"Senior He!"
As they walked along the mountain path, Luo Chen suddenly spoke up.
"What is it?"
Gathering his words, Luo Chen asked as naturally as possible, "Senior Youquan is the vice hall master of Duzhen Hall. Who is the actual hall master?"
To this question, Heqingzi replied casually, "There is no hall master. Duzhen Hall has never had a hall master. Even Lady Youquan was only elevated to vice hall master five hundred years ago. Before that, there wasn't even a vice hall master."
Luo Chen was taken aback. To establish a grand hall housing multiple Nascent Soul demon cultivators, yet have no hall master all this time?
He asked on instinct, "Then what are the names of the other two halls the vice hall master mentioned?"
As he spoke, he looked directly toward the other colossal hall situated opposite Duzhen Hall, as well as the majestic structure perched high atop the mountain ridge flanked by the two halls, which resembled a celestial palace amidst the clouds.
Heqingzi halted in her tracks, looking in those two directions with a gaze mingled with reverence and a touch of dread.
"Opposite Duzhen Hall is Zhoukong Hall."
"And atop the mountain peak is Tongxuan Hall."
*Zhoukong? Tongxuan?*
Chewing over the two names, Luo Chen seized the opportunity to ask, "May I ask if those two places have masters?"
All of a sudden.
A terrifying pressure surged toward him like a tidal wave, only to halt abruptly right in front of his face.
Even so, a coercive aura comparable to the mid Nascent Soul stage drained all color from Luo Chen's face.
Heqingzi glared at him unkindly. "Why are you asking about this?"
His face pale, Luo Chen replied cautiously, "I only wished to learn the truth so that I do not inadvertently offend them, or say something that might cross the masters of the two halls. This junior is accustomed to treading carefully. When living under someone else's roof, one must always mind one's manners. I hope Senior can forgive my impertinence."
"Hmph!"
Heqingzi gave a cold snort.
Yet after pondering for a moment, she still lowered her voice and said, "The master of Zhoukong Hall is Sister Qing... Lady Qingshuang! She has awakened the bloodline of the Qingluan, and her strength is terrifyingly formidable! But as long as you do not offend her, she usually does nothing to us. Her disposition is rather aloof, so do not provoke her under ordinary circumstances."
Luo Chen nodded repeatedly. Going by her description, the green-robed woman who had appeared at the White Bone Dao Palace and casually frightened away five great Nascent Soul masters had to be the Qingshuang she spoke of.
She had awakened the bloodline of a Qingluan.
*Tsk tsk.* That was an auspicious divine avian ranked alongside the phoenix in legends, standing at the very pinnacle even among the ancient primordial beasts of the Mountain and Sea Realm!
No wonder she was so terrifying that five great Nascent Soul masters fled at the mere sight of her, and some couldn't even get away.
"What about Tongxuan Hall?" Luo Chen followed up. "Don't tell me its hall master is a phoenix?"
He had merely ventured a casual guess.
Yet in the next moment, he distinctly saw dread surface in Heqingzi's eyes.
"Silence! How dare you speak of the Monarch's true form so casually!"
Luo Chen froze. *It really is a phoenix?!*
Taking a deep breath, Heqingzi admonished in a low murmur, "The master of Tongxuan Hall is none other than Monarch Qixia!"
"You must revere her from the bottom of your heart, without the slightest hint of profanity. If you anger her, then throughout the four directions and five continents, in the entirety of the vast Mountain and Sea Realm, not a single soul will be able to save you!"
...
According to Heqingzi, Monarch Qixia, the master of Tongxuan Hall, had risen to prominence within the past thousand years.
Her immense strength went without saying.
Otherwise, she could never have claimed Mount Cangwu—one of the supreme spirit lands in the Mountain and Sea Realm—by her own power alone.
Only after securing such a vast spiritual vein did she conceive the notion of cultivating her own faction.
Yet the subordinates she nurtured were mostly avians, and specifically those among winged raptors and rocs who possessed relatively pure bloodlines.
Even if certain demon beasts in the Barren Mountains were fortunate enough to break through to Rank Four, Monarch Qixia would never accept them if their bloodlines lacked purity.
