Fu Qinglan understood better than anyone what the abrupt arrival of two Dao Protectors portended.
She spread her divine sense, scouring the surroundings.
Soon enough, two figures entered her perception.
“They really did come.”
*Whoosh!*
*Whoosh!*
The two silhouettes sped from afar, quickly appearing within sight.
Before they even arrived, a sweet, cloying female voice drifted over.
“Perfected, where are the two mirage beasts?”
The black-robed cultivator locking his divine sense onto Luo Chen rasped in a hoarse voice, “They have already been slain, and their mirage cores have fallen into this man’s hands.”
The young woman froze, exclaiming in disbelief, “So fast? Only how much time has passed? Those were two fourth-rank mirage beasts!”
Before the black-robed cultivator could reply, Fu Qinglan spoke first: “Xiaoxu!”
Yu Xu had naturally recognized Fu Qinglan the moment she had sent out her divine sense. She nodded, though shock still lingered in her eyes.
They had discovered the two mirage beasts not long ago and followed closely behind them on their trail; hardly any time had elapsed.
Yet now, not a trace of the beasts remained!
“Two fourth-rank mirage beasts... Were they truly slain by him alone in such a short time?”
Shrouded in black robes, Perfected Tianshan said impassively, “He used the special terrain here to set up an array specifically targeted at mirage beasts in advance. Once the beasts fell into his snare, defeating them in an instant is hardly surprising.”
Though his tone was indifferent, he made no attempt to conceal his wariness.
Yu Xu frowned and surveyed the area. Indeed, traces of a formation lingered.
Yet the most important factor remained that man!
Fu Qinglan’s Dao Protector—the Desolate Hermit!
Meanwhile, Fu Qinglan looked uneasily toward the other person. Clad in luxurious white robes embroidered with golden cloud patterns, he had a face as fair as crowned jade and bore an overbearing arrogance.
“Junior Brother Xiang Qi.”
This distinguished noble was none other than the prodigy of the Xiang family—the head of the Central Plains’ thirty-six Great Families—Xiang Qi!
Xiang Qi merely glanced at her, offering a perfunctory nod. He then turned to the hefty monk and asked, “Master, are you confident you can defeat this man?”
“Amitabha!”
The Wrathful Vajra chanted the Buddha’s name in a rough, booming voice, then said solemnly, “Defeating him will not be difficult. But if we wish to keep this benefactor here, this seat’s strength may fall short.”
Xiang Qi’s brow twitched.
His gaze shifted back and forth across the gray-haired, worldly middle-aged man standing upon the plains.
A rogue cultivator from the Northern Sea, the Desolate Hermit!
Among the thirteen Dao Protectors, he was the most mysterious—more so even than Perfected Tianshan from the Southern Border.
After all, Perfected Tianshan’s origins could be traced, whereas this man’s rise had been far too sudden, leaving no way to gather actionable intelligence on him.
Now, for even the mighty Wrathful Vajra to lack confidence in detaining him spoke volumes of his extraordinary strength.
Defeating him was meaningless!
Letting him stay or flee was also beside the point.
What Xiang Qi wanted was to capture him!
“Yu Xu, how about our two sides join forces to capture the Desolate Hermit?”
Yu Xu seemed to have anticipated this. Her gaze brushed over Fu Qinglan before she chuckled softly. “Two mirage cores—one for each of us?”
“No!”
The corners of Xiang Qi’s mouth curled slightly. “Both belong to you.”
Yu Xu was taken aback.
“The mirage cores go to you, but the Heavenly Mechanism Pill on his person belongs to me!” Xiang Qi stated.
*So that’s it!*
Yu Xu suddenly understood. Xiang Qi had set his sights on the Heavenly Mechanism Pill carried by the Desolate Hermit!
Outsiders might know nothing about this pill, but her Yu family was an alchemy clan with profound knowledge of such matters.
It was a fourth-rank pill improved by the Alchemy Saint after studying an incomparably precious incomplete formula from the Tianyuan Dao Sect, possessing miraculous effects for Nascent Soul True Persons.
It was said that when consumed by those of extraordinary talent, there was a ten percent chance of comprehending law intent.
Even some Soul Formation Patriarchs longed for one to no avail.
Over the centuries, the Alchemy Saint had merely perfected the formula, yet he had concocted it very few times.
