An Alchemist's Path to Eternity

”Out of tricks? Then die!” Miao Yu sneered, her whisk quivering as she prepared her killing blow.

But the next instant, an energy spear shot through the air like a rainbow falling from the sky.

Whoosh!

Miao Yu’s face contorted in shock. She lashed out with three thousand filaments of her whisk and pushed her silk scarf’s defense to the limit, its light flashing frantically. But the Seven-Colored Spear was unstoppable, like a knife slicing through tofu; it pierced through every defense.

Boom!

The explosion lit up the battlefield. Duan Feng’s heart leapt.

”Hall Leader Duan, collect the spoils and return to Danxia Peak immediately,” Min Longyu’s voice came through his spirit consciousness once more.

Without hesitation, Duan Feng struggled to his feet and approached Miao Yu’s corpse. She was already gone, no trace of spirit left. To his dismay, her storage pouch was also ruined; whatever spoils he could have gotten from this fight were lost. But even so, he was not one to complain under such circumstances. He picked up the whisk, the tattered silk scarf, and the corpse before heading straight for Danxia Peak.

At the entrance, Duan Feng found Murong Qinglian tending to a badly injured Xing Zhonghan. ”Fellow Daoist Xing, it looks like it wasn’t an easy victory.”

Xing Zhonghan grinned through the pain. ”My vengeance is fulfilled. Even dying would be worth it.”

Duan Feng shook his head. Once, he might have shared that sentiment, but now he had a family, responsibilities he could not abandon. Giving Feng Xia a brief nod, he stepped into the Luo Tian Society’s Grand Hall.

”Is Wang Yuan alright?” Duan Feng asked.

”Some minor injuries, but nothing serious. I’ll manage the formations to defend against outsiders. Take this jade token and send a report to the president,” Min Longyu instructed. ”Can you handle that?”

Duan Feng swallowed a qi-consolidation pill and smiled. ”No problem!”

While the two spoke, several li from Danxia Peak, many others cowered in silence. They had watched the entire battle. No one had expected that five Foundation Establishment cultivators, working together, would all die before even setting foot on the mountain. Whatever thoughts they’d harbored of looting the peak were extinguished on the spot.

Someone even suggested, ”After this battle, the Luo Tian Society’s Foundation Establishment cultivators must be exhausted. Should we...”

”Forget it. They still have reinforcements.”

”Look!”

On Danxia Peak, a hazy barrier of light slowly unfolded. From all directions, countless multicolored rays streamed toward it, bathing the towering peak in a dreamlike glow.

***

”So you really want to make us your enemies?” Hu Changxi asked.

”No!” Luo Chen’s expression turned solemn. ”It is you who want to make me your enemy.”

At the banks of the Qinhua River, rain poured down in torrents, but this downpour had come quickly and ended just as fast. In that heavy atmosphere, the wind soon stopped, and the rain also ceased. In the sky, a rainbow arched across the distant green hills.

The storm might have passed, but the tension had not. Luo Chen stood unmoving, still holding his oil-paper umbrella above his head as though he had forgotten to put it away.

Faced with Luo Chen’s unyielding stance, Hu Changxi found himself in a tight spot.

”Big Brother, why waste words on him?” Hu Changnu growled at his side, eager for a fight. He refused to believe Luo Chen could handle all three of them.

Hu Changxi shook his head. He had no desire to waste spirit power on Luo Chen, not with the growing crowd of onlookers gathering nearby. Among them were more than a dozen Foundation Establishment Initiates, some even at the middle stage. If one of them were to fall here, they’d never again have the strength to challenge a mid-stage cultivator.

”Luo Chen, I’ll ask you one more time. Will you really not back down?” Hu Changxi’s voice rang out.

”I suggest you cut the nonsense.” Luo Chen’s voice dripped with scorn, as if he didn’t even see them as a threat.

