An Alchemist's Path to Eternity

At this point, everyone thought the distribution of rewards had finally come to an end, but Luo Chen unexpectedly called out another name.

”Yao Mingyue.”

She looked up.

”You took over as the second-generation leader when the sect was at its weakest. The sect was in danger of falling apart, but you held it together and made sure we survived. What you’ve done for the sect can’t really be measured by ordinary merit, so I won’t try. But from today onward, you can step down from your position. Stay by my side and focus on your cultivation. I’ll personally help you prepare to form your core.”

The moment those words fell, the entire hall erupted in commotion. Before anyone could recover, Luo Chen had already called the next name. ”Li Yingzhang!”

”Yes!”

He seemed to have already known what was coming and immediately dropped to his knees.

Luo Chen looked at him and declared, ”From today onward, you are the third leader of the Luo Tian Sect. Take good care of the sect. Don’t let down the people who put their trust in you, and don’t let the reputation we’ve built fall into your hands. If you can lead the sect even farther than we did, so much the better.”

With that, Luo Chen took a deep breath and slowly raised one finger toward him.

A terrifying force swept through the grand hall, but Li Yingzhang stayed calm. He met Luo Chen’s gaze without flinching as the finger drew closer. When the finger touched him, he felt only a warmth between his brows; then, just as suddenly as it had appeared, the pressure was gone.

When everyone looked again, a lifelike green flame mark had appeared on his forehead, like a third eye.

Leaving that mark behind seemed to take something out of Luo Chen. Thus, he slowly rose to his feet, while Yao Mingyue and Wang Yuan followed him toward the exit.

”Yingzhang, you can now see to the task I gave you.”

Li Yingzhang bowed respectfully. ”Yes.”

He remained kneeling until Luo Chen had completely left the hall. Only then did he slowly rise, and as he did, every gaze in the room followed him.

At last, everyone understood why Li Yingzhang had received such generous rewards earlier. Luo Chen had given him a fourth-tier cultivation technique capable of supporting him all the way to the Nascent Soul Realm, as well as several bottles of pills and no fewer than five enchanted treasures upon him. Five enchanted treasures alone were far more than an ordinary cultivator could easily control, especially when Li Yingzhang already possessed the Chi Dragon Sword he had nurtured for many years.

At the time, no one had dared question Luo Chen’s decision and had simply assumed that he favored Li Yingzhang. Now, however, it was obvious that every reward had been given with his succession as sect leader in mind.

Yet when their eyes returned to Li Yingzhang, they instinctively settled on the green flame between his brows. For some reason, none of them dared to look at it for long. The mark lent him an authority, and even without showing anger, he now inspired enough reverence to make others lower their gazes instinctively.

Li Yingzhang himself, however, was filled with emotions. His grandfather would probably never have imagined that things would turn out this way. Back then, the man had worried constantly that the Luo Tian Society would eventually swallow the Li family, so he had prepared contingency after contingency and negotiated one condition after another with Luo Chen, all to preserve the family’s independence. In the end, the Li family had indeed become fully integrated into the Luo Tian Sect, but in such a way that his grandson, Li Yingzhang, was now the sect leader! Truly, fate was a strange thing to behold.

After collecting himself, Li Yingzhang smiled faintly at everyone present. ”The Supreme Elder has entrusted me with a task, so I’ll have to ask for everyone’s help.”

Everyone immediately voiced their agreement. Since the order had come directly from the Supreme Elder, none of them truly regarded it as a matter of helping Li Yingzhang.

Li Yingzhang continued, ”The task is simple. We will send invitations throughout the five domains and invite their Sages to Hundred-Li Green River for the Nascent Soul Formation Ceremony of our Supreme Elder. Xu Xiaoliu has already taken a group into the Windflower Domain, while the Supreme Elder has personally sent word to the White Crane Domain. When the time comes, Elder Wang Yuan only needs to make another trip there. That leaves three domains. Six Adepts will travel in pairs, and each pair will be responsible for delivering invitations to one domain.”

