An Alchemist's Path to Eternity

Thus, the whole thing headed toward an anticlimactic end. Perhaps Luo Chen’s only loss was that his enlightenment would be interrupted. Or so everyone thought... except Lin Jingtang.

”Want to run? Not so easy!”

He raised a thought and, amidst Lin Bufan’s shocked cry, the lower body of his Nascent Soul collapsed into a sea of mana, all of which then poured into the Bell of Terror.

”SPREAD!”

DAAAAAAANG!

The toll shook the firmament. Under such a blow, everyone expected the cultivator inside the bell to die, without a doubt. Even if he wanted to use his illusory Go stone, he would be too disoriented to activate it in time.

Suddenly, a low, hoarse, almost ghostly voice sounded, ”You really want me dead, huh?”

To everyone’s astonishment, they saw the blood-red tip of a sword poking its way out of the top of the massive bell.

Screeeeech!

The shrill sound of metal scratching metal continued to ring out. Under Lin Jingtang’s terrified gaze, the sword sawed through his life-bound enchanted treasure bit by bit. As it cut into the bell, he felt as though it were slowly cutting into his heart.

”Open!”

This command was accompanied by a loud snap, following which the Bell of Terror became two halves. As they fell to the side, a black-armored man holding a scarlet sword and standing on a gray cauldron came into view.

In the biting wind, his long, jet-black hair danced behind him like squirming black snakes. His skin was fair and smooth like congealed lamb suet. He no longer looked like a weathered, wrinkled middle-aged man, yet when those eyes swept across the crowd, they were like a bottomless cold pond that reflected the fear in their hearts.

The next second, Luo Chen swung his blood-red sword diagonally!

Lin Jingtang’s divine soul was in tremendous pain after the destruction of his life-bound enchanted treasure, so he had no strength to resist this strike. He activated his illusory Go stone in panic, but it was already too late. When the sword landed, the remaining half of his Nascent Soul, along with his divine soul, crumbled instantly. Only his mutilated body disappeared into a vortex.

Once he was done with that, Luo Chen stomped his foot. From the gray cauldron under his feet, nine scarlet chains shot out toward Shi Ju.

Shi Ju’s brow furrowed, and a familiar scene replayed: He vanished inch by inch in a firelight, then reappeared next to Qi Xiongcheng and Wang Yifu. When he looked at the place he had been in, he saw the nine chains wrapping around Fu Qinglan and pulling her toward Luo Chen.

”Hmph!” Luo Chen ignored everyone and checked Fu Qinglan, whose clothes were stained with blood. ”Didn’t you grasp your root power? How come you still ended up in this sorry state?”

Fu Qinglan looked ashamed. Ultimately, she was not good at fighting. While it was true that she had attained a higher level of power, she still lacked combat experience and, more importantly, the corresponding skills to control her new power, so she could only use it in the most basic way.

Still, all’s well that ends well. I’ve accomplished my goal for this competition, and Luo Chen is unharmed. The only regret is...

”Your enlightenment was interrupted because I failed to protect you. It’s because of my incompetence. But it’s alright now. Once we activate our illusory Go stones and leave this world, our mission will be a complete success.”

My enlightenment was interrupted? A speechless Luo Chen could only let out a chuckle; he didn’t bother explaining things to Fu Qinglan. Instead, his gaze swept over the rest of the people present. ”Oh yeah, we’re leaving, alright. But before that, I would like to test this little technique I’ve just learned on you people. Let this be the continuation of our unfinished battle at Three-Rainbow Falls.”

Hearing this, everyone was shaken. He wants to fight on when he can just leave? Is he angry because his enlightenment was foiled?

”Fine! Then pay for the failure of my True Inheritor with your life!” Wang Yifu bellowed and rushed toward Luo Chen with his bamboo staff in hand.

Qi Xiongcheng remained silent as he followed right behind Wang Yifu.

Shi Ju’s eyes betrayed his shock and confusion at Luo Chen’s invitation to fight, but since the other party had given him this opportunity, there was no way he would back down.

