For as long as he could remember, Luo Chen had found himself particularly prone to inner demon invasions.
During Qi Refinement, he had endured a trial of the heart.
During Foundation Establishment, he had fallen into a mental snare.
To counter this, he had diligently cultivated relevant techniques and secret arts.
Be it Bright Spirit Fiend Breaking or the Micromote Origin Art, both served to temper his will and mental state.
Unbeknownst to him, he had gradually forged an unyielding spirit invulnerable to external fiends.
This mental cultivation was usually unobtrusive, yet whenever major events arose, Luo Chen always handled them with composure, making the right choices through countless crises.
Whether trapped in deep imprisonment at Mount Cangwu, surrounded by formidable foes in the Land of the Fallen Demon, or pursued across ten thousand li by the late Nascent Soul Moon Hermit, he had consistently maintained an inner serenity amidst wildly churning emotions.
Thus, throughout his entire time in the Golden Core realm, he had never once suffered from inner demon invasions like those of his Qi Refinement and Foundation Establishment days.
And yet!
What Luo Chen had not anticipated was that while inner demons did not stir, an external fiend had struck.
Upon breaking through to the Nascent Soul realm and passing his tribulation, Han Zhan had lashed out!
Could that battle in his sea of consciousness not be seen as a great tribulation of an external fiend?
Now, more than a decade later, even though he was safe and sound with cultivation surpassing his past self, fear still lingered.
"Among all the cultivators under heaven, am I the only one like this, or is everyone the same?"
In his idle moments, Luo Chen had asked himself this.
Yet in the end, he had found no answer.
Unable to force the matter, he could only let things take their course and spare no effort to strengthen himself.
Now, with extreme misfortune turning to fortune, his gains exceeded ordinary imagination.
A complete formation diagram for the Great Five Elements Sword Formation, Feiyunzi's sword pellet forging methods, and even an unblemished, metal-attribute True Artifact sword pellet completely stripped of conscious intent!
Pinching that sword pellet, Luo Chen fell into contemplation.
This had likely been a backup weapon prepared by Feiyunzi for himself.
From this angle, Feiyunzi, as a sword cultivator, did not seem all that pure.
A true sword cultivator refined only a single sword pellet in their lifetime.
As long as the sword remained, they lived; if the sword perished, they fell.
From the very start, Feiyunzi had left himself an escape route. No wonder his sword dao lacked that certain distinct flair, falling far short of the magnificent spirit of piercing myriad techniques with a single sword.
"Still, in the end, it only serves to benefit me."
Luo Chen chuckled softly and put the formation diagram, the artifact forging manuals, and the sword pellet away together.
He was still short four pellets. Once he took the time to gather them all in the future, he might very well master a formidable sword formation.
Next, he inventoried the remaining resources in Feiyunzi's storage belt.
He had not realized it at first glance, but now, going through item by item, a wide grin spread across his face.
Various precious herbs and an array of pills suitable for Golden Core and Nascent Soul cultivators dazzled the eyes.
There were also over a dozen texts spanning various subjects, most of which were rarely seen in the outside world.
For instance, an unrestricted jade slip contained precisely what Luo Chen needed most at the moment.
*Records of Northern Sea Geography*.
Inside was a detailed account of the Northern Sea's geographic environment, accompanied by the names of the corresponding powers.
During his lifetime, Feiyunzi had even marked out the Northern Sea's power structure following the fall of the Yuan Demon Sect.
The Moluo Stream occupied twelve sea regions, precisely corresponding to the Twelve Stream Lords.
The Penglai Immortal Sect, having returned from the Demon Sea, solely controlled three sea regions.
The Myriad Immortals Association centered around the Dragon Taming Mountain Range, patchily holding eight sea regions. It seemed like quite a lot, but three of them lay along the Three Oceans Defensive Line, perpetually facing demon beast invasions—territories the outside world had little interest in.
Another three were ancestral lands that had belonged to Nascent Soul factions since ancient times.
In other words, the wealthy lands truly under the Myriad Immortals Association's control amounted to merely two sea regions.
The mightiest faction was the Canghai Righteous Alliance!
As a single alliance, it held twenty-nine complete sea regions, each overseen by a Nascent Soul cultivator!
Had this faction not been an alliance bound by mutual interest—held in check solely by the prestige of the great expert Li Canghai while internally disunited—even if the Moluo Stream joined forces with the Penglai Immortal Sect, they would hardly have dared challenge it head-on.
Luo Chen did not pay much attention to the other scattered minor factions.
Only as he withdrew from the jade slip did his divine sense deliberately take note of the territories held by the Tianyuan Commerce Alliance.
