At the very center of the southwest region of the Jade Cauldron Domain.
Here stood two great immortal cities: Yanyang Immortal City and Daguang Immortal City.
Yet neither immortal city was the true protagonist of this territory.
The Flame Alliance was the true overlord of the southwest!
Unlike the other great Core Formation sects of the Jade Cauldron Domain, although the Flame Alliance claimed to possess an orthodox lineage, its internal cohesion was not strong.
The reason lay in its origins—it had not inherited its lineage from an established orthodox sect.
Instead, it had been founded by a Core Formation Master from another domain as a loose alliance of rogue cultivators.
After distinguishing itself during the War of Reclamation four hundred years ago, the faction's prestige surged ever higher.
Particularly within Fenxiang Valley!
That Core Formation Master had been fortunate enough back then to discover a sourceless flame—the Wither-Bloom Wonder Fire!
With this flame as its core, the faction took a new name and rebranded itself as the Flame Alliance.
True to its name as an alliance, when the Flame Alliance took root in the Jade Cauldron Domain, it absorbed countless cultivators from sects that had fallen into ruin during the War of Reclamation.
Only in this manner did it become a coalition.
And the bonds holding them together were, beyond doubt, the immense profits brought by their artifact-forging business and that Wither-Bloom Fire, which could influence one's lifespan.
Rumor had it that if one could refine even a wisp of this flame into one's body, a Core Formation Master could gain decades of lifespan out of nothing!
Such a heaven-defying feat naturally drew countless Core Formation Masters plagued by dwindling lifespans like moths to a flame.
It was even said that the reason a faction akin to a rogue cultivator coalition like the Flame Alliance could establish a mountain and found a sect in the first place was related to how they used the Wither-Bloom Fire to curry favor with the Jade Cauldron Sword Sect.
Of course,
just how much of these rumors was true and how much was false, no one knew.
At the very least, the notion that a flame capable of increasing lifespan could remain under the control of a mere Core Formation sect seemed rather fantastical.
Were it truly so miraculous, it would long since have been plundered by the Sword Sect, or even by other superior Nascent Soul sects from beyond the domain.
With the eruption of war,
the Flame Alliance had joined the Sword Sect's side and begun external warfare, throwing the entire sect into frantic activity.
Unlike the three allies on Luoyun Sect's side, who cowered and tried to preserve their strength,
the Flame Alliance brimmed with a feverish atmosphere!
Warfare between cultivators might appear distinct from the conflicts of mortal kingdoms—soaring high through the heavens, shattering mountains and splitting the earth.
In reality, however, there was little difference.
At its core, it was still an economic ledger!
In war, the greatest expenditure and attrition lay in dharma artifacts, which were relatively low-end armaments.
And the Flame Alliance was the number one artifact-forging sect in the Jade Cauldron Domain!
Relying on this war, they had reaped untold amounts of spirit stones and resources.
Within Fenxiang Valley, at least, over a hundred artifact-forging halls never ceased operation.
Moreover, the dharma artifacts they sold were not even limited to the Sword Sect's camp.
Their subordinate vassals, the rogue cultivators who followed them...
Indeed, even to the Four-Sect Alliance on Luoyun Sect's side, they secretly disguised their identities and sent people to covertly and madly peddle low-end dharma artifacts.
In the eyes of the Flame Alliance's upper echelons,
this was exactly how the war should be fought!
So long as it did not wound their vital bones, they were more than happy to keep it going for decades, or even a century!
In truth, this was precisely why Duan Feng had been completely unable to get his forging business off the ground on the Golden Sand Floating Island.
Hemmed in by the Flame Alliance on the inside and Tianfan City on the outside, Duan Feng—a mere craftsman who could only forge high-grade dharma artifacts—could not even get a sip of broth.
Some matters had simply been viewed too simplistically by Luo Chen and Duan Feng.
Nor was it just Duan Feng; other small factions centered on artifact forging had also failed to reap any profit from this war.
If anything, their market share had been severely squeezed.
This economic ledger was constantly being tallied by someone.
Yet deep beneath Fenxiang Valley, someone no longer cared to reckon such accounts.
"Elder Di, you intend to end your seclusion?"
Deep beneath Fenxiang Valley, where a peculiar scent of smoke and incense lingered day and night, a figure sat cross-legged atop a stone pillar with a solemn expression.
