"Senior Sister, the sect wants him. You won't be able to protect him!"
The chilling, sinister words still echoed in his ears.
Yet Luo Chen had already walked out of that bone-chilling palace.
Sunlight poured down upon him, draping a gossamer mantle of gold over the silhouette of the woman walking ahead.
Abruptly, her footsteps halted.
The woman turned around, her icy gaze glaring intently at Luo Chen.
"You have quite the nerve!"
The corner of Luo Chen's mouth twitched slightly, but he said nothing.
"I do not wish to see such a thing happen again!" the woman said coldly.
Luo Chen's expression remained tranquil. "I do not wish for it to happen again either."
"Hmph!"
Fairy Jueqing gave a cold snort, flicked her sleeves, and took her leave.
Luo Chen stood where he was, letting the dazzling sunlight blazing over the boundless yellow sands beat down upon him.
It was scorching, yet warm, dispelling every trace of the bone-deep chill left behind by those two powerful female cultivators, Jueqing and Yinyue.
Gradually, a faint, pleasing smile touched the corners of his lips.
At this moment, the unease, hesitation, and trepidation he had displayed in the ice palace were gone from his face. Only detachment and calm remained.
"This first step may have been taken at great risk, but in the end, it was planted firmly on solid ground!"
Muttering to himself, Luo Chen exhaled a long breath.
He set off, strolling toward the Luotian Association's encampment.
Along the way, he encountered many unfamiliar cultivators. There were Qi Refining disciples and Foundation Establishment True Cultivators alike; some belonged to vassal factions, while others were inner court or true disciples of Ice Fort.
Every single one of them recognized him.
Some gave him cold stares, some offered warm greetings, and some even took the initiative to strike up an acquaintance.
Such a scene made it seem as though Luo Chen had spent years cultivating connections here.
These were precisely the ripple effects set in motion after Luo Chen took that first step.
He remained perfectly composed.
Even before arriving at the Mount Thunder Accumulation battlefield, ever since the moment his feet touched the soil of the Golden Sand Floating Island, he had been pondering how to break the stalemate.
A stalemate?
In the eyes of others, what predicament could he or the Luotian Association possibly be facing?
Yet, in truth, an unspoken dilemma had hung over their heads all along: the degree of importance accorded to them!
The Jueqing lineage simply did not value him or the Luotian Association enough!
Perhaps it stemmed from the inherent arrogance of a Golden Core Master, or perhaps it was because she was too familiar with Luo Chen and his people; subconsciously, Fairy Jueqing had never attached much weight to the Luotian Association.
Even when Luo Chen made a name for himself in Azure Pill Valley, prompting Golden Core Masters from various sects to vie for him, Jueqing had remained seated comfortably on the fishing platform, unmoved as a mountain.
The reason was simple: at that time, she represented Ice Fort, and no friendly sect would offend a Golden Core great sect over a mere Tier 2 alchemist!
Yet what if one shifted perspective?
Other sects could not challenge her claim, but what about within Ice Fort itself?
At the end of the day, Luo Chen was not serving Ice Fort; he was making transactions with Fairy Jueqing.
If another Golden Core cultivator within Ice Fort showed keen interest in him, could Fairy Jueqing remain as indifferent as before?
The answer was an unequivocal no!
Judging from the outcome, things had played out exactly as Luo Chen foresaw!
From the very moment he set foot on the Golden Sand Floating Island, he had learned from Duan Feng about the Qu family and the Shenshui Sect coveting and bullying the Luotian Association.
Therefore, he chose to kill the chicken to warn the monkeys!
While intimidating the other vassal forces, he had also deliberately handed a pretext to Master Yinyue, the person in charge here.
She could then seize upon the incident and use that lever to recruit Luo Chen.
Others might not realize the true significance of a formidable alchemist, but a Golden Core Master outside the situation certainly would. Luo Chen also possessed ample self-awareness!
He truly had the ability to revitalize a small or medium-sized faction!
Even within a great sect, he was capable of bringing prosperity to a branch lineage!
Thus came the visit to the ice palace and Luo Chen's meeting with Yinyue.
