An Alchemist's Path to Eternity

His expression shifted slightly. But then he opened his mouth, and a platinum sword orb spun into the air.

Just as Luo Chen had realized earlier, he truly was a sword cultivator!

No one had expected the master of Flying Cloud Ravine, a figure famed throughout the Blue Sea Alliance for his artifact creation skills, to also be an orthodox sword cultivator. Perhaps that was why he had dared to venture into the Sunken Sea without having any companion. After all, sword cultivators were renowned for their unparalleled combat strength.

The moment the sword orb appeared, countless sword threads unfurled from within it. Flying Cloud flicked a finger, and the orb shot through the air with explosive force. At the same time, his hands moved rapidly, forming one seal after another.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

The sword orb reached Luo Chen in an instant, but instead of striking head-on, it began moving in an unpredictable pattern around him. It darted left and right, rose and plunged, then vanished from one angle only to reappear from another. With every sudden change in direction, another strand of sword energy tore through the air. Those strands struck Luo Chen’s giant body, battering the black armor until it was riddled with dents and craters.

Luo Chen had no intention of remaining a passive target. He surged forward and charged straight toward Flying Cloud.

”You want to fight me up close? Good luck with that!” Flying Cloud sneered and transformed into a streak of sword light, shooting into the sky before Luo Chen could reach him. As a sword cultivator, his speed was in no way inferior to Luo Chen’s enormous strides, and he used that advantage to keep several li between them while continuously directing the sword orb to attack.

Fresh wounds kept appearing across Luo Chen’s body. Though his terrifying physique made each injury seem insignificant, even the strongest fortress could collapse if enough cracks were opened in its walls.

Even then, Flying Cloud was not content. He abruptly came to a stop in midair, and moved swiftly through a series of seals.

”Sword Formation, rise!”

Clang! Clang! Clang!

A terrifying chorus of sword cries rang through the space. The sword energy that had seemed to dissipate earlier suddenly reappeared throughout the void, each strand lighting up like a hidden thread. In the blink of an eye, those threads crisscrossed and connected, weaving themselves into an enormous formation. Without anyone realizing it, he had already laid down an enormous sword energy formation!

”Activate!”

His hand movement stopped abruptly; then, he spread his arms out. In response, the immense web of sword energy unfolded in every direction and closed in on Luo Chen’s nine-zhang body.

”If you had stayed in your human form, trapping you would have taken far more effort. But with a body that huge? You’ve thrown yourself right into my net.”

Flying Cloud sneered as he drove his Heavenly Cloud Sword Net forward. The interwoven strands of sword energy carried a sharpness that seemed capable of slicing through anything in the world. Even with his body and his armor, Luo Chen dared not meet it head-on; he hurriedly retreated, but the moment he moved, another sword light net materialized behind him and cut off his path. More followed in rapid succession, spreading outward until sword nets filled the sky and earth, sealing off every path of escape.

As the nets closed in, they overlapped and swept across one another. Even the slightest contact with the interwoven sword lights created countless cracks across the Profound Dust Armor. Even as a top-grade defensive enchanted treasure, it could not withstand the cutting power of this net.

As a second wave of sword nets closed in, Luo Chen’s expression grew serious, and he ignited the azure flame from his body. Within that azure glow, faint streaks of gold could be seen flickering within. The flames spread outward, and the approaching sword net dissipated before it could reach him.

Flying Cloud’s expression turned solemn. ”A fourth-tier true fire?”

He was not truly surprised, however. Anyone capable of obtaining the Alchemy Realm’s inheritance would naturally possess a suitable primordial true fire. It would have been stranger if he had not. But Flying Cloud himself was a master artisan, and it would have also been strange if someone of his standing did not have a primordial true fire as well.

Hooooo...

He exhaled softly, and a strand of golden flame drifted out from his mouth. It was Platinum Fire, born from the essence of metal, and it was unmatched in smelting metal and making artifacts. After countless years devoted to artifact creation, Flying Cloud’s control over his primordial true fire had reached a high level. Rather than crudely hurling the flame at his opponent, he guided it into the platinum sword orb and let the flame merge with the sword nets.

The flaming sword net descended upon Luo Chen; as expected, this time, the threads no longer melted away the moment they touched the azure-gold flames. Although they were slowed down, they still pressed inward from every direction and restricted Luo Chen’s movements.

Flying Cloud seized the advantage and continued forming seals, drawing out more and more sword nets until Luo Chen’s nine-zhang body was gradually buried beneath platinum sword light. ”You’re trapped. No, die beneath my sword!”

The moment Flying Cloud sensed a subtle disturbance in Luo Chen’s aura, he seized the opening and produced a longsword. Without hesitation, he transformed into a streak of light and entered the sword formation himself, bringing down the sword in a devastating overhead slash. This strike, timed perfectly with the tightening formation, was meant to end everything.

From afar, two urgent shouts rang out.

”NOOOOO!”

”SPARE HIS LIFE!”

Flying Cloud ignored them completely. He had failed the Artifact Realm’s trial and lost the inheritance of the Artifact Palace, yet this junior had somehow obtained the Alchemy Palace’s inheritance. Possessing such a prize without the strength to protect it was a fault in itself, and taking it away was only natural.

Whoosh!

The sword light descended with incomparable sharpness, as though nothing in existence could stand before it. Flying Cloud was certain the strike would end the battle, but the moment his sword sank into Luo Chen’s body, its momentum faltered. It was as if the sword had plunged straight into a barrel of tar. It still moved, but its speed was not much greater than a snail’s.

