An Alchemist's Path to Eternity

The crimson sword soared into the sky, showering the earth in a downpour of sword light. The chaotic ambient spirit energy seemed to have found an anchor and rushed toward it from every direction.

Amid the storm of sword light, a white-robed figure flickered in and out of sight. His features were impossible to make out, but there was no mistaking the contemptuous laugh they had heard earlier.

Yu Xu’s face drained of color. ”Wilderness Hermit!”

Whoosh!

Heavengazer appeared beside her and grabbed her arm. Without wasting a moment on explanations, he uttered only a single word, ”Go!”

A small beast resembling a pangolin flew from his side and opened its mouth. It swallowed both of them, then flipped over and burrowed into the earth, vanishing underground in an instant.

Elsewhere, the others had subtly closed in around Shi Ju after discovering that he had been secretly collecting illusory cores. The sudden disturbance created an opening, but Shi Ju showed no intention of escaping. He merely looked up into the sky. Although it was filled with sword light, his eyes remained fixed on the indistinct figure at the center of the storm.

Qi Xiongcheng tucked the large gourd beneath one arm and studied the scene warily. ”Is that Wilderness Hermit? He’s grown stronger again.”

Shi Ju shook his head. ”No, he hasn’t. He’s been building up power this whole time, and now he’s releasing it all at once. That’s the only reason it looks so overwhelming. Once this attack is over, he’ll be completely spent. And that’s when I’ll take him down and get my hands on the Heaven Mystery Pill.”

Qi Xiongcheng paused and took another careful look at the sword light.

It was indeed so! In fact, the others had reached much the same conclusion. A Sage could not casually produce a disturbance on this scale. Luo Chen was clearly pouring all his mana into a single attack, intending to settle everything with one strike. Thus, aside from Yu Xu and Heavengazer, who had already witnessed Luo Chen’s true strength, no one else even considered fleeing.

Instead, the same thought crossed all their minds: The Heaven Mystery Pill! It had been personally refined by the Saint Alchemist. Whether they used it themselves or brought it back as an offering to their elders, the benefits would be incredible. All they had to do was survive one sword strike. Once Luo Chen exhausted his mana, he would be entirely at their mercy!

There was also another reason they were willing to take that chance. The person who hated Luo Chen most right now was Gu Daosu. Luo Chen’s scheme had ruined his state of enlightenment, and the Unfailing Mirror in his hand was already shining brighter and brighter, making his fury plain for everyone to see. In his rage, Gu Daosu would likely charge in without thinking and bear the brunt of Luo Chen’s attack. They could simply let him take the first blow, then swoop in and seize the pill while he was occupied.

Apart from that, they had no idea when his sword would fall, and trying to close the distance now would be far too dangerous. If the strike came while they were halfway across the battlefield, or if Luo Chen simply focused its full power on the first person foolish enough to approach, whatever they stood to gain would not be worth the risk. Thus, they held their ground and waited.

Fortunately, they did not have to wait long.

The surviving illusory beasts nearby had already begun fleeing after the earlier slaughter and the monstrous sword light now filling the area. Luo Chen had gone to great lengths to gather them all here; there was no chance he would simply stand by and watch his prey escape.

Suddenly, a long shout rang through the heavens.

”SEVEEEEEERRRR!!!!”

The next moment, the sword light came crashing down and drowned the world under a sea of crimson.

Every cultivator reacted at once to resist the might of that sword.

Gu Daosu raised the Unfailing Mirror and poured his power into it. From its surface, a beam of light as thick as a barrel shot straight toward the descending sword. Gu Chen immediately stepped in front of Gu Yuan and raised both hands. His golden robe billowed outward, transforming into a curtain of golden light that shielded them both. Shi Ju gave a cold snort and snapped his folding fan shut. He struck the Purple Yang Gourd under Qi Xiongcheng’s arm; the gourd trembled violently as brilliant golden radiance poured from it and enveloped them both.

The others responded with techniques of their own. The Wang family’s elder tapped his bamboo staff against the ground, and an entire bamboo forest sprang up around him. Dragon Abyss and Tea Mist exchanged a glance before bringing their swords together. Rather than defend, they chose to meet the attack head-on, sending their combined sword energy surging into the sky.

