Boom!
A streak of pitch-black light slammed into the colossal light barrier, erupting into a deafening roar.
The earthen-yellow barrier rolled and shuddered continuously like a churning earth dragon, shedding layer upon layer of the immense, crushing force.
Zhou Yuanli and Liu Qiang exchanged a glance, their voices raspy. "Ninth level of Qi Refinement!"
The Qi Refinement realm was divided into three stages: early, middle, and late.
Each stage was distinctly demarcated from the next.
Setting aside foundational divine soul strength, meridians and acupoints, and physical constitution—things essentially beyond the reach of low-tier cultivators—the amount of spiritual power in one's body was the clearest benchmark.
An early-stage cultivator could only cast a few spells and typically handle a single artifact at a time, and only of low grade at that.
Upon reaching the middle stage, one's spiritual power multiplied several times over, and everything began to change.
Cultivators could unleash a variety of spells and control two or three artifacts simultaneously. With a special top-grade artifact, they could even manage to wield it in battle, if clumsily.
Even so, battles between middle-stage Qi Refinement cultivators remained overly rigid. To an outside observer, a duel between two such cultivators often looked like a turn-based game: you take a swing, then I take a swing.
Only upon reaching late-stage Qi Refinement, backed by a lavish reserve of spiritual power, would this dynamic change entirely.
Artifacts of every grade could be deployed with ease. Supported by the Wind Riding Technique or flying artifacts in combat, movements became agile and deft.
Only then did a cultivator truly take on the air of an immortal!
And among the three sub-levels of late-stage Qi Refinement, ninth-level cultivators were undeniably at the apex of the food chain.
Because the journey from ninth level to peak Qi Refinement was exceedingly long, many ninth-level cultivators deliberately honed their combat methods, striving to leave no weaknesses. In contrast, cultivators at the seventh or eighth levels still had to focus on breaking through to the next realm, so their repertoire of techniques was naturally less refined and seamless.
For this very reason, it usually took a ninth-level cultivator to contend with another ninth-level cultivator.
Back on the Dao Discussion Platform, during the life-and-death struggle of eighteen cultivators, seventeen of them had been at the ninth level of Qi Refinement.
The sole exception—Wang Yuan—had walked the path of a body cultivator.
A body cultivator's strength depended not just on cultivation realm, but also on physical body and vital energy. Even if their cultivation realm was lower, an exceptionally powerful physique could produce combat strength matching or even exceeding those a tier above them.
In reality, there were not so many exceptions.
Thus, when the black-robed cultivator brazenly unleashed spiritual power fluctuations of the ninth level of Qi Refinement, Zhou Yuanli and Liu Qiang knew they were in trouble.
Yet they did not panic in the slightest.
Zhou Yuanli stepped back while Liu Qiang stepped to the forefront, taking sole control of the top-grade defensive artifact.
Luo Chen watched with his own eyes as Zhou Yuanli retrieved a jade token from his storage bag and moved his lips rapidly:
"Gang Leader, we're under attack in the Qingma Woods to the southwest of the outer city."
"Four enemies, led by a ninth-level Qi Refinement cultivator."
No sooner had the hurried transmission ended than Liu Qiang let out a muffled grunt from the front.
"Old Zhou, I can't hold out much longer!"
Zhou Yuanli fixed his gaze on Luo Chen. "We'll drag this ninth-level cultivator down with everything we've got. Look for an opening and flee—I know how fast you can fly."
Without waiting for Luo Chen's reply, he charged forward.
Teaming up with Liu Qiang, the two summoned a saber and a sword.
The two artifacts blazed with intense spiritual light, howling like dragons and roaring like tigers as they shot toward the enemy.
Luo Chen had often heard that his two bodyguards were formidable fighters who could stand against a ninth-level Qi Refinement cultivator when fighting together.
Seeing them now, they truly had some tricks up their sleeves; those two top-grade artifacts were actually a paired set.
Relieved, Luo Chen shifted his gaze toward the ground.
Empowered by the Spiritual Eye Art, he saw right through the enemies' cultivation realms.
The leader in the black robe was at the ninth level of Qi Refinement, while the three in gray robes were all at the seventh level.
That was quite a formidable force.
Right then, the black-robed cultivator looked over as well.
"Danchenzi of the Mountain Breaker Gang, right?"
"My brothers and I happen to be passing through your market town today, and we'd like to borrow a sum of spirit stones from you."
With that, he waved a hand with a chuckle.
Behind him, the three gray-robed cultivators each unleashed their techniques. Three streaks of spiritual light skirted past Zhou Yuanli and Liu Qiang, striking toward Luo Chen.
Luo Chen grinned. Without uttering a single harsh word or hesitating for an instant, he pulled back.
One moment he was like drifting catkins, the next he was like a roc soaring on the wind.
