The voice sounded weathered and ancient, carrying across an immense distance.
It had not been shouted, but spoken in a calm, plain tone, yet it rang crystal clear in Luo Chen's ears.
Suddenly, a guess sprang into Luo Chen's mind.
Spiritual transmission!
To transmit across a thousand li, and without even focusing the sound into a targeted beam—just how vast and profound did one's soul foundation have to be to make it this distinctly audible?
Luo Chen swallowed hard, steadying his mind.
Shaking his head vigorously, he looked up once more.
Through his shadowed eyes, he caught a hazy glimpse of another scene beneath that sky full of thunderclouds.
A young Daoist robed in white bone garments of intricate patterns sat atop a carriage of white bone, looking down upon the rolling peaks.
The beast pulling his carriage was a three-headed flood dragon.
Right now, it bared its fangs and hissed, glaring savagely at an old man across from it.
The old man wore a simple azure robe, his grizzled hair neatly draping behind his back.
He kept his presence unassuming, yet facing the White Bone Daoist and the three-headed flood dragon, he showed not the slightest fear; in fact, a faint smile played at the corner of his lips.
The White Bone Daoist fixed an icy glare upon him.
"You know me?"
The old man smiled. "The Master of the Great Snow Mountain, the White Bone Xuan Snake—who under heaven has not heard of you?"
"Yet I do not know you," the White Bone Xuan Snake replied disdainfully.
The old man gave a faint smile. "Mighty figures among the human race emerge in an endless stream. I am merely a newly ascended Nascent Soul, so it is only natural that you do not recognize me. Allow me to introduce myself: Han Zhan of the Luoyun Sect!"
The White Bone Xuan Snake's brow twitched. No such figure existed in his memory.
Moreover, although the man's Nascent Soul cultivation was stable, he was indeed only in the early Nascent Soul realm, having just recently made the breakthrough.
In that case, he was not so great a threat.
Shifting his gaze past Han Zhan, the snake looked toward the majestic Great Snow Mountain.
The site where his White Bone Dao Palace once stood had already been ground into dust; only the Moonlight Ice Fort now stood erected upon it.
The entire Tier 4 spirit vein upon which his cultivation relied was now surging with countless strands of spiritual qi, all pouring into the Moonlight Ice Fort and ultimately flowing into the female cultivator on the ninth floor.
His expression darkened instantly.
"Destroying my Dao Palace, occupying my spiritual grounds—you human cultivators have crossed the line!"
Han Zhan, however, seemed untroubled. "My friend merely borrowed this precious land of yours to break through to the Nascent Soul realm. Whether she succeeds or fails, we have certainly inconvenienced you. When the time comes, she will naturally offer a generous gift by way of apology."
"A generous gift?"
The White Bone Xuan Snake sneered cruelly. "What do you take me for?"
With that sinister grin, he thrust out a thunderous palm strike.
Unflustered, Han Zhan countered with a palm strike of his own.
Vast, surging magic power collided in an instant, shaking the Great Snow Mountain with a deafening rumble.
...
"Han Zhan?"
"The Supreme Elder of Luoyun Sect!"
A thousand li away, Luo Chen's gaze tightened.
This was his first time laying eyes on that newly ascended Nascent Soul True Monarch spoken of in the legends of the Jade Cauldron Domain. Though gaunt in frame, the man was vigorous in spirit, remaining composed in the face of peril. In every word and deed, he radiated the transcendent grace of an immortal.
"Was he invited here specifically to protect Master Canglong during her breakthrough?"
As Luo Chen was speculating, the two Nascent Soul powerhouses clashed in another heavy blow.
Fierce shockwaves of magic power rippled outward.
In the hazy haze, Luo Chen could no longer discern their figures.
Yet he could distinctly sense that the thunderclouds between heaven and earth were gathering thicker and thicker. A small cluster of thunderclouds even spontaneously coalesced and drifted toward the man and the demon.
"Not good!"
"Their fight has affected Master Canglong's breakthrough, and even the lightning tribulation has been intensified."
"True Monarch Han Zhan and the others might even be caught up in the tribulation lightning."
"If that happens, who knows whether it will be a blessing or a curse for Master Canglong's breakthrough?"
