Within the Alchemy Hall of Mingzhao Heaven, thirty-nine pill formulas were preserved.
Setting aside the three sealed transcendent formulas, the remaining thirty-six corresponded to the humans, demons, and fiends—twelve for each race.
The method Luo Chen used to treat Black King was a rank-four blood pill technique from the demon formulas.
It drew upon the blood of myriad living beings to nourish a demon's body, and could even condense a brand-new demon core entirely from scratch.
It suited the ailment perfectly!
Black King's present condition was precisely a collapsed physical form and a shattered demon core.
Over the past several years, Luo Chen had checked on him from time to time, and everything had been progressing in a positive direction.
Yet Luo Chen knew full well that this was all merely a castle in the air.
Every measure taken was solely to nourish Black King's soul.
If that step failed, all previous efforts would be utterly wasted!
Emerging from the chasm and stepping out of Bibo Pool, Luo Chen walked forward, with Tianxuan following closely behind.
Suddenly.
Luo Chen paused slightly, his gaze turning toward a rare, towering peak on Longyuan Island.
There, an elder in azure robes sat alone on the cliff's edge, leisurely watching the clouds drift and unfurl, the tides rise and fall.
It was Han Zhan!
"Has he been there the entire time recently?" Luo Chen asked.
Tianxuan answered in a hushed voice, "Realized Master Han has been coming and going frequently these years. He said he needs to move about often to adapt to his new body. Mount Xiaqiu is where he often goes to be alone. Come to think of it, Realized Master Han has a remarkably mild temperament, and he has even guided me in my cultivation several times."
"Is that so..."
Luo Chen murmured, then changed the subject.
"Speaking of which, I've been absorbed in my own cultivation all these years, so I haven't paid much attention to your progress."
Tianxuan shook her head. "Master helped me assume human form early, created a cultivation method for me, and granted me the opportunity to soak in the holy spring. You have already done so much. How could I bother Master over mere day-to-day cultivation?"
At the mention of soaking in the Spirit Molding Holy Spring, Luo Chen's curiosity was piqued.
"After soaking in that spring water, were there any changes to your body?"
Tianxuan perked up and said with visible excitement, "There were huge changes! My daily cultivation speed has more than doubled compared to before! Moreover, my talent in controlling the wind has fully blossomed. In Realized Master Han's words, it seems I have tapped into all the potential of the spiritual root in my body, which combined with my demon form faintly exhibits the traits of the so-called Xun Wind Physique."
"The Xun Wind Physique?"
"Yes. Although it's incomplete, my command over wind-attributed power has indeed received a tremendous boost. I have also reached an accomplished stage in the Huanyu Secret Scripture, and I am now at the sixth layer of Golden Core!"
Luo Chen gave a slight nod. "That is a good thing; that fortunate opportunity was not wasted."
Back then, Luo Chen had absorbed ninety percent of the Spirit Molding Holy Spring in the Alchemy Hall.
The remaining ten percent might have seemed meager, but for Tianxuan and Black King, it had undoubtedly been a tremendous boon.
Tianxuan's advancement was well within expectations.
Only, as for Black King...
While conversing, the two arrived at their destination.
Tianxuan's earlier delight had already vanished.
A heavy solemnity also appeared on Luo Chen's face.
The blood pool... calling it a blood pool was no longer quite fitting.
The originally crimson blood had now turned clear and bright.
The power and essence of the blood of countless beasts had all been drawn into Black King's body!
If counted carefully, several million low-rank dragon earthworms from all across Longyuan Island had been dissolved into this single pool, alongside the rank-three demon kings Tianxuan had hunted and captured over the years, and finally the drop of blood essence from the tip of Luo Chen's tongue that he had parted with so grudgingly back then.
Such a colossal reserve of power had restored Black King's physical form to its peak state in return.
In fact, it was far, far stronger than it had been at its peak.
"To think that single drop of my blood essence was this potent!"
Luo Chen murmured.
He could sense that the primary catalyst behind such an enormous transformation in Black King was that very drop of blood essence.
Not only did it contain his source power, but it also held a substantial amount of Taisui's terrifying vitality.
"Indeed. Even this old man never expected that you could truly restore Black King's body to its former state!"
At some point, Han Zhan had descended Mount Xiaqiu and arrived at the edge of this Longyuan blood pool.
Luo Chen was not surprised; since he had spotted Han Zhan, the other party naturally would have seen him as well.
Looking at the silhouette coiled like a small hill in the pool, resembling both a flood dragon and a python, with a single horn gleaming with faint light, Luo Chen let out a sigh.
