An Alchemist's Path to Eternity

Three days later, a streak of crimson light suddenly flared in the deathly still void. It flickered only a second before fading again, but before it could disappear completely, an invisible force spread outward and sealed off the surrounding space.

”Collect!”

At Luo Chen’s command, the light was dragged backward and drawn into a cauldron. Luo Chen, who was now sitting cross-legged in the void, lowered his head and looked down at the vivid strand of crimson energy drifting inside the cauldron. Only then did the tension in his expression ease.

”So this is crimson firmament energy?”

The term of Nine Firmaments actually referred to the nine unusual forms of firmament energy that appeared throughout these highest reaches of the sky, including crimson firmament energy, azure firmament energy, and green firmament energy. Within the Azure Darkness, as murky energy sank and clear energy rose, spirit energy of particular attributes gathered and condensed until it became some of the purest energy produced by heaven and earth.

Because of that purity, firmament energy was so highly prized that cultivators who could afford it paid however much necessary to acquire a few wisps of it and use them for a treasure or nurture them within their bodies. Once released against an enemy, even a single wisp could melt metal, crack stone, shatter mountains, or divide seas.

Luo Chen, however, had come looking for it for a different reason. According to the sword scripture, the flying-sword path required him to gather spirit essences compatible with his own attributes and use them to cultivate sword energy. Of the various firmament energies, crimson, maroon, and purple firmament energies suited him best, as all three were either fire-attribute or strongly inclined toward fire.

Yet there were three major problems in obtaining these wisps of energy.

The first was simply finding them. Firmament energy appeared at random, drifted unpredictably through the boundless Azure Darkness, and often vanished almost as soon as it manifested. A Sage’s divine consciousness could cover only several thousand li, so tracking down even a single wisp depended heavily on luck. The second was subduing them. Firmament energy was extraordinarily violent, and ordinary enchanted treasures could barely restrain it. Most cultivators had to expend large amounts of mana just to trap it before slowly wearing down its resistance. Sometimes, even after all that effort, they might be left with no more than a tiny bit.

Luo Chen could do nothing about the first problem, but the second hardly troubled him. The Primordial Unity Cauldron excelled at restraining everything, including free and wild substances of this kind. As long as he caught the firmament energy before it dispersed, the cauldron could seize and refine it for him without needing him to waste his mana.

Unfortunately, there was still a third problem.

Luo Chen glanced at the numerous points of light in the distance and left immediately. Not long after he disappeared, those lights split into two groups. One gathered around the place where the crimson firmament energy had appeared, while the other circled through the patch of void he had occupied moments earlier, as though searching for whatever traces he had left behind.

Only after putting enough distance between himself and the lights did he finally stop and release a breath of relief. ”I never expected Skylight Beasts to actually exist in the Azure Darkness!”

Despite the name, Skylight Beasts were not beasts at all but a peculiar species of insect, also known as Firmament Insects. They were strange lifeforms said to have originated in the sea before eventually making their homes in the hazy reaches of the void, where they fed on auroras of every color. There were even accounts of entire swarms inhabiting the Primal Magnetic Aurora surrounding the Heaven of Northern Yama. And although they were only insects, their strength was far from insignificant. A Skylight Beast could contend with a human cultivator of the same tier even when that cultivator was armed with enchanted treasures and spells!

Luo Chen knew all this partly due to his extensive readings in general and partly because of the peak third-tier Hidden Dust Sand that had once pretended to be a Skylight Beast in an attempt to frighten him. Afterward, he had deliberately looked through several ancient texts and learned even more about them.

What mattered to him now, however, was not their fondness for auroras or whatever magnetic light, but their even stronger attraction to firmament energy. Whenever firmament energy appeared, large numbers of Firmament Insects would charge towards it. Once they devoured the energy, their bodies would rapidly swell until they looked more like beasts than insects, and light spilled from within them. Over time, that transformation caused their original name to fall out of use, and most cultivators came to know them simply as Skylight Beasts.

That instinctive attraction also explained why the swarm had appeared so quickly after Luo Chen captured the crimson firmament energy. He had never personally tested how powerful Skylight Beasts were, but anything capable of roaming freely through the Azure Darkness could hardly be weak. Worse, Skylight Beasts were gregarious beings; they were almost never alone! With his power, he might not fear a couple, but he certainly felt no desire to provoke an entire swarm for no good reason.

As he looked back in the direction he had come from, a thought suddenly occurred to him. If I could somehow tame these Skylight Beasts, wouldn’t it be much easier to find firmament energy?

The idea was tempting, but he dismissed it almost right away. If the solution were truly that simple, he could not possibly be the first person to have thought of it. The fact that cultivators had known about Skylight Beasts for so long, yet no one seemed to use them this way, was enough to show how difficult they were to tame.

Luo Chen shook his head. ”Forget it. I’ll just keep looking and see what I can find.”

With no better option, he found a place untouched by starlight, spread out his divine consciousness, and settled down to wait for another opportunity.

***

It had not been easy to come all the way up here, so Luo Chen had no intention of going back down so soon. Thus, he waited patiently, letting the days stretch into weeks and then months.

His luck was fairly good. In less than half a year, he had managed to collect seven wisps of crimson firmament energy.

According to the sword scripture, refining ten wisps of firmament energy was enough for one to reach minor mastery, allowing them to dominate opponents throughout the Golden Core Realm. With a hundred wisps, one could be considered truly accomplished, and the resulting sword energy would become a formidable means even against Sages. If one could reach the state described in the sword scripture, where qi surged to the River of Stars and the thousand firmaments merged, then it would be considered major mastery. Once the person reached that level, releasing all of that accumulated sword energy in one shot could threaten even an Ascendant if they were caught unprepared. But reaching such heights required more than simply gathering firmament energy.

