An Alchemist's Path to Eternity

Among the mountains, a lone figure glided low through the air, maintaining a steady pace. A jade token rested in Luo Chen’s hand, and from time to time, he sent out faint pulses of spirit consciousness to search for Wang Yuan.

He had gradually come to understand just how convoluted and treacherous the terrain of the ninth mountain truly was. On the surface, it appeared lush and pristine, a place of natural beauty. Yet strangely, there were hardly any demonic beasts or wild creatures to be found.

He suspected it had to do with the thunderstorms. In only a few days since entering the mountain, he had already encountered two such storms. Though small in scale, the power of their lightning strikes posed a genuine threat even to Initiates. Luo Chen considered his physique strong, but even so, he had no intention of challenging the raw fury of natural lightning.

If that had been the only danger the ninth mountain held, he could have endured it. Unfortunately, the real threat lay elsewhere. The moment he stepped into the ninth mountain, he discovered that his spirit consciousness was being heavily suppressed.

With his formidable divine soul foundation, he could typically project his spirit consciousness over two dozen li with ease. Here, that range was crippled; he could barely sense things seven or eight li away, if that. Even the sound-transmission jade token, which normally functioned across a thousand li, had its range cut down to just three hundred or so! That was why, despite being in the mountains for some time, he had yet to find Wang Yuan.

Still, it wasn’t as though he’d gained nothing.

Luo Chen was highly proficient in Cleanse; he was able to purge all foreign energies. Not only could he purge foreign energies with ease, but years of honing that skill had also left him acutely sensitive to the subtlest fluctuations of energy flows. And at several sites stained with blood, he caught the faint, lingering traces of Wang Yuan’s energy flows, and he had been tracking those traces continuously. But after circling the area for quite some time, he realized he had been going in loops. It was all in vain.

Strange movement patterns, he thought. Isn’t he being hunted? Why does his path seem to trace the perimeter of the ninth mountain?

In truth, it wasn’t just along the outer edges. Luo Chen had tracked the energy flow deep into the mountain’s heart, only for it to vanish and reappear again along the outer fringes.

It feels as if the hunt has reversed. The finest hunters often take the guise of prey. Now it seems the roles have switched and Brother Wang is the one hunting them instead.

Luo Chen’s thoughts halted as he stepped into a wide clearing. A massive crater yawned before him, and along the torn earth, dozens of finger-thick holes punctured the ground in a chaotic pattern. He recognized it instantly. It was the Divine Blood Tribulation Finger!

After gaining insight into the transformations of blood qi, Wang Yuan had developed this personal killing move by integrating Bright Force as its core and drawing upon the strengths of various manuals. Luo Chen crouched down and swept his spirit consciousness across the finger-sized punctures. Faint traces of blood qi still lingered within, and their force was still potent even after several days. That alone spoke volumes about Wang Yuan’s strength.

It must be the batch of supreme-grade Blood Fiend pills I gave him, Luo Chen thought.

The Blood Fiend pill wasn’t just for opening meridians. It was a primary cultivation pill for Physique Refinement cultivators, infused with exceptionally dense blood qi. As for Luo Chen’s supreme-grade versions, they were the very cream of the crop; each one nearly equaled the total blood qi of a Perfected Mastery Qi Refinement cultivator! Back then, before Wang Yuan developed the Blood Fiend Seizing Formation, he had even attempted to use these pills to break through to Foundation Establishment, placing his hopes on the pill’s concentration of blood qi.

Just as Luo Chen felt relieved at Wang Yuan’s current state, a heavy doubt emerged in his mind.

Hold on a moment... If the traces are not fake, Brother Wang has been active within the ninth mountain for months. He hasn’t left the perimeter at all, ever. Which means... the Blood Devil rumors spreading outside couldn’t possibly be about him. So who is it, then?

Before the question could settle, a sound broke the silence. Slow and heavy footsteps approached from ahead. Luo Chen narrowed his eyes and rose to his feet. A cultivator staggered into view, his gaze dazed and his steps faltering. He stumbled forward with jerky and clumsy movements, nearly collapsing with every other step.

In that pitiful condition, anyone in their right mind would have fled upon seeing Luo Chen, who stood tall and unscathed, clearly not to be trifled with. After all, it was impossible to know at a glance whether he was an ally or foe. Even with friends, caution was still warranted. Yet instead of retreating, the man’s expression brightened with desperate hope the instant he saw Luo Chen. He reached out and called hoarsely, ”Fellow Daoist, save... save me!”

Luo Chen stared at him calmly. ”I can help you, but I need you to answer a few questions first.”

