Crack!
Crash!
Thunder clapped and rumbled without pause.
White flashes of lightning illuminated the vast expanse of water.
Across the pitch-black Netherworld Abyss, a giant tortoise pushed through the surging waves, gliding forward in a manner that seemed slow yet was remarkably swift.
Luo Chen sat cross-legged on the tortoise's back, frowning as he read through an organized bamboo scroll.
It had been submitted by Sang Jinghe.
Recorded upon it was the progress of feeding the blood of the Golden Dragon Lion to the Demon-Fiend Concentric Tree, accompanied by a substantial amount of Sang Jinghe's analysis and research.
"Jinghe's initial hypothesis was correct. The blood essence of a desolate beast does indeed aid the growth of the Demon-Fiend Concentric Tree.
"Yet if I want it to bear fruit, this is still far from enough.
"Or rather, relying on the blood of a low-tier Golden Dragon Lion is simply insufficient!"
Luo Chen held the bamboo scroll and murmured under his breath. According to Sang Jinghe's analysis, the grade of the Demon-Fiend Concentric Tree was excessively high. Although it lacked spiritual sapience, it reached the fourth tier from the moment it sprouted, and upon maturity, it would be a fifth-tier spiritual plant.
For such a high-tier spiritual plant, the resources required to cultivate it were naturally extraordinarily demanding.
Ordinary desolate beast blood would not suffice; it required the blood of high-tier desolate beasts!
Moreover, that was merely a shortcut. Sang Jinghe believed that the proper method of cultivation should involve the heart's blood of ancient demons and fiends, which might yield even faster growth.
After all, its name was the "Demon-Fiend Concentric Tree."
"Never mind. In the short term, I won't have any use for this thing anyway."
Luo Chen put away the bamboo scroll and ceased dwelling on the spiritual plant he had obtained from the Land of the Fallen Demon.
Neither high-tier desolate beasts nor ancient demons and fiends were things he could contemplate at present.
While he still had time, he would be better served practicing another divine ability to protect himself.
Considering divine abilities, Luo Chen's gaze shifted toward the Netherworld Abyss.
Beneath his feet, the profound tortoise continued its silent forward journey, while Bai Meiling merrily flitted about in the vicinity.
Because Luo Chen had agreed to bring Bai Meiling along on this excursion, she was utterly delighted. It had been a long time since she had last traveled the outside world.
Considering that Xiao Bai had diligently gathered low-tier ghosts for him for twenty years, Luo Chen had naturally agreed to take her along as a reward for her hard work.
"Master, the Nirvana Holy Fire above the Netherworld Abyss has almost completely vanished!" Bai Meiling cheered from a distance. Without the suppression of the Nirvana Holy Fire, yin spirits like them felt completely in their element within the Netherworld Abyss.
In truth, the reason Bai Meiling had been able to collect so many low-tier souls in a mere twenty years was intimately linked to the sudden disappearance of the Nirvana Holy Fire.
Yet regarding this matter, there was no pleasant surprise on Luo Chen's face.
He pressed his lips together, his mind stirring.
The next instant!
Bai Meiling watched in horror as a fiery phoenix flew out of Luo Chen's body, circled above the pitch-black surface of the abyss, swept away layer upon layer of ghostly qi, and only then slowly drifted back into his body.
That was no spell!
It was a genuine, sentient spiritual entity!
In terror, she asked in a trembling whisper, "Master, could it be that the Nirvana Holy Fire was collected by you?"
Luo Chen shook his head, yet followed with a slight nod, tacitly acknowledging the truth.
Over the passage of time, the Nirvana Holy Fire in the Netherworld Abyss had already been worn down substantially by the endless Ming Water.
The last time Luo Chen triggered a celestial phenomenon, he drew in a vast quantity of the Nirvana Holy Fire.
He absorbed a portion with the Blood Jade Three Flame Fan, while the remainder surged into the Hunyuan Cauldron during his soul's nirvana.
At the time, Luo Chen had lost consciousness and had no idea what transpired afterward.
He only knew that upon awakening, the Nirvana Fire Spirit within his Purple Mansion had expanded several dozen times over, vaulting into an existence that rivaled the Wither-Bloom Fire Spirit at its peak.
