An Alchemist's Path to Eternity

Chapter 834: Lying in Wait for the Rabbit; The Cliff Serpent’s Corpse (II)

Just as he was setting up the formation, Han Zhan suddenly said, ”Expand the formation a bit.”

”Hm?”

”Make it cover about one li.” Han Zhan estimated.

Though somewhat puzzled, Luo Chen still followed the instruction. Under the infusion of mana, the Divine Seal Compass rippled with spirit light as formation patterns that had been traced earlier spread outward. Water currents surged and red mist spread. The Blood Coral trench, already filled with red light, turned even more crimson. Anyone who did not know better might think a third-tier Blood Coral had been born here.

Just after Luo Chen expanded the formation’s range, Han Zhan said, ”Haven’t you noticed something extra inside your Myriad Soul Banner?”

Luo Chen paused. He really hadn’t checked it. Although he had personally refined the banner, it was Han Zhan who controlled it most of the time. In a way, it had become Han Zhan’s dwelling place, with Luo Chen essentially providing him with ”room and board.” Because of that, he rarely paid much attention to the Myriad Soul Banner.

He sent his divine consciousness inside, and what he saw made his jaw instantly drop. There were countless souls! Not only the two Ghost Kings from before and over a thousand Ghost General souls, but also densely packed low-tier souls numbering in the tens of thousands. More than that, there were even over a dozen remnant souls of Demon Kings within!

”What in the world...”

”Hehe.” Han Zhan smiled faintly. ”When I was monitoring the battlefield for you, I wasn’t just sitting around doing nothing. I collected some lingering souls while I was at it. It didn’t take much effort.”

This is ”some”?! And it didn’t take much effort? Luo Chen felt somewhat speechless. In that moment, he truly understood the magnitude of what a devil cultivator proficient in soul arts could do on a battlefield!

Some just wandered around battlefields, recent or ancient, claiming the lost souls around. Some went even further to stir up something and manipulated people, turning small scuffles into large-scale wars! Even low-tier Soul Refinement cultivators had been known to manipulate wars from behind the scenes in mortal kingdoms. On battlefields, the bloody aura and killing intent were extremely intense. Souls that could survive in that kind of environment, even if just lingering souls, would absolutely become great weapons as long as they were cultivated well.

The batch of souls Han Zhan collected included tens of thousands of low-tier souls. Compared to the millions of Crab Soldiers and Crab Generals under the five royal clans, that number meant little. For the Myriad Soul Banner, however, it was complete replenishment, and then some extra! As for those dozen or so third-tier lingering souls, as long as they subsequently devoured each other, perhaps several new Ghost Kings could be born. At that time, the offensive might of this Myriad Soul Banner would certainly increase several times over.

Han Zhan himself was naturally elated. He had been forced to hold back a lot during previous battles, both not wanting to waste his energy and due to the predicament of lacking a good tool to work with. Now that the Myriad Soul Banner had a proper foundation, he could use many of his techniques and abilities with ease in the future.

Luo Chen’s face lit up with joy. That’s just good for me. I got a powerful weapon without putting in any effort, and it can even make up for the gap in my strength after losing the Mystic Flame Sword.

Before he could even praise Han Zhan, the latter suddenly said, ”Won’t you look in more carefully?”

”There’s more?”

Luo Chen grew curious and sent his divine consciousness deeper into the banner. The further he went, the more souls he saw. He had not noticed this during his earlier hasty glance. Looking now, he discovered that those battle souls all gathered around one particular place. When he finally saw what lay there, his expression changed drastically. ”W-what’s that?!”

He cried out in shock. Then his mana surged, and the banner expanded until it reached nine zhang in length. It opened wide, and a massive object three zhang wide slowly swam out from inside. The moment it appeared, its aura spread through the surroundings.

Black King was curled down at the entrance of the cave residence. The moment he saw the thing coming out of the banner, he raised his head in alarm and doubt. ”Master, what is that?”

Luo Chen did not answer; he focused on slowly pulling the thing out.

One zhang, two zhang, fifteen zhang...

It was a giant serpent, a hundred zhang in length! It lay coiled along the seabed trench, and even though it no longer had any life force, the remnant aura still pressed down on the nearby Blood Coral. Their graceful forms bent low in instinctive fear.

Luo Chen looked at the giant serpent. It was covered in wounds and resembled withered wood and charred coal. He swallowed and looked toward Han Zhan. ”Cliff Serpent?”

Han Zhan’s somewhat ethereal face still carried a smile, though with a hint of weariness. ”It’s that Ring-Head Turtle that failed its tribulation. Even though it failed, it still broke free of its shackles and gained the body of a Cliff Serpent.”

”What the actual hell...” Luo Chen shook his head in disbelief. ”You’ve really given me quite a surprise this time.”

Han Zhan replied wearily, ”I may not be able to help you much in battle, but something like this is hardly worth mentioning.”

This was no small matter! The Cliff Serpent had failed its transformation and perished during the tribulation, yet it was still a Demon King at Perfected Mastery. If placed on the market, many people would pay a high price for it. Even if he kept it, the materials on its body would be very useful.

Sell it? He was unwilling. Keep it for himself? He looked at the Cliff Serpent corpse and felt troubled. How would he even use it?

As he hesitated, something rubbed against his calf. Luo Chen looked down and saw a little black snake looking at him with wide puppy eyes. ”Master... I...”

Luo Chen frowned. ”That’s not dinner.”

”Actually, I’d say it should be,” commented Han Zhan.

Luo Chen looked up and saw Han Zhan smiling. ”When I had him take action earlier, I promised him a few things. One of them was this Cliff Serpent. You can just give it to him. The Cliff Serpent failed its transformation and was struck by lightning dozens of times stronger than a normal tribulation. Its scales and whatnot aren’t of much use to you.”

Black King also looked at Luo Chen with eager eyes. ”Master, when I helped you snatch that Profound Rock Armor, I almost got beaten to death by Golden Pincer and the others.”

Luo Chen’s eyelid twitched. This pesky snake... But after he used his divine consciousness to probe the Cliff Serpent’s body, he had to admit that Han Zhan had a point. The serpent’s corpse looked little different from charcoal. It had lost most of its spirituality, and whether he used it for artifact creation or alchemy, the results would be ordinary at best.

After all, this was not a demonic beast with resistance to lightning. On the contrary, it was a water-element demon that naturally feared lightning. The fact that the corpse was mostly intact was already a stroke of fortune in misfortune. Compared with that, his real gains were the dozen demon crab king corpses and the Profound Rock Armor that Black King seized for him.

After thinking it over for a moment, Luo Chen shrugged helplessly. ”Fine, you can have it. But after you eat it, don’t start slacking off.”

Black King immediately curled his body on the ground and repeatedly bowed toward Luo Chen. ”Thank you, Master! From now on, I’ll serve you with everything I’ve got, even if it means dying for it!”

Heh, he’s speaking better and better. What a bootlicker, though.

In any case, as he saw Black King’s longing gaze, Luo Chen realized that this apparently useless dead serpent really might be another great opportunity. If it helped Black King grow stronger, that would also be good for him as the master.

Thinking of this, the lingering regrets in his heart vanished, and he gave a carefree smile. ”This trip to Profound Rock Island has brought me great gains. It’s the biggest harvest I’ve ever had!”

With his heart at ease, he stepped into the cave residence.