"President, here are the seven unique hidden weapons you asked for. It took a bit of time, as I had the association's weapon artificers forge them specially."
Luo Chen nodded, sweeping over them with his spiritual sense.
Neatly arranged inside the storage bag were seven distinct hidden weapons commonly used in the mortal martial world: Seven-Star Bone-Penetrating Nails, Heart-Rupturing Silk, Five-Flower Cotton, Blood Drippers...
Adding the Hunyuan Bead, Seven-Night Star, and Iron Caltrop that Luo Chen had mastered years ago, he had gathered all ten hidden weapons needed to practice Heavenly Maiden Scattering Flowers.
Indeed, Luo Chen intended to cultivate this compendium of hidden weapon techniques—which he had possessed for decades—to absolute perfection.
Leaving Heavenly Maiden Scattering Flowers idling at the Grandmaster level was simply not right.
In the past, he hadn't cultivated it further only because gathering ten different hidden weapons was too tedious, and having learned three throwing techniques back then had been more than enough.
Now, however!
The Luotian Association had plenty of skilled talents. With a casual word, the Forging Hall could craft mere ordinary hidden weapons by the score, as many as he wanted.
With his profound cultivation realm, perfecting Heavenly Maiden Scattering Flowers would take him at most a month or so.
How much it increased his combat prowess hardly mattered; what was truly important was earning an extra achievement point!
After his subordinate left, Luo Chen immersed himself in practicing the seven hidden weapon techniques.
Day by day he cultivated, his proficiency climbing continuously.
Seven days passed in the blink of an eye.
Looking at the entry for [Heavenly Maiden Scattering Flowers: Great Perfection] on his attribute panel, Luo Chen smiled freely.
He had underestimated himself.
It hadn't taken anywhere near a month.
When it came to hidden weapons, the emphasis was primarily on the weapon itself, followed by manual finesse, eyesight, internal energy, and the like.
He already had the weapons, his vision exceeded ordinary martial artists a thousandfold, and mortal internal energy could be replaced by far superior spiritual power.
Such swift progress was only natural!
After bringing this art to perfection, Luo Chen did not halt his efforts to expand his combat repertoire.
On this day, Gu Caiyi came to his cave dwelling.
She brought good news.
"There is finally word on the high-grade third-rank fire fiend qi you wanted."
Hearing this, Luo Chen's eyes lit up.
Ever since the battle at Incense Burning Valley, where Qin Tairan had destroyed his Blazing Fire Miasma using Flaming Sun True Fiend qi, this trump card had been practically crippled.
Three years in the Ice Fort, and another three years after returning to Tianlan.
To have finally found news after so long was no easy feat!
"What kind of fiend qi is it, and where did it appear?"
Gu Caiyi smiled. "It's a peculiar third-rank fiend qi known as Sunken River Ghost Fiend. A merchant alliance retrieved it from the Lancang River, and it is currently being transported to Thousand Leaves Immortal City. They likely intend to put it up for auction and sell it to Luoyun Sect cultivators."
Thousand Leaves Immortal City was an immortal city belonging exclusively to the Luoyun Sect.
Over the years, the Luoyun Sect's path of puppetry had also gradually become well known to the public.
Their puppetry was far from simply controlling puppets in combat; they could also imbue puppets with various other techniques.
Fiend qi, for instance, was an exceptionally formidable addition.
After all, cultivators feared fiend qi like a tiger, while inanimate puppets harbored no such concerns.
However!
Luo Chen asked in puzzlement, "Sunken River Ghost Fiend—why does that sound less like a fire fiend and more like a water fiend or a ghost fiend?"
Fiend qi was also classified by the five elements.
In fact, it wasn't even limited to the five elements; whenever any kind of power gathered excessively in one place, it easily formed an extreme, hostile force.
This extreme force was what people called fiend qi.
Gu Caiyi nodded slightly, then shook her head with a smile. "Just as you thought, this fiend qi does possess traits of both water fiend and ghost fiend, but its primary attribute is actually fire. Sunken River Ghost Fiend is also known as Sunken River Ghostfire Fiend. It is a peculiar fiend qi formed over centuries from countless beings who died in the Lancang River, whose remains and spirits settled into an extinct underwater volcano on the riverbed. Because its place of origin is a subterranean volcano, its primary element is fire. Yet precisely because it is tainted by the opposing water element and fused with the ghostfire of dead souls, it possesses terrifying potency. I've heard that once touched by this fiend qi, magical tools and treasures are defiled, and a cultivator's physical body is corroded."
Hearing Gu Caiyi's description, Luo Chen could not help but be tempted.
This substance sounded truly unique.
Though it might lack the domineering ferocity of normal fire fiends, it carried a much more insidious, venomous edge.