Seven sea regions—not a massive number.
Yet the Tianyuan Commerce Alliance's influence had grown increasingly immense over the years, gradually permeating the righteous, demonic, and rogue cultivator factions alike. Its presence could be felt across the entire Northern Sea.
Most notable was the Tianyuan Dao Sect backing it!
That was a colossal behemoth towering in the distant Central Plains!
Even when the Yuan Demon Sect still existed, the two had merely gazed at each other across the sea, neither encroaching on the other.
Placing the jade slip in an easily accessible corner of his storage ring, Luo Chen breathed a sigh of relief.
"With this map, I can avoid many detours once I return to the cultivation world."
Afterward, he continued inventorying Feiyunzi's remains.
If one were to ask what was most abundant in Feiyunzi's belt, it was unquestionably items related to magic treasures!
One top-grade magic treasure, the Heavenly Astral Blast Furnace, which possessed no offensive might and was forged purely for artifact refining and alchemy.
Three top-grade flying swords.
Twelve mid-grade magic treasures.
Low-grade magic treasures and magical instruments were scarce.
Every single piece had been personally crafted by Feiyunzi, bearing his unique cloud-pattern insignia.
Were all these treasures brought into the open, they would suffice to arm a smaller Nascent Soul sect. If given to a Golden Core sect, it would arm a major power to the teeth.
Reaching out, Luo Chen drew out a long painted halberd and examined it with keen interest.
This was an exotic magic treasure, one rarely wielded by cultivators in the cultivation world.
The reason it drew his attention was that despite its low grade—merely a low-grade magic treasure—it had been placed among the pile of top-grade treasures, right alongside the three flying swords.
As he took hold of it, Luo Chen raised an eyebrow.
Heavy!
An overwhelming sense of immense weight bent his wrist, pulling the painted halberd straight toward the ground.
Yet who was Luo Chen? Even without utilizing Origin Power, he possessed peerless physical strength.
Gripping the shaft with one hand and the handle with the other, his muscles bunched as he slowly hoisted it before his face.
"So heavy. It must hold the weight of ten thousand jun."
"A cultivator's divine sense could perhaps control it with difficulty, but it would be far too strenuous. This doesn't seem like a magic treasure forged for ordinary cultivators."
"Could it have been specially made for body cultivators?"
With a stir of Luo Chen's thoughts, a crimson force flowed from his arm, washing over the halberd.
He lacked the astral qi of a body cultivator, yet he possessed Origin Power.
He wondered if it could...
The next instant, as the Origin Power enveloped it, the painted halberd abruptly lightened in his grasp. Though still as heavy as a mountain, he could at least brandish it at will.
Luo Chen paused, and a natural smile crept onto his face.
Earlier, he had been thinking about specially forging a weapon capable of bearing and amplifying Origin Power after reaching the Nascent Soul stage.
He had not expected to find a pillow just as he grew drowsy.
Its grade might be somewhat low, but by virtue of that immense weight alone, ordinary cultivators would never dare clash against it head-on.
"I wonder what materials were used to forge this treasure."
Piqued with curiosity, Luo Chen cast his divine sense over the halberd's pitch-black shaft, as well as the faintly glowing crescent blade and spear tip.
Relying on his own breadth of knowledge, he identified several materials.
Gengjin, lightning sand, and a copious amount of Origin-Tracing Clay, yet he could not identify the primary component.
*Hiss!*
A wisp of azure flame emerged as Wither-Bloom Fire washed over the shaft.
Under the scorching, terrifying heat of the Wither-Bloom Fire, a peculiar aura gradually surfaced.
It carried the thick, grounded solidity of the earth itself!
"Origin-Heavy Sky Mountain Stone!"
Luo Chen was stunned. He had never imagined the primary material of this halberd would turn out to be the celestial meteorite recorded in ancient texts—the Origin-Heavy Sky Mountain Stone!
In ancient times, such a meteorite had descended from beyond the heavens.
Though not enormous in size, once it struck the ground, it proved utterly indestructible and impossible to dislodge.
Hence, someone had named it after the weight of an epoch and the falling of heavenly mountains.
The primary material of this halberd was indeed Origin-Heavy Sky Mountain Stone. In fact, due to the material's unique nature, Feiyunzi had been unable to engrave sufficient formations upon it, which was why its grade had been limited.
"Wait, stop!"
With a wave of his hand, Luo Chen hastily recalled the Wither-Bloom Fire.
The fire spirit had gotten so carried away just now that it had nearly melted the halberd entirely.
"I know you're formidable, all right?"
