Seven years ago.
When the Heavenly Mechanism Pill crafted personally by the Alchemy Saint before his departure was refined by the Wither-Bloom True Fire, a surging spiritual opportunity immediately poured forth.
The abundance of spiritual opportunity was far beyond Luo Chen's imagination!
If the spiritual opportunity inside an ordinary fourth-order mirage core could be described as a wisp or a thread, the amount in the Heavenly Mechanism Pill could only be called a torrent!
It was blended from dozens or hundreds of wisps of spiritual opportunity, completely confined within the pill, truly massive!
It was only upon witnessing that surging spiritual opportunity that Luo Chen realized why Xiang Qi, Shi Ju, and the others craved the Heavenly Mechanism Pill so desperately.
In a hundred years inside the Mirage Dragon Grotto-Heaven, the limit of mirage beasts one could hunt was probably just about this much.
After seeing that spiritual opportunity, Luo Chen indeed felt a pang of regret.
Yet what was done was done, and he could only let it be.
To be safe, aside from his first divided soul, he directed all his attention toward monitoring the metamorphosis of the Wither-Bloom True Fire.
If anything went wrong, he would at least have time to remedy it on his end.
This time, however, everything proceeded smoothly without any mishaps.
Replenished by this massive spiritual opportunity, the exhausted Wither-Bloom True Fire revitalized its power and began to climb upward once more.
At the core of the true fire, that wisp of Nirvana Holy Fire remained indestructible, impossible to refine, and continued to influence the metamorphosis of the Wither-Bloom True Fire.
Yet the replenishment of spiritual opportunity was not as simple as merely providing essence qi!
At that moment, the Wither-Bloom True Fire resonated with this world!
Using that spiritual opportunity, the fire spirit plunged deep into the ocean of essence qi of this world, continuously diving down in search of echoing source power.
And as a wondrous flame born of heaven and earth, this process progressed exceptionally smoothly.
Thus, it stirred a massive influx of world essence qi, continuously pouring into the Wither-Bloom True Fire within the Violet Palace through Luo Chen's physical body.
Inside the Violet Palace, the Wither-Bloom True Fire also began its final metamorphosis.
Benefiting from the massive influx of essence qi, it forcibly suppressed the Nirvana Holy Fire's influence and began to swell frantically.
If it continued like this, Luo Chen would only need to wait until full fruition.
Yet miraculously, as he watched the wither-bloom metamorphosis closely, he gradually gained some insights.
All things in the world, from the moment of their birth, live toward death.
Yet if life possesses a spirit, no one wishes for death; hence, they flourish and pursue immortality.
Just like this fire: burning blazingly, it cannot escape the end of turning to ash. Yet within the ash lies the power of rebirth; hence, dying embers flare again.
Just like the trees: verdant leaves blotting out the sky, canopy like an umbrella; though the four seasons shift and the sun and moon cycle, eventually reducing them to withered wood, the roots buried deep underground still amass strength, anticipating the day when they return to lush vitality.
Such is the heavenly cycle, the alternating cycle of withering and blooming—this is the Dao of Wither and Bloom.
Luo Chen did not know whether his insight was right or wrong. All dharmas in the world are illusory, impermanent in decay and destruction. Merely observing the metamorphosis of his source true fire, what he perceived might only be the superficial appearance.
Yet matters in this world often lose in the east and gain in the west.
As the boundless heaven and earth essence qi poured through Luo Chen's body into the Wither-Bloom True Fire, Luo Chen also connected with this world. As the master of the Wither-Bloom True Fire, he even faintly sensed the place where the fire spirit had gone.
He wanted to go there too!
The instant this thought was born, boundless azure flames enveloped Luo Chen's Nascent Soul, and his divine sense soared straight into the azure clouds!
Pursuing that vast, unknowable direction, he stepped into the ocean of essence qi.
It was an extraordinary place, beyond words with Luo Chen's knowledge, a dazzling blur of five colors, so brilliant that a momentary lapse would cause one to sink into it forever.
It felt like a mother's womb, or a wanderer returning home, evoking an urge born of pure intimacy never to leave.
Vague and vast, unknowing whence it came, with nowhere to go.
Just then, a lively voice rang out.
"Master, I'm here!"
***
Seven years later, today.
Lin Bufan squatted by a mountain torrent, scooping up a handful of clear snowmelt, a look of bewilderment on his face.