Another person walked in from outside, looking up at Di Wanyun on the pillar.
The question had come from him.
Di Wanyun kept his head lowered, his face so dark and sullen that water could almost drip from it.
"Alliance Leader, my son is dead!"
The moment those words were spoken, the air grew instantly heavy.
After a long silence, the Alliance Leader of the Flame Alliance said slowly, "In that case, I will not stop you."
Seeing Di Wanyun rise, he added calmly, "However, you must be clear on one thing: you are currently in a state of withered decay, and your strength is severely diminished. If you encounter an enemy of the same realm once you leave, you will be at their mercy."
Di Wanyun gave a cold laugh. "At worst, I will unbind the Wither-Bloom Seal! In a fight for my life, so long as no late Core Formation cultivator appears, what do I have to fear!"
Recalling Di Wanyun's methods in battle,
the Alliance Leader nodded.
Indeed, within the Seven Jade Cauldron Sects, so long as he did not run into a Core Formation sword cultivator of the Sword Sect or a late Core Formation grand cultivator,
given Di Wanyun's prowess, ordinary cultivators truly had no way to handle him.
However...
"Unbinding the Wither-Bloom Seal triggers a backlash against your lifespan. With what little lifespan you have left, I fear..."
"What does it matter if I die? I am merely dragging out my meager existence as it is." Di Wanyun took a deep breath, his gaze sweeping across the subterranean expanse, where nearly twenty stone pillars towered.
A cultivator sat in silent, withered meditation atop most of those pillars.
Were outside cultivators to witness this scene, they would scarcely believe their eyes.
In the Jade Cauldron Domain, the factions possessing the most Core Formation Masters were supposed to be the Jade Cauldron Sword Sect and Azure Pill Valley.
Yet here in the Flame Alliance's Fenxiang Valley, there were more than a dozen Core Formation cultivators!
And on the surface, five Core Formation cultivators were still actively operating.
Di Wanyun had only stepped back from public view in recent years; outsiders merely assumed he had grown old and tired of mundane affairs.
This force!
It had already far surpassed Azure Pill Valley.
In fact, in terms of sheer numbers of Core Formation cultivators, the other four sects lagged far behind the Flame Alliance as well.
That included the newly risen superior sect, the Luoyun Sect!
After his gaze swept over his fellow disciples, Di Wanyun slowly stood up.
"With them here, this Wither-Bloom Grand Formation does not lack a single Core Formation cultivator like me. Alliance Leader, await my return after I avenge my son!"
The Alliance Leader frowned slightly. "Are you certain you can find the culprit?"
A wisp of sorrow flashed through Di Wanyun's eyes.
Then his voice turned vicious and harsh.
"How could I fail to find him? My son burned his very soul just to brand that person with the wither-bloom imprint."
Hearing this, the Alliance Leader nodded.
With a wither-bloom imprint placed on the body through the Flame Alliance's bloodline arts, as long as the other party did not swiftly flee the Jade Cauldron Domain, Di Wanyun would catch him sooner or later.
As long as he did not swiftly flee the Jade Cauldron Domain, Di Wanyun would catch him sooner or later.
"Very well. Once the deed is done, return swiftly!"
Having said this, the Alliance Leader's gaze fell upon the small fire pit at the bottom of the valley, muttering, "With one fewer person suppressing it, if the Wither-Bloom Fire's backlash strikes, they will all perish."
Di Wanyun said no more.
Under the watchful eyes of several conscious fellow disciples, he struggled to leave the stone pillar.
Once he stepped off the pillar, his entire body seemed considerably lighter.
Silver-white light flashed across him, and his figure vanished without a trace from beneath Fenxiang Valley.
And with his departure,
in the very center of those twenty massive stone pillars, a faint flame within the fire pit trembled slightly, its fire noticeably swelling by several degrees.
……
Deep underground.
Luo Chen looked with a strange expression at the double doors before him.
The doors were simple and unadorned, bearing no carvings of flowers, birds, insects, or fish, nor any ancient seal script; even the plaque that ought to grace such a gateway was nowhere to be seen.
All that remained was the weathered aura revealed by the grinding passage of time.
All that remained were strange patterns, flowing like dragons and serpents, resembling jagged streaks of lightning.
The two doors fit together seamlessly, tightly concealing whatever lay within.
