An Alchemist's Path to Eternity

The voices rolled out and swept across ten thousand li of Green Parasol Mountain. Waves of pressure pressed forward, causing countless towering parasol trees to sway; their trunks resounded like crashing surf. In that instant, all birds fell silent before bursting into frantic flight. An uninvited enemy at the door signaled a world-shaking battle that was bound to erupt. Yet Luo Chen could not witness any of it with his own eyes.

After Nether Spring flew out, the gates of the Transcendence Palace slammed shut. Luo Chen was trapped inside as a mass of black energy traced a prison on the ground and bound him tightly. He recalled the words Nether Spring had spoken before leaving—Three late-stage Sages aren’t enough to breach Green Parasol Mountain.... Could it be that Primal Sovereign Rosycloud is still somewhere on Green Parasol Mountain?

But he quickly dismissed the thought. If that were the case, those three late-stage Sages would never have dared to storm the mountain so brazenly.

He was locked inside the palace, and his perception was restrained by its walls, but he instantly noticed the auras rising within the palace. Each was powerful, and every one belonged to a Sage-level being. As far as he could tell, there were at least ten! In other words, Nether Spring included, there were a good dozen Demon Emperors within the Transcendence Palace! With such a lineup and the advantage of terrain, they indeed had the capital to contend with three late-stage Sages.

Yet unexpectedly, those newly awakened auras quickly fell again. Luo Chen froze as an even more frightening possibility took shape in his thoughts.

”Is Green Parasol Mountain really sending only Azure Frost to fight against three enemies of the same realm?”

No one answered him. Like the other two palaces, the Transcendence Palace seemed sealed beneath powerful restrictions that blocked all external disturbance. Luo Chen could not even infer what was going on outside through shockwaves and sounds.

He grew more urgent now. He desperately hoped that the three human grand cultivators would defeat Azure Frost and rescue him along with the other cultivators trapped here. As for refining Imperial Nectar for the demon race, who would know if no one spoke of it? Even if he was somehow exposed, he could still make amends by refining more pills. After all, someone with such talent was welcome anywhere.

Had Pure Crane not once defected from the demon race and even turned against Wolf Emperor Defiant Howl, only to be accepted back into Green Parasol Mountain all the same? Maybe she was treated worse and forced to do chores, but that was about it. Meanwhile, Luo Chen was a supreme technical talent. There was no reason to think his treatment would be worse than hers.

But if he truly refined Transformation Pills for the demon race, the situation would be entirely different. This was akin to distributing the Nascent Soul Pills on a large scale among human cultivators. They were tools capable of creating vast numbers of high-level combatants for the demon race. If the Transformation Pills he refined gave rise to a wave of demon experts and dealt devastating blows to humanity, then even escaping Nether Spring’s control would not save him. Once the upper echelons of the human race learned of it, Luo Chen would be hunted down and flayed alive.

Fortunately, matters had not yet reached the point of no return. Nothing had been set in stone, and there was still a chance to turn things around. Even so, Luo Chen could not avoid facing a grim reality. If Green Parasol Mountain was truly defeated, would Nether Spring simply kill him as an afterthought?

In any case, whatever it took, clinging to life was still better than dying outright.

Amid such conflicting thoughts, time slowly passed. About half an hour later, the gates of the Transcendence Palace were flung open by a gale and a familiar figure flew inside.

Luo Chen froze and blurted out, ”So fast?!”

Yet in the next instant, his heart sank. Nether Spring’s return meant the outcome of the battle...

Nether Spring glanced at him and casually withdrew the mana binding him. ”Go on, move around as you like. Just don’t leave Green Parasol Mountain.”

After speaking, she hurried toward the rear hall. Luo Chen walked to the doorway as he hesitated before stepping out of the Transcendence Palace. The moment he emerged, daylight poured down upon him. He blinked and looked in the direction he etched in his memories. A tall and peerlessly beautiful figure still hovered in the sky with her hair slightly disheveled, her eyes closed, and her body seemingly relaxed, as though she was entirely focused on sensing something. And all around her—

Beyond Green Parasol Mountain, the land looked as though it had been plowed over again and again. Ruins lay scattered everywhere, cliffs were split apart, and rivers filled in. Countless towering parasol trees lay broken across the earth, engulfed in raging flames. On the ground were also golden fragments, like shards of glazed crystal.

After receiving permission, a large flock of third-tier birds rushed over impatiently, frantically pecking at those golden fragments.

”Is it all over?”

Luo Chen stared blankly at that graceful figure. As he murmured to himself, his mind drifted into a daze.

What level of power was required to defeat three supreme existences standing at the peak of human cultivation?

All along his path, Luo Chen had considered himself no weaker than peers of the same realm and had even achieved glorious feats of killing across realms. But in the end, those he defeated by overcoming numbers or strength always had shortcomings. Some lacked sufficient mana, others wielded inferior weapons, and still others fell short in combat experience. In short, they all possessed flaws to varying degrees. That was precisely what had forged his illustrious record.

But Nascent Soul grand cultivators were something else entirely. From the very beginning, the title of ”grand cultivator” had been coined specifically for late-stage Nascent Soul powerhouses. Only over countless years of mutual flattery among cultivators had the term gradually been diluted and applied to the late stages of every realm.

Thus came the absurd notion of Qi Refinement grand cultivators, Foundation Establishment grand cultivators, and even Golden Core grand cultivators—people who, although undeniably powerful, were still a full step away from the Nascent Soul Realm.

In reality, only late-stage Sages truly deserved the title of grand cultivator. That was because in a world where Ascendants could not act lightly, they represented the highest level of combat power that could walk the mortal realm. They stood second only to the absolute top, and they towered above all others. Each of them had profound cultivation, numerous hidden cards, and the stature to serve as a sect ancestor or a hegemon of multiple domains. For such beings, there were hardly any shortcomings left to speak of.

In a one-on-one battle, victory and defeat could still be decided, although capturing or killing was nearly impossible. But in a three-against-one scenario, the advantage should have been overwhelming. Yet Azure Frost had actually won? That fact alone was far more shocking than her earlier, domineering defeat of five Sages.

As Luo Chen was lost in a daze, he kept staring at that unfathomable figure.

***

Thousands of li away from Green Parasol Mountain, several figures stood atop a mountain peak, intently watching the water mirror before them. From time to time, startled exclamations broke the air. Only after a long while did an eerie silence fall.

Then, a voice suddenly sounded. ”Are you convinced?”

The figures exchanged glances. In the end, they nodded unwillingly.

”We really are no match for Azure Frost. Among the demons of the Eastern Wilderness, apart from the Ancient Demons, she truly stands at the very top. That reputation is well deserved. She held off three opponents on her own without ever losing ground... She even seriously wounded one of them, and she shattered his three-zhang Glazed Golden Body. She’s already brushing up against the threshold of comprehending laws.”

After those words of heartfelt appreciation, the earlier voice sounded again. ”From now on, do not provoke Green Parasol Mountain. The land may be valuable, but a thousand years ago, I promised it to Primal Sovereign Rosycloud. Until she ascends, Green Parasol Mountain belongs to her. Do not be fooled by the fact that Rosycloud vanished years ago. As long as Azure Frost remains, and so long as no Divine Transformation cultivator intervenes, she is effectively invincible.”

The others fell into silence.

Suddenly, someone asked in a low voice, ”Your Majesty, what if an Ascendant takes action?”

A soft chuckle drifted through the air. ”Wouldn’t that suit my purposes perfectly? There are just too many demon races, and each acts on its own. They’ve been a scattered mess for far too long. What it needs is an external force to press it into shape. But the question is... do they dare?”