An Alchemist's Path to Eternity

Under the gaze of ten thousand spectators, Wang Yuan faced the three opponents on the Debate Platform. His hands were folded before him, and his lips moved in a peculiar rhythmic pattern. A strange aura slowly rose from his body. In that moment, the three cultivators from the Dreamspring Cave felt as though a sleeping beast was awakening.

”What is there to fear? He is only one man,” one of them said.

”That is right. The three of us can even fight an early-stage Adept together.”

”He will pay for his arrogance today!”

The three spoke one after another, trying to bolster their own morale.

Yet Wang Yuan simply snorted. ”You guys are noisy!”

As the word fell, he struck without hesitation. Blood qi surged out of him, coiling into knotty strands of qi force. With a single step, he lunged toward the female cultivator whose spirit power fluctuation was the weakest among the three. Even in such a setting, he instinctively followed the proper methods of fighting while outnumbered.

Boom!

Just one step! In the blink of an eye, Wang Yuan was already upon her, so close that she could see even the pores on his face. He swung out his fist, and the heavy force around him wrapped tightly along his arm.

”Junior sister, watch out!”

The female cultivator’s complexion drained as she retreated frantically. The other two unleashed their flying swords at the last moment to block him. The swords streaked toward him, yet Wang Yuan neither dodged nor stepped aside.

Clang! Clang!

The harsh sound of metal clashing against metal echoed in the arena, even though metal had struck flesh! The two flying swords were simply flung back by the recoil, as if they’d struck solid steel, while Wang Yuan himself remained unharmed. Strands of crimson qi wrapped around his arms like vines and gathered at his fists. The sight left the hundred thousand spectators utterly stunned.

He uses nothing but his flesh to withstand enchanted-treasure flying swords? How monstrous is this? Luo Chen’s eye twitched, and shock rippled through his heart. So this is major-mastery Pill Force... It can even directly withstand the power of an enchanted treasure. Even if an Initiate using an enchanted treasure is way different from an Adept using one, this is still terrifying.

Luo Chen asked himself honestly: Back in the Foundation Establishment Realm, without invoking his Sky Roc transformation, would he have dared to take a head-on strike from an enchanted treasure? Not in a million years! And this was merely the stage of Pill Force! If Wang Yuan actually condensed a core, advanced to the Furnace Realm, and generated fortified qi... Would his power surge to the point that enchanted treasures became powerless against him?

No wonder they say that physique cultivators’s true transformation only comes at the Furnace Realm. It’s not just the additional lifespan. He is missing only one final step, yet he’s already this powerful. Once he crosses that threshold...

Luo Chen exhaled deeply; as his hope for Wang Yuan’s breakthrough grew, the battle within the arena also intensified under his gaze.

After enduring Wang Yuan’s first assault, the three cultivators from Dreamspring Cave each drove their flying swords to attack Wang Yuan from every angle. Yet no matter how unexpected their strikes, they could not inflict any serious harm. It felt as though Wang Yuan had eyes across every inch of his body. Even when the swords struck at blind spots beyond the range of his limbs, the thick strands of Pill Force on his body instinctively defended him.

It was Qi Resonance!

Luo Chen saw clearly. Wang Yuan had evidently incorporated this technique fully into his combat style and was growing increasingly skilled. At first, he had taken minor hits now and then. Later, even as three flying swords twisted through the air, creating countless illusions, not one managed to touch him.

Pill Force, Qi Resonance, willpower... Are you trying to merge the three into one and generate fortified qi? Hm... you want to form fortified qi first, and only then attempt Core Condensation? That’s quite the shortcut!

Luo Chen instantly thought of the Fine Dust Primordial Art he had created. Its fundamental principle was that an Initiate could first obtain trace amounts of mana, the quintessential aspect of being an Adept, and only then proceed to form the core. What Wang Yuan was doing now was strikingly similar.