If he used this to cultivate the Blazing Fire Miasma, even a Golden Core cultivator who accidentally came into contact with it would likely suffer a bitter loss.
"Send people to Thousand Leaves Immortal City. Secure that Sunken River Ghostfire Fiend at any cost!"
"Don't worry, I will handle this personally." Gu Caiyi could tell that Luo Chen attached great importance to this fiend qi; otherwise, he wouldn't have had the Luotian Association search for one for so many years.
Seeing that Gu Caiyi intended to go herself, Luo Chen thought for a moment and added, "If you truly cannot obtain it, don't force the issue. Conflicts are strictly forbidden in the Jade Cauldron Domain right now. If provoking an enemy triggers a fight, it will be troublesome. If worst comes to worst, purchasing a large quantity of ordinary third-rank Earth Fire Fiend qi will still do for me in a pinch."
"Understood, rest assured. I will be careful." Gu Caiyi nodded.
After she left, Luo Chen's daily routine returned to his previous pattern of rigorous cultivation and alchemy.
The only difference was that he scaled back his other miscellaneous tasks, devoting the extra time to researching the concoction of the Nether Origin Pill.
He had not yet initiated this pill recipe via the system.
Instead, relying on the vast quantities of low-grade herbs gathered by the Luotian Association, he was experimenting and trying to adapt and improve it.
He tried substituting the third-rank Mount Tian Yang-Returning Water with the Medicine King Sect's Yang Restoring Water, replaced the Jialan Thunder Flower with another second-rank lightning-attribute herb, and found a suitable surrogate for the Nine-Pattern Snake Saliva Flower.
The medicinal properties aligned, and the natures of the herbs were of a similar vein.
As for the other auxiliary ingredients, he also sought matching alternatives wherever possible.
Through ceaseless attempts, continuous refinements, and batch after batch of concoctions, time slowly slipped by.
...
One year later.
Gu Caiyi returned from Thousand Leaves Immortal City with somewhat disappointing news.
That portion of Sunken River Ghost Fiend had been won at auction by a Golden Core elder of the Luoyun Sect.
Left with no alternative, Gu Caiyi spent over a hundred thousand spirit stones to purchase a large quantity of third-rank Earth Fire Fiend for Luo Chen.
If quality fell short, quantity would make up for it.
Fiend qi was fiend qi, after all!
Even if it posed little threat to Golden Core cultivators, within Foundation Establishment it remained an absolute lethal trump card.
Nevertheless, Luo Chen did not tell the Luotian Association to cease searching for high-grade fire fiends.
Whenever a formidable fire fiend like Sunken River Ghost Fiend or Flaming Sun True Fiend appeared, they were to secure it if the price was within acceptable bounds.
While Gu Caiyi brought bad news, good news that Luo Chen had been hoping for arrived from the Ice Fort.
Mount Tian Yang-Returning Water!
So long as Luo Chen produced three hundred thousand spirit stones, the Ice Fort was willing to sell him two portions of Mount Tian Yang-Returning Water.
Two portions were already enough!
According to the Nether Origin Pill recipe, one complete portion of Mount Tian Yang-Returning Water was enough to concoct ten batches of Nether Origin Pills.
The extra portion could be reserved as an auxiliary spiritual liquid when forming his core.
At three hundred thousand spirit stones, the price was a hefty markup over market value.
Yet Luo Chen voiced no dissatisfaction.
A spiritual liquid capable of assisting in core formation was virtually priceless and unobtainable through normal channels.
Countless people had spirit stones and still couldn't buy it anywhere.
According to Luo Chen's deductions, aside from internal use, the Ice Fort mostly traded their Mount Tian Yang-Returning Water with the Medicine King Sect in exchange for supplies of rare pills.
To squeeze out two portions for him was giving him immense face indeed.
Since they showed him such respect, Luo Chen naturally reciprocated.
Next, Luo Chen went all out!
He spent a whole year concocting all the high-grade Jade Dew Pills the Ice Fort would need for the next ten years.
He even slipped in seven or eight bottles of supreme-grade Jade Dew Pills!
This was his sincerity.
In the past, he had never revealed that he could refine supreme-grade pills.
Even when he occasionally refined some supreme Jade Dew Pills, he only gave them to Huiniang and Caiyi for private consumption.
One could only say that since Canglong granted his every request, he certainly would not be ungrateful.
Some might wonder why Luo Chen had always held back around figures like Mi Shuhua, Miao Wen, and Fairy Jueqing, who had also granted his requests, yet was willing to display his true mastery for Canglong.
Was it a double standard?
No, there was a fundamental difference between the two.
The former always placed rigid demands or strings attached on Luo Chen.
