An Alchemist's Path to Eternity

Outside the formation, Luo Chen watched the scene unfold with a faint smile of satisfaction. Offensive formations are far easier to break than defensive ones. Defensive formations are focused inward, layers within layers. The core is hard to locate and dismantle.

Breaking a defensive formation required overwhelming force or precise disruption of the formation’s nodes. Shattering Yang Wei’s Lightning Prison Grand Formation, for instance, had taken him immense effort; brute-forcing it had required him to unleash his most powerful spell, Landslide. The Sky Severing Blade Formation before him, on the other hand, was far simpler.

The moment it unleashed its power, it also exposed its weakest point. With his sharp eye and powerful spirit consciousness, Luo Chen had found the flaw in an instant. Breaking it was as easy as flipping a hand!

As the sword light dispersed and the formation collapsed, Luo Chen reversed his grip on the Mystic Flame Sword and drew a long breath. A faintly glowing orb of condensed sword energy slipped from between his lips. The orb hovered for a moment, spinning once in the air before shooting forward toward the youngest of the three cultivators.

The moment the three saw it, their courage broke.

”A sword cultivator! Run!” one shouted.

Sword cultivators were feared across the cultivation world—monsters of the battlefield, unrivaled among peers of the same realm. The man in the crimson robe was already at the sixth stage of Foundation Establishment, far stronger than they were to begin with. With a sword orb in play, they stood no chance.

However, when the sword orb reached its target, Jiang Yulang noticed something off. The man’s control wasn’t particularly refined. It lacked the precise, deadly elegance of a true sword cultivator. A flying blade streaked through the air and intercepted the orb. With fluid, dazzling turns and spins, it knocked the orb aside in a display that was as brilliant as it was telling—Jiang Yulang’s bet was correct. Seeing that, the two senior brothers let out a breath of relief.

”He doesn’t seem to be a true sword cultivator. Looks like he just refined that sword orb with his blood. Don’t worry, Junior Brother. I’ll help you!”

On the other side, Luo Chen simply smiled and shook his head. ”You’d best worry about yourselves first!”

As the words fell, a mountain came crashing down from heaven. It was the Thousandfold Summit!

The peak slammed down without hesitation, crushing one man into the ground.

Without pause, Luo Chen lifted his left hand and threw down seven thornflower seeds that embedded themselves deep into the sand. The earth shuddered as enormous vines erupted upward, twisting together to imprison another man in a living cage of thorns.

Every movement he made was precise and deliberate, and his techniques unfolded one after another in seamless coordination. Even while facing three opponents alone, he remained calm and composed, moving with the unhurried grace of a man strolling through his own courtyard!

From above came a roar filled with fury and fear. Under Chu Kui’s unrelenting assault, his opponent’s strength rapidly waned, and his injuries worsened with every passing moment. Luo Chen raised his head slightly, a glint of cold determination flickering in his eyes. It’s about time.

With a thought, the sword orb entangled with Jiang Yulang abruptly split in two. The lights coiled like serpents, weaving around the flying blade that had been holding them at bay.

Shhk! Shhk!

Both streaks struck with deadly precision, one piercing the man’s chest, the other drilling through his brow. Jiang Yulang crashed to the ground, his eyes still open in death.

”Junior Brother!”

”Yulang!”

Two furious howls rang out, but all they received in return was Chu Kui’s mad laughter and Luo Chen’s faint chuckle. ”You’d best take care of yourselves.”

As his hand swept downward, Thousandfold Summit pulsed with power. Waves of golden sand surged from every direction, drawn by the artifact’s gravitational force. Moments later, that force pressed down hard. The struggling early-stage Initiate stared wide-eyed in despair.

Boom!

Thousandfold Summit pressed down with a thunderous slam. The immense force flattened him into a pool of flesh in an instant. Luo Chen gave a nod of satisfaction. His artifact control extended well beyond the Mystic Flame Sword. The synergy between Earth Summit and the Thousandfold Summit was proving devastating, even rivaling the attack power of a late-stage Initiate. Against mere early-stage Initiates, it faced no challenge at all.

Suddenly, he turned his head. Within the cage of vines, a blade of brilliant light surged, preparing to strike. The last man was trying to gamble it all, willing to wound himself just to unleash one final attack with his enchanted treasure.

”Quite a bold one, I’ll give you that,” Luo Chen murmured. ”In desperate straits, you’re trading injury for time, trying to gather power for a killing strike with your enchanted treasure. Unfortunately...”

With a gesture, the sword orb shot forth once more. The streak of light pierced through the man’s skull before the strike could be released. The unstable enchanted treasure went completely out of control; its terrifying power erupted in a flash, reducing its owner’s corpse to scattered fragments.

