An Alchemist's Path to Eternity

The playful voice had rung out like the sharp clash of metal. Its echoes rolled again and again through the Inner Pill Valley framed by the Five Peaks. A sense of imminent peril pressed upon Green Pill Valley cultivators, with Tao Wan standing at their forefront. The mountain-guarding formation was activated to its limit, yet the master of the nine-floor palace pavilion paid it no heed at all.

Beyond the pavilion stood rows of figures, all dressed in splendid robes and exuding extraordinary bearing. Those were disciples of Skysail City. Most of them were in the Qi Refinement Realm, but there were no small number of Initiates among them. Three Adepts had also subtly spread out their divine consciousness and were keeping watch over the surroundings.

Elder Long Quan, who had spent many years traveling abroad and possessed broad experience, recognized the eldest of the three with a single glance. ”Sect Leader, that is Master Huyan Zhuo.”

Tao Wan’s expression darkened. She naturally knew the name of this famed artisan! He was a mid-stage Adept famous across several domains for his obsession with creating new types of enchanted artifacts and treasures. The number of mystical enchanted artifacts, supreme-grade enchanted artifacts, and low-grade enchanted treasures that bore his signature was beyond counting.

In later years, many black markets and underground auctions liked to borrow his name to inflate the prices of their wares. Any artifact without a clear provenance would simply be labeled ”crafted by Master Huyan Zhuo of Skysail City.” It could be said that among his generation in Skysail City, Huyan Zhuo did not have the highest cultivation or the greatest combat strength, but he certainly had the greatest fame.

A man of such reputation naturally had a powerful master behind him. And when Tao Wan linked the playful voice to that possibility, a troubling thought rose in her mind. Could the one inside be Huyan Zhuo’s master, Heaven Smelter?

Once an arrow is loosed, moving the target in front of it makes every shot a bullseye. Now that they’d formed a hypothesis, the Adepts of Green Pill Valley looked again at the nine-floor pavilion and its imposing procession.

Everything matched the rumored style of Heaven Smelter, one of Skysail City’s three Sages. He was known for pursuing lavish displays and grand spectacle. More importantly, the nine-floor golden ”ship” was the famed Wind Lightning Pavilion. The name was self-explanatory—the pavilion carried the power of wind and lightning, and its top speed in flight surpassed imagination. And it was a top-grade enchanted treasure! Such a treasure would have been a foundational item in any major sect, yet Heaven Smelter used it simply as a means of travel. Such extravagance was almost unheard of within the Six Domains of the Far East!

”Our mountain guarding formation might withstand a few casual strikes from a Sage, but if he attacks with full force, it will not last even a breath,” remarked someone.

Tao Wan’s heart sank. Indeed, Green Pill Valley was not renowned for formations, and its mountain-guarding formation was of only average quality. For the sake of preserving the Five Peaks Enclosing Valley arrangement, they had avoided inviting outside formation masters for centuries. This kept their secret from outsiders, but also kept outside skill from improving the formation.

When the Jade Cauldron Sword Sect attacked, the late-stage Adept Swaying Light had borrowed a single strike from a Sage that was not even there and cut through Yuanhua Mountain like it was cheese. If Heaven Smelter attacked personally....

But even though she trembled in fear, she still grit her teeth and prepared to step forward. Yet at that very moment, the cry of a crane suddenly echoed between heaven and earth.

”Hm?”

A soft sound of surprise came from within the Wind Lightning Pavilion. Then Heaven Smelter’s playful voice rang out again. ”Sect Leader Tao, it seems Green Pill Valley has more honored guests. Tsk tsk, and not just one either!”

Tao Wan’s expression changed at once. She lifted her gaze and saw white feathers drifting across the horizon. There were four white cranes with long necks and graceful forms that pulled a massive cloud carriage from the east. That unmistakable form of travel made the identity of the newcomer obvious to everyone present.

When the cloud carriage halted outside Green Pill Valley and the curtain lifted, a young man stepped out. He appeared no older than twenty-seven or twenty-eight. Sword-shaped brows arched toward his temples, and his black hair was tied high with a dark jade crown. His handsome, sharply defined features appeared so perfect that even the most nitpicky observer would give up trying to find a flaw. But it was his eyes that held one’s gaze. They carried a faint iridescence, and his gaze was as soft as peach blossoms. When the corners of his lips lifted, it felt as though spring flowers burst into bloom, sending a ripple through the heart.

