"Which Core Formation great sect does this belong to?"
"How can you be so certain it belongs to disciples of a great sect, Daoist friend?"
"Can't you see the design of that flying boat? It's clearly modeled after the magic treasure Langqi Flying Boat, albeit an inferior replica. But even so, unless you're a Core Formation great sect, it's exceedingly difficult to purchase a large flying boat of such supreme grade."
"You make a good point. Still, that insignia on the banner looks rather familiar to me. Let me think..."
As the Langqi Flying Boat docked, quite a few cultivators outside halted in their tracks, looking over with curiosity.
Murmurs and chatter arose continuously.
What piqued their curiosity was not merely the supreme-grade Langqi Flying Boat, but also the Foundation Establishment True Cultivator's severed head suspended high upon it.
Displaying it so ostentatiously was hardly the conduct of disciples from a great sect.
As they were discussing, a figure soared through the air from behind, heading straight for the flying boat.
"Eh, isn't that Fellow Daoist Duan Feng of the Luotian Association?"
"Could this be disciples from the Ice Fort?"
A sharp-eyed observer recognized Duan Feng.
They all knew that the Luotian Association was a subordinate force of the Ice Fort. For Duan Feng to rush forward with such attentive deference, an important figure from the Ice Fort had likely arrived.
Yet when they saw Duan Feng escorting a man clad in a red-cloud Daoist robe walking out, everyone exchanged puzzled glances.
The Ice Fort did have male disciples, but very few!
Even those they had predominantly cultivated water and ice arts.
Those who had reached the Foundation Establishment stage were well known to all.
Yet this man was clearly none of them.
Suddenly!
A cultivator from the Azure Pill Valley gasped under his breath, "Isn't that Senior Danchenzi?"
At those words, the crowd was taken aback, their expressions turning vibrant.
Over the past few years, Danchenzi's reputation had carried considerable weight.
Though he was a rogue cultivator, he was highly regarded by Fairy Jueqing of the Ice Fort, who had even nurtured him generously!
Although he was not a true disciple of the Ice Fort, his renown surpassed that of most Ice Fort true disciples.
Especially among rogue cultivators.
His standing had been lauded to the point of being compared on equal footing with the Dao Children of the Seven Sects.
Such a prodigy of alchemy, once he formed his core, would inevitably become a pivotal figure in the Jade Cauldron Domain!
Even Nascent Soul superior sects would treat him with courtesy!
Watching Luo Chen's receding figure, quite a few people harbored thoughts of currying favor.
Particularly rogue Foundation Establishment cultivators!
Since all of them hailed from rogue cultivator origins, they could be considered fellow wanderers adrift in the world.
With this shared background, flattering him and forging ties now would yield boundless benefits in the future!
Luo Chen did not care in the slightest about what these people thought.
Right now, he was concerned with only one thing.
"Where are they?"
"Up ahead. President, please follow me."
The two hurried forward, and the scenery of this base—spanning a hundred li—gradually entered Luo Chen's view.
There were natural landscapes, but more prominent were the traces of artificial construction.
The Golden Sand Floating Island!
Suspended above the Myriad Li Quicksand, it was a massive cultivation enclave constructed by Luoyun Sect cultivators through great mystical methods.
In this wasteland of the Myriad Li Quicksand where spiritual qi was practically chaotic and impure, they had forcibly gathered spiritual veins to forge a Tier 2 spiritual land.
During wartime, it served as the headquarters of the Four-Sect Alliance.
Cultivators rotated out from Mount Thunder Accumulation's Nine Peaks would also come here to rest, trade, and cultivate.
Noticing Luo Chen's curiosity along the way, Duan Feng gave a brief overview of the situation.
Of the four cardinal directions, the east was where the Luoyun Sect was garrisoned, the south was the Azure Pill Valley, and the west was Mount Ailao.
As for the Luotian Association's encampment, it belonged to the northern floating island where the Ice Fort was stationed.
