An Alchemist's Path to Eternity

Rather than unraveling Ghost Immortal Tower’s ability from the start, Luo Chen could rebuild Mirror Flower Water Moon around the same principle. For the past month, he had repeatedly dismantled and reconstructed the Ghost Immortal Tower illusion by drawing upon the fiend qi accumulated within his body while circulating his origin energy through it. Then, using the origin energy as a bridge to connect it with the divine soul in his sea of consciousness....

”This move may not be as powerful as the Ghost Immortal Tower’s, but it’s much more refined. Given enough time, I might even surpass its original form.”

As he murmured, his eyes suddenly snapped open. At once, mist rolled outward and filled the space within three chi of his body. Rosy light shimmered through the mist as vapor curled into the air, carrying the faint sound of chanting, curses, and furious cries. Amid it all, faces both youthful and aged appeared one after another, men and women alike, along with the vicious phantoms of various demonic beasts struggling and writhing among them. The spectacle could not compare with the overwhelming sea of ghosts that had surrounded Ghost Immortal Tower, but what it lacked in scale, it made up for in horrifying detail.

Luo Chen closed his eyes once more and withdrew his divine soul and origin energy. The mist vanished, and every phantom disappeared with it. Yet on his status panel, a brand-new entry had appeared.

Ghosts and Gods Scatter: Beginner (1/100).

It had been listed under the category of soul arts. The moment he saw this, he felt a weight lifted from his shoulders. This spell had grown out of Mirror Flower Water Moon and could, in a sense, be regarded as its third offshoot. The system, however, had not classified it as another extension of the original spell. It had received an entirely separate entry.

That meant it had already broken free from the limits of the third-tier Mirror Flower Water Moon and had most likely reached the fourth tier. Better still, Luo Chen had created the spell himself. Its current form was only the foundation, and there was still ample room for further refinement.

In fact, that also gave him another use for his subsidiary soul. The lightning tempering approach was too destructive to use regularly; with this, he could spend the intervals and use his subsidiary soul to practice Ghosts and Gods Scatter instead. In that way, he could continue strengthening the soul while raising his proficiency with this new spell.

”My future cultivation is settled, then!”

With that final piece in place, Luo Chen had no reason to remain in seclusion any longer. He washed and changed, then left the cultivation chamber feeling refreshed. After picking up Heavenjade and the others, he finally stepped off the ship and onto Sun-Moon Island.

***

They stood before an ancient hall surrounded by formations. The man from the Dao Sect looked at Luo Chen and asked again, ”Wilderness Hermit, are you sure you can protect your people?”

Luo Chen glanced at the nervous Zhang Jingqing and gave her a faint smile. She relaxed a little at once. He then turned back to the man. ”Don’t worry, Fellow Daoist Yu. If the others can protect the people they’re bringing, I can protect her and the others too.”

Yu Ziyou frowned. ”The other two Sages are bringing Adepts with them. She’s only an Initiate. That’s a very different situation.”

He had already warned Luo Chen more than once, however, and there was little point in arguing further. If Luo Chen insisted on taking responsibility, then any problems during the teleportation would be his own to deal with.

Yu Ziyou turned his attention to the fifteen people gathered outside the hall. Three Sages were traveling together, each accompanied by a few relatives or subordinates, but Luo Chen’s group was by far the most unusual. Zhang Jingqing’s cultivation was evidently low, while two of the others were demonic beasts. One had somehow assumed human form before reaching the fourth tier, whereas the other was a Demon Emperor yet did not transform at all. What was more astonishing was that the latter carried the aura of an archaic beast!

The discovery surprised not only Yu Ziyou but also the other Sages who had traveled with Luo Chen for the past half year. Until now, nobody had realized that the early-stage Wilderness Hermit had a fourth-tier archaic beast as a pet. Had the teleportation formation not required every passenger to be registered in advance, Luo Chen might have brought an archaic beast all the way to the Central Continent without anyone knowing about it.

Yu Ziyou gave the group one final look before turning toward the hall. ”Alright, prepare yourselves while you wait. The formation will be ready shortly.”

