An Alchemist's Path to Eternity

Two streaks of light slowly flew out of the Woodrot Mountains, along the Passing River. They were not moving all that fast, and on the way, they would occasionally run into some low-tier disciples of the Dao Sect. Those who recognized Fu Qinglan bowed to greet her, and she would respond with her usual cold manner. But Luo Chen could tell that her thoughts were still elsewhere.

By the time Heaven-Earth Peak came into view, she could no longer hold herself back. ”Did you just force Elder Qi to back down in a single exchange?”

”Mm.”

His casual tone actually made it even harder for her to accept the situation. Qi Xiongcheng was no ordinary Sage. The Shi family had raised him from a young age to serve as one of their protectors, and he had begun practicing Physique Refinement since then. After reaching the third realm of physique cultivation, the Furnace Realm, he was sent to the Western Deserts to oversee the family’s affairs. While there, he also studied the orthodox physique refinement arts preserved by the Buddhist sects.

Truthfully, physique cultivation had long since declined throughout most of the Mountains and Seas Realm. Only the Buddhist powers of the Western Deserts still maintained a strong tradition of orthodox physique cultivation, and Qi Xiongcheng had benefited greatly from his years among them. By the time he returned to the Central Continent, not only had his physique grown stronger, but he had also broken through to the Nascent Soul Realm!

His dual cultivation of physique and qi had made him famous almost overnight. In fact, even before becoming a Sage, his achievements in Physique Refinement had already earned him the name Old Ghost Qi in the scarcely resourced Western Deserts. Coupled with the rich combat experience he had accumulated over the years, even the geniuses of the Dao Sect no longer dared to look down on him. Many even believed that, sooner or later, he would break away from the Shi family and establish a force of his own.

Yet someone like that had failed to withstand even a single move from Luo Chen!

Fu Qinglan had seen it clearly just now. The moment Qi Xiongcheng’s punch missed, he had exposed himself completely. If Luo Chen had chosen to follow through, he could have seriously injured the man before he recovered, perhaps even killed him outright.

So this is why Grandpa has so much confidence in him....

She could roughly tell that Luo Chen had used some kind of illusion, but that only made the result more unsettling. He had cast it at exactly the right moment, without any visible preparation, and Qi Xiongcheng had not realized he was trapped until Luo Chen was already leaving. For a moment, she even wondered how she herself would fare against him.

But that train of thought never continued, because Luo Chen spoke up. ”From now on, I’ll stay on Heaven-Earth Peak and wait for the pocket world to open. Unless something important comes up, I’ll ask you not to disturb me.”

Fu Qinglan hesitated for a moment before nodding. It was obvious that Luo Chen had little interest in these gatherings and social engagements. For someone who had spent most of his life as a rogue cultivator, that was hardly surprising. Even so, she could not help feeling a little disappointed, because she had hoped to introduce him to her two closest friends.

But as she watched his tall figure continue toward Heaven-Earth Peak, that disappointment soon gave way to reassurance. If he’s this strong, maybe I can gain far more from the pocket world than I expected.

***

On his way back to Heaven-Earth Peak, Luo Chen noticed a streak of light leaving the mountain and drifting leisurely upstream along the Passing River toward the Woodrot Mountains.

”It’s already this late, and someone’s only heading to the Peach Garden now?” he muttered.

He would have thought nothing more of it, but as the cultivator passed through his field of vision, he recognized the man’s face.

”Wait, isn’t that Lin Bufan?”

He remembered him from the information on the competition. Fu Qinglan had also mentioned ”Little Lin” several times, and from the familiar way she spoke of him, the two were clearly quite close.

”But why was he on Heaven-Earth Peak in the first place? Isn’t his Dao Protector a servant from his own family?”

It was not unusual for the powerful cultivation families of the Central Continent to raise talented servants, though at the highest level, this practice was really only common among the Twelve Great Houses. Even for the Thirty-Six Noble Houses, nurturing a servant to the Golden Core Realm could be considered quite expensive, let alone raising one all the way to the Nascent Soul Realm.

The Lin family had nevertheless done exactly that. Years ago, the family head had taken in a child who was nominally a servant but was treated practically like an adopted son. Although he was not qualified to join the Dao Sect, the family spared no effort in nurturing him until he eventually became an early-stage Sage. His background was known from beginning to end, and after being raised by the Lin family since childhood, his loyalty was beyond question. It was precisely for those reasons that this man, Lin Jingtang, had been chosen as Lin Bufan’s Dao Protector.

