An Alchemist's Path to Eternity

Han Zhan consoled him. ”There is no choice. This is all I can do. If only there were a corresponding key...”

”A key?” Luo Chen froze.

Han Zhan nodded. ”Yes. This teleportation formation was clearly not built for Azure Frost’s personal use, but for others. Not everyone is proficient in the Void restriction. With such a massive teleportation formation, if anything went wrong during transmission, they would certainly be dead. So there has to be some kind of safeguard. A key, a token or something that makes it easy to activate and keeps the transfer stable.”

At this explanation, Luo Chen’s heart stirred. With a flip of his wrist, an azure feather appeared in his hand. It was the one Nether Spring that had passed to him, originating from Azure Frost. Under normal circumstances, it allowed him to freely enter and exit the dungeon to extract Nascent Soul blood essence from Heaven Smelter. When Han Zhan saw the azure feather, he could not help but let out a soft exclamation.

”An Azure Luan Feather! Well, that’s convenient! I suppose we won’t need three days after all. Give me a moment, I can activate it.”

Luo Chen held the Azure Luan Feather out before Han Zhan. ”In that case, I will have to trouble you, Senior!”

”Heh, it really is no trouble whatsoever.”

After taking the Azure Luan Feather, Han Zhan injected a small amount of mana into it. A hazy azure light immediately spread out and enveloped him as he began moving through the formation. The more he made use of the Azure Luan Feather, the more astonished he became.

”This is most definitely not just an ordinary feather. It actually contains a trace of her void power. Luo Chen, the demonic beasts of Green Parasol Mountain really treat you well!”

Luo Chen gave an awkward smile. If one wished to take something, one first had to give something in return. Their kindness toward him naturally came for a reason.

Earlier, he had glanced outside the Transcendence Palace and he saw Nether Spring withdrawing from the battle. The crow-headed human form she revealed was obviously the result of consuming the Transformation Pills he had personally refined, which was why a human form had manifested. However, something must have gone wrong in the process, leading to an incomplete transformation. In any case, it certainly was not an issue with Luo Chen’s pills.

***

On the third underground level, a figure arrived in a flash. According to the Nether Origin Sect’s Ascendant, this was where the human cultivators were being held.

Hence, Divine Origin charged straight inside. What met his eyes were Adepts who had heard the commotion and were standing there anxiously.

At the sight of him, Hao Ranzi and the others froze. Divine Origin repeatedly sent out his mana, and crackling sounds immediately erupted across the cells. Yet after several attempts, the cells still failed to open. Everything had happened far too hastily.

Divine Origin’s expression sank as he immediately asked, ”Where is Luo Chen of the Luo Tian Sect?”

Hao Ranzi and the others were momentarily stunned. They naturally recognized that this person was a Sage, but... was he not here to rescue them?

”Senior, Fellow Daoist Luo Chen was taken out for interrogation three years ago and he never came back. I’m afraid... he has perished.”

Divine Origin froze, then his expression shook. ”Nonsense. He’s still alive. I could clearly sense his aura here just a short while ago...”

All of a sudden, Divine Origin’s expression changed. He was here just moments ago, where has he gone now? And three years ago... taken out and never returned? What exactly happened back then?

As these thoughts surged through his mind, a streak of lightning tore through the air from the corridor.

”Old bastard, die already!”

Divine Origin turned around and slapped the five-colored small tower. Five-colored radiance surged forth and enveloped the incoming bolt of lightning once more.

”Shut your trap!”

This time, he truly intended to kill the damn beast. He opened his mouth and spat out a small crystalline sword; with a single strike, the Lightning Prison Roc was once more blasted away and slammed into the dungeon wall. Divine Origin snorted coldly and beckoned with his hand. The crystalline sword flew back and crossed dozens of prison cells in the blink of an eye.

Crack! Crack! Crack! Crack!

Wherever it passed, the prison restrictions were violently shattered.

”Follow me out!”

Divine Origin turned around only to see a figure in the corner struggling to rise to its feet. A flash of ferocity crossed the old man’s face. ”Damn it, will you just die now!?”

The crystalline sword flew out once more.

***

Above the sky, Nether Spring surveyed the entire battlefield. Ten Demon Emperors were split into two groups, jointly encircling and attacking the Grand Elder of the Silktree Sect and Monk Huiping.