He moved so fast that, in virtually the blink of an eye, he had slipped beyond the range of the three attacks.
The trio froze. Before they could react, their leader's furious bark rang out:
"Chase him! What are you standing around for?"
"He's the alchemist—he's bound to be loaded with wealth!"
The black-robed cultivator could not pull away. Zhou Yuanli and Liu Qiang were pushing their artifacts to their utmost limits, pinning him down in a vice.
With low shouts, the three gray-robed cultivators mounted their artifacts and surged forward at top speed to give chase.
Yet despite their speed, after just a few breaths, they realized Luo Chen was pulling further and further away.
"This Danchenzi flies ridiculously fast!"
"Wait, he isn't even using a flying artifact!"
"No, look at his boots!"
"Damn it, if we can't catch him, how do we face Big Brother?"
"Forget it, keep chasing!"
Though they could not match his speed, his silhouette remained within their line of sight.
Suddenly, the figure seemed to run out of steam, tumbling down into the woods.
Overjoyed, the trio assumed Luo Chen had merely used some explosive secret technique earlier and, his strength exhausted, was now slowing down.
Delighted, the three surged forward and plunged in after him.
Deep in the woods, a lone figure dashed frantically, his face painted with panic and dread.
One of the three sneered wickedly.
"Can't run anymore, can you!"
The three flared their escape lights, bypassing Luo Chen to cut him off in front, to the left, and to the right, loosely boxing him in.
The only path left open led back toward where they had come from.
And back there was a ninth-level Qi Refinement cultivator.
Yet before they could firmly plant their feet, Luo Chen stopped in his tracks.
"Who said I was running?"
After days of winter snowfall, the woods lay blanketed in pristine white.
As Luo Chen's expression turned solemn, he clapped his hands together.
Ahead of him, that stretch of the woods seemed to come alive.
Snow sloughed off in rustling cascades as thick swathes of green vines erupted from the ground, writhing and spreading like dragons and serpents.
In an instant, the landscape transformed completely—no longer a snow-covered grove, but a verdant jungle teeming with murderous intent.
This place had become Luo Chen's battleground.
The cultivator right in the path blanched, trying desperately to rocket into the sky.
Yet the moment he took flight, seven emerald beams burst out from the surrounding snowdrifts, circling and crisscrossing as they flew.
A storm of blades had already taken shape.
Luo Chen did not even glance at that part of the field. With a flick of his hand, ten tiny sparks flew toward the enemy on his right.
"A measly Fireball Art, and you dare act so insolent?" The man sneered, unfurling a round wooden shield to block the spell before counterattacking.
The next moment, however, the ten sparks swelled with the wind.
In less than a breath, they expanded into massive fireballs the size of washbasins.
Before his stunned eyes, they rained down upon him like a torrential storm.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Fierce explosions, flying snow, and shrill screams did nothing to ease Luo Chen's vigilance.
He knew the real threat came from the enemy on his left.
Whoosh!
A translucent, snow-white longsword cleaved down through the air.
"An ice-attribute top-grade flying sword?"
Luo Chen's brow twitched. His middle-grade robe billowed without wind, appearing as if he intended to take the strike head-on.
The cultivator wore a savage grin. Trying to withstand a top-grade flying sword with a mere middle-grade robe—the kid was clearly out of tricks.
"Die!"
In the very next instant, a sight unfolded that left him utterly aghast.
Clang!
A miniature cauldron materialized in Luo Chen's palm.
In the blink of an eye, the tiny cauldron expanded, growing into a zhang-tall cauldron that hovered defensively above Luo Chen's head.
Not only did it deflect the top-grade flying sword, but it also showered down radiant beams of light.
Four colors—gold, red, blue, and green—cascaded down like tassels, enveloping Luo Chen within.
"A top-grade defensive artifact! How could...?"
Even as shock overtook him, the man felt an abrupt sense of dread.
Circulating spiritual power to his eyes with the Spiritual Eye Art, what he saw scared him out of his wits.
Without him noticing, the surrounding space had been densely packed with multicolored stone beads.
Individually, each stone bead looked completely unremarkable.
Yet in such staggering numbers, the sheer density made him sick and dizzy.
"Primal Unity, detonate!"
Innumerable stone beads converged on the enemy like swallows homing in on their nest.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
...
A rapid cadence, like rain lashing banana leaves, rang out without pause.
Even though the man pushed his defensive artifact to its limit, it fractured inch by inch under the unrelenting barrage of detonating beads.
He flung out a talisman, but its protective barrier lasted a mere three breaths before shattering anew under the onslaught of self-destructing beads.
Pfft!
A mouthful of blood sprayed out, followed immediately by the sickening thuds of beads penetrating flesh.
Once inside the body, the power of their detonation multiplied several times over.
