Deep within the Ninth Peak.
Dark clouds wheeled, gathering and dispersing, hanging so somber and heavy that an immense black curtain seemed to drape across a thousand li.
Silver serpents twisted through the gloom amid earsplitting cracks of thunder.
The deeper one went, the more frequent and dense the thunderstorms became.
Even a Foundation Establishment True Cultivator struck by one would suffer light injuries.
And should anyone run into a relentless, sweeping tempest, no matter how powerful a True Cultivator they were, they would perish within it.
Perhaps only a Core Formation Master could barely withstand such fury.
Even then, it was only a "perhaps."
This was the raw might of heaven and earth!
Even though it was not deliberately aimed at cultivators who sought to gather supreme power within themselves, it was not something ordinary people could treat lightly.
It was hard to imagine just how terrifying the thunderous punishment of heaven and earth would be during a rumored Nascent Soul tribulation.
The tribulation lightning forged in such a divine punishment was entirely different from ordinary thunder and lightning. Any Foundation Establishment or Core Formation cultivator who touched it would die instantly!
*Whoosh!*
A rush of wind tore across the mountainside.
A gale surged, scattering gravel and rock in every direction.
A figure came to an abrupt halt, the spiritual energy wings on his back slowly folding away.
As the swirling currents of mist settled, the cultivator’s face was revealed.
He had sharp, well-defined features, lips firmly set, and an indelible chill lingering in his sword-like brows and starry eyes.
"Blood Demon!"
"A False Core cultivator!"
"No wonder none of the ordinary Foundation Establishment True Cultivators who crossed him ever lived to tell the tale."
"His magic treasures cover both offense and defense, and he possesses a blood escape technique for rapid flight. He has virtually no flaws."
"If I hadn't used tactics from the very start to open the distance, setting up the Vine Art, the Earth Mountain Art, and the Thousand Layer Peak along the way to harass and pin him down, and then unleashing the Blazing Sun Art with the Mystic Fire Sword, I probably wouldn't have been able to scratch him."
Luo Chen opened his mouth and slowly exhaled a long breath of turbid air.
In that clash just now, he had appeared to hold absolute dominance, suppressing the other man from start to finish.
Yet that was merely on the surface.
Neither the man's magic treasures nor his methods fell short of Luo Chen's, and the vast gap between their cultivation realms created an insurmountable chasm.
If they had stood toe-to-toe without retreating or evading, Luo Chen might have exhausted all his trump cards, yet after several hundred exchanges, he would undoubtedly have fallen at a disadvantage.
His only real edge was flight speed.
The burst of speed he had just displayed had not even reached his limit; he had used merely seventy percent.
In other words, if Luo Chen had chosen not to fight, he could have pulled away from the start and shaken off the Blood Demon.
Doing so, however, would have meant always having a pursuer at his back.
Like a maggot clinging to bone, nothing was more vexing!
Thus, Luo Chen had laid out layer upon layer of lethal strikes in an attempt to gravely wound the man.
Killing him outright would have been ideal, but even failing that, a display of force would serve as a deterrence.
Regrettably, the man possessed that red silk defensive magic treasure, which kept Luo Chen from achieving full success.
"Still, he shouldn't dare pursue me any further now!"
Standing on the mountainside, Luo Chen cast his spiritual eyes back toward the path he had traveled.
Constrained by the environment, his spiritual sense could only reach a few li away.
Yet his Thousand-li Eyes suffered no such limitation.
Though the rugged terrain and dense forest obscured a crystal-clear view, he could still gauge the general vicinity.
Before long, as Luo Chen focused his gaze, he caught faint traces of his opponent.
Amid the thick forest, a streak of escape light skimmed low over the ground, gradually departing the Ninth Peak.
Seeing this, Luo Chen finally let out a breath of relief.
Though he did not fear the man, making an enemy of such a person for no good reason was hardly ideal.
After all, he had important business to attend to.
"Speaking of which, what is his background?"
"His appearance, his voice, even his height and build were all disguised. A rogue cultivator trying to avoid trouble might do that, but he acts more like the true disciple of a major sect!"
"An ordinary rogue cultivator could never reach Foundation Establishment Great Perfection, let alone that transitional False Core realm. Anyone in the Jade Cauldron Domain with such accomplishments would be renowned far and wide!"
"Yet if he were a true disciple of a major sect, he should be targeting one specific faction, rather than casting his net wide and antagonizing everyone."
"Could he be setting up a smoke screen?"
Luo Chen recalled the various techniques the man had briefly displayed during the fight.
For a moment, he had no clues whatsoever.
The man had shown no signature techniques or stances, and his magic treasure flying sword was quite ordinary.
The only conspicuous item was that red silk defensive magic treasure.
Yet Luo Chen had never heard of such a treasure before.
"Right—under my relentless barrage, he exposed a flaw. If that thunderstorm hadn't erupted, I could have at least wounded him!"
"If a False Core cultivator had refined a defensive magic treasure for a hundred years, he would never have exposed a flaw like that."