On the surface, they seemed to hold the advantage over the number, yet in truth they were at a clear disadvantage. Even after manifesting their true forms and unleashing all their trump cards, they were no match for the formidable methods of two late-stage Sages, and individually, they were utterly unable to block even a single strike.

At this point, casualties had already begun to appear. At the most crucial battlefield, Azure Frost, the strongest combatant they had below the Divine Transformation Realm, was firmly suppressed by an old man in black robes. The opponent even produced a ring-type enchanted treasure and began chanting under his breath.

Rays of radiance descended, enveloping the massive Azure Luan. With every beam that touched her, the luan’s resistance steadily weakened. Even so, the black-robed elder stubbornly refused to step foot into the mountain, remaining at its very edge.

”That is enough!” Nether Spring glanced in another direction, then turned back. ”Little Azure, come back!”

”Trying to leave after costing me this much effort? Do you really think it’s going to be that easy?” The black-robed elder laughed loudly and flicked his finger. He sent forth three drops of black water toward Azure Frost.

Seeing that black water, Azure Frost let out a piercing screech as azure light erupted from her entire body. The Daylight Palace in the sky seemed to respond. In the next moment, a rainbow shot forth and enveloped her. Azure Frost stepped upon the rainbow and regained her command over the void.

”Return!”

With a single flash of light, she appeared on the mountain once more. The moment she landed, she staggered a step and nearly collapsed to the ground. Behind her, the three drops of black water had transformed into three black spots that continued to corrode her body. Seeing his prey about to escape by relying on the terrain’s advantage, the previously unhurried black-robed elder finally grew both irritated and enraged.

”I wanted to capture you without harming your cultivation. But you just had to resist. In that case, do not blame me for showing no mercy. I’ll cripple you first, then refine you into a spirit beast ring.”

He took a single step forward that was scarcely slower than Azure Frost’s space shift, and arrived above Green Parasol Mountain just a moment later. But at the very moment, a sense of danger surged in his heart, and he stopped instantly. Such premonitions never came without cause.

He looked up and noticed that Nether Spring had somehow moved from the collapsed Transcendence Palace to the entrance of the Profound Comprehension Palace, which hung high amid clouds and mist. Her sinister eyes gazed coldly down upon the devastated Green Parasol Mountain. Her hands formed a lotus seal, which then burst open in an instant.

”Primal Sovereign, please grant me your divine authority!”

BOOOOMMM!

The Profound Comprehension Palace trembled. Within a range of tens of thousands of li around Green Parasol Mountain, the land quaked, as if a slumbering dragon had been awakened and was now uncoiling. From the Profound Comprehension Palace, an overwhelming aura spread outward as searing heat swept in every direction. Fire shot upward from the ground, and fire descended from the sky! Then, from the heart of the palace, a single spark flew out. In the blink of an eye, it expanded into boundless waves of flame!

Within the dungeon, more than twenty Adepts who had only just broken free stood there in a daze as their bodies spontaneously ignited.

”What the...”

They felt no pain at all. And just like that, they vanished into nothingness, leaving behind not even a trace of ash.

Divine Origin, who had been on the verge of finally killing the Lightning Prison Divine Roc, felt his very heart freeze. The crystalline small sword transformed into a streak of sword light that enveloped him as he abandoned everything else and forcibly flew out of the dungeon.

The moment he emerged, he saw two figures streaking across the ground toward the outside world. If not for his sharp eyesight, he would’ve thought they were just two massive fireballs.

”Damn it, what a bizarre flame!”

Divine Origin felt that his flying sword, which he had refined for several hundred years and which had by now become a True Artifact, was slowly melting away.

”Grand Elder, help me!”

He fled while crying out for help, yet the black-robed elder had no help to spare. Floating above the torn ground, he forced surging waves upward to contend head-on with the might of heaven. Even so, beneath the endless flames, he was steadily driven back!

Seeing this, Divine Origin no longer dared to hesitate. Just moments ago, he had witnessed Monk Huiping of the Heavenly Apex Zen Sect perish amid the bizarre flames. He had also seen the Grand Elder of the Silktree Sect exhaust all his methods yet still fail to break free from the flames’ relentless entanglement.

”Shatter!”

Divine Origin yelled an incantation word and detonated the crystalline sword. The tremendous backlash propelled him toward the outside of the mountain. Even so, the bizarre flames clung to him like parasites gnawing at bone, circling him without pause.

