An Alchemist's Path to Eternity

”Mmmm...”

This muffled groan came from the mouth of a young man in tattered clothes that failed to cover the many cuts and bruises marring his body.

Luo Chen struggled to sit up. He felt his head heavy, and the dim and gloomy surroundings did not help him feel better in the slightest. His gaze immediately fell on the two objects in his hands. One was a three-cun black wooden figurine, the other was a dried azure feather that had long since lost its brilliance.

Luo Chen stared at the two items and recalled what he had just been through. When the teleportation formation was activated, an overwhelming pressure squeezed in from all directions. Even though he sported a ridiculously tough physique, he still felt as if his body was about to collapse under that terrifying force. Fortunately, the azure feather in his hand burst into azure light that enveloped both him and Han Zhan, protecting them at that critical moment.

After that, a flash of azure light slipped into the formation. In that instant, Luo Chen saw the stars in motion above and the world shifting below. In what seemed like the blink of an eye, he glimpsed the countless wondrous places across the Mountains and Seas Realm. He also truly grasped how vast the reach of the teleportation formation at Green Parasol Mountain really was.

It was truly a top-tier formation. Its range extended to practically every major region of the Mountains and Seas Realm, completely overturning what Luo Chen knew about teleportation formations, mostly bits of information gleaned from ancient texts. According to these ancient texts, such a formation should not have existed in the Mountains and Seas Realm at all.

Because of this, he grew even more fearful of Rosycloud, that Ancient Demon who had never once revealed herself. Her personal power allowed her to hold a fifth-tier Holy Land just for herself, and one single defensive measure she had put into place was enough not just to obliterate Sages, but even to force Ascendants to withdraw in fear. Now, as it turned out, the teleportation formation she had set up was an even grander feat.

She is truly incredible, simply incredible. But then... who is she, really? Where did she come from?

Luo Chen suddenly recalled some of the rumors he had occasionally heard during his time living at Green Parasol Mountain. It was said that Rosycloud had risen to prominence a thousand years before, having obtained the legacy of a phoenix from the upper realms. She had found the legacy in the Lianxia Mountain Range, which was now known as the Jade Cauldron Domain. From that point on, she had taken Rosycloud as her Dao title—a phoenix that roosted upon the clouds of Lianxia, basking in the rosy morning light.

Later on, with the support of the Nether Origin Sect, the Jade Cauldron Sword Sect launched a war to open up the Lianxia Mountain Range. At that time, Rosycloud had no desire to clash with the Nether Origin Sect. She also wished to find a spirit vein suitable for her cultivation, so she chose to withdraw and ventured deep into the Eastern Wilderness. Pure Crane was left behind to guard the Lianxia Mountain Range alone. As for how Pure Crane was later subdued—or, rather, charmed—by Cloud Crane while he was still at the Golden Core Realm, that was another matter entirely.

So the legend I heard long ago at Dahe Market, about a heavenly phoenix falling in the Lianxia Mountain Range, is probably true... Otherwise, how could this realm give rise to such a powerful demon?

His mind was heavy and muddled, full of stray thoughts that he could not pin down. But a few moments later, he suddenly snapped awake. How can I be thinking about such irrelevant things at a time like this?

At the same time, he tightened his grip and... the azure feather in his right hand was instantly crushed into a puff of ash. As Luo Chen lifted his hand, the ashes drifted down and scattered across the ground.

”Huh... I guess the power it had is gone now. That’s too bad.”

In any case, the azure feather had been nothing more than a token given to him by Nether Spring. It was originally meant solely for entering and exiting the dungeon. Truthfully speaking, being able to use it to activate the teleportation formation had been an incredible stroke of fortune, so he couldn’t be too sad about losing it.

Luo Chen took a deep breath and retrieved the last remaining bottle of supreme-grade Starfield Pills from his storage ring. He swallowed them hastily and rose from the ground without even waiting for the medicinal energy to run through his body.

The Mystic Flame Sword appeared in his hand, and without the slightest hesitation, he brought it down in a single slash. The exquisite and intricate teleportation formation engraved into stone instantly lost one of its corners. Luo Chen picked up the stone fragment and stored it within his storage ring. With the formation damaged in this manner, the enemy would no longer be able to pursue him.

”But even if the demons from Green Parasol Mountain can’t teleport here, I still need to be careful not to get discovered by those at the Whitebone Dao Palace.”

Luo Chen pressed his dry lips together and quietly but decisively started to walk. He could not stay here waiting to recover fully before attempting to escape. He had to leave as quickly as he could, before the demons of the Whitebone Dao Palace had a chance to intercept him.

He advanced cautiously. His body was covered in crisscrossing black lines, a sign that the Concealment Veil Formation was fully activated. With this formation in place, even Sages would not detect his aura unless they deliberately focused their attention on him.

One step, two steps... and then a sudden stop. Luo Chen sniffed lightly and caught a salty scent in the air. Hmm? Last I recall, the dens of demonic serpents reeked of blood and rot, so why does it smell like the sea?

A few more cautious steps took him out of the mountain cave. He pushed aside the thick vine curtain covering the entrance, and discovered that said entrance was about halfway up the mountain. He also discovered something else, something that made him stare dumbfoundedly for a long time.

In front of his incredulous eyes, sea and sky merged into a single, boundless expanse that stretched as far as the eye could see. For tens of thousands of li, the ocean surged with rolling waves. From the clouds along the horizon, strands of rosy light filtered down, bathing the distant waters in gold. It was the hour of sunset, when weary birds returned to their nests.

Luo Chen swallowed hard as an overwhelming sense of dissonance surged within him. ”Where is this in the Great Snowy Mountains?”

All he could do was stare at it for a while, until, eventually, he came to accept the harsh reality: This was absolutely not anywhere in the Great Snowy Mountains, nor any other place he’d ever been to.