He stood striking and unrestrained, yet beneath that dignified bearing lay an elusive trace of wicked charm.

”It really is him. Sage Cloud Crane of the Silktree Sect...”

Tao Wan shivered slightly. Her heart seemed to plummet into an endless abyss, and despair spread through her limbs. There was no mistaking it. Cloud Crane was here, and... when the curtains were lifted, she had spotted a female cultivator reclining inside the cloud carriage on a soft couch. Was that Cloud Crane’s Dao companion, the legendary Crane Demon Empress?

Cloud Crane stood atop the cloud carriage and cast a glance at the trembling Tao Wan before turning his gaze to the nine-floor Wind Lightning Pavilion. ”Daoist Brother Heaven Smelter, why did you stop here?”

Heaven Smelter chuckled lightly and said, ”Naturally, because our host does not welcome wicked guests.”

Cloud Crane replied calmly, ”How could we be wicked guests? We merely came to observe the ceremony. What do you say, Sect Leader Tao?”

Tao Wan parted her lips to speak, yet under that tremendous invisible pressure, she could not form a single word. It was not only her; even the grand formation enveloping Green Pill Valley trembled faintly, rippling outward in waves.

Just then, Qing Danzi’s calm and aged voice drifted over. ”Seniors, please enter.”

At those words, Tao Wan felt a weight lift from her heart. She immediately ordered the formation withdrawn and had both parties escorted inside.

Only after Heaven Smelter and Cloud Crane entered the Inner Pill Valley did she truly exhale in relief. One Sage alone was already enough to suffocate Green Pill Valley; with three arriving together, they had no strength to resist.

Yet when she saw the nine-floor Wind Lightning Pavilion and the white crane cloud carriage brazenly settle upon Yuanhua Mountain and Dragonhead Peak, a sudden surge of shame and frustration rose within her.

What was I doing just now? As the leader of a sect, even if my cultivation is lacking, I should not have lost my composure like that. After behaving this way today, whether the sect survives this calamity or not, how will others look at me?

She was overthinking it. Under the pressure of three Sages, the tens of thousands of disciples in Green Pill Valley had all fallen silent like cicadas in late autumn; none of them had been able to behave in any way, let alone behave well. Who would bother to scrutinize Tao Wan, the one standing directly under the pressure of all three?

Well, there actually was someone. That someone was the only outsider present, Luo Chen. He shook his head and sighed to himself. Tao Wan had always carried herself with pride and dignity. Perhaps she was not arrogant, but at the very least she had been measured and composed. Yet her performance today...

Compared to Huiniang, she really falls short. Perhaps this is the flaw of sect disciples. They gain honor through their sect, and they suffer shame through it as well. When they face an enemy that even their entire sect cannot resist, all their poise vanishes in an instant. Back during the defense of Danxia Peak, when we faced foes several times stronger than the Luo Tian Society and even had a mid-stage Adept pressing the line, Huiniang did not retreat a single step. She still directed her forces calmly. The difference between them is painfully obvious.

Of course, Luo Chen did not truly look down on Tao Wan. He had never stood face to face with a Sage, and he could not grasp what kind of pressure one felt when being under the watchful gaze of Cloud Crane and Heaven Smelter.

But judging by their attitude, they really just came here to crush others with presence, not to draw blood. What they seek...

Luo Chen slowly raised his gaze. Qing Danzi’s youthful frame looked even more aged than before. Luo Chen could not tell whether it was due to days of failed pill refinement, the nearing of his lifespan’s limit, or the arrival of three Sages, but whatever it was, the change was unmistakable. The true pressure rested squarely on the shoulders of this Supreme Elder of Green Pill Valley!

”Let’s continue! This time, we will refine seven batches at once!”

At those words, the gathered alchemists burst into an uproar. Refining seven furnaces at once meant that all the remaining raw materials would be processed in one go, then combined into a single attempt at the Nascent Soul Pill. Such a method only increased the chance of failure. Yet under Qing Danzi’s cold gaze, those who had cried out slowly calmed their minds and focused on their assigned tasks.

Luo Chen thought to himself, The greater the pressure, the greater the drive. Qing Danzi means to stake everything on this final attempt. Or perhaps, through the earlier failures, he has already gained true confidence in success?