An Alchemist's Path to Eternity

”We’ve gotten a fairly clear picture of what’s happening in the Western Deserts. The demons really have joined forces with the remnants of the archaic beasts. The Ancient Crimson Sand Scorpion is leading an army numbering in the hundreds of millions, and they’re pushing back into our territory.”

”What about the archaic beast side? Who’s leading them?”

”The Golden-Winged Roc! The same one that once guarded the Pearl Relic Courtyard[1] of the Hanging Temple.”

”So it’s that beast! A lot of people disagreed when the head of the Wisdom Hall[2] converted it and brought it into the sect. It then turned around and betrayed the Hanging Temple, and when it left, it stole thirty-six pearl relics left behind by their monks. The loss crippled the temple for years. And now it’s back, leading an army of demonic and archaic beasts against humans. I’d like to know what the Hanging Temple has to say about that.”

”That’s what’s weird. It’s been a thousand years since the Hanging Temple closed off because of that. They should’ve recovered by now, but even with the beasts attacking like this, they still haven’t made a move. What exactly are they waiting for?”

”Whatever they’re thinking, it has nothing to do with us. If anything, this works in our favor. Once our army drives the beasts back and takes control of the Western Deserts, the Hanging Temple won’t be in any position to object. What about the Northern Sea?”

”I’ll take that. Things there are mostly going as we expected. Ascendant Li can see how things are going, and so far he’s been cooperating with us, even though he isn’t saying anything outright. The only surprise is that he’s using the war to carve off pieces of the Mountains and Seas Realm and refine them into his seal. We think he’s trying to create a spirit treasure.”

”Let him. He can take whatever he wants for now. When the time comes, he’ll have to give it all back. As long as the Sunken Sea and Heaven of Northern Yama are left alone, there’s nothing to worry about.”

”And the passage?”

”It’s nearly open. We’re still clearing a few natural barriers along the way. We also ran into a group of Sages from the Northern Sea heading for the Central Continent. They were on their way to Heaven-Earth Peak for refuge, so we brought them with us.”

Mo Shouzhuo nodded slowly, clearly satisfied with the progress.

Once the passage between the Central Continent and the Northern Sea was fully opened, there would be nothing stopping their armies from marching north. With the Penglai Immortal Sect coordinating from the other side, reclaiming the Northern Sea’s former human territories would be a matter of days. After that, the Dao Sect would naturally take its place as the Northern Sea’s Holy Land. As for the Primordial Devil Sect, it was already a thing of the past; no matter how deeply its remnants hid, they would never restore the devil sect to its former glory.

Just as he was thinking this, his expression changed slightly. ”Someone has been eliminated.”

The gathered elders fell silent for a moment before several voices broke out at once.

”Already? It’s only been eight days, hasn’t it?”

”Eight days outside is eight hundred days in the pocket world. That’s not exactly a short time.”

”It’s still far too early. The Adepts are allowed to stay for a month, and the True Inheritors for an entire year. Whoever came out after only eight days probably didn’t gain much of anything.”

Even eight hundred days in the pocket world amounted to little more than two years. To a Sage, that was a remarkably short span of time. They might not even manage to hunt down a fourth-tier illusory beast in that span, let alone refine its illusory core and use it to comprehend the Laws.

One of the elders turned to Mo Shouzhuo. ”Which True Inheritor was eliminated?”

Mo Shouzhuo smiled. ”Not a True Inheritor. One of the protectors.”

That was much less surprising. Dao Protectors were there precisely to shoulder danger on behalf of the True Inheritors, so it was only natural that one of them might be eliminated first. Even so, losing a protector this early was a serious setback. The True Inheritor could continue alone, but everything that followed would become way more difficult.

”Whose protector?”

Mo Shouzhuo raised a hand and calculated briefly with his fingers before answering, ”Xiang Qi’s man, the Wrathful Vajra. He’s in bad shape. His Golden Body has been shattered, and he barely made it out alive. Our people are treating him now.”

Hearing those words, everyone exchanged wary glances.

One of them immediately rose to his feet. ”I’ll go take a look.”

The elder left with worry written plainly on his face. Once he was gone, the others quickly returned to the subject.

”The Wrathful Vajra... isn’t he the head of Golden Mountain Temple in the Western Deserts?”

”That’s him. I heard he managed to comprehend part of the Three Heads and Six Arms Art and cultivated the Great Vajra Physique. He’s supposed to be exceptionally strong.”

