Immortality begins with Becoming an Alchemy Grandmaster

Chapter 990: Chapter 401 Confidence Comes from Strength, Drive Off the Tiger and Swallow the Wolf

News released by the Flame Alliance!

The moment these words were spoken, even Sima Huiniang, who had seen much of the world and had excellent composure over the years, seemed somewhat pale.

They all knew what it implied!

It was a deliberate target by a Golden Core Great Sect, seeking to destroy Luo Tian Creed through the hands of others!

However, why would a grand Golden Core Great Sect so deliberately target the merely Luo Tian Creed?

Her gaze subconsciously fell upon Luo Chen.

The answer lay right before her eyes.

Luo Chen sighed, ”It seems, even with Ice Castle and Luo Yun Sect taking the lead, the Flame Alliance won’t let go easily of my killing Di Wanyun!”

Sima Huiniang bit her lip with a look of worry.

Su Xiaolin stood there with her head lowered, her heart filled with an incessant storm of shock since learning the news.

Now, receiving direct confirmation from Luo Chen only intensified the turmoil in her heart.

They couldn’t possibly let it go!

On the battlefield, although everyone fights for their own masters, there is no right or wrong.

Even if there are deadly feuds, at least until the two Ascendant Sects have determined a clear winner, everyone still cares about face.

But Luo Chen’s killing of Di Wanyun had gone beyond the norm of battlefield skirmishes.

This was a Foundation Establishment Cultivator killing a Golden Core Ascendant Master!

Moreover, Luo Chen was only a Sixth Level Foundation Establishment Cultivator at the time, while Di Wanyun was a powerful Third Layer Golden Core. Except for encounters with Late Golden Core Stage Great Cultivators, Di Wanyun was an existence that feared little.

Yet, he perished so easily at Luo Chen’s hands.

It was an outright slap to the face of the Flame Alliance, a Golden Core Great Sect!

It challenged their authority, tarnished their reputation, and would make outsiders underestimate the strength of Flame Alliance Cultivators.

Such humiliation, nobody could tolerate.

Sima Huiniang worriedly said, ”Won’t a Golden Core from the Flame Alliance personally take action against us?”

That was her greatest concern.

But Luo Chen just curled his lips in response.

”That won’t happen, the most basic face-saving measures will still be observed by these Golden Core Great Sects.”

Seeing Sima Huiniang’s confusion, he hinted at two names.

”Yu Ding Sword Sect, Lianyun Business Union.”

The woman was startled, then fell into contemplation.

After a while, she understood.

Indeed, Great Sects each have their own pride.

If directly offended, they would suppress with thunderous methods.

But if not, it would be too degrading for a Great Sect to take action personally.

Among Sects of the same level, it would only draw ridicule.

Just like when the Sword Sect suspected the Lianyun Business Union and Luo Yun Sect of underhanded transactions, no action was seen from them.

Of course, not taking action directly doesn’t mean letting things slide.

The Sword Sect merely needed to express a slight intention, and there would be people eager to deal with the Lianyun Business Union for them.

And that’s what happened.

The Lianyun Business Union suffered heavy losses under the onslaught of a multitude of second-tier forces, losing cities and territories.

Originally, they had a Golden Core Patriarch, three Late Stage Foundation Establishment Great Cultivators, and over ten Foundation Establishment True Cultivators within!

Under their command, they had clear and covert business dealings in over a dozen marketplaces.

They were considered a first-tier force!

Yet in the end, the patron was tragically killed, only the Great Elder Lianyun of the three Great Cultivators survived, and those more than ten Foundation Establishment True Cultivators were almost entirely wiped out.

In the end, only six or seven Foundation Establishment True Cultivators were left.

Even Nangong Jin and Li Yixian, such freelance Rogue Cultivators, were eagerly recruited by them in an attempt to restore their strength.

It can be said that the Sword Sect did nothing, merely revealing their intentions.

And directly caused a first-tier force to deteriorate into a second-tier force.

And among the second-tier, it was on the weaker side.

Now!

What the Flame Alliance is doing is strikingly similar to what the Sword Sect did back then!

Or even, the methods of the Flame Alliance are somewhat more vicious.