By the end, Li Yingzhang’s voice had slowed, but his tone had grown increasingly solemn. ”This will be the greatest occasion our sect has seen in the past hundred years. None of you are to treat it lightly.”

At once, every cultivator in the hall straightened and answered in unison, ”Understood, Sect Leader!”

***

”Luo Chen, are you okay?”

Luo Chen waved it off. ”I’m fine. It just took a bit out of me.”

The mark he had just left between Li Yingzhang’s brows was nowhere near as simple as it appeared. It contained three separate safeguards! The first was his very own Withering-Flourishing Dao Finger, a divine ability powerful enough to injure an early-stage Sage and potentially kill them outright. The second was a seed of Withering-Flourishing Fire. Although the flame itself possessed no offensive power, once activated, it could transform into Luo Chen’s defensive spell, the Sevenfold Skyblaze Ring, and take a single strike from a Sage.

As for the third safeguard, it was a wisp of Luo Chen’s own divine consciousness. If even the first two failed to protect Li Yingzhang, then he would have no choice but to intervene personally and negotiate with whoever had forced matters that far.

However, combining all three into a single mark was no simple task. If Luo Chen were not a fourth-tier formation master himself and had not mastered the seven fundamental restrictions, even he would have struggled to accomplish it. More importantly, he had also needed to make sure that the mark would not affect Li Yingzhang’s cultivation. Given all that, the mental exhaustion was only to be expected.

As they continued walking, Luo Chen glanced at the woman following behind them and smiled faintly. ”Mingyue, you seem a little reluctant to give up the position.”

Yao Mingyue raised her head and smiled brightly. ”A little, yeah. But you’re right, Dao Uncle. I don’t have many years left, so I should put the Great Dao first. Even if I stayed as a sect leader, what would that give me? Another forty or fifty years of prestige? There’s no point holding on just for that.”

By the time she finished, the last bit of reluctance in her heart had faded. Still, something else was clearly bothering her. ”Dao Uncle, do you really think I can form my core? I’m only at the eighth stage of Foundation Establishment....”

Since Sima Huiniang was her master, calling Luo Chen ”Dao Uncle” was perfectly natural. Above all, the title felt far more intimate than ”Supreme Elder.”

Luo Chen replied frankly, ”I can’t promise you that. No one can. But if you spend the next fifty years focusing on cultivation with my pills, techniques, and guidance, reaching Perfected Mastery shouldn’t be a problem. After that, whether you can form your core will depend on you and your luck.”

Yao Mingyue was disappointed at first, but the more she considered his words, the more encouraged she became.

The Luo Tian Sect had always enjoyed an exceptionally high success rate when it came to Core Formation. As long as a cultivator practiced the Fine Dust Primordial Art, there were virtually no major bottlenecks when attempting to form a core. Of course, the art itself was notoriously difficult, and there had even been cases like Xing Zhonghan, who had fallen into cultivation deviation. But her situation was different. From now on, Luo Chen would be personally guiding her.

As the creator of the Fine Dust Primordial Art, no one understood the art better than he did. With his guidance, minor mastery should be entirely achievable, and perhaps even major mastery would not be out of reach. In other words, as long as she reached Perfected Mastery of Foundation Establishment, her chances of successfully forming her core would be quite high.

With that concern settled, she also found it much easier to let go of the sect leader position. The Luo Tian Sect was no longer the struggling power it had once been. If it truly wanted to stand among the upper sects, its leader needed not only the ability to manage its affairs but sufficient strength to command respect as well. In that regard, Li Yingzhang was clearly the better choice. He was tenacious, steady in his dealings, and remained calm even when faced with major events. Yao Mingyue could leave the sect in his hands without worry. And as for her own future, she trusted Luo Chen even more. With both matters settled, there was nothing left weighing on her heart.

By the time they reached the small stone terrace outside the cave residence, the last knot in Yao Mingyue’s heart had completely unraveled. She then left Luo Chen and Wang Yuan behind and entered the cave residence alone to visit her master.

