Wondrous peaks rose one after another amidst rugged crags.
Beneath the shade of lush woods, the waters of Clear Wave Pool rippled deep and serene.
A Daoist in white robes sat cross-legged on a bluestone, his back to the pool.
Below him, Black King—in a shrunken form—stood respectfully alongside Tianxuan and Sang Jinghe.
Excitement and joy were written across all their faces.
Luo Chen, however, could not help but sigh with emotion.
How things had fallen!
Whenever he had broken through in the past, whether for his Foundation Establishment Ceremony or his Golden Core Ceremony, disciples had hurried back and forth, guests had flocked from all around, and lively celebrations had been held in his honor.
He still remembered the Golden Core Ceremony: sects arriving to offer congratulations, the grandeur of Danxia Peak unmatched...
Now, having finally broken through to the Nascent Soul stage and become a peerless figure in this realm, only two or three companions stood before him to welcome him out of seclusion.
Of course, living in exile as he was, there was no need to dwell excessively on such minor details.
Regardless, today was a joyous occasion. Even if he did not need to share his insights on condensing a Nascent Soul, he should still bestow some of the accompanying fortune upon them.
With that in mind, Luo Chen began by examining the cultivation progress of his subordinates.
"Jinghe, your progress is quite good. In such a short time, you have already reached the perfection of Foundation Establishment."
Sang Jinghe replied respectfully, "It is all thanks to the Perfected One's favor and guidance!"
Though he called it short, thirty years had in fact slipped by unnoticed since their arrival on Longyuan Island.
Blessed with abundant spirit herbs and dense spiritual energy on the island, Sang Jinghe's progress was only natural.
Luo Chen smiled. "Since you have reached perfection, you must begin preparing for core formation. I have already granted you three Liquid Condensation Pills. Do you have a suitable secret technique for core formation?"
Sang Jinghe nodded. "Before Third Grandfather passed away, he left me one. However, my aptitude is dull, so I have only managed to master it to a minor achievement level. I do not have much confidence in core formation."
"Oh? Let me see that secret technique!"
Without hesitation, Sang Jinghe respectfully handed over a jade slip.
Luo Chen swept his divine sense through it, quickly assessing its contents.
Judged by rank, the core formation secret technique Sang Jiugong had left behind was decent enough, falling into the category of a middle-tier method.
From Luo Chen's current perspective, however, it seemed somewhat lacking.
After a moment's thought, taking Sang Jinghe's innate aptitude into account, Luo Chen directed his divine sense into the slip.
In less than the time it took to drink a cup of tea, additional contents appeared within the jade slip, addressing the key nuances of merging spiritual awareness and magic power.
"Take it and cultivate well. There is no need to start over; simply skip the subsequent parts of Sang Jiugong's secret method and switch directly to the method I revised. It should grant you one or two more chances of success in forming your core," Luo Chen said with a smile, handing the jade slip back to Sang Jinghe.
Clutching the thin jade slip, Sang Jinghe trembled with excitement.
This was a secret technique personally bestowed by a Perfected One!
More than that, it was a core formation technique tailored specifically for him!
Luo Chen smiled faintly and turned his gaze to Tianxuan.
This time, rather than inquiring about her progress, he directly raised a hand and presented a fresh jade slip.
Tianxuan took it in surprise. With just a glance, she read out in confusion, "The *Universal Plume Canon*?"
"Indeed!"
Luo Chen said slowly, "Unlike the initial version, I have revised the *Universal Plume Canon*. One section touches upon how to transform one's constitution and use it to accelerate cultivation. You must study it carefully. Perhaps you will have the chance to achieve a true Xun Wind Physique before forming your Nascent Soul!"
At these words, Tianxuan's face filled with astonishment.
The Xun Wind Physique she possessed was incomplete!
Han Zhan had mentioned this before as well.
After soaking in the Spirit Sculpting Holy Spring, Tianxuan's bone structure and aptitude had indeed improved dramatically, yet she only exhibited faint traces of the Xun Wind Physique.
