A Hero in Life, a Champion in Death

Celestial ripples easily fade; fleeting moments cannot be stayed. Mortals often barely sense how swiftly time flies, only realizing it in a sudden flash of clarity years later when looking back. "Ah, so many years have already slipped by!" Yet for cultivators who had embarked upon the true Great Dao, the erosion of time was the most terrifying blade. When Luo Chen emerged from his protracted seclusion, a mere trance had seen three fleeting years slip past. "Has it really been that long?" Luo Chen felt a touch dazed. Soon, however, he reined in his thoughts and directed his focus inward toward his own body. His realm had finally stabilized! He opened his attribute panel, which had gone unchecked for a long time. A stream of data slowly unrolled before him like an ink wash painting. [Lifespan: 35/160] [Spiritual Roots: Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, Earth] [Realm: Foundation Establishment Layer Two 1/100] [Cultivation Methods: Yimu Medicine King Scripture Perfect 375/500, Bright Spirit Fiend Subduing Perfect 400/500, Ten Thousand Beasts Scripture 10/100] [Spells: Tier Two: Landslide Entry 75/100, Glazed Sky Screen Entry 10/100 Tier One: Healing Art Grandmaster 700/500, Earth Peak Technique Perfect 400/500, Surging Waves Technique Perfect 400/500, Soundproofing Art Perfect 312/500, Spirit Intimidation Technique Proficient 251/300 Great Perfection Spells (Click to view details)] [Alchemy Arts: Great Perfection Jade Breaking Hand, Pure Heart Hand Grandmaster 513/1000, Washing Brook Hand Adept 125/200, Cloud Transforming Hand Adept 112/200] [Martial Arts: Mountain-Cleaving Stele-Shattering Palm Great Perfection, Heavenly Maiden Scattering Flowers Perfect 360/500] [Skills: Tier-Two Alchemist: Blood Burning Pill Adept 150/200, Nether-Passage Pill Entry 80/100, Emperor Flowing Liquid Entry 3/100, Great Perfection Pills (Click to view details)] [Achievement Points: 7] Immediately, Luo Chen noticed the increase in his lifespan. Seeing this, the lingering worry in his heart vanished in an instant. "As expected, even though I have congenital deficiencies, once I established my Dao foundation, that limitation was broken." "Now, with even a slight advancement in cultivation, my maximum lifespan continues to grow." The corners of Luo Chen's mouth curved upward, revealing his inner delight. However, if other Foundation Establishment cultivators learned of what he called a "slight advancement," they would surely curse him to high heaven. In just three short years, he had gone from the first layer of Foundation Establishment to the second layer. Such cultivation speed was truly extraordinary talent. Naturally, Luo Chen knew his own circumstances. Such a pace would likely never happen again. Over these three years, although he had taken no medicinal pills aside from Fasting Pills, a massive backlog of medicinal power had remained trapped within his reshaped dantian from when he broke through to Foundation Establishment. All he had done now was thoroughly refine and assimilate it. Moreover, achieving this level of efficiency was largely thanks to the spiritually abundant ground beneath his feet! This was, after all, the cultivation retreat prepared by the Golden Core Superior Pang Renxiong for himself. At its peak, it was unquestionably a third-tier spiritual ground! It was only after that colossal battle, when the formations in Mount Luofeng were completely destroyed, that this temporarily elevated spiritual ground began to slowly dissipate. By the time Luo Chen arrived, its quality had already fallen from third-tier to second-tier. Even so, it far surpassed ordinary second-tier spiritual grounds. And as he greedily absorbed its energy with all his might over the past three years, the rank of the spirit vein here had continued to drop. Now, it barely maintained the second tier. "A cultivation environment like this will likely be hard to find in the future." Luo Chen shook his head, not overly greedy. His gaze settled on the other entries. That his primary cultivation method, the Yimu Medicine King Scripture, had reached the Perfect level came as no surprise. After all, he already possessed the Great Perfection Eternal Spring Art as a foundation, allowing for a seamless transition. In truth, Luo Chen felt grinding this proficiency had been too slow. "It is a second-tier cultivation method after all; it takes running it multiple times just to gain a single point of proficiency." "To grind it to the Grandmaster level will only get slower and slower." "Still, that is only natural. Whether it is one's cultivation realm or cultivation methods, the further one progresses, the smaller and slower the increments become." What Luo Chen focused on was not this. What mattered to him was his current cultivation speed. After digesting the accumulated medicinal power within his body, Luo Chen had consciously calculated his cultivation rate. Initially, because the proficiency level of his core cultivation method kept climbing, the data he obtained was unstable. However, once the Yimu Medicine King Scripture plateaued at the Perfect level, his numbers gradually stabilized. In the end, Luo Chen arrived at a rough figure. "Without the aid of pills, and assuming I have an ordinary second-tier spirit vein like this one... reaching Foundation Establishment Great Circle will take me at least... two thousand years." Terrifying data, delivered in a flat