Luo Chen's bewilderment came quickly and vanished just as fast.
This was tied to his nature: he was pragmatic.
No matter how long the road ahead, as long as he took it step by steady step, he would eventually reach his destination. Along the journey, problems were inevitable. Such obstacles were like scenery by the roadside—worth noting in one's mind, but never worth lingering over. Unless a problem completely blocked his path forward, he rarely drove himself into a dead end obsessing over it.
Beside the frigid abyss, setting aside the overarching conundrum that "a higher realm yields more vulnerabilities," Luo Chen had indeed pinpointed three issues that constrained his current combat prowess.
In truth, these issues were hardly cause for distress to an ordinary Core Formation cultivator. No one else spent their days taking late-stage grand cultivators—or even Nascent Soul Perfected Persons an entire realm above them—as hypothetical enemies. Moreover, Luo Chen's own capabilities were already enough to crush early- and mid-stage Core Formation cultivators and go toe-to-toe with late-stage Core Formation grand cultivators without yielding an inch.
He merely wished to take things a step further.
By Luo Chen's reckoning, if he could resolve these three lingering dilemmas, he might truly reign supreme among those of his cultivation stage! Even if he were ambushed by someone like the Master of Baizao Mountain again, he would not be thrown into such a wretched state.
"Spells, magic treasures, developing the physical body…"
Luo Chen muttered under his breath, his thoughts tangled like a snarl of hemp with nowhere to begin unravelling it.
His gaze dropped instinctively to the formation flag he had driven into the solid ground beneath his feet.
A single loose thread seemed to pull free from the tangled knot.
***
On Purple Spirit Island, beside the cliff where the fourth-tier Purple Monkey Flower had once swayed in the wind, the flower's graceful silhouette was gone, replaced by a simple cave dwelling.
As a place capable of sustaining a fourth-tier spiritual plant, the quality of its spiritual qi barely reached the early third-tier. Unlike human cultivators or demon beasts, spiritual plants did not demand an overwhelmingly dense concentration of spiritual qi. Before awakening spiritual sentience, spiritual plants breathed the world's spiritual qi purely on instinct, and some did not even rely on spiritual qi to grow at all.
What mattered far more to them was the fundamental metamorphosis brought about by the passage of endless years.
Of course, this manner of growth meant that even when a plant gave birth to sentience and attained a realm as high as the fourth or fifth tier, its actual combat strength remained pitifully weak. The Withered Blood Vine was like this, and so was the Purple Monkey Flower.
Still, the spiritual vein here could at least support Luo Chen's daily cultivation for a short while.
Inside the cave dwelling.
Two objects lay before Luo Chen.
A dark green ring and a jade box.
The ring was the Master of Baizao Mountain's spatial storage ring. Aside from the treasures left behind on Purple Spirit Island during the earlier battle, the Master of Baizao Mountain's lifelong accumulation ought to be inside it—barring the possibility that the man had traveled light, leaving the bulk of his savings back at his sect on Baizao Mountain.
Luo Chen had inspected it closely: the "cipher" on the dark green ring was quite intricate. It held not only standard divine sense restrictions and magic power imprints, but had even undergone blood-recognition. For it to bear such elaborate safeguards proved the ring itself was no ordinary magic treasure.
The latter two were easy enough to clear; even the blood-recognition imprint could be removed effortlessly once the Master of Baizao Mountain was thoroughly dead. Only the divine sense restriction posed a real nuisance.
The Master of Baizao Mountain was not only a formidable master artifact crafter, but also an accomplished array master. This had been amply demonstrated by the specialized array he had tailored to the terrain on Seven Stars Island to suppress Luo Chen's powerful physique. Consequently, the divine sense restriction he had laid upon his own storage ring was exceedingly complex.
With Luo Chen's spiritual soul foundation combined with his attainments in restrictions, he estimated it would take him at least three to four years of effort to unravel it.
As for the jade box…
Luo Chen's eyes flashed, and he flicked a streak of magic power onto the jade box.
Instantly, the dense restrictions sealing the box broke open layer by layer, toppling like dominos. A burst of spiritual light flared, revealing a dim, lusterless Golden Core.
"Daoist friend, long time no see."
The Golden Core whirled into the air, wobbled unsteadily, and ultimately tumbled back into the jade box.
Luo Chen watched with cold detachment, a slight pang of understanding rising in his heart.
Before ascending to the Nascent Soul stage, a cultivator's spiritual soul depended on their sea of consciousness to survive; even the projection of divine sense was merely a branch of that foundation. Once the physical body was destroyed, the spiritual soul had nothing left to anchor itself to. Unless one transformed entirely into a vengeful wraith or ghost cultivator, exposure to the blazing sun or attacks of pure yang vitality would wipe it out completely.
Yet this limitation was not entirely without a workaround. The Core Formation stage was precisely such a transitional phase.
