skill progression system. The concept is already a repetitive grind of skill points as is and the author decided to add filler paragraphs on top of it.

When the MC moves to the inner city the novel focuses on introducing organizations and characters who are barely relevant. The MC visits a store? Well, here's the entire background and the names of the shopkeeper and the assistants. The MC moves to a new house? Let's introduce all his neighbors and their jobs and cultivation levels.

The... more>> MC doesn't have a single redeeming quality or much of a character at all and since he's "cautious" the novel has no adventure at all. He acts like a bootlicker all the time.

Maybe the story improves after all it's 900+ chapters but the beginning is extremely bad. Do not read. <<less