Inside the Mirage Dragon Grotto-Heaven, it was suitable for comprehending the Dao, but not for cultivation.
Luo Chen had realized this long ago.
Because of that, he had dedicated a massive amount of time and energy toward refining his combat methods.
Strictly speaking, it had not been very long since he attained the Nascent Soul stage.
Consequently, he was still somewhat unaccustomed to wielding the various techniques of this new realm. He had previously been preoccupied with handling the remnants of divine souls in his sea of consciousness, researching cultivation scriptures, and gathering resources. This left him possessing an abundance of methods yet lacking mastery in any single one.
It was unlike his Golden Core stage, during which his two combat systems had been crystal clear.
Back then, he would usually seize the initiative with a Qingyang Great Handprint before unleashing a barrage of techniques, suppressing his enemies from start to finish.
Yet the difference in the flow of time within the Mirage Dragon Grotto-Heaven compared to the outside world gave him an opportunity to thoroughly polish his combat skills.
For instance, the fourth-rank fire spell, Fire Phoenix Conflagration, had been honed by him to the grandmaster tier in just two short years!
One could never look down upon the grandmaster tier!
Though it had not yet reached perfection on his attribute panel, in the cultivation world, it was already considered the pinnacle of mastery for any spell.
At this moment!
The instant he unleashed it with full force, the heavens and earth transformed.
A massive fire phoenix took shape, magnificent and majestic, every single fiery feather distinct down to the finest barb.
Its lifelike form looked as though a true immortal phoenix had descended from the heavens.
The instant the fire phoenix manifested, everyone turned pale.
Especially Fu Qinglan!
She had personally witnessed Luo Chen cast this spell to slaughter fourth-rank mirage beasts with effortless ease.
Back then, she had assumed that was the pinnacle of Luo Chen’s spellcraft.
She had never imagined its might could soar to yet another height!
Everything within a hundred li was engulfed beneath that raging tempest of power.
As the opposing side, Yu Xu, Xiang Qi, and the others were stricken with terror!
Before they could even react, Yu Xu heard a low, sharp shout by her ear.
“Retreat!”
Yu Xu saw True Person Tianshan strike a palm backward, sending a mighty force slamming into her.
Just as shock and fury welled within her, she realized that this force was actually exceedingly gentle.
In a flash, she grasped his intention.
He was using his momentum to propel her away, allowing her to disengage and fall back.
Meanwhile, in True Person Tianshan’s eyes, the biting gale whipped back his black-robed hood, revealing a deathly pale face.
*He’s actually aiming for me!*
From the very beginning, he had sensed Luo Chen’s terrifying power.
Thus, even while the two of them joined forces in a pincer attack, he had held back to avoid drawing Luo Chen’s full wrath, waiting for an opening to strike a decisive blow.
He never expected that once Luo Chen decided to go all out, his attack would immediately lock onto him.
*Still, if you think you can kill me with just this, you’re underestimating me far too much.*
A snow-white lotus drifted out from his hand, enveloping his body in a gentle glow.
When the fire phoenix descended, the snow lotus abruptly expanded.
A look of smug confidence flashed across True Person Tianshan’s pale face, only to be replaced in the next instant by sheer panic.
“This fire?!”
*Sizzle…*
Visible to the naked eye, the snow-white lotus began to scorch into an unsightly yellow.
This True Artifact, once the sacred treasure of the Tianshan Cult, showed signs of fracturing under the impact of the fire phoenix.
True Person Tianshan no longer dared to withstand Luo Chen’s might. Fleeing in panic, he transformed into a streak of light and shot toward the direction Yu Xu had retreated, with the fire phoenix’s residual momentum pursuing closely behind him.
Watching this scene, Luo Chen’s eyes filled with satisfaction.
With a single spell, he had forced his opponent to deploy a True Artifact for defense—and even that had failed to withstand it.
Indeed, his natural talent for spellcraft, combined with years of painstaking effort, had finally revealed its true brilliance.
*Now, for the next one!*
Shifting his gaze, Luo Chen’s figure abruptly vanished.
*Boom!*
The void thundered, and Luo Chen materialized right beside the Wrathful Vajra.
The monk seemed prepared, his nine-ring Buddhist staff sweeping down with tremendous force.
Against this staff earlier, Luo Chen had been forced to rely on various martial techniques to parry. Now, however, he did not dodge in the slightest, meeting it head-on with a punch.
With a sharp clang, an unrivaled force tore the staff straight out of the Wrathful Vajra’s grip, sending it crashing to the ground.
