An Alchemist's Path to Eternity

Coldlight Island was where Luo Chen had first encountered a Blood God Clone. Back then, Blood Nightmare had seized control of He Yuan’s body and approached him with an offer of recruitment. Yet the clone that remained clearest in his memory belonged not to Blood Nightmare, but to Blood Hermit. At Withered Wood Ridge, Blood Hermit had turned a Sage from the devil sect into a Blood God Clone and sent it to capture a fifth-tier Withered Blood Vine. Its strength had been terrifying enough that Luo Chen had never forgotten it.

Despite being controlled by different masters, the two clones possessed the same traits. Each body carried two wholly distinct auras, one belonging to its original owner and the other to the cultivator controlling it. By all logic, such an obvious weakness seemed out of place in such a profound art, but that was indeed how they manifested.

Thus, the moment crimson light erupted from the Wu family Adept and two separate auras emerged from the same body, Luo Chen instantly understood what stood before him.

Is it Blood Hermit or Blood Nightmare?

As far as he knew, these two were the only people in the Northern Sea capable of refining Blood God Clones. Luo Chen immediately signaled for Heavenjade and Sang Jinghe to retreat. Before they could get far, however, the wretched clone raised its head and fixed its empty eye sockets on him. ”Why have you come to disturb me?”

Oh, it’s Blood Nightmare. Okay.

That was all that was needed for Luo Chen to recognize his opponent. He had not interacted much with Blood Nightmare, but Blood Hermit had left a far deeper impression, and he would never mistake one for the other.

That said, the answer only gave rise to further questions. Blood Hermit was supposedly pursuing Blood Nightmare relentlessly, so why had Blood Nightmare chosen to hide in the Coldlight Archipelago? This area lay near both Devil’s Snare and the Blue Sea Alliance, directly along the boundary between their territories.

Did he hide here because the most dangerous place is also the safest?

Before Luo Chen could pursue the thought, Heavenjade cried out behind him, ”Master, look!”

He turned, and his eyes widened.

Across White Sheep Island, mortals were collapsing one after another as their bodies melted into pools of blood and sank into the earth. The nearby Qi Refinement cultivators and Initiates stared in horror before breaking into frantic shouts and scrambling to escape.

Truthfully, White Sheep Island was only the start. The same scene had engulfed every island, from the largest settlements to the smallest specks of land, in the Coldlight Archipelago. Millions upon millions of mortals dissolved into masses of blood without even enough time to utter a scream.

The empty-eyed clone suddenly lunged forward, accompanied by a violent gust that tore through the air. ”WHY DID YOU DISTURB ME?!?!”

In response, Luo Chen simply raised a finger. Sword energy erupted in every direction and shredded the clone into chunks of flesh before it could reach him. The remains struck the ground, melted into blood, and seeped into the earth like everything else.

He lowered his gaze and unleashed his divine consciousness outward. Crimson radiance soared from every island, and the once-blue sea now lay under the creep of a thick red sheen. Countless low-tier cultivators tried to flee into the sky, only for streams of crimson light to coil around them and drag them back before they could escape.

Once the pattern became clear, Luo Chen drew a steady breath and stared across the crimson sea. ”So there really was something off with the formation. Blood Nightmare altered the island-linking formation that covers the entire Coldlight Archipelago. Tens of millions of mortals and more than a hundred thousand low-tier cultivators have been under its influence without realizing it. We need to leave immediately. Go!”

With a sweep of his sleeve, Luo Chen wrapped Heavenjade and Sang Jinghe in his mana and prepared to carry them higher into the sky. But before they could rise, the heavens blazed like a furnace as a vast crimson canopy descended over the archipelago.

Luo Chen reacted without a moment’s delay and struck out with the Azure Yang Great Handprint. The crimson canopy churned violently under the strike, and an enormous blood palm projection appeared across the sky. The force of the collision shook the surrounding space and forced him back onto the island.

He landed with his teeth clenched tight. That crimson canopy is a Nascent Soul Domain?

As he studied the crimson canopy, the truth became clear. Like Luo Chen himself, Blood Nightmare had fused another power into his Domain and transformed it into something uniquely his own.