When Luo Chen set foot here, his eyelids flickered, and he cast an imperceptible glance toward the towering, snow-crystal fortress at the center.
It looked both like a war fortress and a sprawling palace complex.
Was that the Ice Fort's sect-protecting magic treasure?
"The Ice Fort has the fewest subordinate forces among the four sects—indeed, among all seven sects—and they are basically all gathered here right now."
"Led by the Three Great Clans, they occupy the lands with the densest spiritual qi aside from the Ice Fort itself."
"Our Luotian Association ranks slightly below them. Master Jueqing applied on our behalf for a residence of roughly Tier 2 upper-grade quality."
"The spiritual qi concentration there is exceptional, which stirred up quite a bit of criticism among other Ice Fort subordinates, but Tantai Jin suppressed it. However, with Wang Yuan missing, Li Yingzhang severely wounded, and Min Longyu gone, Xu Huanzhen and I have genuinely struggled to withstand the pressure lately."
"After all, with the rotation of combat, cultivators must restore their spiritual power. The denser the spiritual qi in their quarters, the faster they recover. Two factions have already approached Master Yinyue several times to demand a swap of quarters with us."
Luo Chen listened quietly.
Hearing that Master Jueqing had secured decent quarters for the Luotian Association's cultivators, his expression softened slightly.
Yet hearing that other Ice Fort subordinates coveted it, a sneer crept onto his lips.
A bunch of cowards who bully the weak and fear the strong.
Why hadn't they made a move when Wang Yuan and Min Longyu were around?
Now that he had arrived, if they dared make a move, they had better not cross him.
'No! Perhaps crossing me would actually be best?' Luo Chen thought to himself, his mind stirring.
As Duan Feng explained, the two arrived at the northern part of the floating island.
Their flight speed was swift, and along the way, cultivators looked up at them from time to time.
Yet seeing the two land at the Luotian Association's quarters, the onlookers' expressions turned intrigued.
Unworthy of their station—that had been the Luotian Association previously!
Now, the Luotian Association had dispatched another Foundation Establishment True Cultivator.
Those two factions that coveted their spot would likely be unable to sit still!
...
"President!"
"President!"
"President!"
Voice after voice rang out from the surviving War Hall cultivators.
Luo Chen's hurried footsteps finally slowed.
Looking at the Qi Refinement cultivators emerging from the rooms one after another, his expression gradually softened.
"Everyone, you've worked hard."
Someone choked back tears, seemingly receiving immense comfort from this single sentence.
Others shouted, "Fighting for the Luotian Association is our duty!"
"It's not hard!"
Such words resounded without pause.
Luo Chen felt a touch of surprise. He had thought that after suffering defeat, their morale would be utterly depressed.
Unexpectedly, looking at them now, everyone was in high spirits.
This fervor had not surged merely because of his arrival; it seemed to have been present long before.
Of course, this was not the time to look into the matter.
He said gently, "During this period, all of you have truly labored hard. I brought plenty of fine wine and delicious food from the Luotian Association to reward everyone. Not only that, but going forward, I will also be stationed here permanently to fight side by side with you all."
Upon hearing this, cheers erupted from the crowd.
Their already upbeat morale surged even higher.
"Take some men outside the floating island to receive the supplies, and help Yuan Xiaoyue complete the handover of goods with the Ice Fort cultivators. Then bring both the people and the goods back," Luo Chen instructed in a low voice.
Duan Feng nodded, immediately picked several people, and departed.
Meanwhile, Luo Chen walked toward Xu Huanzhen, who was standing guard outside a stone house.
"I'm sorry for costing you a Tier 2 spirit beast."
Xu Huanzhen gave a wry smile. "Just as they said, it was merely my duty. You had better go see Little Li!"
Luo Chen gave an affirmative hum and stepped inside the stone house.
The moment he entered, a thick scent of medicinal herbs invaded his nostrils.
"President... I..."
On the bed, Li Yingzhang struggled to sit up.
"No need to get up. Lie down," Luo Chen said with a frown.
Then, without turning around, he asked, "How is his condition?"