As thoughts raced through Luo Chen's mind, the two Nascent Soul experts seemed to realize the danger as well after exchanging several blows.
They instinctively drew their battlefield farther away.
Once they reached a certain distance, a sudden shift occurred.
Among the mountain peaks, five silhouettes abruptly emerged. Each brandishing a sharp sword, they hovered into the air from the mountaintops.
A misty grand formation sprang into being!
The instant the formation was established, thousands of sword qi erupted. Five beams of sword light of differing colors darted erratically like swimming fish, streaking straight toward the White Bone Xuan Snake.
The White Bone Xuan Snake's furious roar detonated like thunder.
"A sword formation!"
"Do you think stopping me will allow that woman to cross her tribulation in peace?"
"Wishful thinking!"
Amid his enraged bellow, the surrounding mountains seemed to answer.
One after another, powerful bursts of demonic qi soared into the sky, charging recklessly toward the Moonlight Ice Fort without fear of death.
The master of every single burst of demonic qi was at least of the third rank!
Several great demon kings comparable to late Golden Core cultivators even launched attacks at the Moonlight Ice Fort from a hundred li away.
...
"Not good!"
Seeing one Tier 3 Demon King after another charging toward the Moonlight Ice Fort, Luo Chen's face paled.
His current position still fell within a thousand li of the mountain.
At this rate, he would inevitably cross paths with demon kings.
This was not merely a pursuit on the scale of the Seven-Ring Snow Python King.
The Seven-Ring Snow Python wasn't overwhelmingly powerful on its own, even if it could rely on bloodline ties to summon fellow serpents and pythons to pincer Luo Chen.
During that chase, those enemies had been unable to coordinate immediately, making it hard for them to mount an organized threat. Thus, Luo Chen had been able to dart left and right, continuously relying on his superior flight speed to slip away.
But if this area became crawling with Tier 3 Demon Kings...
As a lone human cultivator caught in their midst, he would likely become their primary target for eradication.
He could stay here no longer!
Glancing toward the towering ice fort shrouded in thunderclouds in the distance, Luo Chen gritted his teeth.
"Senior Sister Canglong, forgive me."
"I am insignificant and powerless right now, unable to protect your path."
"May the Three Flowers gather at your crown, and the Five Qi converge at their origin—may you achieve the Grand Dao of the Nascent Soul!"
Cupping his hands in salute, Luo Chen spread his wings and shot away, flying low along the terrain.
The farther out he flew, the more demonic beasts he encountered.
It was no longer limited to Tier 3 Demon Kings; even Tier 2 and Tier 1 beasts seemed to have received a summons, rushing toward the White Bone Dao Palace.
Luo Chen flew close to the ground, emerald-green flames blazing intensely around him.
Wherever he passed, he carved out a path of survival paved with blood and fire.
...
Half a month later!
A colossal cloud of green demonic energy swept across the high sky.
As it flew, it let out irritable screeches.
Howling gales battered the dense mountain forest below, leaving the trees bent, snapped, and in utter disarray.
After a long time had passed...
Down in the forest, from within a gnarled, withered tree root...
A figure stepped out. His aura was entirely concealed, as though he were nothing more than a piece of rotting wood.
Looking up in the direction where the green demon cloud had departed, he let out a long breath of relief.
"It wasn't easy escaping the Great Snow Mountain, only to be targeted by a Tier 3 Azure Falcon the moment I set foot in the Guyuan Mountain Range."
"Fortunately, this kind of beast isn't particularly sensitive to scent and presence."
"Otherwise, I wouldn't have shaken it off so easily."
This person was none other than Luo Chen, who had wreaked havoc in the Great Snow Mountain not long ago.
After shaking off the pursuit of the Seven-Ring Snow Python, he had crept through the wilderness and entered the Guyuan Mountain Range.
He hadn't expected that his transformation into the Heavenly Roc True Form would draw the attention of the Azure Falcon, a fellow avian beast.
Fortunately!
Though beasts of that kind were exceedingly swift and powerful, their ability to track auras was comparatively weak.
Relying on his grand perfection-level Breath Concealment Spiritual Art and his Turtle Spirit Armor, he had quickly ducked into the towering forest and continually shifted his aura, successfully evading the falcon's pursuit.
Even so...
His current condition was wretched in the extreme.
