An Alchemist's Path to Eternity

After the white figure had vanished on the scarred and broken ground, Han Zheng slowly opened his eyes. In his arms, a straw puppet the size of a palm gave a brittle crack and split cleanly in two.

A death-substitute puppet! This was one of the Han family’s specialty secret items. It was thanks to this item that he had narrowly escaped death.

Han Zheng struggled to his feet. He had always believed himself extraordinary, as his mastery of puppet arts was far above his peers. His grandfather, Han Zhan, a Nascent Soul Sage, had personally crafted three puppets for him: one for flight, one for long-range attacks, and one for close-range battle. Among cultivators of the same realm, he was nearly unmatched. Even when facing late-stage Initiates, he dared to fight without retreat.

Yet before Blood Devil, every technique, ability, and treasure of his had proved useless. He had been nothing more than a powerless child. Worse still, during the fight, he had been distracted, and he hadn’t even managed to activate the defensive talismans his grandfather had gifted him. Had it not been for the death-substitute puppet shielding him at the last moment, he would have died then and there, his name erased from the world.

That man was a Pseudo-Adept, just half a step away from truly forming a core. Han Zheng had only reached the fifth stage of Foundation Establishment a few months earlier. The gap between them was far too great for any external tool to bridge. But the man who had killed Blood Devil...

Though Han Zheng hadn’t seen his face clearly, his spirit consciousness had caught every detail of that lightning-fast encounter. Using Xu Ji as a distraction, the man had faked an attack with a flying sword, then closed the distance in an instant with a burst of speed like lightning. With unimaginable strength, he had torn through even Blood Devil’s defensive enchanted treasure. Then, he had ripped Blood Devil in half in just one move. Such overwhelming power was nothing short of divine lightning descending from the heavens. Truly astonishing! Blood Devil had likely died without even realizing what was happening to him.

Even more shocking was that the man had barely revealed any spirit energy. Everything had been done purely through Physique Refinement techniques! Someone like this could not be an obscure nobody in the Jade Cauldron Domain!

”Could he be from another domain?” Han Zheng muttered under his breath.

He was unable to even take a guess at the man’s identity. But then he suddenly recalled what the Blood Devil had cried out in shock: ”It’s you!”

”Could they have known each other? In that case, let me take a look at your face, Blood Devil. Perhaps that will help me figure out where that man came from.”

He drew in a deep breath and stepped forward, ignoring the stench of blood that hung thick in the air. He channeled his spirit power to draw the corpse’s two halves together and disperse the disguise that still clung to it. The disguise faded, revealing the Blood Devil’s true appearance.

”Huh? Xuan Yu!? It’s not Wang Yuan of the Luo Tian Society?”

Recognition dawned as Han Zheng stared at a surprisingly familiar face. He remembered his trip to Tianlan Immortal City, the first great battle after his Foundation Establishment breakthrough, when he defeated a sword cultivator from the Jade Cauldron Sword Sect. That victory had marked the beginning of his fame. Among the onlookers that day had been this very man, strikingly handsome and well-dressed. He was from Peach Mountain, and rumor had it that he was the favored companion of Grand Elder Peach Blossom from the Hundred Flowers Palace.

”So it really wasn’t Wang Yuan.... But Xuan Yu is from the Jade Cauldron Domain too. If he knew that white figure, then perhaps that man also came from the same place. And if he practices Physique Refinement... Could that man actually be Wang Yuan? Was he angry at Xuan Yu for spreading rumors about him, and so killed him in a fit of rage? But... could Wang Yuan truly be that powerful?”

The intelligence Han Zheng had gathered on Wang Yuan was scarce. All he knew was that Wang Yuan was said to be a Physique Refinement cultivator of some repute. If that was the case, things started to make sense.

Still, one question remained. ”Why did he have to kill Junior Brother Xu Ji, though?”

His gaze fell on Xu Ji’s corpse; a large sword had pierced a clean hole through his chest. Han Zheng’s expression darkened. Earlier, Xu Ji had tried to flee, abandoning him to face death alone. The memory filled Han Zheng with disgust. Even now, seeing Xu Ji’s corpse stirred no sorrow. Yet when his eyes moved over the other five fallen sect brothers, a heavy ache rose within his chest.

At that moment, a streak of light shot in from the ruins and came to a halt beside him.

”Are you alright?”

Han Zheng looked up and brightened with joy. ”Uncle Linghu!”

Linghu Jie gave a quick look over the battlefield. His brow furrowed at the devastation before him, and when his eyes settled on Xuan Yu’s corpse, a trace of shock flickered.

”A Pseudo-Adept?”

