An Alchemist's Path to Eternity

On a churning sea, two men and one woman formed a triangle, at the center of which was a toad-like demonic beast.

Guan Xiaoping’s eyes shone with excitement as she controlled a silk ribbon. ”Senior Brother Longwind, once we kill this River-Swallowing Toad, we should be able to get four stars, right?”

Beside her, Wu Tao was equally excited. ”A middle-stage Demon King, and one nearing the late stage at that! The merit points will definitely be a lot. Junior Sister, let’s push a little harder!”

”Okay.”

At the center of the formation, Longwind frowned slightly. ”Things can change at any moment. Don’t overexert your mana.”

The two acknowledged him, but it was clear they were not taking his words seriously. Instead, their output surged, pressing the toad back with increasing force. In their eyes, this was as straightforward as it could get—catch the toad and be done with it. The sooner they finished, the sooner they could leave.

Longwind shook his head; he held onto a talisman as a precaution. Under their combined assault, the River-Swallowing Toad began to falter. Its struggles weakened, and its movements slowed. At this point, it seemed like victory was within reach. And just as that thought appeared in their minds—

A powerful suction suddenly erupted from beneath their feet.

”AAHHHHHHHH!!!”

”SENIOR BROTHER, HEEEEEEELP!”

”What’s happening?”

Guan Xiaoping was the first to be dragged into the sea, followed by Wu Tao, whose mana was nearly drained. Longwind forced himself to steady his breathing and pushed his mana to its limit. He swiped a finger across his eyes, and a flash of spirit light shone from his eyes, allowing him to see through the murky depths.

Below them, a golden toad that was no more than a zhang in size crouched in the depths with its mouth wide open. The suction force that had dragged them down came from it. At a glance, it looked no different from the River-Swallowing Toad they had been fighting earlier, except for its color.

A decoy?

What they had taken for a River-Swallowing Toad was indeed nothing more than bait. The true demonic beast was this Sea-Devouring Golden Toad, a descendant of a Titan Beast with an innate ability to churn the oceans and command the tides. Even at the middle stage, it was not something a few ordinary early-stage Adepts could contend with.

Longwind did not hesitate and activated the talisman. A burst of green light enveloped the three of them and lifted them off from the suction force. Their movements turned light and swift as they emerged from the sea. It was the Liu family’s Wind-Riding Talisman! Guan Xiaoping and the others were overjoyed; as long as they broke free from the waters, they would have a chance to escape.

CROOOOAAAAK!

A sound echoed from the golden toad’s belly. The seemingly lifeless River-Swallowing Toad suddenly opened its eyes and mouth. A torrent of water burst forth and slammed into them, forcing them back into the sea.

This is bad! If this keeps up, I’m dead. I have to use Uncle’s treasure!

Just as despair took hold, a rumbling sound sounded again. A massive black arm tore through the waves and reached toward them. Yet as it was about to grasp them, it suddenly dispersed and reformed behind them. It did not move for the three of them; instead, it closed in on the golden toad.

CROOOOAAAAK!

A wave surged once more and shattered the black arm. The golden toad’s eyes flickered as it glanced toward the monstrous figure above the waves, then turned and disappeared deep into the sea.

What a pity. If I’d captured that Titan Beast descendant, it would’ve been a huge asset.

Luo Chen shook his head and shifted his gaze to the massive corpse of the River-Swallowing Toad. There was no trace of life left within it. Even if he refined it with the Withering-Flourishing True Fire, there would be nothing to get out of it. It had been dead for a long time; it was nothing more than a corpse controlled by the Sea-Devouring Golden Toad.

Not far away, three drenched figures staggered into the air, their eyes immediately drawn to the terrifying presence standing above the water.

Guan Xiaoping drew in a sharp breath. ”What... was that?”

Longwind did not answer, and he immediately turned toward Luo Chen. ”Fellow Daoist Azure Yang, it was you!”

Luo Chen gave them a brief glance but said nothing. He beckoned to the fused Ghost King, and they moved away.

Longwind’s expression turned a little sour, but he still cupped his hands and bowed from a distance. ”Fellow Daoist, thank you for saving our lives!”

Wu Tao scoffed. ”What is there to thank? Even without him, we could have survived by using the treasure our elder gave us.”