"Unfortunately, this is all I can do. Whether Black King can pull through still depends on his own fortune."
In his perception, Black King's soul was indeed awakening.
That was a sign that the primeval beast Cliff Serpent's method of hibernation had reached its limit!
Back then, what Black King had devoured was only the corpse of a Cliff Serpent that had failed to advance to rank four. To have gleaned a hibernation technique from its remains to preserve his own life had already been a stroke of immense good fortune.
Yet after enduring for a decade, that good fortune had finally run its course.
A faint ripple of soul fluctuations slowly drifted from Black King's body.
"M-Master..."
Luo Chen reined in all of his power to avoid harming Black King's fragile, infant-like soul.
He said in a deep voice, "I have already restored your physical form, and I have temporarily replaced your shattered demon core with a blood pill. Right now, you only need to weather this stretch of time and let your soul gradually strengthen and nourish itself. Can you do it?"
As the saying went: *Essence nourishes the spiritual root, and qi nourishes the spirit!*
Everything Luo Chen had done was meant to provide Black King with an ideal environment for his soul to revive.
However...
"Forgive me... Xiao Hei is afraid he cannot pull through... this time." Black King's voice came in halting gasps, like a candle guttering in the wind, teetering on the edge of extinction.
The aura of his soul was continually fading away.
Beside them, Han Zhan let out a sigh. "How could the self-detonation of the Heaven Refining Cauldron be something a Golden Core demon king could endure? Cave Master Moyun's body was pulverized on the spot, and his soul was shattered to pieces. That Black King has held on until now is already a sheer miracle."
Luo Chen fell silent.
Though he had spoken with absolute certainty before about possessing a way to save Black King, it was clear he could only accomplish this much.
He had done all that humanly could be done.
Yet to watch Black King pass away before his very eyes remained emotionally hard to accept.
Black King had originally been the most ordinary black-scaled giant python among myriad spirit beasts.
Raised through secret methods by a Foundation Establishment cultivator of the Flying Swallow Archipelago, he had become the weakest kind of flood dragon.
One could say that when Black King attained rank three, his life had reached its absolute ceiling.
Fortunately, he had met Luo Chen.
Under copious infusions of Emperor's Flowing Syrup, his bloodline legacy had been unlocked, granting him his devouring demon art. Over several decades, Luo Chen had bestowed upon him heaps of rich blood food, spirit pills, and wondrous medicines, and even provided the corpse of a Cliff Serpent for him to digest.
Though his path was not aligned with orthodox human cultivation like Tianxuan's, his foundation was solid, and he had steadily advanced to the level of a late rank-three great demon king.
Above all, he too had soaked in the Spirit Molding Holy Spring!
Had it not been for that catastrophe in the Alchemy Hall, Black King would have enjoyed a glorious future. Riding the clouds and mist to transform into a true dragon one day would not have been out of the question.
Luo Chen lamented the future Black King could no longer reach.
He also grieved for the loyalty Black King had displayed in fiercely shielding him, even without any slave seal compelling him to do so.
Now, watching Black King's soul slip away bit by bit weighed heavily on Luo Chen's chest, becoming unbearable.
Tianxuan could no longer hold back and cried out, "Old Hei, you have to hold on! Master, didn't you have a pill that strengthens the soul in the past? Can we try giving it to Old Hei?"
Luo Chen shook his head.
The Nether-Passage Pill was far too low in rank; for Black King's current state, it was utterly futile.
If he could concoct the rank-four soul-strengthening pill among the three human pill formulas left behind by the Heaven Refining Demon Lord, there might be a sliver of hope.
Yet it would only be a sliver.
Luo Chen was severely lacking in the ingredients required for such a pill, unless he went out into the wider world and expended enormous effort to gather them.
With a formidable enemy like Layman Yue lurking outside, and his own Nascent Soul breakthrough fast approaching, how could he possibly roam about openly?
Moreover, the medicinal potency of a rank-four pill would be far too violent; the current Black King might not even be able to endure it.
"Tianxuan, don't grieve for me... Once I am gone... cultivate well, and serve Master faithfully."
Tianxuan's lips trembled, her voice choked with sobs. "I will."
In the blood pool, the flood-python's eyes remained tightly closed.
Yet Black King's voice continued to filter out faintly.
"Master, do you still remember that small favor I once asked of you?"
Luo Chen was taken aback, rapidly searching his thoughts. What favor was that?
Having to search his memory brought a twinge of shame; he had failed to recall it immediately.
