An Alchemist's Path to Eternity

Between the abyss and the sky, a colossal vortex of spirit energy surged upward against their natural flow. A lone figure was tossed about helplessly in that raging current, bobbing up and down like a leaf in a raging river. Fortunately, Luo Chen’s physique was on par with a powerful Demon Emperor’s, so despite the terrifying pressure battering him from all sides, it could not tear his body apart. Even so, he remained completely at the vortex’s mercy. No matter how hard he struggled, he could not regain control of his own movements.

Just then, a strand of pure mana quietly flowed from the wooden plaque hanging against his chest. It spread outward gently, sending ripples through the raging torrent. As the ripples expanded, they gradually formed an invisible sphere around Luo Chen. This was a Nascent Soul Domain.

The difference was immediate. Outside the sphere, the vortex continued to roar and churn with overwhelming force; yet within the Domain, everything became calm and orderly. Luo Chen felt the change and steadied himself at once, stopping his erratic drift as a thoughtful look appeared in his eyes.

So that’s how it works.

Entering the inheritance grounds was not simply a matter of enduring its power. One needed the means of resisting and controlling the torrent itself. Without a Nascent Soul Domain or something of comparable power, the raging spirit energy would tear them apart long before they reached the end of the vortex.

After reaching that conclusion, Luo Chen decided to test his theory. He asked Han Zhan to withdraw the Domain and expanded his own Infinite Blaze Prison in its place. As expected, the moment the prison expanded around him, the vortex lost its hold over his movements, allowing him to travel freely through it. The experiment, however, revealed another problem. Unlike a true Nascent Soul Domain, the Infinite Blaze Prison relied entirely on Luo Chen’s own mana rather than ambient spirit energy. Every moment it remained active, it consumed an enormous amount of mana.

After observing the effect for a while, Luo Chen nodded. ”That concludes it. So if an Adept wants to enter the Heaven of Bright Illumination, they need a Pseudo-Domain like mine, the protection of a Sage, or a specially prepared enchanted treasure like the one Devil’s Cloud used.”

Now that he understood the situation, he no longer insisted on relying on himself. ”Senior, you’d better handle this.”

”Mhm.”

Luo Chen withdrew the Infinite Blaze Prison, and Han Zhan’s Nascent Soul Domain spread out around him once more. Bathed in faint green light, he continued moving through the vortex without difficulty.

Time seemed to lose all meaning within the endless gush of spirit energy. After what felt like an eternity, he finally felt solid ground beneath his feet. Only then did he realize he had reached the end of the vortex.

Looking down, he found himself standing on an ancient stone platform engraved with formation patterns. A teleportation formation?

The thought had only just crossed Luo Chen’s mind when the formation activated on its own. He stood motionless on the stone platform as light flowed around him. A violent tearing sensation swept through his body, as though he were being ripped apart and reassembled at the same time. But the discomfort lasted only a moment, and by the time it faded, he was no longer in the same place.

An ancient stone platform hung alone in the darkness. Beyond its edges stretched a bottomless darkness whose depths could not be seen. Wind howled endlessly through the emptiness, while the surrounding world remained silent and desolate. The only things that broke the darkness were fourteen distant lights suspended in the void like stars.

Luo Chen narrowed his eyes.

No, fourteen was not quite right. One of the lights had grown so dim that it seemed on the verge of extinguishing, as though the path it represented had already been cut off. That left only thirteen truly shining lights.

As he studied the strange scene, the wooden plaque hanging at his chest suddenly trembled and flew out on its own.

”Senior?”

The plaque hovered in midair, radiating a faint glow. Moments later, a figure emerged from within it. It was the other corpse avatar refined by Crimson Corpse. There had originally been two, but one had been destroyed within Vermilion Bird Mountain, leaving only this one. The Soul-Nurturing Wood plaque settled onto the corpse avatar’s chest. As its gentle radiance seeped into the body, the previously lifeless corpse gradually regained a trace of vitality. Its eyelids twitched, then slowly opened, revealing eyes that seemed to carry the weight of countless years.

”It’s been a long, long time since I’ve felt good, solid ground beneath my feet.”

Han Zhan flexed his fingers, then stomped his feet twice. The delight on his face was impossible to hide. Turning toward Luo Chen, he stretched out a hand. ”Give me the Seven Fiend Swords and the Myriad Soul Banner. I don’t have any suitable tools right now, so if we run into trouble, I won’t be able to help.”

Luo Chen nodded. He removed the Soul Heaven Sword Case from his back and handed over the swords along with the banner. With these two enchanted treasures, Han Zhan had the means to participate directly in battle.

While Han Zhan familiarized himself with his new body, Luo Chen continued examining his surroundings. His gaze eventually settled on a colossal stone wall standing beyond the platform.

At the very front were four large words: Heaven of Night Illumination.