Furthermore, because Luo Chen had completed the nirvana of his divine soul, the Nirvana Holy Fire could now truly be considered a fifth-tier divine flame!
"Is this a blessing or a curse?"
Luo Chen subconsciously pressed a hand to his chest, his expression turning uncertain.
The initial Nirvana Fire Spirit had originated from a fragment of a damaged fire spirit he obtained from the Heaven Refining Cauldron, its consciousness already thoroughly obliterated.
Thus, back then, Luo Chen could refine it into his own true fire without any hesitation or fear.
Even if it was weak, even if it was far inferior to the Wither-Bloom Divine Fire.
Now, however, the Nirvana Fire Spirit had absorbed a vast amount of the Nirvana Holy Fire left behind by Sovereign Qixia. Even though Luo Chen had inspected it and confirmed that the fire spirit still belonged to him, what if Sovereign Qixia harbored ill intentions? With her ancestral mastery over flame...
Luo Chen dared not contemplate the consequences if things truly reached that stage.
Yet very soon, he made up his mind.
In the coming actions, the Nirvana Fire Spirit, which had grown to the fifth tier, would be a tremendous asset no lesser than the Wither-Bloom Divine Fire. He could not dispose of it just yet.
However, once this affair was concluded, he would have to address the Nirvana Fire Spirit.
"I wonder how severe Sovereign Qixia's injuries actually are, and whether she still possesses the strength to make a move."
The thought surfaced abruptly in Luo Chen's mind.
***
"Xuanming, head on back!"
The charming young woman crouched by the shore, waving goodbye to the bobbing giant tortoise.
The giant tortoise blew a spout of water, swayed its head, and sank into the depths of the Netherworld Abyss, slowly disappearing into the distance.
Luo Chen asked, "You named it Xuanming?"
Bai Meiling stood up and said proudly, "Yes! You never gave him a name. For the past twenty years, he has been carrying me around as we swam, so I simply took 'Xuan' from profound tortoise as his surname and 'Ming' from Ming Water as his given name, calling him Xuanming. He likes the name very much; he responds every time I call him."
Luo Chen glanced at the retreating silhouette of the tortoise, which seemed reluctant to part, and could not help but smile.
"Xuanming. It is a good name."
After praising it, Luo Chen waved his hand, and a flying shuttle descended before them.
It was none other than the Frost Eagle Shuttle!
This shuttle flew at tremendous speed and was exceptionally concealed, making it ideal for Luo Chen's journey.
"Let's go. Before departing the Eastern Desolation, I must pay a visit to an old friend."
Bai Meiling stepped onto the shuttle and asked curiously, "Aren't we going to take a look at Shangyou Immortal City? With Sect Master Li's backing, Haoranzi has managed that ruined city quite well. He reconverged a fourth-tier spirit vein, and it's gradually showing signs of prosperity."
"There is no need to visit; that place holds little meaning for me." Luo Chen casually channeled a streak of magic power, and the shuttle slowly lifted into the sky. "However, along the way, you can tell me about the situation at Shangyou Immortal City."
"Understood, Master."
The Frost Eagle Shuttle vanished into the clouds, turning into a streak of black light that disappeared past the horizon in the blink of an eye.
***
Dapan Peak!
One of the eighteen inner peaks of the Taishan Sect.
It was not as tall and upright as Aolai Peak, nor did it boast the scenic beauty of Mount Xiaozhu, yet its steady, imposing grandeur surpassed all other peaks in the Taishan Sect.
Beneath the veil of night, Dapan Peak resembled a slumbering behemoth looking down upon the world.
Suddenly!
Dapan Peak trembled for a fleeting moment. Boundless mountain rocks rose and fell, as though the colossal beast had truly awakened.
A surprised gasp sounded.
"A stone spirit?"
The next instant, a furious and alarmed shout rang out from the immortal's cave within Dapan Peak.
"Which Fellow Daoist arrives uninvited?"
Streaks of light soared into the sky, commanding awe and terror under the night sky.
Nearby sect disciples seemed to sense the disturbance and flew in this direction, but Deng Taiyue swiftly commanded them to retreat.