Yet Black King had rarely asked anything of him in earnest, and Luo Chen remembered in the end.
"Refining a treasure?"
He answered swiftly, "Are you talking about crafting a protective magic treasure for that little girl of the Zhang family?"
"Yes," Black King answered weakly.
There had indeed been such an occurrence!
Black King had pitied the orphaned girl of the Zhang family, so he had handed the undigested hide of the Cliff Serpent to Luo Chen, begging him to forge a protective treasure for her.
Luo Chen still remembered her name: Zhang Jingqing.
It was a name Zhang Jiadi had chosen specifically to curry favor with Luo Chen.
Luo Chen said solemnly, "If the opportunity arises, I will certainly fulfill this promise and deliver that gift to Little Qing."
"Haha..."
Black King's soul fluctuated with a rare flicker of joy.
"Lastly, Xiao Hei wishes Master great prosperity in the immortal dao and success in forming the Nascent Soul!"
After speaking those parting words, his soul fluctuations began to rapidly fade.
It seemed this moment of awakening was also the hour of his departure.
Luo Chen's face tautened, and he turned his gaze to the azure-robed elder.
"Senior!"
Han Zhan waved his hand. "Don't look at me. Though I claim to be skilled in spirit-refining arts, I possess no such heaven-defying ability..."
Hearing this, Luo Chen felt a surge of disappointment.
Yet he noticed that Han Zhan's voice had grown hesitant.
Instantly, as if clutching at a straw, Luo Chen fixed an intense, burning gaze upon him.
Han Zhan knitted his brows, glancing back and forth between Black King and Luo Chen.
Finally, he sent a low mental transmission: "If you can bear to part with it, I truly have a desperate method that might work as a last resort."
"Tell me!" Luo Chen's spirits lifted!
Han Zhan stroked his chin, appearing as though lost in reminiscence.
"Back then, my good friend Canglong failed her heavenly tribulation. Her yin soul was struck by the extreme yang power of the lightning and suffered catastrophic damage.
"Later, her body was sealed within a Mystic Ice Coffin by disciples of Ice Fort to await a cure.
"In my leisure, I studied that condition and came up with a potential remedy, though I never tested it.
"Come to think of it, Black King's current state bears some resemblance to Canglong's. That method might just work on him."
Suppressing his impatience, Luo Chen listened with rapt attention.
Han Zhan explained smoothly, laying out how the method functioned.
If the soul was damaged, one must treat the soul!
And if the soul was deficient, one had to replenish the soul's origin!
Yet an injured being had lost the capacity to independently strengthen and restore their own soul origin, which meant an external power was required to supplement it.
"An external power... a pill?" Luo Chen frowned.
Han Zhan shook his head. "Such pills are rare in this world. But you possess something that far surpasses any divine elixir or miraculous pill!"
"What is it?"
"The remnant soul of the Stone Dragon!"
In a single instant, Luo Chen's expression shifted.
Han Zhan gave a faint smile. "You and I have both seen that Stone Dragon's remnant soul. It lacks all intellect, and its nature is pure and clear, as though formed naturally by heaven and earth. Such a remnant soul is undoubtedly the purest soul origin power. I was just thinking: if I use a stimulating method to trigger a dying resurgence in Black King, elevating him to a peak state, and then have him unleash his innate demon art to devour that remnant soul, don't you think there might be a chance to bring him back from the dead?"
Devouring another's soul was an exceedingly perilous matter.
Black King, however, was different; his innate demon art accepted anything without discrimination and might yield a miraculous effect.
Yet in doing so, Luo Chen would lose a soul that had once reached rank five.
That was a foundation he had planned to use after forming his Nascent Soul to nurture spirit veins and prepare for higher realms of cultivation!
No wonder Han Zhan had asked whether he could bear to part with it.
Seeing the flicker of conflict on Luo Chen's face, Han Zhan added with a grave tone, "I must warn you: I have never tested this method, and success is far from guaranteed. If it fails, not only will Black King still die, but the Stone Dragon remnant soul you snatched from the tiger's jaws in the Quicksand Sea will dissipate as well.
"You had better think it through!"
What was there left to think through?
Even if Luo Chen considered himself selfish, that selfishness applied when matters were beyond his power.
Right now, he truly possessed that power.
Furthermore, Black King had shown him absolute loyalty, and he had already poured an immense amount of sunk costs into Black King.
Whether that Stone Dragon remnant soul could truly nurture a rank-five spirit vein in the future remained uncertain.