No shit, you think so? Then why didn’t you use it earlier? In a life-or-death situation like that, I bet you didn’t even have the chance to think about it. Longwind straightened up and shook his head. ”That’s not how it works. For him, it might’ve been nothing, but it saved us one of our precious trump cards. We’ve only just arrived here. If we burn through our life-saving resources now, how are we supposed to keep going?”

Wu Tao opened his mouth but found no words to refute him. Guan Xiaoping also said nothing. Her usual liveliness was gone, and she watched Luo Chen’s departing figure with an empty expression on her face.

***

Saving Longwind and the others had been nothing more than a casual act. Luo Chen’s actual intention, of course, had been to capture the Sea-Devouring Golden Toad. He wanted to understand what made archaic beasts so powerful. According to the information he had gathered, their demonic power was distributed evenly throughout the body, granting them overwhelming physical strength. But was that really all there was to it? And if so, how would their physique at the same level compare to his own physique?

”Forget it. I’ll look for another chance to gather information on archaic beasts. Hmm... Black King has started showing signs of reverting to his ancestral bloodline after consuming so much Imperial Nectar, almost like he’s walking the Titan Beast path. But he still has his demon core... Should I go back and study his physique?”

As he moved through the various gathering points of demonic beasts in the Three Pillar Gorge, he let his thoughts wander. Amid the slaughter and the massive influx of life force, he began to realize that the demonic beasts here were actually stronger than those he had encountered elsewhere.

It was not just a vague impression. Earlier, that middle-stage Demon King had managed to shatter the fused Ghost King before fleeing. That single clash had given Luo Chen a useful insight—he could refine the soul fusion technique so that the fused body could disperse and reform at will. And that was only the outer region of the Sunken Sea. If even these demonic beasts possessed such strength, if a Sea-Devouring Golden Toad with a Titan Beast bloodline was stationed here, then what kind of being had made its lair at the center of the gorge?

Just as doubt arose in his mind, his divine consciousness trembled. From the black sea, a brilliant saber light burst forth, carving out a waterless space stretching dozens of li. A small black figure staggered out from the sea, followed by countless massive tentacles. Each was covered in grotesque suckers. The sight alone was enough to unsettle the soul.

Luo Chen narrowed his eyes. ”So that’s the legendary Great King Squid... Is Saberstorm not doing well against it?”

This was, of course, a rhetorical question. The scene before him was self-evident.

Then Saberstorm’s voice tore across the sea. ”Devil Lord, lend me a hand!”

Luo Chen was about to step forward when something caught his attention. He turned back and activated his Spirit Eyes; with them, he saw a figure flying across the sea in the distance. Wherever it passed, the water boiled, and dark clouds gathered.

”A Sage? No... that’s a Demon Emperor!!!”

His expression changed drastically as the realization hit. Without wasting even a fraction of a second, he transformed into his Sky Roc True Form and expanded his Moonbreak Wings. A massive roc appeared and cut across the stretch of sea with powerful beats of its wings, fleeing at breakneck speed toward the outskirts of the Three Pillar Gorge.

Far away, a handsome demon lifted his gaze and blinked in mild surprise. ”Heh, you sure know how to run.”

The next moment, he appeared directly above the Three Pillar Gorge. By then, the disturbance had drawn the attention of rogue cultivators who were carrying out their missions. The moment they sensed the dense demonic energy emanating from him, they broke apart and fled in all directions.

But speed alone could not save them. How could mere Initiates and Adepts hope to outrun a Demon Emperor? Even with a thousand li head start, they still remained within his sight.

The demon chuckled faintly. Without any visible movement, the cultivators within his gaze suddenly lost all strength and dropped from the sky, plunging into the sea like falling stones. Yet even with that, a few struggled against it. Three figures, after being dragged down, forced themselves back up as they broke free of the restraint and shot away from the gorge at even greater speed.

”Humans...” The handsome demon muttered a few words to himself, but did not bother to give chase. His gaze fell upon the three towering peaks.

”So this is one of the formation cores... It can be changed, but not destroyed!”

The words had barely left his lips when he raised his hand and struck down.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

The three towering peaks were forced straight into the ocean depths. The moment the peaks were submerged, the handsome demon raised his head and looked toward the expanse of the Sunken Sea. The sky above was still and nothing had changed at first glance, yet he could tell that something in the air had shifted.

”Something’s about to happen...”