Though the story was long-winded, the exchange itself had taken mere moments. Three lives had been lost in the blink of an eye.

Ximen Wuhai watched in horror as the three disciples he’d trained from youth died one after another. Rage and despair overtook reason. With a roar of madness, he surged forward, turning into a roaring blade dragon as he charged at Luo Chen. ”I’ll kill you!”

Luo Chen simply reversed his grip on the Mystic Flame Sword and stood motionless, quietly watching him.

When Ximen Wuhai reached three zhang away, a massive staff shadow descended from above like a bolt from heaven.

Bang!

Ximen Wuhai crashed to the ground, his eyes filled with resentment and disbelief until he breathed his last. A black staff capped with gold on both ends was embedded deep in his back.

Chu Kui hovered in the air. ”Sorry. Took a little longer than expected.”

Luo Chen shook his head. ”It’s fine. He was an eighth-stage Initiate. Finishing him off this quickly is already commendable.”

Chu Kui chuckled but didn’t take credit. He knew very well that it was Luo Chen who had done most of the work in this battle. Not only had he broken the formation and slain three enemies, but he’d also distracted Ximen Wuhai. Without Luo Chen’s efforts, Chu Kui would’ve had to go all out.

”You seem stronger than before. You didn’t even use your fire arts and still killed three early-stage Initiates with ease.”

Luo Chen simply smiled. Fire arts were trump cards, and he wouldn’t waste them lightly. With his abundant spirit power, formidable divine soul, and flawless artifact control, even his ordinary spells had reached the level of a late-stage Initiate’s strikes. There was no need for grand displays when precision alone could kill.

”What about those Qi Refinement cultivators?” Luo Chen asked.

Before his gaze, the late-stage Qi Refinement disciples of Bladewatch Sect were fleeing in a panic. Though they seemed far away, catching a few hundred of them would not be difficult if he and Chu Kui had decided to pursue.

Chu Kui hesitated briefly before answering, ”Let them go. Slaughtering too many low-tier cultivators will drag down our reputation.”

Luo Chen nodded. ”Then we’ll do it your way.”

The two of them turned back to the battlefield, calmly collecting the spoils of war. Merit points were calculated based on how many enemies one killed, but proving you were the killer came down to the spoils presented at the end. The best proof was a severed head. Next came enchanted artifacts or treasures with the owner’s spirit consciousness imprint. Once the owner died, their mark could confirm it. Last came witness testimony, though it was the least reliable. The system had its flaws, but it worked well enough; after all, no one dared lie before a Golden Core cultivator.

Before long, Luo Chen and Chu Kui returned with their spoils. For those Qi Refinement cultivators knocked unconscious by the shockwaves, they showed no mercy, killing them on sight. Their enchanted artifacts and storage pouches were likewise seized.

”Not a bad haul. Haven’t even unlocked the storage pouches yet, but I’ve already found two enchanted-treasure flying sabers, three supreme-grade enchanted artifacts... Oh, and that guy you crushed had an undamaged supreme-grade defensive enchanted artifact,” Chu Kui remarked.

”Give it here,” Luo Chen said without pretense.

Such items might have seemed trivial to late-stage or even mid-stage Initiates, yet they were precious resources for those of lower rank. With so many members in the Luo Tian Society, Luo Chen had to work hard to ensure they all had the best items they could. Chu Kui showed no hint of greed; they were here for merit points, and everything else could be sacrificed.

”So, what now?” Chu Kui asked.

Luo Chen narrowed his eyes and brought his hands together. Spirit energy gathered between his palms, forming a faint ring of light that slowly expanded outward. A Water Mirror took shape before them, reflecting the chaos of the battlefield.

”The battlefield’s spirit energy fluctuations are too strong. Spirit consciousness blasts everywhere, even Golden Core cultivators are watching. I can’t maintain the Water Mirror alone. Help me!”

Chu Kui grunted and promptly extended his spirit power to aid the Water Mirror. Soon, a full zhang-wide mirror shimmered before them. Scenes of battle played vividly upon its surface. They observed in silence, scanning for the next opportunity to strike.

Chu Kui’s eyes lit up. ”There! A retreating squad heading our way, five early-stage Initiates, three mid-stage ones, and one heavily injured at the seventh stage... looks like a sword cultivator.”

He glanced sideways with a grin. ”What do you think, Luo Chen? You in?”

Crack!

The Water Mirror shattered. Luo Chen’s face darkened, and his voice was deadly calm as he uttered just two words: ”Let’s go!”