Inside the ship's cabin.
A miscellaneous assortment of items lay spread before the Daoist, each radiating a remarkable spiritual glow.
Had an ordinary Golden Core cultivator stood here, the sight would surely have dazzled their eyes.
Every magic treasure that had survived the battle on Lengguang Island was undeniably of superior quality.
Even the Qian clan's standard-issue flying swords were superior in craft to the Profound Fire Sword Luo Chen had once frequently wielded.
Seated in a chair, Luo Chen began to take inventory one by one.
From treasure grade to elemental affinity and materials, he overlooked nothing.
"The Flowing Fire Hammer, dual-attributed to metal and fire. Rather than a natal magic treasure, it's more like a tool—a tool for smelting ores and forging artifacts. Its attributes align nicely with mine, and it might come in handy later when I refine the Demon Emperor's husk."
Noticing the two archaic seal-script characters for "Flowing Fire" etched into the hammer's handle, Luo Chen showed a satisfied expression.
"Claimed!"
"The Snow Blowing Fan, a low-grade wind-attribute magic treasure capable of fanning flames. It seems this could be of some use to me as well?"
Luo Chen recalled that both the burly man who had owned the Flowing Fire Hammer and the elderly woman who had wielded the Snow Blowing Fan were from Baizao Mountain.
That was a renowned artifact-forging power on Lengguang Island, standing even above the Lianfeng Firm.
Compared to the Jade Cauldron Domain, it was not one whit inferior to the Yan Alliance!
The natal magic treasures of its cultivators were almost invariably tied to artifact forging.
Most cultivators of this realm were like this. Once skilled in a craft, their natal magic treasures naturally leaned toward that domain.
The most direct example was Luo Chen himself.
His alchemy was preeminent, so his natal magic treasure, while possessing peerless utility in battle, was fundamentally an alchemical vessel.
By contrast, only cultivators who pursued pure cultivation without dabbling in auxiliary crafts wielded bizarre, unpredictable treasures.
Take the copper coin Luo Chen was currently turning over in his hands, for instance.
"An intriguing treasure. I wonder how it was refined. With no foul baleful qi in sight, it can actually corrode and sever an enemy's connection to their natal magic treasure."
Generally speaking, treasures that fouled others' artifacts were more or less heterodox.
Luo Chen's Blazing Fire Miasma possessed a similar effect, formed of a massive volume of filthy, corruptive Withering-Thriving Baleful Qi that eroded an opponent's mental connection.
Yet under his scrutiny, this Treasure-Dropping Copper Coin felt balanced, upright, and peaceful, devoid of the slightest demonic nature.
It was, through and through, an orthodox treasure!
As he puzzled over it, Han Zhan spoke up with some hesitation.
"It likely incorporates Weak Water."
"Weak Water?" Luo Chen was surprised, but his vast reservoir of knowledge instantly surfaced a faint recollection. "Could it be the Weak Water from the legendary river of the same name, said to bridge yin and yang and span life and death?"
"This old man cannot say for sure, only that it feels somewhat similar."
Han Zhan said hesitantly, "Legend has it that when heaven and earth first opened and chaos evolved, the great thousand worlds gave birth to various innate or acquired treasures. The mighty ones bore the laws and Dao rhymes within themselves, becoming Dao Artifacts in their own right. The lesser ones also carried unique properties; incorporating a bit during artifact forging would yield endless benefits."
Luo Chen grinned wryly. "Isn't that a bit too fantastical? Dragging in creation myths and legends."
"Fantastical? Not necessarily. It isn't as if you've never encountered such treasures."
This time, Luo Chen was truly stunned.
He had encountered them?
Guided by Han Zhan's words, Luo Chen suddenly remembered several unique treasures he had indeed handled.
For instance, the Tongxuan Heavenly Crystal!
It was a true heavenly resource among heavenly materials and earthly treasures, infinitely efficacious. Any Golden Core cultivator hoping to forge a natal magic treasure could not bypass it.
Rumor held that the Tongxuan Heavenly Crystal was formed of the shattered fragments left when the world's barrier first took shape at the dawn of creation.
Another example was Origin-Tracing Clay. No, not the clay itself—
Rather, the legendary Living Earth!
Origin-Tracing Clay was merely a rank-three mineral. The only reason it enjoyed such fame was that it contained a wisp of Living Earth's aura.