tone. This stark contrast caused no great stir in Luo Chen's heart. Or rather, when he first arrived at that number, stormy waves had already churned through him. Now, he simply accepted it with composure. Honestly speaking, this figure was not exaggerated. He had used the legendary heavenly spiritual root cultivators as a control group. Records in the cultivation world stated that without taking pills, a heavenly spiritual root cultivator could establish their foundation in ten years, form a core in a hundred, birth an infant in two hundred, and transform their spirit in five hundred. That was an absurdly terrifying rate of cultivation, which explained why major sects fought tooth and nail over disciples with heavenly spiritual root talent. In comparison, measuring the cultivation efficiency of other talents was straightforward. Luo Chen did not know how others calculated it, but he had his own quantified scale. If a five-element spiritual root's cultivation speed was set at a baseline of one, then a four-element root was two, a three-element root was four, and a dual-element root was eight. A heavenly spiritual root reached a staggering twenty times the baseline! Whether this scale was strictly accurate was anyone's guess. At least during the Qi Refinement stage, it aligned well with Luo Chen's observations. As for how well it held up during Foundation Establishment, that remained to be seen. The reason Luo Chen felt no despair was simple: all of the above assumed zero supplemental cultivation resources. Miraculous pills, array-enhanced spirit grounds, secret arts, divine techniques, and the like—these external resources were tremendously effective at accelerating cultivation. Luo Chen had already proven this during Qi Refinement. "Two thousand years is merely an illusion. As long as I can keep taking pills, that duration will shrink drastically." "Therefore, the only thing that troubles me is the pills themselves." Luo Chen's eyes flickered. Naturally, his dilemma was not what pills to take. There were plenty of tier-two pills suitable for Foundation Establishment True Cultivators. He himself had mastered three: the Blood Fiend Pill, the Jade Dew Pill, and the exorbitantly expensive Emperor Flowing Liquid. What troubled him was the side effects of consuming too many pills. He could not simply pop pills all the way to Foundation Establishment Great Circle and then, on the verge of Core Formation, face the same crisis he had suffered when breaking through to Foundation Establishment! The quantity of pills consumed during Qi Refinement was a mere drop in the bucket compared to Foundation Establishment. Under such a staggering intake, the resulting barrier of pill toxicity would be far more horrifying. If he had to endure that again, Luo Chen lacked even the slightest confidence that he could break through to the Golden Core stage. Never mind five portions of Core Formation spiritual medicine—even fifty would likely fall short. "I must find a method to neutralize pill toxicity!" Only by solving the side effects of pills could Luo Chen safely rely on external aids to speed his cultivation. Otherwise, he might never touch the threshold of Golden Core before dying of old age. Finding a method to resolve pill toxicity would be his most critical task going forward, and he etched it deeply into his mind. Besides, he was not without hope in this regard. Back when he had just broken through to Foundation Establishment, he had discussed this with Nangong Jin. There were numerous ways to deal with pill toxicity in the cultivation world: herbal methods, alchemical methods, spell arts, and more. One could say the flourishing hundred arts of cultivation were born from the myriad obstacles encountered along the path of cultivation. When obstacles arose, cultivators resolved them. If one way failed, they sought another. Over time, these problem-solving methods evolved into distinct crafts passed down through generations, forming the so-called "hundred arts of cultivation." His cultivation realm was now established, he commanded a faction that moved at his beck and call, and he was an esteemed alchemist! With so many advantages in his favor, finding a method to neutralize toxicity would not be excessively difficult. Thoughts flowing through his mind, Luo Chen shifted his gaze down to the Spells section. The current attribute panel had been reorganized by him. The reason for this reorganization was that over the past three years, he had finally reached the Entry level with the tier-two spell Landslide. To distinguish between tier-one and tier-two spells, he had reorganized the dazzlingly crowded panel. Reaching Entry level in Landslide was only natural; Luo Chen had satisfied the basic prerequisites long ago. As for its power, Luo Chen had tested it before. For now, it fell slightly short of his Blazing Sun Art, which combined his Great Perfection Fireball Art to the utmost extreme. This made sense. After all, the Fireball Art was the spell he had invested the most time and effort into, refined to its very peak with nowhere left to advance. What Luo Chen valued in Landslide was its potential. He would persist in practicing it in the days ahead. After all, he wanted to see for himself just what kind of splendor lay behind a spell reputed to wield the pinnacle of destructive power among tier-two arts. The other tier-two spell Luo Chen had learned, however, was quite intriguing. It had been specially