Judging by the terrain alone, it was impossible to determine where he was. But Luo Chen had read plenty of ancient texts about the Mountains and Seas Realm, and according to these texts, only a few regions had such vast and boundless oceans: The Eastern Nether Abyss, the Southern Ocean, and the Northern Sea. The Eastern Nether Abyss was said to be perpetually shrouded in dense nether energy and ghostly fog, eternally shrouded in darkness. Therefore, this place could not be the Eastern Nether Abyss. That left only the Southern Ocean and the Northern Sea. The Southern Ocean abounded with strange gu, while the Northern Sea was infested with demons. In other words, neither was an attractive holiday destination.

Luo Chen’s eyes narrowed. He slowly stepped back, lightly flicking his sleeve to erase the traces of aura he had left outside. After returning to the mountain cave engraved with the teleportation formation, he fell into a silence. At this point, he was certain that something had gone wrong during the teleportation. Han Zhan had clearly stated the destination was the Great Snowy Mountains, and he had no reason to lie. So how had they ended up in this boundless ocean instead?

As for the power Han Zhan had unleashed at the time, it was likely never meant for Luo Chen at all, but rather intended as a precaution against the Whitebone Dark Serpent. What Han Zhan himself had not anticipated was that a single wisp of Rosycloud’s fire would not only completely exhaust his remaining power, but also severely injure him. As a result, he was still unconscious.

Luo Chen’s gaze locked tightly onto the black wooden figurine that resembled a lump of charcoal, and a sudden surge of killing intent rose in his heart. He could clearly sense how weakened Han Zhan was at this moment, so frail that even an Initiate could kill him with ease. His divine soul was weakened to such an extent that it could no longer actively draw nourishment from the sea of consciousness. As a result, his injuries were recovering at an extremely slow pace.

Should I kill him?

Luo Chen had witnessed the terror of Nascent Soul-level existences far too many times. Even an early-stage Sage was not someone a mere Adept could contend against. Even now, when only a single wisp of divine soul remained and no overt threat to be sensed, he still had no confidence that things would go as he wished. Han Zhan’s greatest strengths lay precisely in divine soul attacks and puppet control. Who could say whether he might still unleash some bizarre technique using nothing more than his remnant divine soul? Allowing such a threat to remain at his side was by no means a wise choice. Killing him was the only way to be completely safe!

With a flick of his wrist, a strand of azure flame spread across his palm. Once it touched the charred wooden figurine, Han Zhan would be utterly erased from the world. As for whether he would reincarnate, have his soul move on to the netherworld, or vanish into the void, that was not something Luo Chen could foresee.

The scorching heat gradually drew closer to the black wooden figurine. Yet in the end, Luo Chen waved his hand and dispersed the flame.

”Ugh... No, that won’t do.”

He recalled the many ways the Falling Cloud Sect had looked after him along this journey. Whether it was Tian Xingzi’s transaction with him during the battle at Incense Burning Valley, or Qu Xibai Sect proactively opening Tianlan’s restrictions to aid his breakthrough, or even Han Zhan’s intervention beneath Thousand Leaf Peak when he had been tainted by the demonic power of the Golden Wolf King, they had spared no effort to help him. Luo Chen had, of course, repaid many of these favors in kind, so taken as a whole, the two sides could be considered sincere collaborators.

In particular, Luo Chen recalled the scene when the teleportation had activated. At that time, Han Zhan had already been grievously injured by Rosycloud’s fire. It seemed he had known clearly that even if the teleportation succeeded, he would be utterly powerless afterward. Even so, he had still handed the Azure Luan feather to Luo Chen and said, ”Don’t betray me!”

Han Zhan’s words still echoed in his ears, and Luo Chen shook his head. ”If he treats me sincerely, then I’ll do the same.”

He abandoned the thought to kill Han Zhan, but that did not mean he could just let the man roam free. With a thought, he retrieved an item from his storage ring: The Primordial Unity Cauldron. As he looked at the great cauldron, a mixture of fondness and apprehension surfaced in his eyes. What life-bound enchanted treasure ever refused to react to its own master?

However, Heaven Smelter had fallen, and there was no one else in this world capable of controlling this treasure. Even Han Zhan and Azure Frost, who had also participated in its creation, could not reach that level of control. After all, Heaven Smelter had been a grandmaster artisan, and Luo Chen was the actual master of this treasure. The others had merely added one or two things. They could not possibly usurp control.

”As he said, the Primordial Unity Cauldron has the functions of suppression, confinement, and restraint. That should do just fine.”

Luo Chen sent out a stream of mana, and chains immediately extended from within the small gray cauldron. Unlike the azure chains summoned by Heaven Smelter, the chains Luo Chen summoned were red; this made it clear that Heaven Smelter had used wind-element mana, while Luo Chen naturally used fire-element mana. The chains slowly wrapped around the black wooden figurine, then gradually pulled it into the cauldron.

In this way, he could prevent Han Zhan from spying on him or executing any hidden attacks. Even if he awakened, he would have no choice but to remain confined within.

”When he wakes up, I will talk things over with him and see what he has to say. If it really comes to that, then we will go our separate ways and part on good terms.”

After muttering to himself for a while, Luo Chen looked around, then casually found a spot and sat down cross legged. At this moment, his cultivation was somewhat unstable. He had only just broken through to the third stage before seeking out Heaven Smelter, and his cultivation had not yet been properly consolidated. Moreover, the teleportation had drained far too much of his mana. This state was definitely not suitable for venturing outside. Even if the spirit energy in this cave was thin, it was still better than nothing.

Within the dim cave dwelling, everything gradually grew quiet, leaving only the steady, rhythmic breathing of the ragged Daoist as he inhaled and exhaled the thin spirit energy.