An Alchemist's Path to Eternity

High above the clouds, a flying boat drifted steadily through the sky, its hull parting the mist as it glided forward. Within the flying boat, Luo Chen calmly sorted through the possessions left behind by Miao Wen. The man had spent decades managing Dahe Market’s affairs and had accumulated considerable wealth.

Although it was far less than Luo Chen’s current fortune of nearly ten million, it still surpassed that of most Initiates by quite a bit. There were no fewer than two hundred thousand spirit stones alone. It didn’t sound like much, yet Miao Wen had only been an early-stage Foundation Establishment steward of the sect.

Beyond the stones lay an abundance of rare materials. There were second-tier ores, third-tier metals, and even several of fourth-tier quality! Among them were three pieces of Profound-Link Celestial Crystal, something Luo Chen himself had already collected in abundance. Altogether, the materials alone were worth several hundred thousand as well. Practically, the man had been almost a millionaire.

Aside from that, the remaining resources were modest. A few talismans for voice transmission, cleansing, and concealment, the kind commonly used in daily life. There were also a handful of pills; the pills were of decent quality, including a number of second-tier mid-grade ones. As for cultivation manuals and formations, there was little to be found.

It wasn’t hard to guess why his resources were so skewed. He had been a sword cultivator. Those who walked the sword path rarely carried more than what was necessary for cultivation. Even so, Miao Wen’s wealth was still impressive. Even True Inheritor disciples of major sects could not compare.

”No wonder he made so much effort to maintain his position in Dahe Market. This place is perfect for gathering rare resources and accumulating fortune, free from the sect’s restrictions,” Luo Chen murmured.

There was truly no better-suited phrase than ”the heavens are high and the emperor far away.”

Luo Chen took a small wooden box from the pile, opened it briefly, then carefully closed it again. Inside lay a Seven Star Heaven Lamp Fruit—a third-tier spirit fruit worth more than most fourth-tier plants.

Its value came from its ability to extend life. With six of its seven stars shining, it could prolong life by eighteen years. A treasure like that was exactly what Luo Chen needed. The refinement of the Withering-Flourishing Fire had drained a full century of his lifespan. Although his cultivation had since advanced rapidly, the thought of that lost time still hung over him like a sword suspended by a single hair.

The Seven Star Heaven Lamp Fruit came at the perfect time, easing the silent weight on his heart. After storing away the life-extending treasure, Luo Chen drew out another object from Miao Wen’s storage pouch. It was an enchanted treasure, and a mystical one at that. It was a disc about the size of a palm, engraved with crescent moons of violet and gold. He infused a wisp of spirit power.

Swish!

From its edge sprang a ring of sharp, menacing blades. As his fingers flicked, the disc spun before him, faintly projecting images of countless crescent blades waiting to manifest. With a thought, he withdrew his spirit power.

”Heavenly Moon Purple Gold Wheel! Who would’ve thought it would return to me after all this time?” Luo Chen murmured.

Indeed, this was the very first enchanted treasure he had ever encountered. It had once appeared at the Dahe Market Sword Pavilion auction, and had been purchased by Mi Shuhua for a staggering eighty thousand spirit stones. Later, it was seized by a Golden Core rogue cultivator retainer of the Lianyun Trade Alliance, then taken again by Pang Renxiong during the battle at the Lanchang River. The powerful sword cultivator had little use for such things and had gifted it to Miao Wen, while the Forsaken Black Chess Piece was given to Luo Tianhong. Now, forty years later, time had swept everything away. Both the Forsaken Black Chess Piece and the Heavenly Moon Purple Gold Wheel had ended up in Luo Chen’s hands.

Luo Chen hesitated as he gazed at the spinning disc in his hand. ”Miao Wen didn’t spend much effort refining this treasure; his mark should be easy to erase. But it’ll take some effort to refine it fully and control it at will.”

At last, his eyes turned toward Magnetic Essence Valley beneath Cloudless Mountain. ”I just thought it’d be good if I buried you along with your family. Yet that decision also brought me the treasure you spent your life’s fortune to obtain. Should I take that as your final gift? I’ll decide what to do with it after returning.”

Luo Chen had no shortage of enchanted treasures. In fact, the number of such treasures in his possession would have astonished most cultivators. There had been a time when he owned more than thirty flying swords, though most were later entrusted to Min Longyu and buried beneath Danxia Peak to serve as the nodes of its grand defensive formation.

Since reaching Foundation Establishment, ordinary enchanted treasures had ceased to concern him. Naturally, this one also stirred little emotion in his heart. What made him regard it differently was its link to Mi Shuhua and the high price it had been sold for... and the fact that it likely concealed greater potential than it appeared to have at first glance.

With that, Luo Chen had more or less sorted through Miao Wen’s legacy. All that remained was the jade scroll the man had inscribed before his death. It contained a simplified form of the Sword Sect’s Illuminated Sword, a technique known as Wind-Stilling Wave. As a final exchange for a dignified end, besides unlocking his storage pouch, Miao Wen had left behind this cultivation technique.

The Sword Sect had always practiced the way of the sword alone, rejecting external methods or foreign arts. Yet such rigidity often led to imbalance in one’s cultivation. After all, steel is needed to hone steel, but where does the other steel come from? Thus, the sect’s ancestors had developed auxiliary techniques to aid cultivation.

One of such techniques was Illuminated Sword, which allowed a cultivator to anchor their vital essence, qi, and spirit onto a single sword, refining the mind to achieve the state of clarity of the sword heart. Once this state was attained, not only would it accelerate cultivation, but it would allow the user to resist soul attacks, Heart Devils, and other such by sheer will alone. The technique proved exceptionally effective when breaking through major cultivation realms.

