"Are you Murong Yuan?"
At the foot of Mount Langya, where blue flowers blanketed the slopes and sweet fragrance drifted on the breeze, a man eyed Luo Chen with curiosity.
Luo Chen looked at this man—who seemed far too young—and nodded before he could not help asking, "You are an elder of Shopkeeper Wang's clan?"
Normally, he would never ask someone so bluntly.
It was truly because this man, despite being at the Foundation Establishment stage, looked outrageously youthful. Probing with his divine sense, Luo Chen found the man could be thirty-something at most, and thanks to his well-maintained complexion, he looked just like a youth of seventeen or eighteen.
Under ordinary circumstances, determining seniority by cultivation realm only applied between unrelated cultivators.
Did the Wang family do the same within their clan?
The young man chuckled. "I am indeed his elder. Although I'm younger than him by a full sixty-year cycle, by genealogical seniority, I am two generations above him. He has to address me as granduncle."
Fair enough!
The question in Luo Chen's mind was answered.
Then again, generational ties in the cultivation world had always been a tangled mess.
For instance, if two brothers cultivated together, one might remain celibate until reaching the Golden Core stage, while the other, lacking talent, might marry and have children in his twenties or thirties to propagate the bloodline.
Three or four hundred years later, who knew how many generations the latter would have spawned?
If, at that point, the former Golden Core cultivator suddenly took a wife and fathered a one- or two-year-old toddler, then dozens of generations of the latter's descendants would all be juniors to that toddler!
As for forms of address...
And if that toddler grew up and carried on the bloodline, the other branch's titles would have to be recalculated all over again.
In short, unless one belonged to the clan itself, with genealogy records to consult and guidance from elders to straighten things out somewhat, outside cultivators could hardly ever tell who held higher generational rank relying solely on age and cultivation realm.
"Fellow Daoist Murong, you were concealing your cultivation earlier, weren't you?"
"Fellow Daoist Wang has sharp eyes. I did indeed conceal my realm previously, showing only the Qi Refinement stage when in truth I am at Foundation Establishment. As for the reason..."
"No need to explain. When traveling abroad, one does whatever is most convenient." Upon hearing Luo Chen admit it, the young man broke into a smug grin, pleased with his keen perception. Yet he still maintained an air of courteous grace. "Since you and I are of comparable realm, let us address each other as peers. My surname is Wang, given name An."
Luo Chen cupped his hands in greeting. "Rogue cultivator Murong Yuan of Hanjia greets Fellow Daoist Wang An."
Wang An returned the gesture.
As for the Hanjia Luo Chen mentioned, it was merely an offhand location between the Flying Swallow Archipelago and Baisha Island.
Wang An had no clue such a tiny place even existed.
Nor did he care.
What he cared about was Luo Chen's destination.
"You wish to travel to Giant Whale Port?"
Luo Chen nodded. "Indeed. The current situation is chaotic, and this area lies right on the front lines of the war between the orthodox and demonic factions. My strength is meager, and I have no desire to wade into such murky waters. I hear Giant Whale Port serves as the Northern Sea merchant alliance headquarters for the Tianyuan Dao Sect. Given Tianyuan's illustrious prestige, I presume neither the orthodox nor demonic factions would dare encroach upon its territory, granting me temporary peace and safety."
"You have decent foresight, though prices at Giant Whale Port are exorbitantly high. It's not a place where ordinary rogue cultivators can stay for long."
Wang An muttered this remark, and seeing Luo Chen's resolute expression remain unchanged, he got down to business.
"Though the passage fee you paid previously was quite generous, it was, after all, the rate for a Qi Refinement cultivator. In reality, you are at Foundation Establishment. If we take you along, we will have to renegotiate the price."
Luo Chen showed a troubled look.
Wang An seemed to understand his plight; after all, the letter sent from Red Tide Port had already informed him of this rogue cultivator's circumstances.
He was wounded himself, and the maidservant who had followed him since youth was frail and sickly. Over the years, their savings had long been drained.
The sum of spirit stones paid earlier was already all he had left.
"Fret not, I'm not unreasonable." Wang An waved his hand magnanimously. "All you need to do on the journey ahead is follow our instructions. If we run into demon beasts, that's fine, but if we're attacked by pirate cultivators, you must lend a hand. After all, we'll all be in the same boat."
Quite literally in the same boat!
Luo Chen nodded, assuming a relieved expression.
With that, Wang An's identity check and pointers regarding departure details came to an end.
Over the next two days, Luo Chen stayed in the town at the base of Mount Langya.
On the third day.
At sunrise, Luo Chen stood on the harbor of Mount Langya facing the sea, watching an enormous vessel sail out from the docks.
