Tier 3 Humanoid Demonic Beast Luo Chen!

[Foundation Establishment Sixth Layer: 30/100] Four years had passed since Luo Chen returned from Azure Pill Valley. For the first two-plus years, he had cultivated in seclusion atop Tianlan Peak. His realm had climbed steadily, with the progress bar once reaching the twenties. That matched his earlier estimate of taking ten years to break through to late Foundation Establishment. Yet during the nearly two years he spent on the battlefield, the bar had advanced by only a few points. There was no helping it; a battlefield was simply not an environment suited for cultivation. Prolonged fighting was especially detrimental to accumulating spiritual power. The meager progress he had managed was thanks entirely to the high-grade Soaring Dragon Pills provided by Tao Wan. Had it been any other Foundation Establishment True Cultivator, their cultivation likely would not have advanced an inch. "Combat truly isn't the primary pursuit for us qi refiners!" "Rather, body cultivators like Brother Wang can use battle to accelerate their comprehension of the shifts in blood qi." Luo Chen had always kept a clear tally of his progress. The delay caused by the war was well within his expectations. He turned his attention to his spells. His three Tier 3 arts encompassed a flight technique, an illusion art, and a secret art that was easy to learn but hard to master. Aside from Ninety Thousand Miles, the other two were poorly suited for grinding proficiency. In the column for Tier 2 spells, however, his harvest had been enormous. Reaching Great Circle in Landslide, Glazed Canopy, and Blazing Sun Art had been the cornerstone allowing him to roam the battlefield at will! Coupled with the technique of using implements to drive arts, he had no fear of anyone within the Foundation Establishment realm, even late-stage grand cultivators, and possessed the power to defeat them! Reaching Great Circle in the Spring Wind and Transforming Rain Incantation had come as a surprise, yet it made complete sense in hindsight. He had originally learned this art to treat Gu Caiyi's Foundation Establishment injury. Once on the battlefield, however, this medical art had shone brilliantly. Whether tending to Li Yingzhang or healing the cultivators of the Luotian Association, it had played a tremendous role. Finally, during that year in the Deity Transformation ruins, Luo Chen's relentless casting had driven it all the way to Great Circle. It was fair to say that during his ultra-high-intensity body tempering under the power of lightning, his physical frame had not broken down largely thanks to the combined merits of this incantation and Healing Art. Otherwise, even though he had hurriedly patched together Convergence of Myriad Paths, he never would have held out. As for the other Tier 2 spells, Luo Chen did not pay them much mind. Water Mirror Art, Flower Fairy, and Bewitching Spirit Art were all prerequisites for Flowers in the Mirror, Moon in the Water. Maxing out their proficiency would require immense amounts of time. For now, Luo Chen had no need to pursue them deeper. Illusion arts sat in an awkward position. In battles against peers of the same realm, he could overpower them by sheer force. When fighting above his realm, illusions were constrained by the strength of the soul, leaving him vulnerable to severe backlash from higher-stage cultivators. He did not dare deploy them recklessly. Even on his return journey, when dealing with Old Ghost Feng, he had merely used Bewitching Spirit Art and Soul Intimidation Art for a brief moment. This Tier 3 illusion art felt somewhat like a chicken rib—of little practical value. In alchemy, the bulk of his gains stemmed from those two years before heading to the battlefield. During that time, he had concocted massive quantities of pills for Fairy Jueqing and had crossed the threshold of Star Plucking Hand, which he had learned from Azure Pill Valley. The only thing that caught Luo Chen's eye was the Clear Source Wondrous Elixir Method. This poison-neutralizing alchemy method did not seem to match the description Huo Hu had given at the Taishan Market auction back then. At the time, it had been advertised as: one year to initiate, three years to achieve minor mastery, five years for major mastery, and ten years for full circle. Yet by his reckoning, nearly twenty years had passed by now. To this day, he still had not reached Great Circle, and he had not enjoyed the effect described in the manual about absorbing the medicinal efficacy of pills to the utmost degree. "Was the description inaccurate?" "The difficulty of cultivating this art far exceeds what was written. Could the goods not match the claim?" Luo Chen knew his own strengths better than anyone. When it came to arts and methods, he possessed a singular talent! Moreover, this poison-neutralizing alchemy method hinged on practice. As it happened, his pill consumption was several times greater than that of cultivators in the same realm. Going by the sheer number of repetitions, it ought to have reached Great Circle long ago. Yet here it was, stalled at [900/1000]. In truth, pushing it to nine hundred in one go had only been possible because he had recklessly downed all sorts of miscellaneous pills to temper his body in the Deity Transformation ruins, forcibly driving it up. "Who knows how much longer it'll take to grind this to Great Circle." Luo Chen shook his head, unable to see