An Alchemist's Path to Eternity

What kind of things could a cultivator’s remnant soul do?

Those at the Qi Refinement stage could do little more than disturb the dreams of others. An Initiate could still preserve the instinct to seek the Dao, gather yin energy, and eventually transform into a Ghost General. Those who had condensed a Golden Core were faring better; due to their powerful divine consciousness, even a single strand of soul held a chance to return to the Great Dao and walk the path of ghost cultivation. Even so, a Ghost King required a long time to return to the proper path unless blessed with exceptional means.

Meanwhile, a Sage was vastly different. Even if the Five Qi in their chest were scattered, the Three Flowers above their head destroyed, and the Nascent Soul itself damaged, the remnant soul still retained the quality of a Sage’s soul. In other words, it could still wield various powerful abilities. Though obviously far inferior to its state in life, such a remnant soul still held overwhelming superiority over ordinary Adepts.

With Han Zhan’s assistance, Luo Chen’s Water Mirror stabilized at once. Even as demonic energy surged and spirit power churned in chaos across the battlefield, the Water Mirror clearly displayed the scenes within seven hundred li of Profound Rock Island. The images were tiny and difficult to see with the naked eye. However, since Luo Chen had personally cast the spell and embedded his divine consciousness within it, he could easily focus on the battlefields he was concerned about and magnify them.

”The Ring-Head Turtle clan truly has deep foundations. After all these battles, they still have no fewer than thirty Demon Kings.”

A trace of astonishment flashed through Luo Chen’s eyes, and his heart stirred with shock. As expected of a turtle clan famed for their longevity! Even after years of warfare, they still retained such terrifying foundations. Such strength would rank among the very top in the human cultivation world; in fact, newly advanced upper sects were far inferior. The Falling Cloud Sect was a prime example. At its peak, it had barely a dozen Adepts, and producing a Sage had required the accumulated efforts of many generations. With Han Zhan’s disappearance, who knew what state the Falling Cloud Sect was in now.

Luo Chen shook his head and cast those thoughts aside. His gaze focused on the scenes before him. His prey was right there. After observing for a short while, he formed a general judgement of the strength of both sides, and concluded that the demonic crab side held an absolute advantage.

Even though the Ring-Head Turtle clan had deep foundations, the five royal clans possessed an overwhelming number of high-tier experts. On the battlefield, the five patriarchs had yet to make a move, but their elites were already suppressing the Ring-Head Turtle Kings. Most of the battles were several against one.

The number of late-stage Crab Kings among the five royal clans also exceeded Luo Chen’s expectations. The Overlord Crab clan had four; the Crimson Rock Crab and Demon Spider Crab clans each had three. Meanwhile, the Nine-Legged Poison King Crab and Green Emperor Crab clans were weaker, with only two each. Apart from their patriarchs, only one from each side could act freely.

Even so, the total number of Demon Kings in the Profound Rock Sea Region utterly shocked Luo Chen. If a single clan were compared to a major sect, the power distribution would utterly overwhelm human cultivators. The Ice Fortress, for instance, had nine Adepts, but only Ice Torrent was at the late stage. The Falling Cloud Sect had only Cheng Yan, while Ailao Mountain and Hundred Flowers Palace had none at all. Green Pill Valley had the largest number of Adepts, yet only Supreme Elder Qing Danzi and the Dragon Head Peak’s Battle Hall Leader were at the late stage.

No wonder this place is called the Sea of Demons.... Even the so-called Holy Land here believed in the survival of the fittest and the law of the jungle; they were not much different from demons. And if a random place like the Profound Rock Sea Region is full of demon race experts, then how many of them are there across the entire Northern Sea? How many Demon Emperors, and how many Ancient Demons are there? How could humans ever conquer this entire place? If anything, now that the Primordial Devil Sect has fallen, the demon races will eventually finish tallying the spoils, reorganize themselves, and restart the offensive against humans. This place will probably be plunged into war again.

While reflecting, Luo Chen also searched carefully for suitable prey. The battlefield appeared chaotic, yet it was clear that the crabs were suppressing the turtles; in other words, there was actually some measure of underlying order. This situation was not suitable for him to make a move.

However, he did not give up. When life and death are on the line, no one just sits there waiting to die. At the very least, they’ll drag their enemy down with them.

Time passed slowly. The Ring-Head Turtle Kings began to fall. Yet Luo Chen remained where he was, waiting for a sign.

Suddenly, Luo Chen’s divine consciousness fell upon one section of the mirror. The scene began to magnify, and the demonic energy fluctuations turned wild, showing signs of instability. Within the mirror, a Ring-Head Turtle as large as a palace was under attack by three Demon Kings. Its eyes suddenly turned blood-red as it channeled in more demonic energy into its body until its enormous form began to swell even more. A moment later...

BOOOOMMMMMM!!!