This sight shook the Wrathful Vajra to the core.
Through their prior clash, he had naturally recognized that his opponent was a formidable body cultivator.
Yet by his estimation, Luo Chen should have been on par with his ordinary state at best, someone who would never dare meet his staff barehanded.
Now, however, the physical strength his opponent displayed seemed far superior to his own, casually hammering away a high-grade magic treasure with bare fists without breaking a sweat.
Could it be that the ferocity he had displayed earlier wasn't even his full strength?
Then what was he doing before?
Using me as target practice?
*I can't hold back any longer!*
With a single thought, the Wrathful Vajra traced an illusory sacred swastika with his bare hands and stamped it onto his own chest.
In the next moment.
*Crack! Crack! Crack!*
The sound of bones vibrating echoed, his surging vitality rushing like a roaring river.
Streaks of golden astral qi swirled around his frame.
His stature began to climb relentlessly.
In the blink of an eye, an eighteen-foot golden figure towered over the earth.
It possessed two eerie heads and four formidable arms.
Its four massive hands held prayer beads, a golden alms bowl, and a monastic blade.
Reaching out with the remaining hand, the monk summoned the staff back to his grasp, leaving no hand empty.
Glaring at the slightly frowning man before him, he roared in fury, “I will show you the true power of the Great Vajra Physique!”
Yet Luo Chen merely shook his head.
“In the end, it is not a Flawless Golden Body. It has the appearance, but is riddled with flaws. To shatter a golden body like this, I only need a single strike.”
Hearing this, the eyes on both of the Wrathful Vajra’s heads widened with rage, his fury reaching a boiling point.
Luo Chen had no desire to waste any more words and moved instantly.
When he reappeared, the two were practically nose-to-nose. Luo Chen unleashed a punch, accompanied by a crimson, steam-like aura of vital power.
Undaunted, the Wrathful Vajra hurled his golden alms bowl while slashing downward with his monastic blade.
Luo Chen tapped lightly with a finger, sending the monastic blade hurtling back as if struck by lightning.
Out of the corner of his eye, the staff descended toward his head.
Luo Chen deflected the staff with a reverse elbow strike, using the rebound to leap into the sky before crashing down like Mount Tai, his kick flashing like thunder.
…
Move after move, technique after technique.
The battle resembled their earlier exchange, yet with the addition of several magic treasures, countless variations arose.
After dozens of exchanges, the Wrathful Vajra stood firm upon the ground, laughing maniacally at the slightly panting Luo Chen.
“Defeat me in one strike?”
“How arrogant! What utter boastfulness!”
“A hundred moves have passed, and you haven’t laid a scratch on me. But I won't give you another chance to gather energy for your spells. Die!”
Even though he had not faced Luo Chen’s fire phoenix spell head-on, lingering fear still haunted his heart.
Thus, he sought to pin him down in close-quarters combat, denying his opponent the luxury of casting spells.
The exchange between body cultivators was blindingly fast.
A hundred moves had transpired in the span of a few breaths.
To onlookers, they only saw Luo Chen drift backward, breathing heavily, while the Wrathful Vajra fought with mounting vigor, his golden physique radiating vigorous blood vitality like billows of smoke.
Could it be that the Desolate Hermit was truly all talk?
Luo Chen exhaled a breath of turbid air and flattened his right hand before him, parting his fingers slightly. Tied to each finger were countless microscopic crimson threads.
“When I say one strike, I mean one strike!”
The moment the words left his mouth, he abruptly tugged his five fingers, and the crimson threads trembled in unison.
*Crack!*
The sound of shattering rang out crisp and clear between heaven and earth, echoing especially loud in the Wrathful Vajra’s ears.
He looked down.
A golden hand fell to the ground without warning.
Then, like a chain reaction, his thighs cracked, his four arms severed, and crimson fissures spread across his golden torso.
Even around his thick neck, bowl-wide crimson lines rapidly expanded.
Countless violent, overbearing bursts of astral qi vented wildly from within him, like a collapsing dam unleashing a catastrophic flood.
“Th-this…”
The Wrathful Vajra struggled to speak, but the web of cracks running across his face like shattered porcelain rendered him unable to form a coherent sentence.
Countless thoughts raced through his mind as he replayed the battle in his head.
Every strike Luo Chen made, every defensive block, every proactive offensive…
Palms, fists, fingers, claws; flicks, pats, clasps, strikes; elbows, knees, kicks, aerial stomps…
With every single contact, a trace of unique power had been left behind, sinking deep into his golden body with each technique.