This was the original name of the third heaven within the Land of Fallen Devils, Heaven of Bright Illumination. However, Luo Chen could not tell whether it had some kind of deeper meaning. His gaze continued downward, and a short poem came into view.

Upon nineteen lines unfolds the Way of Heaven and Earth,

Fair to the eye, yet fraught with unseen turns.

The human heart remains beyond all reckoning,

And even the masters of the board are not spared defeat.

The shifting momentum flashes away like a meteor,

While the click of stones falls with the measured weight of hail.

By the pavilion, scarcely a single game has passed,

Yet the sun is already sinking once more into the west.[1]

After reading it several times, Luo Chen grasped its meaning. It used the game of Go as a metaphor for life, speaking of the hardships of the world, the unpredictability of the human heart, and the ever-changing nature of fate. A single careless move could ruin a lifetime of effort. There was nothing particularly obscure about the poem itself. If anything, its meaning was surprisingly clear. That clarity only made Luo Chen more confused. Why had such a poem been placed at the entrance to Heaven of Bright Illumination? Neither he nor Han Zhan could make sense of it.

Eventually, Han Zhan gave up on the question and shook his head. ”Let’s focus on what’s ahead. Otherwise, the Flesh Ganoderma might catch up to us.”

”Will it even dare to come in?” Luo Chen asked.

Han Zhan chuckled softly. ”I’m afraid it will. Didn’t you hear what it said? It can’t merge with its true body in the Land of Fallen Devils. But if it keeps its soul and body separate, it may be able to slip past the restriction.”

Luo Chen opened his mouth but ultimately found no argument to refute him. His gaze settled on the glowing points of starlight as he slowly said, ”These should be the way out.”

Han Zhan stepped forward. ”They’re also the entrances to the inheritance grounds.”

Luo Chen walked up beside him and glanced sideways. ”You want the inheritance?”

”You’re asking me? If you didn’t want it, why would you have come in?” Han Zhan countered.

Luo Chen shrugged. ”It’s not like I can go back. The Flesh Ganoderma’s avatars are blocking the Fallen Devil Abyss. Even if I forced my way through, I’d still have to go through Azure Tide and the two fifth-tier sprites of the Hundred-Crow Ghost Forest...”

Han Zhan chuckled. He knew what Luo Chen was really thinking, but he didn’t push it.

As he circled the points of light, he said, ”Heaven Refiner was said to be the strongest Monarch ever to exist. Whether that’s true or not, this pocket world speaks for itself. The person was extraordinary. An inheritance left behind by someone like that won’t be ordinary. If we can obtain even a small part of it, the benefits could last us a lifetime. We might even have a chance to reach the Divine Transformation Realm.”

As he spoke, he stopped beside the dimmest point of light. ”Look at this one. The starlight is fading, and the path beyond it has already been cut off. Someone has walked this road before and taken the inheritance. Who do you think it was?”

Luo Chen frowned. His first instinct was to say that it must’ve been someone from the devil sect, but the answer did not feel right. Instead, another name surfaced in his mind.

The Northern Sea’s only living Ascendant, Li Canghai!

According to rumors, Li Canghai had emerged from the Sunken Sea and soon afterward broke through to the Divine Transformation Realm. Rumors also claimed he had obtained a powerful formation-related inheritance within that pocket world. When Luo Chen heard them for the first time, such stories sounded little different from countless other tales surrounding great cultivators. Looking back now, however, they seemed far more plausible. Formations were woven throughout every corner of the Land of Fallen Devils, each one more profound than the last. If Li Canghai had truly inherited Heaven Refiner’s formation knowledge, then his rise to the Divine Transformation Realm was hardly surprising.

He said aloud, ”Li Canghai, the leader of the Righteous Blue Sea Alliance.”

Han Zhan smiled and nodded. ”That’s exactly who I was thinking of.”

The smile then faded from his face. Looking at the countless points of starlight before him, he quietly said, ”If he could do it, why can’t we?”

With that, Han Zhan continued to pace among the points of light. Before long, he stopped in front of one of the glittering entrances. An inexplicable attraction rose from the depths of his heart. Everything about this path seemed perfectly suited to him. Yet as the attraction grew stronger, so did his hesitation. He was no longer a living cultivator but a soul residing within a corpse avatar. Would such a body even be acknowledged by the inheritance? If it rejected him, would he simply be expelled, or would he lose his life within it? Temptation, uncertainty, and hesitation intertwined in his mind as he lingered before the entrance.

1. This poem is inspired by ”Chess” (棋), a poem by Pei Shuo (裴说), a poet of the late Tang and Five Dynasties period. Despite its title, the poem refers specifically to the game of Go (围棋), using it as a metaphor for the unpredictability of human affairs and the shifting fortunes of life. ☜