An Alchemist's Path to Eternity

Although the Demon Alliance had surrounded much of Divine Origin City, the Dao Sect’s prestige still kept the demonic beasts in check. Not once over the years had they dared launch an attack, so cultivators continued to enter and leave as they pleased. Under such circumstances, the arrival of another group would have passed unnoticed.

This group, however, was hard to ignore. Only a few dozen cultivators passed through the gates, and most of them were either Initiates or Adepts. The coral emblem embroidered on their robes made their identity clear at a glance. The stench of blood still clung to them, and although their faces had gone numb from all they had endured, the relief of having narrowly escaped disaster still lingered in their eyes.

Around them, the watching cultivators were talking through divine consciousness.

”Those are members of the Zhou family of the Coral Sea, aren’t they?”

”Judging from their emblem, they are. Who would have thought they would be the last of the Myriad Immortal Society’s three great families to survive?”

”The Chen family of Sky Passage had the deadly waters to protect them, and we’ve all heard that Endless Valley swallowed every demonic beast that entered it. And look at them: Both families fell within a few years. The Zhou family had no such protection, yet they somehow lasted twenty years. Tsk, tsk, quite remarkable.”

”Right, but look at what remains of them. The family once had more than a hundred million people and over ten thousand cultivators. Now these few dozen may be all that survived.”

”Fellow Daoist Li, we should visit their grand elder when we get the chance. I honestly thought he was already nearing the end of his lifespan; he’s over eight hundred years old and he’s been stuck at the fourth stage of the Nascent Soul Realm for I don’t know how long. But anyone who could lead his people out of that encirclement must have been hiding more strength than we realized.”

”Agreed.”

The Zhou cultivators heard none of these exchanges. They were occupied with the inspection required of every newcomer, meant to prevent Demon Emperors disguised as humans from slipping into the city.

It was only partway through the process that they discovered their grand elder had disappeared. All at once, they felt a sense of unease sweeping over them. After losing their base and nearly their entire clan, their grand elder was the final pillar supporting what remained. The thought of losing him as well was more than they could bear, and panic soon began to spread.

Before it could overwhelm them, one of the higher-rank cultivators stepped forward and assured them that the grand elder had merely gone to meet a friend and arrange a place for them to settle.

Only after hearing this did everyone calm down, but only somewhat. Under the watchful gaze of people from the city, they lowered their heads and huddled closer together, carrying themselves like people who no longer had a home to return to.

***

At the foot of Little Jade Mountain, a man with a long beard and green robes hesitated before finally stepping into the mountain. As he entered, the mist parted on its own and opened a path for him. The scene did not unsettle him; instead, it eased some of his tension as it confirmed that the master of the place had already sensed his arrival and was willing to welcome him.

Halfway up the slope, he found a young-looking man waiting in a pavilion. The man wore loose white robes and a jade belt with golden-crimson cloud patterns, while his long black hair flowed down his back, secured only by a plain wooden hairpin.

At the sight of his visitor, the young-looking man shook his head and chuckled softly. ”Following my spirit pet all the way here and showing up uninvited? That’s not very polite, fellow Daoist.”

The elder studied him closely. The man before him looked quite different from the figure in his memories, so he still could not be certain. ”Devil Lord Azure Yang... Luo Hai?”

Luo Chen’s lips curved upward. ”My name is Luo Chen, and I am known as Wilderness Hermit.”

Luo Hai? Luo Chen? Devil Lord Azure Yang? Wilderness Hermit?

The conflicting information only deepened the elder’s uncertainty. He slowly shook his head. ”I don’t know which name is real. For all I know, Wilderness Hermit could be just another alias. But I recognize that black flood dragon. It belongs to Devil Lord Azure Yang, the lord of Surging Lake.”

Luo Chen countered, ”Do you really think Devil Lord Azure Yang’s spirit pet could have grown this powerful?”

The elder fell silent, but when he answered, conviction had replaced his uncertainty. ”If Devil Lord Azure Yang could become Wilderness Hermit, then why couldn’t his spirit pet have grown stronger too?”

Luo Chen was left speechless. He had adopted two false identities, and both had now been exposed by Fu Chaosheng and the Zhou family’s grand elder one after another. Truth be told, neither had seen through him because of his disguise; rather, it was his spirit pets that gave him away. Clearly, hiding one’s identity from high-tier cultivators required far more than changing one’s name, appearance and aura. To create another identity that could truly stand up to scrutiny, one needed a completely different mana and divine consciousness, an entirely separate set of signature techniques, and even different ways of traveling, spirit pets, and servants. No matter how small or large, every last detail had to be taken into consideration.

