An Alchemist's Path to Eternity

Although everything had happened in haste, everyone had more or less been mentally prepared. Now that the three masters of Hundred Flowers Palace—representing Cloud Crane and Pure Crane—had arrived, the cultivators began to inquire about the details. Naturally, the three ladies had long since prepared for this.

”The Howling Moon Mountain Range may be vast, but it cannot accommodate too many sects, especially those among you who harbor ambitions of advancing to the Nascent Soul Realm. If the Great Snowy Mountains are taken, Sage Cloud Crane is willing to divide half of the territory for your sects to establish there. In the future, should any of you advance to the Nascent Soul Realm and raise your sect to the upper level, the Falling Cloud Sect and Hundred Flowers Palace are also willing to offer their full support and help open up a new domain!”

Fairy Hundred Flowers spoke at length, with confidence shining on her beautiful face. The rewards she presented stirred the hearts of countless people. Even the leaders of sects such as the Star Moon Temple, Dreamspring Cave, and the Luo Tian Alliance, who had already secured territory in the Howling Moon Mountain Range, were greatly excited.

Although they had encountered a few twists along this Frontier War, everything was still going remarkably smoothly overall. Among the eighteen major sects involved, only the Great Harmony Sect had fallen. Of the remaining seventeen, seven had come purely to do business, such as Willow Forest Den, Ailao Mountain, and Pearl-Returning Pavilion. Even so, there were still ten left. With so many forces crowded into one Howling Moon Mountain Range in the future, it was easy to imagine how tense future resource allocation would become. It might not be long after they settled before another massive reshuffling among human sects brought storms of blood.

Now, by diverting a portion of the people toward the Great Snowy Mountains, conflicts over resources could be greatly eased. How could anyone not be tempted by such an outcome?

Amid the crowd’s excitement and eager anticipation, the Wind Lightning Pavilion shuddered with a thunderous jolt, then activated and flew toward the nearby Great Snowy Mountains.

***

Time passed by slowly. The discussions within the Wind Lightning Pavilion had come to a temporary end. Everyone was regulating their breath and meditating, doing their utmost to bring themselves to peak condition. Everyone knew that another great battle lay ahead. Even with five Sages overseeing things, mishaps could still happen, and no one wanted these mishaps to happen to them.

Luo Chen remained in a secluded corner, yet he was not meditating. During the final battle at the Heavenly Drum Plains earlier, he had barely done anything and had expended almost nothing. There were others like him, and Hao Ranzi was one of them. At one point, Hao Ranzi swept his gaze over. The two exchanged a smile; nothing needed to be said between them.

Suddenly, the Wind Lightning Pavilion came to a halt in midair. Amid everyone’s surprise, the doors opened, and three more female cultivators walked in.

Luo Chen glanced over, and his eyebrows shot up. He was not unfamiliar with the newcomers. They were three Adepts of the Ice Fortress: Light Frost, Moonshade, and another Ice Fortress elder.

After entering the hall, the three lightly swept their gazes across the surroundings. When they noticed Luo Chen, they gave a faint nod, then found a quiet spot and sat down.

Even though Fairy Ruthless can’t make it, the Ice Fortress still has to send people. When Ice Torrent failed her tribulation, they also lost four other Adepts. Even with Icesoul joining later, they only have six in total. There are three of them here, so three of them are left. Ice Torrent and Ruthless are badly injured, which leaves only Icesoul, who just advanced to the Golden Core Realm, to hold things together on her own. The Ice Fortress is taking the operation of the Great Snowy Mountains pretty damn seriously...

As Luo Chen pondered this, the Wind Lightning Pavilion did not linger for long and soon departed once more.

***

At the top floor of the Wind Lightning Pavilion, the five Sages were engaged in heated discussion. From time to time, they took out items from their respective treasure storage and exchanged them. Han Zhan, for the most part, handed over items to the others rather than receiving them. For example, he had returned the sword orbs of the four Adepts of the Sword Sect, their damaged puppet bodies, as well as the Golden Cores they had possessed.

With these items, along with the life-bound soul lamps we’ve preserved, Ren Pingsheng and the others can finally regain their freedom.

With this thought, Sage Jade Cauldron’s expression relaxed slightly. However, the look he cast toward Han Zhan was still far from friendly.

Seeing this, Heaven Smelter stepped in to smooth things over. ”Fellow Daoist, why hold such a grudge? It is merely that your disciples were lacking. You cannot blame Fellow Daoist Han for that.”