"In other words, he probably hasn't had that red silk treasure for long, which is why..."
Luo Chen's train of thought broke off.
Even with that discovery, he still could not deduce the man's true identity.
Shaking his head, Luo Chen popped a high-grade Soaring Dragon Pill into his mouth.
Using his sword pill, he carved out a cave in the rock face. But just as he was about to slip inside, he frowned and stepped back.
The interior of the Ninth Peak held considerable lightning energy as well, making it poorly suited for secluded cultivation.
Shaking his head once more, Luo Chen produced a cloud and mist illusion formation to conceal his presence.
Right there on the rocky platform halfway up the mountain, he sat down to regulate his breath.
His spiritual energy reserves were exceptionally abundant, fully matching any late Foundation Establishment grand cultivator, and he had dared to fight even a False Core cultivator.
That did not mean he would charge around recklessly through the Ninth Peak.
He had to keep himself at his absolute peak at all times.
Only then could he face any enemy without lingering worries!
Time slipped past quietly.
Since he was merely refining the medicinal power of the pill without drawing in the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, time naturally went quickly.
In less than the time it took for a stick of incense to burn, Luo Chen opened his eyes, satisfied.
That brief span was not enough to fully assimilate the immense medicinal power of a high-grade Soaring Dragon Pill, but he had absorbed seventy to eighty percent of it.
As he began opening his acupoints, his physique grew ever more formidable.
The number of high-grade pills he could refine in a single day had risen to two, which effectively increased his cultivation speed.
If such news were ever spread, it would leave countless jaws on the floor.
For an ordinary Foundation Establishment True Cultivator to refine a single Tier 2 low-grade pill took at least a day or two. If it was high-grade, it took three to five days!
Factoring in the hazard of pill toxicity, they also had to set aside time to gradually purge the toxins.
For Luo Chen, however, none of that was an issue.
As an alchemist, he held the deepest understanding of how to absorb the spiritual power contained in medicinal pills as quickly as possible.
Furthermore, with the Clear Source Wondrous Elixir Method—an alchemy art designed to dissolve toxicity—he had entirely eliminated any worries about residual pill poison.
"No wonder Azure Pill Valley has the largest number of Foundation Establishment True Cultivators and once reigned supreme over the Jade Cauldron Domain. Even if their disciples aren't all like me, reaching sixty or seventy percent of this level would be enough to produce a massive host of Foundation Establishment cultivators!"
As he sighed with admiration, his heart suddenly stirred.
Reaching toward his waist, he brought out a jade token.
Spiritual light flickered across its surface!
Luo Chen knew all too well what that meant!
"He's nearby!"
Luo Chen's eyes lit up. Stowing the cloud and mist illusion formation, he plunged deeper into the Ninth Peak.
***
Inside a valley.
Two figures stood across from each other, each holding a different vantage point.
Both watched intently, their gazes fixed on the gorge below.
Within it, lightning flashed and thunder rumbled as though a thunderstorm were raging.
A closer look revealed it was not a natural storm, but a hastily constructed Tier 2 formation!
Two figures were inside.
One sat cross-legged, constantly casting out small banners to manipulate the formation.
The other flickered rapidly as he repeatedly charged against the grand array, launching a palm strike from time to time that sent surging waves of energy rattling the formation.
Occasional lightning bolts crashed down, only to be washed aside by the massive crimson currents swirling around him.
From the looks of it, this grand formation could barely contain him!
Ku Chan wore a dark scowl.
"This man's body refinement is truly terrifying!"
"When I first encountered him, he was only at grand achievement in hidden force. Yet after a few months of pursuit, he has actually grasped neutralizing force. Even Daoist Yang's Thunder Prison can't suppress him!"
Ku Chan saw it clearly.
Every time the lightning chains conjured by the formation lashed out to bind Wang Yuan, they were smoothly dissipated by the crimson currents swirling around his body.
Even though Ku Chan had lured him into the formation, they were temporarily helpless against him.
The man was even persistently battering the array.
The neutralizing force level of the second realm of body refinement was comparable to the eighth layer of the Qi-refining Foundation Establishment realm!
What was worse, he cultivated both magic and body!
Suddenly!
Yang Wei's anxious voice called out from within the formation.
"This man isn't some mindless brute! He seems to understand the principles of formations and is heading straight for the formation eye!"
"Fellow Daoists Ku Chan and Yanleizi, enter the array at once and help me!"
Almost the moment his words fell, a deep roar—sounding like an ox's bellow yet roaring like a tiger—erupted from within the formation.
Wang Yuan's body began to swell rapidly.
At first, he stood merely seven feet tall, but in the blink of an eye he surpassed ten feet, then twenty.
Within two breaths, he towered thirty feet high!
Terrifying currents of blood-red energy whirled around him.
His rock-hard muscles gleamed with a bronze luster.
Veins bulged across his flesh like coiled hornless dragons.
Every breath he drew stirred up a howling gale.
With a single sweep of his millstone-sized palm, he tore away vast swathes of the lightning chains conjured by the formation.
