An Alchemist's Path to Eternity

”Eh?”

Luo Chen was taken aback. He had no idea what he was being thanked for. Fortunately, the young man spared him the trouble of guessing.

”I am thanking you for awakening Daoist Uncle Pang.”

Luo Chen asked hesitantly, ”Elder Pang Renxiong?”

”Yes.”

Lin Qingxuan nodded and began to speak of the past. Back then, after Pang Renxiong had been killed, he had used Clarity of the Sword Heart to devour the remaining three Ghost Kings and switched paths to cultivate as a ghost. In only a few years, he had broken through to the third-tier Ghost King Realm.

However, such speed came with drawbacks. After advancing to the Ghost King Realm, the resentment from his death and the lingering will of the three Ghost Kings clouded his mind and threw his thoughts into chaos. If left alone, he would have eventually fallen into complete madness and become nothing more than a lost and wandering ghost.

It was Luo Chen who had taken out the keepsake from Pang Renxiong’s lifetime and called out ”Master!” in the Dahe ghost city. At that critical moment, he had stirred the memories buried deep within Pang Renxiong’s soul. In the years that followed, the reason the Dahe ghost city had not continued to spread but remained confined to the area around Dahe Market was that Pang Renxiong had regained his sanity and deliberately restrained the range of the ghost domain.

”If not for that one shout, he would have fallen completely onto the heretical path of ghosts and spirits and never returned to the righteous path,” Lin Qingxuan said with emotion, gratitude flickering in his eyes. ”Daoist Uncle Pang might have been strict, but he treated us juniors very well and helped me greatly. Since you did him a favour, I have to thank you in person.”

Luo Chen nodded in understanding. Pang Renxiong was famously fond of guiding juniors, and that fame was not exaggerated in the slightest. Back then, he had casually rewarded Miao Wen, Luo Tianhong, and the others with treasures like the Heavenly Moon Purple Gold Wheel and the Forsaken Chess Pieces. After discovering Luo Chen’s talent in alchemy, he had tried to recruit him without hesitation, even intending to bring him to the Sword Sect.

Luo Chen had already prepared himself then to bid his friends farewell and follow him. If not for the great battle that had followed, he might have already been registered as a disciple of an upper sect. With Pang Renxiong’s protective nature and Luo Chen’s own effort, he would at least have become a True Inheritor.

Of course, Luo Chen had never regretted not going to the Sword Sect. The future had been unclear at that time, and who knew whether he would’ve been able to cultivate at peace there? Besides, his current situation was far from bad.

Suddenly, Luo Chen came back to himself and asked, ”But, Fellow Daoist, how did you learn about such matters?”

Lin Qingxuan smiled faintly, revealing two rows of very white teeth. ”Naturally, Daoist Uncle Pang told us himself after returning to the sect. He mentioned you by name. When we told him what had become of you, Daoist Uncle Pang felt very emotional.”

So Pang Renxiong has returned to the sect? Luo Chen nodded lightly and glanced around. ”Will he also be here for this Frontier War?”

”He will not. He still needs time in seclusion to stabilise his cultivation. Besides... why would he come to a Frontier War led by the Falling Cloud Sect?” Lin Qingxuan let out a cold chuckle.

Luo Chen immediately thought of the grievances between the two sects. They might be cooperating now, but the hatred between them had only been temporarily suppressed. Then, curiosity stirred in Luo Chen’s heart. ”Speaking of that, in the battle at Dahe Market back then, that... mysterious black-robed man used a technique that made sword and cauldron ring together. I wonder...”

Lin Qingxuan’s expression turned cold. However, he did not grow angry and instead answered evenly, ”That is one of the Sword Sect’s supreme techniques. In the entire sect, only the grand elder and the previous generation’s Dao Scion know it.”

The previous Dao Scion of the Sword Sect? A name surfaced in Luo Chen’s mind. Ren Pingsheng!

He had once been praised as the foremost Adept of the Jade Cauldron Domain. Unlike the Dao Scions of other major sects, who were chosen among late-stage Initiates and helped to form a core, the Sword Sect chose its Dao Scions directly from among Adepts. With his cultivation already at the late stage of Golden Core and as a sword cultivator, Ren Pingsheng truly lived up to the title of the Jade Cauldron Domain’s foremost Adept.

”But then, why—”

”Why could Linghu Jie use Sword and Cauldron in Harmony, you want to ask?”

