An Alchemist's Path to Eternity

Within his sea of qi, true fire raged without restraint. In this state, the sea of qi was a sea of boundless vitality, where all things could grow and flourish. The Golden Core and the pair of fire-element Moonbreak Wings thrived in such an environment. The Moonbreak Wings fluttered around, while the crimson core rotated faster and faster, greedily seeking to absorb the vast life force contained within the Withering-Flourishing Fire.

The Withering-Flourishing True Fire seemed to possess a will of its own, and that will didn’t seem particularly fond of sharing the life force with the Golden Core or the Moonbreak Wings. Since they were immersed in it, they inevitably siphoned off a portion, but the greater share remained firmly within the flame’s grasp. Under the nourishment of this life force, it even appeared to be undergoing a subtle transformation.

Luo Chen closed his eyes and sensed the changes within the sea of qi, instantly catching that trace of reluctance from the Withering-Flourishing Fire.

”This is... spirituality?”

Luo Chen was surprised. Heaven and earth gave birth to mystical flames, most of which emerged from places with extreme conditions. Once formed, they could exist independently of their source, and were thus called Sourceless Flames.

When cultivators refined them, the Sourceless Flame gained an anchor and a root, thus becoming a primordial true fire. Yet among the countless flames, not all were powerful or unique. Most were no different from plants awakening consciousness or stones awakening a spirit: alternative forms of cultivation and nothing more. In their earliest stages, these beings possessed no particular intelligence and acted purely on instinct. Moreover, unlike demons that evolved from wild beasts, they could not awaken spirit intelligence at the lower realms, much less shapeshift. At the very least, they had to advance to at least the fifth tier before they could give birth to even a trace of spirituality.

Luo Chen’s Withering-Flourishing Fire had been only at the third tier when the Flame Alliance took control of it. For three hundred years, it was nurtured by the Incense Burning Spirit-Seizing Formation, aided by the Heavenly Spirit Seizing Formation. The Flame Alliance periodically fed it various kinds of precious wood and demonic beast blood, and over time, it was pushed right over the threshold of the fourth tier—the state in which Luo Chen had acquired it. But this was essentially its limit. Its potential should have been fully excavated with that.

Yet after Luo Chen refined it, he discovered that it had somehow assimilated the effects of the Incense Burning Spirit-Seizing Formation. Namely, by incinerating living beings, it could actively plunder their life force! Most of that life force was absorbed by the fire itself, while a small portion nourished Luo Chen’s body and even brought about an increase in his lifespan.

Even so, the limit of the Withering-Flourishing Fire had always been plainly visible. At best, it was capable of reaching the peak of the fourth tier, nothing more. But now, it appeared that it had awakened a trace of spirituality. That was no small matter! Spirituality was the defining hallmark of a fifth-tier Sourceless Flame. In other words, the Withering-Flourishing Fire now had the potential of advancing to the fifth tier!

”Could this be a case of quantity turning into quality? But... Sure, there were tens of thousands of sea serpents, but they were all first tier. Can they really compare to a couple third-tier demonic beasts? No way... Could it be the Heavenly Phoenix Nirvana Scripture?”

The more Luo Chen practiced this cultivation art, the more unfathomable he found it. Even though he only had the Golden Core chapter, and even though he had no knowledge of the auxiliary spells or secret techniques derived from it, just the fact that it had granted him a pseudo heavenly spirit root was an insane benefit. Now, it seemed that this technique had many more mysteries awaiting exploration.

At present, his mastery of the Heavenly Phoenix Nirvana Scripture had only just reached the Proficient level. Once he advanced further, it was entirely possible that new transformations would arise!

After inspecting the Withering-Flourishing Fire, Luo Chen examined his own body. Even though it had only absorbed a fraction of the life force shared by the true fire, a gentle warmth now flowed through him. He felt that as his body continued to undergo transformation, his lifespan limit would rise once again, and the increase might well be substantial.

”So many demonic beasts... I wonder how many years of lifespan they’ll give me. If it’s enough, maybe I can just hunt demonic beasts in bulk, refine them, and use that to extend my life? Is that another path to immortality?”

Luo Chen became momentarily excited, but after a few moments, he suppressed that excitement. This was not the way. It was merely a side track worth exploring, never the main path. What he sought was not merely longevity, but immortality! Any means to extend his lifespan would naturally grant him longevity, but immortality doesn’t just involve not dying; it also involves not getting yourself killed. And powerful means of protection could only be built upon continuously advancing in cultivation.

For that reason, cultivation remained his absolute priority, and he could not afford to lose sight of the greater picture. After a thorough inspection, Luo Chen sent out a voice transmission. A few moments later, Cheng Haichang entered the cabin.

”Adept, is there anything you need?”

This time, Luo Chen did not use Mirror Flower Water Moon but simply addressed him calmly. ”Earlier, I saw you hold your ground even when the sea serpent swarm closed in. This ship of yours is quite special.”

Cheng Haichang nodded. ”You have sharp eyes. This demon-hunting ship really is no ordinary vessel. My family spent a great deal to acquire it. It’s built for long voyages and can operate far out at sea beyond the islands controlled by humans. We often use it to hunt sea demons and other such.”

”A demon-hunting ship, you say?” Luo Chen arched a brow, and his gaze dropped to the deck beneath his feet.