He had paid it no heed when it was just a trickle.
Yet trickling streams converged into a vast sea.
All of it combined into one.
*In the end, it was the flaws in my physique that gave him this opening!*
As the thought flashed through his mind, the towering eighteen-foot golden body crackled with a flurry of explosions and began to burst apart.
A white chess piece flew out from his body, enveloping his form in protective light.
This development made everything clear.
He had lost!
If not for the intervention of the Heavenly Origin Sect Master—that Soul Formation mighty figure—he would have died on the spot.
Yet one could easily imagine that after suffering such devastating injuries, even after being teleported to the outside world, he would suffer immensely.
Without several decades or even a century, he might never recover.
Right at that moment!
A voice transmission penetrated the white chess piece.
Before fading away, the Wrathful Vajra flicked a finger toward the string of prayer beads he wore around his neck year-round.
“Desolate Hermit, I will wait for you outside!”
Luo Chen sneered.
A defeated foe still dared to bluster? Still dared to launch a deathbed strike?
The prayer beads flew out and shuddered violently.
The golden cord snapped, and the eighteen beads formed a circle, hurtling toward Luo Chen.
Luo Chen remained entirely unfazed. If he could dismantle an eighteen-foot golden body with his bare hands, how could he possibly fear a mere high-grade magic treasure?
He did not even need any special techniques.
A single Blazing Sun Art erupted outward with him at the epicenter, transforming into a fiery tempest that swept away the surrounding ring of eighteen prayer beads.
Suddenly!
A swimming fish caught Luo Chen’s eye.
*Is that True Person Tianshan’s flying sword?*
That flying sword had previously vanished into the void; he had assumed it had fled alongside True Person Tianshan, yet it had somehow crept right before Luo Chen’s face without a sound.
Just as Luo Chen was startled, the tiny flying sword revealed its true form—a creature resembling a miniature fish.
*A gu?!*
In the next instant, the swordfish burst forth with boundless sword light, completely engulfing Luo Chen!
*Screech! Screech! Screech!*
Dazzling sword radiance filled heaven and earth, so bright that none dared look directly at it, its chilling aura raising goosebumps.
Watching from afar, Fu Qinglan felt her eyes nearly split with horror, her whole body trembling.
Just when Luo Chen had gained the absolute upper hand and victory seemed assured, he had walked into such an ambush.
If…
There was no if!
Amidst the storm of endless sword qi, Luo Chen stepped out calmly, his robes snapping in the wind, completely unharmed.
He clutched backward with his hand!
The tempest of sword qi abruptly contracted, leaving a single swimming fish trapped in the eye of the storm.
The fish glanced at Luo Chen with distinct intelligence, then dove into the void, intending to flee.
“Trying to run?”
Luo Chen smiled ferociously. His divine sense expanded wildly, finally locating his target a thousand li away.
The moment he spotted the pale-faced man, he began forming seals to channel qi!
A thousand li away.
Yu Xu watched anxiously as True Person Tianshan sat cross-legged on the ground.
When he opened his eyes, she hastily asked, “Did it succeed?”
True Person Tianshan shook his head with regret. “This man’s strength far exceeds our imagination. A single spell forced me to flee in disgrace, and his terrifying physical cultivation allowed him to tear apart the Wrathful Vajra’s eighteen-foot golden body with his bare hands. Even with a surprise ambush, my fourth-rank swordfish gu couldn't pose any threat to him.”
Yu Xu’s face fell with disappointment. “Not even a scratch?”
True Person Tianshan grunted in affirmation and calmly stood up. A weakened swimming fish emerged from the void, and he swallowed it into his mouth.
“Let us go. Although I failed to injure the Desolate Hermit, I have thoroughly enraged him. Right now, he is channeling some spell, seeking revenge against me. But rest assured, at such a great distance, there is nothing he can do to us.”
A Nascent Soul True Person’s divine sense could span a thousand li, or even several thousand li, and in an all-out battle, their destructive radius covered roughly that range as well.
However, that usually referred to the destructive radius caused while both parties were moving and engaging in combat.
At such an immense distance, launching a spell capable of threatening an opponent of the same cultivation realm was practically impossible.
This was the reason True Person Tianshan remained completely confident.
It was also the backbone that had emboldened him to launch a sudden strike after fleeing a thousand li away.
If it succeeded, wonderful; if it failed, it did not matter.
At this moment, he was instead lamenting the “fall” of the Wrathful Vajra.
