Luo Chen never ceased his research into using lightning power to open his acupoints.
In any case, the fighting on the front lines had nothing to do with them.
The Four-Sect Alliance's intention to hold the Sixth Peak to the death was unmistakable; unless they genuinely ran short of hands, the Luotian Association would probably never be sent to the vanguard.
A few days later.
Luo Chen sat cross-legged within the Lightning-Struck Wood grove as wisps of fine lightning, drawn by the thunder-guiding net, washed over his body.
An ordinary Foundation Establishment True Cultivator might have found this deeply uncomfortable, perhaps even dreading it like vipers and scorpions.
Yet Luo Chen possessed a formidable physique, and his long years of cultivating the Ageless Evergreen Scripture endowed him with astonishing regenerative vitality.
Such meager traces of lightning posed him no threat at all.
Instead, using his modified technique for controlling fiend qi, he guided these weak jolts of electricity to batter against the spiritual energy membranes covering his acupoints.
With eyes shut tight, Luo Chen kept his spiritual sense trained on the shifts within his body.
Under his guidance, a slender arc of lightning drove like a needle straight toward the membrane.
Suddenly!
"Ngh!"
Letting out a low grunt, Luo Chen opened his eyes.
His gaze brimmed with delight.
"It works!"
"It truly works!"
"Though I cannot master lightning power or cultivate directly with it, using it to puncture acupoints is entirely feasible."
"When it comes down to it, both fiend qi and lightning are merely forms of energy. Since I can manipulate fiend qi, I can naturally exert brief control over lightning as well."
"Still, I must maintain strict control over the measure. If too much lightning floods my body, it would deal catastrophic damage to my physique, and that would end poorly."
Murmuring to himself, Luo Chen brought today's cultivation to a close.
Just as he stepped out of the Lightning-Struck Wood grove, Xu Huanzhen came hurrying over to meet him.
"President, Master Jueqing requests your presence!"
Luo Chen raised an eyebrow. "What does she want with me?"
Luo Chen's surprise was only natural.
Ever since their brief encounter on the Golden Sand Floating Island, Fairy Jueqing had returned to the Sixth Peak and never sought him out again.
Luo Chen had anticipated this cold distance.
It was simply her lingering resentment over his using Master Yinyue to corner her.
Yet Luo Chen had no regrets.
If not for that gambit, it would be the Luotian Association holding the line at the front right now.
How could they ever enjoy such a peaceful wartime sightseeing tour?
The days his Luotian Association was living were far cozier than even those of certain inner sect disciples from Ice Fort.
"Very well. Since she wishes to see me, I shall make the trip!"
Smiling, Luo Chen walked straight out of the encampment.
***
Inside a military tent.
The woman regarded Luo Chen coldly, only speaking after a long silence in a faint voice:
"You seem to be living quite comfortably."
Luo Chen cupped his hands in respect. "It is all thanks to Master's care!"
A corner of Fairy Jueqing's mouth twitched, though she said nothing to refute him.
In her view, it would have been best had Luo Chen never set foot on the Mount Thunder Accumulation battlefield at all, steering clear of this muddy water entirely.
As for the cultivators of the Luotian Association?
To her, they were nothing more than a pack of cannon fodder. Why squander energy caring for them?
"I hear you are in need of a large quantity of Rank Two Earth Fire Fiend qi?" Fairy Jueqing suddenly remarked.
Luo Chen's heart stirred, and he gave an instinctive nod.
"I happen to have a substantial collection here, roughly five hundred portions. Do you want it?"
Delight showed on Luo Chen's face.
Want it? How could he not!
While he could open acupoints with lightning power, his control over it was far from seamless, requiring him to constantly use medical arts to mend the injuries it inflicted.
With Earth Fire Fiend qi, however, he could direct it effortlessly at will.
There was no reason to forsake the easy path for the difficult one!
"Then many thanks, Master. Regarding the spirit stones...?"
"The standard price on the Golden Sand Floating Island will suffice. In addition, the gourd containing the fiend qi is a high-grade magical artifact, so add an extra five thousand spirit stones for it."
"Understood, understood."
Nodding repeatedly, Luo Chen retrieved thirty thousand low-grade spirit stones from his storage pouch and handed them over.
