An Alchemist's Path to Eternity

Inside the Six Restriction Cloud Carriage, Luo Chen sat under the jade-green curtains with a jade scroll resting in his hand. The more he read, the more engrossed he became. Thoughtfulness gradually gave way to surprise, and when he finally lowered the scroll, he clicked his tongue in admiration.

”What an ingenious formation!”

At first glance, the island-linking formation seemed to do little more than bind the spirit vein network of several islands into a single defensive network. Its true brilliance, however, lay in the way it harnessed the natural connection between the islands’ earth veins. It could turn one island into the formation’s core and use it to gather the surrounding spirit veins. Once another island was incorporated, that island could become a new center and extend the network even farther. As more islands were connected, their scattered earth and water veins would begin nourishing one another. Even the weak and isolated spirit veins would gradually strengthen over the years until the entire region flourished as a single cultivation ground.

The defensive power gained by linking the islands was certainly valuable, but it was only a consequence of the formation’s greater purpose. Its real effect was gathering what had once been scattered and using that connection to nurture the land itself.

No wonder the island-linking formation had become the most celebrated formation to appear in the Northern Sea over the past two centuries. Only an Ascendant who was a formation grandmaster could have devised something with such far-reaching potential.

The jade scroll had come from the Xu family’s Third Elder. After he joined a faction under the Blue Sea Alliance, he received the complete formation from one of its experts. When he later left the Flying Swallow Archipelago, he naturally took the formation discs, flags, and other essential components with him; however, out of consideration for the friendship between the Xu and Cheng Families, he left Cheng Haixin a copy of the diagram. Since she had little else to offer Luo Chen before his departure, she copied it once more and gave it to him.

The formation was particularly well suited to the Flying Swallow Archipelago. More than thirty islands dotted the surrounding sea, and nearly all of them possessed spirit veins suitable for cultivation. Unfortunately, they were too far apart to support one another directly, which meant that each island had to develop on its own. This prevented the archipelago from drawing upon its full potential.

Now, with the island-linking formation set up, that was no longer an issue. Given a century, the major cultivation families might unite every island in the archipelago and allow their earth and water veins to reinforce one another until the archipelago’s spirit energy rose as a whole. In time, the entire region might develop into a cultivation ground capable of sustaining Adepts, while any defensive formation built upon that foundation would grow stronger with it. Unless a Demon Emperor or late-stage Demon King attacked personally, the people here would be more than capable of defending themselves.

The formation was not only valuable to the Flying Swallow Archipelago. If arranged properly, it could strengthen countless minor islands and unite entire scattered regions into a mutually sustaining whole. If the network was built around a well-established third-tier spirit vein, it might even nurture that vein to the fourth tier over time.

A formation of such value could easily have served as the guarded inheritance of a powerful sect. Yet Li Canghai had chosen to spread it throughout the Northern Sea instead. Luo Chen could not help admiring the man’s vision. By allowing the formation to circulate so widely, Li Canghai had given countless remote islands an opportunity to prosper while strengthening the foundation of the Northern Sea’s cultivation world as a whole.

In Luo Chen’s view, Li Canghai had never intended the island-linking formation to remain exclusive to the Blue Sea Alliance. In spite of the title of ”alliance,” it was far too divided to keep such a valuable inheritance contained. Any sufficiently powerful forces that wanted the formation would eventually obtain it through one of the alliance’s many branches, then pass it down to their own subordinates. Devil’s Snare had certainly tried, and there was a good chance they had already succeeded.

For Luo Chen, this was a great windfall. He had the Mountain Relocation Art of the Five Elements Divine Sect, while Black King could gather ambient spirit energy through his demon ability. Combined with the island-linking formation, those would make nurturing a fifth-tier spirit vein far easier than before.

If I can obtain Green Pill Valley’s Five Peaks Enclosing Valley Formation as well, I’ll have everything I need.

Luo Chen was still considering the possibilities when his brows suddenly lifted. ”Heavenjade, slow down.”

”Yes, Master!”

