An Alchemist's Path to Eternity

It was clear that despite holding an overwhelming advantage, Cheng Yan did not wish to see excessive casualties. Otherwise, even if victory was achieved, the Falling Cloud Sect would struggle to give an explanation to the other sects.

Luo Chen extended his divine consciousness and searched for Cheng Yan’s exact position, yet he still could not locate the latter. At the end, he could only sigh in admiration, ”I did not expect Cheng Yan to possess such commanding ability!”

Without exceptional eyesight or powerful divine consciousness as support, it was difficult to oversee the entire battlefield and issue clear commands in large-scale warfare. Of course, if a cultivator could obtain enchanted treasures or formations that enhanced spirit consciousness, this shortcoming might be mitigated. Luo Chen thought of his own sect, where Zhou Yuanli actually had such potential and had demonstrated it in multiple major battles during the Qi Refinement and Foundation Establishment Realms. Unfortunately, his cultivation aptitude was lacking. It would be exceedingly difficult for him to form a core in the future.

As Luo Chen was reflecting, the situation on the battlefield began to change, and the changes were clearly unfolding according to Cheng Yan’s commands. What had begun as large-scale, frontal combat split into numerous smaller combat groups. Some battles became one-on-one duels, others many-against-one encounters, and even the largest clashes involved at most a few dozens of humans and wolves.

The Heavenly Drum Plains were filled with humans and wolves slaughtering each other. At this moment, it was time for the Falling Cloud Sect to deploy some of their true forces and tip the scales of victory. One by one, pitch-black and dark-blue puppets flew out from the storage pouches of the Falling Cloud Sect disciples.

At a glance, Luo Chen could tell their numbers reached well into the thousands. And the five hundred puppets at the forefront were clearly the Lightning Puppets that had once run rampant on the Thundernet Nine Mountains battlefield!

”That is Big Brother Qin!” Zeng Yilong exclaimed in a low voice.

Luo Chen followed his gaze and spotted Qin Yuanjiang within the crowd. He stood calmly together with a woman in the midst of the Falling Cloud Sect’s army. She was likely his Dao companion—Ruan Huan’er, the daughter of the late leader of the Falling Cloud Sect. There were also several unfamiliar Adepts of the Falling Cloud Sect that stood high in the air and waved their hands.

”CHARGEEE!”

In the next moment, thousands of puppets were activated and surged toward the center of the battlefield.

But this was not the only card the Falling Cloud Sect had to play. Once the puppet army was deployed, the Skysail Warship’s cannons were once more charged. Gongye Qian’s voice boomed, overwhelming the sounds of slaughter and reaching the ears of every cultivator manning the cannons.

”Ready to fire! Use the warship formation to amplify your spirit consciousness. Spread it out, lock onto the second-tier wolves, and strike with precision! Each of you find your own target and fire at will!”

Along with waves of responses, the cultivators aboard the warship began searching for targets, slowly moving the muzzles of the spirit energy cannons.

Click! Click! Click!

BOOOM!

As the Skysail City disciple activated the spirit energy cannons, red orbs of energy shot out. A second-tier demonic wolf that had been locked in fierce combat with a human cultivator was blasted into a mist of blood. Even the Initiate who had been fighting against it froze briefly in shock. He lifted his head toward the Skysail Warship and saw glowing orbs shooting out one after another. Those orbs spread across the battlefield and struck the second-tier demonic wolves with incredible accuracy.

This time, Luo Chen could no longer restrain himself, and a look of genuine astonishment appeared on his face. The spirit energy cannons were far more flexible than he had imagined. They could unleash wide-ranging destructive strikes, yet they could also support individual engagements with precision. As long as the front lines held firm, the Skysail Warship could harvest enemy lives like cabbages. At this moment, the Heavenly Drum Plains were a massive slaughterhouse!

Suddenly, a thought struck Luo Chen, and he grabbed Zeng Yilong. ”Let’s go. I have picked out a few enemies for you. Go test your blade!”

He said this aloud, without using divine consciousness transmission. Zeng Yilong nodded excitedly as he unfurled his Soaring Dragon Wings and leapt down from the Skysail Warship.

On the warship, Gongye Qian glanced at Luo Chen but did not interfere. It was only natural for someone to teach a disciple. If the eight upper sects could do it, then others could as well. Moreover, objectively speaking, this was an additional force entering the battlefield to help bear the pressure. If anything, he hoped more people would jump in.

***

After descending from the Skysail Warship, Luo Chen swept his divine consciousness and immediately found a suitable target. It was a late-stage second-tier demonic wolf rampaging ferociously. It had already slain three early-stage Initiates, and the number of Qi Refinement cultivators who had died under its claws was beyond count.

”That’s the one. Little Long, you have one minute!”

Zeng Yilong’s eyes lit up. He licked his lips, and a hint of bloodlust flashed across his face. ”Understood, Uncle!”

In the next instant, his Soaring Dragon Wings spread wide, and he activated Ninety Thousand Li. He transformed into a streak of blood-red light that lunged toward the massive demonic wolf.

Seeing the enemy charge in, the wolf showed no fear and sprang forward to meet him head-on. Throughout the exchange, it failed to sense Luo Chen’s presence in the slightest. The Concealment Veil Formation engraved upon his body made him utterly unremarkable even amid the chaos of the battlefield; not the faintest trace of Golden Core pressure was revealed. Moreover, the area Luo Chen had chosen lay along the outer perimeter of the Heavenly Drum Plains, far from the most ferocious combat zones.