Yet for such a gate to appear in the Ninth Peak—the most mysterious and perilous of Mount Thunder Accumulation's Nine Peaks—what that signified went without saying!
Luo Chen turned around, swallowed hard, and said in a dry, hoarse voice:
"Brother Wang, have we stumbled upon an ancient cultivator's cave dwelling?"
"Most likely!"
Wang Yuan also stared at the two doors with a fervent gaze.
Every cultivator in the world knew what an ancient cave dwelling signified!
Either it was completely ordinary inside, or it contained the entire legacy and fortune of a high-realm cultivator.
For juniors of lower cultivation, a single ruin might well allow them to rise meteorically.
A more powerful ruin might even benefit an entire sect.
Take, for instance, the Lingkong Secret Realm once controlled by the Jade Cauldron Sword Sect!
Rumor had it that it was the cave dwelling of a Soul Formation grandmaster; it was precisely because of it that the Jade Cauldron Sword Sect had reversed its decline after the War of Reclamation, rapidly solidifying its core strength over the years.
And this ruin before them, possessing its own gateway, was beyond doubt an ancient cave dwelling!
"Shall we give it a try?"
After extending his spiritual sense and detecting no sign of danger, Luo Chen invited Wang Yuan.
Wang Yuan nodded and stepped forward.
The two extended their palms, pressing them against the doors.
Together, they exerted their strength!
With both possessing accomplished body-refinement cultivation, immense physical power surged forth.
Yet the doors remained utterly motionless.
"Can't push them open?" Luo Chen frowned slightly. "A formation? Restrictions? Mechanisms?"
Wang Yuan hesitated. "Try with spiritual power?"
Luo Chen gave an affirmative grunt.
The two channeled the spiritual power within their bodies, infusing it into their palms.
Yet the doors still did not budge in the slightest.
However!
*Crack!*
A bolt of lightning suddenly struck down from the highest heavens.
Luo Chen was startled and dodged frantically.
Wang Yuan did the same.
Unexpectedly, the lightning showed no interest in them; instead, as if possessed of great spirituality, it struck the stone doors directly.
The two looked over, only to see faint arcs of lightning flickering across the surface of the doors.
Luo Chen looked back and upward. The thunderclouds that had accumulated over Xiangkong Valley for a millennium were slowly gathering.
His expression shifted slightly.
"Let's go!"
Without a second thought, Wang Yuan followed right behind him, directly leaving the entrance.
Once outside, Luo Chen looked up at the thunderclouds, his face filled with shock and uncertainty.
Only after a long while did he exhale a breath of turbid air.
"I know the key."
Wang Yuan also looked up at the strange thunderclouds. "Is it this lightning power?"
"Most likely," Luo Chen nodded. "It might even be that the formation and origin of Mount Thunder Accumulation's Nine Peaks are tied to this cave dwelling beneath our feet."
"Then what do we do now?" Wang Yuan hesitated, uncertainty flickering in his eyes.
Luo Chen laughed freely. "Brother Wang, why be so greedy? Keeping our lives is better than anything else. Putting aside whether we even have the means to guide the lightning power to open the cave dwelling's doors, once they are opened, the Core Formation cultivators on the battlefield will very likely notice.
"When that time comes, a place like this will never be ours to share a piece of."
Wang Yuan pursed his lips, casting an unwilling backward glance toward the double doors.
He had to admit that Luo Chen was right.
"Let's leave first!
"This cave dwelling is right here. No one has discovered it for over a thousand years, which shows how miraculous it is; it isn't going anywhere.
"Once our cultivation is higher and the war is over, we can quietly return here in the future to explore.
"Who knows, there might even be opportunities for Nascent Soul or Soul Formation inside."
This was the best hope they could hold.
Wang Yuan voiced no further objection.
Right then, he and Luo Chen joined forces, using their techniques to bury the place.
Not only that, but they even completely filled in Xiangkong Valley outside.
Once everything was done,
Luo Chen swept his sleeves repeatedly along the perimeter of their earlier battle, casting the Cleansing Art over and over to ensure as little combat aura lingered as possible.
In the end, the two hurried away.
The Ninth Peak fell back into tranquility once more.
Except, that is, for the dark thunderclouds above the highest heavens, gathering endlessly, growing heavier and darker by the moment!
Chapter 380