"Wither-Bloom!"
As Luo Chen pointed his finger, his thoughts seemed to return to that earlier hazy, chaotic experience.
Within that ocean of essence qi that felt intimately familiar, he had followed the guidance of the Wither-Bloom Fire Spirit and found the so-called true meaning of the Law—Wither-Bloom!
Such a thing was neither spiritual qi nor essence qi; it was not even a tangible form of energy. It was more like an enlightenment.
The moment he grasped it, he had instinctively comprehended the myriad transformations of the world tied to the true meaning of Wither-Bloom!
Flowers blooming and withering; clouds rolling and unfurling.
The sun rising and the moon floating high; birth, old age, sickness, and death.
Everything was simply two sides of the same coin: withering and flourishing.
Immersed in that ocean of essence qi, his rate of comprehension had been hundreds, thousands of times faster than trying to grasp it on his own. It was as if the entire world had laid out every conceivable manifestation of Wither-Bloom right before Luo Chen's eyes, allowing him to take his pick at will.
Unfortunately, Luo Chen had ultimately relied on external help—the power of the Wither-Bloom Fire Spirit's breakthrough and transformation.
The spiritual opportunity he had drawn in was not enough, so he could not remain in this world's ocean of essence qi for long.
He was cast out by a cold yet intimate consciousness.
In Luo Chen's understanding, that consciousness could be called the will of the world or the planet's soul. In the esoteric terminology of ancient records, it was referred to by two far more common words:
Heavenly Dao!
Because the duration was so short, Luo Chen's comprehension of the true meaning of Wither-Bloom was limited before the Heavenly Dao expelled him from the ocean of essence qi, barring him from gleaning anything further.
Yet it was already enough.
By the habits of his two centuries of cultivation, he could consider this "initial entry."
Now that he had crossed the threshold, pursuing further comprehension would naturally be much easier than before.
The reason he had taken so long to wake up afterward was that, upon departing the essence qi ocean, he had experienced yet another epiphany!
Only this time, what he comprehended was not some profound Law or Great Dao, but a combat spell.
Over the course of his journey, Luo Chen had created very few spells of his own.
Most were amalgamations born of other people's techniques, ancient texts, and his own insights.
For example, Airburst Steps drew upon Demon Emperor Qingshuang's methods; the Sevenfold Blazing Heaven Rings originated from the Fire Ring Technique, a basic fire-attribute defensive art; and Devils and Gods Disperse took its inspiration from the desolate beast Guixianlou.
As for the Demonic Lord's Seven Loose Hands, it was merely an assemblage of disparate killing moves he had gathered, hardly qualifying as an original creation.
This time, however, was pure creation!
Centering upon the true meaning of Wither-Bloom, Luo Chen combined it with the shifts of his magic power, the two foundational restrictions of obscure and bright from the seven array basics, and even infused it with the surging vitality of his source power.
With all of this brought together, the embryonic form of a new technique had finally crystallized today!
He named it the Wither-Bloom Dao Finger!
These thoughts flashed through his mind in an instant.
The battle in the outside world was already in full view.
As Luo Chen brought his finger down, the black blade-light cleaving toward his head shrank inch by inch. The magic power coating it dispersed in a bizarre manner, until at last the small black blade reverted to its original form and wailed as it fled. Yet that eerie force clung to it, swiftly traveling to its master.
The moment Qi Xiongcheng caught the blade, his entire body shuddered, his eyes widening in sheer disbelief.
He discovered that his magic power was draining, and his Nascent Soul was shriveling.
Worst of all, a massive amount of vitality mysteriously leaked from his third-realm physical body, and his whole being aged visibly in moments.
"Something's wrong!"
Without an instant's hesitation, he activated his illusory chess piece.
A swirling vortex emerged and swallowed him.
As his figure faded from sight, a head of white hair was faintly visible.
On the other side, the verdant bamboo forest spanning several li withered at a rate visible to the naked eye.
Leaves scattered and green bamboo turned yellow; even the bamboo joints formed from magic power began popping and bursting like firecrackers.
Amidst Wang Yifu's horror, a sharp snap echoed from his divine soul.
The bamboo staff, already heavily damaged by the blood sword during the clash at Three Rainbows Falls, cracked anew, the fissures spreading rapidly.
Until it snapped clean in two!
This was his natal magic treasure!
The destruction of the treasure instantly inflicted severe backlash along the connection forged through centuries of spiritual refining.
And stripped of the bamboo forest's cover, that eerie power finally crashed onto his body.
Though he frantically channeled his magic power to resist, within mere breaths, he withered from an elderly man into a decrepit, tottering husk—like a dead tree nearing the grave.
Yet none of this was the crux.