This attempt to smooth things out was worse than none at all. Sword cultivators, people who were said to possess the greatest battle prowess among their peers, had fallen one after another to the Falling Cloud Sect experts. To say it out loud was nothing short of humiliating.

Sage Jade Cauldron snorted and stared straight at Han Zhan. ”I only hope you don’t forget your promise.”

Han Zhan did not speak. He simply continued refining the medicinal power within his body, doing his utmost to recover as much as possible. In the battle against Defiant Howl, he had not suffered severe injuries, but that did not mean he had come out unscathed. His mana had been reduced to less than half and his divine soul was exhausted, which meant he could no longer unleash the kind of divine soul attacks he had used earlier. Worse, the Two Poles Five Elements Sword Formation was gone and could not be recovered. Worse still, the puppet avatar had been severely damaged and could now exert Golden Core-level strength at most. It could no longer even help him bear injuries. If not for having to honor his agreement and help Cloud Crane and Pure Crane secure the Great Snowy Mountains, he absolutely would not have wanted to make this trip.

Sensing Heaven Smelter’s gaze still on him, Han Zhan sighed helplessly. ”Fellow Daoist, don’t worry. What was agreed upon still stands. Once the overall situation is settled, I will hand over the Demon Locking Pagoda for you to study. I will not go back on my word.”

That was a good enough promise. The Demon Locking Pagoda was not of especially high grade to begin with and had only recovered to the top grade for now, far inferior to the True Artifacts controlled by Skysail City. Even so, this treasure encompassed the core formation principles of the Valley of Ghosts and Divinities; it could even lock enemies through the void, directly targeting the condensation of Dao Fruit of Adepts and Sages. This was truly remarkable! If he could get his hands on it and research something from it, Skysail City’s artifact creation techniques would definitely reach another level. Many millennia later, his name would certainly remain as a bold and colorful mark in Skysail City’s history.

The five sat in a circle, and for a long while no one said anything. Then Cloud Crane, who had remained silent until now, suddenly spoke up. ”We caused such a commotion earlier in the Howling Moon Mountain Range. Even if Defiant Howl was dealt with swiftly, the Great Snowy Mountains will surely be on guard. Han Zhan, are you certain that Whitebone will not flee?”

Han Zhan snorted coldly. ”First, the Frontier War usually targets only a single domain. There is precedent for this, so he won’t expect us to violate the agreement. Second, one of my friends attempted a tribulation a while back. Although she failed, she destroyed most of the fourth-tier spirit vein at the Great Snowy Mountains. For the sake of that land, which suits his cultivation, the Whitebone Dark Serpent has spent years repairing it and has never moved elsewhere. And also... well, if it runs away, is that not a good thing?”

Cloud Crane let out a sigh of relief. But his Dao companion, Pure Crane, showed a mocking smile at the corner of her lips. ”You have already violated the agreement between the human and demon races set down in ancient times. Are you truly not afraid that the ancient demons of the wild mountain will strike out of anger?”

Ancient Demons stood above Demon Emperors; they were comparable to the Divine Transformation Ascendants of the human race. Hearing this mocking question, the other four Sages fell into silence.

After a long while, Heaven Smelter spoke quietly, ”There is no helping it. The Holy Land authorities wanted us to sound out the demon races, so we had to make a move.”

Once someone spoke, the conversation flowed more easily. Jade Cauldron sneered. ”Pure Crane, you’re a demon yourself. In other words, you’re a traitor of the demon races. If an Ancient Demon truly makes a move, the first to die will be you. And you’re still in the mood to laugh at us?”

Pure Crane’s expression stiffened, and she could not utter a single word. Or rather, her earlier mockery had merely been bravado masking fear. Jade Cauldron truly lived up to being a sword cultivator with the Clarity of Sword Heart—he had instantly seen through the fear in her heart.

Seeing the atmosphere grow awkward again, Cloud Crane waved his hand. ”There is no need to worry about such matters. If an Ancient Demon truly makes a move, that would be really tearing apart the agreement. In that case, it would instead give those people in the Holy Land an excuse to act. Is this not precisely the goal of our operation this time?”

That was how he put the problem, yet when life and death were truly at stake, could he truly remain at ease? In this world, how many could truly face death calmly?

Han Zhan had advanced to the Nascent Soul Realm the latest and knew the least about the inner workings at the highest level of the human race. At this moment, he could not help but ask, ”If the Ancient Demons from the depths of the Eastern Wilderness make a move, can the Nether Origin Sect suppress them?