Luo Chen had personally experienced the benefits of an improved constitution.
The Fire Spirit Physique allowed him to cultivate at an astonishing pace during normal practice. And during his breakthrough to the Nascent Soul stage, relying on this constitution allowed the nascent embryo condensed by his Golden Core to mobilize vast amounts of external world energy, creating a harmonious resonance.
By extension, any single-attribute spirit body ought to yield similar effects.
The Xun Wind Physique was no exception!
Therefore, combining the characteristics of his Fire Spirit Physique with the evolutionary path of a desolate beast's physical body, Luo Chen had deduced the *Universal Plume Canon* from a much higher vantage point, arriving at a far superior version.
As long as Tianxuan cultivated it diligently, she would have a chance to forge a true Xun Wind Physique, making her future breakthrough to the Nascent Soul stage considerably smoother.
Black King watched this scene with wide, eager eyes. A human saying suddenly came to his mind: *When a man attains the Dao, even his poultry and dogs rise to heaven.*
Did this moment not perfectly reflect that saying?
What about him, then?
Meeting Black King's pleading gaze, Luo Chen chuckled and scolded him lightly.
"Stop dreaming. Ever since you switched to the desolate beast method and stepped into Rank Four, I haven't studied your body. How could I point the way for you?"
Black King's raised head drooped down, completely dispirited.
Yet Luo Chen's next words made him perk up with pride.
"Tell me, what changes have you undergone since reaching Rank Four?"
With that, Black King immediately began to show off.
The Immortal Body was the first, which he had already demonstrated.
This time, Black King highlighted several new abilities.
One was the ability to grow or shrink at will.
When enlarged, he could swallow clouds and breathe out mist; when shrunk, he could conceal his presence entirely.
This ability might appear ordinary, but it was anything but.
Previously, Black King could alter his size, but there were strict limits. Shrinking his frame had always left him feeling stifled and miserable.
Now, however, he could shrink down to the size of a palm and rest comfortably on Luo Chen's shoulder.
When growing large, his form could exceed a hundred zhang, reaching three to five hundred zhang, with plenty of strength to spare—seemingly able to expand even further.
At such a scale, combined with the devouring demon art he had unlocked at Rank Three, its might was unimaginable.
Luo Chen also felt a wave of relief. If Black King, while under Han Zhan's control, had immediately expanded to his maximum size and unleashed that devouring demon art back when Han Zhan suddenly struck, he might have swallowed Luo Chen's nascent soul into his belly in an instant.
Aside from this dramatic size manipulation, Black King revealed another ability that made Luo Chen take notice—and even left him stunned.
"Master, please wait a moment!"
Black King returned to his normal hundred-zhang form and lay down on the ground.
His eyes slowly closed, his entire body relaxing freely. Before long, thunderous snores began to rumble from him.
Falling asleep so quickly?
The art of feigning sleep!
With a single glance, Luo Chen recognized Black King's minor trick, but he found it strange that the fellow had fallen asleep right in front of him instead of demonstrating an ability.
Yet in the very next instant!
Luo Chen's expression turned uncertain and shocked as he sensed countless wandering strands of world spiritual energy converging toward Black King.
The range spanned a hundred li, a thousand li, and even wandering spiritual energy from ten thousand li away was spontaneously gathering toward Black King.
Although the spiritual energy arriving from further away grew sparser, the trend of homing like swallows returning to their nests was unmistakable!
With such a vast amount of spiritual energy surging in, a small portion merged into Black King's body and was absorbed.
The greater portion, however, lingered around Black King's body, slowly sinking into the ground beneath.
"This is the stone dragon remnant soul's ability!"
Luo Chen muttered each word deliberately, wild joy surging from the depths of his heart.
Never could he have imagined that by simply intending to use an incomplete Rank Five remnant soul to save Black King, Black King would actually inherit this divine ability.
Once he fell asleep, his natural breathing and respiration could resonate with heaven and earth, gathering wandering spiritual energy.
At present, the effective range of this ability covered about a thousand li.
