An Alchemist's Path to Eternity

Chapter 366: Blood Fiend Qi Devours the Spirit, Wang Yuan’s Foundation Establishment

Inside the quiet thatched hut atop Danxia Peak, two figures sat across from one another. Nearby, a third man hung shackled to an iron frame, his arms bound by heavy chains, one of which pierced cleanly through his clavicle.

The man’s eyes burned with hatred as he glared at them. However, the moment Wang Yuan cast a cold glance his way, all the fire drained from his expression. He trembled uncontrollably and lowered his head in silence.

”You can’t kill me!” he suddenly blurted, his voice breaking with desperation. ”My grandfather is Huo Quan! My master is an elder of the Flame Alliance! I’m even a candidate for True Inheritor! You—”

Under Wang Yuan’s icy stare, his words trailed off.

Luo Chen watched the scene with a grin, completely devoid of sympathy.

Those who take lives must be ready to lose their own. Since he had dared to make a move against them, he should’ve been prepared to die. There was no such thing in this world as someone being born to be slaughtered.

With a calm breath, Luo Chen shifted his gaze toward Wang Yuan. ”So... how’s your research into the Blood Fiend Seizing Formation coming along these past few years?”

Wang Yuan didn’t hesitate. ”If you’d asked me two years ago, I might’ve had doubts. But with Min Longyu’s help, I’ve fully refined the formation and even engraved it onto my back. That way, the soul-seizing process will yield twice the result with half the effort!”

Luo Chen nodded, visibly more at ease. Even so, he pressed on with a few more questions.

”How many Spirit Passage pills have you taken so far?”

”Every one you sent me, I’ve taken them all.” Wang Yuan pointed to his head. ”I can feel it. My divine soul’s foundation has grown nearly thirty percent stronger. Even if I face something like Duan Qiankun’s lingering soul again, I’m confident I can suppress it!”

Over the past years, Luo Chen hadn’t just been refining Jade Essence pills and Jade Dew pills. To increase his mastery, he had also been refining Spirit Passage pills from time to time. His proficiency with the pill had risen from Beginner to Skilled, and he was steadily closing in on the Proficient level.

Most of the low-grade pills he refined were of little use to him. But for those still in the Qi-Refining Realm, they were top-tier resources.

A small portion of the pills had gone to Sima Huiniang, Murong Qinglian, and others. The majority, however, had gone to Wang Yuan.

Of everyone in his circle, Wang Yuan needed them most. The Blood Fiend Seizing Formation required the subject’s essence blood, cultivation foundation, and spirit soul. Each stage demanded Wang Yuan’s undivided focus. The burden on his divine soul was tremendous.

His previous failure on Xiaohuan Mountain was partly due to Duan Qiankun’s stronger divine soul foundation, but it also stemmed from Wang Yuan’s impatience and lack of a strong divine soul foundation.

Spirit Passage pills were the perfect solution to this situation.

Still, the pills came with their risks. After consumption, one’s divine soul would expand rapidly. Unlike Luo Chen, who had practiced Soul-Intimidation, Wang Yuan and the others lacked the means to regulate this expansion. Without such techniques, they needed time to gradually temper and stabilize the volatility.

Luo Chen had tried to teach Wang Yuan the technique, but unfortunately, he had little talent for spells. Back then, even learning the basics had taken him ages to reach minimal proficiency.

As a result, over the past two years, Wang Yuan had to space out his use of Spirit Passage pills, taking only one every few months. Even so, each pill became less effective as he took in more.

Still, Luo Chen was reassured by the confidence Wang Yuan now exuded.

”Very well,” he said. ”Then, when do you plan to attempt Foundation Establishment?”

Wang Yuan turned toward the shackled man, Huo Hu.

His voice was calm, yet chilling. ”You said it yourself. If not now... then when? Let’s do it today.”

Huo Hu’s heart skipped a beat. Though still bound, he suddenly felt an overwhelming sense of dread rise within him.