gifted to him by Wang Haichao as a celebratory present during his Foundation Establishment ceremony. It was a very valuable gift! "Glazed Sky Screen, a pinnacle tier-two water-attribute defensive spell!" "At Minor Accomplishment, it shields the entire body, with defensive strength comparable to a high-grade defensive dharma artifact." "Once Proficient, it can be deployed and retracted at will, its protection rivaling a top-grade defensive dharma artifact." "If brought to Major Accomplishment, unfolding it can shield an entire expanse of sky, its might no less than a mountain-protecting grand array!" Merely listening to the spell's description revealed its extraordinary utility. It truly lived up to its reputation as a "pinnacle defensive spell." Yet it was also a gift borne of ulterior motives! The difficulty of cultivating this art was exceptionally high. One had to possess considerable attainment in water-attribute spells just to get started. Not only that, its consumption of spiritual power was utterly colossal. One needed only to imagine: sheltering an entire expanse of sky at Major Accomplishment would consume an unfathomable amount of spiritual power. Had an ordinary cultivator acquired this spell, nine times out of ten they would have shelved it indefinitely. By comparison, they would be better off learning other tier-two defensive spells. Whether the earth-attribute Copper Wall and Iron Bastion or the wood-attribute Coiling Dragon Post, both yielded solid results. Even the fire attribute, renowned for being least suited to defense, had an outstanding defensive spell called the Blazing Heavens Sevenfold Rings. Back when Luo Chen was refining the Fireball Art, the ring of fire he had conjured in a flash of inspiration had carried traces of the Blazing Heavens Sevenfold Rings. Moreover, ordinary Foundation Establishment cultivators did not cast spells very often anyway. Most relied on dharma artifacts in combat. Under such circumstances, Wang Haichao giving Luo Chen a defensive spell that was notoriously hard to learn and master was quite thought-provoking. "My reputation for spellcasting had already spread far and wide after the battles against the Fu family and at Mount Xiaohuan." "Was he catering to my tastes?" "Or did he deliberately give me this spell to drag down my cultivation speed?" Luo Chen gave a self-mocking chuckle, not bothering to dwell on it. All he knew was that with his proficiency system, given enough time, he would master it sooner or later. Wang Haichao's move was like throwing meat buns at a dog—no return... Bah! Luo Chen closed his attribute panel. Three years of arduous cultivation had passed; it was time to head out. Now his realm was stabilized, and his combat repertoire for the Foundation Establishment stage had been honed to proficiency over these three years. Next, he needed to work on securing future cultivation resources. Breaking through to Foundation Establishment had completely wiped out his reserves. If he did not scrounge up some spirit stones, he would lack the confidence to even attend the large auctions reserved for the wealthy. Besides, over these three years, the Luotian Association had accumulated a mountain of affairs waiting for his attention. Casting a Cleansing Art on himself, Luo Chen looked around the cave dwelling with a touch of reluctance. Three whole years! This had probably been the most austere period of his life since transmigrating. He actually felt quite nostalgic. Unfortunately, without Pang Renxiong's secret art to sustain it, this second-tier spiritual ground was slowly dissipating. His three years of bitter cultivation had only accelerated its decline. Within a few months, it would likely be absorbed back into the large first-tier spirit vein running through Mount Luofeng! "Hm?" "A first-tier spirit vein!" Luo Chen's eyes lit up. Such a vast first-tier spirit vein—did that not mean abundant deposits of raw spirit stone ore lay beneath it?! ... ... Raw spirit stone ore! Wherever a spirit vein existed, mineral-like crystals of spiritual energy would form. The mortal and immortal worlds alike called them raw spirit stone ore. From the moment they formed, these stones acted like magnets, automatically drawing in the ambient spiritual energy floating between heaven and earth. This ensured that spiritual energy grew ever richer where they originated. With enough time, even a first-tier spirit vein had a chance of advancing to second, third, or even fourth tier! Under normal circumstances, no one would proactively mine raw spirit stone ore, for doing so was tantamount to tearing down one's own walls. Once raw spirit stone ore was extracted, its strange property of drawing in spiritual energy vanished. Even if placed back, it would no longer attract spiritual qi. Consequently, factions large and small protected the raw ore within their spirit veins like prized treasures. Yet this presented a paradox. "Spirit stones," celebrated as the universal currency of the cultivation world, were unquestionably made from raw spirit stone ore. Both the spiritual energy contained within and the material itself verified this origin. Where, then, did so many spirit stones come from? And who would commit such a self-destructive folly? According to current legends in the cultivation world, spirit stones primarily originated from the five Great Sacred Lands distributed across the five continents. Beneath them, the Nascent Soul sects