This was a situation he had orchestrated intentionally, yet his resolution from the start was that he would never switch allegiances!
Just as he had stated before, no matter how much Fairy Jueqing belittled the Luotian Association, the resources and backing she had invested in him along the way had been genuine.
Under such circumstances, if he betrayed her, then even if he joined Yinyue's lineage and gained the favor of the Sect Master she mentioned, he would find it impossible to take a single step in Ice Fort.
At best, he would merely be a high-grade tool!
Those who betrayed loyalty and abandoned their masters for profit never met a good end. Above all, his former patron had never done anything to wrong Luo Chen.
Yet Luo Chen had to consider more than just himself; he had to consider the Luotian Association under his command.
His goal was to ensure that Jueqing's regard extended to the Luotian Association as well, loving the crow for the roof it perched upon.
Thus, he borrowed Master Yinyue's pressure to force Fairy Jueqing to take a clear stand.
Judging by the results, Luo Chen had played this risky hand correctly!
Of course, that was the overarching strategy; in the finer details, Luo Chen had also executed everything flawlessly.
Whether it was slandering Qu Zhenbiao with sharp words, defeating him with a thunderous strike, or deliberately manipulating emotions inside the ice palace, he had played every angle to perfection.
From then on, no matter what rumors spread outside, they would only favor the Luotian Association.
The only thing that had taken Luo Chen by surprise—and nearly derailed the situation—was that he had underestimated the methods of a Golden Core Master.
"That woman's bewitchment arts were employed without a sound. I almost fell into her trap!"
Luo Chen rubbed the bridge of his nose, a flicker of lingering fear flashing in his eyes.
Inside the ice palace, every gesture, tone, and expression of Master Yinyue had been designed to bewitch the mind.
Fortunately, his soul foundation was not weak, and he had practiced secret soul arts like the Soul Deterrence Art, Bewitching Spirit Art, and the Tier 3 illusion technique Moon in the Water, Flowers in the Mirror, making him relatively familiar with such tricks.
Not only that, but after Bright Spirit Fiend Breaking reached Grandmaster mastery, it had erected a rudimentary defense along the periphery of his sea of consciousness.
Even though its ultimate evolution at Great Perfection had diverged toward dividing his attention rather than reinforcing that barrier, it was still enough to sound an alarm.
And that was not all!
The Lanke Black Chess Piece was also a magic treasure leaning toward soul defense.
Layered together like this, he had silently resisted Master Yinyue's bewitchment.
Otherwise, he might truly have agreed to her proposition in the ice palace, defecting to Yinyue's lineage—or rather, not Yinyue's lineage, but the Sect Master's lineage!
Earlier, Jueqing's simple words—"You have quite the nerve!"—referred to all of this.
It pointed to Luo Chen using Yinyue's leverage to force her hand, as well as his audacity in facing Master Yinyue directly while still maintaining his original resolve.
"I moved a thousand jin with four liang. Without great nerve, how could anything be achieved?"
With a carefree laugh, Luo Chen arrived back at the encampment.
***
After a brief rest, Luo Chen threw himself into work.
Treating injuries and ailments!
He was not treating Li Yingzhang yet; he had not finalized the treatment plan for him.
There was one method he was not certain would work, so he needed to test it beforehand!
His test subjects were the other wounded cultivators of the Luotian Association.
He had previously instructed Xu Huanzhen to tally the injured.
Now that he had free time, those cultivators queued up under Yuan Xiaoyue's arrangement, filing into Luo Chen's room in an endless stream.
"A minor injury. I'll treat it for you; afterward, go to Yuan Xiaoyue for a package of herbs to consolidate your foundation. Brew and drink it for two days, and you'll be fine."
Looking at the excited cultivator before him, Luo Chen spoke calmly.
Even as he spoke, his hands cast the Spring Wind Transforming Rain Art.
As a Tier 2 healing spell, its therapeutic effects were stronger than the Healing Art at Great Perfection, and its focus was different.
The Healing Art primarily treated superficial injuries. Even at Great Perfection, it could only reach the relatively apparent layer of the meridians.
