An Alchemist's Path to Eternity

His beauty was capable of captivating anyone who laid eyes on him. His skin was as smooth as jade, and his eyes shone like stars; every feature of his face was so refined that it seemed almost otherworldly. And what seemed most otherworldly about him was his striking blue hair. Even after advancing to the fourth tier and assuming full human form, the color of his hair had not changed.

When Luo Chen called him out loud, Liu Jun showed a hint of surprise. ”You actually know who I am?”

Luo Chen let out a faint laugh. ”How could I not? You were driven out of the Sunken Sea by Blood Hermit. That’s not the sort of thing the Society members forget.”

A flash of anger crossed Liu Jun’s face. ”You...”

Yet for all his fury, he remained seated on the lotus, without making a move. Luo Chen found this odd and instinctively turned his attention to the five-colored lotus beneath him. It was the very Five Elements Lotus he had come for, and its quality far surpassed the one he had seen years ago in Green Pill Valley; its aura brushed the threshold of the fifth tier.

Han Zhan’s voice came urgently. ”Luo Chen, he’s drawing on the lotus to recover from his injuries!”

The realization landed at once. That was why Liu Jun was sitting unmoved through such blatant provocation! But if he kept taking the lotus’s power to heal, what would remain for refining a Nascent Soul Pill?

”Fine. If you won’t come out, then I’ll go in!” Luo Chen let out a low shout and shot toward the magma lake like a streak of lightning. The seven flying swords at his side instantly converged into a single colossal sword and swept ahead of him, whistling through the scorching-hot air dense fiend qi billowed from its edge. In the blink of an eye, the giant sword crossed the distance and arrived before Liu Jun.

However, Liu Jun did not rise; he merely lifted a finger and flicked it.

BOOOOMMMM!!!

The colossal sword quivered violently as a frightening force crashed into it. It collapsed completely and burst apart into seven streaks of light that scattered into the magma lake.

Luo Chen was not surprised by the outcome. He had already anticipated that such an attack would never be enough to threaten someone of Liu Jun’s caliber. The set of flying swords left behind by Liang Baizao was undoubtedly powerful, but he had never properly refined them. By only controlling them indirectly with the Soul Heaven Sword Case, he could not even display their full standard power, much less form the complete Seven Fiend Sword Formation. Forcing them to merge into a giant sword was already the limit of what he could achieve with them as they were.

Fortunately, he had never intended to rely on that alone. As he continued rushing forward, an azure palm projection slowly took shape in his hand. He did not release it immediately; instead, he held it in place while charging toward his target. The magma below began to stir in response, rushing toward him from every direction, drawn by an invisible force. Wave after wave poured into the projection, causing it to expand with each passing moment. By the time Luo Chen had closed to within a hundred zhang of Liu Jun, the palm projection had grown to an astonishing size, and only then did he strike.

”GOOOOO!!!!”

Seeing the palm projection bearing down on him, Liu Jun frowned slightly. He raised his left hand, traced a circle through the air, and calmly pushed his palm forward.

Hummm...

A low hum echoed through the giant cave as a ring of blue light spread outward. The moment it touched the Azure Yang Great Handprint, the attacks erased one another!

Seeing this, Liu Jun truly began to take Luo Chen seriously. ”Impressive! You’ve mastered a fire spell to the level where it can automatically draw in the surrounding fire-attribute spirit energy! It seems I underestimated you. Honestly, if I weren’t in the middle of healing, I might have kept you by my side. Unfortunately, I don’t have the leisure to entertain you right now.”

The words themselves were ordinary, yet his voice carried an inexplicable charm. It drifted into Luo Chen’s ears gently and soothingly, making every syllable seem strangely convincing.

Alright, so Han Zhan was right. He really is healing. The injuries were probably caused by Blood Hermit! Well, not that there’s anything surprising about that. He’s famous for being able to challenge opponents beyond his realm. Even though he’s just a middle-stage Sage, he can even rival late-stage ones, and Liu Jun is only an early-stage Demon Emperor. Losing to Blood Hermit is hardly unusual. But in that case... this might be the only chance I’ll ever have to kill him!

The logic was flawless. The more he thought about it, the more convincing it became, until visions of an effortless victory had already begun to take shape in his mind. At that exact moment, however, a stabbing pain pierced his divine soul.

”WAAAKE UUUUP!”

Han Zhan’s roar crashed through his mind. Luo Chen snapped back to his senses, and a chill ran through him as he realized what had happened.

The songs of the merfolk clan truly lived up to their reputation. Liu Jun had done nothing more than speak a few casual sentences, yet he had nearly fallen under his influence without noticing. Had Han Zhan not forcefully awakened him, those pleasant thoughts would have continued lulling him into complacency until he became little more than a defenseless target.

As though he had been waiting for that exact moment, Liu Jun’s voice abruptly changed. The soothing tone vanished, replaced by a harsh metallic shriek. At the same instant, he flicked a finger and shot off another streak of blue light towards Luo Chen. The attack came at an incredible speed; before he could react, the blue light had already struck him.