If that’s the case, then those people’s power is just not enough, Luo Chen thought as he pressed his lips together. His mouth was somewhat dry. Come on, Dreamspring Cave! Please don’t disappoint!

And Dreamspring Cave truly did not disappoint. As a renowned major sect of the Windflower Domain, its cultivators were exceedingly wealthy. They weren’t terribly experienced by any standards, but they were by no means weak. They were also used to working together, so even though the rules and opponent were unfamiliar, they could compensate with teamwork.

The leading man suddenly shouted, ”We can’t take him down like this. Three Lakes Form a Sea!”

Before he even finished his sentence, the three separated, and a jade bottle appeared before each of them. The bottles floated in front of them as they chanted under their breath, forming hand seals at the same time.

Meanwhile, Wang Yuan knocked aside the three flying swords attacking him, but the very same moment, he was met with three torrents of fluid. Had this been ordinary water, even a hundred-li waterfall wouldn’t have made him flinch, yet the moment these fluids touched his body, the calm expression on his face finally shifted.

A drop of Heavy Profound Darkwater weighed a thousand catties. Gui Water True Essence was endlessly pliant and capable of containing tremendous force, making it the premier material for water-element defensive enchanted treasures. And then... there was Xiangliu Venom.[1]

On the viewing platform, Luo Chen rose abruptly. Mana surging throughout his body as he prepared to intervene at any moment. The first two were manageable—third-tier substances that mainly suppressed, slowed, and restrained. Yet the instant the Xiangliu Venom appeared, he knew the battle would not be easy. It was the poisonous liquid spat by the ancient wild beast Xiangliu, a nine-headed serpent that devoured countless beings. Even the slightest touch would poison anything and anyone, corrupting them until they dissolved into nothingness.

The poisonous liquid poured out by the Dreamspring Cave cultivator was of a lower grade and heavily diluted, but Wang Yuan was also only at the second realm of Physique Refinement.

Before his eyes, the three cultivators hovered high above. Their robes billowed in the wind and their expressions were solemn. Each held a pure white jade bottle with one hand while forming seals with the other. As spirit power surged, three torrents descended from the sky, merging into a boundless sea that swept toward Wang Yuan. The coverage was so vast that there was simply no place to evade.

The knotty qi around Wang Yuan surged repeatedly. When that force collided with the incoming waters, sharp hissing sounds filled the air. Thick white smoke rose from the Debate Platform as its second-tier material was corroded.

Before long, smoke spread and mist surged, and Wang Yuan’s figure was completely concealed within. At that moment, only Adepts with sharp divine consciousness could still perceive the battle; all low-tier cultivators had lost sight entirely.

Uproar instantly filled the arena.

”What technique is that?” someone shouted.

”Are you deaf? He said Three Lakes Form a Sea! Dreamspring Cave’s trio formation! I heard that when they work together, they can even fight across a major realm. With three ninth-stage Initiates using it, forget about another Initiate, they could even fight an early-stage Adept!”

”Hiss... Heavy Profound Darkwater, Gui Water True Essence, and diluted Xiangliu Venom. The Dreamspring Cave is putting all its foundation into this Frontier War. They have armed their disciples heavily!”

”Blood Devil really overestimated himself.”

”His momentum earlier was unstoppable. He swept the preliminaries, then defeated Pearl-Returning Pavilion’s three cultivators one after another, and then forced Willow Forest Den to surrender without a fight. If he had continued challenging others, he might have earned the title of foremost Initiate, just like his boss. What a pity...”

”What pity? The fight isn’t over yet!”

”You can’t possibly think Wang Yuan still has a chance. Look at Dan Chenzi over there; does he seem calm and composed to you?”

”Er... Well, he looks concerned, but he hasn’t intervened yet. Surely he does not intend to watch his strongest subordinate die before his eyes.”

”Maybe he thinks Wang Yuan can do it?”

”Keep quiet! Keep watching...”