Luo Chen glared at the Wither-Bloom Fire and stowed it away.
Ever since gaining spiritual sentience, the Wither-Bloom Fire had been exceptionally lively. Luo Chen had previously suppressed its spirit, but after reaching Nascent Soul, he felt comfortable letting it grow and had relaxed his restraint.
Now, it had grown increasingly unruly.
Ignoring the fire spirit's perceived grievances, Luo Chen happily planted the halberd into the ground.
Next, he would need to find time to refine this halberd and add another technique to his repertoire.
Finally, Luo Chen inventoried the spirit stones left behind by Feiyunzi.
*Whew!*
It was quite a staggering sum as well!
Totalling the various grades together, it amounted to a massive five hundred million low-grade spirit stones.
Combined with the thirty thousand top-grade spirit stones Luo Chen had obtained earlier, his net worth converted to a solid eight hundred million!
And that was without counting Han Zhan's ten supreme-grade spirit stones.
Those were strategic resources that could not be measured by ordinary cultivation world currency.
"Tsk tsk! As the saying goes, horses do not fatten without night grass, and men do not prosper without windfalls. After painstakingly building my affairs for so many years, with spirit stones constantly flowing in and out and burning through reserves, two centuries hardly yielded such wealth. Yet just a few deadly clashes have made me an overnight tycoon, free from fretting over spirit stones ever again."
Luo Chen sighed with deep emotion.
Of course, if given a choice, he would never choose to build wealth through such means.
It was far too perilous!
After branding Feiyunzi's cloud-pattern belt with his own mark and changing its color to red, Luo Chen cheerfully strapped it to his waist and resumed his cultivation.
Time flowed on.
After its final surge of vitality, the spiritual energy on Longyuan Island at last began to steadily decline.
Countless wisps of spiritual energy dissipated day and night into the world and out into the vast sea.
Even with the formations acting as barriers, the arrays themselves relied on the earth veins and could not halt the collapsing trend of venting energy.
This was the inevitable ebb following a peak!
Luo Chen's cultivation also gradually approached its conclusion.
In the third year after stabilizing his realm, he refined the Qingyang Great Handprint and unsealed Han Zhan's storage pouch.
In the fifth year, he unsealed Feiyunzi's storage belt, reaping an abundant harvest.
In the seventh year, he thoroughly refined the True Artifact-grade Soul Beckoning Banner.
In the eighth year, after failing several times to thoroughly refine the Penglai Octagonal Pavilion, Luo Chen blazed a new path. Employing Han Zhan's early techniques, he ritually refined the pavilion, securing a measure of authority over it.
The reason this True Artifact was so difficult to refine was that it was a legacy True Artifact.
Although the Penglai Immortal Sect had not entrusted complete control to any single individual, they had embedded extraordinarily complex restrictions within it.
With Luo Chen's current attainments, fully refining it would require at least several decades.
However, this partial authority was already sufficient to support his daily needs.
When the ninth year arrived, Luo Chen brought his primary cultivation method to Grand Perfection.
The *Heavenly Phoenix Nirvana Scripture* had achieved Grand Perfection!
On that day, Luo Chen looked at his status panel. The progress bar reached [Grandmaster 100/100], and the text shimmered, turning into the characters: [Grand Perfection].
No change?
Hesitating, Luo Chen circulated his core cultivation technique once more amidst the thinning spiritual energy.
Splitting his focus, he observed how his body drew in the external spiritual energy.
"It draws half again as much as before!"
"A small qualitative leap, but barely enough to sustain my Nascent Soul stage cultivation."
"This means switching my primary technique isn't quite so pressing anymore."
Luo Chen breathed a sigh of relief.
This technique truly lived up to its reputation as the premier fire-attribute scripture under heaven; even the Golden Core chapter held numerous wondrous uses.
Even after reaching the Nascent Soul stage, relying on the Grand Perfection mastery, it could still support a Nascent Soul cultivator's cultivation.
Suddenly.
Luo Chen's heart gave a leap.
While drawing in the ambient spiritual energy, did something feel different?
With a thought, he abruptly unfurled his Nascent Soul domain!
The ambient, drifting fire-attribute spiritual energy surged forth from all around, and a powerful, oppressive aura blanketed the chasm.
At the same time, Luo Chen called out softly.
"Come out!"
The next moment, the Wither-Bloom Fire quietly surfaced.
Trembling as it looked at Luo Chen, it spread its branch-like flames.
"Just as I thought!"
Luo Chen directed the branches formed by the true fire, merging them directly into his Nascent Soul domain.