Pffftttt! Shhkkkkk! Clangggggg!

Three distinct sounds rang out in sequence. Luo Chen looked down and found a water-attribute flying sword lodged in his hand. The sword writhed like a living fish, giving off the aura of a top-grade enchanted treasure. Before being stopped, it had already broken through two of his strongest defenses.

A hint of surprise appeared on Liu Jun’s face. His gaze fell upon Luo Chen’s crimson Daoist robe, just in time to see it reshaping itself into a black suit of armor. ”As expected of a human, you certainly have some impressive treasures. That armor is interesting. It bought you a split second and saved your insignificant life.”

A ruthless look flashed across Luo Chen’s face. ”Don’t even think about using that voice on me again!”

As he spoke, pure mana surged around his ears and condensed into barriers that isolated all sound.

Liu Jun only smiled at the sight. With another flick of his finger, he reasserted control on the flying sword in Luo Chen’s hand, which began spinning frantically and attempting to force its way through his defenses.

Shhk! Shhk! Shhk!

A harsh buzzing rang out without end, like a drill grinding through steel. As the flying sword struggled more and more violently in his grasp, Luo Chen’s expression hardened. ”GET LOOOST!”

His fingers tightened around the blade while his free hand shot down in a crushing punch. The impact forced the flying sword to bend into an arc. Yet despite the terrifying strength behind the blow, it did not break.

Liu Jun’s eyes narrowed slightly. Before Luo Chen could press it down further, he raised a hand and beckoned.

Whoosh!

The flying sword tore free from Luo Chen’s grip and shot back toward its master. The moment it returned, mana flowed into the blade, restoring its distorted form to normal as though nothing had happened. Even Luo Chen’s monstrous physique had failed to destroy it, which spoke volumes of the extraordinary material from which it had been crafted.

By this point, Liu Jun had completely put aside his earlier contempt. Truthfully, he had also recognized Luo Chen earlier. Back at Three Pillar Gorge, this was the very Adept who had escaped ahead of time, avoiding the fate that had befallen Saberstorm and slipping free of enslavement. At the time, Liu Jun had paid little attention to him. Now, however, the techniques and physical strength Luo Chen displayed far exceeded what any ordinary Adept should possess. This man was not an opponent he could casually dismiss.

He drew in a slow breath and directly employed the simplest and most effective means a Sage possessed for dealing with low-tier cultivators.

BBOOOMMMMMMMMMM!!!!!!

A powerful restraining aura erupted from his body and expanded outward. In an instant, the pressure enveloped Luo Chen—a Nascent Soul Domain!

”I don’t know why you’ve come here looking for death, but don’t worry, you can have it. You killed one of my clansmen and burned him to ashes. Today, I’ll repay that debt in kind.”

As he spoke, a thread of mana slipped from his lips and condensed into a flickering blue flame. It was not a Sourceless Flame, but pure Nascent Soul true fire. The flame drifted lazily toward Luo Chen, and Liu Jun made no effort to hasten it, nor did he concern himself with the possibility of Luo Chen escaping. In his eyes, there was simply no need. Once trapped within a Nascent Soul Domain, what Adept could possibly break free?

Unfortunately for him, Luo Chen was not an ordinary Adept.

”INFINITE BLAZE PRISOOOON!”

BOOOOMMMM!!!

Crimson mana exploded from his body, empowered by the Primordial Unity Cauldron. It burst out like a volcanic eruption, and the shockwave shattered the pressure of the Nascent Soul Domain. At the same time, azure flames surged from below and engulfed Luo Chen’s entire figure. As he stood above the roiling magma, wrapped in blazing fire, he looked less like a cultivator and more like an evil god of flame climbing out of hell itself. He raised his head upward, a faint smile tugging at the corner of his mouth as he felt the Domain’s pressure weaken around him.

The Domain was nowhere near as formidable as he had expected. Whether that was because Liu Jun’s cultivation was lacking or because the environment was actively working against him, it was not doing its proper job. Blazing Purgatory was saturated with fire-attribute spirit energy, while the other elemental energies were scarce. Water-attribute spirit energy, which directly opposed fire, was virtually nonexistent. For a merfolk Demon Emperor who had spent his entire life in the sea, such a battlefield was practically crippling. Under these conditions, Liu Jun likely could not display even half of his true strength.

”You’re fighting on my home ground now!”

The moment the words left his mouth, Luo Chen lowered his gaze and casually threw a punch, scattering the approaching blue flame. As it dispersed, he launched himself forward and transformed into a streak of blazing light that raced wildly across the magma lake. His speed climbed to a terrifying level, and he left countless afterimages in his wake. As he flashed across the molten surface, enormous Azure Yang Great Handprints erupted one after another from the lake and crashed toward Liu Jun.

BOOOMMM!! BOOOMMM!! BOOOMMM!!

Though lengthy to describe, the entire exchange had happened within a single heartbeat. By the time Liu Jun reacted, boiling magma was surging around him while an endless barrage of giant palm projections closed in from every direction. For the first time, his composure wavered. How is he unaffected by my Domain?!