The Spring Wind Transforming Rain Art, however, was a dual-element spell of Water and Wood, embodying the principle of moistening things silently.
It could heal hidden wounds that cultivators could not even detect themselves, and even penetrate from the exterior to the interior, repairing damage to their acupoints.
After Luo Chen cast it twice in succession, the cultivator felt entirely refreshed.
When the man thanked him and prepared to leave, Luo Chen casually brushed his sleeve toward him.
A gentle breeze swept past, and the cultivator's stride as he walked out the door seemed considerably lighter.
It was as though his lingering ailments had been purged, leaving him free of dust!
"The President's medical skill is truly miraculous. With a brief check, he cured the dull ache in my Tanzhong acupoint."
"Hey, why do you look so clean and refreshed all of a sudden? Now that your injury's healed, come drink at my place tonight!"
Inside the room, Luo Chen took advantage of the brief wait before the next patient entered to summon his attribute panel.
Under the spells column, the proficiency of the Tier 2 spell, Spring Wind Transforming Rain Art, had already reached the Perfect level and was not far from Grandmaster.
This was not accomplished overnight, of course.
During that year on Tianlan Peak when he treated Gu Caiyi's injuries, he had cast this spell twice every day.
Now, he was merely taking advantage of the crowd to grind it faster.
In truth, the Spring Wind Transforming Rain Art was not the only spell he was grinding.
He was also experimenting with another spell at Great Perfection: the Cleansing Art!
He was testing whether this spell could be applied to treating injuries.
*Strictly speaking, earth fire fiend qi is also a form of qi.*
*Since the Cleansing Art can remove spiritual qi, yin qi, and pill qi, it naturally ought to clear fiend qi as well.*
*Compared to domineering Tier 2 fiend qi, the cultivators of the Luotian Association have also accumulated plenty of blood-fiend qi from years of killing.*
*Testing the Cleansing Art just now confirmed it can indeed purge a portion. However, because blood-fiend qi originates from the person themselves, it cannot be cleared entirely.*
*Yet the earth fire fiend qi inside Li Yingzhang is an external foreign body. If I control it properly, perhaps I can...*
Another cultivator walked in.
Seeing the man bow with excitement, Luo Chen smiled slightly.
Then followed the familiar routine: sending his spiritual sense into the body to inspect the condition, administering treatment with his Healing Art and Spring Wind Transforming Rain Art, and finally using the Cleansing Art to eliminate any lingering foreign qi.
Of course, with Luo Chen's medical capabilities, he could not cure all ailments.
Many injuries required the assistance of corresponding spirit pills and medicinal herbs.
All Luo Chen could do was alleviate their injuries as much as possible.
And so, three days flew by in the blink of an eye.
Inside Li Yingzhang's room.
Luo Chen sat beside him with utter composure, employing the Grandmaster-level Spring Wind Transforming Rain Art—freshly grinded through his recent intensive efforts—to melt the ice-and-snow spiritual qi cluster encasing the earth fire fiend qi within Li Yingzhang's body.
Under his manipulation, that ice and snow continually dissolved beneath the gentle spring wind and rain.
"Ugh!"
A muffled groan escaped Li Yingzhang's lips.
"Endure it!" Luo Chen said softly, cautiously casting a Cleansing Art.
The next instant, a wisp of freshly awakened earth fire fiend qi was purged from his body.
Looking at the fiend qi burning a large hole into the ground, Luo Chen sank into deep thought.
Meanwhile, on the bed, Li Yingzhang's face filled with astonishment.
It was eliminated!
It really had been removed!
He could feel the burden on his body lighten by a fraction.
"President, this..."
"Rest. I will draw out three portions of fiend qi for you each day; it won't be long before you fully recover."
As he spoke, he walked out lost in thought.
He seemed entirely oblivious to Li Yingzhang's profuse thanks behind him.
Along the way, he ran into Xu Huanzhen coming toward him, but he barely exchanged a word.
His entire being seemed to have fallen into a state of sudden enlightenment.
"What happened to the President?"
Xu Huanzhen stared in bewilderment at Luo Chen's receding figure.
Sudden enlightenment?