The three of them took a deep breath and came at Luo Chen from three different directions. Seeing this, Fu Qinglan’s expression turned cold. She raised her longsword, only to be stopped by Luo Chen’s mana.

”You don’t want me to fight?” Fu Qinglan was puzzled.

She admitted that Luo Chen was very strong, but individual strength was ultimately limited. She herself was no match for these three opponents together, even though she had grasped the Root of Wood. Moreover, she had no doubt that Shi Ju still had unused tricks hidden up his sleeve. She didn’t understand why her Dao Protector was so confident.

Luo Chen was unfazed as he looked at the foes approaching from three sides. Then, he turned to Gu Yuan, Gu Chen, and Lin Bufan and asked, ”What about you?”

After being forced into a powerless witness of Lin Jingtang’s fall, Lin Bufan was filled with grief and indignation. However, his exceptionally keen divine sense alerted him to how deeply dangerous Luo Chen could be. He gritted his teeth and didn’t answer the question, but his body did that in his stead by quickly pulling back.

Fu Qinglan watched him retreat with a complicated expression and just kept muttering ”Little Lin...”

Meanwhile, Gu Yuan and Gu Chen exchanged glances and nodded in tacit understanding. Since Luo Chen had been able to enter a state of enlightenment while protecting Fu Qinglan, it was very likely that he had consumed the Heaven Mystery Pill. Whether or not he had been enlightened, one thing for certain was that he had gained something in the end—his so-called newly learned technique, for example.

”I still have duties entrusted by my family to attend to, so I’ll have to decline. Maybe we can have a drink after we’re back outside,” Gu Yuan said with a smile. He slowly withdrew with Gu Chen in tow.

Luo Chen looked disappointed. But just then, the white eagle that had been circling in the sky finally couldn’t hold back anymore and swooped down toward him. His interest was reignited.

”Perfect! Three humans and one demonic beast should be just about enough to test my blade!”

Even though he was talking about his blade, however, he put away Primordial Slaughter and even swallowed the Primordial Unity Cauldron. Then, as he stood there upright in the air, he simply raised his right hand, lifted his index finger, and lowered it as if he was swinging his sword.

The instant his finger stopped, the atmosphere abruptly shifted. The clouds were ripped apart, and endless fierce winds swirled as if they wanted to turn the sky upside down. Boundless ambient spirit energy surged in from all directions. The sea of water and snow formed after the snow-capped mountain had collapsed actually began to boil!

Everything between heaven and earth had become restless.

The three Sages who were charging toward Luo Chen felt their own mana getting uncontrollably agitated. They saw his aura rising like mad and setting his figure ablaze; he radiated such a dazzling light that it was impossible to look straight at him. At the same time, he seemed to become a towering tree that connected the ground and the sky, spreading its dense canopy all over the heavens!

Shi Ju had been immersed in the vast heritage of his family ever since birth, so he quickly recognized the only thing that could produce these extraordinary phenomena unfolding in front of his gaze. Disbelief took over his face.

Has he also grasped a Law?!

The instant he thought of this, Shi Ju no longer intended to conceal his true capability. A rattle drum appeared in his left hand, while the folding fan remained in his right. The fan unfolded, and a stream of fire rolled forth. The rattle drum twirled, and the two pellets beat the head, producing lightning arcs. Lightning and fire were reflected in the madness of his eyes as they merged into a stream of flame zapping with electricity and brimming with mind-boggling destructive power.

Shi Ju wasn’t the only one to react so drastically; the other two also sensed the anomaly about Luo Chen. Wang Yifu came to a sudden halt and thrust his bamboo staff straight down. The next instant, green bamboo shoots sprang up from the soil, growing into a forest that enveloped him. Qi Xiongcheng mustered all his mana, and the black saber in his hand vibrated intensely. It projected a massive light blade thousands of zhang long that slashed toward Luo Chen.

In the face of these attacks, Luo Chen did not do anything spectacular. He simply raised a finger and softly commanded, ”Wither and flourish!”