"Why has the snow melted?"
Lin Jingtang frowned. "Why stare at that? Shi Ju and his people have headed over; let us go see what is happening as well!"
Lin Bufan casually shook the water from his hands and followed behind him toward the north.
However, passing by a small hill blooming with mountain flowers, he felt puzzled once more.
"Why has the Son-Seeking Flower bloomed?"
"It's strange enough for the Son-Seeking Flower to bloom, but the Mother-Nesting Flower, so close by, has actually withered."
No one answered his doubts.
There was only a thunderous roar from the sky.
"Luo Chen, get out here!"
The speaker was Shi Ju, but the one striking was Qi Xiongcheng.
A colossal palm supporting the sky slowly emerged and descended.
As this palm struck, the mountains seemed unable to bear the weight. Large swathes of snow-capped mountains began to collapse, and light barriers rose one after another only to shatter inch by inch.
*Crack! Crack! Crack!*
The numerous concealment and defensive formations Luo Chen had set up in advance, having no one to direct them, were thoroughly destroyed beneath this single palm.
When all the formations dissipated, Luo Chen's figure emerged atop a high mountain.
Below the mountain, avalanches tumbled, merging into an ocean of white.
Through the mountains, howling winds blew, whipping Luo Chen's white robe loudly and sending his long hair dancing wildly behind his head.
Yet he never opened his eyes, remaining indifferent to everything in the outside world, still sitting there quietly.
Seeing this, Shi Ju showed a triumphant smile.
He had finally found him!
Yet Luo Chen's unmoving composure also sparked wariness in his heart.
"Go! Kill him!"
At Shi Ju's order, Qi Xiongcheng struck without hesitation. A black saber materialized in his intact left hand, and he charged toward the snowy mountain.
Wang Yifu, who had followed all the way, went without saying; his eyes filled with hatred, he charged forward brandishing a jade-green bamboo cane, unleashing cane shadows midway.
Shi Ju's folding fan half-opened and half-closed, wisps of golden flame diffusing outwards, ready to deliver a finishing blow at any moment.
High in the nine heavens, the white eagle shrieked unceasingly, glaring fixedly at Luo Chen.
It still remembered that this person had absorbed a huge amount of spiritual opportunity and severely injured its body with a single sword strike.
In the rear, the two groups of Gu Yuan and Lin Bufan watched quietly, appearing to be mere bystanders.
Yet judging by the restiveness of their respective Dao Protectors, they clearly would not just stand by.
"This time, he is in the open without the chance to secretly gather power for that sword. Can he withstand the attacks of Shi Ju and his men?"
"He is in the midst of an epiphany; he has no strength to fight back!"
This exchange came from Gu and Lin.
At the mountain peak.
Luo Chen's eyelids twitched slightly as if he was about to wake, but ultimately he did not awaken.
The divided soul left behind sighed softly, already summoning the Yuan Tu sword.
"Pity that the Nascent Soul is bearing the main soul and cannot move. The magic power I can mobilize is negligible; I cannot buy much time."
"Do what can be done. At worst, shatter this Nascent-Soul-level divided soul!"
Just as Luo Chen's divided soul prepared to shatter itself in a desperate fight, a figure stepped in front of him without anyone noticing.
It was her!
A peerless beauty, curving and alluring, with a faint, complex emotion on her noticeably thinner face.
"This time, it is my turn to protect you."
Fu Qinglan murmured softly, parting her delicate lips to exhale a tender jade-green leaf from her mouth.
The moment the green leaf emerged, a vast amount of magic power poured into it.
In an instant, the green leaf expanded frantically, like a celestial curtain, blocking before everyone.
Saber light and cane shadows fell simultaneously.
Without a sound, the green leaf remained as tough as ever.
Fu Qinglan, however, furrowed her brows slightly.
Suppressing the discomfort within, she took a light lotus step, blocking their view of Luo Chen.
"Gentlemen, why not give Qinglan some face and take your leave?"
Wang Yifu was the first to refuse!
The bamboo cane in his hand poised to strike again.
Shi Ju flew before him, narrowing his eyes as he looked at Fu Qinglan.
No longer the realm of newly formed Nascent Soul, but a genuine first layer of Nascent Soul, her aura full and bursting with vitality.
Especially the method she just used to effortlessly block two Nascent Soul True Persons...
"You succeeded?"