Once she was gone, Luo Chen turned to Wang Yuan with a grin. ”Brother Wang, everyone got something except you. You’re not going to hold that against me, are you?”

Wang Yuan rolled his eyes. ”Since when have you and I cared about that kind of thing? Besides, with that look on your face, I know you’ve got something prepared, so cut the crap and just bring it out already.”

”Hehe, you know me well.”

With a wave of his hand, a large pile of books, bamboo scrolls, jade scrolls, and iron tablets appeared on the stone table.

Wang Yuan glanced over them. ”What’s all this?”

”Physique Refinement manuals. I’ve been collecting them for the past hundred years, everywhere from the Northern Sea to the Central Continent. Some date all the way back, some are more recent, and quite a few are worth studying. I even borrowed a few ideas from them when I created the Devil Lord’s Seven Strikes. But Physique Refinement was never going to be my main path, so there’s only so much I can get out of these things. You, on the other hand, might actually be able to make something of them.”

Wang Yuan nodded and immediately began flipping through the manuals. ”Four Aspects Immortal Tread... Wind Leg, Moon Step, Lightning Kick, Cloud Tread. Interesting. If you master all four, the footwork alone could make up for a physique cultivator’s lack of range. Aiyah, shame that three techniques are missing... Flowing Cloud Immortality-Seizing Finger... This is a little like the Divine Blood Tribulation Finger that I created. Doesn’t look like much at first, but there’s something wicked hidden underneath... Six Forms of Extreme Mountain? Heh, pretty average... Oh? This Extreme Mountain technique is quite interesting.”

Watching Wang Yuan mutter to himself with growing excitement, Luo Chen could only shake his head helplessly. He had more or less expected this reaction. In fact, he had prepared another gift for Wang Yuan, but seeing how completely engrossed his friend already was, he decided not to mention it, lest he distract the nerd.

Once I finish refining it, I’ll give him a surprise.

Leaving Wang Yuan to his own devices, Luo Chen wandered leisurely across the stone terrace while thinking about matters concerning the sect.

The first matter had already been settled. A new sect leader was now in place, and he was certainly the right person for the job. Li Yingzhang possessed not only sufficient strength and potential but, more importantly, the temperament and ability needed to manage an entire sect.

Next came Luo Chen’s Nascent Soul Formation Ceremony. However, his purpose in holding the ceremony was never simply to flaunt his strength. Instead, he wanted to use the occasion to establish connections, both for himself and for the Luo Tian Sect.

Originally, he had wanted to go back to the Eastern Wilderness and take everyone directly to the Central Continent. But by now, news had already reached him that the Dao Sect had begun its campaign against the Northern Sea, and he had gradually come to understand the reason behind it.

The Central Continent was already overcrowded, and its resources were barely enough for the cultivators living there. That was precisely why its great sects had begun looking outward and waging war beyond their own lands. Under such circumstances, bringing the Luo Tian Sect into the Central Continent now would hardly be doing them a favor. More likely, they would simply be thrown into those campaigns as cannon fodder.

Since that was the case, he intended to stay for the time being and properly rebuild the Luo Tian Sect. That way, even if he eventually took them away, he would be taking a group of elites capable of protecting themselves.

As for the third matter...

He looked out across the mountains and waters of the Hundred-Li Green River and slowly shook his head. The sect could no longer endure much upheaval. Even without expanding, it desperately needed time to recuperate. The low-tier disciples needed stability so that their confidence in the sect could recover, while the high-tier cultivators also needed time to consolidate their cultivation.

In particular, after observing Gu Caiyi and the other Adepts, Luo Chen had noticed that most of their foundations were not especially stable. Aside from Li Yingzhang and the veteran Fu Jiusheng, the others’ mana was still somewhat fluctuating, and their cultivation was not particularly firm.

Well, whatever. I’m consolidating my own cultivation anyway, so I might as well do it alongside them.ⅇ