Naturally, that was not the case; at his current cultivation realm, there was nothing profound to enlighten him in that way.
It was simply that while extracting the earth fire fiend qi just now, something had clicked. Drawing upon his accumulated knowledge and experience, an idea had suddenly struck him.
*Could this stuff... be used to open acupoints?*
Having spent so much time studying the Tier 3 body refinement art Heavenly Roc Transformation lately, Luo Chen was constantly pondering and exploring.
Fiend qi could naturally be used for body refinement.
In fact, after reaching Foundation Establishment, he had once drawn subterranean fiend qi beneath Mount Xiaohuan with Wang Yuan's help, advancing his body refinement cultivation to the second realm, the Blood River Realm.
The cultivation progression of the Blood River Realm was exceptionally detailed!
Unlike Foundation Establishment True Cultivators, who primarily accumulated spiritual power during their Foundation Establishment stage, body cultivators in the Blood River Realm had nine minor realms in total:
Tendon Changing, Marrow Cleansing, Viscera Refining, Meridian Unblocking, Acupoint Opening, and the four forces—Obvious, Hidden, Neutralizing, and Pellet Force.
If one could cultivate through so many minor realms completely, a human physique could be elevated to a terrifying height.
At that stage, blood would course like a grand river, vigor would surge to the nine heavens, the four forces would merge into one, and every transformation of vital blood would be thoroughly comprehended.
It could even cause the body cultivator's life level to undergo a complete metamorphosis, allowing them to advance into the third realm of body refinement, the Smelting Furnace Realm.
Even the issue of lifespan would be resolved by this metamorphosis in life level.
Luo Chen had never been very keen on the orthodox cultivation path of traditional body cultivators.
The primary reason was that comprehending the transformations of vital blood to develop the four forces demanded far too much time and energy.
Moreover, it required extraordinary innate talent.
Only someone like Wang Yuan, whose body refinement talent was breathtaking, could grasp Obvious Force at an early stage and even gain entry into Hidden Force over the years.
Nevertheless, supported by a vast pile of resources, Luo Chen had naturally completed four of the first five stages: Tendon Changing and Marrow Cleansing, Viscera Refining to great completion, and all meridians unblocked.
The only one he had yet to complete was the fifth stage: Acupoint Opening.
Yet, in truth, Luo Chen was no stranger to opening acupoints.
The earliest cultivation of Bright Spirit Fiend Breaking involved stimulating acupoints to temper one's willpower.
Aside from the ordinary acupoints, over the years Luo Chen had unknowingly unblocked the thirty-six major acupoints recorded in Bright Spirit Fiend Breaking.
*Back then, I used spiritual qi to open the acupoints. It was relatively gentle, but the efficiency was quite low.*
*If I use fiend qi to open them instead, wouldn't the effect be much better?*
*Ordinary Tier 1 fiend qi naturally won't do, but what about Tier 2 fiend qi?*
The more he thought about it, the more feasible it seemed!
Besides, he actually had plenty of free time right now.
Since arriving on the Golden Sand Floating Island, it was not yet the Luotian Association's turn to garrison the mountain, so he did not need to concoct pills every day.
Apart from taking high-grade Soaring Dragon Pills for his daily cultivation, his time was spent treating the injuries of his subordinates.
As for searching for Wang Yuan's whereabouts, Duan Feng was already arranging people to inquire about him.
One could say that this seemingly perilous battlefield was, ironically, the place where Luo Chen had enjoyed the most abundant free time in years.
*If I can bring Acupoint Opening to great completion, will it boost my cultivation speed, just like the tremendous boost I experienced after unblocking all my meridians?*
Just as Luo Chen was eager to try it out, Duan Feng hurried over.
"President, someone has delivered a calling card."
"Who is it?"
"He calls himself Tianxingzi, from the Luoyun Sect!"
Luo Chen's heart stirred.
He knew that after his clash above the floating island, many people would come to pay visits and form connections.
Yet he had not expected that the very first person to submit a calling card would be an old acquaintance.
Recalling their past cooperation, Luo Chen could not help but smile.
"Give the card to me."
Chapter 369