Instantly, an extreme, destructive power began to spread.
Within the chasm, countless rocks started to melt.
Luo Chen bounded upward, soaring into the sky above Longyuan Island.
"Black King!"
Cultivating on the island, Black King moved immediately at the call.
"Master, another sparring test?"
Luo Chen looked down at Black King with a faint smile.
"This time, it is simple. Coat your entire body in Origin Power and try resisting my Senluo Fire Prison."
Black King grunted an assent, completely unfazed.
A Nascent Soul domain, after all, held little sway over desolate beasts.
Origin Power was inherently immune to domain suppression.
Luo Chen had comprehended this long ago and had taught the method to Black King.
Now, facing the imposing fire prison, Black King calmly awaited the domain's suppression.
Soon, however, his expression changed.
He watched as wisps of azure smoke rose from his own body.
"How can this be?"
*Phew...*
Luo Chen let out a long breath.
Looking at his domain, delight surfaced on his brow.
The Grand Perfection *Heavenly Phoenix Nirvana Scripture* did not offer an enormous boost to cultivation speed—for a Nascent Soul cultivator, the effect was mediocre, barely usable.
Yet another effect it produced was astonishing.
It granted an extraordinary control over fire-attribute ambient spiritual energy!
This was unrefined, free-floating spiritual energy carrying no personal imprint whatsoever!
Not only did it master ambient energy, but it also held terrifying dominance over physical flames, like a natural suppression of an inferior by a superior.
The Wither-Bloom Fire spirit, once arrogant enough to require his scolding, now trembled in terror, submissively letting Luo Chen manipulate it.
Luo Chen had simply merged it into the Senluo Fire Prison... and not through a simple combination, but by fusing its innate property of scorching the vitality of living beings into the domain.
Thus, the current Senluo Fire Prison could do more than suppress enemies; it had gained an additional divine ability.
Void Incineration!
It could incinerate ambient spiritual energy of other attributes, and even Black King's Origin Power, which was normally immune to Nascent Soul domains!
One could easily imagine that in a battle against an enemy, the moment the Senluo Fire Prison manifested, the foe would lose control over ambient spiritual energy while Luo Chen held absolute mastery. With the scales tipped so drastically, victory would be assured.
"My century of bitter cultivation was not in vain!"
A century was no exaggeration!
From the moment Luo Chen had acquired the *Heavenly Phoenix Nirvana Scripture* to this day, a hundred years had already elapsed.
Looking across all the techniques and secret arts Luo Chen had studied in his life, none had demanded such an enormous amount of time.
And the final harvest was truly gratifying.
"I wonder what wonders the Nascent Soul chapter of the *Heavenly Phoenix Nirvana Scripture* holds?"
After a moment's reverie, Luo Chen returned to the chasm.
Before he knew it, the tenth year arrived.
The spiritual energy on Longyuan Island had plummeted to a degree completely unsuitable for a Nascent Soul True Lord's cultivation.
Even within the chasm, only the dwelling Luo Chen had spared no effort to protect barely retained the quality of a Rank Four spirit vein, and it continued to drop.
This year, Luo Chen turned two hundred and twenty-six years old!
At dawn, he slowly opened his eyes, his eyelashes fluttering.
"It is time to leave!"
Luo Chen rose leisurely and emerged from the chasm.
Outside, Black King and the others, having received word beforehand, were already prepared.
Luo Chen extended his right hand, and an octagonal pavilion slowly manifested in his palm.
"Jinghe, take this treasure and collect all the spiritual soil on the island. Leave not an inch behind!"
Sang Jinghe had already formed his core successfully, currently standing at the early Golden Core stage, which barely allowed him to operate the Penglai Octagonal Pavilion.
He departed with the treasure.
"Tianxuan, enter the chasm and excavate all identified raw spirit stone ores."
Tianxuan accepted the order with pleasure.
Even if those raw ores lacked internal spiritual energy due to the venting of the veins, their fundamental quality remained. With proper placement in the future, they could still form the foundation of a spiritual land.
"Black King!"
"Here!"
"Go and round up all the dragon earthworms on the island!"
Black King chuckled, wriggling his massive body toward the northern side of Longyuan Island.
Any other demon beast or desolate beast would struggle to gather so many dragon earthworms.
He, however, was different.
Thirty years ago, while healing his injuries, millions of dragon earthworms had bled into the blood pool, and he had completely absorbed it.
In a sense, he also carried the bloodline of the dragon earthworms.
Earlier, the wholesale slaughter of the dragon earthworms had caused many to flee the island, but later, many had gradually returned. Aside from the leaking spiritual energy, it was also because Black King naturally radiated the aura of a high-ranking dragon earthworm.
