An Alchemist's Path to Eternity

Chapter 614: Ten Suns Across the Sky; The Roc’s True Form; Slay the Old Dog, Annihilate the Flame Alliance (I)

Inside Incense Burning Valley, the battle raged with unrelenting intensity. Outside, countless rogue cultivators refused to miss even the smallest detail of the clash.

As Luo Chen’s slaughter grew more ruthless and the tide of war leaned further in his favor, Diwu Qi let out a sigh and shook his head. ”I take back my words. If this youth once led the Luo Tian Society to stand against the Flame Alliance, that is sufficient proof of his strength. Now he unites factions and bends them to his will, which shows remarkable skill and an unshakable will.

”In this battle, he has charged at the forefront, splitting mountains and shattering the Flame Alliance’s powerful formations. He is truly bold and decisive. Moreover, he is willing to cast aside dignity to do what others scorn, bullying the weak without hesitation. It shows he ignores trivialities and acts only for what serves his interests. Such a man...”

A voice nearby interjected. ”Fellow Daoist, you overlooked one thing. His insight into sect affairs, even into the entire battlefield, is as clear as fire through smoke. That kind of perception would be remarkable even among us Adepts.”

Diwu Qi started, then nodded slowly. ”Indeed! This youth possesses formidable strength, exceptional skill in strategy, keen perception, and an unshakable spirit. He shows no restraint in petty matters and always returns in kind what is done to him. If he survives this war and one day reaches the Golden Core Realm, he will surely rise as an extraordinary figure of the Eastern Wilderness.”

What was considered an extraordinary figure in the cultivation? One person who could stand as a mighty force, seize a spirit mountain or great river, and found a sect! Someone who, in other words, had the qualifications to start an orthodox lineage of their own!

”Tsk tsk, Fellow Daoist, you value him so highly?”

”He deserves it.”

”Oh? But you just said ’if he survives.’ Could it be...?”

Diwu Qi’s gaze darkened as he looked toward the skies. ”If he keeps killing at this pace, the Flame Alliance’s roots will be cut off. Surely you don’t believe Qin Tairan will sit by and do nothing?”

***

On the battlefield, Luo Chen steadied his breath. His eyes shone cold as ice, yet his killing intent flared like fire.

One strike, then another, and then another. He darted across the battlefield within the span of a few dozen breaths. With his speed far beyond the cultivators in the Foundation Establishment Realm, his sword slashed ceaselessly, and no enemy could withstand even a single exchange.

In a short span, more than thirty Initiates had fallen beneath his blade. Most of the fallen were early-stage Initiates, yet even late-stage grand cultivators numbered six or seven. The way he acted was not much different from butchering livestock, ruthless and overwhelming.

The methods he used were far from honorable. Most kills were surprise attacks, sudden strikes, and clean executions. Yet no one could deny that with his strength alone, he had altered the course of battle.

If such assaults continued, then no matter how the clash among the Adepts above might end, the Flame Alliance’s foundation would be severed.

Naturally, such rampant killing could never go unnoticed. By the halfway point, the Flame Alliance cultivators had already realized what was happening. At Xiao Lian’s furious command, several Flame Alliance stewards gave chase, attempting to encircle him. Of the six or seven grand cultivators he had slain, most had been such people.

Even the stronger pursuers did little in terms of slowing him down. As for the weaker ones, he simply overwhelmed them with an unmatched physique and terrifying speed.

”Not enough. Far from enough. The way you stormed the gates of my Luo Tian Society and butchered my people... Today, I will repay it tenfold, a hundredfold!”

Luo Chen’s killing intent surged to its peak. Yet he suddenly stopped moving and landed atop the roof of a towering palace within Incense Burning Valley. At that very moment, ten Flame Alliance cultivators surrounded him from all directions.

”He’s trapped!”

”He was too fast for us to keep up. But there’s no way he can just keep running like that indefinitely. He must be running out of strength.”

”Fellow Daoist, prepare to strike! Kill Dan Chenzi and avenge the fallen!”

Among the ten were cultivators at the fifth and sixth stages of Foundation Establishment, and even late-stage experts. A line-up of this level would have been considered the pride of any second-rate force; even within a major sect, they would not have been dismissed lightly.

And yet, faced with their encirclement, Luo Chen responded only with a chilling sneer. ”You think I’m trapped here? No. You guys are the ones trapped here with me.”

