The information recorded in the jade slip was not overly complicated.
It provided a detailed account of Master Nantian, the man who had seized control of the Flying Swallow Archipelago.
His true name was Yan Nantian, and he hailed from a cultivation clan on a large, Rank 3 island in the Demon Territory known as Laoyan Island.
Later, Laoyan Island was struck by a great catastrophe, and the Yan clan was nearly wiped out. Only Yan Nantian's lineage was fortunate enough to escape with their lives.
Even so, powerful enemies pursued them relentlessly.
Over the course of that pursuit, their numbers withered until Yan Nantian alone remained.
Yet he was a man blessed by fortune—or rather, a man of ruthless tenacity.
Not only did he survive, but he grew stronger and stronger. He mastered his clan's techniques and also took up the soul-refining secret arts of the Yuan Demon Sect that circulated in the wider world. After fiercely turning the tables and slaughtering several waves of pursuers, he managed to temporarily stave off the hunt.
Even so, he had sustained severe wounds.
To prevent other enemies from kicking him while he was down, he deliberately left the bustling reaches of the Demon Territory and slipped away into the remote Flying Swallow Archipelago, carving out a territory to rule as its king.
His combat repertoire relied primarily on a sword, a piercer, and a soul banner.
The sword was his natal magic treasure refined in his early years, a water-attribute flying sword.
The piercer was known as the Water-Splitting Piercer, an unorthodox magic treasure capable of cleaving water and conjuring dragons.
As for the banner, it was none other than the signature Soul Refining Banner of the Yuan Demon Sect's Soul Refining branch. Unlike ordinary cultivators who filled their banners with sea demon souls, he had refined vast numbers of cultivators' souls into his!
Within it resided eight branch souls, all late Foundation Establishment cultivators.
Its sole primary soul was the soul of a Golden Core cultivator!
Precisely because of this, Yan Nantian grew stronger with every battle, fighting with ever-increasing ferocity.
His cultivation realm stood firmly at the third layer of Golden Core, just a single step away from the mid-stage.
After finishing the report, Luo Chen could not help but marvel inward.
Evidently, Cheng Dou had not compiled this in haste. It would have required a great deal of time and effort to piece together bit by bit.
In other words, from the very beginning, this intelligence had not been prepared specifically for Luo Chen.
*Even if I hadn't come, he would have found some way to hire someone to remove this mountain looming over his head.*
*External reinforcements... Could it be the old enemies who hunted the Yan clan of Laoyan Island?*
Luo Chen's eyes narrowed slightly.
He also understood roughly why Cheng Dou believed he possessed the strength to take on Yan Nantian.
He styled himself Master Qingyang, possessed a source true fire suspected to be the Qingyang Demonic Fire, and paid extraordinary attention to information concerning the Yuan Demon Sect. To an outside observer, there was a ninety-nine percent chance he was a cultivator from the Yuan Demon Sect.
With the might of a cultivator hailing from a sacred ground of the demonic path, eliminating a mere stray remnant who had fled a fallen clan would seem practically guaranteed.
*Still, wasn't he afraid of misjudging me? If I failed, wouldn't that bring utter ruin to the Cheng clan?*
Even as the question crossed his mind, Luo Chen supplied his own answer.
Presumably, Cheng Dou had already been backed into a corner.
Stuck right before Great Perfection and unable to advance an inch, the sheer pressure of his cultivation realm was driving him mad.
To break that impasse, he was willing to wager his entire clan.
The moment he met Luo Chen, he had offered his own younger sister to win him over.
Seen in that light, he certainly did not lack the desperate courage of a gambler pushing all his chips into the center.
*This bears a passing resemblance to when I had to deal with the Yan Alliance in the late Foundation Establishment stage.*
Luo Chen smiled faintly and put away the jade slip.
Catching the smile on his face, Cheng Haixin, who had been watching him closely, felt a surge of hope.