Although puzzled by the order, Heavenjade immediately reduced the speed of the Six Restriction Cloud Carriage. Inwardly, however, she could not help wondering why they were slowing down when Coldlight Island was still several days away.

The answer came in the shape of an enormous flying vessel that emerged from the clouds and thundered southward. The vessel resembled a huge estate suspended in the sky. Pavilions and towers rose across its deck, while artificial mountains and streams lay between them in an elegant landscape. Banners snapped in the wind, countless figures moved across the vessel, and a murderous aura filled the heavens.

The Six Restriction Cloud Carriage had once belonged to the master of an artisan sect and was luxurious by any ordinary standard. Yet beside this vessel, it seemed almost insignificant. At once, Heavenjade understood why Luo Chen had ordered her to slow down. Only a Sage could travel with such grandeur.

As if on cue, a deep and nonchalant male voice came from the enormous flying vessel. ”I am Mei Yiqi of Resonant Jade Mountain. May I ask who is traveling ahead and which sect are you representing?”

The formal introduction made his intentions clear. Luo Chen thought for a moment, then answered in a clear voice. ”I’m only a rogue cultivator with no sect behind me. I’ve long heard of you, Sage Resonant Jade. You may call me Wilderness Hermit!”

Aboard the Resonant Pavilion Cloud Ferry, Resonant Jade frowned slightly. A rogue Sage was rare enough, yet he had never heard of anyone called Wilderness Hermit. He knew of Mad Hermit, Blood Hermit, and Moon Hermit, but this name was entirely unfamiliar.

A disciple beside him lowered his voice. ”Master, be careful. What if Devil’s Snare sets an ambush for us?”

Resonant Jade shook his head. ”We’re going there to negotiate an end to the war. Why would they ambush us now? Besides, this man’s divine consciousness is remarkably strong. He noticed us first and even slowed down to wait. Devil’s Snare only has a few people capable of that, and he isn’t one of them.”

The disciple understood, then hesitated. ”Then should we...”

”There’s no need to worry. His divine consciousness may be powerful, but his mana is still unstable. He probably only broke through recently.” Resonant Jade stroked his beard with a smile. ”I can handle myself. Let’s invite him aboard for a conversation.”

Meanwhile, Heavenjade studied the emblem on the flying vessel. ”Master, are they really from Resonant Jade Mountain?”

”Just look at that green flower. The merchant ship we took to Giant Whale Harbor had the same emblem.”

Resonant Jade Mountain was covered in flowers throughout the year, but it was best known for a pale green flower with a rich fragrance. Thus, that flower had become the sect’s emblem. Heavenjade had been badly injured during that journey, so she had paid little attention to such details. Now that she thought about it, though, the emblem did seem familiar.

Just then, the same easygoing male voice sounded from the flying vessel once more. ”Wilderness Hermit, are you also on your way to Duskmist Court for the peace conference?”

Luo Chen frowned. A peace conference? What for?

More importantly, the name Duskmist Court made his heart tighten. If his memory wasn’t misleading him, it was a stronghold of Devil’s Snare. More specifically, it was Blood Nightmare’s stronghold!

Resonant Jade continued, ”Since we’re heading the same way, why not come aboard and talk? I’d be glad to make a new friend.”

Luo Chen took a deep breath and stepped out of the carriage. Heavenjade and Sang Jinghe watched him anxiously, but he simply smiled and waved them off. ”Don’t worry. I’ll be fine.”

With that, he stepped from the carriage and crossed the open air onto the Resonant Pavilion Cloud Ferry. He did not ride the clouds, nor did any breeze lift him. The ambient spirit energy simply carried him forward as naturally as if it were an extension of his body. That single display made the hundreds of Resonant Jade Mountain disciples in the vessel tense inwardly. Only a Sage could command the world’s spirit energy with such ease.

After landing, he swept his gaze across the deck. Nearly a hundred Initiates moved among the pavilions and towers, while the concealed auras of several Adepts lingered deeper within the vessel. This was merely the force Resonant Jade Mountain had brought on a journey, yet it already rivaled many established sects. At full strength, the force was likely no weaker than an ordinary upper sect.

