An Alchemist's Path to Eternity

Chapter 612: Breaking the Formation; Luo Chen’s Frenzied Slaughter(II)

Time slipped away quickly. In less than half a day, Luo Chen suddenly heard Fei Ming’s voice by his ear.

”Strange!”

”What is it?” Luo Chen frowned. ”Have you run into trouble breaking the formation?”

”Quite the opposite, and that’s exactly what puzzles me,” Fei Ming replied. ”Things are going a little too well. According to the Falling Cloud Sect’s intelligence, Incense Burning Valley’s terrain was devastated. The earth energy was blocked, the veins shifted, and the spirit energy was in chaos.”

”Is that not a good thing?”

”It is, which is why I dared to boast that two days would be enough. And when we probed just now, we discovered the Blazing Fire Grand Formation is actually weakening on its own. Breaking it will not take two days at all.”

This revelation left many momentarily at a loss. Could it be that the Flame Alliance, normally not lacking at all in terms of formations, had faltered even in laying down its defenses?

Luo Chen pondered for a moment, sweeping his gaze across the cultivators gathered on all sides. At last, he clenched his teeth. ”Let’s not overcomplicate things. If it can be broken, then break it. The advantage is ours. Once the formation falls, we will charge in and see if the Flame Alliance can withstand the assault.”

Meanwhile, Fei Ming frowned as he studied the parched and cracked mountainside. After a brief moment of thought, he could only agree with Luo Chen’s words.

Under his command, team after team of cultivators bombarded the foundations of the Blazing Fire Grand Formation. The key nodes in particular endured repeated strikes from several Adepts. Gradually, the crimson barrier shrouding Incense Burning Valley grew ever weaker. The fiery currents slowly reversed, surging back into the caverns through the twenty stone pillars. Anyone could tell from this scene that the formation was about to shatter.

Within Incense Burning Valley, Qin Tairan stared in disbelief. He went from calm confidence to growing anxiety, even sending repeated inquiries to Xuyang. ”Junior Brother, what is going on?”

A strained voice answered from below. ”Senior Brother, I underestimated Fei Ming’s mastery of formations. I cannot hold much longer.”

”You...”

”Senior Brother, prepare yourself for battle. In no more than the time it takes a stick of incense to burn, the Blazing Fire Grand Formation will collapse.”

The words struck Qin Tairan like a hammer blow, and his heart sank. How could this be happening? The formation had not even lasted half a day! With so little time, would the Golden Core allies they had summoned even make it in time to lend their support?

***

Crisp cracks rang out one after another. Everyone present understood that the Blazing Fire Formation was collapsing.

From below, four figures rose and took their places beside Luo Chen. With a bright laugh, Fei Ming announced, ”This formation will fall with the next strike. Are you ready?”

The other three nodded in unison. Then, under countless gazes, the four unleashed their strikes together. Surging mana gathered into a single, overwhelming blow.

In that instant—

Boom!

With a deafening roar, the crimson barrier that had stretched for a hundred li over Incense Burning Valley shattered in an instant. The scene within the valley was laid bare for all to see.

Qin Tairan, Elder Wang, and a dark-red figure were slowly rising from the ground. The last one was Xuyang, the third Golden Core cultivator of the Flame Alliance. Beyond them, over a hundred Flame Alliance Foundation Establishment cultivators and several thousand at Qi Refinement filled the valley, their gazes cold and unyielding as they faced the enemy outside.

Qin Tairan drew a deep breath, then growled, ”Everyone, stand with me today and restore the Flame Alliance’s glory! Let every invader be buried within Incense Burning Valley!”

The next heartbeat brought a thunderous response.

”Kill!”

”Kill!”

”Kill!”

In comparison, Luo Chen’s side looked noticeably less imposing. After all, no Qi Refinement disciples had been brought to this battle.

Still, far greater numbers of Initiates and Adepts fanned out in all directions and remained undisturbed by the disparity. Their gazes, sharp as wolves and tigers, fixed upon the enemies within Incense Burning Valley.

With a step forward and his sleeves billowing, Fei Ming pushed out into the open, his eyes flashing like lightning. ”Old dog, our unfinished battle ends today!”

Qin Tairan sneered. ”You alone are no match for me. Bring them all and face me together!”

As Qin Tairan spoke, his figure shot into the heavens, rising a thousand zhang in the blink of an eye. Fei Ming followed close behind. At Luo Chen’s side, Fairy Ruthless murmured, ”Fei Ming cannot handle Qin Tairan alone. I will go with him. Take care of yourself.”

Luo Chen gave a faint nod. In the next instant, Fairy Ruthless flicked her hand, and a talisman burst into flame without a breath of wind. From that blaze, a single-horned white flood-dragon emerged, coiling proudly as it took form. She stepped onto its back and sped after Fei Ming.

With the two of them gone, the two Adepts of Green Pill Valley frowned. They had intended to leave one behind to guard Dan Yangzi, confident that with four against three, they would still hold the upper hand. Yet Qin Tairan had proven troublesome enough to demand the combined efforts of both Fei Ming and Fairy Ruthless.

The two Adepts exchanged a glance and reached a quick understanding. Qiu Daochun declared, ”I will take Adept Xuyang. Fellow Daoist Che, you handle Elder Wang.”

Che Xiang nodded, sending out a thread of divine consciousness that locked onto Elder Wang, whose unease was plain to see. That was the challenge given; if refused, the assault would crash into the valley regardless. In such a case, the battlefield would shift entirely within Incense Burning Valley, and win or lose, the sect’s sacred ground would face devastation under the unrestrained might of Golden Core cultivators.