Since denial was pointless, he offered a faint smile and bowed. ”I am Luo Chen. Greetings, fellow Daoist.”

The elder let out a quiet breath of relief and returned the bow. ”I am Zhou Yunshen of the Coral Sea.... Greetings, Fellow Daoist Luo.”

In spite of the different name, he now had no doubt that the man before him was Devil Lord Azure Yang, the very same who had once risen to great fame within the Society. Given the solemnity of the introduction, Luo Chen was most likely his true name.

Yet Luo Chen’s identity soon became the least astonishing thing about him. The barely perceptible mana fluctuations around Luo Chen, together with the divine consciousness he made no effort to restrain, revealed just how far his cultivation had advanced.

A complicated look crossed Zhou Yunshen’s face, but the admiration in his voice was genuine. ”When I celebrated my eight hundredth birthday, you were still only an Adept. Now, just a few decades later, you’re already standing in front of me as my equal. You’re truly something else.”

Luo Chen smiled. ”You’ve hidden your strength just as well, Fellow Daoist Zhou. Everyone believes you’re still at the fourth stage and nearing the end of your lifespan. Who would have guessed that you reached the sixth stage long ago and you’re only one step away from becoming a grand cultivator?”

His praise was more than just courtesy. During his years with the Society, he had built connections throughout the organization and maintained ties with the three external powers that supported it. Among those three, he had dealt most closely with the Zhou family of the Coral Sea. Not only had a daughter of the Zhou family married Zhang Jiadi, who had once served Luo Chen tirelessly, but he had also attended Zhou Yunshen’s eight hundredth birthday celebration and been personally welcomed by him. Later, when he needed to refine a fourth-tier antidote for his journey to Purple Spirit Island, Zhou Yunshen readily helped him obtain the necessary ingredients. Those exchanges might once have seemed minor, but now that they stood as equals, they formed a genuine history between them.

However, Zhou Yunshen only accepted the compliment with a bitter smile. ”What good is reaching the sixth stage? Hiding my strength only helped me hold on a little longer. In the end, I was still powerless against those stronger.”

With that, he suddenly bowed deeply to Luo Chen. ”Speaking of which, I also owe you a great deal this time. If your spirit pet hadn’t come, my family might not have escaped.”

Luo Chen raised an eyebrow. ”Black King?”

Zhou Yunshen straightened up and nodded; the fear of that battle still visibly lingered in his eyes. ”Yes. Coral Sea was under siege for twenty years, and we’d used up nearly everything we had by that point. If Black King hadn’t sent tens of thousands of dragonworms into the enemy ranks and thrown them into chaos, I never would have managed to lead the last of my clan out. If we’d been trapped much longer, I might have been forced to abandon them and run away alone.”

Have things really gotten that bad? Luo Chen was somewhat startled. He had spent the past several years cultivating in seclusion and knew little of what had happened outside. He had never imagined that even the Coral Sea had already been attacked, much less that the Zhou family had been pushed to the brink of extinction.

Seeing his surprise, Zhou Yunshen gave him a brief account of the Society’s destruction. After the Demon Alliance escaped from the Heaven of Northern Yama, it chose the Society as its first target. The Three Oceans Defensive Line, which had stood for close to two hundred years, was breached within days. The demons then launched a full invasion of the Hidden Dragon Mountain Range.

Dragon Abyss, Mad Hermit, and Blood Hermit were absent; thus, the Chen family’s grand elder, Spirit Tamer of Endless Valley, and Zhou Yunshen had to go to the Society to reinforce Moon Hermit. Their efforts might have saved the Society if Moon Hermit had not withdrawn at the most critical moment. Her departure left the countless rogue cultivators of the Society without anyone to command them. Zhou Yunshen and the other two Sages could not remain behind and die for a force that had already collapsed, so each retreated to defend his own territory.

After that, the Chen family of Sky Passage was the first to be overrun, and its grand elder fled. Endless Valley fared better at first and managed to hold off three consecutive assaults despite being surrounded by enemies. During the fourth, however, it attracted the attention of a powerful Demon Emperor. Not only was Endless Valley destroyed, but the renowned Spirit Tamer also died in battle. That left the Zhou Family of the Coral Sea as the last of the three great families still standing. And after twenty years of resistance, it too finally fell.