An Alchemist's Path to Eternity

Everyone followed his gaze. They saw a crimson figure soar straight into the sky. Upon reaching the clouds, it spread both hands apart. In an instant, a dazzling saber light filled the surroundings. The moment the saber appeared, the wind and lightning seemed to answer its call, while countless wailing ghosts cried out in mournful lamentation.

Star Catcher cried out in shock. ”That’s the Divine Fortified Blood Blade! Blood Hermit’s life-bound True Artifact, refined through centuries of cultivation! I never thought he’d actually bring that out for a mere plant.”

Everyone’s eyes widened. True Artifacts were, in essence, evolved enchanted treasures. After the baptism of the lightning tribulation, such items far transcended ordinary enchanted treasures, to the point where even the simplest attack had heaven-shaking power.

Over the years, Luo Chen had encountered many Sages, yet very few of them actually possessed True Artifacts. Heaven Smelter likely had one, but it was definitely confiscated after his capture. As for the others, they either lacked such treasures altogether or refused to bring them out unless necessary. Yet for the sake of this Vine King, Blood Hermit had actually taken out his own life-bound True Artifact and even entrusted it to an avatar to wield?

Just looking at the long and slender blade made Luo Chen’s eyes ache. Almost instinctively, he turned to look toward the broad saber in Saberstorm’s hands—faint ghost wails seemed to echo from it as well. Noticing Luo Chen’s gaze, the usually imperturbable Saberstorm now wore an unnatural flush on his face.

The Divine Fortified Blood Blade was truly similar to Saberstorm’s Golden Ni[1] Saber. Both followed the path of advancement through absorbing soul and blood fiend qi. But despite many decades of refinement and slaughtering countless demonic beasts, Saberstorm had only managed to bring his saber up to the top grade. It was a stupendous performance, yet compared to Blood Hermit’s saber, it was far inferior.

Using the power of blood fiend qi refined from living beings to raise the grade of enchanted treasures was one of the most widespread refinement techniques in the Northern Sea cultivation world. Naturally, it was rumored to originate from the devil sect, and it truly carried the flavor of the devil path. Clearly, Blood Hermit’s life-bound True Artifact had already reached an extraordinarily high level. It had even refined ordinary blood fiend qi into fortified fiend power. Now that the Blood God Clone had drawn that saber, the implications were self-evident.

Sure enough, the Blood God Clone completely abandoned its previous fighting style and began attacking with overwhelming power. Every sweep of the saber severed another section from the white vine. Throughout the shattered ruins of Withered Wood Ridge, strange and miserable shrieks rang out from time to time. As time passed, the eerie wails that seemed to pierce straight into the soul gradually began to weaken. Seeing this, Star Catcher finally relaxed slightly. ”The Vine King’s almost at its limit. Looks like our mission’s about to come to an end.”

The others thought the same. Yet before anyone could voice their thoughts, the earth suddenly trembled. They instinctively looked toward the surrounding forest, only to watch the lush greenery rapidly lose its color. Vibrant leaves faded into a sickly pallor, and in the span of a few breaths, trees collapsed into dust. Even ancient trees that had clearly stood for thousands of years began drying out beneath the strange vibration, as though something was draining away their life force. The phenomenon was not limited to their surroundings alone. A quick look into the distance, confirmed that the entirety of Withered Wood Ridge was undergoing the same transformation. The once verdant mountains were bleaching at a speed visible to the naked eye. Within only a few breaths, all that remained was a desolate pale gray.

While Luo Chen was still filled with uncertainty, his spirit eyes suddenly locked onto a distant mountain peak. There, the long-vanished Angler finally reappeared. He sat atop a rock motionless, holding the Blackgold Rod. The scorched Heavenly Broken Line extended downward into a bottomless abyss beneath the mountain, while the Sound-Capturing Bell attached to the rod chimed violently, as though some monstrous creature had taken the bait. At the same time, all the fading life force around the ridge seemed to be converging toward Angler’s location.