This was an ordinary transaction, hardly any special favor.
Even so, Fairy Jueqing had taken his needs into consideration and initiated the trade herself, and Luo Chen appreciated the gesture.
Watching Luo Chen happily tuck away the gourd laden with a massive reserve of Earth Fire Fiend qi, Fairy Jueqing let out an inexplicable sigh.
She parted her lips as though to say something, but swallowed the words back down.
Sensing her hesitation, Luo Chen could not help but ask cautiously, "Did Master summon me for other important matters as well?"
Fairy Jueqing remained pensive for a long while before finally speaking:
"Half a year from now, you may all return!"
Luo Chen froze.
He was just about to say he could not abandon the Luotian Association's cultivators when he suddenly caught the phrasing.
*"You may all"?*
He ventured a question. "Does Master mean everyone in my Luotian Association?"
"Yes. Not to sit idle, mind you, but to pull back to the rear lines. You will oversee logistics and transport, and keep watch against the Sword Sect's vassals encroaching upon our territory," Fairy Jueqing said indifferently.
The moment the words fell, Luo Chen could no longer suppress the joy on his face—nor did he need to hide it any longer.
Something he had failed to secure despite all his prior plotting had finally been granted now that he had personally ventured into danger, compelling her to yield after all.
Even so, he feigned concern and asked, "If we depart, what about Master's lineage?"
"You need not worry about that. Ice Fort will deploy another detachment to relieve Tantai Jin and the others. The operations back in the immortal city still require someone to oversee them," Fairy Jueqing replied.
Luo Chen had only voiced polite concern, yet her reply sparked an instant surge of doubt in his mind.
Could the chips he had handed over before truly have gained Fairy Jueqing so much?
Not only was the Luotian Association being withdrawn to the rear, but even the Jueqing lineage was extracting itself unscathed from the quagmire of war?
As if discerning Luo Chen's bewilderment, Fairy Jueqing hid it no longer.
"The sect has already reached a decision. It has been resolved to appoint you as a guest elder of our Ice Fort—and the sole elder at the Foundation Establishment stage!"
Luo Chen's expression froze.
Then he understood.
Fairy Jueqing had fetched quite a handsome price by selling him out!
Back then, Master Yinyue's words—*"If the sect demands someone, you cannot keep him"*—still echoed in his ears.
It seemed Master Jueqing had indeed failed to keep him; instead, she had made him the centerpiece of a transaction to reap vast benefits.
To find himself sold off in such fashion left Luo Chen with mixed feelings.
Fairy Jueqing kept her eyes fixed on him.
"Do you object?"
Luo Chen let out a wry chuckle, answering breezily, "To become an elder of a Golden Core grand sect while still in Foundation Establishment is Luo's great fortune!"
That was his assent.
Seeing this, Fairy Jueqing's expression softened into a hint of wistfulness.
"In that case, you may take your leave."
"The upcoming battles will essentially have nothing to do with you."
Luo Chen performed a rare, formal bow.
"This junior takes his leave!"
Once he had gone, Tantai Jin stepped out from behind the screen, looking at Fairy Jueqing with worry.
"Master, why didn't you say something to draw him closer to us? Once he becomes a guest elder of the sect, he will no longer serve our Jueqing lineage alone. If we win his favor now..."
"You speak too much!"
The cold reprimand silenced Tantai Jin, striking her as mute as a cicada in winter.
Shedding her wistful look, Fairy Jueqing said coldly, "Why put on an empty act? When the sect demands a man, I could never hold on to him anyway."
"Besides, what sort of man is Luo Chen? With his intellect, there are things I need not spell out for him to understand perfectly!"
This was high praise indeed.
A look of realization dawned on Tantai Jin, and much of the anxiety in her eyes dissipated.
Yet she failed to catch the fleeting reminiscence that flickered across Fairy Jueqing's eyes.
After all these years, Ice Fort was about to gain another Master Alchemist, just as it had when Shang Hu entered the sect back then.
Coincidentally, it was once again Fairy Jueqing who had personally brought him into the fold.
Her gaze settled on Tantai Jin, who bore an uncanny resemblance to herself, and a faint impulse stirred within her.
In the end, she kept her silence.