He truly lives up to being a disciple of a Holy Land...

Before he could look into the Domain further, the island began to quake as the formation entered its next stage. The nearby Qi Refinement cultivators and Initiates shuddered as their bodies twisted under a wave of strange mutations. One after another, they turned toward Luo Chen, and countless strands of spirit consciousness gathered on him from everywhere, making him feel like needles were pricking his back.

Luo Chen’s expression darkened. Damn it... Has he lost his mind? Refining tens of millions of mortals wasn’t enough, so he planted devil seeds in over a hundred thousand low-tier cultivators too?

These people were not true Blood God Clones. The formation had merely destroyed their minds and reduced them to puppets, but the corruption had already spread too far to reverse. Once the formation completed its work, they would melt into the same blood puddle the mortals had turned into.

Luo Chen glanced at Heavenjade and Sang Jinghe. Keeping them with him would only limit his movements. Sang Jinghe had been watching him anxiously since the Domain descended, and when Luo Chen looked his way, his heart clenched. ”Sage, what should we do?”

Rather than waste time explaining, Luo Chen drew a deep breath and began forming seals. Three breaths later, he brought his palms together, then thrust his right hand forward. A small azure palm projection emerged, carrying not only his pure mana but also the enslaving power he had fused into the technique. As it continued forward, it grew larger and larger.

Ruuummmmbleee...

Wherever the Azure Yang Great Handprint passed, it dispersed the crimson radiance in its path as islands sank beneath the sea and towering waves rolled across the surrounding waters. In its wake, a clear passage opened. Luo Chen made a light pushing motion behind Heavenjade and Sang Jinghe, and a surge of mana caught them from behind and propelled them into the passage carved out by the palm spell.

Heavenjade twisted around in alarm. She saw Luo Chen not moving from where he was, his white robes snapping in the violent wind, and worry immediately filled her face. ”Master, come with us!”

Luo Chen kept his gaze fixed on the crimson sky. ”Take Jinghe and go. I’ll catch up in a bit.”

The Azure Yang Great Handprint continued moving north, with Heavenjade and Sang Jinghe following behind. Luo Chen no longer needed to guide it. After he became a Sage, he reworked the spell until its power surpassed the original might. By fusing Spirit Enslavement into it, he had also given it a far more frightening property. Once released, it would slip beyond his control and continue accumulating power on its own. Unless someone stopped it by force, it would continue growing stronger as it advanced, and it would crush everything in its path.

Luo Chen could not follow them just yet. The canopy-like Domain had already locked onto him, and the formation had strengthened its hold enough for Blood Nightmare to follow his every movement. Meanwhile, he had no such means available. With escape no longer an option, he steadied himself and spread his divine consciousness across the archipelago in search of Blood Nightmare.

By then, the Azure Yang Great Handprint had reached the northern edge of the Coldlight Archipelago. It smashed through the crimson barrier and opened a narrow passage to the daylight beyond. Yet the opening was sealed almost immediately after Heavenjade and Sang Jinghe passed through.

Luo Chen tapped one foot against the ground and rose into the air. Below him, White Sheep Island was already melting away, and its landmass was breaking apart into endless streams of blood that poured into the sea. Around him, figures wrapped in crimson radiance rose from the collapsing islands and charged toward him.

At the sight, he snorted coldly. ”You hide your face and cover your tracks, yet you still dare call yourself the devil of your generation?”

He raised his right hand as though supporting an invisible weight, and a blazing sun slowly rose from his palm. Once it reached the space above his head, it trembled and burst into tens of thousands of sparks. At a flick of his finger, they streaked outward and pierced the corrupted cultivators from every direction.

Psh! Psh! Psh! Psh! Psh! Psh!

The air was filled with the sound of flesh being punctured by spear after spear. Although more than a hundred thousand cultivators had been caught in the formation, they were still only low-tier cultivators; against the overwhelming power of a Sage, their numbers meant nothing at all. For Blood Nightmare to send such crude imitations of Blood God Clones against Luo Chen was little more than wishful thinking. Within moments, more than ten thousand had fallen, and the space around him fell empty.