”Yes, anything!” blurted out the cultivator named Chu in a trembling voice. ”I will tell you everything I know. Just save me! Please!”

The desperate words seemed to drain the last of his strength, and he simply collapsed to one side. Luo Chen approached slowly and stopped beside him; as he stared from above, his gaze remained calm and cold.

”Were you one of the people chasing Wang Yuan?”

The man weakly nodded. ”Yes.”

”Who was leading you?”

”Withered Toad.”

”Who is Withered Toad?”

”I... I don’t know,” the man stammered. ”I’m not with the Flame Alliance, I serve under the Sword Sect.”

Luo Chen frowned slightly. Then he asked again, ”What about your injuries? How did you get them?”

”It was Wang Yuan... That devil!” the man gasped.

The moment he said that, the Chu-named cultivator suddenly writhed on the ground. Groans tore from his throat as strange gurgling sounds began to rise from within like water surging in a sealed chamber.

”Where is Wang Yuan?” Luo Chen demanded, his voice sharp.

”Save me, please save me...” the man cried out in agony.

Luo Chen’s frown deepened. A wave of spiritual power gathered in his palm as he cast Heal. A hazy green light enveloped the man. Yet the instant the light entered his body, a blood-curdling scream erupted.

”Ahhh!”

Luo Chen’s eyes widened, and he immediately retreated backward. Before his eyes, the cultivator swelled violently. Skin stretched tight across his body until it looked ready to burst.

Boom!

A wave of yin qi exploded outward. What had moments ago been faint and sinister turned fierce and tyrannical. Stones shattered into dust, and the surrounding trees disintegrated into ash.

Within a radius of ten zhang, there was nothing left but a torrential rain of blood. There was no flesh nor bones remaining. It was as if the cultivator had been nothing more than a giant water sack, or rather, a blood sack.

Luo Chen’s expression changed drastically. Is this one of Wang Yuan’s techniques? It is clearly not Bright Force, nor rudimentary Dark Force.Could this be Transforming Force?

Luo Chen could sense that, at the moment of the cultivator’s detonation, a qi force that had grown to its peak exploded from within, one that carried the transformations of both yin qi and blood qi! Moreover, it had not been controlled by anyone. If it had, even the blood rain alone could have been converted into a powerful wide-range attack capable of threatening a mid-stage Initiate.

Luo Chen had long been aware that Wang Yuan’s path of Physique Refinement had been incomplete, patched together from fragments and scattered methods. Even though he had worked to absorb the strengths of various methods, the flaws remained obvious especially when it came to combat!

In his early days, Wang Yuan could only rely on brute strength. If an opponent widened the distance between them, he had no way to respond. That was why he eventually created the Divine Blood Tribulation Finger, to fill the gap in his lack of long range offense. However, the Divine Blood Tribulation Finger was rigid. It was brutally direct and lacked any room for subtlety or variation. It couldn’t compare to the fluid, versatile control cultivators had over their enchanted artifacts.

After the battle at Qinhua River, when the Luo Tian Society launched campaigns across multiple fronts, Wang Yuan had created a technique that allowed him to control the trajectory of his attacks mid-battle. He had named it Immortal Return to Pengying![1]

This technique was truly powerful. In one-on-one combat, cultivators of the same tier would have a hard time defending against it. However, it was ultimately just a minor refinement. All this while, Luo Chen had admired it, but never truly held it in high regard.

All things considered, Wang Yuan lacked any true long-ranged killing techniques. Much unlike Luo Chen himself, who had been fighting multiple opponents since the day he stepped into the cultivation world. Whether it was the battle at Crescent Moon Valley, the clash on the Gaoling Plains, or the confrontation at Qinhua River, Luo Chen had never faced fewer than two opponents of the same realm at once. What allowed him to survive those battles was his large-scale, wide-coverage, destructive spells capable of overwhelming multiple enemies at once.

Now, It seemed Wang Yuan had finally created a method to compensate for that gap. Luo Chen slowly approached the spot where the cultivator had perished. A shallow pit had formed at the site, its basin filled with thick, murky blood.

Brother Wang, what would you even call this technique? It’s so domineering, yet so insidious and underhanded... perhaps Blood Devil Transformation Finger?

As Luo Chen murmured to himself, he prepared to cast Fireball and Cleanse to destroy all traces at the site. All along his path, he had erased any lingering trace of Wang Yuan’s presence, and that was to prevent others from tracking them down. After all, the legend of the Blood Devil still pointed directly to Wang Yuan.

Just as Luo Chen was about to act, a sudden and overwhelming sense of danger surged in his heart!

There was no time to react; his instincts kicked in. A pair of spirit energy wings unfurled behind him, and in a flash, his figure shot across the pit like a streak of lightning, retreating more than ten zhang away.