Blood-red light spread in waves!

The violent explosion shook the entire island. The three Demon Kings cried out as they retreated. Anyone could see what had happened. A Turtle King had chosen to self-detonate to drag his enemies down with him.

Within the swamp, Luo Chen steadied the trembling Water Mirror with his mana while he admired the Turtle King’s resolve. More importantly, that was exactly the sign he had been waiting for!

”Senior Han, please keep an eye on the Water Mirror. When the time comes, let me know when to act.”

Luo Chen brushed a hand across the mirror and memorized the nearby battlefield terrain.

From within the Myriad Soul Banner, a three-inch figure floated out and revealed the illusory form of an old man. Luo Chen planned to roam the battlefield in person to hunt for Demon Kings, while Han Zhan would remain behind to monitor the battlefield and notify him of any changes at any moment. With this coordination between them, Luo Chen could safely carry out his plan of seizing chestnuts from the fire!

Han Zhan looked at Luo Chen with a helpless glance. ”Go on. I will inform you if anything happens.”

Luo Chen smiled faintly and slipped into the second-tier demonic crab puppet. His mana grabbed onto every part of it like strings, and the crab quietly left the swamp.

***

Once a Turtle King acted, other turtles followed suit. To protect their homeland and their place of survival, the high-tier experts of the Ring-Head Turtle clan held nothing back. When an early-stage Ring-Head Turtle King suffered heavy injuries under the assault of two powerful enemies and saw no chance to turn the situation around, it chose to perish together with them.

”If you won’t let us live, then let’s go to hell together!”

It let out a furious roar; the demon core within its body contracted and then expanded once more. The demonic power it had accumulated over its entire life exploded at once. The overwhelming force of the self-detonation swept across a hundred li in an instant. Within that range, low-tier demonic beasts of every size were caught in the blast. Whether they belonged to the five crab clans or the Ring-Head Turtle clan, none survived.

At the center of the battlefield, the two Green Emperor Crab Kings retreated as fast as they could, but they were still caught in the massive surge of demonic energy. Without wasting a single instant, the two Crab Kings immediately used their own protective measures. One flipped its shell over to use as a shield, while the other exhaled a bubble that enveloped it.

Endless shockwaves rolled; blood mist and smoke spread through the air. The battlefield became a scene as dreadful as hell on earth. Through the haze, a Green Emperor Crab King rolled across the ground without stopping.

The bubbles shattered and formed, only to be shattered again and again. The Crab King continued to spit out bubbles to maintain the outer defense. When it realized it had endured the strongest wave of the explosion, it finally let out a breath of relief. Damn turtles... Why the hell are they so stubborn? Wouldn’t it be better to surrender and become servants? Back in the day, didn’t our crab clans also serve as vassals of the Ring-Head Turtle clan? Well, whatever. The dead are dead. I just wonder how Fifth Brother is doing. I only hope he’s still alive.

Just as its thoughts churned, the bubble before it burst again. Without hesitation, it channeled more demonic power and opened its mouth to spit out another bubble. Yet something unexpected happened.

A hand thrust into the yet-unformed bubble, its five fingers curled like claws. With a vicious strike, it plunged into her torso. When it withdrew, a blue gem gleamed in its grasp. The event happened too suddenly for the Crab King to react, yet it immediately understood what had happened. It would never mistake that blue gem—it was its own core, the condensation of hundreds of years’ worth of cultivation.

Within the Crab King’s vision, a human appeared. It was just about to cry for help, but the moment its eyes met his, its mind fell into a trance. A bright moon seemed to hang within the sea while flowers bloomed and withered. Before it could come back to its senses, its head was split from its body and its demon core sealed away.

After succeeding in a single move, Luo Chen did not pause to pat himself on the back. He swept his sleeve, and the enormous corpse of the demonic crab vanished at once. He then burrowed underground and entered the Primordial Unity Cauldron while activating the Concealment Veil Formation to hide his aura.

The Primordial Unity Cauldron was incomparably sturdy. Though it had no defensive functions to speak of, the materials alone made it tough enough to serve as a defensive enchanted treasure. With it, he could even withstand a Demon King’s self-detonation.

Outside, the aftermath of the self-detonation gradually faded. A figure shot into the sky with a greatly weakened aura. After reaching some altitude, it started shouting, yet no one answered. It circled again and again and swept both sky and ground with its senses, yet it found nothing. In the end, it left the battlefield in silence.

For the development of the clan, sacrifices were unavoidable. Yet when such a fate fell upon his own younger sister, he still found it difficult to accept.

Inside the Primordial Unity Cauldron, Luo Chen could faintly probe the situation outside. After the heavily injured Crab King departed, he could not help but breathe a sigh of relief. He had not expected that both Green Emperor Crab Kings would survive the self-detonation of an opponent at the same tier.