A disciple stepped forward and gestured toward the temple-like palace at the center of the ferry. ”Senior, please come this way.”

Luo Chen followed him inside, where a white-haired Daoist with a ruddy complexion and long beard was waiting. The man rose and clasped his hands in greeting. ”I am Mei Yiqi. Greetings, fellow Daoist.”

Luo Chen returned the courtesy. ”I am Luo Chen. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

Once they had introduced themselves, they took their seats across from one another with a pot of steaming tea between them. Resonant Jade made no attempt to hide his curiosity as he studied Luo Chen. ”You look remarkably young, fellow Daoist. I can hardly see any trace of age on you, yet your cultivation is already close to my own. The cultivation world truly is full of hidden experts.”

Luo Chen chuckled. ”You flatter me, fellow Daoist. I’ve spent most of my life cultivating alone in the wilderness, far from the troubles of the cultivation world. Perhaps that’s why I look a little younger than I am.”

Though they spoke courteously, both men were quietly probing the other. Luo Chen answered without revealing anything of value, then steered the conversation elsewhere. ”I’ve spent the past several years cultivating in seclusion within the Demon Sea, so I know very little about what’s been happening outside. What is this peace conference?”

Resonant Jade smiled. ”It’s exactly what it sounds like. The righteous and devilish forces have fought for a hundred years without either gaining an upper hand. Now that the Northern Sea Demon Alliance has begun invading human territory, neither faction can afford to continue exhausting itself against the other.”

Luo Chen frowned. ”Has the demon threat truly become so severe?”

The smile remained on Resonant Jade’s face, but there was now a trace of bitterness in it. ”So you really haven’t heard what’s been happening all these years. Thirty years ago, the Ghost Immortal Tower broke through Ascendant Li’s demon-sealing formation and entered the Heaven of Northern Yama. It used the lingering power of the strange phenomenon in the Sunken Sea to tear open a breach in the Myriad Soul Demon-Locking Formation. That’s the formation the Soul Refinement Grand Elder of the devil sect left behind before his death. Through that one breach, all the powerful demonic beasts sealed in the Heaven of Northern Yama escaped.

”Great Saint Northern Departure now controls the Heaven of Northern Yama, while the Sea Emperor Whale has come out of seclusion and is locked in a standoff with Ascendant Li Canghai. You would think that would keep the two sides in balance, but the Ghost Immortal Tower changes everything. No one has been able to stop it wherever it goes. The Myriad Immortal Society has fallen, Divine Origin City is under siege, and the Penglai Immortal Sect has already fled. The Righteous Blue Sea Alliance is being attacked from both sides. The righteous and devilish factions simply can’t afford to continue their war.”

Each revelation struck Luo Chen harder than the last, and his earlier calm expression gradually faded. He had never imagined that the situation would deteriorate so badly, so quickly.

The demonic beasts imprisoned within the Heaven of Northern Yama were survivors of the great war against the devil sect. Given the sect’s deep foundation, its final counterattack before its destruction should have devastated the demons’ elite forces. Yet after all these years, the allied demon army still possessed enough strength to overwhelm the human factions.

Then there was the Ghost Immortal Tower. Luo Chen had glimpsed it briefly all those years ago, and he had experienced its power. But could it truly be so powerful that so many Sages were unable to stand against it?

The fall of the Society was shocking, but at least it made some sense. Divine Origin City being besieged, however, was truly inconceivable. After all, the power behind Divine Origin City was the Heaven Origin Dao Sect!

Luo Chen took a deep breath before asking, ”Devil’s Snare actually agreed to a ceasefire?”

Resonant Jade poured Luo Chen a cup of tea before replying, ”What other choice did they have? The Penglai Immortal Sect abandoned them, and they were already weaker than our Blue Sea Alliance. Agreeing to a ceasefire was the only sensible decision.”

”But Blood Nightmare is one of their lineage masters.” Luo Chen’s expression turned thoughtful. ”From what I know of him, he thrives on chaos. Would he truly agree to join forces with the righteous factions against the demons, much less allow the peace conference to be held at his own stronghold?”