Once the great ship emerged, seven or eight smaller vessels converged from all directions one after another.
Though called smaller vessels, their size was by no means inferior to the largest demon-hunting ships in the Flying Swallow Archipelago.
Watching this scene, Luo Chen could not help feeling a surge of admiration.
Such was the might of a major power backed by a Nascent Soul True Person!
The merchant convoys of ordinary clans and sects consisted of merely one or two ships; how could they effortlessly assemble an entire fleet like this?
At that moment, aboard the largest ship, Wang An waved to him.
Luo Chen flew up with Tianxuan.
"Your room is on the second floor. It's equipped with a simple Spirit Gathering Formation, roughly on par with a rank-one high-grade spirit vein. Cultivating alongside spirit stones won't hinder your daily practice."
Luo Chen looked surprised.
A merchant vessel could actually produce such a concentration of spiritual energy?
What was more, he was merely an insignificant passenger. If this was what he got, wouldn't clan-affiliated Foundation Establishment cultivators—or even Golden Core cultivators—enjoy an even superior cultivation environment?
Just then, several figures flew out from halfway up Mount Langya.
Their powerful spiritual pressure was sensed by everyone instantly.
Countless low-tier cultivators bowed in unison.
Luo Chen followed suit, but his gaze discreetly sized them up.
All of them were Golden Core cultivators!
Mount Langya's foundation was formidable indeed!
Judging by the emblems on the hems of their robes, however, only three bore Mount Langya's blue floral insignia. The rest were presumably Mount Langya's vassals.
The nine Golden Core cultivators paid no heed to the bows below. Cupping their hands to one another, each descended onto a merchant ship.
"Set sail!"
A faint voice echoed from the vessel Luo Chen occupied, yet it rumbled like thunder over the harbor.
Rumble!
As the great ship set out, tens of thousands of tons of seawater were displaced.
Amid churning white waves, nine massive ships raised their tall sails, cutting through the morning sunlight toward distant seas.
***
The gigantic ship Luo Chen boarded was named Langya, the backbone of the fleet.
It was also bound for the furthest destination on this voyage: Giant Whale Port.
Securing a spot on this ship was a stroke of good fortune for Luo Chen.
Inside the room on the second floor, after settling Tianxuan down, Luo Chen looked around. Finally, his eyes focused on the floor beneath his feet, a thoughtful expression surfacing on his face.
"Has a small rank-three spirit vein been transplanted directly onto this ship?"
"No wonder!"
Luo Chen had come to realize the difference between the Eastern Desolation and the Northern Sea regarding spirit veins.
The Eastern Desolation was exceptionally skilled at modifying spirit veins to raise their rank.
The Northern Sea, on the other hand, excelled at transplanting them.
Earlier at the auction, he had seen True Person Feileng present the rank-three Dark Cyan Treasure Basin Fish, which, according to Han Zhan, had a spirit vein transplanted into it.
And now, beneath his feet on this massive vessel, he clearly detected traces of the Mountain Moving Technique.
This meant there was indeed a spirit vein aboard, capable of supplying the daily spiritual energy required by the cultivators on the ship.
"It likely has to do with the differing environments.
"Here in the Northern Sea, waterways crisscross the expanse, and numerous islands lie isolated out at sea.
"Even after conquering a maritime domain through opening wars, preventing demon beasts from infiltrating is nearly impossible.
"Under such conditions, high-tier experts simply use the Mountain Moving Technique to excavate and transplant spirit veins from untenable outer sea locations directly inland. Whatever losses occur during the process are negligible compared to getting nothing at all."
Having thought through this, Luo Chen's curiosity about the ship waned considerably.
He paced around the room, setting up formation flags here and there to block out probes from outside cultivators.
Once everything was ready, he sat cross-legged and looked inward.
During the battle on Lengguang Island,
his aura had withered to an extreme low, his body covered in wounds. In fact, after dispelling the Heavenly Roc True Form, his internal organs had been faintly visible.
Yet in truth, his injuries were not that severe.
Now, inspecting himself from within, new flesh and blood had already regenerated, and his strong, vigorous heart thrummed with vitality.
His hands, sliced so deeply by the black-and-white twin sabers that bone had been exposed, were fully healed as well.
Beyond his own outstanding healing arts, the greatest contributor to this recovery was his formidable physique.
No, more accurately, it was the Wither-Bloom True Fire!
Years ago, through the Wither-Bloom True Fire, he had refined numerous demon beasts, absorbing countless increments of life force.
Once integrated into his body, this life force brought little change to his lifespan.