Within mere breaths, all that remained in his spot was a drifting mist of blood.
Coldly retracting his gaze, Luo Chen reached out and snagged the ice flying sword, turning away from that part of the battlefield.
The power of individual waste Jade Marrow beads was mediocre at best; even with an ambush prepared in advance, they could only catch an enemy off guard.
However, when their numbers reached hundreds or thousands, the power was an entirely different story.
It was a terrifying quantitative shift that produced a qualitative leap.
Turning around, Luo Chen looked toward the front.
As expected, the man bold enough to block the path ahead was no weakling.
Even though Luo Chen had concealed the Jasper Sabers in the woods beforehand, instantly activated the Mother-Child Saber Array, and paired it with a Grandmaster-level Entangling Art, the man had still managed to break free, albeit in a rather battered state.
Seeing Luo Chen look his way now, panic flooded the man's eyes; he shuddered violently and bolted.
"I knew no one in late-stage Qi Refinement was an easy mark."
Spiritual light shimmered across the Cloud Treading Boots as the Wind Riding Technique and Carefree Wandering were both engaged.
Luo Chen took to the wind. Passing over the massive flaming crater on his right, he casually flicked a single stone bead.
Thwack!
Amidst the raging fire, under the agonized gaze of the barely breathing cultivator, a small hole appeared on his forehead.
Then the stone bead burst.
The dying man blinked, an eerie smile frozen on his face.
Bang!
Like a watermelon bursting open, brain matter splattered in every direction.
By then, Luo Chen's silhouette had already vanished above the treeline.
...
"Damn it!"
"Don't they all say alchemists are weak in combat, far inferior to cultivators of the same realm?"
"When on earth did he set up that saber array to make me suffer such a massive loss?!"
The gray-robed cultivator fled for his life like a stray dog.
Flying with no attempt to conceal himself, his figure was glaringly conspicuous as he pushed deeper into the outer city.
Behind him, a young white-robed cultivator—a massive cauldron hovering above his head, enveloped in four-colored tassels of light—was steadily closing the distance.
A ruthless gleam flashed across the gray-robed cultivator's face, and he whipped around abruptly.
"Die!"
A spear shot forth in a flash.
Its piercing ferocity seemed capable of tearing through the void, and roaring flames surged along the shaft like a blazing dragon.
A parting thrust?
The thought had barely crossed Luo Chen's mind when the fiery red spear tore through the sky, arriving right before him in the blink of an eye.
Screeech!
A grating, teeth-numbing sound rang out as the four-colored tassels shattered layer by layer.
A hint of tension finally showed on Luo Chen's face. In the end, the Four Elements Cauldron was a hybrid of sorts; its defensive capability was merely passable for a top-grade artifact.
And this spear was clearly a top-grade artifact as well.
On edge, Luo Chen slapped his storage bag, producing four or five talismans in his hand, all of them defensive types.
Just as he was about to activate them, his expression shifted, and he checked his motion.
Whoosh...
A gentle breeze swept past. The spear lost its momentum, tumbling limply down after brushing against the final strand of golden tassel.
With a wave of his hand, Luo Chen caught the spear.
Looking up, he saw Mi Shuhua holding a body—it was unclear whether the person was dead or alive—gazing back at him with concern.
"Are you alright?"
"I'm fine, but if you'd arrived any later, you'd probably be collecting the corpses of Old Zhou and Old Liu."
Luo Chen smiled faintly and stowed the Four Elements Cauldron hovering over his head.
Mi Shuhua wasted no words. Wrapping Luo Chen in a surge of magic power, he flew toward the southwest at lightning speed.
Neither spoke during the flight.
Only when they passed over the small woods did Mi Shuhua cast an astonished glance back at Luo Chen.
Luo Chen shrugged, saying nothing.
However, his eyes remained firmly glued to the storage bag on the man Mi Shuhua was carrying.
Understood!
I get your hint!
Mi Shuhua's cheek twitched, and he transmitted his voice: "Once I'm done interrogating him, everything on him is yours."
"Generous, Gang Leader!"
Luo Chen gave him a thumbs-up. He knew his gang leader wouldn't deign to covet such petty spoils.
Before long, the two returned to the Qingma Woods where it had all started.
The snow-blanketed woods had been utterly devastated by the fierce clash.
Vast swaths of withered trees had collapsed, crisscrossing the forest floor in chaotic heaps.
Craters several meters deep pitted the ground, shocking to behold, as if burrowing into the abyssal depths of the earth.
Luo Chen's eyelids twitched. Was this the destructive might of a ninth-level Qi Refinement cultivator?
Back on the Dao Discussion Platform, restricted surroundings and the enclosing formation had suppressed the perceived destruction caused by ninth-level Qi Refinement cultivators.