Luo Chen’s demeanor left Hu Changxi seething, and his face turned cold. ”You may not care about Lu Rong and the others, but what if the Geng siblings are involved? The Geng family patriarch is a third-stage Initiate. If he breaks into Danxia Peak, who in your Luo Tian Society could possibly stop him?”

The cultivators watching on both sides of the river were shocked.

”For the sake of seizing the Li family’s wealth, Hu Changxi actually went to such lengths! Not only did he collude with Lu Rong, he even roped in the Geng family, even though they hate each other,” someone whispered in disbelief. ”Who knows how much he promised them?”

”If Luo Chen leaves,” another added knowingly, ”the Geng brothers will swoop in and take control of the Li family’s estate. Once they join forces, there’ll be nothing left for us rogue cultivators.”

Meanwhile, Luo Chen merely raised an eyebrow. ”I’ve noticed you keep trying to get me to leave.”

”I’m just thinking of you!” Hu Changxi insisted.

Luo Chen gave him a faint, mocking smile. ”If I go back now and scare off Lu Rong and Geng Lie, won’t they come looking for you later?”

Hu Changxi’s face stiffened. After all, he had secretly promised to kill Luo Chen here at the Qinhua River. At the very least, he needed to stall him.

”Looks like your alliance isn’t as stable as you’d like people to think,” Luo Chen said, shaking his head. At some point, a sound-transmission jade token had appeared in his hand. ”Well, whatever you’re thinking, I will have to disappoint you. Every single invader has been slaughtered by my Luo Tian Society. Not a single one escaped.”

Hu Changxi was stunned. ”Impossible!”

Beside him, Hu Changnu cursed. ”What nonsense is this? Just a handful of you in the Luo Tian Society, and you claim to have stopped all those Initiates?”

Hu Changle sneered. ”It’s one thing to lie to us, but lying to yourself? That is pathetic.”

Luo Chen simply smiled at their disbelief. He felt no need to argue. Putting away the sound-transmission jade token, he turned toward the procession. ”Please continue, don’t miss Fellow Daoist Li’s auspicious burial hour!”

The funeral procession, which had been frozen in place, began to stir. All eyes turned to the new patriarch, Li Yingzhang.

The latter stared at Luo Chen for a long moment before clenching his teeth. ”Continue.”

He held the comemorative board in his hands, walking solemnly toward the burial site.

As the funeral procession moved forward, Hu Changnu couldn’t hold back. ”Big Brother, why waste words on him? That old dog is about to be buried. We couldn’t deal with him while he was alive, but why let him rest in peace now that he’s dead?!”

Li Jinhuang had died a natural death. For someone with no hope of reaching the Great Dao, it was the most dignified end he could have hoped for. But while the Hu brothers had come for profit, they were certainly not satisfied with just his death; he had to be disgraced too.

”Luo Chen!” This time, Hu Changxi didn’t bother with titles like President or Fellow Daoist. ”You’ll regret your stubbornness today!”

Luo Chen met his gaze calmly. ”I don’t know if I’ll regret it, but the three of you aren’t worth my attention.”

”If we’re not, what about Dan Yuanzi?”

The moment Hu Changxi spoke, a streak of light shot up the river from downstream. As the glow faded, an old man descended on a flying sword, casting Hu Changxi a look of displeasure.

”You told me I wouldn’t need to get involved,” Dan Yuanzi said coldly.

Hu Changxi sighed. ”I didn’t want to waste too much effort on Luo Chen, so I had to ask for your help.”

Dan Yuanzi’s snort was sharp. ”Hmph, that medicinal field is mine from now on, and I want ten percent of your profits.”

Hu Changle bristled at the demand, his dissatisfaction written all over his face. But Hu Changxi quickly agreed. The longer this dragged on, the more dangerous it became. They could easily attract the attention of powerful late-stage Initiates. If that happened, everything they had worked for would end up in someone else’s hands.

Dan Yuanzi looked down at Luo Chen. ”Junior, you shouldn’t—”

”Ah, you’re Dan Yuanzi?” Luo Chen interrupted him before he could finish. ”Good. Someone’s been waiting for you.”