If a way could be found to expand and stabilize it within a ten-thousand-li radius, paired with an already high-grade spiritual vein, would the grand vision he had once conceived become achievable through Black King?
The ox-like snoring stopped abruptly, and Black King woke up.
"I didn't realize I had this ability at first. But when I rested in the open sea, every time I woke up, a huge crowd of low-tier demon beasts had gathered around me. I didn't think much of it then, just taking them as food delivered to my doorstep."
"Then recently, an anomaly occurred on Longyuan Island with a massive eruption of spiritual energy. To cultivate, I moved up here to live. As it turned out, the spiritual energy gathering effect grew better and better, and its radius of influence grew wider alongside it."
As he spoke, Black King paused.
"Oh, right, I forgot to mention to Master—I found the cause behind the sudden eruption of spiritual energy on Longyuan Island!"
Suppressing his wild joy, Luo Chen asked curiously, "What was the cause?"
He was naturally aware of the changes Longyuan Island had undergone over the past decade; it was night and day compared to how it looked before the tribulation.
To an outsider's eyes, it would look like a mountain gate meticulously cultivated by a major sect.
Rich spiritual energy was everywhere, wondrous flowers and unusual herbs flourished, and even the dragon earthworms that had previously fled had instinctively returned, alongside various wild, low-tier demon beasts.
Black King's expression grew slightly solemn. "Crustal movement and fractured earth veins!"
At these words, Luo Chen's heart sank.
Without asking further, he directly unfurled his divine sense.
Its coverage instantly surged from the few hundred li of his Golden Core stage to a thousand li.
Not only that, but the range kept expanding.
One thousand, two thousand, until it reached three thousand li before slowly coming to a halt.
Sensing that immense divine sense, Black King's dragon eyes went wide.
Master's divine sense is this strong?
He did not know that Luo Chen's divine soul foundation had always stood at the pinnacle among his peers!
The deeper the foundation, the greater the surge upon breaking through.
Coupled with the fact that he had refined a considerable portion of Han Zhan's soul power over the past ten years, it had received an extra boost.
Thus, while an ordinary early-stage Nascent Soul cultivator's divine sense could cover about a thousand li, and stronger ones perhaps two thousand li,
Luo Chen had broken past that limit while merely at the first layer of the Nascent Soul realm!
*Wait, Master's realm?*
Setting aside Black King's shock, Luo Chen's heart gradually grew heavy.
Leaping into the air, he circled Longyuan Island at blistering speed, ultimately arriving at a conclusion similar to Black King's.
The earth veins of this spiritual island indeed showed unmistakable signs of fracturing, and the damage was irreversible!
Originally, the island's feng shui structure was one of inward containment, its spiritual vitality condensed and hidden.
Outwardly, this meant vast amounts of spiritual energy were compressed within the subterranean abyss, rarely leaking out.
Now, however, massive quantities of spiritual energy were erupting, creating an appearance of flourishing abundance that was in truth like roasting over an open fire.
To use a mortal analogy, it was the final burst of energy before death, not far from the end.
It was only because the island's scale was vast and its foundation sufficiently deep that this dying burst had lasted for so long—such that even ten years had not brought it to a complete close.
"The primary cause must have been my tribulation, followed by the battle between Black King and the White Tiger; together, they inadvertently shook the spiritual vein layout of this place," Luo Chen murmured.
The thought that this place could not be held for long took root in his mind.
His mood was neither entirely good nor bad.
After all, he had never intended to remain on Longyuan Island for secluded cultivation indefinitely.
There were many reasons to leave: deducing his primary cultivation technique for the Nascent Soul realm, acquiring supplementary resources for the *Soul Splitting Art*, the perils lurking in the demon sea, and certain people and matters that weighed on his heart.
Taking a deep breath, Luo Chen returned to Clear Wave Pool.
Immediately, he issued two orders.
"Black King, I permit you free entry into the subterranean abyss to locate all raw spirit stone veins of the supreme grade, and ascertain the locations of high-grade ones as well."
