A Pledge of Allegiance, A Day of Soul Formation

Thud! Thud! Two figures were batted back into the hall by a colossal xuanhuang hand, tumbling across the gleaming floor like rolling gourds in utter disarray. Lian Buwei had barely struggled to sit up before he coughed up a mouthful of blood. Spurt! He stared in disbelief at the mountain-like silhouette standing at the entrance of the great hall. "Who are you, to dare attack us?" Deng Taiyue turned a deaf ear, merely looking toward Luo Chen as if waiting for his cue. The upheaval unfolded so swiftly that no one in the room had time to react. Almost the instant the words "Tianyuan Dao Sect" left Luo Chen's lips, Lian Buwei and Shi Chuanting had sensed danger and instinctively bolted for the exit. They knew all too well that if Luo Chen dared to utter such treasonous words in the open, he would never allow word to leak before striking, let alone permit the two of them to leave alive. Yet someone was faster than them! Deng Taiyue of the Taishan Sect, who had remained out of sight until now, had intervened with crushing force, heavily wounding both Nascent Soul masters before they could even mount a defense. Luo Chen's gaze drifted down, chilly and unfathomable. The murderous intent brewing within his eyes was stark and brazenly laid bare. Shi Chuanting, who had remained silent ever since his arrival, suddenly shrieked, "Luo Chen, have you lost your mind? The Tianyuan Dao Sect is not someone you can afford to provoke!" Indeed! Had Luo Chen truly lost his mind? To actually seek to strike against the Tianyuan Dao Sect—that was the Tianyuan Dao Sect! A sacred ground of Soul Formation! The foremost power in the entire Mountain Sea Realm! Possessing countless mighty experts, a heritage running tens of thousands of years deep, and a living Soul Formation sovereign personally overseeing it! What kind of madman existed in this world who would dare rebel against such an existence? Several mouths fell open, poised to speak, but Luo Chen had already offered Deng Taiyue a faint nod. Deng Taiyue took a step forward. A figure stepped in to block his path. Grand Elder Dongyang looked taut with tension, his eyes carrying an almost pleading look. "You cannot do this, Master Taiyue! There may be some misunderstanding here. Let us all sit down and talk properly—" Boom! A majestic pillar of light descended from the heavens, piercing clean through the vaulted dome and enveloping Grand Elder Dongyang before he could finish his sentence. No matter how frantically Grand Elder Dongyang circulated his vast magical power, he could not break free from that terrifying weight of suppression. He could no longer impede Deng Taiyue in the slightest. Deng Taiyue’s pupils contracted at the sight of the light pillar. He cast a sidelong glance up at Luo Chen, who sat as steady as a mountain, then strode past Grand Elder Dongyang toward Lian Buwei and Shi Chuanting. Realizing there was no longer any hope of escape, the two Dao Sect masters wore expressions of total despair. Then, that despair turned into sheer madness. "The Dao Sect will avenge us!" "Go to hell with us!" The two roared furiously as their magical power snapped inward, surging violently into their Nascent Souls. An extreme aura began to swell, brimming with destructive cataclysm. Gasps of horror erupted across the hall. "They're detonating their Nascent Souls!" "Run!" "Get out of here!" Yet before Luo Chen's very eyes, how could detonating a Nascent Soul be so simple? Still, Luo Chen did not move a finger, leaving everything entirely to Deng Taiyue. Indeed, it had to be Deng Taiyue! The two Dao Sect masters had to die here today. Silencing them was the first objective, killing the chicken to scare the monkeys was the second, but the final and most crucial reason was to serve as a pledge of allegiance! A pledge of allegiance from Deng Taiyue, and a shared pledge of allegiance from everyone present who silently watched them die! Deng Taiyue formed a lightning-fast hand seal, then pressed his palm downward. "Seal!" In an instant, an unfathomably profound aura draped over the two men. The wildly surging, destructive power vanished abruptly, as if completely locked away. Under the wide-eyed, horrified stares of Lian Buwei and Shi Chuanting, Deng Taiyue extended an index finger from each hand and gently tapped the crowns of their heads from a distance. Pfft! Pfft! Two bloody punctures appeared, and the two bodies slumped limply to the floor. Deng Taiyue clapped his hands, and an earthen-yellow spiritual light flared from his body. The light rolled across the floor before coalescing into a burly, imposing man. "Shi Gandang pays respects to the Sect Master!" "Dispose of these two bodies. Be mindful of their sealed Nascent Souls; do not harm yourself." Shi Gandang grunted in acknowledgment, hoisted the two corpses, and