After he went inside, Luo Chen remained outside with two other Sages. Unlike during most of the voyage, when he had largely kept to himself, he took the opportunity to exchange a few words with them. One was known as Wintermount, while the other was Lu Qiuzhen—both were prominent figures in the Northern Sea. Fu Chaosheng had particularly encouraged Luo Chen to become acquainted with Lu Qiuzhen, since the man had also secured his place through Fu Chaosheng’s recommendation and planned to join the Star Gate once they reached the Central Continent.

After they chatted for a while, all three suddenly fell silent. The tightly shut doors of the hall slowly opened, and Yu Ziyou’s voice came from within. ”Come inside!”

The three Sages exchanged glances. Lu Qiuzhen gestured toward the entrance. ”After you, Wilderness Hermit.”

Luo Chen accepted the courtesy and led the other four into the hall.

Inside, Fu Chaosheng stood beside Yu Ziyou with a smile. ”Come. It’s time we headed home.”

The words made Luo Chen pause for a moment before he returned a nod.

For Fu Chaosheng, this truly was a journey home. The Central Continent was where his family and sect had their roots. Luo Chen’s destination, however, lay farther away. The Central Continent was merely another stop along the way. Once his affairs there were settled, he would continue toward the Eastern Wilderness that he himself regarded as home.

After about the time it took an incense stick to burn...

BOOOOOMMMMM!!!

A pillar of light erupted from the central hall of Sun-Moon Island, illuminating the surrounding sky.

Far from the island, Zhou Yunshen stood aboard another vessel with his clansmen and watched the light slowly fade. ”Fellow Daoist Luo has gone on ahead.”

There was so much emotion in his murmur that anyone who did not know better might have thought he was mourning a death. The truth was Luo Chen had simply taken the faster route, while Zhou Yunshen still had to bring the members of his clan across the sea by ship and face a more dangerous route. He could only hope that they would meet again in the Central Continent, because if that day came, it would mean that he had survived the journey.

”Hopefully, I’ll see you again soon.”

With that, Zhou Yunshen shifted his gaze from the fading light to the voyage ahead. He and the other three Sages remaining aboard were responsible not only for bringing their clansmen and disciples safely to the Central Continent but also for escorting a shipment belonging to the Heaven Origin Trade Alliance. In that sense, they were already starting to work for the Dao Sect before they even joined the Star Gate.

***

Star Island was one of the few large islands lying just off the Central Continent. It possessed a fourth-tier spirit vein and was covered with fields of herbs, making it a blessed land in its own right. Yet the spirit vein was not the true reason for its importance, and neither were the herb fields.

At the heart of the island stood a major teleportation formation linking the Central Continent with the Northern Sea and the Southern Frontier. Goods and cultivators passed through it on their journeys north and south, making Star Island one of the region’s most important transit points. Because of that, access to the island was tightly controlled, and despite all the resources flowing through it, the surroundings were far quieter than one might expect of such a prosperous place.

Yet one day, this peaceful scene was suddenly shattered as a series of quakes began rolling out from the underground palace at the center of the island. The Dao Sect cultivators rushed over from everywhere and stared at the palace in alarm. The core of the teleportation formation lay within, and anyone arriving from another continent was temporarily confined there until their identity had been verified. The precaution had been observed for thousands of years, yet no previous arrival had ever caused this much commotion.

”Just how many people did the Northern Sea send over? This much spirit stone consumption is ridiculous.”

”A single teleportation can carry a hundred people at most. There’s no way a hundred people are causing this much damn ruckus.”

Before anyone could make sense of it, one of the cultivators suddenly pointed toward the palace. ”Wait... look! What’s that?”

A foul metallic stench reached them first. Then, blood began seeping from the doorsill and spreading rapidly across the ground. With so much blood pouring out, the same horrifying thought occurred to everyone at once.

Had something gone wrong during the teleportation?

Inside the underground palace, however, the situation was far less dire than they imagined. Three Sages were staring speechlessly at a fourth Sage and the enormous flood dragon sprawled beside him. Black King’s jaws were hanging wide open, and blood gushed from it in an unbroken torrent until it nearly formed a river.

Under everyone’s astonished stares, Luo Chen could only give a helpless smile. ”My apologies, everyone.”