Blazing Cloud Roc, I Want It All

A piece of news—or rather, an established fact—soon spread among the fewer than one hundred cultivators of the Luotian Association. The Luotian Association now had a "director-general"! This was an entirely new position, distinct from hall masters, elders, deacons, and even junior stewards. Yet everyone accepted it very quickly. Director-general: as the name implied, one who gathered and decided upon all affairs. It was hardly surprising for such a position to emerge. In a cultivation clan, this was the clan manager, second only to the clan head. In a sect, this was the sect master or headmaster, second only to the supreme elders. Their duty was to consolidate and decide upon countless trivial matters on behalf of the organization's true leader. It was merely that the Luotian Association had chosen a title more readily understood by all. What surprised the cultivators was that the post had not gone to Murong Qinglian, whom everyone knew so well, nor to Qin Liangchen, who held a nominal title, rarely had anything to do, and shared a close friendship with the president. Instead, it had gone to a female cultivator from the Gold Hall. Sima Huiniang! People were reasonably familiar with her. She was the leader of the Three Sima Cultivators, a well-known loose-cultivator clique in Dahe Market. She had always enjoyed a solid reputation outside, carrying herself with poise and grace, acting with measured propriety, and knowing when to show steel beneath her soft touch. After joining the Luotian Association, as one of only four ninth-layer Qi Refinement female cultivators, she naturally drew a great deal of attention. Among the association's four ninth-layer women, Granny Yuan was well along in years, and Murong Qinglian was already taken. As for the Gold Hall Master, Gu Caiyi, her relationship with the president ran deep, so no one dared entertain inappropriate notions toward her. That left only Huiniang. She had a wonderful personality, formidable strength, and held no formal office, which often drew longing glances from male cultivators. Earlier, people had wondered why, of the Three Sima Cultivators, her two sworn brothers had been appointed an elder and a deacon, while the most capable of them, Sima Huiniang, had been left idle in the Gold Hall. Who would have guessed the president possessed such bold resolve? In a single stroke, he had propelled her straight into the seat of director-general. With that, her status in the Luotian Association was instantly second only to one person, and above all others. Even the four hall masters—Granny Yuan being the vice hall master of the Pill Hall—had to take orders from her. From then on, all matters large and small that previously required Luo Chen's personal judgment had to be reported to her, and it was Sima Huiniang who made the final calls. Such a meteoric rise was bound to stir up conversation. Before long, word spread throughout the Luotian Association. Yet unlike the bustling chatter among the middle and lower ranks, none of the association's core leadership voiced any objections. In fact, all the business that would normally have been reported to Luo Chen began funneling straight to Sima Huiniang. From the shadows, Luo Chen kept a close watch on the reactions of his subordinates. Seeing that no disruptions had broken out, he let out a quiet sigh of relief. Backing Sima Huiniang to act like a sect master while he sat above as a supreme elder was, admittedly, a bit of a gamble. After all, the Luotian Association had not been founded very long ago. Yet for the sake of his cultivation, it was an absolute necessity. Otherwise, entangled in endless trivialities, even someone gifted with a heavenly spiritual root would be worn thin by such exhaustion. Luo Chen had chosen Sima Huiniang only after careful and deliberate thought. First was her ability, which was indisputable. In this day and age, anyone who could lead two brothers, roam far and wide, and hold her own undoubtedly possessed genuine competence! Second was her character. If she were an ungrateful turncoat or purely mercenary, Luo Chen could never rest easy. But he felt he had a firm measure of her integrity. She showed kindness to low-level cultivators. She showed no servility to powerful figures. Before summoning her, he had consulted Gu Caiyi and Zeng Wen to learn more about her. Sima Huiniang was adept in human relations; after entering the Gold Hall, she had fostered excellent rapport with her peers. When faced with difficult customers, she never conceded ground without limits. Someone who could nurture internal harmony while remaining unafraid of offending outsiders made an ideal executive for an organization. Finally, there was her background. Indeed, this was a point Luo Chen valued immensely. Sima Huiniang was not an old veteran of the Mountain Breaker Gang. Nor was she one of Luo Chen's closest personal friends. She was merely an outsider, a loose cultivator who had no backing in the Luotian Association beyond her two sworn brothers. Placing such a person into a post akin to a sect master carried many advantages. There was no fear of her growing too dominant, nor was she constrained by entrenched internal relationships. Most importantly, it set an example for the cultivators in the lower ranks: the president did not promote talent based solely on closeness and personal ties. As long as one's ability sufficed, he would readily appoint an outsider to a position of paramount authority! All these factors combined had led Luo Chen to his final decision. Once the appointment took effect, the Luotian Association—previously somewhat disorganized, scurrying about like a headless fly—truly transformed. The three hall masters no