The tremors across Dapan Peak gradually subsided.
Deng Taiyue looked at the visitor with uncertainty and shock. "Luo Chen?"
Standing before him was a tall man clad in black robes. The hood over his head concealed most of his face, leaving only a pair of eyes blazing with golden light as scorching as fire.
Eyes like that were something Deng Taiyue had seen on only one person.
None other than Luo Chen!
Luo Chen lowered his hood, nodded first, and then looked toward the dark boulder standing erect atop Dapan Peak.
Under the gaze of his Crimson Eyes and Golden Pupils, that dark boulder had taken the shape of a wolf-like, tiger-like beast, glaring at him with hostile vigilance.
"I believed I had concealed my aura exceptionally well. Who would have thought that the moment I set foot on this mountain, this creature would detect me? A naturally sentient stone?"
Deng Taiyue's expression was complex. Luo Chen's claim of having concealed his aura exceptionally well was by no means an exaggeration; it was a plain fact.
Even as the master of the Taishan Sect, he had failed to sense Luo Chen's arrival on his own territory.
Even the surrounding formations had produced no reaction whatsoever!
Had this mountain-protecting stone spirit of Dapan Peak not detected the visitor, Luo Chen might have entered his immortal's cave without him ever noticing.
This was simply appalling!
Even though Luo Chen had been formidable before, he could not possibly have achieved such a feat.
There was only one explanation: he had grown stronger once again!
Deng Taiyue took a deep breath, casting aside his unease, and introduced, "Its name is Shi Gandang. It is indeed a rare spiritual divine stone. Moreover, it condensed atop Dapan Peak three hundred years ago, which is why it could detect you the instant you stepped onto this mountain."
Luo Chen reached an understanding. No wonder this stone spirit had managed to detect him; after all, stepping onto the mountain was equivalent to walking upon its body.
Suddenly, Luo Chen caught a crucial phrase.
"Three hundred years ago?" Luo Chen looked at Deng Taiyue with uncertainty. "I recall Brother Deng mentioning that your sudden enlightenment—the time you nearly comprehended the true intent of the laws—occurred a little over three hundred years ago!"
Deng Taiyue smiled bitterly. "Brother Luo is truly astute, discerning the crux at once. Indeed, on that occasion, I observed Shi Gandang gaining sentience and felt touched by the sight, entering a state of sudden enlightenment and nearly grasping the true intent of the laws."
Luo Chen wore an expression that said it was just as he had expected. He flicked a streak of magic power, and Shi Gandang, which had been glaring with hostility moments before, instantly reverted into a black boulder weathered by wind and rain.
This brief display alone was enough to reveal the vast chasm between them.
Seeing this, Deng Taiyue's pupils constricted.
Luo Chen casually walked over to the boulder, caressed its surface, and shook his head. "A pity. This stone lacked sufficient inherent foundation. It was only by absorbing a vast quantity of earth qi and the essence of the sun and moon that it managed to gain sentience by fluke. Had its foundation been robust enough, it would have drawn upon the origin of earth when gaining sentience, and Brother Deng, you would not have failed back then."
Deng Taiyue looked bewildered.
Luo Chen smiled and offered no further explanation.
In truth, Deng Taiyue's so-called sudden enlightenment back then followed the exact same principle as when Luo Chen had used the Wither-Bloom Divine Fire in the Mirage Dragon Grotto-Heaven to comprehend the true intent of the laws.
Both involved observing a divine object gaining sentience to comprehend the corresponding true intent of the laws.
Both were shortcuts.
It was just that Luo Chen had been fortunate: the grade of the Wither-Bloom Fire Spirit was high enough, allowing him to successfully navigate the shortcut.
Deng Taiyue, on the other hand, had lacked a bit of luck, and this had plagued him for three hundred years, leaving him unable to advance a single inch.
Now, however, a new solution had arrived.
Thud!
A jade bottle was placed upon the black boulder.
"What you wanted."
With a single glance, Deng Taiyue's eyes locked onto the jade bottle, entirely unable to look away.
He could not help swallowing hard as he asked, "You refined the Tihu Pill?"