The latter, on the other hand, had never made any specific demands of him; instead, it was Luo Chen who frequently sought her help.
You could say Master Canglong had masterful tact and finesse, or you could say Luo Chen responded to gentleness rather than force.
If others treated him with sincerity, Luo Chen would naturally return that sincerity in equal measure.
...
After finishing the required Jade Dew Pills, Luo Chen turned his attention to concocting second-rank Nether-Passage Pills.
This pertained to Chu Kui's cultivation of the Curtain-Locking Secret Art.
Chu Kui was Luo Chen's best subject for observing the technique, so his logistical support could not be allowed to fall behind.
Another year passed, and Luo Chen finished concocting all the second-rank Nether-Passage Pills that he and Chu Kui would need in the future.
Along the way, he also took the time to teach Qu Lingjun how to refine first-rank Nether-Passage Pills.
After this flurry of preparations, three years passed in a flash.
Only six years remained before departure.
"Six years..."
In his cave dwelling, Luo Chen assessed the remaining six years.
"Depth matters more than breadth. The Innate Qi Great Handprint has barely reached entry level; I likely won't be able to cultivate it to the Grandmaster tier in time."
Such an immensely powerful third-rank spell was utterly unsuitable for active combat unless raised to the Grandmaster tier.
Thus, Luo Chen wisely chose to set it aside for now.
By the same token, the third-rank spell Mirror Flower Water Moon, being a composite spell, also progressed very slowly.
"The Blazing Fire Miasma can be made my cultivation focus. Once unleashed, nothing in Foundation Establishment can stand before it.
"Furthermore, I need to advance the Soul Intimidation Art and Bewitching Spirit Art. Xiao Sanren specializes in divine soul attacks and now has even deeper cultivation. Beyond the defense of the Lanke Black Chess Piece, I must possess sufficient countermeasures.
"Even if my divine soul foundation is no weaker than his, mere backlash won't claim his life."
After this analysis, Luo Chen determined his focus for the next six years: refine third-rank Earth Fire Fiend qi into the Blazing Fire Miasma; perfect the Soul Intimidation Art and push the Bewitching Spirit Art to the Grandmaster tier if possible; and aside from that, see if he could work out an alternative recipe for the Nether Origin Pill.
However, deducing the Nether Origin Pill recipe progressed at a crawl; it cost Luo Chen heaps of spirit stones, and so far he had only verified a few surrogate herbs.
"Step by step.
"After all, I am the one with the least reason to rush."
...
Swift winds swept past the pale sun as daylight raced westward.
Amid the bustling yet quiet atmosphere as the Jade Cauldron Domain prepared for fifty years of war, six years arrived in the blink of an eye.
On this day.
Amid heavy, feather-like snow, two graceful figures arrived together.
The atmosphere between them was hardly harmonious, but upon entering Cave Abode Yi-17, they maintained relative restraint.
They could throw a temper at any other time, but never right before their man was about to embark on a distant journey.
Inside the abode, Sima Huiniang and Gu Caiyi sat opposite each other.
Neither looked at the other, their eyes fixed on the cultivation chamber.
After a long time, a violent, tempestuous aura suddenly swept outward.
The women's expressions shifted, but before they could react, the aura retracted in an instant.
*Clack!*
The door of the cultivation chamber opened, and a tall, handsome figure strode out.
Luo Chen, still immersed in the joy of reclaiming his trump card, the Blazing Fire Miasma, paused upon seeing the two women.
Then he shook his head with a chuckle. "It's merely an excursion. There was no need to see me off in person."
Gu Caiyi lowered her eyes and said worriedly, "Last time you went out, you said the exact same thing. But in the end..."
Luo Chen smiled and rubbed her head. "You're overthinking it. That time, we faced a great Golden Core sect. How could the danger compare to this trip? With my current strength, unless I encounter a Golden Core cultivator, I am more than capable of traversing an entire domain unchecked. Even if an early-stage Golden Core cultivator attacks, I am confident I can make an easy escape. Don't worry so much."
Gu Caiyi pouted, yet voiced no further concerns.
Once her man set his mind to something, he was rarely swayed.
Subconsciously, she glanced at Sima Huiniang, hoping the other woman would offer some wise counsel.
However, Sima Huiniang merely stood up and gave a graceful bow.
"Focus on what you must do. I will manage the Luotian Association properly."
Luo Chen laughed heartily, hugged both women, and stepped straight out of the immortal cave.
Descending Tianlan Peak, he did not pause for a second, heading straight out of the immortal city.
...
A thousand li away from Tianlan Immortal City.
In a spirit-impoverished land stood several small, scattered hills.
Goose-feather snowflakes drifted down gracefully, dressing the unremarkable landscape in silver and white, giving it a pleasing scenic charm.