And Living Earth, according to legend, was the very first piece of soil in the world when chaos cleaved, reputed to grow endlessly on its own.
A single clump of it could stem monstrous, world-drowning floods!
Weak Water was undoubtedly a legendary treasure on par with Living Earth, equally ranked among the greatest heavenly materials and earthly treasures.
Back when Luo Chen forged the Hunyuan Cauldron, the drafting diagram had noted that beyond those rank-three minerals, the designing smith had envisioned superior replacements.
Every one of the five elements had an ideal counterpart!
For water and earth, those superior replacements were the legendary Weak Water and Living Earth!
Unfortunately, Luo Chen had never heard of either treasure appearing in the world. Even those relatively common rank-three main ingredients had cost him immense effort to scrape together.
At this moment, Luo Chen could not resist asking, "Do such treasures truly exist in the Mountain Sea Realm?"
Han Zhan smiled wryly. "I have never seen them. However, legends say they existed before ancient times. With the passage of eons, they grew exceedingly scarce, to the point that almost no one has laid eyes on them. I imagine that if they truly exist, they would only be found in Deity Transformation holy lands, far beyond what the likes of us could covet."
Hearing this, Luo Chen could not help feeling a touch of regret.
He had been thinking that if they truly existed, he would not mind spending time tracking them down to enrich his natal magic treasure's foundation.
Deity Transformation holy lands?
Those were places he dared not even dream of touching!
Shaking his head, Luo Chen dispersed these wild fancies and stowed the Treasure-Dropping Copper Coin away.
It was a fine treasure. Once he spent time attuning to it, it might produce miraculous results at a crucial moment!
Next, he shifted his full attention to the bronze basin where two yin-yang fish swam.
During that life-and-death clash, this very object had drawn an involuntary exclamation of "fine treasure!" from his lips!
To seize it, he had even expended massive magic power to suppress Qian Ting with the Hunyuan Cauldron and refine him alive, terrified the man would self-detonate in desperation and destroy this artifact.
With a beckoning wave of his hand,
the two yin-yang fish whooshed out, transforming into a pair of flying daggers—one black, one white.
They were mid-grade, bearing the rare yin-yang attribute.
The yin-yang attribute spanned heaven and earth and resided in both male and female; Luo Chen could command these two flying daggers just as easily.
Yet that was not the crux.
A pair of mere mid-grade magic treasures hardly impressed Luo Chen in the presence of his Hunyuan Cauldron.
What truly drew his fascination was the bronze basin that harbored them!
"This basin..."
Murmuring softly, Luo Chen sank his divine sense into it, inspecting every inch in meticulous detail.
Time trickled by.
The Langya had long since bypassed the Lihuo Island battlefield. After making contact with Zhanshui Palace, it had secured passage and detoured past.
During that time, people naturally went ashore to negotiate.
And after three days of probing, Luo Chen finally reached a conclusion regarding the treasure.
In the quiet room, a barely perceptible gasp of astonishment broke the silence.
Han Zhan stirred and asked, "What is it?"
Luo Chen's eyes shone with unusual brilliance, ripples of shock washing through his gaze.
"As expected, my guess was right!"
"Just as I thought before, this treasure possesses all five elements, exactly like my Hunyuan Cauldron!"
Han Zhan paused. All five elements?
Treasures of that nature were either utterly mediocre or astonishingly profound.
Luo Chen's Hunyuan Cauldron was clear proof.
Evidently, this bronze basin was no mediocre piece.
"What is its function? Offense, or defense?" Han Zhan asked hurriedly.
He remembered clearly that the bronze basin possessed respectable defensive capability. During the battle on Lengguang Island, it had fended off attacks from the Sea-Sealing Bagua Array he controlled several times, shielding Qian Ting from the ghosts.
Seeing how fiercely Luo Chen had desired it back then, Han Zhan had assumed Luo Chen was drawn to its defensive might.
Yet now...
Luo Chen swallowed hard. "Offense and defense are secondary. The most extraordinary trait of this treasure lies in a single word—nourish!"
"Nourish?"
Luo Chen nodded, his fingers stroking the rim of the bronze basin as emotions surged within him.
Nourish meant nurture and temper!
Many magic treasures—and even spirit artifacts—carried a trace of such an effect.
