An Alchemist's Path to Eternity

Neither Liu Jun’s recognition nor the brutality of the battle at the Blue Ice Sea had shaken Luo Chen so deeply. Even Ascendant Li’s sudden appearance was easy enough to understand given his friendship with Frostpole. What he could not stop thinking about was the seal engraved with blurry images of the mountains and seas and the casual way it had swallowed the entire Ice Soul Spirit Mountain.

And the reason why the scene disturbed him was precisely that he understood formations. He still did not possess the breadth of knowledge expected of a true grandmaster, and he still needed a complete diagram, proper preparation, and favorable terrain to arrange a fourth-tier formation. Even so, there was no doubt about his understanding of the basics.

He had studied the seven fundamental restrictions and the relationships of the five elements since he was an Initiate, then began dabbling in it more seriously after becoming an Adept. Over the years, he had received guidance from Min Longyu, Han Zhan, and others, which had further deepened that knowledge, while the system and his own relentless practice had refined it further. He was confident enough to say that a few at his level could match the solidity of his foundation. As long as the formation was not overly complicated, he could work his way through and reconstruct the logic of the whole.

That was how he had seen through the island-linking formation. Most cultivators valued the formation for its defensive power, but he had instead recognized that defense was only its surface function. Its true principle lay in linking heaven and earth while allowing the separate earth energies to interact. When he realized this, he had planned to return to the Eastern Wilderness, obtain Green Pill Valley’s Five Peaks Enclosing Valley and the Medicine King Sect’s mountain-moving art in hopes of creating a blessed land for his own sect.

Yet everything he had believed was crushed in that moment when Ascendant Li showed up.

Other Sages might have regarded the removal of Ice Soul Spirit Mountain as some incomprehensible power unique to an Ascendant, but Luo Chen understood formations too well to be deceived. The seal had functioned on the most rudimentary principles of formation!

He had watched those restrictions unfold from the seal and resonate with those embedded throughout the Ice Soul Spirit Mountain. The strongest among them—Mountain, Water, and Void—bound the seal and the mountain into a single system. Through that resonance, Ascendant Li had uprooted the entire mountain without damaging it and absorbed it whole into the seal.

At the thought of that, Luo Chen felt fear and reverence, and along with them, an excitement he could not quite suppress.

Over the past two centuries, the island-linking formation had spread throughout the Northern Sea until nearly every human territory had one. There were undoubtedly other people who had discovered that, beyond its defensive function, it could connect earth energies and nurture spirit lands, just as Luo Chen himself. They undoubtedly believed they had figured out the formation’s true nature. But what if even that was merely another cover-up?

All this time, the formation was fused deeply with spirit mountains, islands, and earth energies throughout the Northern Sea. If Ascendant Li harbored malicious intentions and drew every spirit land into that seal just as he had moments ago...

As the pieces came together, Luo Chen slowly regained his composure.

Clearly, there was no ”if.” Ascendant Li had most likely planned it from the beginning, perhaps from the moment the island-linking formation first came into his possession. Otherwise, how could a formation created by a mighty Ascendant have spread so freely, even into the hands of an enemy force like Devil’s Snare?

Luo Chen had seen the formation of Duskmist Court. That place had been Blood Nightmare’s stronghold and the heart of Devil’s Snare, yet even there, the same formation had been arranged. No formation associated with Ascendant Li could have found its way into the home of his enemy unless he had deliberately allowed, or perhaps even encouraged, its spread.

So that was his true goal! Luo Chen’s expression grew grave as he stared into the distance. He wants to refine the mountains and seas of the Northern Sea and use them to force that seal into becoming a spirit treasure!

The conclusion sounded almost absurd, yet everything he had seen supported it.

His experiences in the Land of Fallen Devils had made spirit treasures seem more common than they truly were, but that place had been the portable palace of a Monarch renowned for artifact creation. Outside that place, Luo Chen had never even heard of anyone possessing a spirit treasure. The closest thing he had seen was Primordial Slaughter, and even that had not crossed that threshold.

A genuine spirit treasure was not merely a more powerful enchanted treasure. It possessed sentience of its own, could absorb and release the primal qi, and even commanded traces of the Power of Laws. In many respects, such a treasure stood on the same level as an Ascendant! But becoming an Ascendant was already difficult enough for a cultivator, so how could they have enough resources to nurture another Ascendant-level entity? That was why spirit treasures were virtually unseen throughout the Mountains and Seas Realm. Undoubtedly, most of them were held by the Holy Lands.