of each domain were also bestowed with the method to craft spirit stones. In other words, most spirit stones came from the five Great Sacred Lands and the various Nascent Soul sects. Cultivators surmised that the five Great Sacred Lands possessed miraculous methods to quarry fixed quotas of raw ore without harming the spirit vein's quality. Luo Chen had seen raw spirit stone ore once before, inside the spirit vein cavern beneath Crescent Moon Valley. He had not excavated it back then, mainly because he did not want to destroy that miniature spiritual ground. As facts proved, reaching his current height owed an enormous debt to the Crescent Moon Valley spiritual ground. Had he dug it up then, it would have been worth no more than ten thousand low-grade spirit stones at best. Its true worth lay in actively drawing ambient spiritual qi from heaven and earth. Furthermore, he had two other reasons for leaving it untouched back then. First, he did not know how to fashion currency-grade "spirit stones." Digging it up would only allow him to absorb spiritual energy directly from it, which was less efficient than consuming carefully refined pills. Second, he had been weak back then. Without specialized methods, such a massive chunk of raw ore was difficult to split and use. Carrying out the entire slab would inevitably invite unwanted attention. Now, however, he had resolved the second issue. "I have the strength now!" "And I have the means!" "Even if I still cannot craft official currency spirit stones, I can use spiritual sense restrictions to seal the cut pieces of raw ore." Luo Chen pursed his lips, eyes gleaming with excitement. Given Mount Luofeng's heritage, there had to be a tremendous amount of raw spirit stone ore down below! Perhaps there were even deposits of mid-grade raw ore—maybe even a few pieces of high-grade! Whether for personal use or barter, such items would be eagerly snapped up by buyers. If he unearthed them, would that not instantly solve his current financial pinch? Nothing more to be said. Time to dig! Luo Chen immediately summoned his sword pill, which transformed into sword light and began boring downward. When it came to mining, truth be told, he was quite experienced! His original body had worked as a miner for a time early on. Later, when Luo Chen had taken the Nether-Passage Pill for the first time, he had entered a ten-year dream. In that stretched-out, fleeting expanse of memory, Luo Chen had mined ore for ten full years. So, he was at least a qualified miner. The sword pill's material was extraordinary, characterized above all by supreme sharpness. Under Luo Chen's manipulation, it burrowed deeper and deeper in no time. "This direction." "Yes!" "I sense it! A staggering surge of spiritual qi, right below." Luo Chen was ecstatic. This cave was already at the base of the mountain belly, extremely close to the spirit vein's core. With his Foundation Establishment abilities coupled with the sword pill, his digging speed was blazingly fast. Before long, an exceptionally pure wave of spiritual qi rushed toward him. Taking just a single breath left Luo Chen feeling invigorated. "There couldn't really be high-grade spirit stones... could there?!" His open mouth slowly closed. His ruddy face abruptly drained of color. His exuberant mood plummeted like a stone. Without uttering a word, Luo Chen retreated. His speed was the pinnacle of pinnacles in his entire life! In the blink of an eye, he transformed into a golden streak, fleeing madly under the wrap of his sword pill! Beneath the newly breached fissure in the mining shaft, a massive, condensed phantom slowly opened its eyes. In those enormous eyes lay sorrow, regret, confusion, and, above all, an eternal, inextinguishable fury. "A hero in life, a champion in death... Am I, Pang Renxiong, truly dead?" ... "Damn it! Damn it all!" "Wasn't he dead? How is he still alive?!" "No, he *is* dead—he transformed into a ghost king!" "Just what kind of fury and grievance could have turned him into a ghost king in such a short time?!" Luo Chen did not know. He only knew that there was only one thing for him to do: Flee! Flee with everything he had! A ghost king comparable to a Golden Core Superior! That was not an existence any Foundation Establishment True Cultivator could hope to contend with. A mere wave of its hand might end his life. Luo Chen had no intention of throwing his life away here, so he unleashed strength unprecedented in his entire life, fleeing like mad. Great Perfection Carefree Wind Riding! Sword flight! Pure spiritual power enveloped him, fusing into the golden sword light to cleave through every obstacle as he ran for his life. Meanwhile, almost the exact instant he took flight, Mount Luofeng began to tremble. Vast torrents of ghostly qi erupted from the subterranean depths. An earth-shattering aura descended once again upon Dahe Ghost City. An unmatched presence swept across all directions. Within the Ghost City, every shade and specter—from entities at the level of ghost generals down to mindless yin souls—shivered and threw themselves prostrate upon the ground. This ghost domain had been born from the fall of three ghost kings, which was why it had lingered for years without dispersing. Yet for years, it had remained quiet only because a new ghost king had been coming into being. Now, that ghost king had awakened. And amidst the deathly silence, this ghost domain erupted into instant frenzy!