Excellent alchemical cauldrons in particular often claimed to "enhance the pill's finished grade." In truth, that effect merely stemmed from curbing the dispersion of medicinal potency and concentrating the essence, producing that so-called upgrade.
Such effects were generally unremarkable.
Among the many vessels Luo Chen had encountered, only his Hunyuan Cauldron showed an exceptional effect, having once enabled him, through master-level proficiency, to yield a supreme-grade True Flame Pill by pure chance.
The rest were mediocre at best.
Yet this bronze basin was different!
Through day-to-day, month-to-month accumulation, it could genuinely raise an item's grade over time!
And the stronger the foundation of the nurtured item, the better the enhancement!
Luo Chen turned his gaze back to the black and white paired daggers.
"No wonder Qian Ting, a water-attribute cultivator, chose yin-yang as the attribute for his natal magic treasures. While versatile, it is normally too bland."
"Looking at it now, bland also means a limitless ceiling."
"If this basin truly allowed him to nurture both daggers into high-grade treasures, then with his late Golden Core cultivation, he could have run rampant through the Golden Core stage!"
Beside him, Han Zhan marveled after hearing this explanation.
One could only wonder who had devised such an ingenious concept to forge this treasure,
setting aside the offensive and defensive might cultivators prized most to focus entirely on nurturing power.
"That Qian Ting truly cast pearls before swine. How could such a treasure be wielded for mere combat? It should have served as the foundational inheritance of an entire faction! With this object, a clan would produce an endless stream of high-grade magic treasures, ensuring their martial edge never dulled."
After sighing in admiration, Han Zhan asked, "Luo Chen, how do you intend to use it?"
The man smiled freely. "Does that even need asking?"
Opening his mouth, he exhaled a gray, three-legged round cauldron that spun through the air before settling squarely inside the bronze basin.
Watching this, Han Zhan thought to himself, *As expected.*
When it came to foundation, what magic treasure could compare to this Hunyuan Cauldron, which had consumed countless precious materials?
It had been crafted by the master smith Tianyezi himself,
assisted by two Nascent Soul True Persons, Han Zhan and Qingshuang, who embedded divine soul restrictions and spatial restrictions.
From the day of its completion, relying purely on its materials, it was already high-grade!
Tempered through Luo Chen's years of refinement, its might was already apparent.
In the battle on Lengguang Island, it had displayed terrifying dominance:
Its nine dragon chains snatched the copper coin, smashed the Baizao Mountain Golden Core cultivator with overwhelming force, and refined the late Golden Core Qian clan patriarch alive.
Yet even so, that was merely the tip of the Hunyuan Cauldron's iceberg.
Under normal attunement and nurturing, Luo Chen would have needed several centuries of persistent effort to fully realize its potential.
Yet with this treasure basin's aid, the day it truly unleashed its brilliance might not be far off.
"Give this basin a name. I see no name inscribed on it."
Luo Chen pondered briefly before saying slowly, "Let it be called the Dragon Nourishing Basin!"
"Nourishing dragons in a basin?" Han Zhan considered it and nodded. "A fine omen."
Luo Chen chuckled. Biting his fingertip, he brought forth a drop of essence blood, then extended his divine sense to form an obscurity restriction that landed upon the bronze basin.
Guided by the blood, the ethereal characters for "Dragon Nourishing" were etched into the basin's bottom.
After completing the simple blood-binding ritual, Luo Chen swallowed both it and the Hunyuan Cauldron into his sea of qi.
Naturally!
Nurturing a treasure with the Dragon Nourishing Basin did not come without a price.
A cultivator's magic power was the most vital nourishment.
However, compared to ordinary treasure-nurturing, relying on the Dragon Nourishing Basin saved at least one-fifth of the magic power expenditure.
One should not underestimate this one-fifth; accumulated over time, it would save Luo Chen a tremendous amount of magic power.
In a sense, this also indirectly bolstered his cultivation speed!
Watching this, Han Zhan said helplessly, "You're already in poor condition, yet you expend essence blood again."
Luo Chen drooped his eyelids. "With a treasure like this, my heart wouldn't rest easy unless I bound it properly."
At this, he pushed with his hand, sending nine storage items floating before the Ten Thousand Soul Banner.
Seeing seven storage pouches, a wine cup, and a storage belt hovering before him, Han Zhan froze.