When he turned, his expression hardened. At the edge of the blood pit stood a masked figure watching him in quiet surprise.

”What exquisite flight technique... To think that the famed genius alchemist of the Jade Cauldron Domain not only excels in fire spells but also commands such remarkable flight techniques.”

The hoarse, grating voice sounded as if his throat was lined with sandpaper. It was harsh enough to make one’s skin crawl. Hearing that chilling voice, Luo Chen’s expression grew grim.

”Fellow Daoist, you seem to know quite a lot about me, yet I know nothing of you.”

The masked man slowly shook his head. ”My name isn’t worth remembering. You may call me the Blood Devil.”

As he spoke, his gaze fell upon the blood pit, and the eyes beneath the mask gleamed with delight. Across from him, Luo Chen’s expression darkened completely. Indeed, the Blood Devil said to wander the battlefields was not Wang Yuan after all—it was this man standing before him. By sheer misfortune, their paths had crossed.

”Hmph! You hide your face, conceal your name, and come seeking me. What is it you truly want?”

The Blood Devil offered no answer. Instead, with a casual wave of his hand, the thick black blood in the pit condensed into a small mass that floated toward his palm. He examined it briefly, then shook his head with faint regret.

”A mid-stage Initiate’s blood essence,” he murmured. ”It is strong and pure. It is from a Physique Refinement cultivator, no doubt. What a pity. It’s already spoiled, tainted by fusion, saturated with filth.”

With a flick of his wrist, he tossed it aside. The lump of blood dropped to the ground with a dull splatter, immediately corroding a fresh pit into the earth. He turned back toward Luo Chen, his pale lips pressing together in interest.

”You’ve got a fine physique, and your cultivation of qi isn’t bad either. I’d wager your blood essence isn’t any weaker than Wang Yuan’s... Am I right?”

So he wants my blood essence? Luo Chen let out a cold laugh, enraged. ”You sure have an appetite. I’d really like to see what you’re capable of!”

As he spoke, his spirit energy surged as he slapped the ground with one palm. The Blood Devil watched him with a gleam of curiosity in his eyes, muttering under his breath. They say the Fire Spirit Lord’s fire arts are unrivaled in Tianlan Immortal City. I wouldn’t mind seeing a glimpse of that for myself.

But what happened next caught him completely off guard. From the ground, massive thorned vines burst forth. Twisting like dragons and serpents, they lashed out with jagged black thorns gleaming with poison. In an instant, countless vines surged toward him.

”Such swift spellcasting, and what a powerful wood-element spell!” he said in praise.

Yet he remained still. A faint ripple of pink light spread outward from his body, soft yet pervasive. Before the vines reached him, they withered midair and fell lifeless to the ground. One by one, they shrank and curled into themselves until only a scattering of seeds remained.

The Blood Devil curled his lips. ”A fine wood-element spell, but far too low in tier—barely first rank. Even with second-tier thornflower seeds supporting it, it still—”

Just as he spoke, his expression shifted. ”What a cunning little brat!”

In the distance, Luo Chen had already unfurled a pair of crimson wings. With a single powerful beat, he vanished into the horizon. From the very beginning, he had never intended to engage the Blood Devil in combat. The Vine Bind earlier had merely been a feint, a tactic to distract attention for a few moments.

A flicker of rage passed through the Blood Devil’s eyes. He leapt onto his flying sword and gave chase at once. Yet the farther he pursued, the more astonished he became; Luo Chen’s flight speed was nothing short of extraordinary. Despite the vast difference in their cultivation, the distance between them only widened.

”Seems like I’ll have to use other methods,” the Blood Devil muttered darkly, his voice low and cold.

A drop of fresh blood fell from his fingertip and landed on the flying sword beneath his feet. In the blink of an eye, his speed surged by thirty percent. Yet, even with that burst of speed, he had only just managed to match the figure ahead!

”What an exquisite flight technique,” the Blood Devil murmured to himself, his eyes gleaming. ”If I could master it and pair it with Blood Escape, even a Golden Core Adept wouldn’t be able to catch me!”

At first, it had been Luo Chen’s blood essence that caught his eye. But now, the Blood Devil’s attention had clearly shifted to Luo Chen’s flight technique. ”Let’s see how long you can keep it up. Flying at that speed with just sixth-stage Foundation Establishment cultivation... You’re bound to burn out soon.”

He was certain Luo Chen couldn’t keep it up for long, but as he gave chase, his brow suddenly furrowed. A flash of sword light burst beneath him, and he instinctively veered three zhang to the side. A heartbeat later, dozens of vicious thorned vines erupted from the very spot he’d just vacated, whipping through the air like crazed serpents.