The reason for this was supposedly the lack of a certain primary ingredient.
Few people knew what that ingredient was.
Yet by the time the Alchemy Saint ascended, the Yu family had discovered it!
It was spiritual opportunity!
That something so ethereal, elusive, and nearly impossible to find in the mortal world could actually be concocted into medicine was utterly astounding.
Yet duplicating such a feat was tremendously difficult.
Spiritual opportunity existed everywhere between heaven and earth, but truly gathering it was hard beyond measure.
Typically, it only gathered in abundance when a cultivator experienced an epiphany or underwent ascension.
Even within the Mirage Dragon Grotto-Heaven, spiritual opportunity was exceedingly scarce. It was only because Sect Master Tianyuan had drawn vast amounts from the outside world, which were then absorbed by unique creatures like mirage beasts and solidified into mirage cores, that true disciples like them could slowly absorb tiny wisps of it.
Ordinary alchemists simply lacked the capability to use it as medicine.
Now, Xiang Qi’s plan was clearly to use the Heavenly Mechanism Pill in place of mirage cores for his cultivation.
After all, a Heavenly Mechanism Pill personally concocted by the Alchemy Saint contained several to dozens of times more spiritual opportunity than an ordinary fourth-rank mirage core.
If true disciples of the Dao Sect obtained it, they would stand an excellent chance to...
“Well? Yu Xu, have you thought it through?”
Yu Xu hesitated.
Watching from the side, Fu Qinglan grew anxious, but seeing Yu Xu’s hesitation, she let out a slight breath of relief.
“Xiaoxu, you and I are bosom friends. How could we turn our weapons against each other?”
Contrary to her hopes, Yu Xu shook her head resolutely.
“Before speaking such words, why didn’t you consider your friendship with Little Lin? Could it be that what was between you two was any less than what is between us?”
*She knows we stole Lin Bufan’s mirage core?*
Fu Qinglan was struck dumb.
Yu Xu paid her no further mind. Her true hesitation lay in whether she should really surrender a treasure like the Heavenly Mechanism Pill to Xiang Qi.
As for so-called sisterly affection, she had never wavered when faced with the competition for the Great Dao!
She looked up at the black-robed cultivator.
“Perfected Tianshan, in your opinion, what should we do?”
Perfected Tianshan’s voice was raspy, neither hurried nor slow. “Everything is up to Fellow Daoist’s decision.”
Yu Xu hesitated no longer. Under Xiang Qi’s gaze, she slowly nodded.
“Then let us join forces!”
Before her voice had even faded, a shriek rang out across the plain.
“Luo Chen, run!”
Upon the plain, Luo Chen had been calmly watching the group play off one another.
Hearing Fu Qinglan’s shriek, he could not help but curl his lips.
They were not coming for the mirage cores, but for his Heavenly Mechanism Pill.
What a fine scheme they had hatched!
He called out loudly, “Running will not be necessary. I, Luo, would also like to witness the methods of a Western Desert eminent monk and a Southern Border gu cultivator.”
As he spoke, he stamped his foot.
Instantly, brilliant formation light flared atop the three surrounding mountains.
He intended to use this array to exchange blows with the two of them.
Unexpectedly, once they agreed to join forces, the opponents had already formed a tacit plan for a combined assault.
“Allow this seat to go first!”
A gruff voice exploded without warning!
Like the roar of an enraged lion, a torrential wave of sound swept toward Luo Chen.
Hemmed in by the three encircling peaks, the sound wave reverberated continuously, swelling like rolling thunder.
*A sonic spell?*
Luo Chen frowned, temporarily severing his connection with the grand array while drawing a deep breath.
His abdomen swelled like a sphere.
The next instant—
*“Roar!”*
A bizarre sound, neither wholly beast nor human, erupted from his mouth.
It crashed violently against the surging sound wave.
Luo Chen had seen many sonic spells, most commonly performed with musical instruments such as zithers, flutes, and drums.
He had even acquired a sonic technique named *Linjiang Xian Melody*, which had belonged to a Foundation Establishment rogue cultivator named Xiao Sanren from the Eastern Desolation.
To learn the soul attacks attached to that technique, he had spent time studying it, but had never delved deeply due to his lack of mastery over instruments.
Even so, when it came to sonic arts, he still understood some of the principles.