At this juncture, there was no need for further hesitation.
Luo Chen took a deep breath and drew out the white Soul Beckoning Banner.
"Senior, please!"
Han Zhan cast an appreciative glance at Luo Chen, then took the banner.
With a sweep of his hand, the restrictions Luo Chen had placed upon it shattered one after another.
"Emerge!"
Instantly, a colossal dragon head, half-illusory and half-solid, emerged from within.
Han Zhan's expression turned stern as his hands rapidly wove hand seals. Wisps of ghostly light flew from his glabella, finally condensing into an ancient, patterned incantation seal.
With a flick of his fingertip, the seal drifted through the air and sank into Black King's glabella.
The ghostly light slowly submerged, and in that instant, Black King's faint soul fluctuations began to expand wildly.
Embers rekindling?
No, it was a dying flash—a burst of terminal lucidity!
"You come out as well!"
Han Zhan barked a low command and made a pulling motion.
An illusory black shadow flew out from Black King's skull.
It was the soul of a flood-python merely half a zhang long.
At this moment, Black King still appeared thoroughly dazed.
Han Zhan's lips quivered as he transmitted a spiritual voice.
The next instant, as though receiving an order, Black King shone with radiant spiritual light and roared toward the massive dragon head.
One flood-python, one stone dragon.
As the flood-python opened its maw, the two illusory souls howled madly, and a terrifying devouring power rippled outward.
Above Longyuan Island, clouds gathered and winds churned, throwing all living creatures into panic.
Even though the Stone Dragon's remnant soul lacked intellect, instinct drove it to struggle against the devouring force.
Yet Han Zhan gripped the Soul Beckoning Banner, periodically casting spiritual arts to suppress it and aid Black King's consumption.
Visible to the naked eye, fragments of power were steadily pulled from its body and devoured by Black King.
Tianxuan watched the scene in astonishment.
"Master, what is happening?"
Luo Chen narrowed his eyes, memorizing every incantation seal Han Zhan employed, while replying to Tianxuan,
"This is his final chance. Whether he can survive depends entirely on Black King's own capability."
...
This spectacle of a flood-python swallowing a dragon lasted for a full half-month.
Above Longyuan Island, the roles of the two phantom silhouettes had reversed. Black King's soul had expanded to a full hundred zhang in length.
The Stone Dragon's remnant soul, by contrast, had grown diminutive.
Half a month later, Han Zhan was pale-faced, yet his eyes shone with brilliant spiritual light.
"The grand accomplishment is at hand—today is the day!"
As if hearing Han Zhan's shout, Black King unleashed a roar, opened his jaws wide, and swallowed the final wisp of the Stone Dragon's remnant soul in a single gulp.
Then, with a shudder in midair, he plunged back into his physical body.
"Black King!" Tianxuan cried out.
Han Zhan smiled faintly. "There is still a bit of concluding work. Wait a moment."
His hands rapidly formed seals, and streams of ghostly light flew out from Black King's body, converging back toward Han Zhan.
One, two, three... seven in total.
After the seven streams of ghostly light returned, two vertical pupils, massive as lanterns, slowly opened.
The eyes were cold, filled with tranquility and even a sense of unfamiliarity.
Luo Chen stepped forward, his brow furrowing slightly.
Before he could speak, Black King let out a low roar. His body abruptly expanded, breaking through the suppression of the formation, swelling outward from its previous ten-zhang length.
In the blink of an eye, a colossal black horned flood dragon, a hundred zhang in length, coiled across the sky.
He took a deep look at Luo Chen, then nodded his dragon head toward Han Zhan as if in gratitude, before turning, swishing his tail, and soaring into the ocean.
"This..." Luo Chen was caught somewhat off guard.
Han Zhan let out a long breath, stood up, and chuckled. "It should be considered a success. However, the power of the Stone Dragon's remnant soul was far too immense, dealing a heavy shock to Black King's consciousness. He will need a long time to gather his thoughts. Right now, he merely remembers who we are; the rest of his memories are still being recovered."
*Is that so?*
Tianxuan broke into an ecstatic smile. "Black King has been saved!"
Luo Chen nodded and chuckled as well. "All that parting-at-death drama earlier was for nothing, then. Still, as long as he's alive, that's all that matters. As long as he's alive."
Murmuring to himself, Luo Chen felt a profound weight lift from his shoulders.
Now, he could make all the necessary preparations for his Nascent Soul breakthrough without a single lingering worry.
And the very first item on that agenda was refining the Nascent Soul Formation Pill!
Chapter 709