The call for silence came from more than one person. As the joint formation of three Dreamspring Cave cultivators pressed on, the torrents flowing out of the jade bottles slowly diminished. But the Debate Platform remained flooded with an ocean of water, shrouded in smoke and mist that refused to disperse, and the Sword Sect’s Golden Core elder... had yet to intervene.

Everyone understood that the scales of victory had not fully tilted. Did Wang Yuan truly still have a way to fight back?

Under countless expectant gazes, the uproar gradually faded. The massive cultivator arena grew increasingly silent. Until...

”ROARRRR!”

A sound like the roar of a dragon or tiger rumbled from within the vast sea. In the next moment, a massive and indistinct figure rose from within the smoke and mist. With a sweep of his enormous hand, streams of Gui Water swirled away like clouds blown by the wind.

As that figure let out a fierce shout, immense energy exploded upward. The Heavy Profound Darkwater of legendary weight was flung away like air. While the three Dreamspring Cave cultivators stared in shock, the Xiangliu Venom turned red in an instant. In the blink of an eye, it became a boundless sea of blood—one that they could not control in the slightest.

”Something’s wrong! The Xiangliu Venom stopped responding! Wang Yuan must have used some kind of sinister method and severed my control. Retreat!”

As the male cultivator attempted to retreat, a colossal hand wrapped in surging qi flew out from within the smoke. The air shrieked as it passed. He tried to dodge, yet instead felt inexplicably locked in place. No matter how much he struggled, he could never escape that grasp. Despair flooded him, and terror gripped his chest. In that instant, his soul nearly escaped his body.

I am so dead.

At that moment, a clear and delicate female voice shouted, ”Spare him!”

Upon hearing it, the Jade Cauldron Sword Sect’s Golden Core elder looked up for a moment before shaking his head. In his view, cultivators from these sects had lived in peace for far too long and had become utterly unable to withstand even a single blow. If one of the Sword Sect’s elite disciples had stood there...

But even with such thoughts in mind, he still unlocked the formation restrictions. A graceful figure swept over the gathered crowd and descended onto the Debate Platform. Confronted with Wang Yuan’s giant hand, she reached forward and unleashed a palm strike. The giant hand and her own slender palm met in the blink of an eye.

Bang!

A terrifying shockwave rolled out like thunder, splitting the sky. At the center of the Debate Platform, the smoke cleared little by little until the head of the giant figure came into view. A heavy voice rumbled from his throat. ”Your experience is shallow, your techniques are clumsy, your combined assaults are weak, and you lack the resolve to fight to the death. The three of you have disappointed me greatly.”

As the smoke fully cleared, the titan towering three zhang tall was finally revealed before the crowd. His legs were like tree trunks, and his massive upper body was covered in pitch-black scale armor that looked like a combination of crocodile hide, turtle plates, and dragon scales. The exposed arms, neck, and shoulders displayed knotted muscles like coiling dragons. It was terrifying to behold! A dragon’s tail wrapped around one wrist and a tiger mouth bit down on the other—two enchanted-treasure bracers.

Above the neck as thick as a water barrel, a blood-red maw gaped wide, its rows of white teeth glinting as it spoke words of regret. Lantern-sized eyes burned beneath a mane of wild, snake-like black hair, and every line of this demonic face showed unwillingness. At the final step, he lamented that he had still failed to cross the threshold. And he hated it! He resented that, even with the three of them joining forces, they still could not push him to the brink of death!

Then, his fierce gaze shifted at once to the petite figure who had stepped onto the Debate Platform.

”I long for an unrestrained battle! You are strong, so come and fight me!” roared Wang Yuan.

1. Xiangliu (相柳) is a nine-headed serpent-like creature that appears in the Classic of Mountains and Seas. It appears as a subordinate of the water deity Gonggong and is associated with flood and poisonous corruption. Wherever Xiangliu’s blood flows, the land becomes barren. In the end, it is ultimately slain by the Great Yu (大禹) to control the floods. Here’s what it looks like. ☜