They did not directly express discontent or displeasure with Luo Tian Creed, they merely leaked the news that Luo Tian Creed had exchanged for four Core Formation Secret Arts.

In doing so, not only those vassal forces close to the Flame Alliance would target Luo Tian Creed, but also those Late-Stage Foundation Establishment Great Cultivators trapped at their stage would be green with envy, thereby causing trouble for Luo Tian Creed.

This suspicion does not arise from nowhere.

The frequent actions taken by Luo Chen recently against various foreign Foundation Establishment experts are evidence of this.

Though his intentions were to practice his Kung Fu,

those experts were mostly at the Eighth-Level Foundation Establishment or even the Ninth Layer!

These individuals, for a second-tier force that ostensibly only has Late Stage Foundation Establishment combat power, could be considered a devastating blow.

It was only because within Luo Tian Creed, the departmental structures are well-established, with Luo Chen and Sima Huiniang having formed the Luo Tian Intelligence Net for information early on.

Otherwise, without prior knowledge, they would have already suffered grave losses.

It’s not just intelligence.

It’s also about combat power!

Chu Kui, Wang Yuan, and even Min Longyu.

The three of them were increasingly in sync, and ordinary one or two Late-Stage Foundation Establishment opponents were truly no match for their combined attack!

It was precisely because of this that Luo Tian Creed had remained safe and sound for over a year.

Having thought through this, Sima Huiniang breathed a sigh of relief.

As long as it’s not the Golden Core Great Sects taking action personally, ordinary vassal forces, along with some scattered foreign Foundation Establishment powerhouses, wouldn’t pose a significant threat to Luo Tian Creed.

However!

Considering what Luo Chen had done...

She couldn’t help but say, ”If Luo Tian Creed remains unshaken, can the Flame Alliance really bear this humiliation?”

”They can’t bear it, but they have to!”

Luo Chen snorted coldly.

”Firstly, I haven’t exposed my tracks yet, and if they confront the Luo Tian Creed head-on, it will only be a show of pure spite, making others look down on them for no reason.”

”Secondly, I still hold the identity of Guest Elder of Ice Castle. Out in the open, it would just seem like an Ice Castle Elder killed a Flame Alliance Elder, and they could justify that.”

”Lastly, even if the Flame Alliance disregards Ice Castle, they should still be wary of the thoughts of Luo Yun Ascendant Sect, considering they face the monk, if not the Buddha.”

”Now that the war is just on hold and has not completely ceased, the Flame Alliance wouldn’t dare to openly tear their faces off and send a Golden Core Cultivator to wreak havoc in Danxia.”

By the end of these words...

A fierce look flashed across Luo Chen’s face.

All of the above arguments were merely strategic and scheming calculations.

What truly gave him confidence was the strength of his own side.

If the Flame Alliance didn’t make a move, fine, but if they did send a Golden Core Ascendant Master, they should be prepared to bite off more than they could chew!

Min Longyu, sitting upon the Danxia land, had arranged the Seven-colored Danxia Spirit Snatching Array over many years, capable of threatening an ordinary Golden Core Ascendant Master.

Chu Kui and Wang Yuan working together were also not to be underestimated.

Lastly, there was him getting more proficient at mastering the Sky Roc True Body.

Unless the Flame Alliance sent a Middle Stage or even a Late-Stage Great Cultivator, ordinary Early Stage Golden Core Ascendant Masters were nothing to fear for him, Luo Chen!

Of course, all of these were last resorts.

As of now, it was far from coming to that.

Through the intelligence about the Flame Alliance targeting the Luo Tian Creed, Sima Huiniang quickly connected the dots with other recent business issues the Luo Tian Creed had encountered.

The sudden increase of Foundation Establishment True Cultivators from the Zheng family must surely be influenced by the Flame Alliance, using the Zheng family’s name to target the Luo Tian Creed.

The Iron Sword Hall had been destroyed, but recently, under the leadership of a surviving Elder, it had once again risen from the ashes.

That, too, must have the Flame Alliance’s shadow behind it.

Luo Chen and Chu Kui had acquired a large number of wartime spoils on the battlefield at Accumulation Thunder Mountain, including a significant number of magical weapons and treasures.