Unfortunately, Miao Wen had long abandoned pure sword cultivation and thus could not practice this technique. Yet at the same time, he could not bear to discard its unique benefits. So he created a derivative called Wind-Stilling Wave that was tailored to his own path. The new technique possessed only half the strength of the original, but it was far simpler to cultivate and no longer limited to the sword as its medium. Any tangible object could serve in its place.

It was precisely through this technique that Miao Wen had managed to contend with the ghost king’s remnant will for forty years. Those decades of struggle had only deepened his understanding of it. In his final note to Luo Chen, he claimed that once Wind-Stilling Wave was cultivated to major mastery, its effect could rival seventy percent of Illuminated Sword.

”Naturally, you seek to form your core. This technique will help you along that path, and perhaps it will also settle the old grievances between us. Luo Chen, let this be the compensation I pay for a dignified death.”

Miao Wen’s final words still echoed faintly in Luo Chen’s ears. Luo Chen carefully placed the jade scroll into the Thundernet Hoard Ring. Whether the technique was genuine or concealed traps remained uncertain. After all, his relationship with Miao Wen had never been that deep. They said a dying man spoke only truth and kindness, but that hardly applied to everyone. Once he returned, he would study this technique carefully and take his time experimenting with it.

Suddenly, the flying boat shuddered slightly. Luo Chen stood at the prow, his sharp eyes fixed on the distant horizon. The ghost city ahead loomed into view, wreathed in a thick, sinister aura. The territory had expanded severalfold since the last time he saw it. From the inner city to the shantytowns of the outer city, the corruption spread westward until it reached the banks of the Lanchang River. The once-familiar Crescent Moon Valley, Xiaohuan Mountain, and Qingjiang Long Street had all vanished. Everything had been swallowed whole by the ghost city.

”How come it’s only reached this far...” he murmured.

For a third-tier Ghost King, the boundaries of such a domain should have extended far beyond this. As the thought crossed his mind, a faint light flickered in his vision, drawing a note of surprise from his lips.

”Hm? What’s that?”

From the far side of the Ancient Plains range, streaks of light burst into view. Several cultivators were carrying the enormous body of a demonic beast that seemed to be still alive, and they flew straight into the depths of the ghostly city. Only after a long while did they emerge again. With his keen eyesight, Luo Chen faintly saw their expressions of relief and the distinctive emblems on their robes.

”The disciples of the Sword Sect!”

Luo Chen’s heart jolted in shock. He could not fathom what those disciples were doing here.

In truth, it was only natural for Sword Sect disciples to appear in Dahe Market. If anything, they ought to have arrived decades ago; for years, people had simply assumed the Falling Cloud Sect’s entanglements had delayed their return. Yet something about this scene felt wrong. These people had just delivered a living second-tier demonic beast into the ghost city!

Could it be... they’re helping Pang Renxiong cultivate?

The sudden thought sent a shock through Luo Chen’s heart. Without further hesitation, he concealed himself and quickly steered the flying boat away from the Dahe Market’s boundaries.

***

Following the same path as before, Luo Chen traveled swiftly. What had once taken him several months now took merely three days before he reached Tianlan Immortal City. Along the way, he passed through many familiar places like Taishan Market, Glowing Stream Market, and the Yuanzhao. Yet he made no effort to visit old acquaintances. He merely spread his spirit consciousness briefly before moving on.

Nothing unusual occurred along the way. It was quiet and without incident; he stepped once more onto Danxia Peak.

The very next day, Xing Zhonghan received an order and rushed to the Grand Hall to report in.

Though Luo Chen’s expedition had lasted barely half a year, the preparations before departure had taken nearly a decade. As a result, the intelligence he needed to catch up with was broad and complex.

”The target of the Frontier War has been set. The campaign will be waged against the Howling Moon Mountain Range. The initiator is the Falling Cloud Sect. Beyond the original five upper sects and thirteen major sects, four more upper sects and five major sects have joined. The ones newly joined are the Divine Talisman Sect, the Five Elements Divine Sect, the Windflower Palace, Skyscraper Cliff, Dreamspring Cave, the Pearl-Returning Pavilion...

”In total, nine Nascent Soul sects and eighteen Golden Core sects have allied. This campaign has already been named ’The Twenty-Seven Sects’ Joint Campaign Against Howling Moon.’”

The Twenty-Seven Sects’ Joint Campaign Against Howling Moon? Pretty much the same thing as The Sixteen Sects’ Joint Campaign against Lianxia four centuries ago. But why so many?

Sitting in his usual seat, Luo Chen silently repeated the names of the newly joined sects. The participation of the Divine Talisman Sect and the Five Elements Divine Sect was expected. Back when the Jade Cauldron Sword Sect opened the Lianxia Mountain Range, these two had lent their aid.

Yet aside from the six sects of the Far East, both the Windflower Palace and Skyscraper Cliff had joined the campaign, each a formidable upper sect. Indeed, an unclaimed wilderness like this held the promise of immense gains. But... was it truly worth the involvement of nine upper sects? Besides, those eighteen major sects were hardly weaklings. As far as Luo Chen knew, Dreamspring Cave of Jiuhua Mountain was a renowned major sect in the Windflower Domain, famed for its spirit springs. Its cultivators were exceedingly wealthy from that trade. The Pearl-Returning Pavilion was no minor power either. That famed assassin organization was rumored to be backed by a Sage. It was said that the Willow Forest Den...