On top of that, Heqingzi specifically added, "The Monarch has an unpredictable temper. Never look directly at her under any circumstances, or you may court absolute annihilation."
That single sentence captured Monarch Qixia's formidable power and eccentric temperament to perfection.
Naturally, Luo Chen had no desire to provoke such an existence.
He didn't even want to catch a glimpse of her.
Standing outside the cave abode Heqingzi had arranged for him, Luo Chen watched as she left behind a sound-transmitting jade talisman and drifted away gracefully.
His agitation gradually settled.
He had many shortcomings in his personality, flaws that periodically plunged him into perilous straits.
Yet his ability to reach his current cultivation realm also stemmed from several prominent virtues.
Perseverance, optimism, an ability to yield or stand tall as circumstances demanded, and high adaptability.
From a sect's Grand Elder not long ago, to a prisoner in a dark dungeon, and now to a mere tool of labor.
His status had repeatedly shifted, and his fortunes had swung wildly.
An ordinary person would undoubtedly have struggled to adapt, but after a simple mental adjustment, Luo Chen had fully settled into his new reality.
Matters of the world were fickle and completely devoid of reason.
Rather than complain, it was better to adapt.
"At least I still have some value to be exploited!"
"Heh."
With a self-deprecating laugh, Luo Chen pushed open the doors to the cave abode.
At that exact instant, a surge of spiritual energy so dense it was almost liquid burst forth. Luo Chen's eyes widened, lighting up with sheer ecstasy.
"A peak-grade Rank Three spirit land!"
...
Luo Chen had never imagined that the cave abode Youquan ordered Heqingzi to prepare for him would actually be at the peak-grade of Rank Three.
This was no low-grade or mid-grade vein, but a peak-grade spiritual vein standing above the superior-grade!
The concentration of spiritual energy was nine times that of a low-grade vein, second only to the Rank Four veins required by Nascent Soul cultivators.
In fact, many newly ascended Nascent Soul cultivators who couldn't find a suitable Rank Four vein were forced to settle for superior-grade Rank Three veins; a peak-grade vein like this would make even their eyes turn red with envy.
As far as Luo Chen knew, peak-grade Rank Three spiritual veins were extraordinarily rare. Over the years, the only known one nearby was Mount Jihuang, situated beside the Ao Xiao Wolf Court.
And now, Youquan had actually arranged such a cave abode for him.
Then his cultivation speed...
Luo Chen swallowed hard, unconsciously glancing in the direction of Duzhen Hall as though his gaze could pierce the layers of rock.
He shook his head, calming himself from his euphoric reverie.
"I'm making a fuss over nothing."
"Mount Cangwu possesses a Rank Five primary spiritual vein, along with secondary veins of every rank and grade. A mere peak-grade Rank Three vein means nothing to them."
"She probably just wants me, as her tool, to work diligently, which is why she deliberately arranged the cultivation environment best suited for me!"
Having reasoned this through, Luo Chen pursed his lips.
Emperor's Flowing Syrup!
Many years ago, he had discovered that this Foundation Establishment spirit medicine was far better suited to enhancing the foundation of demon beasts than that of humans.
When consumed by an ordinary human for Foundation Establishment, it only increased the odds of breakthrough by twenty percent—far inferior to the thirty percent provided by a standard Foundation Establishment Pill.
Yet this certainly did not mean Emperor's Flowing Syrup was inferior.
It was entirely a matter of compatibility.
Emperor's Flowing Syrup was inherently attuned to demon beasts. If given to them, the chances of advancing their rank were naturally far higher.
This held especially true given Luo Chen's ability to raise his proficiency and produce high-grade pills, which made those odds terrifyingly high.
Youquan had searched the souls of many captives.
Looking at any single captive's memories might not have revealed much about Luo Chen.
Yet taken altogether, she could easily deduce that Luo Chen possessed the ability to concoct superior-grade pills.
If nothing else, he had publicly revealed large batches of superior-grade Jade Dew Pills.
Both Emperor's Flowing Syrup and Jade Dew Pills belonged to Rank Two.