marched toward the entrance of the great hall. Grand Elder Dongyang had his back turned to the hall, but when he saw Shi Gandang carry the limp corpses past him, his entire body shuddered violently. Deng Taiyue paid it no heed. He flicked his sleeves, cupped his hands, and bowed toward Luo Chen. "Fellow Daoist, the deed is done!" Luo Chen smiled faintly. "Thank you for your trouble. Please, take your seat!" Without anyone noticing when, Xiao Bai had already brought over a prayer mat and placed it on the dais, to Luo Chen's left. Deng Taiyue lifted his daoist robes and settled onto it with complete composure. The moment Master Taiyue took his seat, the formerly hushed hall erupted into pandemonium. "He really killed them?" "Those were disciples of a sacred ground!" "How dared Master Taiyue... and Danzong, he..." "Disaster! This is an absolute catastrophe! Those two were stewards stationed in the Eastern Desolation by the Tianyuan Dao Sect to gather resources. With their deaths, the Dao Sect will be enraged and march to war!" "What are we supposed to do?" Amidst the clamor and panic, a heavy cough rang out. The crowd quieted at once, instinctively turning their gazes toward the elder at the front, as if finding a pillar of support. Tianduzi ignored their looks, his eyes fixed on Luo Chen in utter bewilderment. "Danzong, have you... already stepped into the Soul Formation realm?" The corner of Luo Chen's mouth curved slightly. "What makes you say that?" Tianduzi swallowed hard and pointed toward Grand Elder Dongyang, who remained bathed in the pillar of light, completely immobilized. Only then did the rest of the crowd come to their senses. Through some unknown art, Luo Chen had effortlessly suppressed a late Nascent Soul grand cultivator of longstanding fame! It was not a spell, nor a divine ability; no magical treasure had been brandished, and no one had even seen Luo Chen lift a finger. How had he accomplished it? Although rumors hailed Luo Chen as the foremost figure beneath Soul Formation, on equal footing with that demon woman Qingshuang, the world had preferred to believe it was merely because his combat prowess was absurdly terrifying. No one had held his actual cultivation realm in such exalted regard. After all, Luo Chen had cultivated for too short a time, and every step of his journey could be traced. Yet without even engaging in direct combat, Luo Chen had completely subdued Grand Elder Dongyang. The man could not even turn around, standing there as stiff as a wooden post with his back to the assembly. A Nascent Soul cultivator could never achieve such a feat. Only Soul Formation could! Tianduzi drew a deep breath and exhaled slowly. "This old man is well-versed in formations, capable of laying Tier 5 arrays, and I understand how to borrow qi from the world. "The spiritual energy within your method is exceedingly chaotic and boundless, far beyond the way our Nascent Soul generation can only steer ambient spiritual qi of matching attributes. In other words, what you manipulate is the heaven-and-earth essence itself! "And manipulating heaven-and-earth essence is the most defining hallmark of Soul Formation—the method of a sovereign! "Have you truly broken through?" As soon as those words fell, absolute shock gripped everyone present. Even Jiuling Yuanjun's eyes widened to saucers, his face fraught with disbelief. How old was Luo Chen? How could he possibly have broken through to the Soul Formation realm? When the two of them had first met, Jiuling had been at the sixth level of Nascent Soul while Luo Chen was merely at the third. How could he have surpassed him in such a short span, let alone broken through to that loftier realm? Yet the reality seemed laid bare right before their eyes. Luo Chen chuckled softly, nodded slightly, and then slowly shook his head. "It is Soul Formation, yet it is not." Tianduzi frowned. "What do you mean by that?" Luo Chen smiled and said, "I have merely grasped a method that allows me to briefly step into the Soul Formation realm." Everyone looked baffled. What did he mean by briefly stepping into the Soul Formation realm? Either you had broken through, or you had not. Could one ascend, fall back down, and repeat the cycle back and forth? What did he take cultivation for? Luo Chen offered no further explanation for their bewilderment. In truth, it had taken him years to fully master his own condition. Through the Moonlight Heart-Clearing Incantation, he could condense his soul and fuse it with his Nascent Soul to temporarily manifest a primordial spirit. This state had progressed from lasting half an hour, to an hour, until now—a century later—it could be sustained for a full day! Furthermore, he had comprehended three law true meanings, allowing him to command even more heaven-and-earth essence in this primordial spirit state than an ordinary Soul