*Is he confident?*
A calm voice drifted into her ears, colored with Luo Chen's breezy detachment.
"I understand the situation now. At present, I have only one question that needs your answer."
A look of delight surfaced on the woman's face. "Please ask, Master!"
"It is simple. Taking action against Yan Nantian is not out of the question. The issue is, what remuneration can you offer to hire me?"
Cheng Haixin instinctively blurted out, "The Cheng family has accumulated some savings over the years. We can produce several hundred thousand spirit stones."
Luo Chen shook his head. At the peak of his wealth, his purse had held well over ten million spirit stones. Even though his pockets were somewhat lean now, he was not in dire need of a paltry few hundred thousand.
"Magic treasures..."
"Cultivation resources..."
"Cultivation methods..."
One after another, Cheng Haixin offered terms she considered immensely valuable, only to be met with a silent shake of his head.
Before long, a thin layer of sweat beaded on her forehead.
"Would including this concubine... suffice?"
Luo Chen looked at her with a half-smile. "From the day we first met, haven't you already belonged to me?"
Cheng Haixin bit her lower lip, a sudden sense of utter helplessness rising within her chest.
"Enough. Go back and have a proper talk with your elder brother. Once you have thought it through, come give me your answer!"
Luo Chen gave a casual wave of his hand. A gentle gust of wind lifted the woman and carried her out of the cave abode.
*Rumble...*
The two stone doors slowly swung shut, leaving behind her bewildered, lost expression.
***
On Black Swan Island, mortals came and went in a bustling, lively throng.
Due to a recent shipwreck, the Cheng family's demon-hunting fleet had lost a large contingent of seasoned mortal crew members, and the time for recruitment had arrived once more.
Even though working out at sea was perilous, the Cheng family offered exceptionally generous compensation!
As a result, this recruitment drive had drawn numerous capable mortals from other islands.
The recruitment grounds were set up on the outer perimeter of the Little Mirror Lake estate.
From far away, one could see a long line snaking through the grounds.
Looking across the crowd, every single candidate possessed robust vitality and blood energy. By the standards of the secular martial arts world, even the weakest among them had second-rate prowess, while the strongest were on par with grandmasters.
Suddenly, a commotion stirred at the end of the line, prompting those ahead to turn and look.
A tall, striking woman walked past at an unhurried pace.
She seemed lost in thought, completely oblivious to the gazes around her.
The furrow between her brows added a touch of fragile sorrow to her exquisite beauty.
Only after she had vanished into the depths of the estate did subdued whispers ripple through the snaking queue.
"That was Fairy Haixin, wasn't it?"
"It must be. With that tall, graceful figure and such pity-stirring beauty, she's easily one of the very finest among all the female immortals across the thirty-six islands of the Flying Swallow."
"Brother, looking only at her face is far too shallow. Isn't Fairy Haixin's most renowned feat her terrifying talent in reaching Foundation Establishment at just thirty-six years of age?"
"Indeed. Ever since the great calamity a century ago, the Flying Swallow Archipelago was plunged into turmoil, only stabilizing thirty years ago. In those thirty years, those who successfully achieved Foundation Establishment can be counted on one hand. For Fairy Haixin to rise against the odds and establish the Cheng clan's prestige of seven Foundation Establishment cultivators in a single household is truly worthy of our admiration!"
"Given time, Fairy Haixin might even make a push for the Golden Core peak. Mind your words, brothers—chat all you like, but speak with care!"
"Right, right, one shouldn't gossip about the matters of immortals!"
Cheng Haixin, the haughty fairy in the eyes of outsiders, paid no heed to the chatter behind her.
At this moment, her mind was consumed by Luo Chen's attitude.
*He refused everything?*
*Then what does he want?*
Before long, she arrived outside the door of her elder brother, Cheng Dou.
As if anticipating her arrival, the heavy doors opened automatically.
Cheng Dou looked up and saw Cheng Haixin, his expression slightly displeased. Why was she back already?