”Reusing the same trick?” he said coldly. ”That won’t work on me.”

”Is that so?” a voice echoed.

The voice came from ahead. The Blood Devil froze, and his eyes snapped forward just in time to see Luo Chen, who had seemed to be fleeing, abruptly turn back and slam his palm toward the ground.

From above, a deafening rumble filled the sky. The Blood Devil looked up in alarm. A massive mountain was descending upon him, conjured so seamlessly that it had formed without a hint of warning. Soil, rock, and trees surged upward from every direction, converging into a vast peak.

It was Earth Summit at Perfected Mastery!

Without panic, the Blood Devil lifted a hand. A length of soft, rose-colored silk drifted from his sleeve, unfurling gracefully in the air. The ribbon looked fragile, almost weightless, yet it met the mountain’s crushing descent and held it suspended.

”Is that all you’ve got?” he called out mockingly. ”What about your famed fire spells? Aren’t they supposed to be unmatched? Why not use them?”

Luo Chen sneered. ”Then keep your eyes open!”

He raised his longsword high. One by one, crimson fire comets swirled into being, then hurtled through the sky toward the Blood Devil.

The Blood Devil frowned, formed a hand seal, and sent his flying sword surging toward the incoming fire comets. ”A decent trick, but it won’t be enough to—”

His expression shifted. He suddenly realized that... he was being pushed downward! A terrifying force was pressing down from above. Atop the conjured mountain formed by Earth Summit hovered another peak: a supreme-grade enchanted artifact, Thousandfold Summit!

Luo Chen’s Earth Summit pushed to Perfected Mastery, combined with Thousandfold Summit, produced enough force to crush nearly any Initiate.

At the same time, Luo Chen’s longsword danced through the air, weaving profound, arcane patterns across the void. Each stroke traced a path so intricate it was practically impossible to follow with the naked eye. Within him, torrents of spirit energy surged through his widened meridians, roaring forth like mighty rivers. A blazing sun materialized in the sky above the Blood Devil.

”Damn it!” The Blood Devil cursed, no longer the composed figure he had been. With a furious roar, his flying sword shot upward, shattering Earth Summit and knocking Thousandfold Summit aside. Yet in that instant, the crimson silk ribbon that had drifted harmlessly moments ago snapped tight around his body, coiling like a living serpent.

Boom!

The blazing sun detonated, unleashing endless waves of fire that swept outward in all directions. Each surge converged on the Blood Devil, intent on consuming him completely and leaving nothing behind.

A sharp gleam flashed across Luo Chen’s eyes. Still not enough!

That red ribbon was a defensive enchanted treasure. Even with the full force of Solar Flare unleashed through the blade, it hadn’t been enough to destroy him. Yet it had created an opening. With a single thought, his Mystical Flame Sword tore through the air, carrying countless fire comets. Like a meteor shower, they rained down with devastating force.

Just then, a sudden crack of lightning split the heavens above. Luo Chen’s expression shifted. He swept his arm, activating his Crimson Cloud Wings, and shot backward dozens of zhang.

The next instant, a bolt of lightning, as thick as a barrel, came crashing down from the sky. When he looked up, a vast dark cloud churned overhead. Within its depths, serpentine streaks of silver lightning coiled and flickered. It was a thunderstorm!

Luo Chen took a deep breath, recalled Thousandfold Summit, and grasped his Mystical Flame Sword, casting a cold glance at the Blood Devil.

”Consider yourself lucky,” he said.

The moment the words left his lips, his figure blurred. In a flash, he appeared over ten zhang away. With a few more rapid shifts, he vanished completely, gone without a trace.

Back on the battlefield, where fire and lightning still collided, the red ribbon unfurled slowly. Charred black scorch marks marred its once-lustrous sheen. The Blood Devil’s face was pale, and his jaw clenched as he withdrew from the edge of the storm. His eyes stayed fixed on the direction Luo Chen had disappeared.

Only after a long pause did he utter a few words. ”Consider yourself lucky. Next time... you better not fall into my hands.”

1. 蓬瀛 (peng ying) refers to two of the legendary Three Divine Isles (三神山) in Chinese mythology, Penglai (蓬莱) and Yingzhou (瀛洲)believed to be mystical islands in the Eastern Sea inhabited by immortals. These isles are often depicted as paradisiacal realms, shrouded in clouds and unreachable by ordinary mortals. In Daoist and cultivation literature, 蓬瀛 has become a poetic metonym for the immortal world. To say someone has ”reached Pengying” is to imply they have stepped beyond the mundane into a divine, transcendent place. ☜