Facing Shi Ju's aggressive gaze, Fu Qinglan looked back at the white-robed man sitting cross-legged on the mountain peak.
"Yes, I succeeded."
At these words, everyone's expressions changed.
Lin Bufan gave a wry smile. He had not expected that among himself, Yu Xu, and Fu Qinglan, the first to comprehend the true meaning of law would not be him with the sharpest spiritual perception, nor Yu Xu with her deep family background, but Fu Qinglan, who had forcibly broken through early to Nascent Soul for the competition and possessed an unstable foundation!
Lin Jingtang clenched his fists. The difference lay not between Xiao Fan and Fu Qinglan, but solely between their Dao Protectors.
He had failed in his duty!
Gu Yuan and Gu Chen exchanged glances and slowly nodded.
"The Fu family will flourish again because of this girl. If she achieves the Soul Formation realm in the future, Tianyuan may see the rise of another Great House! After returning, we should win over the Fu family."
Confronting Fu Qinglan directly, Shi Ju fell silent for a moment.
Soon, however, he laughed.
"Even if you comprehended the true meaning of law, so what? That is merely the most rudimentary source power, boosting your magic power by a few degrees at most."
"In the end, you are only at the first layer of Nascent Soul!"
"You cannot protect him!"
As he spoke, he snapped his folding fan fully open.
Through divine sense transmission, he barked to Qi and Wang:
"She has been a Nascent Soul cultivator for too short a time and barely grasps any Nascent Soul techniques. Furthermore, her magic power is thin; she cannot hold you off for long. Attack with everything you have!"
Qi and Wang calmed down from their initial dread.
A Nascent Soul cultivator comprehending the true meaning of law was formidable indeed.
Yet in a fight to the death, it all came down to methods and cultivation realm.
Fu Qinglan's methods were unrefined, her realm low; even if the Wood source power amplified her magic power, it could not withstand prolonged exhaustion.
Attack with full force!
The next moment, both struck together.
A black saber light spanned a hundred zhang; the jade bamboo cane whipped up skies of cane shadows, hurtling toward Fu Qinglan.
The verdant leaf appeared once more.
Its veins were delicate, like human blood vessels and meridians; as it unfurled, it drew a massive influx of world spiritual energy.
This Dharma treasure had been refined by the Fu family from a ten-thousand-year Fusang leaf, then baptized by heavenly thunder when Fu Qinglan broke through to Nascent Soul, elevating it to the rank of a True Artifact.
She named it the Sky-Shrouding Leaf, implying a single leaf shrouding the heavens.
It was also her most practiced technique since achieving Nascent Soul.
Once the Sky-Shrouding Leaf emerged, just like before, it blocked their all-out strikes.
Yet in the next breath, a scorching flame swept upward!
Shi Ju burst out from behind the leaf, holding his folding fan horizontally with a ferocious snarl.
"I told you, you cannot protect him!"
Fu Qinglan gritted her teeth and recalled the Sky-Shrouding Leaf.
Unlike before, when it blocked in front, she flicked her wrist, casting the leaf down from the sky to completely envelop the mountain peak where Luo Chen sat.
*Whoosh!*
An autumn-water-like longsword fell into her delicate hand.
"He protected me for fifty years; it is only right that I protect him for a moment!"
Looking at the sword, Shi Ju raised an eyebrow.
"You draw your sword against me?"
"Senior Sister Qinglan, have you thought through the consequences of opposing me?"
"You have merely comprehended the true meaning of law; you have not yet achieved the Primordial Spirit, nor are you a Soul Formation grand cultivator. The Fu family is merely a bottom-tier clan among the thirty-six noble houses. My Shi family is one of the Twelve Great Houses!"
Hearing this, Fu Qinglan showed hesitation.
Shi Ju curled his lips slightly. "Since you have already comprehended the true meaning of law, first place in this competition is yours. Remaining in the grotto-heaven is pointless. Why don't you step out first? Whatever remains will have nothing to do with you."
Fu Qinglan's eyes trembled, and she even took an instinctive step back.
It was precisely this step that let her catch two figures encroaching within ten li of Luo Chen's mountain peak in her peripheral vision.
Without hesitation, she drew her sword and slashed out two beams of sword light.
"Bitch, refusing a toast only to drink a forfeit!"
Shi Ju cursed under his breath as a flood of golden flames burst from his body.
*Whoosh!*
His body disintegrated inch by inch within the flames, diffusing into specks of golden glow.