In fact, refining Emperor's Flowing Syrup was actually less difficult than concocting Jade Dew Pills. It was precisely for this reason that Youquan had given him a strict command to produce superior-grade Emperor's Flowing Syrup—the more, the better!
This was also why Youquan had refrained from searching his soul.
No matter how finely controlled a soul-searching technique was, accidents could still occur.
If a slight slip-up damaged Luo Chen's comprehension of alchemy or ruined his alchemical craftsmanship, he would be unable to produce any pills at all.
Compared to the soul memories of a mere rogue cultivator, it was far better to squeeze every ounce of value from his skills.
"As long as ingredients keep coming, I could refine around the clock, churning out nearly two hundred portions of Emperor's Flowing Syrup a day."
"That would be six thousand a month, sixty to seventy thousand a year, and after ten years... wouldn't Mount Cangwu be crawling with Rank Two avians everywhere!"
Naturally, Luo Chen had no intention of doing that.
Did he not want to live?!
Two hundred portions a day was out of the question.
At most, he would open the furnace twice a day, refining batches of ten portions of raw ingredients at a time, steadily maintaining his daily yield at around six portions of Emperor's Flowing Syrup.
This quantity had been meticulously calculated.
It was neither too much nor too little.
It would satisfy his superiors while dragging out time and prolonging his usefulness, perhaps even buying enough time for human powerhouses to arrive and rescue them.
With several sweeps of his wide sleeves, he cleared away the lingering scents of birds and beasts inside the cave abode.
Choosing a spot to serve as his cultivation area, Luo Chen retrieved a prayer mat and incense burner from his storage ring, then sat down cross-legged.
"Let me see just how extraordinary this peak-grade Rank Three spiritual vein truly is!"
...
"Fellow Daoist Luo Chen probably won't be coming back."
"Aye, after so long without a trace, he most likely died on the spot under the soul-searching technique, just like Jin Buque and Baoshuang."
"What a pity for a master alchemist. It is said he was already capable of refining mid-grade Rank Three Fanxing Pills. Give him another century—no, a mere decade or so—and he likely could have produced superior-grade Rank Three pills. Such alchemical mastery would count as preeminent even across the Eastern Desolation cultivation world."
"One can only say that Danchenzi was fated to meet this calamity!"
Within the murky dungeon, the sparse murmurs of Golden Core cultivators from various sects drifted through the dark.
Between their words, none harbored any hope for Luo Chen.
As for speculations of escape, that was utterly impossible.
Mount Cangwu had three Nascent Soul powerhouses on the surface alone, not to mention any recluses cultivating in secret.
Especially that green-robed woman.
Her strength was unfathomable. Forget Golden Core cultivators—even ordinary Nascent Soul powerhouses would gain no advantage against her.
Amidst the hushed chatter, someone abruptly spoke up.
"Do you think... our sects will send someone to rescue us?"
In response to this question, silence enveloped the dungeon.
After a long while.
Only then did someone say hesitantly, "They should, right?"
*Right?*
*Would they?*
...
Time trickled by.
A month had passed since the battle at the Great Snow Mountain.
News that the high-tier combat forces of the Luoyun Sect's expeditionary alliance had been wiped out by demon powerhouses had spread far and wide.
Those residing in the Howling Moon Mountain Range and the Jade Cauldron Domain were particularly well aware of the matter.
Back then, countless people had witnessed Qingshuang pursuing Perfected Jade Cauldron across ten thousand li, toppling cities and slaying foes with breathtaking dominance.
Such an event could never be suppressed.
In fact, because the high-tier cultivators of this Pioneering War had been completely annihilated, panic swept through the countless cultivators remaining in the Howling Moon Mountain Range. Many were already contemplating a retreat, terrified that the demon beasts of the Barren Mountains would pour out in full force to reclaim their territory.
The Jade Cauldron Domain was in a similar state.
With Perfected Jade Cauldron fallen in battle, the Sword Sect was instantly left without a leader.
For a time, turmoil gripped the Sword Sect.
Fortunately, Master Yaoguang stepped forward in person to take charge, recalling the sect's powerhouses from abroad to steady the situation.