A Golden Core was formed from condensed, purified magic power. Magic power, in turn, was produced when a cultivator's refined, purified spiritual qi merged with and was permeated by their spiritual soul. In that sense, a cultivator's Golden Core already possessed a trace of spiritual soul attributes.
When a Core Formation cultivator's physical body collapsed, the remaining Golden Core could serve as a boat across the sea, bearing the cultivator's spiritual soul. However, this boat was far smaller than a Nascent Soul; it could not carry someone across the bitter sea of rebirth, and its capacity to endure was brief in the extreme. Furthermore, with no source to replenish its magic power, the Golden Core's original reserves would dwindle day by day, leaving the sheltered soul to eventually face the searing heavens.
*If I ever fall to such a state, to what extent could my Golden Core shelter my remnant soul?*
The thought flickered through Luo Chen's mind, and he looked once more at the dim Golden Core.
"Mountain Master, why did you bother?"
A faint transmission of divine sense drifted out from the core. "Chasing you for twenty years, only to end up a prisoner today… Indeed, why did I bother?"
Luo Chen shook his head. "The fault is not yours, nor is it mine. It was merely the command of a Perfected Person; your hand was forced."
The Master of Baizao Mountain froze for a moment. Alongside a twinge of sorrow, he sensed something amiss.
To say that Blood Nightmare Moluo had coerced him was true enough. But to say he was blameless would be self-deception. Back on Lengguang Island when they besieged Luo Chen, he had joined the fray with his own hands. Had that clash never occurred, Blood Nightmare Moluo would never have sought him out in the first place. The karmic debt ultimately lay on his side.
So why was Luo Chen going out of his way to absolve him?
His gaze fell involuntarily upon the ring—his storage ring.
Instantly, the Master of Baizao Mountain gave a mocking sneer. "You have your eye on my inheritance!"
Luo Chen replied calmly, "We are both artifact crafters. You surely sensed something of my mastery over restrictions from the seals on this jade box. How long do you think it would take me to crack the restrictions on your storage ring? Seven or eight years? Three to five?"
In short, there was no need for him to plead with someone over meat that was already in the pot.
The Master of Baizao Mountain hesitated before asking, "Then what do you want? My artifact crafting arts?"
"Luo's ambitions do not lie there."
Not his inheritance, nor his crafting arts? Then what on earth did Demonic Lord Qingyang want?
The Master of Baizao Mountain fell thoroughly bewildered.
Yet his confusion did not last long. Against a captive, Luo Chen had no need to beat around the bush; their prior conversation had merely been meant to settle the man's agitation. Seeing that a calm atmosphere had been established, he cut straight to the chase.
"What array did you use to ambush me before?"
"The Big Dipper Seven Peaks Array."
"The Big Dipper Seven Peaks Array?"
"Yes. That array is a modification I devised from the Big Dipper Demon Sealing Array. Demon beasts possess massive bodies, and many are exceptionally agile. The Big Dipper Demon Sealing Array is a fourth-tier array used specifically in the Northern Sea cultivation world to suppress mighty demon beasts. Powerful body cultivators temper their flesh to a degree comparable to demon beasts. Once I adapted it and combined it with my natal magic treasure, it served as an ideal countermeasure."
As he reached this point, the Master of Baizao Mountain took a touch of pride in his voice. Yet that sliver of satisfaction vanished in a flash. When all was said and done, despite holding the initial advantage, he had still lost to Luo Chen. What was there to be proud of?
He looked toward Luo Chen in puzzlement. "Why do you ask? Are you afraid of encountering a similar array in the future and want to prepare a countermeasure in advance?"
Luo Chen shook his head. "Hardly. After all, figures like you, willing to spend twenty years hunting me down, are few and far between. While I cannot claim to possess monstrous intellect, neither am I a fool. Falling into an ambush once is enough; I will naturally not step into another person's array trap again."
Faced with these words, the Master of Baizao Mountain fell silent.
He did not doubt Luo Chen's confidence, nor did he deny his own stubborn persistence. How many fools like him were there in this world?
After a prolonged silence, he spoke again. "Then what do you want to know?"
Luo Chen was blunt. "I want to know how you modified the array, and how you elevated its power to such an extent."
*So that is where his interest lies!*
Realizing this, the Master of Baizao Mountain chose to hold back, waiting for a better price. "Why should I tell you?"
Luo Chen said coldly, "You have no choice."
"I can choose death!"
"Your life and death are in my hands. Do you truly believe the choice is yours? Lest you be unaware, I happen to know a fair bit about the craft of human puppets. Furthermore, I am acquainted with a Core Formation cultivator from the Heavenly Demon Star Sect. I hear that sect is most skilled at refining secret treasures from beast cores and cultivators' Golden Cores. Surely a Golden Core containing an intact soul would forge an extraordinary object."
"You!"
The spiritual soul convulsed, his divine sense voice brimming with fury.
Yet past the rage, the Master of Baizao Mountain swiftly regained his composure. "Even if I tell you, what do I gain? Will you let me go?"