through this alchemy method. Still, he had no intention of dwelling on it. Even without that bonus effect for absorbing medicinal potency, its current poison-cleansing utility was more than enough. Finally, his gaze drifted to his achievement points. "Twenty-two. Alas..." Once upon a time, he had amassed over sixty. In the end, deducing and completing Convergence of Myriad Paths had drained more than forty—his largest single expenditure of achievement points to date. Even back when he skipped realms to master Emperor's Flowing Syrup, he hadn't expended so much! If he recalled correctly, that had only cost twenty-odd points. Among his current twenty-two points, two had come as a bonus after he relied on his past foundation to rapidly advance Convergence of Myriad Paths to the Adept tier. "It's a bit low, but I don't have any new pill recipes to initiate recently, so there's no need to panic." After reviewing the attribute panel, Luo Chen gained the most direct and lucid grasp of his current state. What followed next was remarkably straightforward. First was restoring his spiritual power. With high-grade Soaring Dragon Pills, a Tier 2 high-grade spirit ground, and an even sturdier physique, recovery should be swift. Second was putting this physical body to good use! A body on par with a Tier 3 Desolate Ancient demonic beast was, by any measure, an attainment equivalent to a human Golden Core. There was no sense in leaving it idle. Yet having a formidable body without matching techniques meant he could only rely on brute force and head-on collisions, which was terribly clumsy. Luo Chen had actually witnessed an awkward predicament just like this! Back then, Wang Yuan had stepped into the second realm of body refining while still in the Qi Refinement stage. Though ostensibly able to rival Foundation Establishment, his lack of corresponding techniques prevented him from exerting his full combat potential. Was this moment not an exact mirror of that past? Thus, Luo Chen had the ideal person to consult on this matter. Lastly! Preparations for Core Formation. By his count, he now possessed four Core Formation secret arts: three inferior-method arts, and one superior-method art originating from the Falling Cloud Sect. If he studied them thoroughly, forming a golden core and rising to the stature of an ancestor in the future would be no idle dream! These three tasks required time and energy. Luo Chen had long prepared for this! He had returned late at night and entered Tianlan in disguise. When leaving the Deity Transformation ruins, he had not revealed his identity either. Neither ordinary cultivators nor Ice Fort's members knew he had returned alive. Therefore, he had ample time to support his endeavors. As for the Luotian Association, he had already instructed Sima Huiniang and Gu Caiyi that unless a calamity threatened to destroy the mountain or wipe out the sect, they were not to disturb him with trivial matters. "Everything is in place now." "One step at a time!" Having concluded his cultivation for the day, Luo Chen set about the second task. Transcribing the completed Convergence of Myriad Paths deduced by the system. Retrieving a jade slip, Luo Chen gently closed his eyes and extended his divine sense inward to begin engraving. This was meticulous work that tolerated no carelessness. Fortunately, Luo Chen possessed a profound soul foundation and had cultivated both Soul Intimidation Art and Bewitching Spirit Art, so the difficulty was not excessive. Time drifted by, and a brand-new cultivation method never before seen in the cultivation world gradually came into being. When the engraving was complete, Luo Chen felt a faint stir of fresh insight. A good memory was never as reliable as putting brush to paper. Previously, he had merely skimmed through and cultivated by instinct; only now, seeing the complete picture, did he perceive the strengths and shortcomings of the art. After a long while, Luo Chen solemnly stored the jade slip away. "Ordinary people likely can't afford to cultivate this art!" "Even for me, advancing my physique further through it will be difficult." "I'll need to find a new approach!" "Still, best to consult Wang Yuan first!" *** The following day. Luo Chen's cave dwelling welcomed a visitor. With great care, Luo Chen handed the jade slip containing Convergence of Myriad Paths to Wang Yuan. The other man was initially dismissive. Yet the moment Luo Chen spoke the words, "The changes in my body stem from this method," a look of gravity settled over his face. "Give me a moment. Let me look it over carefully!" Within the quiet cave dwelling, Wang Yuan pored over the cultivation method recorded in the jade slip. As his reading deepened, a succession of expressions involuntarily crossed his face. At times he looked enlightened, at times lost in thought, and occasionally his brow furrowed deep. From time to time, patterns of blood qi surfaced across his body as though he were pondering some principle. The deeper he delved, the greater the shock in his heart became. After a long silence, he set down the jade slip in utter astonishment, looking at Luo Chen with disbelief in his eyes. "You created this cultivation method?" Luo Chen smiled faintly. "Hardly created. I merely deduced and completed it by standing on the shoulders of predecessors." Deduced, completed... Faced with this humble phrasing, Wang Yuan agreed in part, yet was no less shaken. He could tell that this