Atop one of the small hills, four figures either sat or stood, encircled by an array of small formation flags.
Madam You Sha, wrapped in a pure white fleece cloak, stood near the outer edge, frequently craning her neck to gaze toward Tianlan.
"Why didn't we agree to set off together from the immortal city? Coming to such a remote place—what if Luo Chen can't find us and delays our departure?"
She was growing anxious!
Fu Jiusheng glanced at her, clearly sensing that her cultivation had not yet broken through to the Great Perfection of Foundation Establishment.
Perhaps that was precisely why she was so impatient!
Helian Yun chuckled. "The immortal city is full of gossiping tongues and spying eyes. If we travel separately, no one takes notice. But if the five of us depart together, we would inevitably draw scrutiny from interested parties. When it comes to the grand venture of core formation, one cannot be too cautious! Besides, with Luo Chen's abilities and my token in hand, finding his way here won't be difficult."
Madam You Sha wanted to say more, but Xiao Sanren abruptly cut her off.
"He's here!"
The moment the words fell, all four turned toward the same direction.
Fu Jiusheng cast a discreet glance at Xiao Sanren; the man had actually detected Luo Chen's presence before he did.
That hardly seemed like the mere ninth-layer Foundation Establishment cultivator he appeared to be on the surface!
Still, since the man was deliberately concealing his capabilities, there was no need to call him out. Fu Jiusheng would simply stay vigilant.
On the contrary, if Xiao Sanren made any sudden move, it might catch the others off guard, allowing Fu Jiusheng to prepare in advance and wait at ease for his opportunity.
Fu Jiusheng turned his gaze back.
In the distance, a figure rode a white cloud, flying over at an unhurried pace.
Heavy snow drifted down upon him, yet without seeing him employ any protective barrier, the flakes evaporated before they could even draw near, dispersing into layers of misty vapor.
Amid the swirling mist, the grey-white-haired man glided steadily forward.
His tall, straight posture stood like a green pine unyielding in the snow.
His bright, piercing eyes were like a blazing flame in the bitter winter, making onlookers avert their gaze.
Witnessing this, the four could not help exchanging glances.
Luo Chen's cultivation seemed to have deepened considerably once more!
This diverged from several details they had previously counted on.
An overly powerful Luo Chen would not bode well for their upcoming cooperation!
Just as their minds were filled with doubt and wariness, the cloud dispersed and the figure touched down.
Luo Chen cupped his hands in a Taoist greeting.
"Fellow Daoists, apologies for keeping you waiting!"
After the four returned his greeting one by one, Luo Chen casually outstretched his palm.
"Hand them over."
"Uh..."
The gesture caught them entirely off guard.
Hand over what?
Luo Chen clicked his tongue. "The herbs you gathered over these years for concocting the Nether Origin Pill—give them to me first! I need to inspect how well they've been processed. I wouldn't want an error to crop up mid-concoction that forces me to scramble for a remedy."
Helian Yun hesitated; he had planned to hand over the ingredients only after they arrived at their destination.
Yet before he could speak, Luo Chen's instructions kept coming:
"Doesn't Fellow Daoist Fu know the location? He can guide the way. Fellow Daoist Xiao seems to possess a formidable divine soul; you will be in charge of scouting the surroundings. Lastly, I will trouble Madam You Sha to pilot the flying boat. I need a relatively quiet place to take stock of the herbs, and traveling by boat suits that nicely."
Having given his orders, Luo Chen waved his sleeve.
A high-grade flying boat slammed onto the hilltop with a boom, forcing the other four to take to the air to make room for it.
Luo Chen was the first to board, gesturing invitingly.
"Fellow Daoists, time is of the essence. Please, step aboard!"
Faced with his invitation, the four exchanged looks.
Helian Yun gave a bitter smile and was the first to board the vessel.
Fu Jiusheng and Xiao Sanren met eyes, shrugged, and followed him up.
Madam You Sha's face flushed pale and red in turns. In all her life, she had never served as someone else's pilot.
Yet under the watchful eyes of the other four, she could only grit her pearly white teeth and march into the cockpit of the high-grade flying boat.
"With such a momentous goal ahead, what does it matter if I play carriage driver for Danchenzi just this once!"
Standing in the unfamiliar cockpit, the woman muttered through gritted teeth.
However, glancing at the empty slots on the control array, she froze.
He hadn't even prepared the medium-grade spirit stones to power a high-grade flying boat?
Thus, while silently cursing Luo Chen for being a stingy miser, she reached into her own purse, pulled out spirit stones, and slotted them into the flying boat's formation.
A moment later, the flying boat rumbled to life.
Then, transforming into a streak of flowing light, it shot swiftly toward the far northeast.
Chapter 440