Well, it was not surprising that one who passed by earlier lived, as it looked rather formidable. But the one Luo Chen had hunted had also managed to endure. Still, as he thought back to the bubbles it had spat out earlier, he found that ability quite unique. Unfortunately, his ambush had still led to its death.

Earlier, he had unleashed the Cloud-Seizing Divine Claw and Mirror Flower Water Moon against an early-stage Demon King that was already on the brink of collapse. It had no chance of resisting. Even against a completely uninjured late-stage Demon King, Luo Chen could still contend.

”That’s one,” Luo Chen murmured.

Yet the next moment, a voice transmission entered his mind.

His expressions shifted subtly, and he muttered, ”Fifty li to the southeast? That’s close!”

Within the enormous crater left by the explosion, soil churned as a demonic crab crawled out from underground. After briefly checking the direction, it spread its eight legs and began running quickly.

Under normal circumstances, such movement would have attracted attention. On this battlefield, however, such speed did not stand out. The demonic crab soon arrived at another battlefield.

After avoiding several clashes, Luo Chen hid behind a massive boulder and raised his head to the sky. Up there, four Demon Kings were locked in fierce combat. With three against one, the balance of victory had already begun to tilt.

”In the sky? That might be a little tricky this time.”

***

The stars shifted across the sky; the sun rose and the moon set. On Profound Rock Island, the battle advanced step by step as the demonic crab side pushed forward. Their momentum was unstoppable, and victory was already within reach. However, this smooth progress had come at a tremendous cost for the five royal clans.

Out on the sea, a multicolored clam floated upon the water. The five patriarchs waited there and watched the battlefield. Meanwhile, demonic crabs came and went as they reported the situation from the front lines.

”Patriarch, the Ring-Head Turtles have gone mad. They refuse to surrender and are fighting to the death. Some have even started blowing themselves up, and our losses are heavy. We haven’t counted them yet, but...”

As they listened to the report, the expressions of the five patriarchs grew solemn. Golden Mud, who stood at the head, maintained his composure despite the gravity of the situation. ”It’s fine. We expected this. If the situation were reversed, we’d probably do the same. Keep pushing forward. We must reach the center of the island. Seven Rings and Seafall still haven’t made their move.”

Seven Rings and Seafall were the two strongest experts of the Ring-Head Turtle clan. They had cultivated for an extremely long time and possessed formidable strength. Each one surpassed any single member of the five patriarchs. This was the reason the five of them, though the strongest combatants on their side, had not yet set foot on the island.

After hearing the order, the subordinate quickly acknowledged it. But before leaving, he hesitated and spoke again, ”Patriarch, Golden Armor says something isn’t right.”

”What isn’t right?” Golden Mud asked in confusion.

”When the Crab Kings fall in battle, their bodies can’t be found. This strange thing has happened more than once.”

At this, Golden Mud’s eyes shifted, and an uncertain look appeared on his face. Bodies missing again? He turned his gaze toward the other four patriarchs.

”Do you know anything about this?”

”The same happened to us!”

The other four did not hesitate. If it had only been one or two, it would have been understandable, but over the past year, a dozen Crab Kings had vanished without even a pincer remaining. They’d been conducting their own investigations, but unfortunately, on a battlefield of this magnitude, finding traces was nothing more than a pipe dream.

Red Face of the Demon Spider Crab clan suddenly said, ”Yesterday, we received word that a human cultivator appeared on Profound Rock Island. They confirmed it was Gu Shaoshang, the one who left earlier.”

”He came back?”

”He left and then returned. What is he planning?”

”I’m afraid he never truly left,” Red Face said slowly. ”The missing bodies aren’t only from our side. Quite a few of the fallen experts from the Ring-Head Turtle side have disappeared as well.”

With this explanation, the previously strange occurrences seemed to connect. If Gu Shaoshang had returned quietly and were gathering Ring-Head Turtle corpses on the battlefield, that would be quite possible. Taking a few Crab King corpses along the way would also seem normal to a human cultivator. Yet when such a thing happened to the five royal clans, they found it unacceptable.

Crimson Flame flew into a rage. ”Humans really are despicable and cunning!”

”Is he still on the island?” Nine Legs said angrily, ”If he is, I’ll go deal with him myself.”

Red Face shook his head. ”Well... according to the latest intelligence, Gu Shaoshang has already left Profound Rock Island.”

”Good that he is gone. Otherwise, if I caught him...”

”Wait!” Golden Mud suddenly realized something. ”If he’s already gone, then why are corpses still disappearing on the battlefield of Profound Rock Island?”

The demons looked at one another. A troubling thought rose in their minds. Could there be another mastermind behind this?

Just as they were speculating, Red Face’s expression suddenly changed. A moment later, the other four demons’ faces shifted as well.

”Seafall has finally made its move!”