body refining method contained many elements familiar to him. Its overarching foundation rested on the Tier 3 body refining art Heavenly Roc Transformation, interwoven with Bright Spirit Fiend Breaking, Qi and Body from the Same Source... and even the Wang Clan Secret Manual that he himself had compiled along his journey. They appeared to be well-trodden concepts. Yet to weave them together systematically into a coherent whole was truly unimaginable. In particular, the subsequent methods derived after opening the apertures opened his eyes. Absorbing qi, replacing blood, sculpting bone, and forming armor. This was undoubtedly opening a brand-new path on top of traditional body refining. If traditional body refining meant comprehending the shifts of blood qi within the human form—performing grand rites inside a snail shell—then Convergence of Myriad Paths aimed to forge that very "snail shell" into an unyielding fortress. Both sought to exhaust the limits of the human body, yet they moved in opposite directions, each walking its own road. For a time, thoughts surged through Wang Yuan's mind, countless sparks of inspiration flashing and leaping. Yet! It was clear that Luo Chen's purpose in inviting him today was not to debate the grand path of body refining, but to seek something specific. He moistened his dry lips and asked, "What stage have you reached now?" Without hesitation, Luo Chen answered, "A hundred meridians cleared, every aperture unlocked!" "I can store a reservoir of qi within, sustaining an internal cycle without breathing for three years!" "I have completed one round of blood replacement; my marrow is like frost, my blood like mercury!" "Bone sculpting has progressed the slowest, yet my spine is like an unbroken dragon spanning my frame." "Lastly, I can condense protective qi armor comparable to that of fur-clad and shell-armored beasts!" With every sentence Luo Chen uttered, Wang Yuan was struck with fresh shock. Toward the end, he lost control entirely, his grip crushing the hard stone table beneath his hand. Fine stone powder drifted quietly to the floor. He stared at Luo Chen in disbelief, his mind brimming with doubt. Yet when he remembered how the three of them had struck together, and how Luo Chen alone had instantly slaughtered the strongest of the three cultivators led by Ling Yuzhi, he had no choice but to believe. The combat power Luo Chen had displayed back then was starkly different from the might of his usual fire arts. "You could say that aside from lacking innate divine abilities, there's nothing wrong with treating me as a Tier 3 humanoid demonic beast." If his earlier words were merely individual pieces of a puzzle, Luo Chen's final remark laid bare the full extent of his body refining realm. Wang Yuan could not help but ask, "Just what did you go through? What price did you pay?" To achieve such heights? Luo Chen smiled softly. Weren't all the answers right there in Convergence of Myriad Paths? To attain these minor realms required external forces and internal cultivation, an immense mountain of resources, all forcibly heaped together. Wang Yuan shook his head to himself. He knew there was no point in asking. Past hardships were merely stories of glory that victors earned the right to recount. Between the two of them, there was no need for such posturing. He steered the conversation back on track. "So, you want to grasp techniques that match your current physical realm?" Luo Chen nodded. "Indeed. A Tier 3 beast without divine abilities or demonic arts is nothing more than livestock awaiting slaughter. You understand that principle better than I do." Why did that sound an awful lot like an insult? Wang Yuan glared at him, then sank into deep thought. Without realizing it, he picked up the jade slip once more and studied it closely. Luo Chen was in no rush. He popped a high-grade Soaring Dragon Pill into his mouth to digest. He had noticed something! As his physique reached Desolate Ancient Tier 3, his digestive capacity had grown vastly stronger. In the past, he could take at most one high-grade Soaring Dragon Pill a day, or two pills every three days. Now, however, his frame could comfortably handle three high-grade Soaring Dragon Pills a day! Even without circulating a cultivation technique, his powerful digestion alone could naturally process most of the medicinal potency. He truly resembled a humanoid demonic beast! This was tremendous news! It was no less significant than switching to a higher-grade spirit ground or evolving a cultivation method. It meant he could seize far more spiritual energy from the outside world each day, directly boosting his cultivation speed! By his past estimates, the ratio of spiritual qi refined from digesting a high-grade Soaring Dragon Pill compared to freely meditating in a Tier 2 high-grade spirit ground was roughly one to two. Digesting three pills a day meant his cultivation speed had more than doubled! "Perhaps this is related to how recklessly I consumed countless pills back in the Deity Transformation ruins." "My body passively adapted to that ordeal, naturally forging this level of digestion." While Luo Chen mused over this, Wang Yuan finally emerged from his contemplation several hours later. Meeting Luo Chen's expectant gaze, he said slowly, "I have a concept that might bring out the strengths of your physique to the fullest. But whether it works will require testing to know." "Speak, let's hear it!"