The Bikong Golden Domain, a desolate, uninhabited peril.
A black-robed Daoist sat cross-legged before a golden tiger. His origin soul had already coalesced, and his divine sense sank slowly into the gigantic beast's sea of consciousness.
Throughout the process, the demon beast mounted an instinctive resistance, yet before Luo Chen's formidable divine sense, it had no strength to withstand him.
At last, Luo Chen once more brushed against the deepest depths of Di Tu's soul.
There, a faint green imprint flickered in and out of sight, looking as though it might dissipate at any moment, yet stubbornly clinging to life.
The instant he saw the green brand, Luo Chen could not help but sigh in admiration.
"As expected of a Spirit Transformation mighty figure. The slave seal left behind by Chun Yuan has endured for over a century and remains intact. Truly obstinate!"
Di Tu was the child of an ancient demon.
Back then, when the peace talks between humans and demons in the Bikong Region had broken down, a terrible war ensued, ending in the fall of the ancient demon Di Tian.
At the moment of his demise, his boundless magic power swept in all directions, laying waste to everything in the Bikong Region.
Only his offspring had survived.
Not only that, but Di Tu had slumbered here for over a hundred years, continuously absorbing the remnants of the ancient demon's power.
Unfortunately, the Bikong Region lay in the heart of the Eastern Desolation's human territory. How could anyone allow him to sleep soundly on their couch, absorbing power at his leisure?
Chun Yuan, the mighty figure from the Central Plains, had discovered this place.
She could easily have slain him, but perhaps out of an eye for the seed of an ancient demon, she had stayed her lethal hand. She had merely branded him with a slave seal, intending to take him into her service once he awoke.
Yet Chun Yuan herself likely never anticipated that she would perish on Broken Soul Cliff.
By Luo Chen's earlier calculations, with Chun Yuan dead, this meticulously laid slave seal should have gradually dispersed with time.
Looking at it now, however, Chun Yuan's mastery in such matters was not something mere time could erase.
Or rather, a single century was not enough.
Luo Chen observed it closely for a long while, an understanding forming in his mind.
"It truly is a slave seal constructed purely of divine sense. So long as even a single thought remains, it stays fresh and enduring, never dispersing.
"It was wise of me not to arrogantly attempt to break this seal with brute soul strength back then. Had I been careless, Di Tu might well have perished on the spot.
"Moreover, the seal holds a lingering strand of magic power suffused with Wood Origin.
"Breaking a slave seal of divine sense is no longer difficult for me. As for this Wood Origin magic power..."
Luo Chen narrowed his eyes, turning the matter over in his thoughts.
Several days later, his spirits lifted.
Cautiously, he held his palm hovering over Di Tu's head, slowly breathing out a wisp of verdant green magic power.
Luo Chen's own magic power was of the fire attribute, painstakingly tempered over hundreds of years—overbearing, fierce, and immensely destructive. This verdant magic power, by contrast, was incomparably gentle, like a soothing spring breeze. The two seemed entirely incompatible, yet wielded by Luo Chen now, there was not the slightest dissonance.
It was nothing more than shifting the attribute of his magic power, a feat not difficult for him.
The true difficulty lay in the fact that this portion of his magic power did not contain Fire Origin, but rather the true intent of Wither-Bloom.
The surroundings were filled entirely with the heaven-and-earth origin qi of the metal attribute. If Luo Chen wished to sustain his Wither-Bloom magic power continuously, he could rely solely on his own foundation.
"One step at a time, then!
"With persistent, steady grinding, it won't take more than a few years to wear Chun Yuan's slave seal completely away.
"When that day comes, I will possess a fourth-rank Great Demon Emperor that wields the power of Metal Origin. That will be an enormous aid when I march on the Central Plains!"
***
Within the Bikong Golden Domain, time seemed to slow down, gentle and unhurried.
Yet out in the wider world, the entire Eastern Desolation had erupted into a furor.
As Xiao Bai and Black King delivered invitations to the gates of every major sect, a piece of news spread like wildfire:
*Alchemy Master Luo Chen, Shouyang Dao Discussion.*
Both names in that announcement carried immense renown—whether it was the title of Alchemy Master Luo Chen or the Shouyang Dao Discussion that had once flourished during the human-demon war.