Now, however, he truly understood why Zhou Yuanli had told him to run immediately.
Under attacks of this caliber, how many rounds could he have withstood?
"Gang Leader!"
"Cough, cough... Greetings, Gang Leader!"
Zhou Yuanli stepped forward with a salute, his complexion relatively normal.
Liu Qiang, however, was in far worse shape. His entire body was covered in terrifying lacerations.
Even as he greeted Mi Shuhua, his teeth chattered as though frozen to the core.
Mi Shuhua looked around and asked coldly, "Where is he?"
"He just escaped!"
"Hm?"
Zhou Yuanli gritted his teeth. "It's not that we didn't try to keep him here, but he possessed a Tier Two Water Escape Talisman. Just now, he risked his life to trade injuries with Liu Qiang and used the momentum to flee."
Looking at Liu Qiang's wounds, Mi Shuhua drew a deep breath.
He closed his eyes, releasing his immense spiritual sense to track the trail left in the wind and snow.
"That direction!"
Mi Shuhua snapped his eyes open and tossed the unconscious gray-robed cultivator onto the ground.
"Watch him and wait here. Zeng Wen is already on his way with reinforcements; he'll escort Luo Chen back to the headquarters."
With that, he shot away, a crescent moon orbiting beside him.
His speed was staggering!
After he left, Zhou Yuanli stood guard while Liu Qiang seized every second to tend to his wounds.
Luo Chen's mind stirred. He quickly squatted down and began searching the unconscious cultivator.
Storage bag—pocketed!
The clothes were actually a top-grade robe, no wonder the fellow had survived the Mother-Child Saber Array's blade storm.
Stripped!
Nothing else?
Luo Chen stood up and spat rudely on the ground.
"Bah, broke wretch!"
Zhou Yuanli couldn't help but ask, "Hall Master Luo, what about the other two enemies?"
"Dead. One left no corpse behind, and the other was reduced to ashes by my flames."
"Those two were penniless too. No storage bags, and not even their robes survived."
Luo Chen grumbled as he kicked the unconscious cultivator. "What kind of fools rob people in broad daylight? Don't they know I'm invincible against anyone of the same cultivation level?"
Hearing this, Zhou Yuanli and Liu Qiang looked at each other in speechless bemusement.
Why do we recall that when you were running away earlier, you vanished in the blink of an eye?
Luo Chen twitched his lips, not bothering to explain!
He slipped off to the side, gleefully examining the artifact he had just acquired.
A top-grade spear artifact was truly a rare sight.
What was more, it was fire-attributed. While it didn't match his Eternal Spring Art very well, his five spiritual roots meant he could still manage to use it!
Unfortunately, the battle just now had depleted most of his spiritual power, having sequentially driven the Jasper Sabers and the Four Elements Cauldron, as well as unleashing large-scale casts of the Entangling Art and Dancing Fireflies.
Otherwise, he would have definitely given the spear a test drive.
Oh, and he had also claimed an ice flying sword earlier, which seemed to be of top grade as well.
Its power was quite impressive, only slightly inferior to this spear. Fortunately, he had prepared beforehand and blocked it with the Four Elements Cauldron.
"A handsome haul from this fight!"
"Two top-grade offensive artifacts, one top-grade robe, plus a storage bag I haven't even searched yet. Who knows how many treasures are inside?"
There was no time for a thorough inventory, as a crowd was already rushing over in the distance.
The leader was unmistakably his old acquaintance, Zeng Wen.
Flustered, he touched down in the woods and looked at Luo Chen with urgent concern.
"Are you alright? Are you hurt anywhere? You can still make pills in the future, right?!"
That last part was your real concern, wasn't it?!
Luo Chen rolled his eyes. "Do I look like someone who's hurt? First send someone to take Liu Qiang back to recover!"
With that, he flapped his wide sleeves and took off on the wind.
Zeng Wen arranged for men to escort Liu Qiang back, then hurried to catch up with Luo Chen.
Flying alongside him, Zeng Wen asked in a low voice, "Why did you spend all of last month concocting Jade Marrow Pills? I didn't see a single Myriad Wonders Pill."
"What did you say?"
"I said the Myriad Wonders Pill!"
"The wind's too loud, I can't hear you!"
"You bastard, see if I ever come to rescue you next time!"
"Oh? And here I was, planning to give you some leftover Myriad Wonders Pills I had in stock. Top-grade, too. What a pity..."
"Fellow Daoist Luo Chen, this way please!"
The moment they arrived at the Mountain Breaker Gang headquarters, Zeng Wen began bellowing orders:
"Where is everyone? Where did you all die off to?!"
"Light the braziers! Serve hot tea! Bring out Qi Replenishing Pills and Healing Pills right now! Don't you know our Hall Master Luo Chen was rattled today?!"
Chapter 107