Formation sovereign. Add to that his self-created Wither-Bloom Dao art, alongside the Three Heads and Six Arms and Myriad Firmaments Myriad Transformations Sword Scripture divine abilities he had cultivated... Under such conditions, what difference was there between him and a true Soul Formation sovereign? A Nascent Soul turned Soul Formation, law true meanings, command over heaven-and-earth essence, and mastery over divine abilities—when combined, even if it lasted for merely a single day, Luo Chen was a Soul Formation sovereign for that day! Leaving the crowd to their wild guesses, Luo Chen turned his attention to the rigid elder. With a thought, the towering pillar of light vanished instantly. Relieved of the crushing weight, Grand Elder Dongyang's magical power—which had been frantically hammering against the suppression—erupted outward. It was the vast power of a veteran late Nascent Soul cultivator, peerless in might, surpassing Deng Taiyue, Jiuling Yuanjun, and Master Pengxiang, and rivaled perhaps only by Tianduzi. Yet compared to the pillar of essence Luo Chen had casually summoned, it seemed like a mere firefly. The piercing gaze resting on his back felt like needles against his spine. Retracting his surging aura at once, the elder stumbled a couple of steps before turning around. He looked at Luo Chen with lingering dread, opening his mouth to speak, only to realize that words were entirely pointless. In the end, all he could muster was a bitter, forlorn smile. "Danzong... was all this truly necessary?" The cultivators in the hall nodded inwardly. Indeed, was it truly necessary? Before matters were even agreed upon, blood had been shed, cutting off all avenues of retreat. They had just nominated Luo Chen to represent the Eastern Desolation, yet he immediately took the lead in doing something like this. Wasn't that sending them all to their deaths? Luo Chen replied calmly, "It is absolutely necessary. Between the Tianyuan Dao Sect and myself, this battle was bound to happen." "But what are your chances of victory?" Grand Elder Dongyang asked, despondent. "Yes, you are strong—stronger than anyone could have imagined! But you are not a Soul Formation sovereign after all, and what you face is the foremost sacred ground in the Mountain Sea Realm, boasting ten thousand years of heritage and three millennia of development since antiquity. What do you have to fight them with? Are you relying on the likes of us?" Luo Chen chuckled softly. "In my life, I have never fought a battle without certainty. Since I have resolved to strike, I have naturally made preparations." Grand Elder Dongyang looked at him blankly. "Preparations?" Luo Chen tapped his finger against the table, drawing everyone's attention—or rather, ensuring they paid even closer heed to what he was about to say. "In this battle, the elite forces of the Eastern Desolation will mobilize in full. It will not just be your sects and my Luotian Sect, but also the demon race of the Eastern Desolation—a total of twenty-four demon emperors. Among them are great demon emperors such as Bi Zheng, Niugui, Juan Kuang, and the Thunder Prison Divine Peng!" The crowd froze. Humans and demons joining forces? Instinctively, they recalled Lian Buwei's earlier accusation—"Luo Chen is colluding with the demons!" Yet confronted with the immense strength Luo Chen had just displayed, rivaling a Soul Formation sovereign, no one dared voice that thought aloud. Tianduzi merely asked with utmost caution, "How did you manage this?" Luo Chen countered, "If I can refine Nascent Soul Pills and Empowerment Pills for you, could I not refine pills for them?" The demon race needed pills for cultivation? The crowd looked bewildered. However, the Crane Emperor, seated behind Master Xianhe, spoke thoughtfully, "Transformation Pills?" Back then, the Crane Emperor's transformation had been incomplete, and it was only through the Transformation Pill gifted by Luo Chen that he had successfully broken through to the Nascent Soul realm. Luo Chen nodded. "Yes, Transformation Pills, though far from only that. Moreover, you must understand one principle: once the armistice treaty is signed, the two races will enjoy a temporary peace. Mutual trade and resource exchange will prove far more beneficial than slaughter. Think of how many rare spirit herbs, ores, and precious treasures lie within the Million Mountains—all of which can be traded for using magical treasures and pills, without shedding a drop of blood." Luo Chen spoke at length, but these were largely pretexts. He had not needed to pay any price to summon those demon experts. As the Hall Master of Duzhen Hall, he held the authority to conscript all who served beneath him! Unaware of this truth, the others began pondering whether an alliance between humans and demons possessed the capital to challenge the