With his body enlarged, he began striding step by step toward Yang Wei, who was seated cross-legged in midair.
*Rumble...*
The formation was growing unstable!
Ku Chan's expression shifted drastically.
Opposite him, another young man clad in a black-and-red tunic watched with shining eyes.
"Let me go test him!"
"Wait, Fellow Daoist Yanleizi!" Ku Chan shouted hastily.
Yanleizi looked at him, puzzled.
Ku Chan drew a deep breath and pointed toward the sky.
Yanleizi realized his meaning at once.
"Fine. Go alone, then. If any minor thunderstorms flare up, I will neutralize them for you. But are you certain you can handle him?"
Ku Chan bared his teeth in a savage sneer.
"I am at the seventh layer of Foundation Establishment, aided by Fellow Daoist Yang at the same level, along with this Thunder Prison Grand Formation anchored to the terrain of Xiangkong Valley."
"If we still cannot suppress and kill him with all of this, what vengeance could I ever hope to take?"
Yanleizi raised a brow and said no more.
Ku Chan took a deep breath, circulating his spiritual power throughout his body.
A jade ruler appeared in his hand.
Then, leaping downward, he plunged into the formation.
Before long, the howling of wind and thunder arose from within the array.
The jade ruler, shimmering with white jade radiance, expanded continuously until it reached dozens of yards in length. Like an enormous door plank, it battered relentlessly toward the equally gigantic Wang Yuan.
Watching this, Yanleizi could not help but grin with exhilaration.
He was awed by Wang Yuan's body refinement, yet also amazed by the trump cards and prowess of late Foundation Establishment grand cultivators like Ku Chan and Yang Wei.
Had he not relied on the unique environment of Mount Thunder Accumulation's Nine Peaks, at a mere sixth layer of Foundation Establishment, he would never have dared stand on equal footing with them.
Still!
Once this war ended, the merits he had accumulated would allow him to advance to late Foundation Establishment upon returning to the sect.
When that time came, he would no longer have any shortcomings in cultivation realm.
With his father's backing, he could even contest the position of Flame Alliance Dao Child!
*I am no lesser than you right now. In the future, I will leave you all far behind.*
Watching the battle within the formation, Yanleizi felt a surge of fervent ambition.
He could see clearly that with Ku Chan inside keeping Wang Yuan occupied, Yang Wei had finally found some breathing room to direct the formation. More lightning chains materialized from the sky above the array, reaching out to bind Wang Yuan.
Already, three chains had pierced through his feet and abdomen.
Once seven chains impaled him, the Seven Thunders Prison Suppressing layout would be complete.
At that point, Wang Yuan would have no choice but to surrender and wait for death!
*Formations truly are formidable. Given adequate preparation, suppressing someone of the same realm is child's play, and slaying an opponent above one's realm is just as simple.*
*If Yang Wei had been by my side back then, we would never have been hindered by Leizhenzi, and I wouldn't have ended up in such a miserable state, nearly perishing beneath the Fivefold Thunderstrike.*
Just as he was marveling at the methods of the men within the formation, he suddenly sensed something amiss.
He looked around; all was quiet.
He glanced up at the sky. Though dark clouds were gathering, no thunderstorm was forming.
Xiangkong Valley was a peculiar formation within the Ninth Peak.
Thick, dark clouds stretched for a hundred li throughout the year, yet thunderstorms rarely struck here.
Where, then, was this uneasy feeling coming from?
Yanleizi frowned deeply, his sharp eyes sweeping frantically in every direction.
"Who's there? Show yourself!"
His shout drew no response.
Yet it was precisely this lack of response that made the sense of danger grow even thicker.
Suddenly, he looked down at the ground.
A small pebble had inexplicably rolled a short distance.
"Hm?"
Just as confusion arose in his mind, the ground began to shake violently!
Countless rocks trembled and rattled.
As the tremors intensified, massive boulders tumbled from the cliffs on both sides, plunging down into Xiangkong Valley.
"An earthquake?"
Yanleizi was unsettled.
Abruptly, he looked down into the gorge.
Earthquakes and collapsing mountains caused the earth's veins and terrain to shift.
If that happened, Yang Wei's Thunder Prison trapping formation would inevitably be affected.
If Wang Yuan broke free, given his terrifying capabilities, the three of them might not be able to detain him.
*No! We must end this quickly!*
*I need to enter the formation and join forces with Ku Chan to suppress Wang Yuan!*
Just as he was about to step forward, a clear, hearty laugh drifted in from outside the mountain.
"Fellow Daoist, please hold your step!"
Yanleizi whipped his head around.
A man clad in a red-cloud Daoist robe stepped out from the void, trailing the Mystic Fire Sword behind him. Red currents of energy played across the sword's tip, exhaling and inhaling, their aura permeating several li in every direction.
It seemed as though that single blade held the entire world in its grasp!
With every step the man took closer, the shaking of the earth became increasingly pronounced.
Faintly, a profound terror was descending upon the valley.
Chapter 378