His spiritual power was nearly exhausted, and his surging vitality had dwindled to almost nothing.
Under such conditions, his normally formidable physique could no longer forcefully sustain the Heavenly Roc True Form transformation.
"It's still not safe here. I should find a place to recover first!"
Exhausted, Luo Chen glanced around before choosing the direction where spiritual qi fluctuations were weakest and leaping away.
He used no spell, relying solely on the simplest mortal lightness art, the Carefree Wander.
Darting through the forest like a swooping falcon and a leaping hare, his figure soon vanished into the foliage.
...
"Oh, what a cute little rabbit."
"Too bad we're out in the wild. Otherwise, I could make that shredded rabbit Master likes so much."
Murmurs fell from Bai Meiling's lips.
With a casual flick of ghostly qi, she knocked out the little rabbit, which had just barely advanced to become a Tier 1 demonic beast.
After circling the surrounding area to ensure it was clear, she quietly slipped back into the stone cavern within the mountain.
The moment she stepped inside, a gaze as tangible as solid weight fell upon her.
"Master, you're awake!"
Far from being frightened, Bai Meiling leaned in with delight.
Upon the prayer mat in the cavern, Luo Chen slowly nodded.
"How long has it been?"
Pinching her fingers to count, Bai Meiling said, "You've been nursing your injuries for a month."
Another month has passed?
Luo Chen murmured to himself.
Sweeping his spiritual sense over his body, he could not help but sigh.
His current condition was somewhat better than before, but only marginally so; he had recovered merely ten to twenty percent of his strength.
At this point, never mind a Tier 3 Demon King—even a late Tier 2 beast might prove difficult for him to handle. Killing one was one thing, but if the commotion attracted other beasts...
Ultimately, he had too few healing-related medicinal ingredients in his storage ring.
Over the past month, Luo Chen had completely consumed all the ordinary Qi Harmonizing Pills and supreme-grade Blood-Augmenting Pills he carried with him.
He had not taken the Dust-Descending Pills.
Right now, what he desperately needed were Blood-Augmenting Pills to replenish his vitality and blood essence.
Otherwise, spiritual power alone could not activate the Tier 3 flying spell, Ninety Thousand Miles.
Speaking of Ninety Thousand Miles...
A look of regret crossed Luo Chen's face. The Lieyun Wings, which he had commissioned the craftsmen of Mount Bailian to forge, had been pushed past their limit and were completely ruined.
As a result, if he cast Ninety Thousand Miles in human form, his speed would be reduced by more than half.
He would be only slightly faster than an ordinary Foundation Establishment True Cultivator.
If only that frantic flight afterward hadn't happened!
Luo Chen shook his head, refusing to dwell on regrets.
In truth, signs of this catastrophe had appeared early on.
From the moment they entered the Great Snow Mountain, Fu Jiusheng had mentioned the abnormalities along that safe route more than once.
Too many low-tier demonic beasts had migrated away from their original habitats to the periphery.
Looking back now, those low-tier beasts, endowed with an instinctual perception of danger, had likely sensed an impending calamity.
And the source of that danger was clearly the heavenly tribulation summoned by Master Canglong's breakthrough to the Nascent Soul realm.
"Not only did she invite True Monarch Han Zhan as her Dao protector, but she even deployed the sect's supreme-grade treasure, the Moonlight Ice Fort."
"Beyond that, Fairy Jueqing, Master Yinyue, Baoshuang..."
Luo Chen murmured the names of the Ice Fort's Golden Core cultivators one by one.
If he had seen correctly at the time, each of the first through eighth floors of the Moonlight Ice Fort had a Golden Core cultivator stationed within.
To break through to the Nascent Soul realm, Master Canglong had mobilized the sect's entire foundation!
"I wonder if she succeeded?"
Luo Chen hoped she had.
Not only because having Canglong advance to Nascent Soul would provide him with an enormous backer, but also because she was genuinely a decent person.
Among the many high-ranking cultivators he had met, she was one of only two who had treated him with benevolence.
The other was Haoranzi, with whom he had crossed paths only twice.
It was just a pity that his condition had been so poor and his strength insufficient; otherwise, he certainly would have lent a hand and contributed his modest effort.