The two combined carried even greater weight.
Yet the true reason the Eastern Desolation boiled with excitement came down to just one thing:
The opportunity to reach Spirit Transformation!
Rumor had it that Alchemy Master Luo Chen would use the Shouyang Mountain Dao Discussion Conference to exchange insights with all the Nascent Soul True Persons of the Eastern Desolation on how to break through to the Spirit Transformation stage.
This sounded somewhat absurd at first glance. After all, no one had seen Luo Chen advance to Spirit Transformation himself!
Yet no one dared forget the title of "Alchemy Master"!
If he had concocted some miraculous divine elixir capable of aiding one's breakthrough to Spirit Transformation, that was entirely within the realm of possibility.
Especially a century ago, when the Alchemy Master had made the lavish gesture of producing ten Nascent Soul Formation Pills all at once. That act had allowed the major sects of the Eastern Desolation—depleted of top-tier experts in the wake of the war—to catch their breath, serving as irrefutable proof.
The Alchemy Master's reputation in concocting boundary-breaking pills was already beyond question.
Whether drawn by the vast network of connections Luo Chen had established as a high-tier alchemist, the gratitude owed for his Nascent Soul Formation Pills a century ago, or the ravenous thirst every cultivator felt for an opportunity at Spirit Transformation, countless Eastern Desolation powerhouses flocked toward Lingtian Pass like moths to a flame.
Shouyang Mountain sat right inside Lingtian Pass.
This had always been the heartland of the Eastern Desolation's cultivation world!
Its borders touched five Nascent Soul upper sects, and during the two centuries of the human-demon war, it had shone with immense glory, standing like a colossal reef that held back the demon deluge right at the foot of the pass.
Even after the war had ended, Lingtian Pass endured, growing ever more prosperous.
Its permanent population exceeded one million.
And those people were all bonafide cultivators through and through, not mere mortals.
An ordinary immortal city might house tens of thousands or at most a hundred thousand cultivators, yet Lingtian Pass held several million. It was a super immortal city!
Searching the entire Mountain Sea Realm, one would struggle to find another place that could compare.
And as the date of the Shouyang Dao Discussion Conference drew near, that number rose at a frantic pace.
During the war, the city walls of Lingtian Pass had been largely battered to ruins; when the fighting ceased, those ancient walls had simply been dismantled.
Without a sky-prohibiting array spanning the whole city, cultivators came and went as they pleased, flying straight in and out.
For a time, across the sky above Lingtian Pass and its surrounding lands, escape lights flowed like rivers and cultivators fell like rain. The bustling spectacle surpassed even the peak of the Eastern Desolation before the war!
Where crowds gathered, strife naturally followed.
Vengeful murders, ambushes, and petty clashes of pride played out daily within Lingtian Pass.
Yet the place was not entirely devoid of order.
Along every major bustling thoroughfare, experts from Golden Core major sects or even Nascent Soul upper sects stood guard, ensuring pointless quarrels did not disrupt their trade.
Moreover, a colossal behemoth loomed over Lingtian Pass:
The Lingtian Alliance Council!
This alliance was formed of the five Nascent Soul upper sects bordering the pass, led by Fenghua Palace, aided by the White Crane Sect, and joined by Wan Jian Pavilion, the Hundred Beasts Sect, and the Dongyang Branch Sect. Together, they held a stranglehold over the vast wealth and interests of Lingtian Pass.
Faced with the monstrous influx of people spurred by Luo Chen's revival of the Shouyang Dao Discussion Conference, the Lingtian Alliance Council had reached an immediate consensus: they cleared Shouyang Mountain entirely and set it aside, awaiting Luo Chen's arrival.
In that respect, the title of "Alchemy Master" truly carried immense weight.
Even before he arrived, his sheer influence compelled the local cultivators to surrender the venue without hesitation.
Not only that, but the alliance also dispatched large contingents of cultivators to maintain order around Shouyang Mountain as much as possible.
Of course, that peacekeeping only applied to cultivators below the Nascent Soul stage.
When it came to clashes and sparring between Nascent Soul True Persons, the Lingtian Alliance Council had little authority to restrain them.
More than a century had passed since the end of the human-demon war, and the Eastern Desolation cultivation world had slowly regained some of its vitality from the ruins, with powerhouses emerging in endless succession.
