An Alchemist's Path to Eternity

The mist over the desolate mountain began to recede. Luo Chen stepped out with a calm smile, casting a glance toward the two waiting cultivators.

”President!” Min Longyu stowed away his formation disc and bowed respectfully.

”Not bad at all! I don’t recall you using this formation before,” Luo Chen praised with a grin.

Min Longyu smiled faintly and said, ”I’ve used it before. It’s just a variation of the one I deployed during the battle at the Gaoling Plains.”

”Oh, I see. Makes sense,” Luo Chen said with a nod of realization. He hadn’t entered the formation during the Gaoling Plains battle himself, but he had heard plenty about it afterward. That formation was known for its disorienting effects, and had Min Longyu not secretly gone easy on them, the Luo Tian Society cultivators wouldn’t have escaped so easily.

”You’ve gotten more and more comfortable with the true form of Sky Roc,” Wang Yuan commented. ”You even managed to restrain your strength and spare that man’s life.”

The ability to strike and pull back freely was a testament to Luo Chen’s growing mastery. Luo Chen paused and glanced once more at the barren mountain behind them. ”I owe much of it to your guidance. Without your suggestions, I wouldn’t have been able to master these techniques so quickly.”

Wang Yuan simply shook his head. He had only offered some suggestions and corrections. The real progress came from Luo Chen’s relentless study and dedication.

But then, Luo Chen’s brow furrowed. ”It’s been a year already. Why are rogue cultivators still chasing after our Core Formation secret art?”

Min Longyu took over the conversation. ”It’s tied to the Great Dao. Who wouldn’t be tempted?”

Luo Chen shook his head firmly. ”That’s not the problem here.”

Min Longyu looked surprised.

After a brief silence, Wang Yuan spoke calmly, ”Indeed, the problem is not temptation. It’s that Chu Kui’s exchange of the Core Formation secret art was as discreet as possible. And on the way back to Tianlan Immortal City, we traveled day and night with barely any exposure. There’s no way our movements were announced everywhere just like that.”

Min Longyu suggested. ”Maybe someone inferred it from our sudden disappearance in the Merit Rankings?”

However, both Luo Chen and Wang Yuan shook their heads again. At the time, everyone’s focus had been on the Divine Transformation pocket world. If not for Ling Yuzhi’s prior connection to Chu Kui, she wouldn’t have found them so quickly.

Besides, the region had been on the verge of a ceasefire, and many vassal factions were burning through their stockpiled merit points to trade for whatever resources they needed. The Luo Tian Society’s exchange may have caused a ripple, but it was far from enough to explain the wave of pursuers. In other words, there was no clear answer.

Luo Chen clapped his hands. ”Come on, let’s head back to Danxia Peak. Next time you come across troublesome enemies, call me earlier. It’ll give me a chance to practice this new combat style.”

Then, with a teasing glance at Wang Yuan, he added, ”I’m kind of stealing your job, huh?”

Wang Yuan curled his lip but didn’t mind. He truly had hit a bottleneck in comprehending Transforming Force. Fighting wasn’t helping anymore. After years on the battlefield, he had reached major mastery in Dark Force and even touched the threshold of Transforming Force, but now, his momentum had stalled.

What he needed to do now was to rebuild his foundation, and so his attention had turned to the Myriad Path Convergence that Luo Chen had given him. If he could extract its principle and fuse it into his Physique Refinement path, there was a chance he could achieve major mastery in Transforming Force and make a clean breakthrough into Pill Force.

As the three continued walking, they soon passed the former territory of the Geng family. The spirit land had long since been leased by the Luo Tian Society and converted into a spirit beast farm, primarily raising silkworm-type spirit beasts. Under the management of Sima Huiniang and Xu Haizhen, they had also expanded into breeding first-tier demonic beasts with high meat yield. Today, the Beast Palace was a significant revenue stream for the Luo Tian Society. Luo Chen extended his spirit consciousness and surveyed the area, and a satisfied expression appeared on his face.