The Angler’s face was deathly pale, yet his eyes shone with undisguised ecstasy. Blood seeped from the corner of his mouth, but his grip on the rod never loosened in the slightest.

Suddenly, a horrifying sound erupted from the abyss below, and a crimson whip lashed through the air. A yellow radiance burst out around the Angler, but it shattered after only a brief instant. As another terrifying force began gathering within the abyss, the delight in his eyes instantly gave way to panic, and he roared desperately toward the sky, ”SAAAGE, SAVE MEEEE!”

The Blood God Clone, which had been locked in battle with the white vine only moments earlier, suddenly shot into the sky. It pointed one finger toward the Angler, sending a streak of crimson light over. Then, it reached out toward where Luo Chen and the others stood. None of them understood what it was doing... until a miserable scream abruptly rang out.

”NOOOOO!!! MY JADE SEALLLLL!!!”

Before their eyes, Huangfu Song lunged forward in madness—chasing his jade seal, which had just shot out toward the Angler’s location. Meanwhile, the purple light streaked through the sky like a meteor under the Blood God Clone’s forced control, descending upon the abyss.

Almost immediately, another whip lashed upward from the depths below, but this time, it was intercepted by the crimson light of the Blood God Clone. Another terrifying force was about to erupt from below, but by then, the jade seal was already above the abyss. From it poured an endless cascade of majestic purple light. No matter how violently the abyss rumbled, no more whips managed to emerge.

Completely ignoring the dying white vine, the Blood God Clone descended beside the Angler. Its long saber swept repeatedly through the air, severing the white vines surging in from every direction while its eyes remained fixed on the abyss.

When Huangfu Song came charging over like a madman, the Blood God Clone merely cast him a cold glance. It was only a single look, but Huangfu Song’s entire body shook violently, as if he had suffered a crushing blow. The frenzy in his eyes vanished completely, leaving behind nothing but despair.

Not far away, Luo Chen, Star Catcher, and Saberstorm exchanged uneasy glances. By now, they had begun to realize what was truly happening. The three of them wasted no more time and flew toward the peak. The Blood God Clone did not even spare them a glance; its attention remaining fixed entirely upon the abyss below. Meanwhile, the Angler still sat there, fishing at the edge of the cliff. Though his aura had weakened to an extreme degree, his grip on the rod remained tight.

As everyone waited in silence, the Blood God Clone suddenly waved a hand toward the jade seal bearing down upon the abyss. Huangfu Song hurriedly reclaimed it, but the moment he looked at it, his face turned pale.

Luo Chen and the others looked over curiously and saw that the seal’s purple radiance had completely vanished. Compared to the overwhelming might it had displayed earlier, when it resisted countless Withered Blood Vines and even withstood the aftershocks of a Sage-level battle, it now appeared drastically diminished. Worse still, several cracks had appeared across its surface.

A thoughtful look flickered through Luo Chen’s eyes. Clearly, the truly powerful thing had never been the jade seal itself but rather the Sage’s power within it. With how advanced his artifact creation skills had become over the years, he could tell at a glance that the treasure showed none of the signs of having ever been fully refined by a cultivator. However, there was no way Huangfu Song had not attempted to take control of it. There could only be one explanation: The Sage’s lingering power within the treasure had prevented him from doing so. This spoke to why the treasure was so powerful against those attacks and aftershocks. Yet for the same reason, it was also powerless when seized away by someone stronger.

During the earlier battle, the Blood God Clone had used the power of a higher realm to forcibly seize the jade seal and completely exhaust the Sage’s power inside it. Although the treasure had now been returned to Huangfu Song, it was little different from a cracked mirror. It was indeed a top-grade enchanted treasure, but because its functions were too broad, its actual power was actually far inferior to more specialized top-grade treasures. Worse still, it was now severely damaged.

The Angler had gathered the four of them because each possessed different strengths, ensuring every aspect was covered. But among them, Huangfu Song was clearly the most important. His ancestral enchanted treasure had not only suppressed the creature beneath the abyss; it had also forced the vine to expend one of its trump cards.