In the very next instant, the Mystic Flame Sword erupted with blinding radiance, and a blazing sun surged into the sky.

He was once more casting a spell with his enchanted treasure—Solar Flare! It was the one he had mastered most thoroughly among all his second-tier spells. Born from the humble Fireball, it had been refined and polished again and again. And after practicing it for innumerable days, it had reached Perfected Mastery.

With his immense spirit consciousness and boundless spirit power, he now commanded the power to unleash it instantly. Though its force could not rival the might of Landslide, it was more than enough to dominate his peers in the Foundation Establishment Realm.

As that blazing sun rose high, the Initiates facing him grew grim, yet their expressions carried disdain.

”It’s only a second-tier spell!”

Yet as Luo Chen’s sword tip flickered, launching sun after sun, their faces changed at once.

”Fall back!”

”Retreat quickly!”

The sight of ten men retreating in panic brought a cold, wicked grin to Luo Chen’s lips. ”Too late.”

In the next moment, ten suns blazed across the sky as torrents of fire erupted!

Boom! Boom! Boom...

Deafening explosions thundered one after another. Blazing detonations surged forward in endless waves, fusing into a catastrophic chain reaction. The overwhelming force swept outward in every direction. Wherever it passed, buildings collapsed and the ground split apart.

The ten Initiates of the Flame Alliance were caught within the blast radius and each desperately unleashed every means they had to save their lives. Yet the compounded might of the explosions could not be dismissed even by Golden Core Adepts. How could they possibly withstand it?

Within a few short breaths, the ten were reduced to frantic screams before falling one after another. And the devastation did not end there. Scorching currents of air roared upward like crashing waves, piercing the heavens. A mushroom-shaped cloud billowed into the sky.

Wherever the force spread, Qi Refinement cultivators perished on contact, while Initiates staggered back, coughing blood. Across Incense Burning Valley, within a span of several dozen li, the battlefield was swept clear in an instant by the surging shockwaves. Countless cultivators who had retreated to the rear halted their fighting and stared in horror at the scene.

Only a single strike had brought this about. Luo Chen had already dealt devastating losses to the Flame Alliance, and this was yet another cataclysmic blow.

At that very moment, a shrill roar burst from the mouth of the Flame Alliance’s leader Xiao Lian. The sound pierced metal and split stone as it tore into the heavens.

”ELDEEEEEER!!!”

Qin Tairan answered with seething fury, ”YOU WRETCH!!!”

In the next instant, a colossal furnace plummeted from the sky like a meteor, trailing a blazing tail as it roared downward. Its overwhelming force sent terror through every witness.

Atop the furnace stood Qin Tairan, blood at the corner of his mouth, his eyes locked on Luo Chen with unbridled rage. He had taken direct hits from both Fei Ming and Fairy Ruthless and was now grievously injured. Even so, he vowed to kill Luo Chen today to vent the hatred in his heart.

Behind Qin Tairan, Fei Ming and Fairy Ruthless wore anxious looks as they raced forward in pursuit. However, he no longer paid them any heed. In his eyes, only Luo Chen remained.

Meanwhile, after the ten Solar Flare suns detonated, Luo Chen experienced a brief lapse in spirit power. It was not depletion. With his optimized spellcraft and the vigor of spirit power within him, equal to that of a Perfected Mastery Initiate, his strength had not yet run dry. He had simply drawn so much at once that his weary soul could not call forth more for the moment.

Amid the drifting smoke and shattered ruins, Luo Chen stood alone and raised his head toward the massive furnace thundering down upon him. A ruthless curve twisted the corner of his mouth.

He snarled, ”Old dog, I’ve been waiting for you!”

Before the words faded, his body began to change. The phantom wings at his back solidified beneath the surge of blood qi and spread wide, swelling rapidly until their span stretched nearly ten zhang.

At the same time, his frame shifted violently. Fingers became claws, bones grew and spread, and the vast amount of flesh he had nurtured over the years unfurled. Within his body, blood renewed by Blood Replacement surged like a boundless crimson tide.

In the blink of an eye, a towering figure three zhang tall appeared before countless witnesses, no weaker than Wang Yuan, and perhaps even stronger. Yet this differed from his earliest Sky Roc True Form. The giant body still retained a humanoid visage. This transformation was born from Myriad Path Convergence merging with Wang Yuan’s Giant Spirit Transformation.