Foundation Establishment? Fine, but... why are you looking at me? And what exactly is that Blood Fiend Seizing Formation?

Luo Chen ignored him completely and looked solemnly at Wang Yuan. ”Confidence is good, but just in case, let me stand by your side and guard you through this.”

Wang Yuan raised an eyebrow, locking eyes with Luo Chen. A long silence followed.

Then, with a slow nod, Wang Yuan replied, ”In that case, I’ll let you guard my path.”

***

Inside the hut, the temperature seemed to drop. Huo Hu’s breathing quickened as realization crept in.

”What are you trying to do?” he shouted, panic rising. ”No, no, please... I was wrong, let me go! I’ll have my family send over spirit stones, Foundation Establishment pills! Yes, I can get you Foundation Establishment pills!

His voice cracked as desperation spilled out. ”I can get enchanted treasures too, my grandfather has a Vital Essence Ruler, it’s powerful and wondrous, with tremendous offensive might. You can have it! Just let me go!

”Ah... Wang Yuan! May you die a horrible death!”

The shrill, ragged screams echoed again and again inside the dim thatched hut, but the two men within remained unmoved, their faces cold and expressionless.

Luo Chen frowned as he stared at the scene before him.

Wang Yuan sat cross-legged on the ground, his upper body bare. Layers of muscle stacked across his frame, tightly coiled like a nest of dragons. A surge of intense blood qi erupted from the top of his head, rising like a plume of scarlet smoke.

His bones gleamed like white jade, so pure they nearly glowed through his skin.

If that had been all, it would have been shocking enough. But on his back, amidst the dragon-like writhing muscles, lay an ancient and simplistic formation, as though it had been crafted by nature itself.

This was the Blood Fiend Seizing Formation, a modification of the Heavenly Spirit Seizing Formation devised by Gu Tiangong. It had been refined over years of Wang Yuan’s research, and further refined by Min Longyu; it had been carved onto Wang Yuan’s formidable body. Only in this way could it reach its full destructive potential!

Now, as the formation activated, the column of blood qi twisted downward and poured into the formation on Wang Yuan’s back.

Before their very eyes, the formation came alive!

”With the body as the foundation, blood as the source, qi to guide, and soul to seize.

”Blood Fiend, emerge!” Wang Yuan called out in a low, commanding voice.

At his command, strands of blood-red thread extended from the formation, twisting and devouring each other, swiftly forming into countless wriggling blood serpents. Each serpent radiated a suffocating fiend qi, as if eager to devour anything in its path!

Wang Yuan had his back facing Luo Chen, the blood serpents had no target to fix on, so they turned, sensing the nearest soul.

In that instant, they locked onto Luo Chen.

For a brief moment, Luo Chen trembled.

This technique...is too sinister! It’s a violation of the natural order! This is not the path a true cultivator should take to Foundation Establishment! Brother Wang, what kind of cultivation path have you chosen. Luo Chen thought in silence, his heart weighed by unease.

While he murmured to himself, the blood snakes bared their fangs and shot forth, rushing toward Huo Hu, who was suspended in midair.

Under Huo Hu’s terrified gaze, the snakes eagerly burrowed into his body one after another.

A sharp hiss! It was as if something inside had been bitten.

Ah......

A scream burst from Huo Hu’s mouth.

Before he could curse, his body convulsed violently, thrashing in the air.

Hiss! Hiss! Hiss!...

The same eerie hissing sounds erupted from within his body. His complexion grew increasingly pale, or rather, he turned deathly white.

Then, suddenly, a blood serpent burst from Huo Hu’s chest, engorged and glowing crimson, nearly twice its original size. It slithered through the air, bloated from whatever it had consumed. It seemed to have gorged itself?

”Blood Fiend, return!” Wang Yuan called out.

The engorged serpent slithered reluctantly back to Wang Yuan’s side. It slid slowly back into the formation on his back.