When the firelight shone again:
The next moment, he was already within ten zhang of Fu Qinglan.
A sweep of his folding fan unleashed a torrential firestorm.
Fu Qinglan's sword cascaded with sword light, matching his attacks without giving an inch.
She spoke no more, giving her answer through action alone.
Though she looked delicate and fragile, her sword light shone brilliantly with every stance. Her magic power, which should have flagged, flowed ceaselessly for some reason, showing no sign of waning.
In the distance, Gu Yuan nodded slightly at the sight.
"It seems she has already grasped some use of source power."
According to the clan's records on source power, although this true meaning of law was the most rudimentary, it was remarkably wondrous.
Not only could it enhance magic power, but it could also rapidly convert heaven and earth spiritual energy into one's own magic power during battle, creating an endless supply.
If in a place rich in corresponding spiritual energy, the conversion was even faster—practically inexhaustible!
Upon reaching Soul Formation, even without geographical advantage, one could rely on source power to forcibly alter the environment and grant oneself home-field advantage.
Fu Qinglan was not stupid.
She merely lacked the experience of fighting life-and-death battles.
Fighting with all her might now, her combat prowess grew at a frantic pace!
Fu Qinglan noticed these signs herself. From a defensive stance, she grew increasingly proactive. While fighting Shi Ju, she even sustained the Sky-Shrouding Leaf to deflect the attacks of the other two on Luo Chen.
Suddenly!
"Kill this bitch first!"
Seeing that he could not take Fu Qinglan down, while Qi and Wang made no headway against the Sky-Shrouding Leaf, Shi Ju grew anxious.
At his call, the two immediately flew over, joining forces to besiege Fu Qinglan.
One-on-one, Fu Qinglan could manage.
Against three, especially when Qi Xiongcheng and Wang Yifu possessed rich combat experience, she quickly showed signs of failing.
The magic power converted out of thin air also became intermittent.
Within dozens of rounds, wounds appeared on her body.
In the distance.
Lin Bufan watched this scene. While glad for Fu Qinglan's tremendous progress in fighting one against three, he grew worried as she steadily lost ground under their siege due to her brief time attaining the Dao and unrefined methods.
Lin Jingtang seemed to know his thoughts and said quietly, "You said that mirage core was the final gift to her. Ever since Desolate Hermit snatched away your prize, Fu Qinglan was no longer your friend."
Lin Bufan opened his mouth, but ultimately sighed in dejection.
Seeing this, Lin Jingtang licked his lips. With a flick of his hand, the Panic Bell appeared.
Without hesitation, he flew directly toward the battlefield.
"Jingtang, don't touch her!"
Lin Jingtang glanced back at Lin Bufan. Their eyes met, their unspoken meaning clear.
He nodded, ignited his escape light, and flew toward Luo Chen's mountain peak with the bell in hand.
At this moment, Fu Qinglan had no time for anything else.
Holding the bell, Lin Jingtang looked down at the verdant mulberry leaf.
"That palm strike... I remember it clearly!"
With a slap of his hand, the great bell crashed down!
The Sky-Shrouding Leaf erupted with verdant light, holding it off tenaciously.
Lin Jingtang roared, slapping the bell three more times in rapid succession.
*Dong! Dong! Dong!*
"No!"
In the distance, Fu Qinglan was blasted backward, coughing blood with despair across her face.
Atop the mountain, the verdant leaf flashed rapidly several times before abruptly shrinking back into a mulberry leaf and flying toward Fu Qinglan.
Luo Chen was once again exposed to the world.
Lin Jingtang was overjoyed and drove the great bell to crash down.
Right then, a streak of blood-red light mirrored in his pupils.
*Chii!*
An exquisitely condensed sword light gradually dispersed, turning into a blood sword hovering above Luo Chen's head, buzzing with a wail.
Lin Jingtang looked down at his chest, where a gaping hole had appeared.
His high-grade defensive robe had provided no defense at all against that utterly sudden strike.
Where the blood sword passed, the Violet Palace was breached.
A massive hole appeared in his Nascent Soul itself, and immense amounts of pure magic power poured out uncontrollably.
"How could this be...?"
He parted his mouth.
By his ears, besides Lin Bufan's frantic urging to trigger his illusory chess piece, was Luo Chen's sneer:
"A defeated foe courting death!"
Chapter 765