After passing the farm, Min Longyu noticed Luo Chen still walking with them and asked curiously, ”President, are you heading back to Danxia Peak today?”

”Yes,” Luo Chen replied.

Then he paused, and a smile tugged at the corners of his mouth. ”But keep it quiet. I’ll sneak in. Just stopping by... to pick someone up from work.”

Min Longyu’s expression stiffened. He could almost smell the faint tang of jealousy hanging in the air.

***

”Why are you here?”

”To take you home.”

Sima Huiniang was taken aback and asked, ”Are you staying at my place tonight?”

”Well, I am not against it.” Luo Chen slouched into a chair and casually beckoned over a bamboo scroll.

”You’re saying that as if you’re doing me a favor,” Sima Huiniang huffed and lowered her gaze to the documents on the table. ”Give me a moment. Once I finish reading Su Xiaolin’s intelligence report, we can leave.”

”Take your time,” Luo Chen said with a nod, his eyes already drifting to the contents of the jade scroll. It happened to cover an area he knew well—the pill business!

After skimming through it, Luo Chen’s brows furrowed. ”Didn’t Zheng Tianfang of the Rolling Dragon Ridge already die? The Zheng family has only two Initiates left. So why have we still not taken over their market share after all these years?”

Sima Huiniang looked up and tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear. ”It’s not that simple. The Zheng family has been acting strangely lately.”

“Hmm?”

Sima Huiniang’s expression grew grim. ”According to my original plan, we were going to seize this opportunity while the sects’ vassal forces suffered heavy losses to annex smaller groups and expand our business. The plan worked well at first. With intelligence from you and Chu Kui, even the ore business that Iron Sword Hall managed was swallowed up, with help from Luosha Market.”

The sect leader of Iron Sword Hall, Zuo Song, had died by Luo Chen’s hand, but since it had happened in the pocket world, nobody had any idea. Most still had no clue that the man had even died at all. Thus, under Sima Huiniang’s leadership, the Luo Tian Society made its move swiftly and silently, catching its opponents completely off guard. With Zuo Song gone and the Luo family of Luosha Market cooperating, the takeover had gone smoothly.

Yet it was the seemingly weaker Zheng family that had proven the stumbling block.

”According to the Luo Network, the Zheng family now has several foreign Initiates in their ranks. At least five, in fact. Unless we mount a full-scale attack, there’s no discreet way to eliminate them.”

A full-blown assault was out of the question. The two Nascent Soul sects had only reached a tacit ceasefire. No formal truce had been signed yet. In such a precarious time, no vassal force dared openly attack another force under a major sect’s umbrella. It was far too sensitive. If something was to be done, it had to be quiet. Ideally, it should be a joint operation with allied forces to share the risk.

Luo Chen was surprised. ”A sudden influx of Initiates? That’s odd.”

The Zheng family’s pill business was decent, nothing more. At most, it could sustain the cultivation of two or three Initiates, just like the Luo Tian Society in the early days. There was no way they could afford to hire multiple retainers. Having this many newcomers all at once was deeply suspicious.

Just then, hurried footsteps echoed from outside the hall. Sima Huiniang glanced toward Luo Chen, who gave a small nod and signaled that she didn’t need to avoid the visitor. Moments later, the visitor was granted entry and stepped into the hall.

”Director, I interrogated the captured cultivator and—President?” Su Xiaolin’s voice faltered in surprise upon seeing Luo Chen.

He stared in astonishment for a moment, then quickly bowed. It was unexpected to see Luo Chen here, yet somehow it made perfect sense.

Luo Chen nodded. ”What did you find? Let’s hear it.”

Su Xiaolin’s expression grew serious. ”It’s about the Core Formation secret arts! The rogue cultivator claimed that news of us redeeming all four has been publicly spread!”

Sima Huiniang’s expression shifted as she slapped the table. ”Who was it?”

Luo Chen’s face darkened as he fixed his gaze on Su Xiaolin. Under the weight of their stares, Su Xiaolin felt immense pressure descend upon him. He forced out three words with difficulty. ”The Flame Alliance.”