An Alchemist's Path to Eternity

Blood Nightmare! As the nominal master of Devil’s Snare, he led one of the most formidable devil path forces in the Northern Sea today. Nominal, however, was the keyword. High-tier cultivators knew that Devil’s Snare was actually an alliance formed by twelve Sages. Strictly speaking, it was not a sect with a true lineage.

Most of its members were early-stage Sages, though a late-stage Sage was also among the twelve. The reason the force bore Blood Nightmare’s name and outwardly recognized him as its leader was simply to borrow the prestige of his status as a member of the Primordial Devil Sect.

With that title attached, this emerging force that had risen over the past century could rightfully participate in the competition for resources throughout the Northern Sea cultivation world. After all, before the fall of the Primordial Devil Sect, the entire Northern Sea human cultivation world had been under its rule.

Of course, anyone who regarded Blood Nightmare as a mere tool would be gravely mistaken. Anyone capable of reaching the Nascent Soul Realm was an extraordinary genius with an unshakable heart for the Great Dao, someone who had endured countless hardships. At the very least, Luo Chen would never underestimate Blood Nightmare because of those rumors. Toward Sages, he had always maintained a sense of respect. After all, along the path of his cultivation, none of the Sages he encountered had ever been easy to deal with. Even the five Sages utterly demolished by Azure Frost had been grand figures in their own right.

For instance, Sage Cloud Crane had allegedly subdued Pure Crane while he was still in the Golden Core Realm. Whatever hidden circumstances lay behind it, that alone spoke volumes of his capability. Being permitted by the Silktree Sect to leave the sect and establish his own force certainly meant that he was no slouch. Sage Jade Cauldron was a sword path expert. With only early-stage cultivation, he had faced Demon Emperor Azure Frost, who pursued him for tens of thousands of li before finally managing to take him down. Heaven Smelter was a technical specialist, yet his combat ability was far from negligible. Even without a single enchanted treasure and while at an absolute disadvantage, he had clashed head-on with the Lightning Prison Roc and nearly carved out a bloody path for himself.

And then there was Han Zhan.

Among the five Sages in the campaign to open the Howling Moon Mountain Range, he had the lowest cultivation and the shortest time as a sage. Yet in several battles, extraordinary abilities emerged one after another. It was clear even to the dimmest that he was by no means someone an ordinary Adept could look down upon.

Aside from raw strength, the schemes and calculations of these Sages were worthy of their centuries of cultivation. During his time at Green Parasol Mountain, Luo Chen had personally experienced the cunning of Heaven Smelter and Han Zhan. The former had used Luo Chen’s life-bound treasure to seize a chance at survival. Though it had ultimately failed, it was still an astonishing move. The latter was truly shrewd—his method of feigning death preserved his life and even deceived the Lightning Prison Roc, whose cultivation exceeded his. He had always concealed his true strength. Most importantly, aside from Pure Crane, who had surrendered outright, he was the only one alive of five Sages. And he was the only one to escape Green Parasol Mountain.

Even now, Luo Chen still maintained a measure of caution toward him. And all this was only what he knew on the surface; as for how they schemed in private or how they truly conducted themselves when nobody was watching, he knew nothing. So how could Luo Chen dare speculate about such experts? Low-tier cultivators could say all they wanted, but it only went to show how utterly ignorant they were.

For that reason, when he learned that Blood Nightmare had personally come to visit him, Luo Chen was deeply shocked. He immediately pressed Cheng Haixin for the details. But she could only respond helplessly that Blood Nightmare had arrived abruptly, and with Luo Chen absent, he had left just as quickly.

Cheng Haixin looked at Luo Chen cautiously and spoke in a soft voice, ”Perhaps Sage Blood Nightmare was just excited to find a fellow sect member?”

A fellow sect member? Luo Chen frowned. Was it because he’d been posing as a cultivator of the Primordial Devil Sect? That did, in fact, make sense.

After Wu Qi departed that year, Luo Chen had people gather information about Blood Nightmare.

The former Holy Land had an ancient and far-reaching inheritance, with three main lineages: the Soul Refinement lineage, the Divine Blood lineage, and the Primordial Devil lineage. Blood Nightmare had been one of the outstanding figures of the Divine Blood lineage. He had been the elder tasked with governing affairs outside the sect. This status forced him to be away from the main territory of the sect most of the time, but precisely for this reason, he managed to escape the great catastrophe that destroyed the Primordial Devil Sect.

According to rumors, this man was rather mild-tempered and treated his subordinates very well. After the fall of the sect, he made great efforts to gather the scattered remnants of its disciples, hoping to restore its former glory. Over the years, many wandering survivors of the sect had voluntarily joined him. Because of this, among the twelve lineages of Devil’s Snare, the strength of his lineage was far from low. In fact, it ranked second only to the late-stage Sage’s own lineage.