Luo Chen looked toward the dejected Huangfu Song with mixed emotions. While everyone continued waiting, the Blood God Clone suddenly moved again. He reached out and seized the thread, giving it a sharp pull upward. A trace of dissatisfaction flashed through the Angler’s eyes, but it disappeared just as quickly.

Whoosh!

Under the sunlight, a crystalline crimson vine emerged before them. At first glance, it looked no different from the enormous white vine from earlier, yet the life force flowing from it exceeded the former by hundreds or even thousands of times. Luo Chen and the others immediately understood: This was the true Vine King, while the massive white vine had merely been an external manifestation!

Even as the realization dawned on Luo Chen, he still felt something was off. The gap in life force between the two should not have been this big. As he puzzled over it, he looked across the surrounding mountains, where the once-lush forests had turned pale and lifeless. It seemed as if they’d turn to ashes under the slightest breeze. And then he knew it: The vibrant greenery they had seen upon entering the mountain range had merely been an illusion of prosperity sustained by the Vine King. The true face of Withered Wood Ridge had always been this endless scene of decay.

While he was still lost in thought, the Angler’s hoarse voice slowly drifted over. ”You’ve all done well.”

Luo Chen turned back and found that the Blood God Clone had disappeared. The Angler rose from the boulder beneath him, and it crumbled instantly into dust. The man brushed off the dirt on his robes and revealed a relieved smile. He looked across everyone present before he nodded slightly. ”The mission’s over. Once we return, you will receive everything I promised. Huangfu Song, I’ll also speak with the Chen family of Sky Passage on behalf of the Society. They probably won’t insist on protecting those people anymore. After that, you can do as you please.”

That last part was clearly added on as an afterthought. Huangfu Song forced out a smile uglier than a frown. ”Thanks, Angler.”

The Angler chuckled softly as he looked over the ridge. With a casual wave of his hand, the Heavenly Broken Line spread outward, knitting itself into a fishing net. When he reeled it back in, a few massive white vines dropped heavily before them. ”These white vines may not be the actual Vine King, but they’re branches it nurtured over thousands of years. Blood Hermit didn’t completely destroy them, so I suppose we’re all getting a share.”

The Angler began dividing up the white vines, giving each person two. The exception was Luo Chen, who was handed three vines. Luo Chen looked at him in surprise. The Angler smiled. ”Fellow Daoist, I hope dragging you into this mission didn’t delay your own matters too badly.”

Luo Chen was momentarily speechless. Earlier, the Angler had acted utterly cold, as though he cared nothing for whatever friendship existed between them, yet now his attitude had suddenly changed again. Whether it was because the mission had succeeded and lifted his mood or because he wished to mend the relationship between them, he could not say for certain. Most likely, it was both.

Huangfu Song aside, the other two did not look dissatisfied. This made Luo Chen realize that the Angler must have negotiated proper rewards with them before the mission started; only he himself had been left without anything. Therefore, he no longer hesitated and openly accepted the white vines. After all, these were remains left behind by a Vine King. Though lacking the spiritual qualities of the Vine King, they were still useful fourth-tier materials.

Once the spoils had been distributed, none of them had any desire to linger any longer. The Angler summoned a flying boat, preparing for the return journey. Yet Luo Chen made no move to board it.

”Eh? Fellow Daoist, are you not coming?” the Angler asked in confusion.

Luo Chen cupped his fist. ”I don’t really get the chance to come to the Demon Sea. It would be a bit of a waste if I just went back like this, so I plan to travel around for a while.”

With that, he summoned a mana cloud and leisurely departed in the opposite direction.

Aboard the flying boat, the Angler frowned as he watched Luo Chen disappear into the distance. He pondered silently for a long while, yet ultimately said nothing. He simply flicked his sleeve and activated the flying boat, disappearing into the distance.

1. 猊 (ní) short for 狻猊 (suānní), a lion-like mythical beast in Chinese tradition often associated with smoke and incense. ☜