Now, channeling his desolate beast physique and boundless source power, he roared forth following the distinct vocal rhythm of the *Linjiang Xian Melody*.
*Rumble!*
*Rumble!*
Across the plain, the lion’s roar echoed like thunder, and the human cry surged like a tidal wave!
With each violent collision, countless sharp cracks of tearing air detonated out of nowhere.
Right then, Luo Chen’s brow twitched.
Under his divine sense, the Wrathful Vajra had already moved.
Wreathed in a red-gold radiance, he transformed into a streak of golden light and charged straight into the nearest mountain.
With an unstoppable momentum that would not turn back until the wall gave way, he smashed directly through.
His speed was blinding!
In the blink of an eye, he bored clean through the mountain’s opposite side.
His momentum never slowed!
At breakneck speed, he charged toward the next mountain.
By the time he reappeared, his position had completely swapped with where he had begun.
Behind him, the three great mountains still stood.
The Wrathful Vajra’s figure halted. He brought his palms together, clapped forcefully, and shouted:
“Break!”
The next moment, before the stunned gazes of the onlookers, the three mountains that had stood in the Mirage Dragon Grotto-Heaven for millennia collapsed in an instant.
With the earth veins shattered and the terrain overturned, Luo Chen’s array lost its foundation.
A small cauldron tumbled down from midair, spinning as it fell.
Luo Chen reached out to catch it with one hand while waving his sleeve with the other to disperse the lingering noise.
“First seizing the upper hand with the Buddhist Lion’s Roar, then breaking the mountains with body arts akin to a mountain-crashing technique. Executed in one fluid motion, you instantly stripped away my geographical advantage.”
“Master, what marvelous methods!”
Luo Chen sighed in admiration as he stepped out from the dense dust and haze.
Free of dust, with graying hair and deep, tranquil eyes, he radiated the stately bearing of a grandmaster as solid as an abyss and as steady as a mountain.
“Amitabha!”
The Wrathful Vajra chanted a Buddhist verse, saying solemnly, “Though Benefactor’s sonic technique is not as refined as my Lion’s Angry Thunder Roar, its fierce power yields nothing in comparison.”
The true clash between the two had taken place in that sonic collision.
On the surface, Luo Chen appeared to have been placed at a disadvantage, yet he was never skilled in sonic arts to begin with. With a single hurried roar, he had blocked an attack the monk had deliberately built up.
In that alone, superiority was laid bare!
“Next, Benefactor must be careful!”
The Wrathful Vajra raised both hands horizontally as surging auras ebbed and flowed, crisp astral winds gathering around him.
A monk’s spade staff slowly materialized and settled into his grip.
High in the air, Perfected Tianshan opened his mouth and spat out a small flying sword, which circled beside him like a swimming fish.
Just as the two were about to strike—
“Master, I want that small cauldron as well!”
The Wrathful Vajra’s aura could not help but hitch.
Xiang Qi was simply far too greedy!
Who couldn’t see that the gray cauldron possessed wondrous power?
It was fair to say that Luo Chen’s ease in capturing mirage beasts was half due to his own prowess and half due to that cauldron’s might.
Xiang Qi wanted both the Heavenly Mechanism Pill and the gray cauldron to facilitate his future hunting of mirage beasts!
So be it. Since he had agreed to serve as the young man’s Dao Protector, he naturally had to satisfy his demands within the grotto-heaven as much as possible.
While his thoughts drifted, a sharp sonic boom cracked the air.
Reflected in the monk’s fierce, commanding eyes was a weathered yet refined and handsome face.
*How could his speed be so swift?*
Lowered shoulder, tucked elbow, charging forward with reckless abandon!
It was none other than the Mountain Crashing Form from the Six Ultimate Mountain Forms!
An eye for an eye, paying him back in kind!
Luo Chen slammed straight into him.
*Boom!*
Across the earth, a golden silhouette was hurled like an iron cannonball miles away. Even as he struggled to steady himself midair, he still stumbled.
“Master, your mind was wandering,” Luo Chen chuckled softly, raising his foot and stamping the ground once more.
Bursting Void Step activated again!
Afterimages flickered across the void. When he reappeared, he was hovering a mere few fathoms directly above the Wrathful Vajra’s body.