Since all that had nothing to do with the Star Gate, Luo Chen could not see why Lin Bufan himself would have any reason to be on Heaven-Earth Peak.

Still mulling it over, he continued up the mountain. As he crossed the plaza before the Star Gate, he happened to bump into a familiar figure.

”Elder Seven Lamps!”

”Ah, it’s you, Wilderness Hermit!” Seven Lamps smiled, his sallow face looking as gaunt as ever. ”Where have you been?”

Luo Chen pointed off in one direction. ”I just got back from the Peach Garden.”

”No wonder!” Seven Lamps nodded. ”When I first came to the Central Continent, I was curious about Go, too. I watched a few matches, but after a while, I lost interest.”

Luo Chen had met Seven Lamps several times since joining Heaven-Earth Peak. The man came from the Western Deserts and had entered the Star Gate 300 years back. He had since cultivated to the late stage of the Nascent Soul Realm and risen to become one of Heaven-Earth Peak’s nineteen elders. More importantly, he had personally handled much of Luo Chen’s admission, from arranging his cave residence to completing the formalities for his position as an external affairs guest elder. Of everyone on Heaven-Earth Peak, he was the person Luo Chen had dealt with most often, which was why he had stopped to greet him of his own accord. Still...

There’s no way he came all the way out here just for a walk. Luo Chen looked at him curiously. ”If you’re not interested in Go, what brought you out here?”

Seven Lamps shook his head. ”I came to chase someone away.”

”Chase someone away?” Luo Chen blinked.

Seven Lamps jerked his chin toward the distance. ”Didn’t you see that brat from the Lin family on your way back?”

”You mean Lin Bufan?”

”Yes. He’s been hanging around Heaven-Earth Peak for more than half a year now. He’s not supposed to be here, so I had no choice but to chase him away.”

”Oh...”

Luo Chen still did not know why Lin Bufan had been spending so much time on Heaven-Earth Peak, but at least that explained why he had only just left.

Since they had already run into each other, Luo Chen stayed to chat with Seven Lamps for a while. What began as an idle conversation soon yielded a piece of information he had not known before: Chu Yan’s Ascension Ceremony was only about half a year away, and it would be held right here in this very plaza!

”When the day comes, all Twelve Great Houses and Thirty-Six Noble Houses will be here. Even the Lesser Houses will send people, and quite a few powerful cultivators from the other four territories will come to see the Saint Alchemist off. Most of the experts on Heaven-Earth Peak will be here too, unless they’re away at the time.”

Seven Lamps paused for a moment, then added, ”Since you’re entering the pocket world as a Dao Protector, it will be best if you attend the ceremony.”

Luo Chen was briefly surprised by how quickly the time had passed, but Seven Lamps’ final remark caught his attention even more.

”Why would it matter whether I’m there?”

Seven Lamps only smiled. ”I’ve only been on Heaven-Earth Peak for 300 years, so I wasn’t here the last time the pocket world opened. But that’s what the old records say. I am pretty sure Family Head Fu will inform you when the time comes.”

Still wondering about the connection, Luo Chen returned to Cave Residence Jia Seventy-Eight. He would have preferred to check out the old records himself, but his status was too low. As a provisional guest elder, he did not even enjoy the same privileges as an ordinary guest elder, much less the authority to review confidential records concerning the pocket world. With no way to investigate further, he could only set the matter aside.

In any case, for the remaining time, he really had no intention of going out again unless necessary. It was not simply that he disliked the gatherings, but because he did not want to become drawn into another pointless confrontation. Even today’s brief outing had ended with someone like Qi Xiongcheng testing his strength, and Luo Chen doubted the man had acted out of resentment over losing the position of Fu Qinglan’s Dao Protector.

In his view, Shi Ju was most likely the one who sent him, and with the competition drawing closer, others might very well make similar attempts. After all, written records could only reveal so much; if they had an opportunity to personally test a future opponent, few would willingly let it pass. Rather than expose more of himself for no reason, he much preferred to remain hidden and maintain a measure of mystery around his abilities.

His plans therefore remained the same as before. Since normal cultivation was temporarily out of the question, he would instead focus on raising his proficiency with the Grand Origin Pill and further consolidating his proficiency over the Great Soul Pill. With a steady supply of top-grade Great Soul Pills, he could continue to speed up the growth of his subsidiary soul. At the same time, he would keep a close watch on the Withering-Flourishing True Fire. The once-vigorous flame was steadily withering toward complete extinguishment. Judging by how long the process had already lasted, it should not be much longer before this stage of decline finally reached its end.