At the same time, Luo Chen had presented himself as an early-stage Adept in front of Wu Qi, yet the combat strength he displayed was not inferior to Wu Qi’s, which fit the standard expected of a disciple from a Holy Land. Coupled with the Soul Refining Banner, it was hardly surprising that Wu Qi assumed he belonged to the Soul Refinement lineage of the Primordial Devil Sect. Of course, Luo Chen had never once admitted to it; he had merely let the other party feel like he’d guessed correctly.

That’s part of it. But more likely, he’s taken an interest in me because I’m a master alchemist.

When Wu Qi came to the island back then, he smelled the lingering pill fragrance left behind after Luo Chen refined supreme-grade True Flame Pills. Someone capable of refining supreme-grade third-tier pills would be considered a top-tier talent not only in the Northern Sea but across all five territories of the Mountains and Seas Realm. Wu Qi had said it himself: Among the twelve lineage lords, the Sage most skilled in alchemy only rarely managed to refine top-grade third-tier pills, and when he did so, it was by pure chance. Seen in that light, even if Azure Yang was not truly a disciple of the Primordial Devil Sect, he would still be worth a personal visit from Blood Nightmare.

Maybe he did more than just stop by....

The next instant, a token landed in his hand. It was the Blood Nightmare Token. He swept his divine consciousness over it and saw a strand of blood-red light slowly flowing within, as if it were alive.

Han Zhan’s voice sounded through a divine consciousness transmission. ”He did activate that token. But as you remember, before we set out, I used a secret technique to conceal it. There’s no way he could use it to pinpoint your location.”

Luo Chen gave a slight nod. At least that was good news. It meant there was still some time before he would have to face Blood Nightmare.

”Are you going to meet him?” Han Zhan asked.

Cheng Haixin had mentioned not just the visit, but also a message—more specifically, an invitation for Luo Chen to meet Blood Nightmare in Jadecold City. As for the date, it happened to fall exactly on the ten-year deadline Wu Qi had mentioned.

Luo Chen thought for a moment, then replied in a slightly subdued tone, ”We’ll see.”

Han Zhan chuckled. ”You really aren’t afraid of dealing with high-tier cultivators, are you?”

Luo Chen curled his lips slightly. In fact, he was not particularly scared. Throughout his journey, he’d lacked many things, but cultivators of higher realms had always been around. Their presence could feel oppressive, but if he maintained the right balance, he would not suffer losses. On the contrary, he could gain greatly from them. As long as he avoided doing anything that directly provoked them, a technical talent like him would be welcomed wherever he went. In truth, specialists of alchemy, artifact crafting, or talisman creation usually attached themselves to major forces. By comparison, Luo Chen’s earlier decision to hunt overseas alone made him an anomaly.

Seeing that Luo Chen did not seem to care, Han Zhan suddenly reminded him, ”Devil path cultivators aren’t like the righteous cultivators back in the Eastern Wilderness. Their tempers are unpredictable, and their reasons are hard to discern. If he decides to turn on you, I might not necessarily be able to protect you.”

Luo Chen was taken aback. Han Zhan’s words seemed to suggest that he did not want Luo Chen to come into contact with Blood Nightmare. That made him feel somewhat puzzled, but he assumed Han Zhan was simply worried about him. At the same time, those words also revealed another piece of information: Han Zhan truly had some hidden cards, enough for him to casually speak of ”protecting” Luo Chen. It was not guaranteed, but the possibility clearly existed.

Luo Chen’s lips curled slightly. He did not press the matter further. Instead, he turned his attention back to Cheng Haixin and asked about other events that had taken place on the Flying Swallow Archipelago during his absence.

Cheng Haixin recounted the details one by one. The work of gathering ingredients had continued throughout this period. However, the longer Luo Chen had been away, the fewer ingredients were being collected. This meant that some of the other families had grown less diligent.

Luo Chen was not surprised. He had expected this. After all, a single Core Formation secret art was not enough to make every cultivator empty their coffers. In particular, smaller families often had only one or two Initiates in the early or middle stages. They had not yet reached the point of becoming obsessed with Core Formation. Of course, Cheng Haixin’s words were somewhat exaggerated, and Luo Chen could tell from her tone that this had something to do with the Cheng family’s position being threatened. Because of this, she had deliberately spoken more harshly about the other families.

Seeing that Luo Chen did not seem to care much, Cheng Haixin’s heart dimmed and the gloom on her face deepened. She sighed. ”My elder brother... he failed to form his core and...”

Luo Chen was taken aback. That ambitious man failed?

The surprise did not lie in the failure itself, but in how hastily the man had attempted it. After all, not even a decade had passed since Cheng Dou obtained the Azure Yang Pill Codex. At best, he could have reached minor mastery. Attempting Core Formation in such haste made failure almost inevitable. After all, that threshold was notoriously difficult to cross.

Among the Initiates Luo Chen had known in the past, whether it was the rogue cultivator Chu Kui or the True Inheritor of a first-tier sect Tantai Jin, both had failed to take the Core Formation step. Chu Kui had lost a decade of cultivation because of it, while Tantai Jin had perished in seclusion. Cheng Dou’s foundation had been inferior even to theirs, so failure was only to be expected.

He simply said softly, ”My condolences.”