"Go? Where could you possibly go?" Luo Chen's tone was placid. "In this boundless expanse of ocean, devoid of human presence, even if you wished to seize a body, you have no rice to cook. Moreover, there is a mortal blood feud between us. It is impossible for me to let you leave."
The Master of Baizao Mountain laughed in bitter exasperation. "Then what do you want?"
"Give me the answers, and I will let you die with dignity." Luo Chen's expression remained tranquil, his words calm yet carrying weight. To anyone listening, there was not the slightest doubt of his sincerity.
The Master of Baizao Mountain fell into silence once more.
Luo Chen said nothing further, making no superfluous promises or oaths. At this moment, he held all the cards.
The Master of Baizao Mountain's divine sense lingered on him for a long time before a faint voice finally echoed within the cave.
"I can tell you."
"Very well!"
***
On an islet fifty li from Purple Spirit Island.
The Black King lay sprawled, gazing into a freshly dug earthen pit with lingering reluctance in his eyes.
"Master, do we really have to waste it? That's an eighth-layer Core Formation golden core! Even if it doesn't have much magic power left, if you let me eat it, I might break straight into the late third tier!"
Luo Chen did not even spare him a glance. Having finished digging the pit, he retrieved a fine piece of stone from his Thunder Accumulation Treasure Ring and prepared to carve an inscription upon it.
Yet just as he was about to begin, a voice drifted forth.
"No need. In this life, I have failed Baizao Mountain, wronged you, and done poorly by myself. What face do I have to erect a monument and leave my name?"
Luo Chen gave an acknowledging hum and put the stone away. "That is well. It saves the trouble of erecting a tombstone only for someone to dig up your grave later, thinking they've stumbled upon an elder's legacy."
"Heh, you certainly have a sense of humor, Fellow Daoist." The Master of Baizao Mountain let out a laugh, though it sounded bitter.
Gazing down into the hollow pit, the Golden Core seemed to tremble.
Four hundred years of arduous cultivation, having once stood tall in glory and splendor—was this truly his final resting place?
The sea breeze blew past, salty, moist, and warm.
As if guessing the Master of Baizao Mountain's thoughts, Luo Chen spoke soft words of comfort: "Legend tells of reincarnation in this world. Perhaps hundreds or thousands of years from now, you will tread the path of cultivation once more."
"Reincarnation?" the Master of Baizao Mountain murmured. "Is it at the Yellow Springs, within the Netherworld, or in the Return to the Ruins where all things end?"
Luo Chen had no answer; having not reached such a realm, how could he know the truth of legends?
The Master of Baizao Mountain let out a sigh. "Take out my storage ring."
Surprised, Luo Chen drew the dark green ring from his robes.
The dim Golden Core trembled for an instant, and its meager remaining magic power fell upon the ring. Spiritual light flared brilliantly before sinking into complete stillness.
Looking at it now, the divine sense restriction and magic power imprint were entirely gone, and even the blood-recognition essence blood had been expelled. The ring was now an ownerless treasure!
"Mountain Master, this is…?"
"Consider it an extra reward for keeping your word! It was your spoil of war to begin with, so I have merely saved you several years of labor."
The Master of Baizao Mountain chuckled, then channeled his magic power to draw from within a clean, bright yellow daoist robe, a flying sword of merely superior-grade magical artifact quality, and a jade seal carved with the characters "Liang Clan Baizao."
Under the watchful eyes of Luo Chen and the Black King, the robe, sword, and seal dropped into the earthen pit.
"Everything else belongs to you, Daoist friend."
The Master of Baizao Mountain sighed faintly, and the Golden Core drifted down into the pit.
Then, reversing its magic power, the Golden Core crumbled away layer by layer, and a wisp of a remnant soul appeared before the world. Beneath the gentle sunlight, the remnant soul gradually dissipated.
Luo Chen watched in silence until his divine sense swept the area and found not a trace of the Master of Baizao Mountain's aura remaining. With a wave of his sleeve, earth rolled over, sealing the pit completely.
He turned and walked away.
None who passed that mound of fresh yellow earth would ever guess it marked the cenotaph of a sect master, an eighth-layer Core Formation grand cultivator.
The Black King slithered his massive body close behind. "Master, that old fellow ambushed you. Why let him undergo corporeal release and give him a chance to reincarnate?"
Luo Chen did not answer, merely quickening his pace.
Before long, they returned to Purple Spirit Island.
Back inside his cave dwelling, he retrieved the jade slip left behind by the Master of Baizao Mountain containing the analysis of the Big Dipper Seven Peaks Array.
Staring at the characters upon it, Luo Chen fell into deep thought.
*A formidable natal magic treasure can amplify magic power, while a powerful array can enhance oneself and restrict an opponent.*
*If the two are combined and paired with an extraordinary energy source, could I bring my earlier concept of a Nascent Soul domain to fruition?*
He opened his mouth and spat out three streaks of light.
Looking closely, they were two cores and a cauldron.
Golden Core, primal core, and the Hunyuan Cauldron!
Chapter 638