With his level of experience, Luo Chen could see the ship’s quality at a glance—an enchanted treasure! A vessel of such quality and such scale was undoubtedly exorbitant in price. Thanks to Cheng Haichang’s explanations, he also learned of its origins. It had been specially crafted by a grandmaster artisan of the so-called Heavenly Origin Trade Alliance, tailored specifically for the Northern Sea.

The ship was capable of both sea and air travel, and when sailing upon the ocean, its speed was even greater than it was in flight. Its keel and frame had been crafted from the bones of dragon whales drawn from the depths of the sea, granting it exceptional compatibility with water-element spirit energy. Not only was it fast, but its capacity was likewise formidable. Across the various islands of the Northern Sea, any cultivating family with even a modest foundation would spend all they had to acquire such a vessel; it was what allowed them to venture out to secure income.

”That white banner is a Soul-Refining Banner, right?”

Out of nowhere, he brought up the enchanted artifact Cheng Haichang had used earlier. Cheng Haichang lowered his head and said nervously, ”It does come from the Soul Refinement lineage of the Primordial Devil Sect. But I swear I’ve never violated any prohibitions by taking cultivators’ souls. Normally, I only use it on demonic beasts, and just to replenish it.”

”Oh?”

He had clearly seen Cheng Haichang draw in the lingering souls of those who fell aboard the demon-hunting ship. Did that not count as a violation? But Cheng Haichang hastily explained the so-called prohibitions, for fear of being misunderstood: Soul-Refining Banners were permitted in principle, but the souls within had to be sourced from the countless demonic beasts of the sea. The souls of human cultivators could not be forcibly seized. Anyone who harbored malicious intent and slaughtered cultivators to refine Soul-Refining Banners would be hunted down by the Primordial Devil Sect.

Naturally, with the fall of the sect, these prohibitions had long since existed in name only. Cheng Haichang himself was skirting the boundary by using the souls of fallen members to replenish his banner.

”And that formation?” Luo Chen asked.

”You mean the formation on the demon-hunting ship? That’s the Sea Soul Formation. It draws upon the water-element spirit energy of the ocean as well as the souls of countless sea demons to power itself, and it grows stronger the longer it stays active in battle. It’s practically standard equipment on all large demon-hunting ships like this.”

”Interesting,” Luo Chen said. ”Do you have the formation diagram?”

”Ah... no, we don’t. That formation was developed by the Heavenly Origin Trade Alliance, using techniques from the Primordial Devil Sect’s Soul Refinement lineage. Small families like ours wouldn’t have any chance of getting the original diagram.”

”The Heavenly Origin Trade Alliance?” Luo Chen asked. ”Do they have anything to do with the Heavenly Origin Dao Sect in the Central Continent?”

”You’ve got it, senior. The trade alliance is under the Heavenly Origin Dao Sect. They handle gathering resources in the Northern Sea and shipping them to the other four continents, and they also bring some things the other way; after all, we don’t have everything.”

Luo Chen nodded. Business is nothing more than buying low and selling high; so long as there are people who want to trade, there will be people willing to trade with them.

”The Heavenly Origin Trade Alliance is very powerful, and all their major business places have a Sage stationed there. They also keep masters of every line of work under their banner—alchemy, formations, artifacts, talismans... you name it, they do it, and they do everything well. I hear they can even refine demonic artifacts. Speaking of that, you seemed interested in those spiritized artifacts. In fact, those are also one of the Heavenly Origin Trade Alliance’s works.

”These kinds of artifacts are not powered by spirit energy or mana, but by a martial artist’s inner qi. In this way, the mortals of the Northern Sea have a place to apply their skills. As long as they train diligently, they can rely on spiritized artifacts to exert strength at the level of early-stage Qi Refinement cultivators, sometimes even mid-stage ones. A demon-hunting ship of this size cannot possibly rely solely on cultivators. Generally, all major families bring a large number of mortal martial artists aboard and have them assist with fishing, hunting demons, processing the catch, and even fighting.”

The more Luo Chen listened, the brighter his eyes became. In the Eastern Wilderness, mortals were insignificant; livestock, practically. Yet in the Northern Sea, they possessed such standing. For mortals to wield strength comparable to mid-stage Qi Refinement was truly astonishing!

Luo Chen requested three spiritized artifacts from Cheng Haichang, then dismissed him. Afterward, he turned his attention to those items and began studying them.

***

The massive demon-hunting ship advanced steadily, its great sails billowing as it cut through wind and waves. With each passing moment, the destination drew closer.

Two days later, Luo Chen set down the saber, the sword, and the trident in his hands. A contemplative expression appeared on his face.

”Now this is interesting... really interesting. Who would’ve thought about creating an artifact that turns blood qi into spirit power? Isn’t this basically the same as refining vital essence into qi? Only the Heavenly Origin Trade Alliance went about it differently, using formations and spirit stones instead. Really interesting. What a shame, though... The formations are all locked. There’s no way to study them. If a method like this was spread across the whole realm, the strength of the human race would skyrocket. After all, mortals reproduce far faster than cultivators. If someone at the level of Wang Yuan in his early days got their hands on a fine spiritized artifact, they might even threaten those at the late stage of Qi Refinement. So why would the Heavenly Origin Dao Sect limit something like this to the Northern Sea?”

Luo Chen put away the three spiritized artifacts and let out a soft sigh. He understood how things were being done, but not why. His curiosity had been stirred. Yet it was obvious that a mighty force like the Heavenly Origin Dao Sect would never bother explaining such matters to a mere Adept. Moreover, time no longer allowed for further contemplation. They had arrived at their destination!