Ascendant Li, however, had found another path. Rather than slowly nurturing the seal with his own power, he intended to feed it the lands in the Northern Sea until it completed its transformation.

Luo Chen could not imagine how powerful the seal would become if the scheme succeeded, but the fate of the Northern Sea was easy to foresee. Once its great spirit mountains and major earth energies had been stripped away, the region would decline. Eventually, it might no longer contain a single spirit land capable of sustaining a Sage.

”Haaaaaiiih...”

Luo Chen let out a long sigh, and all his excitement of uncovering the secret faded into resignation. What use was this knowledge to him? He could neither expose his scheme nor interfere with it, and there was nothing he could gain from the discovery. For now, he could only bury the secret in his heart.

Yet without realizing it, a similar thought had taken root within him. If I ever become an Ascendant, and the same opportunity lies before me, would I make the same choice?

The question lingered, and he had no answer.

***

With no demon army following the ship, they continued smoothly and drew ever closer to Sun Moon Island. The low-tier cultivators had been unable to witness the fighting themselves, so they pieced together the accounts passed down by their elders.

When they learned that one of the Northern Sea’s foremost upper sects had collapsed, they were shaken to the core. In the meantime, the Sages began meeting even more regularly to discuss what the Ice Pole Sect’s fall meant for the region.

The following day, six of the seven Northern Sea Sages gathered inside Fu Chaosheng’s Azure Tide Palace. Their discussion was already underway when the doors opened and the only one absent until then entered the hall.

Fu Chaosheng briefly introduced him. ”This is Fellow Daoist Luo Chen, Wilderness Hermit.”

Luo Chen greeted the others with a nod and calmly took his seat. Rather than join the discussion immediately, he listened as the Sages argued over the previous day’s events.

”Even Void Contemplation has shown up. The demonic beasts must be serious about taking the Northern Sea back.”

”The devil sect is no longer keeping them in check, and Ascendant Li refuses to interfere. At this rate, the Northern Sea could fall into their hands.”

”Does your sect truly have no plans regarding this?”

Fu Chaosheng answered only with a smile. Nothing in his expression revealed the slightest hint of the Dao Sect’s intentions, so the others could do little but continue speculating.

One of the Sages turned back toward the battlefield. ”I’ve lived for centuries, but I’ve never seen a battle like this. Five Sages against seven Demon Emperors...”

While the others debated, Luo Chen studied Fu Chaosheng’s expression. His silence did not feel like uncertainty. If anything, it suggested the man knew far more than he was willing to disclose.

The Dao Sect had likely prepared for the Northern Sea’s upheaval long ago. The Heaven Origin Trade Alliance was merely its most visible arrangement, while the Penglai Immortal Sect had remained hidden for thousands of years before emerging during the war between the righteous and devilish factions. Both were pieces placed on the board well in advance. The real question was not whether the Dao Sect would interfere in the Northern Sea, but when it would finally choose to act.

”I know the Ghost Immortal Tower is powerful, but it is still only a fourth-tier archaic beast, not much different compared to a Sage. How could someone as powerful as Frostpole be so helpless against it?

”I know, right! It only roared once, and he was left completely at its mercy! Just how?”

”I still can’t believe it. Frostpole was a late-stage Sage. He should have been among the strongest Sages, yet he was defeated in an instant.”

By then, almost no one was discussing Void Contemplation, despite the army he had led to block their path. Even Ascendant Li’s brief appearance had faded from the center of the conversation. All they could think about was Ghost Immortal Tower’s battle with Frostpole.

The fight had ended so quickly, and Frostpole had lost so badly, that none of them knew what to make of it. For centuries, they had believed that late-stage Sages stood at the very peak of their realm. Watching Frostpole lose so easily had shaken their faith in the Great Dao.

This time, Fu Chaosheng let out a sigh. ”Frostpole wasn’t weak. He did everything he could.”

He looked around at the others. ”Let me ask you guys something. Who do you think is strongest among Sages?”

Everyone’s first instinct was to answer that it was a peak Sage. But after what they had just witnessed, no one could bring themselves to say it.

Fu Chaosheng stroked his beard. ”It isn’t always the one with the highest cultivation. The truly terrifying ones are those who have already begun to grasp the Power of Laws.”