”Be careful. You have only just stepped onto the Golden Core Realm, and your techniques and abilities are not yet refined,” Qiu Daochun warned him. ”Once I defeat Xuyang, I will come to your aid.”

Che Xiang gave a faint smile. ”Fellow Daoist Qiu, I appreciate your concern, but I dare say I have my own means.”

With that, he stepped into the sky. At the same time, Adept Xuyang and Elder Wang also shot upward.

Qiu Daochun cast a concerned glance at Dan Yangzi, but he waved it off. ”There is no need to worry for me. With the Supreme Elder’s protections, even an Adept cannot harm me.”

Hearing this, Qiu Daochun was reassured. Green Pill Valley’s Supreme Elder, Qing Danzi, was not known for combat, yet as one of the most celebrated alchemists in the Jade Cauldron Domain, his wealth was immense and his hidden cards plentiful. A few gifts from him, combined with Dan Yangzi’s own cultivation at Perfected Mastery of Foundation Establishment, were enough to render him untouchable to ordinary cultivators of the same realm.

Once Qiu Daochun had also ascended, the forces remaining below did not diminish in spirit. Instead, like a pot of boiling water with the lid flung off, their fervor erupted to the utmost.

On Luo Chen’s side, every gaze fell upon him. Meeting those stares, he grinned savagely. Behind him, a pair of crimson spectral wings unfurled; beneath his robes, pale plates of condensed blood qi formed into a suit of armor.

”What are you waiting for? Kill with me!”

With that cry, he led the charge straight into Incense Burning Valley. Wang Yuan and Chu Kui followed without the slightest hesitation.

Dan Yangzi arched a brow at the sight. He felt as though he was seeing Luo Chen for the very first time. The Dan Chenzi who had once competed with him on the alchemy platform had seemed nothing like this. Yet this was definitely not the time to dwell on such thoughts.

”Disciples of Green Pill Valley, follow me!”

At the same time, the cultivators of the Ice Fortress and Ailao Mountain surged forth as well. Meanwhile, within Incense Burning Valley, cultivators rose into the air, weapons in hand, ready to meet them.

Within Incense Burning Valley, thousands of Qi Refinement cultivators gathered beneath the command of their elders, merging into vast combat formations. Such was the foundation of a major sect. Even disciples at the Qi Refinement stage, when joined in these combat formations, could take part in battles against Initiates.

At the very front, Luo Chen advanced with sharp eyes that missed nothing. He caught sight of the movement at once. ”Wang Yuan, Chu Kui, protect me!”

”Yes!”

”Yes!”

Without hesitation, Wang Yuan slapped the Black Armor Talisman onto his chest. His body swelled, and in the blink of an eye, he loomed two zhang tall, like a giant come to life. Chu Kui drew a deep breath and placed half of the Golden Core into his mouth. The long staff in his grip flared with alternating streaks of black and gold.

Protection meant giving their all. As Luo Chen’s most trusted men, both unleashed their full strength without reservation.

High above the valley, Xiao Lian commanded the defenders from a distance. The corner of his eye twitched violently at the sight, as though he sensed that something dreadful was about to unfold.

In the very next moment, Luo Chen stood between his two protectors, and a dark sword appeared in his hands as he chanted under his breath. A surge of spirit power erupted from within, rising with overwhelming force. Anyone watching could tell that whatever he was preparing to unleash would be devastating.

”Stop him!” Xiao Lian roared. In the next moment, countless artifacts and treasures shot toward Luo Chen and his protectors.

But it was too late.

Luo Chen had prepared for this battle far too long. Every move had been rehearsed countless times in his mind. What seemed like initiating a spell was in truth nothing more than the final trigger.

He rose into the air, gripped the sword with both hands, and drove it downward. The strike seemed to pierce the very void, and at the same time also drive deep into the earth itself.

”Landslide!”

His voice growled the word as veins bulged across his face.

At once, the mountains encircling Incense Burning Valley shuddered as one and collapsed together. Countless boulders rained down like meteors, blazing with fire as they hurtled in every direction. The Flame Alliance Initiates rushed desperately to resist.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

The air screamed with the sharp whistle of stones cutting through the sky.

Yet to Xiao Lian, it seemed nothing impressive. ”So this is his grand trick? Not even enough to threaten Initiates, and he dares to flaunt it?”

When the explosions faded, his gaze swept across the battlefield and found the Alliance’s Initiates mostly alive and unscathed, with only a few unlucky casualties. That only made him scoff further.

But then a shout rang out. ”Sect Master, look below!”

Below?

He looked down instinctively, and fury split his eyes wide. Within the valley, the ground cracked apart, and boulders hurtled in all directions. Streams of molten rock gushed forth and swallowed lives in waves.

The thousands of Flame Alliance Qi Refinement disciples who had gathered into formation now lay scattered across the ground. Cries of agony and screams of despair filled the valley, rising together into a dreadful roar. The sound struck even Xiao Lian, a Perfected Mastery Initiate, with a tremor in his soul.

He did not need to count. A single glance told him the truth. Dan Chenzi’s strike had slaughtered nearly a thousand Qi Refinement cultivators. Those who survived broke formation at once, scattering around in terror.

The combat formation!!!

By clustering together, they had handed Dan Chenzi the chance to unleash a devastating area attack. Otherwise, how could a mere Initiate possibly unleash such overwhelming destructive power, even with a large-scale offensive spell?

Upon realizing this, Xiao Lian’s lips moved soundlessly while his whole body trembled. These were Qi Refinement disciples! Rage erupted from him. ”Dan Chenzi! You disgrace the title of Initiate; how dare you butcher low-level disciples like this? I will see you dead!”