"Jinghe... Never mind, Jinghe, focus on your cultivation and strive to advance to the Golden Core stage within ten years. Tianxuan, you will handle this task: collect all graded spiritual soils across Longyuan Island!"
At these words, everyone understood Luo Chen's intent.
He intended to leave.
Perhaps tomorrow, perhaps next year, or perhaps in the near future.
Tianxuan said softly, "Master, what of that White Tiger puppet...?"
"I will find time to subdue it."
"Then how should we handle this?"
A flash of spiritual light shone from Tianxuan's hand, and an emaciated corpse appeared before them.
Han Zhan's physical body... no, Feiyunzi's body!
Seeing such a corpse on this joyous day of emerging from seclusion as a Nascent Soul cultivator was truly unpleasant.
Tianxuan had not intended to bring it up today, but the sense of urgency Luo Chen displayed had affected her.
Luo Chen looked down at the corpse at his feet, his eyes narrowing slightly.
He was not worried about Han Zhan leaving any hidden contingency in the outside world.
Body possession was an endeavor that demanded everything; Han Zhan could not possibly have retained any strength to spare under those circumstances.
Yet this body involved not only his grievances with Han Zhan, but also Feiyunzi's descendants.
A wisp of azure flame drifted from his fingertips.
Before the eyes of the three onlookers, the physical body of what had once been a Nascent Soul Perfected One was reduced to a patch of dark ashes.
"Scatter them!"
"A soul of the Northern Sea, born of the Northern Sea."
"Burying him in the ocean can be considered returning him to his roots."
Black King swept a claw, scooping up three inches of earth along with the ashes.
"Leave this to me!"
Moments later, Black King appeared high above the open sea. With a casual flick, large handfuls of soil mingled with bone ashes showered down into the waves.
Moreover, several demon fish and sea beasts swarmed over eagerly, pecking at the scattered ashes.
The ashes of a Perfected One's body were immensely nourishing to them!
Watching this, Black King chuckled slyly.
He harbored no notions of showing respect to a formidable foe; his only concern was relieving his master's worries.
This body, whether belonging to Feiyunzi in life or that old scoundrel Han Zhan in death, had caused his master endless trouble. It was only right that not a scrap of bone remained!
***
Returning to his immortal's cave, Luo Chen settled his emotions.
He then naturally brought up his attribute panel.
The previously cluttered data had become clear and organized under his editing.
[Lifespan: 216 / 1500]
[Spiritual Roots: Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, Earth]
[Constitution: Fire Spirit Physique (Five Elements Dao Physique hidden)]
[Realm: Nascent Soul Layer One 1/100, Desolate Ancient Rank Four 40/100]
[Cultivation Methods: Heavenly Phoenix Nirvana Scripture Master 900/1000, Convergence of Myriad Paths Grand Perfection, Myriad Beast Scripture Master 510/1000, Soul Splitting Art Entry 15/100]
[Spells: Rank Four: Dragon Slaying Art Grand Perfection, Core Origin Art Grand Perfection, Senluo Fire Prison Master 507/1000]
[Body Arts: Air Burst Steps Grand Perfection, Ninety Thousand Li Grand Perfection, Demonic Lord Seven Scattered Hands Perfection 475/500]
[Soul Arts: Mirror Flower Water Moon Grand Perfection, Soul Intimidation Art Grand Perfection, Kai Mao Art Adept 240/300]
Looking at the refreshed panel, Luo Chen felt deeply gratified.
The greatest change was undoubtedly the dramatic surge in his lifespan.
One thousand five hundred years...
"Hahaha!"
Luo Chen could not help but laugh heartily. Compared to the fantasies of immortality he had harbored in his youth, this was a solid, tangible stride forward!
Rumor held that upon breaking through to the Nascent Soul stage, a cultivator's lifespan would double, reaching a thousand years.
Not only had he reached a thousand years, but he had also gained an additional five hundred.
This difference undoubtedly stemmed from his Desolate Ancient Rank Four body.
