An Alchemist's Path to Eternity

Luo Chen felt the stone in his heart finally settle when he saw this scene. Once a formation like that was established, it was practically indestructible so long as the user’s spirit power did not run dry. If this female assassin had stayed hidden within it and attacked using whatever other methods, Wang Yuan would hardly have escaped defeat.

Yet, unfortunately for her, she had a glaring flaw. A ring battle did not grant her much time to prepare. She forced her enchanted treasure to unleash its full might in haste, which consumed an enormous amount of spirit power in an instant. This created a moment when her breathing could not recover in time, and her spirit power dropped into a brief vacuum.

Wang Yuan’s combat instincts were simply too refined. In that split second, he had seized upon this weakness. While using his force to lock down the remaining mirrors, he had directly dragged out her true body.

But this is beyond the reach of ordinary spirit consciousness. Only the divine consciousness of an Adept can manage it. Since Wang Yuan clearly doesn’t have that, did he rely on sensing qi instead? thought Luo Chen.

When it came to the path of Physique Refinement, Luo Chen and Wang Yuan were at a stage of mutual discussion and cross-verification. Luo Chen had handed his friend the completed and refined Myriad Path Convergence. In return, Wang Yuan had compiled the fruits of many years of cultivation into a book and given it to Luo Chen. While gaining insight into the transformations of blood qi, Wang Yuan had combined the characteristics of the soul, willpower, and blood qi to derive a method for tracking enemies. He called that Qi Resonance.

The spirit moved with will, and will was expressed through qi. Every living being had qi that leaked outward. Unless one’s control over the body had reached a flawless stage, that qi could not be completely concealed. There were stories of a martial expert who had achieved true success in the Dao of Martial Arts, even without divine consciousness; he only needed to spread out his own qi within a certain range to sense the presence of others no matter how well they concealed themselves.

The reason Wang Yuan had been able to lock onto her just now was precisely because he had sensed her qi.

Based on his conjecture, if the third realm of Physique Refinement—the Furnace Realm—was about transforming the body into a furnace and condense a core, then the fourth realm would be creating a truly flawless true body.

This conjecture rested mainly on Wang Yuan’s own experience, but a portion of the credit belonged to Luo Chen’s Myriad Path Convergence as well. The qi absorption technique in Myriad Path Convergence came from the secret art Turtle Spirit Armor. This had been modeled after the ancient Black Tortoise’s cultivation. That creature’s divine might did not show outwardly, and its lifespan was extremely long. It had grasped the true meaning of circulating energy without letting it leak and thus gained tremendous longevity. Drawing on this knowledge, Wang Yuan had finally derived the method of Qi Resonance.

Luo Chen shook his head. He had allowed his thoughts to stretch too far. For now, Wang Yuan had simply and decisively outmatched his opponent.

Beside him, Fu Jiusheng murmured with admiration, ”Palace Leader Wang wields astonishing strength. Had I faced him directly when I was an Initiate, he would have crushed me eight or nine times out of ten.”

Luo Chen declined the praise on his friend’s behalf. ”Elder Fu, you are being far too humble. With your mastery of formations, ordinary Initiates would never be your opponents. Besides, when we fight outside, when have we ever abided by so many rules and restrictions?”

Diwu Qi took up the thread of the conversation and laughed. ”Exactly, exactly. But that is precisely why I trusted Wang Yuan so much. Fighting here comes with far too many limitations, and in a direct clash, Physique Refinement cultivators are nearly impossible to counter. Those assassins from Pearl-Returning Pavilion in particular excel in petty and underhanded tricks. Facing someone like Wang Yuan in open combat, they’re nothing more than praying mantises trying to stop a carriage.”

Luo Chen finally allowed himself to relax. Wang Yuan had already reached major mastery of Pill Force. In terms of qi cultivation, that placed him at Perfected Mastery of the Foundation Establishment Realm. Coupled with his immense battle experience, victory ahead was nearly certain. Even if he could not go so far as Luo Chen had in the past, sweeping through his peers and butchering Initiates like chickens, he could still utterly crush his opponents in a one-on-one fight.

After all, both Wang Yuan and Luo Chen had risen through countless life-and-death battles. They often fought outnumbered in open confrontations. If further cultivation somehow made them weaker against those of the same realm, that would defy logic.

Seems like I truly let concern cloud my judgment.

Luo Chen chuckled, and much of the resentment he had felt toward Diwu Qi and the others earlier faded. From then on, he devoted half his attention to the duels on the Debate Platform while chatting with Diwu Qi and the rest about the people and affairs connected to the Frontier War.

”For every upper sect other than the initiators, the Frontier War is nothing more than a business venture. In contrast, for most of the major sects that left their homelands behind and committed their full strength, it is a war of life and death. They need territory larger than their original homes, both as cultivation grounds for their Golden Core Adepts and as a place for their sects to settle. We should understand—we’re the same, after all.

”But even among major sects, there are exceptions. Ailao Mountain and Green Pill Valley, for instance, cannot bear to give up their original territories and only want to seize some quick profit from the situation. Then there is Pearl-Returning Pavilion; they want to set up a branch here and find new customers, as one does. In a Frontier War, the enemies are mainly demonic beasts, but cultivators can easily become enemies over profit as well. In turn, that gives Pearl-Returning Pavilion business.”

Indeed, the bustling world gathered for profit and scattered for profit. Cultivators had never been a people of pure hearts and few desires. Even cultivation itself proved that those who walked this path were born to chase goals. Luo Chen listened quietly. Occasionally, he would offer comments here and there.