"What is the meaning of this?"
"I intend to refine the energy within the Hidden Dust Sand in one breath to return to my peak condition. The trivial task of erasing cultivators' imprints drains far too much energy," Luo Chen said languidly, his eyelids heavy. "Senior, you wouldn't want Little Luo to remain weak and delay cleansing the foul aura from your Soul Nourishing Wood, would you?"
Inside the Ten Thousand Soul Banner, Han Zhan's miniature Nascent Soul opened its mouth, momentarily rendered speechless.
...
Say what one might, even though less than a tenth of Han Zhan's strength remained and only a remnant soul survived,
he still possessed the foundation of a Nascent Soul True Person!
With his methods, it took barely a dozen days to unravel the lingering imprints left by the original owners on the nine storage items.
This saved Luo Chen immense time.
Across a century of cultivation, he had fought countless battles of all sizes and claimed innumerable storage pouches; the most tedious part was always unravelling the imprints.
This haul comprised nine storage vessels, every one belonging to a Golden Core cultivator.
One could easily imagine how troublesome dispelling their imprints would have been.
Yet the process proved swifter than ever.
Luo Chen took time each day to conduct an inventory.
Every day, a smile played at the corners of his mouth.
When he finished combing through everything after half a month, he could not even hold back a laugh.
Quite simply, he had made an absolute fortune!
These nine storage vessels came from the cultivators of the Qian and Wu clans, the Lianfeng Firm, and Baizao Mountain.
Though unlike rogue cultivators who habitually carried their entire net worth on their persons, their remaining inheritances were still extraordinarily rich.
Above all, they had come to Feileng City to attend the grand auction and had deliberately amassed substantial funds.
Even though most of their spirit stones had been exchanged for resources of equal value, taking spirit stones alone and combining them with his prior reserves, Luo Chen's wealth breached the ten-million mark once again!
A staggering eighteen million spirit stones!
Fighting tooth and nail for years in the Xuanyan Sea Domain could not match a single day's battle on Lengguang Island.
Tsk, tsk. Truly, just as a horse does not fatten without night grass, a man does not grow rich without windfalls!
And this was merely the harvest in spirit stones.
In other regards, the items were truly dense and innumerable.
Talismans of various grades numbered over a hundred in total.
Miscellaneous herbs exceeded a thousand varieties, every one boasting excellent age and quality. From Qian Ting's storage pouch, Luo Chen even secured a stalk of Divine Iris!
That was one of the three primary ingredients for the Nascent Soul Formation Pill!
It was also a precious resource universally recognized in the cultivation world for aiding in the formation of a Nascent Soul.
Though there was only one stalk, it marked a solid step forward in Luo Chen's quest to gather the three main ingredients.
Beyond these were scores of medicinal pills.
Most were rank-three, with some rank-two.
Any rank-two pill kept on a Golden Core cultivator's person had to have exceptional merit.
The most common were Foundation Establishment Pills.
Several others, through Luo Chen's discerning eye, yielded their corresponding effects upon careful inspection.
As for the rank-three pills, most were intended for cultivation.
Their grades were not high, mostly low-grade, but their pronounced Northern Sea alchemical style prompted Luo Chen to collect them for future reference.
Where there were pills, there were naturally pill formulas!
Once again, courtesy of Qian Ting!
This clan patriarch's storage belt truly held an abundance of treasures.
He directly contributed a rank-three cultivation pill formula and a rank-four poison-warding pill formula to Luo Chen.
The other departed souls contributed as well.
In short order, Luo Chen had collected several pill formulas.
However, they were merely formulas; related alchemical texts were vanishingly scarce.
At their realm and age, if they knew they could progress no further in alchemy, they would never keep extensive alchemical resources on hand.
Moreover, figures like Qian Ting had organizations behind them, so such resources were naturally distributed downward.
On the other hand, Luo Chen reaped a bountiful harvest of forging texts.
A copy of *Baizao Heavenly Craft* from the Baizao Mountain giant, and a copy of *Lianfeng Records* from the second Wu brother of the Lianfeng Firm.
This was wonderful news.
Once he settled down, Luo Chen was bound to begin refining the Demon Emperor's husk.
He had no worries regarding the basics, but he lacked exposure to advanced forging theory.