Pulling back his wandering thoughts, Luo Chen's gaze fell upon the Tier 1 demon rabbit dangling from Bai Meiling's hand. Its fur was glossy and smooth, its snout bright red.
Clearly, it was still alive, merely unconscious.
Suddenly, a thought struck him.
"Give it to me."
Accustomed to his requests, Bai Meiling handed it over and asked casually, "Are you going to practice the Soul Intimidation Art, Master?"
Back in the cave dwelling, she had often tended to demonic beasts for Luo Chen so that he could use low-tier creatures to practice his soul arts from time to time.
Seeing this, she assumed he intended to do the same.
However...
Little did she know that Luo Chen's mastery of the Soul Intimidation Art had long reached grand perfection.
Otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to instantly slay Daoist Xiao during the cavern battle and cow both Yousha and Helian Yun.
Gripping the unconscious rabbit by its ears, Luo Chen fell into deep contemplation.
With a flick of his right hand, a wisp of emerald-green flame materialized over his slender fingertip, clicking to life like a spark from a lighter.
In his mind's eye, he seemed to return to that ferocious underground struggle, where he had held Daoist Xiao's severed head aloft in midair, gazing down upon Yousha and the other.
On that occasion, he had incinerated Daoist Xiao's head with his source true fire.
Back then, a bizarre transformation had occurred within him.
Due to the perilous circumstances, however, he had not had the leisure to trace its cause and effect.
Now, what he wanted to do was recreate that phenomenon.
"If it works on a human, it should work on a demonic beast as well, right?"
Luo Chen pursed his lips as the Wither-Bloom True Fire slowly enveloped the rabbit.
Scorched by the heat, the rabbit woke instantly.
A shrill, agonizing shriek burst from its mouth.
Seeing this, Bai Meiling's expression shifted, showing fear.
"Maintain the formation. Don't let the sound leak out," Luo Chen instructed calmly, continuing to burn the rabbit slowly.
Gradually, an inexplicable power began to coalesce toward him.
After a long while...
Luo Chen brushed away the ashes, a look of thoughtful contemplation on his face.
"That was... vitality?"
He could feel that after burning a living creature, the Wither-Bloom Fire refined into his source true fire seemed to have absorbed a peculiar force.
The wisp of flame also seemed to have grown somewhat stronger.
And as it expanded, it shared a sliver of that force with Luo Chen.
Nourished by this power, several of the injuries on Luo Chen's body healed visibly faster.
"Could this be the true wonder of the Wither-Bloom Fire?"
Filled with curiosity, he waved to Bai Meiling.
"Are there any other low-tier beasts that wandered into the bewilderment formation?"
Bai Meiling shuddered and nodded hurriedly.
"There are a few more!"
"Bring them all to me!"
The second beast was a skylark.
Luo Chen followed the same method, using spiritual power to fuel his source true fire, slowly burning it while extending his spiritual sense and opening his spiritual eyes wide, doing everything he could to observe and capture the emergence of that force.
One, then two.
Three, then four...
Finally, after Luo Chen had refined every low-tier beast and wild animal that had stumbled into the formation over this period...
He confirmed the nature of that power!
Whether it possessed offensive utility was hard to say, but that force undeniably strengthened the Wither-Bloom Fire.
At the same time, a wisp of the harvested vitality was absorbed by Luo Chen's body.
His injuries improved at a pace visible to the naked eye.
"Wither and bloom, wither and bloom! Where there is withering, there must be blooming—refining the vitality of others into oneself."
"So sinister, yet so wondrous!"
Luo Chen's eyes gleamed with an inscrutable light. His gaze seemed to pierce through the crude cave dwelling, looking out toward the boundless million mountains.
Only after a long time did he suppress the impulse surging in his heart.
"Too reckless!"
"Given my current condition, it's better to be prudent."
"First, I must get out of the Guyuan Mountain Range!"
"Along the way, I can find opportunities to refine some low-tier beasts, but keeping a low profile is paramount."
Luo Chen did not plan to heal completely within these mountains.
For one, the environment was unsuitable; for another, he didn't have enough materials on hand for large-scale pill refinement.
His spiritual power was extraordinarily vast, far surpassing peers of the same realm.
By the same token, possessing such immense spiritual power meant it recovered that much slower.
To return to his peak without pills and high-grade spiritual grounds, there was no telling how long it would take.