Luo Chen watched Zeng Yilong take out an enchanted-treasure long saber and slash with abandon. At the same time, he divided his divine consciousness to monitor both the surrounding battlefield and the direction of the Skysail Warship. And even though it was split into three, his focus never wavered.

On the main battlefield, with the support of puppets and spirit energy cannons, the momentum of the human side had become apparent. It would not take long for this advantage to expand fully and become an overwhelming victory.

With the situation reaching this point, Defiant Howl’s side naturally would not stand by. At last, late-stage Demon Kings entered the fray. Two vast demonic clouds came roaring in from afar, one golden and the other black.

At that very moment, a calm voice rang out from the rear of the battlefield. ”Sword Enforcer Hall, charge!”

In the next instant, a bold and unrestrained voice exploded through the air.

”Blazegold Wolf King, I am coming for you!!!!” exclaimed Wei Wuya.

A vast crimson hurricane surged upward, enveloping a human figure as it charged straight toward the golden demonic cloud. Almost simultaneously, two more figures stepped forth from among the assembled cultivators.

”Elder Ye, it is my honor to fight alongside you,” Jin Buque said.

”Hehe. Why so formal? We’re just hunting down a beast, nothing more,” replied Ye Xiang.

Amid this casual conversation, Ye Xiang of the Divine Talisman Sect and Jin Buque of the Five Elements Divine Sect flew forward together toward the Black Wolf King. Before they even closed the distance, Ye Xiang had already produced a brownish-yellow talisman in his hand.

”Heaven and Earth without limit. True law of Qian and Kun. Seal!”[1]

He struck out with a fierce palm. In an instant, a powerful suppressive force descended between heaven and earth, and the surrounding space seemed to turn into a mire. The Black Wolf King’s movements slowed abruptly. As shock flickered through his eyes, a streak of golden light tore through the air toward him. But at that very moment...

”AAAAWWWWHOOOOO—”

At the summit of the mountain range, a gigantic demonic wolf with gray fur stood proudly. As it let out a piercing howl, the wolves from the surrounding mountains echoed in response, and Heavenly Drum Plains trembled beneath their howls.

Soundwaves rolled forth like thunder. Many human cultivators engaged in battle with the wolf army heard the eerie wolf howl, and those with weaker divine souls found their bodies stiffening against their will. Then...

”AHHHHH!”

”UUGHHHH!”

BANGGGG!

In that brief moment, more than a thousand human cultivators were brutally slain by their opponents while they were stunned by the power of the wolf howl. Fortunately, Luo Chen was positioned at the edge of the battlefield and was not affected.

However, the moment the three Wolf Kings appeared, his eyes could not help but narrow. Their emergence had almost reversed the situation! Especially the Gray Wolf King—not only was its divine soul attack exceptionally powerful, but the soundwave attack was also amplified by the battlefield itself. The mountains resonated with it, and Heavenly Drum Plains shook in response. This was clearly the might of a natural formation being harnessed.

No wonder Defiant Howl favors this third son, even though he doesn’t have the Blazegold Wolf bloodline. Though he failed to inherit the bloodline, he inherited the powerful divine soul of the clan. Here on the Heavenly Drum Plains, that howl is practically a weapon of mass destruction. In fact, he alone has almost the impact of the entire Skysail Warship! But he revealed this ability during that night raid on the Thousand Leaf Peak. Did the Falling Cloud Sect not make preparations?

As Luo Chen was pondering this, Linghu Jie suddenly leapt into the sky. Beneath his black robes, his sinister expression carried an oppressive chill. He pressed both hands toward the earth, then clenched them fiercely. In an instant, baleful winds and bloody rain filled the air, accompanied by wails of ghosts and howling spirits. Amid vast surges of crimson light, countless wronged souls and battle spirits seemed to fall under his control, condensing into a massive black cloud that spanned a full hundred li.

”Hissss! Such powerful divine consciousness, and ruthless methods!”

This scene was not unfamiliar to Luo Chen. Back then, Linghu Jie had already been able to control three Ghost Kings back at Dahe Market. Now, he was even more ruthless and manipulated the vast numbers of souls that had only just appeared on the battlefield.

Linghu Jie stood atop the black cloud with his black robes billowing wildly; his eyes blazed with brilliant light as he fixed his gaze on a small mountain.

”THERE!”

As the shout fell, the black cloud swept down and engulfed the small mountain. At the same time, a sword came from the west, its brilliance impossible to ignore. With it came a biting cold that seemed capable of freezing heaven and earth. At the same time, a tide of wood spirit energy followed in its wake and diffused through the surrounding mountains.

Under these three overwhelming attacks, a figure finally appeared atop the small mountain. It was the Gray Wolf King! As it turned out, the figure standing upon a high mountain just moments earlier had been a fake; this one was the true Gray Wolf King.

Faced with the encirclement of Linghu Jie, Lin Qingxuan, Fairy Ruthless, and Nalan Feng, it showed no fear. With a low roar, radiant light erupted from his body, forcing back the attacks from all directions as it prepared to burrow into the ground.

Yet at that very moment, an extremely sinister attack suddenly surged up from deep underground.

”Despicable!” he roared in fury.

1. In the Book of Changes, Qian 乾 represents Heaven, the active force of creation, and pure yang qi. Kun 坤 represents Earth, the passive force of nourishment, and pure yin qi. Together, they represent the entire cosmos and its most fundamental forces. ☜