The truly monumental change was the terrifying latent regenerative power it provided!
Injuries that appeared appalling to outsiders were, in truth, merely superficial wounds to him.
If things went according to Luo Chen's earlier conjectures, by relying on the Wither-Bloom True Fire's refinement of life force and his body-refining arts to cultivate this physique to rank four... Well, rank four might not suffice, but rank five!
Once he cultivated to Archaic rank five—comparable to the Deity Transformation stage—he might truly achieve the legendary feats of demon beasts: regrowing severed limbs and regenerating from a single drop of blood.
Yet that was far too distant.
It was merely a fond hope for now.
For the present, Luo Chen's true peril lay in the depletion of his magic power.
In that battle, he had repeatedly cast grand arts, and at the final juncture, he had furiously driven his natal magical treasure to refine the seventh-layer Golden Core cultivator Qian Ting alive. All of this had drained his magic power to the dregs.
Even after more than half a month, constantly consuming True Flame Pills and circulating his cultivation method, he had only restored twenty to thirty percent.
Twenty to thirty percent might sound like a lot.
In reality, it was pitifully little.
After all, once he achieved entry into the Heavenly Phoenix Nirvana Scripture, his Golden Core had gained the ability to revolve on its own, constantly absorbing free spiritual energy from heaven and earth.
One could say his rate of magic power recovery far surpassed that of peers in his realm!
Under such circumstances, coupled with handfuls of high-grade and even supreme-grade True Flame Pills, failing to recover even half his strength was truly astonishing.
Still, Luo Chen understood the root cause of the problem.
A spiritual land!
Without a suitable rank-three spiritual land, the efficacy of his recovery remained subpar.
With the constant threat of battle hanging over him, never had Luo Chen craved a rank-three spiritual land so desperately.
"Sigh..."
With a soft sigh, Luo Chen withdrew from his meditative state.
Opening his eyes, he saw Tianxuan sitting opposite him, staring blankly into space.
Guessing what was on her mind, Luo Chen spoke up unexpectedly.
"Don't overthink things. Perhaps this isn't entirely bad for you."
Tianxuan started.
"In your early years, you had no one to guide your cultivation, relying purely on instinct. Even after I tailored a cultivation method specifically for you, aside from Ninety Thousand Li—which suits you exceptionally well—you have struggled to master the other arts.
"The root cause lies in the habits ingrained from your early cultivation.
"While you nurse your injuries, do your best to cast aside your past habits and learn to cultivate like a human. You might finally succeed in mastering the Huanyu Secret Scripture.
"Tianxuan, remember this: when all is well, prepare for the worst. But when things go wrong, look on the bright side, and keep hope alive in your heart!"
The young woman knitted her slender willow-leaf brows, pondering Luo Chen's words intently.
Luo Chen shook his head and paid her no further mind, sending out a divine sense transmission instead.
"Senior, this journey will be long..."
"What is it? Do you want to reminisce about the past again to pass the time?"
"No. It is time you give me what you promised."
What he promised?
Han Zhan instantly caught Luo Chen's meaning.
He hesitated for a moment. "You haven't removed the foul miasma from the Soul Nourishing Wood for me yet..."
"That wasn't the deal. We agreed that once I won the Soul Nourishing Wood at auction for you, you would give me the Origin Core Art and the recipe for the Nascent Soul Formation Pill." Luo Chen's tone was resolute, yielding not an inch.
The tone displeased Han Zhan slightly.
However, Luo Chen's next words softened the blow.
"Besides, you know my current state—my magic power is severely depleted. Self-preservation is already a concern; I cannot squander magic power on purifying the foul miasma from the Soul Nourishing Wood. Once I recover, I will help you without delay."
Han Zhan felt helpless.
He had found that, in addition to his prodigious talent for cultivation, the lad possessed a remarkably sharp tongue.
His argument was well-reasoned and balanced, leaving Han Zhan no room to refute him.
"Very well. This old man is merely reluctant to part with them. After all, the Origin Core Art is a secret art of my Luoyun Sect, and the recipe for the Nascent Soul Formation Pill cost me untold hardships to obtain. To think you traded for them with a mere piece of Soul Nourishing Wood—only because I am under your roof..."
Listening to the senior's grumbling, Luo Chen smiled without speaking.
What a joke!
A mere piece of Soul Nourishing Wood?
That had cost him well over five million spirit stones, several bottles of supreme-grade pills, and a rank-two pill recipe to win at auction.
Yet when Luo Chen actually obtained the cultivation method for the Origin Core Art from Han Zhan, he realized that he had indeed struck an immense bargain.
This art alone was worth tens of millions!
Chapter 589