”Yes.” Luo Chen had just nodded when realisation struck him. Lin Qingxuan already knew that the ”mysterious black-robed man” at Dahe Market had been Linghu Jie. But how?

Lin Qingxuan sighed and said quietly, ”Senior Brother Ren Pingsheng is dead. His corpse was refined into a puppet by Han Zhan... Back then, Linghu Jie borrowed that puppet to deal with Daoist Uncle Pang. That was why you saw Sword Sect techniques used to kill a Sword Sect Adept.”

At this point, rare anger showed on Lin Qingxuan’s face. ”Senior Brother Ren was our sect’s greatest hope of reaching the Nascent Soul Realm in that generation, yet he fell to Han Zhan’s hand. That hatred is something we will never forget.”

Luo Chen listened in silence. He had a decent relationship with the Falling Cloud Sect and had no intention of speaking ill of them behind their backs. Besides, no matter how deep the grudge, the two upper sects were cooperating now. In the face of the massive profits of the Frontier War, such grievances counted for little. If he stirred trouble between them, it would be no different from courting disaster.

As his thoughts wandered, Luo Chen remembered something else. Back in the Great Snowy Mountains, he had watched Han Zhan summon five Golden Core-level puppets and use a sword formation. Its power had been formidable, and it stood head-on with the Whitebone Dark Serpent.

Now that I think about it, one of those puppets looked a lot like Pang Renxiong. If that’s the case... among the remaining four puppets, was one of them Ren Pingsheng? If so, then the enmity between those two sects is no small matter at all. In fact, it’s absolutely enormous. Their foremost genius was refined into a puppet, and they’re still cooperating?

”In this war, my sect may be listed as a participant, but in truth. I am the only one who came,” Lin Qingxuan said with firm conviction. ”I intend to use this war to reclaim my sect’s reputation. Once Howling Moon is secured, I will take back the remains of our four elders from that man.”

A sharp aura surged from him. It was chilling to the soul. So he intended to use this war to hone his sword! Luo Chen instantly understood what his goal was. There were quite a few like him, especially in the upper sects. The sects’ main purpose was to do business, but they also sent promising disciples out to gain experience and avoid ending up as soft and sheltered greenhouse flowers.

”My apologies. I strayed from the topic,” Lin Qingxuan said. He withdrew his aura and returned to calm, then offered Luo Chen an apologetic smile.

Luo Chen smiled back. ”It is fine. I am the one who should apologize for bringing this up.”

Lin Qingxuan nodded. ”In truth, there is another matter I wish to ask.”

”Go ahead.”

”Would you be interested in joining my sect?”

It was the same old question, and once more, Luo Chen refused without much hesitation. Building his own force was orders of magnitude harder, but it granted independence. Once he joined another sect, many matters would no longer be his to decide. Even figures as strong as Ren Pingsheng and Pang Renxiong could be plotted against.

Given his cultivation and status, as long as he made no grave mistakes and did not offend those he should not, he would eventually carve out his own place! Most importantly, he had already signed a contract scroll pact with Diwu Qi and the others. There was no possibility of withdrawing midway.

Lin Qingxuan did not look surprised by his refusal, and his expression barely shifted. He shook his head. ”I was not asking you to abandon your sect and join ours. I meant as a guest elder.”

”As a guest elder?” Luo Chen’s interest was piqued.

Lin Qingxuan gave a soft sound of acknowledgement and continued, ”Much like your partnership with the Ice Fortress, or your relationship with Green Pill Valley. Our sect will not place you in a subordinate position; you can still act as you please.”

”Then what do you stand to gain?”

Lin Qingxuan smiled faintly. ”Let’s say we value your alchemy.”

Is that all? Then matters are pretty simple.

Lin Qingxuan explained that the Jade Cauldron Sword Sect simply prized Luo Chen’s alchemical skill and held high expectations for him. Once the Frontier War ended, they hoped to establish long-term cooperation. They were even willing to provide him with suitable alchemical formulas for further study and refinement.

The generous terms were, of course, the result of the Sword Sect’s shortage of alchemists. An entire upper sect had only one third-tier alchemist. If Luo Chen joined, the sect’s cultivation resources for its Adepts would no longer be constrained by their trade with the Medicine King Sect.

”I will need time to consider this,” Luo Chen said.

”There is no rush. We have plenty of time,” Lin Qingxuan replied with a smile. ”If you decide, just take the token Daoist Uncle Pang gave you and head straight to Jade Emperor Mountain.”

”Alright.”