They couldn’t possibly digest it all by themselves.

Now, they were laundering these goods via the Luo Tian Creed.

But the laundering business was not going smoothly, partly due to covert interference from the Iron Sword Hall.

Not only elixirs and magical weapons but Sima Huiniang suddenly thought of more.

Linking all these together, she couldn’t help but suck in a breath of cold air.

Unbeknownst to them, the Luo Tian Creed had already been encircled by enemies!

Among them, apart from the Flame Alliance’s vassals, there were a small number of Sword Sect affiliates and a large number of formidable independent cultivators.

Each party was not easy to contend with!

Immediately, she issued an order to Su Xiaolin, setting all the Luo Tian Intelligence Net cultivators into motion to monitor a range of a thousand miles within Danxia, while also gathering all kinds of intelligence.

To ensure that before any trouble arose, she would be the first to know.

...

On the way back...

Sima Huiniang still looked anxious.

On the other hand, Luo Chen appeared unconcerned, calm and composed.

”You seem not worried at all, my president!”

Luo Chen smiled, ”Don’t worry, with me here, nothing can get out of control.”

Sima Huiniang rolled her eyes and slightly loosened her tight grip on Luo Chen’s hand.

Frankly speaking, Luo Chen’s strong confidence really did influence her.

With him present, everything would be fine!

Throughout their journey, Luo Chen was always her strongest support!

Even in a situation as deadly as the meat grinder of Accumulated Thunder Ninth Mountain, Luo Chen had managed to lead the cultivators of the Luo Tian Creed to a safe retreat.

What then, could these overt and covert enemies amount to?

”Let’s put a halt to external expansion for now!”

Luo Chen said leisurely, ”We should focus on digesting our spoils from the battlefield as much as possible and enhance our internal strength. That’s the top priority.”

The spoils from the battle at Accumulation Thunder Mountain had been too vast for Luo Chen!

Even without counting the vast resources left behind by fallen cultivators, just the Foundation Establishment Pills exchanged with merits from the Four Sects Alliance alone amounted to a staggering twenty!

Even with the high failure rate of Foundation Establishment...

These twenty Foundation Establishment Pills could surely create a batch of Foundation Establishment True Cultivators.

Su Xiaolin was among the beneficiaries.

Abandoning expansion and instead bolstering internally, they would calmly await the stirring of the wind and clouds.

This was the development plan Luo Chen swiftly laid out for the Luo Tian Creed for the upcoming years, in just a few words.

As for the nitty-gritty operational details, he entrusted them all to Sima Huiniang.

At last...

Luo Chen squeezed Sima Huiniang’s hand.

”You should not fall too far behind in your cultivation either!”

”With a Second Order Ascendant Grade Cave Mansion at your disposal and the Top Grade Jade Dew Pill I provided you, it’s quite embarrassing that you’re still stuck at the Third Level Foundation Establishment after all these years. Luo Tian Creed’s president should aim for a highter standard.”

”For some less critical matters, you can have Yao Mingyue, your disciple, take care of them. You don’t need to do everything yourself.”

Sima Huiniang casually said, ”I understand, don’t worry too much.”

Seeing her still nonchalant attitude, even though he knew she was devoted to the affairs of the Luo Tian Creed, Luo Chen was somewhat frustrated by her lack of urgency.

But he really didn’t know how to convince her more forcefully.

Suddenly...

Luo Chen’s eyes rolled, and he nonchalantly said, ”Caiyi has been practicing very hard recently. Although she started her Foundation Building a few years later than you guys, she has now reached the Second Layer of Foundation Establishment. I estimate that it won’t be long before she catches up to you.”

The woman was momentarily stunned.

Her leisurely demeanor became earnest, and she asked uncertainly, ”Is her cultivation progress really that fast?”

Luo Chen shrugged, ”Why wouldn’t it be fast? She lacks neither spirit lands nor elixirs, and with Yuan Xiaoyue helping with business, her cultivation naturally advances by leaps and bounds!”

After hearing this, Sima Huiniang fell silent.

Unnoticed by others, the corners of Luo Chen’s mouth slightly curled up.