At that moment, Luo Chen sensed a shift in Wang Yuan’s energy flow. He had begun to break through the Perfected Mastery of Qi-Refining Realm, pushing steadily toward Foundation Establishment Realm.

”Return!

”Return!

”Return!”

One by one, the blood snakes emerged from Huo Hu and returned to Wang Yuan’s body.

With each one, Wang Yuan’s energy flow surged higher.

In contrast, Huo Hu’s body grew increasingly translucent and thin. He drifted in midair like a paper-thin painting!

Luo Chen swallowed hard, as a fear seeped through his soul. He couldn’t shake the feeling that if those blood snakes had entered him instead, they would have stripped him of everything

A cultivator’s essence blood! Marrow and flesh! Foundation of the Great Dao! And even...

Suddenly, Wang Yuan opened his eyes and shouted, ”Seize the soul!”

Twin streaks of blood-red light burst from Wang Yuan’s eyes, lancing straight into the floating painting suspended in the air. The moment the light made contact, the painting trembled and came alive.

From within, a spectral soul that was the spitting image of Huo Hu slowly emerged. Its eyes were vacant at first, drifting aimlessly, but then recognition dawned. Hatred filled his face as he glared venomously at Wang Yuan.

”You won’t die a decent death!” Huo Hu’s soul hissed, hatred dripping from every word.

”No, I’ll live just fine,” Wang Yuan replied with a cold smile. ”Come, lend me your life and help me lay the Foundation of my Great Dao!”

The blood light began to recede, and with it, Huo Hu’s soul was dragged closer. It trembled violently, struggling in panic, but the force drawing it in was relentless.

As the wisp of soul was absorbed into Wang Yuan’s body, a sudden flash of crimson erupted from his back. It spread out into a luminous curtain that wrapped around him like a living shield.

And it didn’t stop there.

For every blood serpent that had appeared earlier, a matching stream of red light now flickered to life. One by one, the beams layered themselves over Wang Yuan, crisscrossing and weaving together until they formed a thick cocoon of pulsating crimson.

At this stage, the first step was complete.

Yes, this was only the first step!

Luo Chen exhaled slowly, his gaze lingering for a moment on the giant blood-red cocoon. Then, without a word, he turned and stepped out through the doorway.

Although he stepped out but he didn’t leave. Instead, he retrieved a storage pouch and began working to dispel its restrictions, all the while keeping an eye on what was happening inside.

Last time, Brother Wang took three whole months to complete the seizing of Duan Qiankun’s essence. I wonder how long it will take this time? But it should go more smoothly than last time!

Back then, Wang Yuan had only been at the ninth stage of Qi-Refining. The Blood Fiend Seizing Formation was crude, and his divine soul was nothing remarkable. But this time, with his efforts and Luo Chen’s aid, the difference was dramatic.

Most importantly, the target this time wasn’t a long-established Foundation Establishment cultivator like Duan Qiankun. It was Huo Hu, who had only recently broken into Foundation Establishment!

Under Wang Yuan’s careful control these past years, Huo Hu’s cultivation had not progressed at all and had remained frozen at the level he had during the Battle of Gaoling Plains.

The difference between Wang Yuan and Huo Hu was stark, and with one failure already behind them, success this time was the only option!

The Blood Fiend Seizing Formationonly allowed three chances, and once this blood path was chosen, no other Foundation Establishment method could be used.

Wang Yuan could not afford another failure, nor did Luo Chen wish to see that happen.

Let time decide everything, Luo Chen sighed, doing his best to erase the gruesome images in his mind from within the thatched hut earlier.

That was not the path a proper cultivator should take to Foundation Establishment.

***

One month later.

Beneath Danxia Peak, Qu Lingjun was personally overseeing an alchemy session in a middle sized cavern. His subordinates handled the ingredient additions and maintained the fire control.

All he had to do was rely on his experience to monitor the internal medicinal transformations, occasionally injecting spirit power to guide the fusion and separation of the herbs.