”Yes,” Han Zheng replied. ”He is, or rather was, the infamous Blood Devil. But he was also Xuan Yu, from Grand Elder Peach Blossom’s lineage. He managed Peach Mountain under her name. And apparently, over the years, he roamed the battlefields, killing cultivators and harvesting their blood essence. I still don’t understand what purpose it served.”

Linghu Jie’s expression stiffened slightly, as though recalling an old rumor. Grand Elder Peach Blossom...

He shook his head and, with a sweep of his sleeve, gathered the corpses and belongings of the fallen Falling Cloud Sect disciples. Han Zheng frowned. ”Aren’t we going to use incense to gather their shattered souls?”

Linghu Jie patiently explained, ”The lightning energy here is too strong. Even when there’s no actual lightning, it permeates everything. Once they fell, their souls were annihilated instantly.”

Han Zheng was stunned. ”How is that possible?”

”Nothing is impossible,” Linghu Jie said solemnly. ”This pocket world belonged to a Divine Transformation cultivator who practiced the Dao of lightning. Even after a thousand years, lightning still converges here. The unique terrain of the Jilei Nine Mountains was likely formed only after this senior’s death.”

The running theory was that the Jilei Nine Mountains hadn’t even existed a thousand years back, but that was only a theory, not verified fact. After all, the Jade Cauldron Domain itself had only been conquered by human cultivators three or four centuries prior. Before it was called Jade Cauldron, this region had been known as the Lianxia Mountain Range!

”Let’s go,” Linghu Jie said. ”I’ll take you out first. This place no longer allows Initiates to play around.”

Seeing Han Zheng’s confusion, Linghu Jie continued in a measured tone, ”It seems that senior perished without being able to make full preparations. His remains should still lie within the center of the dwelling. It’s a fortune beyond measure. The so-called Golden Core sects have no power to claim it. When I return, I’ll report this to the Sages. Then, we’ll conduct a complete sweep.”

A sweep! Han Zheng jolted, and he instinctively asked, ”What about the Sword Sect?”

”They will be joining forces with us for the sweep,” Linghu Jie replied coolly, his eyes suddenly brimming with unmistakable murderous intent.

In that instant, he was no longer the patient and kind Uncle Linghu that Han Zheng knew. He had become the infamous ”Dread Elder Linghu” of the Falling Cloud Sect, a name that struck fear into the hearts of countless cultivators.

As they made their way out of the ruins, Linghu Jie asked about the battle.

Han Zheng recounted everything truthfully from the beginning, including how his distraction during the fight had allowed the enemy to subdue him easily, and how he had been forced to trigger the humiliating death-substitute puppet. Yet Linghu Jie didn’t scold him. Instead, he offered a gentle reminder to keep calm in future battles, to learn from this failure, and grow stronger from it.

Han Zheng kept certain things to himself about Xu Ji, however. He did not mention that Xu Ji had tried to escape and left him behind. That had been Xu Ji’s own choice, but if it was revealed, it would drag his master into disgrace. Han Zheng still maintained a decent relationship with Tian Xingzi, and he did not want to see that happen. The old man did not have many years left; it was better to let him live out his final days in peace. He also chose not to mention the white figure who had killed Xu Ji. Whether by chance or intent, that man had saved his life. If Linghu Jie learned of it, he would hunt the stranger down and cause unnecessary trouble.

At the same time, he decided to carve the teachings of this battle into his memory. Fellow disciples could serve as tools, but never as true allies. In the end, only strength could be trusted. Next time, he would act without hesitation. Like that white figure, he would strike once and kill in a single blow.

After a while, Linghu Jie brought Han Zheng out through the entrance of the pocket world. He told him to return and rest, then summoned other Falling Cloud Sect disciples to inquire about who had entered and exited the pocket world earlier. Once he confirmed that no suspicious individuals had appeared, he let the matter rest.

The matter of Blood Devil was not something to entangle too deeply. After all, behind that man stood Grand Elder Peach Blossom, one of the Hundred Flowers Palace’s three Adepts. And the Hundred Flowers Palace itself was a vassal of the Hehuan Sect, a Nascent Soul sect. If they stirred up this hornet’s nest, they might find themselves on the receiving end of disaster.

”From now on, no one enters. Not just rogue cultivators, even disciples of the four major sects are to be denied entry as well. Anyone who leaves is to be scanned with this enchanted treasure. If there is any reaction, report to me at once.”

Linghu Jie issued the order calmly. Amid the disciples’ astonishment, he even sent out voice transmissions to summon reinforcements and ensured that the entrance to the pocket world was sealed tighter than ever.

Without the outside world knowing, this so-called world of fortune had been completely removed from the reach of ordinary cultivators.