Xu Huanzhen immediately replied, "Little Li was wounded by a true disciple of the Yan Alliance. The technique used to injure him differed from ordinary magical artifacts—it was laced with earth fire fiend qi!"
Earth fire fiend qi!
Hearing the term, Luo Chen's heart skipped a beat.
He was intimately familiar with this stuff.
Whether concocting Blood Burning Pills or tempering his body in the past, he had used a great deal of earth fire fiend qi.
Consequently, he understood its hazards far better than most.
Strictly speaking, earth fire fiend qi did not belong exclusively to Tier 1 materials.
Its grade depended on the quality of the earth fire.
The higher the quality of the earth fire, the higher the grade of the condensed fiend qi.
The Yan Alliance was a great artifact-crafting sect in the Jade Cauldron Domain!
Various grades of earth fire permeated their grounds, and they had even condensed a Sourceless Fire—the Wither-Bloom Fire!
Because of this, disciples of the sect were exceptionally skilled in fire arts.
Moreover, they frequently utilized earth fire fiend qi against enemies.
In combat, earth fire fiend qi could erode the spirituality of an opponent's magical tools and magic treasures, and inflict immense harm upon a cultivator's physical body.
Back then, Mi Shuhua had stated: once fiend qi invades the body, it breaks roots and destroys foundations!
Had Luo Chen not cultivated Bright Spirit Fiend Breaking and had Wang Yuan's assistance, he would never have used fiend qi to temper his physique in this lifetime.
Hearing that Li Yingzhang was injured by earth fire fiend qi, how could he not be alarmed?
"That true disciple wielded earth fire fiend qi with supreme mastery. Not only did he sever Little Li's connection to the Chilong Sword and seize it, but he also drove a strand of earth fire fiend qi into Little Li's body."
"This substance is difficult to purge. After we retreated to the Golden Sand Floating Island, Duan Feng invited two physicians—one from the Ice Fort and one from the Azure Pill Valley—in your name to treat him."
"One suppressed it with ice and snow arts, while the other treated him with medicinal pills."
"Even so, Little Li's injuries are recovering extremely slowly."
Luo Chen listened quietly, focusing all his attention on Li Yingzhang.
The young man seemed to be putting on a calm front, but the slight twitching at the corners of his eyes revealed that his internal condition was far from good.
In the end, Xu Huanzhen sighed. "It's only because Little Li's foundation is frighteningly solid; otherwise, he wouldn't even have lasted until we found someone to treat him."
Luo Chen knew a thing or two about Li Yingzhang's foundation.
Having learned the full story, Luo Chen walked up to Li Yingzhang.
"Bear with it for a moment. Let me examine your condition."
Behind him, Xu Huanzhen froze. Did the President know medicine too?
Then he remembered Gu Caiyi.
Word had it that not only had the President cured her, but she had also successfully reached Foundation Establishment not long ago.
Since antiquity, alchemy, pharmacy, and medicine had never been truly separate. An outstanding alchemist was often a fine physician, or a seasoned spiritual farmer and pharmacist.
The President was a formidable alchemist who had bested the Seven Azure Pill Prodigies; it was only natural that he possessed some medical knowledge.
Li Yingzhang naturally did not object.
He reined in his focus, allowing Luo Chen to inspect his internal condition.
A vast surge of divine sense gently entered Li Yingzhang's body.
Flesh and bone, meridians and qi sea—step by step, it reached everywhere.
Only after a long while did Luo Chen retract his divine sense.
He finally understood why Mi Shuhua had said that once fiend qi invaded the body, it broke roots and destroyed foundations.
He also understood why Xu Huanzhen had marveled at how solid Li Yingzhang's foundation was.
In his examination, Li Yingzhang's meridians were vast and broad, and the nine-tier heavens of his qi sea were profound and boundless, far surpassing ordinary Foundation Establishment True Cultivators.
Even compared to Luo Chen, he was only slightly inferior.
One could even say that his original foundation might not have been inferior to Luo Chen's at all!
