Immortality begins with Becoming an Alchemy Grandmaster

Chapter 911: Chapter 373: Old Friends from the Great River, A World of Difference

Ten Thousand Li of Yellow Sands, a desolate expanse!

Looking around, there were only yellow gravel everywhere.

Legends say that this was not always the case, countless years ago.

Back then, the waters and grass were abundant, the mountain peaks beautiful.

Until a thousand years ago, when the Accumulated Thunder Ninth Mountain suddenly rose up, confronting the might of the heavens, bathing under the thunderstorms, and over time, the formidable Power of Thunder shattered the soil of the mountains and rivers within these ten thousand li, turning them into countless grains of sand.

Even as the seas changed into mulberry fields, and the landscape transformed, this place still constantly endured the impact of the thunder.

...

So, after a long time, it became an immense golden desert stretching for tens of thousands of li.

Moreover, unlike the secular deserts.

This desert, formed because of the Accumulated Thunder Ninth Mountain, lacked any flora or fauna, no animals or Demon Beasts.

The whole desert was a series of sand dunes, rising and falling like a Sand Sea, always moving at every moment.

If one did not bolster themselves with wind-resisting techniques, even an ordinary Qi Refinement Cultivator would be swept away by the flowing sands and deeply buried within.

Even Foundation Establishment Cultivators had to be constantly vigilant of being drawn in.

Luo Chen was situated offset from the center of the team.

He looked around, evaluating the strength of this team.

The number was over ten thousand, mainly Late Stage Qi Refinement Cultivators.

But among them, there were also as many as a thousand Foundation Establishment True Cultivators.

This was almost comparable to a Golden Core Great Sect.

Even ordinary Golden Core Great Sects could not gather so many Foundation Establishment True Cultivators. Within the Yu Ding Realm, only Qingdan Valley and the Sword Sect had such a foundation.

“The Four Sects lead, with their vassals as the main force, in addition to many Rogue Cultivators who consider themselves strong, mingling among them.”

“If such a war were to fully break out, even with my exceptional abilities, it would be very difficult to ensure absolute safety, not to mention our Luo Tian Creed’s mere hundred or so people…”

Comparatively, Luo Chen appeared somewhat silent amidst the excitement of others.

In his heart, he was even more pessimistic.

As he remained silent, the army of Cultivators pressed on without pause, and soon, they would reach the Sixth Mountain.

Boom!

Suddenly, the sound of a thunderclap echoed right next to one’s ear.

Luo Chen looked up, visibly startled.

In his view, nine steep, solitary peaks stood tall like pillars connecting heaven and earth, rising above the plain of yellow sands.

Stepping on the golden flowing sands, with pitch-black clouds above.

Streaks of dazzling white lightning, like snakes and dragons, trembled in the void with their talons and teeth bared.

“Halt a moment!”

“The thunderstorm is releasing its energy. It will last for about ten breaths; afterward, we’ll enter the mountain.”

“Remember, the Magic Tools that indicate your affiliation are equipped with a Lightning Avoidance Array. Do not lose them!”

The voice of the Golden Core Ascendant Master issued from the center of the army.

Luo Chen gripped the wooden token in his hand tightly.

The token was pitch black in color, gloomy and heavy, a piece of Second Order Lightning Avoidance Spirit Wood. He had no idea how the Luo Yun Sect managed to produce so many of them in bulk.

In the past, it was only the Sword Sect that would mass-produce such items for miners to use for lengthy periods in the Accumulated Thunder Ninth Mountain.

After a brief wait.

A wave of scorching breeze swept by.

The sky full of lightning vanished, and the black clouds above slowly dissipated.

But it was just a disappearance; everyone knew that within a month, a massive amount of dark clouds would accumulate again, harboring another thunderstorm.

“Into the mountain!”

At an order, tens of thousands of Cultivators turned into two streams of light, each entering the Fifth Mountain and the Sixth Mountain.

These were the two mountains currently under the complete control of the Four Sects Alliance.

The remaining seven, apart from the Ninth Mountain which was not suitable for Cultivators to linger, were under the control of the Yu Ding Sword Sect.

According to rumors, the two Nascent Soul True Masters had made an agreement that once the Luo Yun Sect was completely driven out of the Accumulated Thunder Ninth Mountain, it would signify their defeat.

The reverse was also true!

Relying on years of experience managing the Nine Mountains, aside from suffering a slight disadvantage in numbers during the initial stages of the conflict, losing four Thunder Mountains, the Sword Sect later gained strength and fought fiercely. They almost drove the Four Sects Alliance into a position where they could hardly muster a response.

The Seventh and Eighth Mountains, which had been hard-fought gains, were also lost consecutively within the past two years.

At present, the situation for the Four Sects Alliance was as precarious as a pile of eggs teetering on the brink.

Rumors had it that the Luo Yun Sect had devised a batch of Puppets that were not afraid of thunder and lightning and could easily battle in the Thunder Mountains. They would soon be transported and put into use.

When that time came, perhaps it would be when the Luo Yun Sect launched a counteroffensive.

It was precisely because of this, the Four Sects Alliance was currently desperately defending the remaining two Thunder Mountains.

…

“Phew, we finally arrived!”

“Miles of golden sands, it hurts the eyes to look for too long.”

“Is our campsite the same as last time?”

No sooner had Luo Chen landed, than he heard the bustling discussions all around.

He paid no attention to these, but quietly waited for Dan Taijun’s arrangements.

“Don’t rush, my master has already arranged everything. Once they have finished handing over, we can go straight there,” came the sound transmission from Dan Taijun.

Luo Chen nodded in response.

Then, he just quietly observed the handover of the various outposts on the Sixth Mountain.

With some people entering the mountain, naturally, there were also people coming out of the mountain for rest.

The group of Cultivators who had been stationed here for months slowly flew out of the mountain, each one of them looking weary.

Xu Huanzhen stood beside Luo Chen, softly telling him about the prohibitions of fighting in the Accumulated Thunder Ninth Mountain.

“Years of soaking have imbued the Thunder Mountains with the Power of Thunder, which is violent and irascible; hence, low-order defensive Arrays are completely ineffective here.”

“Currently, there are three major Defensive Arrays set up on the Sixth Mountain, each reaching the Fourth Stage, but they only perform as well as an ordinary Third Order Defensive Array.”

“These three Arrays are jointly arranged by the Luo Yun Sect and Array experts from Ailao Mountain.”

“As long as we’re not under fierce attack from Golden Core enemies, we’ll be able to take advantage of the terrain to defend against foreign enemies.”