One could even clearly see the shock and fury etched onto the monk’s face.
“I’ve heard that the Buddhist sects excel in body refinement. As it happens, I wish to test the methods of the fourth realm of body refinement. Master will not disappoint me, will you?”
Luo Chen’s figure plummeted abruptly.
Tearing through layers of astral winds, he brought the crushing weight of a mountain to bear through his own flesh, seeking to forcibly suppress his foe.
The Wrathful Vajra struck the ground with his left palm and thrust his spade upward with his right.
*Thud!*
A bizarre dull thump rang out instantly.
Luo Chen tapped his toes against the spade. Just as he was about to exert force, a warning shout of “Watch out!” reached his ears.
In truth, Fu Qinglan’s reminder was entirely unnecessary; Luo Chen was already on guard.
Without even turning his head, he reached out with five fingers spread wide.
Using the Cloud-Seeking Divine Claw with effortless ease, he snatched at the tiny flying sword piercing the air toward him.
Yet the small sword proved remarkably nimble, darting through the gaps between his fingers without the slightest impediment.
Luo Chen’s brow rose. “What a slippery flying sword, and what bizarre magic power.”
Even as he marveled, his hands formed an incantation seal, and rings of fire exploded around him.
The sword continued forward, but its power dwindled with each ring it breached.
*Ding!*
Like a mosquito bite, the tip of the sword struck Luo Chen’s chest.
Luo Chen glanced down and grabbed at it.
The sword instantly retreated, pulling back in a flash.
High above, Perfected Tianshan, who was manipulating the sword with incantations, warned in a low voice, “Master, be careful. This man’s protective magic treasure is at the level of a True Artifact.”
“No matter. Watch me break it!”
With Perfected Tianshan’s assist, the Wrathful Vajra finally gained room to breathe.
Instead of resisting Luo Chen’s immense physical crushing force, he used that momentum to sink into the ground, slipping cleanly into the earth like a knife through bean curd.
*Whoosh!*
A golden light shot out from the ground a hundred fathoms away.
Vast amounts of astral qi enveloped his entire body as he brought his nine-ringed spade staff smashing through the air.
Luo Chen gave a slight inward nod.
*Ground-Traversing Golden Light?*
*A fusion evasion technique of metal and earth?*
It was indeed on par with his self-created Bursting Void Step.
*Still, he wants to go head-to-head?*
Luo Chen bared a savage grin, his bare palm reaching boldly for the spade staff without the slightest hesitation.
*Clang!*
*Clang!*
*Clang!*
The sound of clashing metal rang out continuously from the collisions between the two.
Golden astral qi and blood-red source power intertwined relentlessly.
Such a pure melee brawl was exceedingly rare in the modern cultivation world.
It lacked elegance and grace, but brimmed with primal, heroic bloodlust.
In mere moments, dozens, even a hundred fierce clashes occurred.
The onlookers’ eyelids twitched uncontrollably.
Unable to hold back, Xiang Qi barked, “Yu Xu!”
Yu Xu understood his meaning and nodded to Perfected Tianshan.
The black-robed cultivator no longer stood idly by; he urged his flying sword once more, conjuring streaks of sword light that struck at Luo Chen from every angle.
It seemed as if he were going all out.
Seeing this, Xiang Qi finally let out a sigh of relief.
“That Desolate Hermit is truly difficult to deal with. With two True Persons joining forces—one in melee and one at range—he still manages both offense and defense seamlessly. How could such a talent lower himself to serve an inferior family like the Fu clan?”
Luo Chen, however, saw things differently.
The Wrathful Vajra was unquestionably giving his all, executing various exquisite body arts to fight him to a standstill.
Yet Perfected Tianshan was clearly slacking off!
From their very first exchange, the man should have known that the flying sword could not pierce the defenses of his Xuanchen Armor, even with amplified magic power.
Yet he continued to put on this show of going all out.
He could fool inexperienced young talents like Xiang Qi and Yu Xu, but against Luo Chen, it imposed no pressure at all; the only real opponent Luo Chen had to face was the Wrathful Vajra.
“Golden Astral Slash!”
A furious roar tore by his ears as the bald monk raised his spade high, wielding it like a saber and slashing down with violent astral qi.
Luo Chen’s expression turned slightly solemn as he condensed his source power and struck out with a fist.