Cheng Haixin naturally understood her brother's thoughts, but she said nothing in defense, instead recounting the entire exchange in full detail.
Joy first flashed across Cheng Dou's face, but he soon fell into deep thought.
What did Master Qingyang want?
No, rather—what could the Cheng family even offer?
Thoughts raced through his mind. A moment later, Cheng Dou let out a bitter, self-deprecating laugh.
"What could a mere Foundation Establishment clan like ours possess that would catch the eye of a Golden Core Master?"
"Nothing!"
Cheng Haixin froze. "Ah?"
Cheng Dou shook his head. "To say we have nothing actually means we must give everything. In other words, if we want to move Master Qingyang to act, the Cheng clan must submit to him unconditionally and place itself entirely at his disposal. If he wants men, we give men; if he wants treasures, we give treasures. That is all!"
Cheng Haixin's face changed drastically. "Isn't that the conduct of a demonic monster? I thought he remained aloof from female charms and maintained his principles, acting like a true gentleman."
Cheng Dou sighed. "He is a man of the demonic path to begin with. Even if he acts like a gentleman, he is nothing more than a demonic lord."
*Demonic Lord Qingyang?*
Cheng Haixin spoke with a trace of powerlessness, "Then what of us..."
"We give!" Cheng Dou gnashed his teeth as though he had long prepared for this, his tone hardening. "Whatever he wants, we give it to him. Even if our Cheng family must act as another's dog, a master must still toss a few bones. With the way he carries himself, he should at least leave room for me to sprint toward the Golden Core stage in the future."
Cheng Haixin said worriedly, "Brother, isn't it too reckless to stake everything on a stranger of a Golden Core cultivator?"
"I have no choice!" Cheng Dou let out a long sigh. "Besides, things have progressed to the point where the arrow is notched on the bowstring—it must be loosed. Neither you nor I have a say anymore."
The wolf had already entered the house!
When one's realm fell short of another's, nothing remained within one's control.
Beside Little Mirror Lake, brother and sister sat in silence, at a loss for words.
***
Upon Wanghai Cliff.
Luo Chen held a bamboo scroll, perusing it at an unhurried pace.
After restructuring his combat system, his current methods were in no way inferior to his peak during the Pioneering War.
Coupled with his cultivation advancing to the third layer of Golden Core, the potency of his techniques had grown even more formidable.
With strength came confidence. And with confidence, he had ample mental leeway to delve into other matters.
The Fanxing Pill was no longer sufficient to sustain his subsequent cultivation.
One reason was that its medicinal properties did not align with the fire element.
Another reason was that the required medicinal ingredients were overly complex and needed in staggering quantities.
Given the abundant resources of the Northern Sea, if he had sufficient hands, he could certainly gather them all. However, processing them was an entirely different matter.
Back in the Jade Cauldron Domain, the Luotian Sect had possessed a crop of herbalists and alchemical apprentices trained from childhood. From the day they entered the sect, their duty was to process various medicinal herbs for him, sparing Luo Chen immense tedious labor.
Now, that was impossible.
Furthermore, Luo Chen did not trust outsiders!
The pills he refined were for his own consumption!
He could inspect raw ingredients to see if anything was amiss.
Yet if the processed materials were tampered with, the resulting trouble would be far from minor.
Thus, regardless of the angle from which he looked at it, the Fanxing Pill no longer met his needs.
To address this, Luo Chen had another solution!
Switch to a different pill—one that aligned more closely with his elemental attributes, and one whose primary and auxiliary ingredients were relatively fewer in number.
That was the pill recipe currently in his hands—the True Flame Pill!
A Rank 3 fire-attribute pill originating from the Yan Alliance!
Throughout the four-hundred-year history of the Jade Cauldron Domain, this pill had remained largely obscure. Even within the Yan Alliance, those who could refine it and were willing to consume it were exceedingly few.
The reason lay in its domineering potency and disastrous side effects.