From that perspective alone, so long as he avoided reckless conflicts, his lifespan alone would suffice to outlive his peers.
Of course, that would be far too uninspired an ambition.
With a chuckle, Luo Chen reviewed the various entries.
Reaching the first layer of the Nascent Soul realm was within expectations.
The celestial phenomena during his tribulation had been rare across the world.
Golden lotuses surging from the earth, heavenly nectar pouring from the sky.
After surviving the lightning tribulation, those two grand phenomena had infused his newly formed Nascent Soul with an unimaginable quantity of pure spiritual energy. It had not only aided in condensing his Nascent Soul form, but had also greatly advanced his cultivation.
Add to that the digestion of the pure magic power left behind in Han Zhan's nascent soul body, and taking a firm step into the first layer of the Nascent Soul realm was entirely natural.
This was for the best!
For a normal cultivator condensing a Nascent Soul, merely consolidating their realm and stepping into the first layer would take thirty to fifty years.
Had not Perfected Longyuan of the Myriad Immortals Association remained in secluded cultivation for a full fifty years, rarely showing himself?
Back then, after Han Zhan condensed his Nascent Soul, he had also cultivated quietly for decades before daring to challenge Perfected Jade Cauldron.
In this regard, he had saved an immense amount of time.
And this saved time naturally served a vital purpose.
His primary cultivation method!
Looking at the entry for the *Heavenly Phoenix Nirvana Scripture*, which was only one hundred proficiency points away from Grand Perfection, Luo Chen fell silent.
After acquiring the Five Elements Dao Physique in Mingzhaotian, he had once considered switching his primary cultivation method after forming his Nascent Soul.
Subsequent developments, however, had caused him to fall from the Five Elements Dao Physique back to the Fire Spirit Physique.
Even though the system panel showed that the Five Elements Dao Physique was merely hidden rather than lost entirely, his current constitution meant he could only continue walking the path of the fire attribute.
In that case, the options for a suitable Nascent Soul primary cultivation method were constrained.
Only after a long while did Luo Chen let out a sigh.
"I will first cultivate this *Heavenly Phoenix Nirvana Scripture* to Grand Perfection and see if any changes occur!"
"If it maintains a decent cultivation speed upon reaching Grand Perfection, I will continue with this technique. If not, I will have to consider gathering other Rank Four fire-attribute techniques after returning to the cultivation world."
The latter was merely a backup plan.
Even thinking about it, he knew it would be exceedingly difficult.
Rank Four cultivation techniques were priceless treasures anywhere!
At the very least, they were the personal foundation of an individual's cultivation; at most, the heritage treasure of a sect. How could they be gathered so easily?
Luo Chen turned his gaze to the *Soul Splitting Art*, which had already reached Entry level.
His efforts over the past decade, enduring the agonizing torment of severing his soul day and night, had not been in vain.
At this moment, within his sea of consciousness, alongside his primary soul, stood a fully formed split soul.
The two shared the same aura, though the difference in strength was plain to see.
Luo Chen's current split soul possessed strength roughly equivalent to the Golden Core stage—still far too weak.
This state of affairs was partly because he had practiced the *Soul Splitting Art* for too short a time, and partly because the technique lacked the relevant secret methods to accelerate its growth.
Regarding the latter flaw, Luo Chen already had a solution in mind.
The True Monarch's alchemy legacy!
A pill recipe appeared in Luo Chen's hand.
Three characters were inscribed upon it: *Great Soul Pill*!
This was a Rank Four pill specifically meant to strengthen the divine soul foundation of human cultivators, and it was among those thirty-six pill recipes.
Previously, when Luo Chen was treating Black King, he had considered this recipe.
At the time, however, he had feared Black King could not withstand the potent medicinal power of the Great Soul Pill, and he lacked the relevant herbs, so he had abandoned the thought.
Now, this pill recipe finally had a purpose.
"It's just that although I've seen the main ingredients, gathering them in such quantities will be somewhat troublesome."
Luo Chen murmured, a wisp of worry surfacing between his brows.
Chapter 715