The five colored small tower erupted once more with brilliant spirit light, completely enveloping his body.

At the same time, the black-robed elder employed a secret technique of his own to forcibly break free from the range of Green Parasol Mountain. He stood outside the mountain and breathed heavily, trying to stabilize his severely weakened energy flow. A look of stark terror filled his face as he stared at the sea of flames that now blanketed the entire mountain.

”Grand Elder!!! Save me!!!”

”Useless idiots!”

The black-robed elder cursed angrily as two drops of black water flew from his fingertips toward Divine Origin and the Grand Elder of the Silktree Sect. However, it was already too late for the latter. Under the terrifying flames, the Grand Elder vanished into nothingness.

Divine Origin was luckier; five-colored radiance flowed around him as he employed the power of the ceaseless regeneration cycle of the five elements to buy himself a bit of time until the black-robed elder helped him. Even so, he was almost completely burned through. By the time the elder’s water extinguished the fire around him, his body looked no different from fresh charcoal.

***

So this is Rosycloud’s Nirvana Sacred Fire? Damn...

Very far away, Sky Monarch of Levelling Mountain watched this scene with fear in his eyes. Even someone as arrogant as him dared not be touched by such power. And this was nothing more than a contingency measure Primal Sovereign Rosycloud had put into place; how much more terrifying, then, would it be if she were to act in person? Even a Holy Land like the Nether Origin Sect had no Ascendants capable of withstanding such power head-on.

As this thought arose, a trace of regret surfaced. If Rosycloud were to learn that the calamity befalling Green Parasol Mountain could have been prevented by him simply showing up, there was no telling whether she’d come for him to settle the accounts.

Yet very quickly, a trace of determination surfaced in his eyes. Those who accomplish great undertakings do not concern themselves with minor details. So what if she was the Primal Sovereign? In the depths of the Eastern Wilderness, there were beings no weaker than her. Even if he could not defeat Rosycloud, he was still confident in his ability to protect himself.

”Hmm... Speaking of self-protection, I wonder if Green Parasol Mountain still has anything left.”

Sky Monarch pursed his lips. He knew well that Rosycloud had never been fond of managing forces. Green Parasol Mountain was merely a temporary place of rest. To leave behind a single safeguard already counted as an act of grace.

***

Deep in the underground treasury, endless waves of fire came surging in. At that moment, Luo Chen’s expression changed drastically. Yet strangely, when those flames reached him, they abruptly halted and then scattered apart like receding tides.

”Huh?” Luo Chen froze in surprise.

Just as confusion rose in his mind, a shrill scream suddenly echoed from within the formation. ”AHHHHHHH!!!!”

The black wooden figurine let out agonized cries without end as waves of Nascent Soul power poured out. Yet even though the strange flames had weakened, resistance still proved futile. It was like trying to stop a tidal wave with bare hands. He was utterly outmatched.

Luo Chen’s eyelids flickered violently. The power Han Zhan was unleashing at this moment was nowhere near as weak as he had claimed earlier. But the next moment, Han Zhan shouted, ”Luo Chen, faster, come here!”

”Coming!”

Luo Chen stepped into the formation and grasped the azure feather Han Zhan pushed toward him. Meanwhile, the black wooden figurine stood on the ground with difficulty.

”I’ve already activated the formation. It leads toward the Great Snow Mountains. Uhhh... As for my current state... Well, what can I say. Don’t betray me.”

After saying those words, he fell completely silent. Luo Chen picked up the mildly carbonized black figurine in one hand and quietly watched as ripples of light erupted across the formation’s runes.

Luo Chen followed the retreating flames outside. This spot was a key node of the formation, and that explained why the flames’ power had been weakened so much. Yet even so, Han Zhan had still suffered grievous injuries. It was difficult to imagine just how terrifying this fire would be if its owner were here to control it personally.

”Is this the power of Primal Sovereign Rosycloud?”

As he murmured those words, the grand formation shuddered once, and the two figures upon the platform vanished in an instant. Immediately after their disappearance, the light of the formation subsided.

Yet in the next moment, light erupted once more, and this time, it shot straight into the sky. Endless spirit light spread out and enveloped the Profound Comprehension Palace, the Daylight Palace, and the Transcendence Palace.

The black-robed elder watched this scene unfold, and his expression turned exceedingly grim.

”The Grand Teleportation Divine Art!”