longer ran over to the Pill Hall at every turn for matters great and small. When critical decisions arose, they no longer had to wait outside for hours, hesitant to disturb Luo Chen while he refined pills. They needed only to find Sima Huiniang, discuss the matter, and arrive at a swift resolution. The association functioned faster and faster. Its utilization of manpower and material resources reached a well-ordered equilibrium. Most importantly, Luo Chen was finally freed from petty distractions. Apart from alchemy and cultivation, almost no one came to bother him unless something truly momentous had occurred. Furthermore, he had no reason to fear being sidelined by Sima Huiniang. After all, the entire Luotian Association, from its founding to its growth, had been forged by his hand. Every crucial post was held by a trusted friend. As time passed, Luo Chen discovered another benefit to promoting Sima Huiniang as director-general. Namely, offending people! Luo Chen had always treated the association's cultivators with benevolence. He rarely punished or berated anyone. This was tied to the composition of the Luotian Association. Many of its members were either his former subordinates or his friends. Harshly rebuking friends over minor trifles did not sit well with him. In the short term, this caused no harm, but over the long run, it would undermine an organization's healthy growth. Luo Chen understood this principle, yet found it difficult to act upon. It was like a founding emperor conquering a realm—slaughtering meritorious officials would forever invite censure. With Sima Huiniang serving as director-general, things were different. As an outsider whose roots were not yet deep, she naturally leaned toward strictness when handling infractions. Though it never went so far as killing the chicken to scare the monkey, it genuinely rooted out the habit of slacking on duty. Take his old friend Zeng Wen, for instance. Simply because he had neglected Gold Hall business several times, Sima Huiniang had penalized him, even docking his stipend. Zeng Wen had asked Tang Quan to find out when Luo Chen would be free, then came running over specifically to vent his grievances. Naturally, Luo Chen had joined him in cursing Sima Huiniang soundly. At the same time, he remarked that having delegated authority, he had to respect the woman's judgment on many matters. In the end, to soothe Zeng Wen's discontent without overturning Sima Huiniang's ruling, Luo Chen gifted him an extra bottle or two of pills to preserve their bond of friendship. After seeing Zeng Wen off once more, a faint smile tugged at the corner of Luo Chen's mouth. "So this is organizational management!" "In any group, someone must play the good cop, and someone the bad cop. "If I, the head of the faction, act as the villain every time, I'll offend everyone sooner or later, and the Luotian Association will tear itself apart. "Now that Sima Huiniang has taken on that role, she's handled it rather well!" After his musings, Luo Chen stepped into his alchemy chamber. It was time to refine the Nether-Passage Pill. Over the past few days, handing over various responsibilities to Sima Huiniang and occasionally backing her up as the newly appointed leader had disrupted his refining schedule. The few attempts he had made had mostly ended in failure. Today, he could finally settle his mind and refine pills in peace. He ignited the flame and heated the cauldron. He added medicinal herbs, combining them with various alchemical arts. Roughly four hours later, Luo Chen looked upon three steaming pills with profound satisfaction. Three Nether-Passage Pills formed, enough to support at least another month of cultivation. Not only did they bolster his soul foundation, but after ingesting a Nether-Passage Pill, he could also practice the God-Deterring Technique alongside it. This served both to digest the pill and to build spell proficiency. In the past, juggling such tasks had left him feeling pressed for time. Now, everything proceeded in an orderly rhythm. "Not only is the Luotian Association on the right track, but my cultivation has fallen neatly into place as well." *** Having ample time granted Luo Chen a sense of carefree ease unlike anything he had felt since embarking on the path of cultivation. No one above him watched or suppressed him, and those below moved at his beck and call. He did as he pleased, refining whatever pills he wished. His in-depth study of the Fireball Art had reached a critical threshold. Unsatisfied with merely applying the Fu family's talisman-crafting insights, he began weaving in his own realizations. The various techniques he had devised when working with the Jade Marrow Pill, now incorporated into the Fireball Art, yielded unexpected results. "The Fireball Art, at its core, is about gathering and dispersing at will. "Condensing spiritual energy to form a fireball is gathering. Detonating it to blast the enemy is dispersing. "If, as with the Jade Marrow Pill, I control the interval between gathering and dispersing in advance, wouldn't that allow me to..." With a thought, Luo Chen flicked his hand, releasing ten small fireballs. The fireballs shot forth, yet they did not immediately explode. Instead, guided by his transcendent Attraction Art, they began orbiting him. "Merge!" The ten fireballs coalesced in an instant, swelling to an enormous size. One step further, and it would form the nascent shape of the Blazing Sun Art. Yet Luo Chen shifted his intent slightly, and the massive fireball abruptly morphed into a colossal round shield—thin on the edges, thick at the center. The Fire Shield Art! Liu Qiang, who had been sparring with him from a distance, paused in surprise. The Dharma artifact