Inside Longyuan Immortal City.
Within a cave abode where spiritual qi was so rich it nearly condensed into clouds, the extraordinarily young and elegant True Person Longyuan was conversing amiably with three respectfully seated cultivators.
"You come from the Central Plains, where our Tianyuan Dao Sect holds sway and everything operates in perfect order. To break through realms, acquire more cultivation resources, and ascend to greater heights, you must compete with fellow humans—compete with ancient clans that have endured for tens of thousands of years.
"The Northern Sea, however, is different. Here, you must contend not only with humans, but with demons as well!
"High-order demon beasts are mostly sentient, gifted with mysterious trump cards and remarkable abilities not at all inferior to our human race. How could you ever afford to lower your guard? The encounter with the Sea-Swallowing Golden Toad was a small lesson. In the future, keep it firmly in mind!"
For a grand Nascent Soul expert to preach so gently and patiently to Core Formation juniors was rare indeed.
Deeply moved, Changfengzi and the others also felt a lingering dread.
"Second Uncle speaks truly. We were indeed careless before."
Guan Xiaoping, who was normally imperious outside, now behaved with utmost obedience.
"That was also my first time encountering a true desolate beast. The Sea-Swallowing Golden Toad was terrifying! So small, yet capable of swallowing and spitting out an entire ocean. Even joining forces, the three of us could barely break free of its suppression."
True Person Longyuan smiled. "It is only natural that you know little of desolate beasts. The Central Plains, where you were born and raised, was purged by our Dao Sect over three thousand years ago. Forget desolate beasts—there are hardly even any wild demon beasts left within our borders."
Curiosity sparked on Guan Xiaoping's face. "True Person, why does it feel like desolate beasts are even more formidable than demon beasts? Aren't they the same?"
True Person Longyuan's expression grew solemn as he revealed an ancient secret.
"Their origins were the same, but the choices driven by instinct led them down divergent paths later on.
"You should have studied the Dao Sect's texts, yes?
"As recorded therein, the human race fought for ten thousand years across this vast Mountain Sea Realm to conquer the Five Continents, laying the bedrock of mankind. That period of history is known as the Ancient Human-Demon War. More than three thousand years have passed since the armistice covenant was forged and myriad demons retreated into the wild. One could say that only from antiquity to the present has humanity truly become the darlings of heaven and earth, the masters of this realm.
"Yet before that, in the primordial era, the true sovereigns of the Mountain Sea Realm were the desolate beasts that roamed its mountains, great rivers, barrens, and oceans. They were the original darlings of heaven and earth, the authentic masters of this world!
"The demon beasts you encounter today ought properly to be called demon cultivators. Like us, they pursue Core Formation, Nascent Soul, and Soul Transformation; they have strayed from their ancestral path of cultivation.
"Contemporary desolate beasts, on the other hand, are either ancient survivors or those who adhere to the ancient methods. Their progress may be sluggish, but within the same realm, they naturally prove far more formidable than those half-baked demon cultivators."
Comparing his words to what they had memorized from their lessons, Guan Xiaoping and her companions listened with only a half-grasped understanding.
Amid the haze of comprehension, Guan Xiaoping remained somewhat puzzled.
True Person Longyuan naturally did not explain overmuch; once they returned, pondering it would bring understanding in time.
Instead, he shifted the conversation back to men.
"Formidable as demon cultivators and desolate beasts may be, what demands your greatest vigilance in the Northern Sea today are still human beings. With the collapse of the Yuan Demon Sect, order is nonexistent. The already uncivilized cultivators of the Northern Sea now act without restraint, drifting ever closer to demonic paths. The formidable figures among them might lack refined methods, but their combat experience is by no means inferior to the proud geniuses of our Dao Sect.
"Take Demonic Lord Qingyang, for example. He saved you out of respect for me. But had it been some malicious fiend in his place, far from rescuing you, kicking you while you were down would have been the least of it.
"Consider this: with his capabilities, had he ambushed you while you were trapped by the Sea-Swallowing Golden Toad, could you truly have survived—even with the life-saving means bestowed by your elders?"
The complexions of Changfengzi and the other two turned noticeably awkward.
In particular, one of their life-saving means had already been expended when facing the Shark Emperor Liu Jun.
Seeing their introspective demeanor, True Person Longyuan smiled.
"Thus, whether facing demon or man, never underestimate the powerhouses of the Northern Sea."
Changfengzi bowed deeply. "Thank you for your guidance, Second Uncle!"