Cen Qiusheng, an old cultivator who had worn himself thin worrying over his family, suddenly sighed. ”The thing is, I have studied accounts of several Frontier Wars of years past. This time is very different.”

”Oh? How so, Fellow Daoist Cen?” Luo Chen asked in curiosity.

Cen Qiusheng pointed toward the Debate Platform, where Wang Yuan was fighting Pearl-Returning Pavilion’s final assassin. ”Take this contest for shop ownership, for example.”

Luo Chen did not understand. ”Frontier Wars in the past also had such things. It’s just dividing the spoils, letting everyone take a share of the meat.”

Cen Qiusheng shook his head. ”But in the past, such things were always done after the war.”

Luo Chen blinked, then fell into pensive thought. That was true. The Howling Moon Mountain Range had not yet been pacified and still did not belong to the human race. Under such circumstances, instead of accelerating its advance, the Falling Cloud Sect did not seem in any hurry at all and was calmly dividing up gains that had not yet been won with the other major sects.

Such behavior was truly arrogant, now that he thought of it. The duck had not yet cooked, yet they were already portioning out the meat. No matter how Luo Chen looked at it, it did not sit well with him.

Meanwhile, Diwu Qi clearly held a different opinion. He also raised his hand and pointed, but his gesture encompassed the hundreds of thousands of cultivators around the Debate Platform. ”Nine upper sects and eighteen major sects, with experts appearing one after another and middle and lower-tier cultivators numbering in the millions. With a lineup like this, the Howling Moon Mountain Range is something that could be taken with a flick of the wrist. Why should there be anything wrong with dividing the meat early?”

His words did carry some weight, and Cen Qiusheng only sighed instead of arguing. To put it another way, he himself also harbored that same hope.

Seeing this, Diwu Qi did not continue and steered the topic back. ”The next opponents we are going to fight are Willow Forest Den and Dreamspring Cave. Their goal is just like Pearl-Returning Pavilion’s. They all wanted to expand into new markets... Oh, wait, no. Dreamspring Cave is different. I just learned that the seven great springs they once relied on have dried up due to overdevelopment. That’s why they joined the Frontier War, hoping to find another way out.”

When Luo Chen heard this, his brows arched. ”Then by your reasoning, if Dreamspring Cave hopes to establish itself in the Howling Moon Mountain Range, they might very well fight to the death?”

Diwu Qi waved his hand. ”I don’t think they’ll actually fight to the death, but Wang Yuan is destined for a brutal battle.”

Luo Chen felt his heart sink. His gaze shifted toward the Debate Platform. Wang Yuan, whose face now bore a sword mark, was being declared the victor over Pearl-Returning Pavilion’s third assassin amid the cheers of the crowd. He had completed a one-against-three sweep. The next opponent would be the Willow Forest Den.

Within the arena, the Jade Cauldron Sword Sect Golden Core elder looked at Wang Yuan with admiration and asked, ”You have an incense stick’s time to rest. Would you like to take a short break?”

Wang Yuan wiped the blood from his face. That previous fight had not been won easily, and he had taken a few minor injuries, yet at this moment he felt as if he had barely finished warming up. Assassins? They were just petty vermin that were barely fit as a morning snack. His fighting spirit burned even higher.

”No need, thank you. Let’s continue!”

The Sword Sect Golden Core elder frowned and asked, ”Will you not switch to your other companion?”

Wang Yuan glanced at Cen Guangyi in the distance and slowly shook his head. ”There is no need. I am enough.”

”Good, very confident.” The Jade Cauldron Sword Sect Golden Core elder relaxed his brow and turned his gaze toward a high platform. ”Willow Forest Den, have you prepared yourselves?”

Under countless watching eyes, a lazy voice drifted out from that high platform. ”Willow Forest Den seeks only profit; we do not wish to damage our cordial relations. Shop number ten is enough for us. We surrender this round.”

As soon as these words rang out, the entire arena fell into stunned silence. They had surrendered just like that? Willow Forest Den was a major sect, with hundreds of Initiates and seven Adepts within its ranks, so how could it yield without even fighting?

Yet when they looked at Wang Yuan and the fighting spirit surging from him, they felt that it did make a bit of sense. Rumor had it that the cultivators of Willow Forest Den, like those of Green Pill Valley, were not particularly good at combat. This time, they’d stumbled upon a natural predator.

Under many puzzled and disdainful gazes, the Adept from Willow Forest Den seemed entirely unaware and said lazily, ”Alright, hurry up and start the next round now.”

The Jade Cauldron Sword Sect’s Adept presiding over the event felt somewhat helpless. Losing three battles at once meant losing several major highlights. Given their efforts to promote the Debate Platform in this new domain, it was a pretty bad loss. With no other choice, he shifted his gaze toward the Adept from Dreamspring Cave.

”Fellow Daoist Wang, will you forfeit as well?”

In response, three figures emerged from the passage. All wore blue robes, and unwavering resolve burned in their eyes.

The Sword Sect Golden Core elder nodded in satisfaction and then turned to look at Wang Yuan. ”Are you really not going to rest? The cultivators of Dreamspring Cave are famed for their deep and abundant spirit power. In a battle like this, you will be at a disadvantage.”

Wang Yuan cast him a single glance. The man was unexpectedly considerate. With that thought, Wang Yuan stepped forward and looked at the three opponents: two women and one man.

”Thank you for the warning, senior. You’re right. Hey, you! All three of you, come at me together!”