Tianyuan Dao Sect. Luo Chen continued with eloquent ease, "This battle gathers the peak strength of the Eastern Desolation, but our objective is not to take on the Tianyuan Dao Sect in its entirety. Ever since the Great Cataclysm of the Central Plains, the continent has been fractured. My target is solely the Dao Sect's ancestral grounds on Dongyuan Continent. As long as we are swift enough, we can withdraw at our leisure before reinforcements from the other two continents arrive." Hearing this, the crowd visibly sighed with relief. Yet Grand Elder Dongyang still shook his head. "Even so, Ancestor Liancheng oversees the ancestral grounds from within, while the four paramount clans—Lian, Ke, Shi, and Li—guard it from without, not to mention numerous Nascent Soul clans. Relying solely on us is still far from enough." Luo Chen was not surprised by Grand Elder Dongyang's deep understanding of the Dao Sect; after all, his sect had once been the first local force in the Eastern Desolation to throw its support behind them. Luo Chen simply spoke two more names. "Li Canghai. Qingshuang!" A few looks of confusion surfaced in the crowd, but well-informed figures recognized the names immediately. "Li Canghai... could that be the sovereign from the North Sea?" "Indeed. He and I have reached an understanding, and he will strike alongside us when the time comes." "This..." "As for Qingshuang, perhaps you do not yet know, but she has already broken through to the Soul Formation realm, achieving the physique of an ancient demon!" At these words, everyone in the hall shuddered in disbelief. The foremost demon beneath Soul Formation, who had dominated the Eastern Desolation for three centuries, had broken through. It was so fast, yet it felt entirely natural, as though it were only right for her to do so. Because of this, the crowd suddenly understood—and even felt fortunate—that an armistice treaty had been signed. With Qingshuang's might, she had run rampant across the Eastern Desolation in the past; if she were to unleash her power now, who in the vast Eastern Desolation could stand in her way? "Mount Cangwu shares an irreconcilable feud with the Tianyuan Dao Sect. The demons' willingness to cease hostilities and join hands with me is entirely due to our shared enemy. "Fellow Daoists, with two sovereigns intervening in person alongside the pinnacle combat power of the Eastern Desolation, do you still fear the Tianyuan Dao Sect?" Luo Chen looked at the crowd with burning eyes, his voice brimming with immense confidence. The Empowerment Pill reappeared before their eyes. "Master Taiyue broke through to the late Nascent Soul stage precisely because he consumed an Empowerment Pill refined by me. Not only did he comprehend the origin of earth, but his strength also surged drastically. From his display just moments ago, I trust you all caught a glimpse of it!" Deng Taiyue's heavy wounding of the two Dao Sect masters and his effortless sealing of their suicidal Nascent Soul detonations had been far beyond ordinary spells. Only the true meaning of laws could achieve such a feat! "So long as you are willing to strike once on my behalf, each of you can obtain an Empowerment Pill... including you, Grand Elder Dongyang!" Grand Elder Dongyang's throat bobbed, much of his earlier despair clearing away. "I know you sought to join the Tianyuan Dao Sect as a guest elder of the Star Gate, hoping to attempt Soul Formation in the future. "Yet do you know that the Star Gate has long existed in name only? "Do you know that the former elders of the Star Gate have all been sidelined and neglected? "The current Tianyuan Dao Sect pours all its resources into its own sect elites and the younger generation. Would they open a door of convenience for an outsider like you? "The Empowerment Pill cannot guarantee absolute success, but it is already your final chance!" Luo Chen's words echoed like a devil's whisper, ceaselessly filling Grand Elder Dongyang's ears. They lingered in the hearts of everyone present. The comparison of strength, two Soul Formation sovereigns backed by Luo Chen who could temporarily enter that realm, alongside the irresistible temptation of an Empowerment Pill—everyone was shaken to their core. The atmosphere in the hall grew heavy once more as everyone fell into deep contemplation. Pondering whether they should take part. Pondering what would become of them, their sects, their descendants, and their kin if they failed. Pondering what they stood to gain if they succeeded! Amidst the dead silence, a resolute, ringing voice suddenly broke the quiet. "I am merely a rogue cultivator. It was only by Danzong's grace that I had the chance to break through to the Nascent Soul realm. Now that Senior Danzong has pointed the way toward Soul Formation, how could I hesitate? "Bo Hanjun is willing to offer his full support!"