The other two also bowed in gratitude.
After straightening up, Wu Tao asked impatiently, "True Person, are we truly not going to the Sunken Sea?"
"The Sunken Sea?"
The corner of True Person Longyuan's mouth tilted upward. Just as he was about to speak, his ear twitched slightly.
Rumble!
A clap of thunder seemed to detonate in the outside world.
He frowned. Why would a thunderclap resound from a clear sky for no apparent reason?
He swept his immense divine sense outward, extending beyond Longyuan Immortal City toward the Dragon Taming Mountain Range, yet detected nothing out of the ordinary.
Had his perception deceived him?
Shaking his head, True Person Longyuan drew back his thoughts.
"Put that demon-perishing land out of your minds."
Wu Tao felt reluctant, yet he knew his cultivation was inadequate and his abilities insufficient; he harbored no right to indulge in such fantasies.
Changfengzi, however, was quite perplexed. "Second Uncle, with power as great as yours, why not explore the Sunken Sea yourself? I hear treasures abound inside. Wouldn't staying away merely benefit others?"
"I do not go simply because I disdain to," True Person Longyuan said slowly. "As for who will profit? Heh, so long as the Sunken Sea remains there, no outsider will take the prize. When the time comes, our sect will dispatch the most suitable candidate within."
The most suitable candidate?
The three below exchanged glances, having no idea whom he meant.
……
Across the eight-hundred-li expanse of Penghu Lake.
Han Zhan left the island, suspending himself high in the void.
His divine sense projected outward, falling into the ears of the two demon beasts.
"Tianxuan, go to Cailian Island and ensure the Zhang family cultivators do not venture out.
"Black King, patrol beyond Peng Island to guard your master."
Having given his orders, Han Zhan fixed his burning gaze on Peng Island—specifically upon that great hall blanketed in an ocean of spiritual qi.
From time to time, his eyes lifted toward the sky veiled by the formation.
Time ticked away.
Though dark clouds gathered in the sky, no silver arcs of lightning flashed. In fact, the dark clouds gradually shifted colors—red, orange, yellow, green...
A thoughtful look crossed Han Zhan's face.
"Is this what it means to be the darling of heaven and earth?
"To ascend to Tier 4 without facing a heavenly tribulation, blessed instead by an infusion of spiritual qi and what resembles congratulatory auspicious clouds.
"Even I never imagined pure body refinement could reach such a stage. Luo Chen, oh Luo Chen..."
As he murmured inwardly, the light in Han Zhan's eyes shone brighter, as though celebrating for him.
Inside the spacious Star Constellation Hall.
Luo Chen was clad in the Xuanchen Armor, the great cauldron hovering above his head, vigilant to the extreme.
Yet the anticipated catastrophe never arrived. What arrived instead was an unexpected torrent of spiritual qi pouring into his body!
Inside the hall, luminescent pearls gleamed brilliantly, and formation flags fluttered wildly.
Vast surges of heaven-and-earth spiritual qi flooded continuously into the chamber.
Gathering the spiritual qi of the entire eight-hundred-li Penghu Lake, the hall was temporarily transformed into an environment rivaling a Tier 4 spiritual land in mere moments.
Under this deluge of dense spiritual qi, Luo Chen's body uncontrollably and ravenously devoured the incoming energy.
This was raw, unrefined spiritual qi.
Luo Chen dared not channel it into his qi sea to be absorbed by his Golden Core.
Yet it was evident that the target of this spiritual qi was not his qi sea, but his pure physical vessel.
Countless wisps of spiritual energy burrowed into his muscles, bones, and meridians, even merging with his blood.
Vaguely, a phrase surfaced in Luo Chen's mind.
"Marrow cleansing and meridian purging!"
Only, unlike during Foundation Establishment when a cultivator utilized their own refined spiritual energy to cleanse tendons and scour marrow, this time heaven and earth personally assisted him, purging his meridians and scouring his marrow.
As the deluge mounted, Luo Chen could hardly endure the colossal volume of spiritual qi flooding into him.
With a low roar, his frame began to expand automatically.
One zhang, two zhang... all the way to nine zhang!
His colossal form sat within the Star Constellation Hall, crowding even this cavernous hall to its limits.
With a larger body, the spiritual qi he could accommodate increased proportionally.
Gradually, Luo Chen regained a sense of mastery over his physical form.
Following the circulation pathway of the Convergence of Myriad Paths, he attempted to actively steer this heaven-and-earth spiritual qi to temper his flesh.