*Boom!*
This time, it was Luo Chen who went flying backward.
Yet mid-flight, his fingers tapped out repeatedly, sending needles of blood-red source power flying forward to block the monk’s pursuit.
As Luo Chen touched the ground, the flying sword struck once more.
Unafraid of its sharp edge, Luo Chen flicked it aside with a finger.
With that, the battlefield fell dead silent, seemingly reverting to the earlier standoff where neither side infringed upon the other.
Everyone held their breath; even the arrogant, loquacious Xiang Qi kept his mouth shut.
Earlier, it had been his very words that disrupted the Wrathful Vajra’s gathering momentum, allowing Luo Chen to press the advantage against him.
Fu Qinglan refrained from shouting any more warnings; she understood that an experienced combatant like Luo Chen had no need for her reminders.
The only thing she could not fathom was why Luo Chen, who clearly possessed profound mastery of spells, had not cast a single one during the fight.
Was he unable, or unwilling?
Upon the ground, Luo Chen dusted off his chest. Dust pattered down from his Daoist robe, yet he did not appear the least bit disheveled.
His gaze swept back and forth across the Wrathful Vajra and Perfected Tianshan.
Then, he spoke slowly.
“A fourth-realm body refiner seems to be nothing more than this. I see none of the might of the Flawless Golden Body recorded in the ancient texts.”
The Wrathful Vajra glared at him fiercely!
He truly had not attained the Flawless realm; the leakage of his astral qi during combat was proof enough.
The four realms of body refinement were: First Realm Vajra, Second Realm Blood River, Third Realm Furnace, and Fourth Realm Flawless.
Upon reaching the fourth realm, the vast astral qi was sealed entirely within, locking the body’s essence and energy so that nothing leaked. Combat at that stage was devoid of grand, sweeping spectacles, focusing instead on concentrating maximum power into a single point, making it nearly impossible for an enemy to withstand.
The reason he had reached the fourth realm of body refinement without cultivating a Flawless Golden Body was that he had pushed the limits of the first realm too excessively in his youth.
He had attained the Great Vajra Physique early on!
A large part of his title as the Wrathful Vajra stemmed from this Great Vajra Physique.
Yet he had risen by the Great Vajra Physique, and fallen by it as well.
Having forcibly advanced to the fourth realm of body refinement, he found himself unable to achieve complete internal containment to lock away his essence and energy.
The reason he had accepted the Xiang family’s invitation to travel thousands of miles to the Central Plains for the Tianyuan Grand Competition was precisely to obtain a Daoist body refinement technique from them.
By fusing Buddhism and Daoism, he hoped to mend the flaws in his golden body.
Yet he never expected this Desolate Hermit to possess such sharp eyes and vast knowledge, seeing through his shortcomings after several hundred rapid exchanges.
Seeing the monk glaring at him in fury, Luo Chen shook his head, then turned his gaze toward the black-robed cultivator standing high in the air.
“It is said that cultivators of the Southern Border excel in gu insects—not only using them for cultivation, but frequently relying on them in battle. Yet I have not seen Fellow Daoist employ any such means. To hide your head and tuck your tail in such a manner leaves me rather disappointed!”
Perfected Tianshan replied in a raspy voice, “I believe it would be best for you not to see them.”
Luo Chen blinked. “Very well. Then we shall forgo seeing them.”
The moment his words fell, his Nascent Soul domain erupted outward!
A chillingly sweltering spiritual energy pressed down until everyone was nearly suffocated.
With his own strength, he dominated the entire field!
Seizing this instant, he leaped into the air, ascending straight into the heavens.
In his line of sight, the Wrathful Vajra’s astral qi soared, forcibly breaking free of the domain’s suppression to charge toward him as a streak of golden light.
At the same time, Perfected Tianshan released his own Nascent Soul domain. With a flick of his finger, his small sword vanished into the void. Without a trace of the blade, the sword intent grew all the more pervasive, feeling as though it were everywhere at once.
“Let us bring this to an end,” Luo Chen murmured.
Behind his back, a pair of wings unfurled with a roar.
A massive fire phoenix soared into the heavens, trailing plumes of azure flame as it swept across the eight reaches.
It was none other than the master-tier fourth-rank fire spell—Fire Phoenix Ignites the Plains!
Chapter 756