Back in the Qi Refining stage, the passive recovery effect granted by leveling up the Eternal Spring Art had been significant, but now its benefits were far less pronounced.
Having made up his mind, Luo Chen hesitated no longer.
He bade Bai Meiling return to the Soul-Nourishing Banner, packed away his formation flags, and cast the Breath Concealment Spiritual Art to rein in his aura before calmly stepping out into the Guyuan Mountain Range.
...
The Guyuan Mountain Range!
Revisiting this old haunt, Luo Chen felt little nostalgia.
During his days at Dahe Mill, he had rarely ventured in and out of these mountains like those beast hunters.
Back then, his cultivation had been too low and his methods scarce.
Only his Fireball Art was barely presentable.
With that level of ability, entering the mountains to hunt beasts for a living was simply too dangerous.
Once he mastered alchemy and joined the Poshan Gang, there was even less need for it.
Even during the massive uproar over the Golden Core ruins left by Ghost-God Valley's Supreme Elder, he had suppressed the greed in his heart and refrained from getting involved.
In contrast, he had occasionally visited Mount Changyin in the Howling Moon Mountain Range.
"The weaker one's strength, the more cautious and timid one becomes."
"The stronger one grows, the more naturally killing intent arises, and the bolder one's courage."
Recalling the battles he had fought since Foundation Establishment, Luo Chen was filled with emotion.
In truth, some of those fights had been unnecessary.
And in others, he could perhaps have handled things better.
Alternating between self-reflection and wistful contemplation, Luo Chen moved steadily faster on his trek out of the mountains.
There were two reasons for his increasing speed: first, he was relatively familiar with the Guyuan Mountain Range. Even if he hadn't explored every inch in person, he had studied numerous maps left behind from his days in the Poshan Gang.
Second, he periodically used the Wither-Bloom Fire to refine captured Tier 1 demonic beasts.
Absorbing their vitality steadily enhanced his body's recuperative power.
The faster his physical body healed, the more his combat strength naturally returned.
His pace naturally shifted from the cautious, creeping stealth of the beginning to a brisk, confident stride.
Two months later.
Luo Chen halted before a fork in the path.
In fact, he had entered the Guyuan Mountain Range once during his Qi Refining days.
Back then, Miao Wen had brought him personally.
It was also on that trip that he had discovered the remnants of the Mi family, only to find them all slaughtered by Miao Wen—with not a single survivor aside from Mi Li.
Luo Chen looked up toward a towering mountain.
Standing thousands of zhang tall, its summit was oddly devoid of clouds.
This mountain was named Jueyun Mountain!
Demonic beasts teemed within, and Tier 2 beasts were by no means rare.
It was a place that hunters from Dahe Mill hardly dared to tread.
With Luo Chen's current strength, he naturally had the courage to explore it.
The reason he had stopped was precisely because of this mountain.
"That miniature Yuanmagnetic Valley should be inside, shouldn't it?"
Luo Chen let out a sigh.
Right now, resting quietly inside his Thunder-Accumulating Treasure Ring was a puppet.
It was a puppet crafted from the corpse of Mi Shuhua.
"Since I'm already here, I might as well lay Old Man Mi to rest so he can be reunited with his clan."
With a thought, Luo Chen soared into the mountain.
As he flew, he pushed his spiritual sense outward.
With the acuity of his spiritual sense, he quickly detected several powerful Tier 2 demonic beasts:
Bloodthirsty Wild Crocodiles, Black Marsh Pythons, Jueyun Leopards...
Luo Chen paid no heed to these creatures, despite their far more vibrant life force.
He could kill them easily enough.
Yet stirring up trouble would run counter to his goal of returning home quietly.
Before long, following his memory, Luo Chen arrived at the Yuanmagnetic Valley.
This had been one of the Poshan Gang's secret strongholds in the Guyuan Mountain Range.
The reason it had been established here was that the valley contained trace amounts of yuanmagnetic force, suppressing the five elements and leaving the spiritual qi sparse; any beast with even a shred of intelligence instinctively stayed away.
Just as Luo Chen was about to lower his cloud and descend into the Yuanmagnetic Valley...
A figure caught in his sight caused him to freeze abruptly.
"Huh?"
"Why is he here?"
Chapter 448