Liu Qiang had unleashed was blocked layer by layer by the circular shield. Though it still drove forward with difficulty, the scorching heat was steadily melting away the spiritual energy imprint he had left upon it. Suddenly, Luo Chen reached out and grasped forward. Under Liu Qiang's astonished gaze, his flying-dagger artifact fell directly into Luo Chen's hand. Liu Qiang swallowed hard and stammered in disbelief, "President, did you just melt the spiritual energy imprint I left on my artifact?" Luo Chen smiled faintly, casually tossing the flying dagger back to him along with a bottle of pills. "My apologies. You'll need to spend some time refining it anew." Liu Qiang shook his head hurriedly. For a Qi Refinement cultivator, refining a Dharma artifact was simple enough. One merely needed to leave behind sufficient spiritual energy imprints, which would not take him much time. What truly shocked him was that Luo Chen possessed such a technique. Ignoring his awe, Luo Chen turned and strolled back with hands clasped behind him. "The Fire Shield Art derived from the Fireball Art does not excel in raw defense. "Its strength lies in relying on blistering heat during defense to melt away the spiritual energy imprints enemies leave on their artifacts. "Coupled with my Great Perfection Attraction Art, it allows me to snatch barehanded blades from the air." Truth be told, its practical utility in real combat was fairly ordinary. Battles shifted in the blink of an eye, and an opponent's assault rarely consisted of only a single Dharma artifact. Even so, having this move could catch an enemy off guard and throw them into disarray. After all, having one's primary weapon seized in the heat of battle would rattle anyone's composure. What pleased Luo Chen most was that he had grasped the knack of gathering and dispersing the Fireball Art at will. Extending this upward to fuse it into the Blazing Sun Art would be second nature. "The Blazing Sun Art formed from the Great Perfection Fireball Art is undeniably a second-tier technique. "In three to five days at most, I will fully possess an offensive means rivaling a Foundation Establishment cultivator!" This modest breakthrough in his strength left Luo Chen in high spirits. Yet life held more than just cultivation. That night, he slipped quietly out of the valley once again. *** Inside the Zhenlong Black Market, Luo Chen met with Tianxingzi. Under the other man's expectant gaze, Luo Chen produced a large bottle. With a light shake, the clinking of pills echoed from within. "Careful!" Tianxingzi hurriedly took the bottle with protective care. "Fifty pills, all inside?" "Yes," Luo Chen replied casually, his gaze drifting across the black market hall. By now, the proceedings had entered the phase of spontaneous cultivator auctions. Curiously, very few Foundation Establishment True Cultivators had shown up today—only that loose Foundation Establishment cultivator who had previously sold him and Wang Yuan the *Heavenly Roc Transformation*. Tianxingzi tallied the count and tucked the jade bottle away with satisfaction. "That friend of yours is truly a master alchemist! Having obtained the Falling Clouds Generating Mist Method for only a month, he's already made a breakthrough in the Dao of Alchemy." Luo Chen gave a soft chuckle. "It's also thanks to how exquisite that water method is, far superior to ordinary alchemical arts. "Even within a sect, it could well be considered a foundational..." Luo Chen's heart gave a sudden jolt. His gaze focused, settling on a single spot. He raised a hand and pointed toward that loose Foundation Establishment cultivator. "I want that!" Tianxingzi paused, turning to look. The Foundation Establishment True Cultivator was currently presenting a colossal demon beast corpse for auction. The beast's carcass was immense, taking up nearly all the space at the center of the hall. Most striking of all were its wings, each spanning thirty to forty feet. Had the creature been alive to spread them, they would surely have blotted out the clouds and the sun! "Ah, a blazing cloud roc!" Tianxingzi stroked his beard with a laugh. "A formidable existence among second-tier demon beasts. While not renowned for extreme speed, it is famed for fearsome offensive power. Once it unleashes demon fire, it sweeps across heaven and earth, melting metal and rending jade—ordinary Foundation Establishment cultivators cannot draw near. "For Fellow Daoist Xiong Kun to hunt such a beast is truly admirable." *So his name is Xiong Kun.* Luo Chen looked on thoughtfully. His soul foundation had grown considerably, and his thoughts moved faster than before. Matters he had once forgotten were gradually resurfacing in his memory. After all, he had not been cultivating for very long. All told, it had been a mere three years. In truth, his path had crossed with this man's long ago. Back when the Dao Discussion Platform opened, Luo Chen had scalped admission tokens on the White Stone Square. That very last token had been bought by this man for two hundred spirit stones. Earlier, Luo Chen had not made the connection, and had even conducted a beast hide transaction with him. Only after returning and reflecting a bit had he realized where the sense of familiarity had come from. "Which material from the blazing cloud roc has caught your eye, young friend? Speak up, don't be shy," Tianxingzi said with a smile. "Fellow Daoist Xiong and I get along well enough. For my sake, he can offer you a favorable price." In Tianxingzi's mind, Luo Chen had almost certainly set his sights on the roc's demon core or its pair of wings. Those were the most valuable materials on the beast's body. Yet Luo Chen's reply took him completely by surprise. "I want it all!"