*Why repeat the past? A marriage alliance only brings harm to all involved.*
*I am not my master, nor am I Yinyue; how could I make her walk down my old path?*
*I will not do such a thing!*
***
Leaving the tent, Luo Chen strolled along the mountain path, heading slowly back toward the Luotian Association's camp.
Joy and apprehension mingled in his heart.
He felt no genuine resentment over Fairy Jueqing selling him for a handsome price.
As his talents had come to light and his reputation as a Master Alchemist spread across the Jade Cauldron Domain, no Golden Core grand sect could possibly ignore him.
Back in the Azure Pill Valley's Heavenly Palace, Master Chiding and the Golden Core expert from Mount Ailao had already attempted to recruit him as a guest elder for their respective sects.
They had only backed down because Fairy Jueqing was present.
Yet at the end of the day, they had not deferred to Fairy Jueqing herself, but rather to the Golden Core grand sect behind her—Ice Fort.
The only thing they had not realized was that at the time, Luo Chen served only the Jueqing lineage; strictly speaking, he was not a member of Ice Fort.
After stalling for three whole years, Fairy Jueqing could drag it out no longer.
Ice Fort had taken notice of Luo Chen. First came Master Yinyue, who tried to recruit him through coercion and failed, followed by an order issued directly from sect headquarters appointing him as a guest elder.
At this juncture, Fairy Jueqing was forced to yield!
From her perspective, she had no choice, and could only secure the best price possible within her limited leeway.
And from his own perspective?
How did the pros and cons of becoming Ice Fort's guest elder weigh against each other?
In the short term, the benefits far outweighed the disadvantages!
Whether it was preserving the Luotian Association or extracting himself from the quagmire of war, both were tremendous boons.
He might even have a chance to obtain resources related to Core Formation from Ice Fort!
As for the long term?
That would only matter after his Core Formation succeeded or failed.
If he failed, there was no need to say more; with a grand sect's protection, the remainder of his life would surely be peaceful and secure.
If he succeeded, it meant he would be thoroughly bound to Ice Fort, and his actions might be constrained or forced upon him against his will.
While that seemed a drawback, how could anyone in this world truly do as they pleased in all things?
Summing it all up, becoming Ice Fort's guest elder held far more advantages than disadvantages!
*Fairy Jueqing's move to sell out her ally ended up serving all three parties, each gaining their own reward.*
*The only loss is the long-term prospects of the Jueqing lineage.*
*Still, considering she has always taken good care of me, it is only right and reasonable that I lean toward them in the future, so their loss won't be that great.*
*Her hesitation earlier was probably because she wanted to say something along those lines.*
Luo Chen smiled, a great stone lifting from his chest.
A wave of accomplishment welled up within him.
Without realizing it, even though his cultivation realm had seen no massive leap, his identity as a Master Alchemist was already enough to let him sit as an equal alongside the Golden Core Masters of the Jade Cauldron Domain, conversing and laughing on level terms.
This was only natural!
An outstanding alchemist deserved such treatment!
How could one measure the worth of a Master Alchemist by cultivation realm alone?
***
Upon returning to camp, Luo Chen's daily routine became simple.
Although there was no suitable spirit ground for cultivation, high-grade Soaring Dragon Pills were plenty sufficient to take.
With his hundred meridians unblocked and several acupoints opened, he could even attempt to refine two high-grade Soaring Dragon Pills in a single day.
As a result, his cultivation did not fall behind by much.
At the Foundation Establishment realm, superior pills could still provide immense assistance.
Beyond consuming pills to cultivate, Luo Chen persevered every day in using Earth Fire Fiend qi to unlock his acupoints. As one acupoint after another opened, his physical foundation grew ever more formidable.
An indescribable transformation was steadily underway.
In his spare moments, he also tried to study the lightning body-tempering method he had previously set aside.
He always had an inkling that he might be able to use this path to complete the subsequent techniques of the Heavenly Roc Transformation.
Time flowed gently amid this tranquil peace.
A month later, the time came for another rotation.
Early in the morning, all the cultivators in the camp were ready.
Yet compared to the exhausted vassal forces reeking of smoke and bloodshed, the cultivators of the Luotian Association displayed far better spirits.