Luo Chen paid no heed to any of it. Holding the fingers of both hands together like swords, he controlled the Primordial Slaughter Sword and sent it crashing down with everything he had.

The beam of the Unfailing Mirror was the first to meet it.

SSSSSSSSSSSSHHHHHKKKKK!!!!!

The instant they collided, the same ray of light that had blasted away a white eagle with the strength of a middle-stage Sage was cleaved cleanly in two. The crimson sword light barely lost any of its momentum and continued descending.

Everyone froze at the sight. They had expected Luo Chen’s strike to be powerful, but not this powerful. By the time they realized how badly they had underestimated him, there was almost no time left to react.

SSSHHHKK! SSSHHHKK! SSSHHHKK!

The sword light swept across a hundred li, cutting through every obstacle in its path as easily as slicing through tofu.

Dragon Abyss and Tea Mist’s combined sword energy shattered the moment it made contact. Dragon Abyss’s expression changed drastically, and he immediately wrapped one arm around Tea Mist’s waist and thrust his free palm upward, pouring out the full force of his mana.

BBBBBBOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMM!!!

The collision sent them plummeting from the sky. Dragon Abyss kept Tea Mist tightly in his arms even as blood burst from his mouth; his loosened hair whipped the air around him as they fell.

Elsewhere, the lush bamboo forest was severed in half, and the verdant bamboo staff in the Wang family elder’s hand split with a sharp crack. He did not even have time to mourn the treasure he had painstakingly refined before a scream rang out behind him.

The elder spun around to find his young master engulfed in crimson sword light, his face twisted in utter dread. With the bamboo forest destroyed, there was nothing left to shield him.

”Activate the Illusory Go Stone!” the elder shouted. ”Get out of the pocket world!”

Despite the danger, the youth retained enough composure to obey. Black and white light swirled around him and rapidly formed a vortex. But just as he was about to escape, a streak of crimson sword light chased him straight into the vortex.

BBBOOOOOOOMMMM!!!

At almost the same moment, Gu Chen staggered backward under the force of the attack. He did not stop retreating until he stood directly in front of Gu Yuan. Then he gritted his teeth and spat out a mouthful of blood essence. The golden curtain before him, which had been riddled with holes only moments earlier, instantly restored itself and closed around the two of them once more.

Even Gu Yuan could no longer remain composed. ”Gu Chen, what’s going on?”

He knew exactly how formidable Gu Chen’s Golden Iron Robe was. The Gu family had crafted it from a piece of high-tier meteoric ore, and the treasure could merge a cultivator’s mana with the power of their blood qi. In battle, its sleeves struck with the weight of iron maces, while its defensive form created a golden curtain as solid as a wall of bronze and iron.

The moment it was crafted, it was an exceptionally rare top-grade enchanted treasure. Gu Chen then spent several hundred years refining it, and once he became a Sage, the family had even helped elevate it into a True Artifact. In the hands of someone like Gu Chen, who cultivated both qi and physique, its defensive power was nothing short of extraordinary.

Yet a single sweep of Luo Chen’s sword light had reduced it to such a state!

Gu Chen’s arms trembled faintly as he stared at the crimson radiance above. ”That sword is no ordinary weapon.”

The sword? Gu Yuan was taken aback.

Above the now-ruined Three-Rainbow Falls, Gu Daosu’s expression shifted slightly as the terrifying force actually knocked the mirror from his hand. A thin streak of blood marked his handsome face, where the sword energy had grazed him.

He looked up at the crimson sword light still bearing down from above and muttered, ”What kind of treasure is that?”

”Su’er, stay focused!” Lady Xu’s voice rang out from behind him. Somehow, she had already forced herself back to her feet. She bit her fingertip and smeared the blood across the bronze mirror.

Gu Daosu’s expression changed at once. ”Aunty, what are you doing?!”

”I’ve already pushed myself too far with that secret art. After this, I won’t have the strength to help you anymore. I’ll only become a burden.” She stared up at the descending sword light. ”So let me use what strength I have left to take that bastard down with me.”

The Unfailing Mirror rose once more, and its radiance flared anew. A pillar of light erupted from the ruined mountain and shot toward Luo Chen, who was still forming sword seals in the sky to control the flying sword.