Now that winds and clouds converged, it was only natural for newly ascended True Persons to try their hand at sparring to make a name for themselves.
In fact, it was not merely the newly advanced True Persons; even well-established older figures, having spent many years in lonely obscurity, engaged in private matches.
Naturally, the results of several battles were leaked by interested parties.
Among them, Master Taiyue of the Taishan Sect became the center of everyone's discussions!
Whether in the past Eastern Desolation or during the two centuries of the war, Master Taiyue had never truly been considered a top-tier figure.
His mid Nascent Soul cultivation left him lagging behind the late-stage great cultivators above him, while barely giving him any overwhelming dominance over those at early Nascent Soul.
Yet after the war concluded, he had secluded himself for a full hundred years.
No sooner had he emerged than the Alchemy Master announced the reopening of the Shouyang Dao Discussion.
Immediately thereafter, he issued challenges to several long-famous great cultivators in succession.
Tianduzi of the Tiandu Sect!
Master Pengxiang of White Deer Grotto!
Jiuling Yuanjun of the Nine Spirits Sect!
Of those three, one was a grandmaster of the Dao of arrays, another was a supreme elder of White Deer Grotto, and both had been renowned for ages.
As for Jiuling Yuanjun, though he had advanced to the late stage only a century or so ago, even before his breakthrough he had enjoyed a reputation for possessing vast magic power rivaling great cultivators. In particular, he had once mastered a lethal technique on par with a divine ability, dominating the battlefields of the human-demon war. Having stepped into late Nascent Soul for over a century now, his strength was bound to have ascended another step.
One could say that not a single one of the three was easy to deal with!
Yet Master Taiyue's record against them was a terrifying two victories and one draw!
Even if he had also broken through to the realm of a great cultivator, how could he possibly possess such an overwhelming advantage?
The rumor caused many to doubt its veracity.
Yet none of the three great cultivators standing at the peak of the Eastern Desolation stepped forward to refute it.
That gave everyone pause for thought.
Had Master Taiyue truly soared to the heavens, not only breaking through his realm, but seeing his strength surge to the point of suppressing peers of the same tier?
Soon after, another piece of inside news circulated within the circles of Nascent Soul True Persons:
*Master Taiyue received the Alchemy Master's aid, which not only allowed him to break through to late Nascent Soul in one stroke, but also let him comprehend the true intent of laws. If nothing unexpected occurs, reaching Spirit Transformation will be as natural as water carving a channel.*
The news sent another shockwave through the True Persons' circles.
Coupled with the words "opportunity to reach Spirit Transformation" penned upon the Alchemy Master's invitations, it stirred restless ambition in every heart.
Who didn't know that Master Taiyue had been trapped at the sixth level of Nascent Soul for ages, saddled with a single Heavenly Spirit Root that progressed the slowest at the Nascent Soul realm? If even he could reach such heights, what might they achieve if they received the Alchemy Master's help?
For a time, countless people came calling at Master Taiyue's door, hoping to learn a thing or two about the Alchemy Master beforehand.
Yet Master Taiyue kept his doors firmly shut, offering only a single word: "Wait!"
Wait for what?
Everyone knew full well: wait for the Shouyang Dao Discussion Conference to officially convene, and wait for Alchemy Master Luo Chen to appear.
Yet as the date drew near, Alchemy Master Luo Chen remained nowhere to be seen.
Then, one day, an extraordinary party arrived at Lingtian Pass.
What made this group remarkable were two things.
First was their immense strength, far outstripping the major sects. Even White Deer Grotto and the Dongyang Sect, which had preserved their power relatively well during the war, were barely their equal.
A full six Nascent Soul True Persons led the way, and among them was the battle-crazed fiend who had once bested a Nascent Soul True Person across cultivation tiers!
Second was their uniform attire—all wore Daoist robes bearing the emblem of an alchemical cauldron cradling the sun.
In all the Eastern Desolation, only one sect carried that crest:
The Luotian Sect!
With that, everyone instantly recognized the origin of this remarkable contingent.
It was the Luotian Sect, founded by Alchemy Master Luo Chen!
Cultivators everywhere were shaken to the core!