Yet the situation he steadied was merely that of a single sect.
When it came to the entire Eastern Desolation cultivation world, everything depended on what the sacred land, the Mingyuan Sect, had to say.
Regarding this, the Mingyuan Sect fell into an eerie silence.
A month of silence left the front lines gripped by panic.
The Luoyun Sect, stationed at the Ao Xiao Wolf Court, found itself caught in a dilemma.
Should they hold onto the Rank Four spiritual vein they had fought so hard to conquer, or abandon the place and retreat to the Jade Cauldron Domain?
Having lost the Moon God Envoy, the Star God Envoy found himself solitary and helpless, nursing a splitting headache as he watched the senior echelons of the Star Moon Divine Hall bicker incessantly.
The situation at Mengquan Cave was much the same.
Their sect's Grand Elder, along with Yu Jiaolong—the genius who held the best chance of advancing to the Nascent Soul stage—were both gone. Such a blow was simply devastating!
Luotian Alliance.
Atop Snow Wolf Flat, the three factions gathered!
Diwu Qi, Cen Qiusheng, and Sima Huiniang, who attended the Golden Core council with the backing of Fu Jiusheng.
"Speak, then. What should we do now?"
Sima Huiniang declared without hesitation, "There is nothing to discuss. We hold this ground and await our sect's Grand Elder's return!"
Diwu Qi furrowed his brows. "Everyone knows what happened at the Great Snow Mountain. Even Perfected Jade Cauldron was destroyed in body and soul. You don't honestly believe Danchenzi is still alive, do you?"
Sima Huiniang's gaze was resolute. "He is indeed alive. I share a unique connection with him, and I can confirm that he lives even now."
Diwu Qi's expression shifted uncertainly as he looked toward the others.
Cen Qiusheng gave a light cough and said, "According to word trickling out from several sects, their Golden Core cultivators are indeed still alive. After all, major sects have the tradition of crafting natal soul lamps."
Diwu Qi drew a deep breath.
"Fine! Even if Danchenzi is still alive, so what? What we may face next is a counterattack from countless demon beasts across the Barren Mountains! You can't truly believe our three factions alone can withstand that!"
Sima Huiniang refused to yield an inch. "We cannot stop them, but neither can anyone else. At the very least, our Luotian Alliance is situated in the rear. Even if the sky falls, the Luoyun Sect and the Star Moon Divine Hall will be the ones bearing the brunt."
Cen Qiusheng chipped in to help. "Indeed. We fought so hard to claim this Rank Three spirit land. Would Fellow Daoist Diwu truly be willing to hand it over on a silver platter?"
Diwu Qi opened his mouth, momentarily at a loss for words.
How could he bear to give it up?
He was merely unnerved, that was all.
After a moment's thought, he still couldn't resist asking, "One must always prepare for a rainy day. The Luotian Alliance was never strong to begin with, and now we have lost two great experts in succession, Jiang Yu and Danchenzi. Danchenzi in particular possessed extraordinary methods. If we truly encounter demon powerhouses, who among your Luotian Sect will fill that void in combat strength? Let me make this clear beforehand: if I am struggling to protect myself, do not expect me to come to your aid."
Facing this question, everyone looked at each other in dismay.
Diwu Qi spoke the plain truth.
Luo Chen's presence was far more than that of a symbolic alliance leader.
To outsiders, he held the title of master alchemist, which was why a minor force like the Luotian Alliance was regarded with respect and permitted to mingle among the ranks of so-called 'great sects.'
Against enemies, his personal prowess was remarkable; even Diwu Qi had been forced to admit inferiority. Without Luo Chen, the Luotian Alliance's strength had plummeted.
And the Luotian Sect had lost its backbone!
Just as everyone hesitated in indecision.
*Creak!*
The palace doors were pushed open.
A figure stepped slowly inside.
"Quite simple. I shall fill that void."
As the words fell, an incomparably terrifying surge of astral energy erupted from the man.
With him at the center, the entire hall seemed to plunge into a scorching furnace. The vitality and blood of everyone present surged, churning beyond their control.
Chapter 512