Spirit light flared within Flying Cloud’s eyes, and his gaze pierced through the crisscrossing sword energy. At last, he found out that an enormous hand had clamped tightly around the giant sword.

”You think you can stop me with that little strength? You overestimate yourself!” roared Flying Cloud. Boundless mana surged into the sword. This time, the sword broke free, then cleaved Luo Chen’s arm cleanly in half before continuing toward his enormous body.

By right, Flying Cloud should have been delighted at the apparent success of his strike, but the sight before him made his expression change once again. The severed arm did not fall down. Instead, countless strands of flesh writhed like living pythons, crawling along the sword toward Flying Cloud. They twisted, lunged, and devoured the sword light in their path, as though they wanted to swallow him along with it.

”What the hell?!”

In alarm, Flying Cloud tried to withdraw his sword and retreat. But while entering the formation had been easy, leaving was another matter entirely.

Luo Chen’s voice thundered throughout the sword formation. ”You’re not going anywhere!”

Suddenly, an enormous claw descended from the clouds. Flying Cloud had no time to evade before it tore across him.

However, the seemingly successful strike felt off. Though the Cloud-Seizing Divine Claw had clearly struck its target, Flying Cloud’s aura remained completely unchanged.

Is he carrying some kind of powerful defensive enchanted treasure?

The thought flashed through Luo Chen’s mind, but he did not dwell on it. His gaze shifted to the sword nets still binding him, and in the next instant, he lifted one leg and stomped down.

BBOOOOOOMM!!!

The void warped under the force of his foot technique, and he shot forward like a bolt of lightning. When he emerged from the sword light, his body was drenched in blood, but the tide of the battle had already changed. A mysterious energy surged through him, rapidly rebuilding his severed arm while the countless wounds across his body closed at a visible rate.

Luo Chen paid no attention to any of that. His gaze remained fixed on Flying Cloud, whose expression had turned grim as he retreated at full speed.

The crimson wings on Luo Chen’s back flapped once, and his enormous body vanished amid a chain of thunderous sonic booms. The next moment, he appeared above Flying Cloud and brought one gigantic foot crashing down like a thunderbolt.

Lightning Kick!

Sword nets unfolded one after another before Flying Cloud, but they had been formed in haste and could not withstand the weight of that strike. With a single kick, Luo Chen shattered them all and smashed Flying Cloud straight down into the plaza. Clouds and mist exploded outward in great waves, but before the impact could settle, Luo Chen had already descended from the sky and struck again.

BBBOOOOOOMMMM!!!!

Flying Cloud barely escaped the second kick, twisting away just as it struck. When he caught sight of the enormous footprint left behind on the plaza, any lingering doubt about continuing the fight vanished. He fled again and produced more enchanted treasures from his collection, trying to force Luo Chen back and widen the distance between them.

But now that Luo Chen had seized the initiative, how could he allow Flying Cloud to pull away again? With the Moonbreak Wings and Ninety Thousand Li propelling him, he surged forward in a relentless pursuit and struck continuously as he closed the distance.

An incoming trident was shattered in an instant by a punch thrown with the Mountain-Breaking Form. Almost the next second, a towering mountain rose to obstruct his path, but Luo Chen barreled straight through it with the Mountain-Smashing Form, reducing it to a storm of dust and debris. Without his momentum faltering for even a second, he stepped forward with Voidburst Step and reappeared directly in front of Flying Cloud.

”Running away now, huh? You think the fight is over? It’s over when I say it is!”

Flying Cloud’s face twisted savagely. He cupped his hands together in a lotus shape and thrust them forward as a phantom golden bell shimmered into existence above his head.

Just then, Luo Chen closed the distance. ”So is this what you’re planning to use to save yourself?”

With a fierce shout, he slammed his palm against the phantom golden bell. The recoil surged back through his arm, nearly shattering his bones again.

It was a defensive True Artifact!

A ruthless look flashed across Luo Chen’s face. He refused to give Flying Cloud any opportunity to flee and circled the golden bell at high speed leaving countless afterimages around it. His assault never let up: hooked fingers became palm strikes, palms became fists, and fists became raking claws, one technique bleeding seamlessly into the next in a single unbroken torrent. And with every blow, the origin energy coursing through him flooded into the bell, gradually staining it red.

Suddenly, Luo Chen planted both palms against the phantom golden bell and pressed his fingers into its illusory surface as if sinking them into wet clay.

Overlord Stripped Bare!

”OPEN!!!”

Before Flying Cloud’s disbelieving gaze, the seemingly indestructible phantom golden bell shattered. The lotus-shaped seal he formed broke apart, and the backlash struck his divine consciousness.

Pffffttt—

Flying Cloud spat out a mouthful of blood and staggered as though struck by lightning, darkness creeping in at the edges of his sight. Yet he knew this was no time to waver. As Luo Chen’s giant hand reached for him, Flying Cloud gritted his teeth and made a choice that went against every instinct he possessed.

Whoosh!

Luo Chen’s hand paused as a streak of golden light slipped through the gaps between his fingers. When he looked down, he found that all he held was Flying Cloud’s lifeless body.

As for that golden light... It was a three-inch-tall Nascent Soul, clutching a weathered golden bell covered in countless cracks in one hand and a sword orb in its mouth. Despite its pitiful appearance, it glared at Luo Chen with eyes burning with hatred. ”If my bell hadn’t been damaged blocking that storm, how could you have broken through my defense?”

Luo Chen grinned. ”You still have the leisure to chat with me? Don’t tell me you think you can escape!”

As his words fell, a great cauldron slowly rose above his head. Five-colored radiance flowed endlessly around it, and a terrifying aura spread through the surroundings.