Inside this grotto-heaven, high-ranking body cultivators like the Wrathful Vajra were actually the best suited for combat.
Qi refiners like themselves were shackled by many constraints.
The worldly spiritual qi was chaotic, the power of their Nascent Soul domains was diminished, and activating magic treasures drained massive amounts of mana. It was nowhere near as simple and direct as a body cultivator’s methods.
Amidst these lamentations, True Person Tianshan unconsciously looked up.
In the void, a gigantic dragon’s head abruptly poked out from the clouds.
Its horns were towering and formidable, its whiskers long and grey.
Flames spewed from its maw, and its eyes burned with fury.
Turning pale with fright, he shoved the oblivious Yu Xu aside.
“Wait for me at the old place!”
In the next instant, the Flame Dragon descended, destroying everything!
Yu Xu was blasted several hundred paces backward, barely steadying herself…
*Pfft!*
She spat a mouthful of blood and stared in sheer terror at the massive crater left behind, which still pulsed with remnants of immense mana.
Within it, True Person Tianshan was nowhere to be seen.
Yu Xu swallowed hard, unconsciously glancing toward the sky before looking back at the path they had come from.
A wave of divine sense swept over her, chilling her to the bone.
*Smiting a cultivator of the same realm from a thousand li away!*
*Could this spell be the Void Nether One Qi Slash, one of our Dao Sect’s Seven Great Inherited Divine Abilities?*
*No, absolutely not. That was clearly a fire spell. Besides, the Desolate Hermit is merely an external guest elder of the Star Gate, not even a formal guest elder. He has no way of learning our Dao Sect’s divine abilities. Even Fu Qinglan doesn’t have the qualifications to learn the Seven Great Divine Abilities yet, so there’s no way she could have taught him.*
Overcome with shock, countless thoughts churned through her mind.
Just as she was at a loss, a faint glint of light wobbled into the air, carrying a storage ring into her hands.
Looking at the firefly-like glow in her palm, Yu Xu let out a long sigh of relief.
*True Person Tianshan has his methods of cheating death. At most, he needs some time to recuperate. I still have a chance.*
With that thought, she swiftly fled the area.
Yet before leaving, she could not help but glance back in Luo Chen’s direction, her eyes brimming with dread.
…
“He didn't die even from that?”
Luo Chen released his hand seal, looking somewhat fatigued.
The spell Flame Dragon Descent was far more difficult than Fire Phoenix Conflagration.
Even now, he had only barely raised its proficiency to the master tier.
He had thought he could kill True Person Tianshan by catching him off guard, but he had not expected the man to survive using some death-evasion art.
*Is this the way of Southern Border gu cultivators?*
*Their combat style is so treacherous and sinister. Any other Nascent Soul cultivator would have suffered a devastating loss.*
*If I encounter Southern Border gu cultivators in the future, I must be doubly vigilant.*
Pondering this, Luo Chen glanced at his surroundings and felt a wave of boredom.
He had fought a battle for nothing, gaining no spoils of war other than a dozen or so prayer beads.
He had wasted a chunk of mana for nothing.
It was better to have fewer battles like this.
Fu Qinglan walked over cautiously.
“Xiang Qi ran away.”
“Yes, I know.”
Luo Chen nodded.
As the chosen prodigy of the Xiang Family, head of the Thirty-Six Great Families, he naturally possessed no shortage of treasures.
While Luo Chen had been battling the two experts, Xiang Qi had used his treasures to retreat into the distance. The moment he saw the Wrathful Vajra fall, he was the first to vanish.
Let him run!
Without a Dao Protector to shield him, hunting mirage beasts or comprehending laws would become countless times more difficult.
One could say that even if Xiang Qi remained in the Mirage Dragon Grotto-Heaven, he no longer posed any threat to Luo Chen and Fu Qinglan.
“Let’s go!”
Luo Chen stepped into the air.
Fu Qinglan had countless words she wanted to say, yet found herself unable to speak.
After following Luo Chen for a short while, she noticed something amiss.
“Are we not returning to our original spot?”
“We’re switching locations.”
“Are you worried that others will track us down?”
“That is one concern; after all, the commotion earlier was quite large. But more importantly, the mirage beasts in this vicinity have grown scarce, and hunting them takes longer and longer. Changing places will make hunting them more convenient.”
“All right, I’ll follow your lead.”
The figures of the man and woman gradually faded into the distance, their conversation dissipating in the dry, scorching wind.
All that remained was the ravaged earth and shattered mountains, silently bearing witness to the one-sided slaughter that had taken place.
Chapter 757