Kinship among the same tribe!
Having issued these commands, Luo Chen went alone to the former site of Sunset Hill.
What had once been Sunset Hill was now merely a colossal crater.
There, a gigantic white tiger stood silently.
Twenty years had passed, yet the lashing wind and rain had not dulled its restrained, lethal intent.
Moss and vines crept over it, lending it an air of weathered antiquity.
Looking upon this massive white tiger, Luo Chen took a deep breath and leaped atop its head.
Sitting cross-legged, he cast restrictions from his fingertips, sending them into the white tiger's body.
He too knew puppet arts!
Having stayed beside Han Zhan for so long, under constant exposure, he had naturally picked up some fundamentals.
Perfect control over the puppet might be difficult, but subduing it was relatively simple.
Especially now that he possessed a divided soul!
Once all the restrictions were laid down, Luo Chen directed his divided soul to sink into the puppet's crown with a mere thought.
Vaguely, he could sense a dormant soul residing deep within the puppet.
This white tiger puppet was no dead object!
A restrained tiger soul was bound within it. Toward that tiger soul, Luo Chen's divided soul slowly approached.
***
Deep within the Demon Sea, there was a spiritual mountain renowned among the demon race.
Its name was Yuntai!
The reason this spiritual mountain was so famous was that its master was one of the demon race's rare Grandmaster Alchemists.
The demon known as Haijiao Tianmu!
On this day, brilliant radiance erupted over Yuntai Mountain.
Clad in a flamboyant, flowered green robe, Haijiao Tianmu strode out from the mountain.
At the same moment, within the surrounding waters below, points of five-pointed starlight surfaced, numbering over a hundred at a glance.
"Tianmu!"
"Tianmu!"
Haijiao Tianmu nodded, looking upon her progeny with a pleased smile.
"Not bad. You haven't neglected your cultivation all these years. Now, accompany me to the Duoyuan Sea Region!"
With a broad sweep of her sleeves, she led over a hundred Rank Three clansmen straight toward the distant Duoyuan Sea Region.
Duoyuan Longzong was trapped in the Five Elements Heaven and would not emerge for at least several centuries.
In fact, he might never emerge for the rest of his life.
This meant his cultivation ground was left unclaimed.
She had visited that place alongside the Shark Emperor, Liu Jun.
She knew that over ten million dragon earthworms resided there, along with countless swathes of spiritual soil.
If that spiritual soil could be brought back to Yuntai Mountain, it would vastly bolster the foundation of her Haijiao clan!
One had to remember that the Haijiao clan was not only skilled in alchemy, but also excelled at cultivating herbs.
Possessing that spiritual soil would be like adding wings to a tiger!
And those dragon earthworms, stripped of their tribal chieftain, could only be enslaved by them.
"Had I not encountered the panicked Blood Nightmare Moluo after leaving Mingzhaotian and suffered wounds to my true body, I wouldn't have spent thirty years recuperating."
"Heading to the Duoyuan Sea Region now should still be in time."
"No, even if it is too late and other demon beasts have claimed it, I must do everything to seize it back."
Haijiao Tianmu's eyes flickered, her expression set with determination.
Leading the elites of her clan, she journeyed eastward, heading straight for the Duoyuan Sea Region.
Wherever she passed, the demon beasts of the Demon Sea trembled in fear.
None had anticipated that the seemingly frail Haijiao clan possessed such tremendous might, fielding over a hundred Rank Three Demon King-level beings.
And this was merely the tip of the iceberg; perhaps even more Rank Three Haijiao Demon Kings remained behind guarding Yuntai Mountain.
Perhaps this was the influence of a formidable alchemist!
Single-handedly revitalizing a clan, turning the weak Haijiao into a thriving power.
Paying no heed to the thoughts of those demon beasts, Haijiao Tianmu pressed eastward, her pace growing increasingly urgent.
Her urgency was justified.
The demon elites previously led away by the Sea Emperor Whale and the Beili Great Sage had broken free from the Arctic Yama Heavens and were launching massive assaults on human territory.
She had to seize this window of opportunity to secure benefits for her clan.
If she waited until those mighty figures returned, Duoyuan Longzong's legacy would not be hers to claim.
Thus, time was of the essence!
A month later.
Having traveled day and night without pause, Haijiao Tianmu arrived outside Longyuan Island with over a hundred elite clansmen.
She stared blankly at the massive island, stripped bare three feet deep like a field of ruins, her mind reeling in disbelief.
"Did I come to the wrong place?"
Chapter 717