A knowing smile appeared on Resonant Jade’s face. ”So you’ve heard of Blood Nightmare. It seems you haven’t been hiding in the Demon Sea for quite as long as you claimed.”

Luo Chen smiled faintly but offered no explanation. That single question had revealed more than he intended. Blood Nightmare’s true nature had only become widely known after he ambushed and killed Mulan Gaoxiong, a high-ranking member of the Blue Sea Alliance. That incident, which occurred nearly ninety years ago, had pushed the conflict between the righteous and devilish factions into open war. Since Luo Chen knew what kind of man Blood Nightmare was, he must still have been active in the Northern Sea cultivation world at the time.

Resonant Jade seemed pleased to have uncovered a piece of Luo Chen’s background, but his expression soon grew solemn. ”Blood Nightmare is no longer in any position to interfere. After he escaped from the Sunken Sea, Blood Hermit hunted him relentlessly and drove him from place to place like a stray dog. He can barely keep himself alive, so he certainly wouldn’t dare return to Devil’s Snare. Worse still, people discovered that he had been refining every devil sect disciple he recruited into a Blood God Clone. After doing something like that, there’s no place left for him in the Northern Sea cultivation world.”

At first, Luo Chen found that strange. Blood Nightmare had belonged to a devilish sect in the first place, so what was so surprising about him acting according to the devilish path? Why, then, had this particular act turned the entire Northern Sea against him?

A moment later, however, it clicked. The problem was not merely that he had sacrificed human lives; it was the identity of these people. His victims were the surviving disciples of the devil sect, the very people he had once promised to protect. When he founded Devil’s Snare, he had raised the banner of sheltering the sect’s remnants and restoring the devil sect to its former glory. That promise had given his cause legitimacy and persuaded others to follow him. By refining those same followers into Blood God Clones, he had destroyed the foundation of trust upon which Devil’s Snare had been built.

Luo Chen understood better than most how much power reputation could carry. In his early years, the title of Fire Spirit Lord had been enough to win the trust of strangers who knew nothing else about him. A respected title could open doors, attract followers, and even lend a veneer of righteousness to ambitions that were anything but noble.

Devil’s Snare had relied on the same principle. Whether Blood Nightmare had truly founded it or merely served as the face of the hidden late-stage Sage behind him no longer mattered. Betraying the survivors he claimed to protect meant betraying the very cause that had once given him credibility.

Resonant Jade had not exaggerated when he said there was nowhere left in the Northern Sea for Blood Nightmare. The Blue Sea Alliance already regarded him as an enemy, while Devil’s Snare had even more reason to hunt him down and distance itself from his crimes. With the Myriad Immortal Society destroyed and Blood Hermit still pursuing him, no force would dare offer him shelter.

Luo Chen shook his head. ”No wonder Duskmist Court has gone from the stronghold of a great devilish power to the meeting place for a ceasefire.”

”The world changes faster than anyone expects.” Resonant Jade sighed, though a faint smile soon returned to his face. ”Still, this change has opened up a few opportunities for people like us.”

”Opportunities?” Luo Chen asked curiously.

Resonant Jade nodded. ”While the righteous and devilish factions were at war, all contact between the two sides was cut off, and trade stopped along with it. One of my secret arts, for example, requires a material that can only be found among the forces under Lineage Master Heaven Splitter from Devil’s Snare. Now that the war is ending, I can finally buy that material again and resume my practice. This conference isn’t only about negotiating a ceasefire. It’s also a chance for Sages from both sides to trade for the things they need.”

Luo Chen finally understood. Indeed, Resonant Jade Mountain had not originally belonged to the Blue Sea Alliance. It had only joined after the war broke out. Once it chose a side, Devil’s Snare naturally stopped trading with them. Now, it truly was an opportunity.

At this, he suddenly asked, ”I heard the devil sect once had a technique for producing soul essence, and most of those who inherited it are now part of Devil’s Snare. Do you know if they’re still producing it?”

The atmosphere within the hall instantly froze. Resonant Jade stroked his graying beard and narrowed his eyes at Luo Chen. ”Soul essence? Wilderness Hermit... are you a remnant of the devil sect?”