Whew!

With a wave of Qu Lingjun’s hand, the Divine Wood Cauldron shimmered, and over thirty pills spun out.

At once, someone stepped forward to collect the pills. The young man with stubble on his chin remained expressionless as he examined the pills.

This furnace of Jade Essence pills had used two sets of raw materials. In the end, it produced twenty-five mid-grade and eleven low-grade pills.

He stepped out of the alchemy room.

”Lingjun, your alchemic skills are becoming more and more impressive!” came the praise

The compliment came from a dignified, smiling woman. It was Sima Huiniang!

Qu Lingjun shook his head. ”Director, you flatter me. It’s nothing much. My master can produce pills consistently, and all of them are top-grade. Compared to him, I’m just a firefly beside the full moon. The road I have to walk is still a long one.”

Sima Huiniang smiled gently. ”The President is a once-in-a-generation talent in the Dao of Alchemy. There’s no need for you to compare yourself to him. In my eyes, you’re already outstanding.”

It was true! Qu Lingjun’s alchemy skills were already far from ordinary. The steady quantities of mid-grade Jade Essence pills he produced every month brought thousands of spirit stones in profit for the Luo Tian Society. Not to mention, he was only in his early twenties. It was hard to imagine what heights he could reach in the future.

”It was the President’s foresight that led him to take you as a disciple while you were still so young,” she added.

Qu Lingjun shook his head once more. “I’m not trying to compare myself to Master. That would be disrespectful.” In his heart, he regarded his master as a direction to strive toward. After all, one needed a direction to move faster and steadier.

Then, as if just remembering, he looked up. ”By the way, Director, did you come to the Alchemy Hall for something?”

”Nothing major. I just came to check on your recent progress in alchemy. Is there anything in your daily life that we can help with?” Sima Huiniang spoke gently, ”Since your master isn’t around, it’s only right that I look after you all a little.”

”I’m doing fine.” As Qu Lingjun spoke, his gaze shifted toward another alchemy room.

The door creaked open, and a graceful figure stepped out, light as a willow swaying in the wind. Seeing the figure, Qu Lingjun immediately stepped forward and asked, ”Sister Mi Li, how did it go today?”

Mi Li gave a gentle smile. ”Not bad. I managed to refine seven Myriad Wonders pills, a modest gain.”

Qu Lingjun was overjoyed. ”Looks like your alchemic skills have improved too!”

”It’s all thanks to the alchemic guide the President gave me for the Myriad Wonders pill. Without it, I wouldn’t have improved so quickly.”

Nearby, Sima Huiniang couldn’t help but shake her head and chuckle as she watched the warm conversation between the two.

”Looks like we have double blessings today. In addition to the President, our Luo Tian Society now has two rising stars in the Dao of Alchemy!”

Mi Li looked a little embarrassed while Qu Lingjun scratched his head and gave a sheepish laugh.

Qu Lingjun then asked curiously, ”By the way, has my master gone into seclusion again? I haven’t seen him at all this past month.”

Sima Huiniang shook her head. She knew exactly where Luo Chen was and what he was doing. But there was no need to share that with anyone else.

She had come merely out of routine, to check in and offer her regards. Since they didn’t need anything, she could leave as there were still many matters awaiting her attention.

Just as she was about to leave, her expression shifted. She soared upward, landing on the ground outside and lifting her gaze to the peak of Danxia Peak.

There, an overwhelming energy flow was slowly rising.

A look of joy blossomed on Sima Huiniang’s face.

This energy flow was not unfamiliar to her. Though she had seldom come into contact with it, she was certain that it belonged to Wang Yuan.

”From this moment on, our Luo Tian Society now has three Foundation Establishment cultivators!”

Sima Huiniang wasn’t the only one who felt it! At this moment, every cultivator of the Luo Tian Society sensed the stirrings from Danxia Peak. Countless streaks of light soared out from within the mountain, all gazing toward the skies.