The Nine-Bend Circulating Physique!
The Nine-Fold Origin Returning Art!
To forge a Dao foundation with these was truly terrifying.
No wonder Li Jinhuang, despite knowing his own lifespan was nearing its end back then, never pushed Li Yingzhang to forcefully establish his foundation.
With such a physique and foundation, this youth was truly a rare cultivation talent.
Perhaps Li Jinhuang had even underestimated Li Yingzhang's potential.
Unfortunately, the invasion of earth fire fiend qi had destroyed at least ten percent of his foundation.
Moreover, it continued to gnaw away, threatening to topple his nine-storied tower.
Under Luo Chen's scrutiny, however, clusters of ice and snow spiritual power tightly enveloped the earth fire fiend qi dispersed throughout Li Yingzhang's body.
Only this had prevented the continuous collapse of his foundation.
Yet this method was clearly treating the symptoms rather than the root cause!
If the fiend qi was not eradicated, an alien affliction within his body would eventually ruin Li Yingzhang.
'The wondrous pills of the Azure Pill Valley are truly extraordinary. Beside repairing wounds, they are clearly attempting to merge into the clusters of ice-snow spiritual power to erode the fiend qi.'
'This method is very mature!'
'It seems Azure Pill Valley researched how to deal with fiend qi invading the body long ago.'
Luo Chen mused inwardly, his face showing a contemplative look.
On the bed, Li Yingzhang asked weakly, "President, is there still hope for my condition?"
"Allow me to think it over carefully."
Seeing Luo Chen frowning in contemplation, Li Yingzhang could not help showing a dejected look.
Even the two masters of medicine from the Azure Pill Valley and the Ice Fort had been powerless against the fiend qi in the short term.
The President did not specialize in medicine, so how could he have a way?
Dejectedly, he said, "If I can't be cured, my Qinhua River Li family will have to rely on you in the future, President..."
"Why do you have the exact same temper as your grandfather, entrusting your family to me at every turn? If you had a wife and children, would you entrust them to me too?" Luo Chen suddenly scolded.
Li Yingzhang was stunned, his face flushing crimson.
Luo Chen chuckled. "You let your thoughts run wild. Even if I don't have a way, following the treatment of those two physicians, in several years to a decade you'll still recover without any impediment to your cultivation."
"Ah..." Li Yingzhang opened his mouth, his face turning even redder.
Xu Huanzhen could not help laughing as well. "Little Li, didn't I tell you that you overthink things all day? Now that the President has said so, just rest and recuperate in peace."
"Yeah." Li Yingzhang gave an embarrassed hum.
Just as Luo Chen fell into thought, a commotion suddenly erupted outside the encampment.
A flash of severity crossed Luo Chen's face, and he walked straight out.
Xu Huanzhen seemed to realize what was happening, his face darkening as well.
"Little Li, don't come out. The President and I will handle it."
With that, he hurried out the door.
On the bed, Li Yingzhang understood what was likely happening outside. Disregarding the warning, he struggled to get up.
...
"Senior Qu, do you have business here?"
"Business? Merely bringing up old matters again. Junior, don't get in my way. Tell the one in charge to come out and speak."
"This is the Luotian Association's encampment. Without prior notice of urgent business, no entry is permitted!"
"Junior, if you block me further, don't blame me, Qu, for not warning you!"
As the middle-aged man spoke, a powerful surge of air erupted from his body.
The pressure was so formidable that it forced Bu Junjie to retreat involuntarily.
Thump! Thump! Thump!
As Bu Junjie was driven back, deep footprints were stamped into the stone slabs.
Suddenly, Bu Junjie's figure came to a halt.
A gentle surge of spiritual power both supported him and dispelled the overbearing pressure.
"President!"
A figure slowly emerged behind him.
Standing straight as a towering pine, his aura blazed like the scorching sun, yet his cold eyes resembled an abyssal pool, unfathomably deep.
Wherever his gaze swept, hearts trembled without exception.
Chapter 366