These two forging manuals were truly a pillow offered to a drowsy man.
And that was not the only fine pillow!
From the nine of them, Luo Chen obtained massive quantities of low- and mid-grade ores, amassing such volume that he completely assembled all the auxiliary materials needed to refine the Demon Emperor's husk.
Aside from that, other treasures were plentiful: spare spirit artifacts and magic treasures, single-use offensive armaments, and even ubiquitous sea-calming plates—he had them all!
One could say that if he liquidated these miscellaneous items, Luo Chen could easily recoup at least another ten million spirit stones.
"Liquidating them is the only choice."
"If I were still in the Eastern Desolation and had the Luotian Sect, this batch of spoils would be enough to propel the sect into a true major Golden Core power."
Holding a rank-three cultivation art in one hand and a rank-three pill that aided Golden Core formation in the other, Luo Chen wore a look of regret.
It truly was a pity!
He estimated that if utilized well, this windfall could easily cultivate one or two Golden Core cultivators.
He could even supply the matching cultivation arts and natal magic treasures.
Yet presently, he had no faction to command, nor did he need to distribute resources to those close to him.
The final recourse was still to convert them into corresponding cultivation resources or spirit stones for his own training.
Sighing, Luo Chen walked to the window and pushed the wooden pane open. Looking out at the rolling waves as the massive ship surged forward, nostalgia crept into his eyes.
At some point, Tianxuan had come to stand behind him.
"Master, we should arrive at Giant Whale Port in about half a year."
"So soon?"
"Yes. The Langya caravan's purpose is very clear. Of the nine merchant ships, eight branched off midway toward other destinations. This flagship we're aboard has scarcely halted, heading straight for Giant Whale Port."
Luo Chen nodded, acknowledging the news.
A full year of sailing, day and night without pause.
Achieving such speed was only natural.
Once at Giant Whale Port, his plan was not to linger there as he had told Wang An,
but to seek an opportunity to travel further north toward the Myriad Immortals Association.
After Fu Chaosheng stated that the Tianyuan Dao Sect would never take in a rogue cultivator like him, he could not possibly remain beneath the eaves of such a colossus.
If someone pierced through his origins and discovered he had aided the demon race by concocting pills for them, the trouble would be immense.
It was far better to put distance between them early on.
And the Myriad Immortals Association, a great power that welcomed rogue cultivators, was undoubtedly the best destination.
"How are your injuries?"
"Having taken the pills Master bestowed, they are recovering rapidly." Tianxuan looked at Luo Chen's back with gratitude in her eyes.
Luo Chen's heart eased slightly.
He had obtained many pills from those nine storage pouches.
One healing pill closely matched Tianxuan's prior injuries, so he had simply granted it to her.
Even if it could not cure her completely, it allowed Tianxuan to move normally from now on.
"Once we settle down, I will refine corresponding pills for you to help purge your chronic ailments."
"Thank you, Master!"
"How is your progress with the *Huanyu Secret Scripture*?"
"With Master's guidance, I have successfully crossed the threshold. However, spiritual energy on the ship is scarce, so my cultivation progress has been modest."
"It's enough that you've crossed the threshold. As for the scarcity of spiritual energy, once we settle down..."
As he spoke, Luo Chen could not help letting out a laugh.
Yet the smile carried a hint of bitterness.
He yearned for stability, yet his entire life had been spent wandering from place to place. It truly was somewhat ironic.
"Enough, you may take your leave!"
"Over the next half year, I will enter seclusion for a time. Let no one disturb me."
Luo Chen waved his hand with waning enthusiasm, and Tianxuan obediently left the room.
After Tianxuan departed, Luo Chen sat in silence for a good while.
Only when the lake of his heart grew calm, without the slightest ripple, did he part his lips slightly.
A pearl of flawless, immaculate white drifted out from his mouth.
Inside the quiet room, an aged voice sounded:
"Are you going to weave the Origin Core magic power circulation diagram right now?"
"I'll give it a try first. Even if the diagram fails, there are ways to remedy it. But if it succeeds, I can nurture my second Golden Core that much sooner."
"And my Soul Nourishing Wood..."
"Rest easy, old man. I won't renege on my debt."
The voices of their conversation gradually faded, leaving only the Daoist's long, steady breaths, continuing without pause.
Chapter 591