It’s a pity that I am not in the Dao of Sword. If I could attain sword will and then combine it with crimson firmament sword energy, I might be able to bring out the true power of this fifth-tier art.

Luo Chen sighed and rose to his feet. At this point, he had no reason to stay any longer. Seven wisps of crimson firmament energy were already enough for him to begin cultivating. Regarding the future, the scripture had recorded an alternative that used fiend qi instead of firmament energy. The resulting sword energy would be of lower quality, but with enough fiend qi, its power would still be formidable. Compared with spending such a long time searching for firmament energy, that was a far more practical option for the future.

Before leaving, Luo Chen turned for one last look at the boundless sea of stars. Unlike when he first arrived, the sight no longer shook his state of mind, but it still left him with questions.

Beyond the Mountains and Seas Realm is this endless universe... so where is the Immortal Realm supposed to be? And what does ascending to the upper realm actually imply? When the Saint Alchemist left, she gave up the chance to ascend with spiritual vitality and chose the Star Gate instead. So where did that path take her? The Immortal Realm? Or just another world somewhere out there? And if I broke free of this realm right now and stepped out into the universe myself... what would happen?

For a moment, the idea was dangerously tempting. But he quickly suppressed it. Legends said that only an Ascendant could ascend to the upper realm, hence the Divine Transformation honorific, and that was surely not baseless. He was only a third-stage Sage. If he truly attempted such a thing, it might amount to nothing more than throwing his life away.

Forget it. Since I can’t leave this realm yet, I might as well explore it properly. I can make my way toward the Eastern Wilderness while I’m at it.

With that, Luo Chen put the matter aside and turned east. The Moonbreak Wings spread behind him once again and carried him through the Azure Darkness. Traveling this way placed little burden on his mana, while his powerful physique could provide additional bursts of speed whenever necessary.

The Six Restriction Cloud Carriage had already been traveling east for nearly half a year, so he had quite a distance to make up if he wanted to catch it. Fortunately, there was hardly a better place for speed than the empty reaches of the Azure Darkness. With no cultivators nearby and nothing obstructing his path, Luo Chen flew east at full speed.

***

Ccccrrr! Ccccrrrack! Boooooommm!

Somewhere in Azure Darkness, lightning had somehow gathered together, forming what looked like a gigantic domain of lightning. At its center sat a broad-shouldered man with long limbs and a powerful build. There was a massive white net above him that drew the surrounding lightning and channeled it into his body. Every time a bolt struck, he shivered slightly, and pain flashed across his handsome features. Beside him stood a massive, pitch-black sword that was likewise being tempered by the relentless lightning.

Suddenly, the great sword began to hum. The man straightened in the void and slowly opened his eyes. Two arcs of electricity flickered across his pupils as he looked beyond the lightning domain. ”Fellow Daoist, you’ve been watching for a while now. Is there something you want?”

A clear voice came from beyond the lightning domain. ”My apologies. I was only passing through. I didn’t mean to disturb your cultivation.”

Even as the words reached him, the voice was already fading rapidly into the distance. The man frowned. That fast, even in the Azure Darkness? That is not normal!

He raised his voice. ”I am Zhang Che, Lightning Dao Scion of the Nether Origin Sect. May I know who you are?”

The distant voice answered, ”I am just a nameless rogue cultivator.”

Zhang Che snorted in displeasure, but he did not try to give chase.

Several thousand li away, Luo Chen finally came to a slow. The Primordial Unity Cauldron beside him was still trembling faintly, and only after he put it away did he let out a quiet breath of relief.

He had kept the cauldron with him throughout his journey so that he could collect any firmament energy he happened to encounter. When it suddenly reacted while he was still ten thousand li from the lightning domain, he naturally assumed it had sensed another wisp of crimson firmament energy and hurried over to investigate. Instead, he had nearly barged into the cultivation of a late-stage Sage.

And not just any Sage, but the Lightning Dao Scion, Zhang Che!

Rumor had it that Zhang Che was the most outstanding genius the Nether Origin Sect had produced since ancient times. He became an Initiate after only ten years of cultivation, formed his Golden Core within a century, and entered the Nascent Soul Realm at the age of 250. By the time he was 500 years old, he was a late-stage Sage, and they even claimed that he had comprehended the Power of Laws.

His reputation had been earned through more than cultivation speed. On the few occasions when demonic beasts surged out of the Great Million Mountains in the Eastern Wilderness, Zhang Che had personally taken action. The strength he displayed was enough to make his name famous throughout the Mountains and Seas Realm, overshadowing even the Dao Sect’s two renowned Divine Transformation Scions, Gu Daoyin and Tan Linxian. Among this generation, only Go Saint Ke Lianshan was commonly mentioned in the same sentence; of all people in the Mountains and Seas Realm, these two were regarded as standing closest to Divine Transformation!

Luo Chen glanced back toward the distant lightning domain. I haven’t even reached the Eastern Wilderness yet, and I’ve already run into someone from the Nether Origin Sect. He’s cultivating all the way up here in the Azure Darkness... Could he be practicing the Nether Origin Sect’s Great Divine Technique, Divine Lightning of the Nine Firmaments?

Whatever Zhang Che was doing, he had no intention of staying nearby long enough to find out. He turned downward and descended at once. Like a falling meteor, he plunged out of the Azure Darkness and streaked toward the mortal world below.