Rather than coming to fight a war, they looked more like a battlefield tour group, simply going through the motions to fulfill a formality.
Beneath envious gazes, the Luotian Association handed over their stationing duties to a new vassal force of Ice Fort and flew away from the Sixth Peak.
As they departed, Xu Huanzhen looked back at the smoke-shrouded thunder peak, in a daze.
*Had it truly been this leisurely?*
*What kind of days had they lived through over the past two years?*
*The moment the president arrived, everything changed.*
Luo Chen paid it no mind, gathering instead with Duan Feng to hear him recount the recent casualties among Ice Fort's other vassal forces.
"Qu Zhenbiao is dead!"
"They were stationed at the frontline defense. During the battle, his old wounds flared up, and he was blown apart midair by the enemy. Not only that, the Qu family suffered catastrophic losses; currently, only a single Foundation Establishment cultivator survives."
This news took Luo Chen by surprise.
Qu Zhenbiao had already been injured back then; shouldn't he have stayed at headquarters to recover? Why had he been sent to the battlefield?
Could it be that, having lost his usefulness and with Master Yinyue enraged over failing to recruit Luo Chen, he had simply been discarded and sent to the front regardless of whether he lived or died?
This conjecture held a certain logic.
Luo Chen did not dwell on it. After all, they had been enemies; it was good that he was dead, sparing him further trouble down the road.
Yet when he considered that Duan Feng and the others would likely have met the same fate had the Luotian Association lacked his presence, he could not help but feel a touch of sorrow for their shared plight.
"Of Ice Fort's three strongest vassal forces, the Yuan family also suffered heavy casualties. Their Second Elder, who was at late Foundation Establishment, has fallen, and only their First Elder managed to lead the remnants out alive."
Hearing that a late Foundation Establishment cultivator had fallen, Luo Chen's eyelid twitched.
Grand sects truly did not treat vassal forces as human beings!
Cannon fodder was their only value!
"I know nothing of the other sects, but over these past two months, Ice Fort's losses have indeed been quite severe."
Duan Feng shook his head, lingering fear written across his face.
Had Luo Chen not arrived, their Luotian Association would surely have faced the exact same treatment!
"How is the inquiry regarding Wang Yuan going?" Luo Chen asked.
Duan Feng replied uncertainly, "I asked around the camps on the Sixth Peak. Someone seems to have spotted him active near the Ninth Peak, but he vanished soon after."
Hearing this answer, Luo Chen breathed a sigh of relief.
As long as he was still alive!
The Luotian Association would withdraw in half a year.
During that time, he could personally go search for him.
Raising his head, Luo Chen suddenly paused.
"Why are there so many cultivators arriving at the Sixth Peak this time? Has the rotation not ended yet?"
Before his eyes, numerous cultivators were still flying low on magical artifacts outside the mountain, unable to enter the Sixth Peak even after a long while.
Duan Feng was equally puzzled.
The two exchanged glances, unable to fathom why so many cultivators had appeared.
Could it be that the Four-Sect Alliance, feeling overwhelming pressure, had mobilized even more personnel?
Harboring this doubt, Luo Chen and his party flew back to the Golden Sand Floating Island.
Yet the moment they landed, a clamorous uproar reached their ears, shaking the floating island.
"It's coming from the center of the island!"
"Let's go take a look!"
Without hesitation, Luo Chen ordered Bu Junjie to lead the Luotian Association's Qi Refinement cultivators back to their camp, while he, accompanied by Xu Huanzhen and Duan Feng, headed straight for the Merit Board stone stele.
The moment they came to a halt, the three of them, along with countless others, raised their heads to look at the massive stone monument.
In an instant, all three held their breath.
Upon the stele, four lines of text drifted vividly.
It was precisely these four redeemable resources that had stirred up heated debate among every Foundation Establishment cultivator on the Golden Sand Floating Island who was not a true disciple of the four sects.
Swallowing hard, Xu Huanzhen said in shock, "What an immense stake! President, we..."
Luo Chen's mind was also reeling.
"Core Formation Secret Techniques!"
"Four Core Formation Secret Techniques! There's even a Superior Method Core Formation technique!"
"Has the Falling Cloud Sect gone mad? Has the entire Four-Sect Alliance gone completely mad?"
Chapter 375