Sage Cloud Crane replied, ”Perhaps it could not in ancient times, but after several thousand years of development, their strength is simply unfathomable. We believe it’s sufficient to suppress everything!”

Behind him stood the Silktree Sect, whose intelligence was recognized as one of the, if not the, best around. He knew better than anyone here how powerful the Nether Origin Sect was. But did he truly know how powerful those beings living deep within the Eastern Wilderness were?

Heaven Smelter spoke faintly, ”We should still be more cautious. Do not place all your hopes on the Holy Land. Just make sure that the chaos at the Northern Sea does not happen again!”

The Northern Sea Chaos! The moment these words were spoken, everyone felt a chill run through them.

Jade Cauldron gritted his teeth and said, ”So be it. As long as an Ancient Demon does not make a move, who in this world can stop me? And if an Ancient Demon truly disregards all restraint and strikes against us, then I will accept my fate!”

Heaven Smelter sighed and rose to his feet calmly. ”We have arrived.”

***

Boom!

The sound of wind and thunder abruptly subsided. As radiant light flared, figures stepped out from the pavilion as they gazed down upon the mountain range stretching for tens of thousands of li below. Mountains rose with towering peaks piercing the sky; valleys fell into darkness unknown. On a flat stretch of land, the Whitebone Dao Palace constructed from grim piles of bones stood out starkly.

Figures radiating powerful auras continued to gather, coming from all parts of the mountain range. They were the many Demon Kings that had followed the Wind Lightning Pavilion along the way and were now converging upon the Whitebone Dao Palace. But when they saw the Adepts with overwhelming auras emerge from the Wind Lightning Pavilion, all the Demon Kings felt their hearts shaken with fear.

Crack...Crack...

It was as though a long-neglected iron gate had been forced open. As flakes of rust fell away, a demonically handsome young Daoist stepped out. He lifted his head to look toward the Wind Lightning Pavilion, and his eyes narrowed. From the nine-story Wind Lightning Pavilion, five figures stepped out one after another.

Cloud Crane cleared his throat. ”Fellow Daoist Whitebone, if you promise to leave the Great Snowy Mountains without raising a commotion, you may go.”

Facing the five Sages, the Whitebone Dark Serpent bared a savage smile without the slightest hint of panic. ”Leave? No one is leaving today!”

Everyone froze. Then they saw the Whitebone Dark Serpent step aside and bend deeply in respect. From the depths of the Whitebone Dao Palace, a delicate and beautiful foot slowly extended. And at that very instant...

”Run!”

A single shout rang out, yet it had been spoken in unison by five mouths. The five Sages did not hesitate for even a split second and retreated at once. Jade Cauldron was the fastest; with his sword light enveloping his entire body, he turned into a streak of rainbow light and shot away. Heaven Smelter clasped his hands together; wind and thunder surged around him as he followed suit.

Pure Crane shuddered violently, with disbelief filling her eyes, before directly revealing her true form. A hundred-zhang-long White Demon Crane appeared. Its wings trembled as boundless demonic energy stirred. At the same time, large swathes of white feathers fell as it activated a secret flight art and white light began enveloping it.

Han Zhan and Cloud Crane were slower, so they were left behind at the rear.

The change had come far too suddenly. As a result, the Adepts atop the Wind Lightning Pavilion, who moments ago had felt victory was assured, had no time to react at all.

At that moment, the master of the exquisite golden lotus within the Whitebone Dao Palace finally revealed its true appearance before everyone. She had delicate brows, graceful eyes, a refined nose, and thin lips. The snow of the Great Snowy Mountains was not even half as white as her skin, and the green robe she wore only served to make it look even whiter. Yet the grim white bones of the Whitebone Dao Palace were not even a third as cold as the chill emanating from her eyes.

Her long hair reached her waist and was as black as dense ink. As the gentle mountain wind blew, her slender waist seemed as though it might snap. A willow swaying in the breeze could not be more fitting as a description. To complete the picture, a black three-legged crow was perched upon her shoulder.

”Lady Azure Frost, please act as you wish!”

The Whitebone Dark Serpent bowed deeply, his tone respectful and without the slightest trace of negligence.

She gave a gentle nod, then slowly clenched her jade-white hand into a small fist and punched out!

BOOOOMMMMM!

As though the strike ignored space and time, it landed upon Cloud Crane, who was a long distance away. His body burst apart and transformed into a rain of blood that scattered across the boundless snowy ground.