That only made his condition harder to understand. One of the elders frowned. ”Then how did he end up like that? The pocket world is practically made for cultivators like him.”

Inside the pocket world, Nascent Soul Domains were heavily suppressed, which was why they were of no use against either illusory beasts or other cultivators. Body cultivators suffered much less from that restriction. As the name implied, their strength came primarily from their own bodies rather than their ability to draw upon the surrounding world, which gave them a considerable advantage inside the pocket world.

This pattern had only been discovered after studying the results of successive competitions held every five hundred years. Unfortunately, true physique cultivators had become increasingly rare. Since the ancient war between humans and demons, the cultivation world had seen few conflicts on such a scale, and Qi Refinement had gradually become the foremost pursuit of most cultivators. Physique Refinement, with its emphasis on tempering the flesh and pursuing overwhelming physical might, had consequently declined.

Take this competition, for example. Of the thirteen Dao Protectors who had entered the pocket world, Wrathful Vajra was the only pure Physique Refiner. Though there were three others who cultivated both qi and physique, none specialized in it as he did.

That was why the Xiang family had gone to great lengths to secure him. As the foremost of the Thirty-Six Noble Houses, they possessed both the influence and connections to search far beyond their own territory, and the Wrathful Vajra was unquestionably the strongest of the protectors. Even before the competition began, many had regarded his presence as a major advantage for the Xiang family. Yet now, of all thirteen protectors, he had been the first to fall!

”Could it have been the Shi kid’s protector?”

”Qi Xiongcheng? No chance. He did make a name for himself as a physique cultivator when he was younger, but once he realized that path wouldn’t give him the lifespan he wanted, he switched to qi cultivation. That’s the only reason he managed to reach the Nascent Soul Realm just barely in time for this competition. With his half-baked attainments in Physique Refinement, he is no match for the Wrathful Vajra.”

”But what if Shi Ju helped him?”

Those who knew the inside story could not dismiss the possibility so easily. Unlike most of the other True Inheritors, Shi Ju was strong enough to fight alongside his protector rather than simply rely on him. If he and Qi Xiongcheng attacked together, they might indeed have been capable of beating the Wrathful Vajra to the brink of death.

Before the speculation could continue, someone snorted disdainfully. ”My son wouldn’t lower himself to deal with someone like the Wrathful Vajra. And before anything else, Xiang Qi would first need the nerve to provoke him.”

The speaker was the Shi family patriarch, a late-stage Sage and one of the nineteen elders of Heaven-Earth Peak. He glanced around with a sneer. ”Instead of blaming my son, why not consider the obvious? Maybe the others decided to join forces and get rid of the Wrathful Vajra first!”

The representatives of several families that were not taking part in the competition found this explanation much more believable. The Xiang family stood at the head of the Thirty-Six Noble Houses, but in recent years, its members had grown increasingly overbearing. At times, they carried themselves with even more swagger than the Twelve Great Houses and had offended no small number of the other families. If several of the younger cultivators had decided to eliminate Xiang Qi and his protector first, it would hardly be surprising.

Meanwhile, the nine representatives whose families were taking part in the competition exchanged puzzled looks. Fu Chaosheng was no exception. None of them had arranged anything like that! Had the younger generation decided to work together once they were inside?

Mo Shouzhuo said nothing. He simply rolled several Go stones between his fingertips, already forming a rough idea of what might have happened.

Before long, the Xiang family patriarch hurried back with an exceptionally dark expression on his face.

Several people were about to question him when Mo Shouzhuo gave a soft cough and cut them off. ”Enough. Let’s get back to the intelligence reports. Next is the Eastern Wilderness. That’s the region we need to be most careful with. We can’t move there until we’ve thought everything through. One wrong decision could bring disaster down on the entire sect.”

At those words, the atmosphere suddenly turned grave.

1. 舍利 (shèlì, a phonetic rendering of the Sanskrit śarīra) refers to a pearl-like relic said to remain after the cremation of a Buddha or an accomplished Buddhist. The appearance of a sarira among a person’s cremated remains is often regarded as an auspicious sign of profound spiritual cultivation, purity, or attainment during their lifetime. ☜

2. 般若 (bōrě, a phonetic rendering of the Sanskrit prajñā) refers to the highest form of wisdom, where one transcends worldly intelligence and gains insight into the nature of the universe. ☜