Yet as the last of them dropped, an invisible force began gathering from the surrounding world. It was nearly identical to the power that had previously enveloped the low-tier cultivators.

Is he trying to refine me into a Blood God Clone as well?

With that, he summoned the Withering-Flourishing True Fire around himself to block off the invasive force before it could take hold. At the same time, he also unleashed the Infinite Blaze Prison through the sky, so that its power began melting the crimson Domain overhead. Once his defenses were secure, he brought his hands together and formed a complex sequence of seals.

His movements were not entirely smooth, but since Blood Nightmare was not showing himself, Luo Chen had all the time he needed to complete the casting. As the final seal settled into place, his gaze turned cold and ruthless.

”Let’s see if you can keep hiding.”

An illusory fire phoenix unfurled its wings behind him and glided gracefully forward. Every feather looked vivid and distinct, while its majestic bearing carried the disdain of a divine creature looking down upon lesser beings. The moment it emerged, it skimmed across the surface of the sea. Wherever it passed, the sea of blood evaporated, islands melted, and countless living beings perished before they could even react.

This was Fire Phoenix’s Prairie Blaze, the new fourth-tier spell in which Luo Chen had only recently reached Beginner proficiency. Under normal conditions, he would never have risked using an unfamiliar high-tier spell in battle. The seals were too complicated, and the casting took far too long. This time, however, Blood Nightmare remained hidden instead of pressing the attack, and Luo Chen had no problem at all using it.

The result exceeded his expectations. The fire phoenix advanced with the grandeur capable of boiling the seas and reducing the world to ash. Yet Luo Chen was not merely testing its destructive power; he was also guiding divine consciousness to search through every shift in the churning sea of blood for a sign of Blood Nightmare.

Suddenly, Luo Chen’s gaze sharpened. ”Found you!”

He pressed two fingers together like the edge of a sword and pointed toward the ruins of Jadecold City. The fire phoenix wheeled through the air and plunged headfirst into the crimson waters.

BOOOOOOOOOMMMMM!!!!

A thunderous blast shook the entire archipelago. No smoke or dust rose from the impact. Instead, clouds of boiling mist surged into the sky and swallowed the surrounding sea.

Luo Chen’s Spirit Eyes flashed like lightning and pierced through the mist. Deep within the roiling vapor, a figure slowly rose from the sea of blood. White hair framed a face twisted with madness, and crimson robes billowed around him as he rose. It was Blood Nightmare, the same man he had encountered in the Heaven of Bright Illumination!

The moment he revealed himself, the crimson canopy overhead contracted and crashed down upon Luo Chen. He met it without fear as the Infinite Blaze Prison surged outward and its power to melt the Domain burned one hole after another through the descending canopy. Through those openings, the ambient fire-attribute spirit energy poured in and gathered around him.

Their first direct clash settled into a stalemate, with neither able to overwhelm the other.

As Blood Nightmare studied Luo Chen, some of the madness receded from his eyes, leaving only confusion. ”Huh? Who are you?”

Luo Chen was briefly taken aback. He doesn’t recognize me?

On second thought, however, he realized there was nothing strange about it. The two of them had barely interacted. Even when Blood Nightmare tried to recruit him, he had only met Luo Chen through He Yuan, whom he controlled as a Blood God Clone. Though his later order for Liang Baizao to hunt Luo Chen down had resulted in a massive grudge, it had been little more than a casual remark as far as he was concerned. More importantly, Luo Chen’s appearance had changed so drastically since his time in the Heaven of Bright Illumination that he was almost unrecognizable.

Of course, that suited him perfectly. Whatever grudges lay between them could wait. Luo Chen had only recently become a Sage, whereas Blood Nightmare had formed his Nascent Soul many years ago. As a disciple of a Holy Land, he also possessed techniques far beyond those of an ordinary cultivator, and his ability to survive Blood Hermit’s relentless pursuit was proof enough of his strength. Since Blood Nightmare did not recognize him, Luo Chen saw no reason to risk settling their grievances now.