Who did not remember that in its early days, aside from Luo Chen, the Luotian Sect had possessed barely two or three kittens, unable to field even a second Nascent Soul True Person?
Yet less than four centuries after its founding, it had produced six—no, counting the War Demon Wang Yuan, a staggering seven combatants at the level of Nascent Soul True Persons!
Faced with such foundation and depth, none could doubt the Alchemy Master's capabilities any longer.
A formidable alchemist truly had the power to make an entire sect flourish.
How much more so for Alchemy Master Luo Chen, hailed as the greatest in the Alchemical Dao since the Alchemy Saint?
The experts of the Luotian Sect had departed in full force. Their first act upon reaching Lingtian Pass was to take charge of Shouyang Mountain from the Lingtian Alliance Council, after which they set about arranging the conference grounds and receiving the numerous experts who had traveled from afar.
When all preparations were complete, everyone waited for that specific moment in time.
Seven years after the invitations had been sent, on the seventh day of the seventh month!
Whether that date carried any deeper meaning, none could say, but it was the day the Alchemy Master had appointed for the Shouyang Dao Discussion Conference.
***
*Whoosh!*
A cold streak of light flashed across the horizon.
A man with ordinary features yet a strikingly distinct air pierced through the clouds and mist, traversing mountains and seas.
Perched upon his shoulder was a six-winged centipede, periodically exhaling puffs of frosty chill.
The man glanced down at the centipede and murmured to himself, "I managed to break through to the Nascent Soul stage with the help of pills, yet you remain stuck before the fourth rank. I have already tasted the Alchemy Master's miraculous skill. If I can secure his aid at this Shouyang Dao Discussion, perhaps you, too, can take that final step."
Even as he muttered, the weather ahead shifted violently.
*Boom!*
A thunderous rumble shook heaven and earth.
Countless gusts of golden astral wind erupted, barricading that entire patch of sky.
The man's expression changed dramatically, and he halted at once.
He was no stranger to the territory ahead: known as the Bikong Peril Domain, it was spoken of in the same breath as the nearby Jueling Domain.
One barred all living beings from entry, while the other was unfit for cultivators to practice in—both products of the human-demon war.
By all rights, people had long grown accustomed to their presence.
Why, then, was there such an abrupt upheaval?
His gaze locked firmly ahead.
Amidst the golden astral winds, a vortex formed out of thin air, spinning ceaselessly across the sky.
Like a funnel, it drew the countless golden winds inward, swallowing them until they vanished.
And the Bikong Peril Domain, which had barred all living beings from entry, began to dissipate at rapid speed as the golden winds disappeared in eerie fashion.
At the same time, an overwhelmingly tyrannical aura surged outward in all directions like mad.
The white-browed man's eyes widened. "A great cultivator?"
"No!"
"A Great Demon Emperor!"
A terrifying demonic aura climbed out of control, soaring straight into the sky and ripping a massive hole through myriad miles of cloud, revealing the clear, azure expanse beyond.
The white-browed man felt his soul nearly tear apart. How could such a terrifying Great Demon Emperor be lurking in the heartland of the human race?
Just as he was about to turn tail and flee—
Suddenly!
"The time is not yet right. Halt."
A calm voice sounded, and the climbing demonic aura stopped dead in its tracks, rolling backward like a receding tide.
The white-browed man looked down. Amidst the mountain peaks, an enormous golden tiger lay prostrated on the ground, crouching with utter deference.
Before it stood a black-robed Daoist, one hand resting upon its head.
Beneath his palm, the gigantic golden beast was as docile as a housecat.
Was this truly the same Great Demon Emperor that had just made heaven and earth change color?
Who was that black-robed Daoist?
The white-browed man swallowed hard and turned to leave.
Yet unexpectedly, a leisurely voice drifted into his ears.
"To meet is destiny. Fellow Daoist, pray linger a moment."
The white-browed man took a deep breath and forced himself to turn back around. Though looking down from above, he cupped his hands in a respectful bow toward the black-robed Daoist.
"Junior Bohan Jun greets Senior. May I ask how to address Senior?"
"Senior?" The corner of the black-robed Daoist's mouth curved slightly as he said, "I am Luo Chen. You may also call me the Alchemy Master."
Chapter 1064