After consuming a True Flame Pill, a lingering trace of fire-fiend energy remained within the body.
This fire-fiend force in the medicinal nature was formless and traceless, impossible to dissolve with ordinary magic power. Long-term consumption would inflict irreversible damage upon the sea of qi.
To make matters worse, this fire-fiend energy was an inherent part of the medicinal properties rather than pill poison, making conventional detoxification methods useless.
This was the primary reason the True Flame Pill saw little circulation.
Yet under Luo Chen's scrutiny, he found ways to overcome each of these drawbacks.
The domineering medicinal nature primarily manifested as a violent impact on the physical body. With the strength of his Primeval Antiquity initial stage physique, he could easily withstand such force.
As for the so-called fire-fiend properties, he had prepared two complementary measures.
One was the Micromote Origin Art, which had integrated the Clear Source Wondrous Elixir Method; the other was the Rank 4 Dragon Slaying Art.
With both acting in tandem, he refused to believe he could not resolve the residual fallout of a mere Rank 3 pill.
Having made up his mind, the path ahead was straightforward.
Study the recipe and master the refining process as quickly as possible.
Find suitable personnel to scour the area for materials, supplying him for the large-scale refinement of True Flame Pills.
The latter was also one of the reasons he lingered in the Flying Swallow Archipelago rather than departing immediately.
The terrain here was remote, and the archipelago lacked many powerful Golden Core cultivators, making it an ideal place to cultivate his own faction.
After studying the True Flame Pill recipe once more, Luo Chen set aside the bamboo scroll.
He retrieved a handful of Spirit-Nurturing Pellets from his storage ring and tossed them casually into the sea beneath Wanghai Cliff.
Watching the Blue-Ringed Giant-Fanged Sea Snakes swim back from all around to scramble for the pellets, Luo Chen pondered the Cheng family's likely response.
He did not want nothing—he wanted everything!
A man as shrewd and calculating as Cheng Dou should be able to figure that out.
Backed into a corner—or rather, left with no alternative—Cheng Dou would inevitably agree.
In truth, a cultivation clan was the easiest and quickest type of faction to control.
They had numerous kin bound by blood ties and were anchored to a fixed territory; unless their family was destroyed, they would not wander about aimlessly.
Moreover, Luo Chen shared no blood ties, master-disciple bonds, or close friendships with them. Their connections ran shallow. If trouble truly arose, he could simply walk away.
A faction that imposed no shackles upon him was precisely the best kind.
*They should be reaching their decision soon.*
Luo Chen smiled faintly and clapped his hands, gesturing for the sated Blue-Ringed Giant-Fanged Sea Snakes to depart and resume their defensive formation around Wanghai Cliff.
He allowed the sea wind to buffet his face, whipping his black hair into the air.
*As for me, it is time to consider how to deal with this Yan Nantian.*
Turning around, Luo Chen cast a dark, penetrating gaze a thousand li away, toward the island seated right at the center of the archipelago.
Moon Inviting Island!
Flying swallows circled its perimeter, while the island invited the moon into the lake's heart.
A vast expanse of black mist blanketed a radius of ten li, forming an absolute forbidden zone within the Flying Swallow Archipelago.
Neither mortal nor cultivator was permitted to step foot inside.
With Luo Chen's discerning eye, he naturally recognized that the sprawling black mist was an enormous accumulation of ghost qi.
From time to time, the low roars of ghost-king-tier entities rumbled from within.
To enter Moon Inviting Island, one first had to break the great ghostly mist array anchored by the Soul Refining Banner.
Luo Chen evaluated his own methods, his gaze ultimately coming to rest upon a viscous substance resembling blood and flame within the Hunyuan Cauldron.
"Ever since I formed my Golden Core, the Blazing Fire Miasma nurtured through the Luotian Sect's vast manpower, resources, and my own tireless efforts will finally have a stage to show its might."
Chapter 529