An Alchemist's Path to Eternity

After a round of careful reading, Luo Chen set down the scroll recording Transcending Cage with some regret. The art from Ailao Mountain indeed had its own unique merits. Its core concept centered on treating the body as a cage and using one’s breath and vital essence to forge the core. Only by breaking through this self-made prison could one truly embark upon the Dao of Golden Core. It embodied the old saying that to swallow the golden core was to seize one’s fate, to claim that life belonged to oneself, not to the heavens.

However, the art’s core concept bore similarities to the Dragon-Phoenix Tribulation of the Ice Fortress. Both required assistance from external medicinal power to cultivate a seed of the Golden Core. The preliminary steps were fairly straightforward. As long as one had the proper pills, forming the core’s embryonic stage wasn’t difficult.

But the success rate was far from ideal. Even after forming the Golden Core seed, one still needed to absorb enough spirit energy over time to fully manifest into a Golden Core, and the abilities of an Adept would still be beyond reach in the meantime. It paled in comparison to Beaded Curtain Lock, which promised one would already bear the traits of an Adept beforehand. This resulted in an immediate evolution once the Golden Core was formed.

”They say all Core Formation methods differ only in difficulty, not in the strength of the resulting core. But so far, Upper Path methods aren’t just harder; they’re leagues stronger than Lower Path ones. I wonder what the Middle Path looks like...” Luo Chen murmured.

He shook his head and set Transcending Cage aside, turning instead to Green Pill Valley’s Primordial Convergence. After going through both Dragon-Phoenix Tribulation and Transcending Cage, Luo Chen didn’t hold much hope for another Lower Path method, but still, there was no harm in gathering more knowledge. After all, even a Lower Path method might contain some wisdom worth learning.

Of course, Luo Chen’s days weren’t solely devoted to researching Core Formation. He supplemented his body through nourishing foods, continued refining the transformation abilities of his Sky Roc true form, and, from time to time, he refined large batches of pills. His spirit power had already recovered, allowing him to resume systematic cultivation. With that, time slipped by quietly and steadily as Luo Chen once more secluded himself to cultivate.

***

In the blink of an eye, another year had slipped by.

In a barren mountain range a hundred li from the former Geng family territory, where not a trace of spirit energy could be found, something unusual was unfolding.

For some reason, dense mist had filled the area since dawn. At first, it was taken for regular morning mist. But even as the sun rose high into the sky, the mist did not dissipate. The cultivators hidden within quickly realized something was wrong. They attempted to flee, only to discover that they were trapped inside an illusion formation.

Outside the range, three figures stood quietly in the open. All three radiated the steady presence of Foundation Establishment cultivators. Anyone who got close would immediately recognize them as senior members of the Luo Tian Society: Min Longyu, Su Xiaolin from the Luo Network, and Wang Yuan.

”For more than a year now, rogue cultivators have been spying on us. If it weren’t for Palace Leader Wang stepping in again and again, the Luo Tian Society would’ve already suffered serious damage. Also, one of the people hiding on this mountain today is at the ninth stage of Foundation Establishment. If Elder Min hadn’t acted, he might’ve escaped.”

Su Xiaolin expressed genuine admiration for Min Longyu’s formidable formation skills. After all, Min Longyu had managed to trap a ninth-stage Foundation Establishment grand cultivator and two mid-stage Foundation Establishment cultivators while only being in the fourth stage himself. That was no small feat.

Min Longyu gave a modest smile. His cultivation progress had been among the fastest in the Luo Tian Society. In less than twenty years, he had reached the middle stage of the Foundation Establishment Realm.

Aside from external recruits like Chu Kui and Xu Haizhen, his cultivation had already surpassed everyone in the society, including people like Wang Yuan and Duan Feng. Still, it wasn’t so surprising. After all, he had reached Foundation Establishment a few years earlier and was a master in formation arts. To design a customized formation for cultivation was well within his skill set.

”This isn’t my credit alone,” Min Longyu said casually. ”Elder Su, you were the one who gathered intelligence and spotted them early. It’s only thanks to you that I could set the formation before they fled. The real credit goes to you.”

Su Xiaolin waved off the praise. ”I wouldn’t have gotten this far without the Foundation Establishment Pills you brought back from the battlefield.”

He had successfully broken through to Foundation Establishment the previous year, ahead of Zhou Yuanli, Feng Xia, and Yuan Xiaoyue. Since then, he had taken charge of the Luo Network. The intelligence branch had grown ever more effective under his command, and he had become one of Director Sima Huiniang’s key aides.

Su Xiaolin noticed that Wang Yuan still hadn’t moved, and he asked, ”Palace Leader Wang, this enemy is quite formidable. Should I notify Palace Leader Chu?”

After the death of Sima Xian, Luo Chen had taken on the role of acting leader of the Battle Palace. However, three years ago, Chu Kui had joined the Luo Tian Society. After a period of observation, Sima Huiniang had taken it upon herself to appoint him as Battle Palace Leader.

There had been some murmurs of disapproval from the ranks below. But the Luo Tian Society’s leadership had unanimously approved, with not a single dissenting vote. After all, Chu Kui was a ninth-stage Initiate quite famous in Tianlan Immortal City, and he had once even exchanged blows with a Golden Core Adept. For a second-rate force, appointing him as a department chief was more than fitting.