Not only that, but his previous Fire Roc physique was also undergoing subtle alterations.
By the end, it vaguely assumed the proportions of an enlarged human form.
Had Wang Yuan been present, he would have found it intimately familiar—it mirrored the very path of his Giant Spirit Transformation.
This was an inspiration Luo Chen had gained while developing physical martial arts killing moves. The Heavenly Roc True Form was far too straightforward and rigid, ill-suited for deploying those lethal techniques.
Thus, he had been fine-tuning the physique of his transformation, gradually aligning it with the human form.
In a way, it corroborated what Wang Yuan had once said: demon-like transformations were inherently ill-suited for the human race.
Throughout this process, Luo Chen gradually sensed an unusual force proliferating through every fiber of his body.
That power was neither magic power nor demon power.
It bore some resemblance to the Danjin Wang Yuan had refined upon comprehending the transformation of qi and blood, yet it was not as pure, appearing slightly more mottled. Yet despite being mottled, it felt broader, thicker, and far more pliable to his command.
To describe it precisely, it felt as though blood, marrow, and external spiritual qi had fused into one.
This power suffused his entire being, omnipresent and reaching everywhere.
It even formed a thin, blood-red membrane along the surface of his skin.
Roughly an incense stick's time later, Luo Chen let out a muffled grunt, seizing absolute mastery over his body.
At the same time, he registered a deep sensation of physical repletion.
"Is it complete?"
Luo Chen murmured softly. He began to gradually shrink his frame as the outward blood-red membrane sank into his flesh.
The surrounding spiritual qi also receded, dispersing back into the eight-hundred-li Penghu.
When everything settled, Luo Chen sat cross-legged in the hall, his mind clear and refreshed.
Suddenly, he peeled back the Xuanchen Armor, flattened his right hand into a blade, and slashed down ruthlessly against his left wrist.
Anyone witnessing such an act of self-mutilation would have cried out in horror.
Yet Luo Chen's gaze remained steady, as if putting something to the test.
Under the strike of his palm blade, devoid of any defense and with his wrist actively relinquishing all resistance, his left hand was severed cleanly.
Luo Chen let out a muffled grunt, staring fixedly at the stump.
There, the blood was crystalline, the bones gleamed like jade, and the tendons were thick and robust.
After watching for a moment, Luo Chen focused his will, directing that peculiar power suffusing his body toward his left wrist.
A prickling, tingling sensation of intolerable itching and numbness welled up.
Under his intent gaze, buds of fresh flesh blossomed at the stump, growing and tracing the shape of the original limb.
Luo Chen's eyes snapped wide!
"Flesh rebirth!"
Having verified his conjecture, Luo Chen commanded the power to withdraw. He retrieved the severed left hand floating in the air and aligned it against his wrist.
Freshly sprouted flesh could never match a physical body tempered through a thousand trials.
Without employing any healing arts, a layer of blood-red membrane simply washed over the seam. The left hand was restored to its original state, leaving behind not even a trace of a scar.
Luo Chen swallowed hard.
"Severed limbs rejoined!"
Witnessing these two feats in succession, Luo Chen lapsed into silence.
Clearly, his body had undergone a fundamental transformation.
It was as if the very essence of his life had evolved at its source.
Though modest in quantity, this power—distinct from demon power, magic power, and even martial qi or astral energy—possessed wondrous and extraordinary effects.
At this moment, rather than a human, he was more akin to a humanoid desolate beast!
A Tier 4 desolate beast!
As for the primordial force he now wielded, he might as well name it "source power"!
This power granted Luo Chen absolute control over his physical flesh. Even if he could not yet achieve the legendary feat of rebirth from a single drop of blood, it was ample for reattaching severed limbs and regenerating flesh so long as his main torso remained intact.
He felt that even if a part of his body were severed and separated, it could still move freely.
Under such circumstances, if someone wished to kill him, they would have to sever all four limbs, lop off his head, and obliterate his torso entirely.
Luo Chen did not know whether other desolate beasts possessed such capabilities, but he certainly did.
Moreover, unlike ordinary desolate beasts, he concurrently practiced the path of qi refinement.
Even if his body were destroyed, so long as his Golden Core remained, his divine soul would still retain a temporary vessel of refuge.
Having comprehended all of this, Luo Chen raised his right hand and slowly clenched his fist.
A surge of sheer power welled up from within.
It felt as though with this hand alone, he could shatter mountains, split peaks, and do battle against the boundless ocean.
"Power!"
Chapter 653