Luo Chen smiled. "I did not disappoint! Combining the accumulated knowledge of the Minyuan Sect's predecessors with some of my own understanding, I successfully crafted it. Furthermore, I tested one myself and made some minor gains."
As he spoke, Luo Chen released the magic power that had already been transformed within him.
The moment this portion of magic power emerged, it seemed to resonate with heaven and earth.
Patter!
A single drop of rain fell.
It struck the dark boulder, causing Shi Gandang to let out a muffled growl of pain.
Deng Taiyue's eyes went wide as he stared at the scene in utter disbelief.
"You comprehended another new true intent of the laws?"
With a thought, Luo Chen abruptly pulled back his immense magic power; he had forgotten that channeling the world's yuan qi would cause some harm to Shi Gandang.
Facing Deng Taiyue's astonishment, Luo Chen made no attempt to conceal it and nodded firmly.
"Yes. With the aid of the Tihu Pill, combined with the Ming Water spring eye, I comprehended the origin of water. My strength has increased substantially, far exceeding what it was before!"
Deng Taiyue was both stunned by Luo Chen's transformation and increasingly fervent about the bottle of Tihu Pills.
Without hesitation, he produced a storage bag.
"This is the firmament qi exchanged with those Nascent Soul Formation Pills, and all of it meets your requirements.
"In addition, I have spoken with Sovereign Jiuling, Tianduzi, Fairy Fenghua, and the others. If you need assistance, they are willing to lend a hand. However, I did not mention that the enemy would be the Tianyuan Dao Sect; I feared that if I spoke the truth, all of them would shrink back."
Luo Chen nodded and reached out to take the storage bag.
Sweeping it with his divine sense, satisfaction showed on his face.
There was indeed a generous quantity of firmament qi inside, well-suited for cultivating the Myriad Firmaments Myriad Transformations Sword Scripture.
As for the concerns Deng Taiyue raised, he paid them no mind.
When faced with an overwhelmingly powerful enemy, it was human nature for friends to hesitate to draw their blades in aid.
Yet if he displayed sufficient strength to contend with the enemy and offered sufficiently generous rewards, they would gladly step forward under the name of friendship.
"Tell me, if I offer the Tihu Pill as compensation, would they be willing to help me?"
Deng Taiyue froze, his eyes instinctively drifting toward the jade bottle.
Luo Chen shook his head with a chuckle. "Do not fret; this entire bottle is yours. There are three Tihu Pills in total. A person may only take one in a lifetime, regardless of success or failure. The remaining ones can serve as part of your sect's heritage."
Deng Taiyue let out a breath of relief and carefully retrieved the bottle.
Immediately after, however, a subtle expression appeared on his face, and he offered no answer to Luo Chen's question.
Luo Chen seemed to understand what he was thinking. "Do you feel that something you painstakingly pursued for hundreds of years, which you finally obtained with great difficulty, can be acquired so easily by others—and you find that hard to accept?"
Deng Taiyue did not want to admit it, but under Luo Chen's gaze, he ultimately gave an unwilling nod.
Luo Chen had anticipated this, so he said generously, "You are different from them. I will transcribe a copy of my experience and insights regarding taking the Tihu Pill for you. Not only that, but moving forward, the Luotian and Taishan sects will remain eternal allies. If you wish to advance to the Soul Formation realm after comprehending the true intent of the laws, I can even find a suitable fifth-tier spirit vein for you."
With these three promises laid before him, the resentment in Deng Taiyue's heart finally dissipated.
In truth, he had no right to harbor such feelings in the first place.
Who was the person standing before him?
A formidable existence reputed to be capable of slaughtering all the Nascent Soul True Persons under heaven when joining hands with Demon Emperor Qingshuang.
What qualifications did he have to bargain?
Still, Luo Chen's willingness to speak such words gave him tremendous face.
Deng Taiyue hesitated for a moment before answering, "If the Tihu Pill is offered as a reward, most people would surely be tempted. However, that excludes the one from the Dongyang Sect!"
Luo Chen's brow twitched as information concerning that figure flooded into his mind.
Once the foremost vassal of the Minyuan Sect.
Now the lapdog of the Tianyuan Dao Sect in the Eastern Desolation.
The Grand Elder of the Dongyang Sect!
Chapter 1019