Wang Yuan simply shook his head at Su Xiaolin’s question. Su Xiaolin looked puzzled. Wang Yuan doesn’t seem like he’s planning to act. Does he just want to trap the rogue cultivators and give them a warning? That’s not like him.

”Just wait a moment,” Wang Yuan said calmly.

Though Su Xiaolin brimmed with questions, he nodded and fell silent to wait. As it turned out, he didn’t have to wait long. Within minutes, a streak of green light pierced through the skies and descended toward them.

Wang Yuan lifted his head. The moment his eyes met the incoming figure’s, he gave a slow and deliberate nod. Without slowing down in the slightest, the green light plunged straight into the mist-shrouded formation below. As the figure flew deeper, the dense white mist parted on its own. It revealed a clear passage through the grand formation.

Su Xiaolin watched the scene unfold, and a thought began to take shape in his mind. So the President has really returned... That must be him!

Then, another question surfaced. Are we really just going to stand here and let him handle everything on his own?

He didn’t ask, though. Years of experience in intelligence work had long instilled in him the habit of speaking less, asking less, listening more, and doing more. His task was to gather intelligence, and the decisionmaking part was left to the others.

Even so, the idea of letting the president face everything on his own left a trace of worry lingering in his heart. With that concern pressing on him, he focused entirely on the mist-covered mountain. At the first sign of danger, he was ready to charge in without hesitation. Even if it cost him his life, he would make sure the president came to no harm.

As he watched, something shifted inside the mist. The three enemies within had sensed the change in the formation. In unison, they launched themselves outward in an attempt to escape. At that moment, a colossal creature emerged from the dense mist. Its vast form loomed faintly within the mist. The instant it appeared, a surge of crimson light swept out. Wherever the crimson light passed, the white mist was instantly tainted, transformed into a thick and suffocating miasma that surged forward and swallowed the two mid-stage Initiates.

In a flash, screams of agony echoed through the mountains. The last remaining cultivator was horrified by what he saw. He felt a chill pierce his soul. With his superior cultivation, he reacted swiftly and fled at lightning speed; in the blink of an eye, he had jumped atop his sword and shot out from the formation.

The moment his figure emerged from the mist, Su Xiaolin’s expression darkened. ”Not good, he got out! Palace Leader Wang, should we intervene and stop him?”

Wang Yuan did not answer. Instead, what responded was a massive claw that stretched forth from the depths of the white mist.

Whoosh!

Faced with the claw descending from the mist, the Initiate’s expression twisted with shock. In a flash, he activated the defensive measures he had long prepared. Earthen light flared, and three mountain-like walls sprang up in succession. It was a Threefold Earth Guardian Talisman! This talisman’s defenses were so strong that not even Adepts could break it with ease! With the talisman fully deployed, he finally felt a sliver of relief. Only now did he dare to glance at the attacker. Yet what he saw left him stunned.

”A demonic beast? How could there be a demonic beast so close to Tianlan Immortal City? No... it’s not just any beast. That’s a third-tier demonic beast!”

As disbelief surged through him, the colossal claw had already crashed into the Threefold Earth Guardian Talisman with overwhelming force.

Crack!

Crack!

Crack!

Like tofu struck by a hammer, the so-called invincible Threefold Earth Guardian Talisman shattered instantly under the might of that single claw. Worse still, it was not even able to decrease the force of the claw! With unrelenting momentum, the claw tore forward and slammed directly into the Initiate’s body.

Boom!

With a single and thunderous strike, the violent force sent the Initiate hurtling several li through the air. Only then did the massive claw retract slowly, with terrifying composure.

Su Xiaolin stood rooted to the spot, his mouth wide open, and his eyes bulging in disbelief. What he had just witnessed defied reason. In that brief moment, it felt as if he had caught a glimpse of a third-tier demon king from the depths of the Eastern Wilderness’s Great Million Mountains. When still, it inhaled clouds and exhaled mist; when it moved, it struck like lightning. How could that be possible?

”That man isn’t dead. Go pick him up, bring him back to the Luo Tian Society for interrogation, and extract every last bit of detail you can,” Wang Yuan commanded.

Su Xiaolin suppressed the surge of excitement in his chest and immediately rushed toward the spot where the Initiate had fallen. Sure enough, a middle-aged man lay unconscious in the center of a massive crater. His chest and abdomen had caved in, and even a hardened man like Su Xiaolin couldn’t help but swallow hard seeing a scene.

That was definitely not a third-tier demon king. Which means... it must have been some technique wielded by the President? he thought to himself. That thought was terrifying. A single strike had incapacitated a ninth-stage Foundation Establishment grand cultivator!

But then again, the president had once killed an Adept of the Flame Alliance head-on. How could a mere ninth-stage Initiate hope to rival that? Within the span of a few short breaths, Su Xiaolin’s shock and doubt had transformed into complete certainty. Luo Chen’s strength was indisputable.

Such a drastic mental shift would have been impossible had there been other people involved, but Luo Chen’s undefeated record over the years had inspired truly unshakable faith in Su Xiaolin.