And the transformation was not yet over.

Streams of blood qi and spirit energy burst from him and fused into a single pure-white current. The white vapor settled upon him and became plates of pale armor. From afar, they resembled the feathers of a Great Roc. [1]

Luo Chen now stood upon the valley floor as a giant with wings on his back, half demon and half man, like a primeval beast striding out of antiquity. And though the transformation takes many words to describe, all changes occurred in the span of a single blink.

High above, Qin Tairan had only just sent his life-bound enchanted treasure, the Taiyang Furnace[2], crashing downward. Fairy Ruthless and Adept Fei Ming followed close behind. At the sight below, Fairy Ruthless faltered, disbelief flashing across her eyes. Fei Ming merely furrowed his brow but pressed on without slowing.

Qin Tairan’s eyes narrowed sharply before his furious shout rang out. ”Nothing but a half-demon mutt, and you dare flaunt that in front of me!?”

Vast power surged through him and drove the Taiyang Furnace down faster and harder.

Within Incense Burning Valley, Luo Chen drew a deep breath and opened his mouth—or rather, his maw. With a sudden exhalation, a crimson haze burst forth and spread outward, swelling quickly until it became a thick miasma.

It was no simple miasma, either. The air reeked with fiend qi of at least third tier, a scent that drained color from every face. If such fiend qi touched an enchanted artifact or treasure, years of refinement would crumble into ruin. This was the Blazing Fire Miasma, the product of a third-tier spell that accompanied the Sky Roc True Form.

Luo Chen’s wings flapped once, raising a violent gale that drove the crimson haze skyward.

Qin Tairan’s voice resounded with contempt. ”You think that little bit of stench can stop me? You’re delusional!”

As that thought flashed through his mind, an equally fearsome fiend qi erupted from within the Taiyang Furnace. It was the Flame Yang True Fiend he had recently collected, its quality far superior to the rough patchwork of earth fire fiend qi of varying types and qualities that Luo Chen had pieced together.

Very soon, the Blazing Fire Miasma collided with the Flame Yang True Fiend. The moment the two touched, Luo Chen’s crimson haze melted away like snow under the sun, vanishing as if it had never been there. It held not the slightest resistance.

Behind Qin Tairan, Fei Ming’s expression shifted as he pursued. Luo Chen is far too arrogant. How could normal Physique Refinement methods compare with the power of a Golden Core Adept?

He was just about to summon his enchanted treasure and strike at Qin Tairan when a sudden voice brushed past his ear. ”Come back! Fellow Daoist, return at once!”

Fei Ming halted abruptly, confusion flashing as he looked toward Fairy Ruthless in the skies. ”Why—”

Fairy Ruthless didn’t have the time to give a reply, but there was no need; Qin Tairan’s anguished scream supplied it.

Fei Ming saw that the Blazing Fire Miasma had already been devoured by the Flame Yang True Fiend spewing from Qin Tairan’s life-bound enchanted treasure. Nothing stood in the way of his downward strike. Yet at the final instant, as the crimson haze dissolved, a black pearl emerged. The sight drove cold terror into Fei Ming’s soul. He managed only to shield himself with his own life-bound enchanted treasure.

”Lightning Immortal Pearl!!!” Qin Tairan shouted in terror.

A thunderclap split the sky. In the instant the black pearl cracked, lightning coiled like serpents and dragons while thunder roared through the heavens. Terrifying bolts of lightning bared their fangs, tearing the sky apart.

Boom!!!

The dreadful might erupted in an instant. Its force drained color from every face and sent hearts quivering in terror. Countless cultivators watching from afar cried out in alarm.

High above, Fei Ming’s face went blank as he muttered, ”Is that one of the Lightning Immortal Pearls they found in Bai Ye’s residence?”

Fairy Ruthless nodded gravely. ”No doubt it is. A one-time use enchanted treasure of immense power, deadly even to us Adepts. Had you been too close, you would at best be gravely wounded, if not dead.”

1. The original here is 鲲鹏 (kūn péng), one of the most famous mythical creatures in Chinese cosmology. It is a legendary being that transforms from a colossal fish (鲲, Kūn) into a vast bird (鹏, Péng). ☜

2. 泰 (tài) seems to be drawn from Qin Tairan’s name and means peace, harmony, or greatness, while 阳 (yáng) is the usual yin-yang half but could also reference the Flame Yang True Fiend. ☜