Luo Chen's eyes remained fixed on the bizarre attack entwined with lightning and fire, which looked like a fiery torrent and an electric arc at the same time.
When his spell clashed against it, the attack actually held its ground for a moment.
The gigantic finger conjured by his technique was even eroded in reverse.
"What power is that? It's thick with destructive intent—enough to actually block my new spell?"
Yet it was only momentary!
After a stalemate lasting no more than a breath, the fiery torrent and electric arc abruptly collapsed.
"Pfft!"
Shi Ju coughed up a mouthful of blood uncontrollably. Watching the massive finger press down from the sky, his eyes burned with madness.
"Damn it, failed again!"
He cast a venomous glare at Luo Chen, then abruptly clapped his hands together before tearing them apart.
As his hands spread wide, his body stretched broader and broader.
Until...
Whoosh!
A figure stepped out from within him, complete with limbs and a head held high.
It bore the exact same face and aura as Shi Ju, but was far more ferocious.
The moment the two figures appeared, they fled in opposite directions, one left and one right.
In that split second, Luo Chen hesitated slightly.
Then he saw flames flare up alongside crackling lightning.
"Fire Escape?"
"Lightning Escape?"
Surprised, Luo Chen directed the last remnants of the finger's power toward the figure crackling with lightning.
*Thud!*
A soft sound resonated through the void.
The lightning-clad figure was struck square by the finger and plummeted toward the earth, utterly drained.
Yet mid-fall, it abruptly regained its balance, flared with lightning once more, and fled tens of li away.
As for the other figure cloaked in fire, it was already nowhere to be seen.
Luo Chen slowly lowered his hand, a thoughtful expression on his face.
"So that was his trump card? A lightning avatar, and a second Nascent Soul condensed with the Dao of Lightning to boot!"
If that was the case, everything made sense.
A cultivator with a split soul had varied and unpredictable methods.
One possessing a second Nascent Soul commanded immense magic power, far outstripping peers of the same tier.
And if one held an incarnation outside the body—a grand technique out of celestial legends—on top of those two, their combat prowess would be immeasurable.
Furthermore, Shi Ju's two bodies possessed fire and lightning attributes, both supremely suited for battle.
With such a trump card, he had no need for a Dao Protector. He could roam the Mirage Dragon Grotto-Heaven entirely on his own, needing no one to guard him even when cultivating.
It was no wonder Fu Qinglan had been no match for Shi Ju earlier, even after comprehending source power.
Unfortunately for him, he had run into Luo Chen.
Luo Chen had far richer combat experience and a higher realm of cultivation. More importantly, he had comprehended the true meaning of the Law and created an original spell based upon it.
Shi Ju stood no chance against him.
Now that Shi Ju had fled, Luo Chen had no intention of pursuing him.
Defeating him was enough.
Inside this grotto-heaven, if he pushed Shi Ju to the brink, the young man would simply activate his illusory chess piece and leave; he could not truly be killed.
Chasing a cornered enemy would be futile and would only deepen their grudge. If it provoked the Shi Family into taking the field personally, things would become rather troublesome.
Suddenly, Luo Chen looked up.
The white eagle that had been swooping down earlier was now fleeing in a panic.
Luo Chen smiled faintly. *Since you're already here, how could I let you leave?*
Without any superfluous movements, he pointed his finger once more, exactly as before.
The commotion was not as grand as the previous strike, but with the lingering momentum around him, it caught up to the white eagle in an instant.
A mournful screech echoed through the air.
The eagle blew apart midair!
It dissolved into wisps of clouds and mist, attempting to swiftly reconstitute itself.
Yet how could the power of Luo Chen's finger be neutralized by mere dispersion of form?
In the sky, the billowing white mist repeatedly attempted to reform, only to collapse again and again. At last, it coalesced into a massive mirage core wreathed in clouds and mist, which flew straight toward Luo Chen.
Catching the mirage core in one hand, Luo Chen swept his gaze past the lifeless Wang Yifu nearby, then looked toward Gu Yuan and Gu Chen in the distance, who were frozen in shock. He offered a faint smile.
"The matter here is settled. Let us go!"
Fu Qinglan looked at Luo Chen with admiration and nodded gently.
"Mm."
Both of them activated their illusory chess pieces simultaneously. Two vortexes emerged in a flash and drew them inside.
Within a single breath, their figures vanished.
At this moment, the battlefield was in utter disarray. Bitter winds howled relentlessly, and the churning ocean of ice and snow beat furiously against the ruined walls.
Gu Yuan stood there in a daze.
Only after Luo Chen and Fu Qinglan were long gone did he speak with a raspy voice: "Was that strike... a divine ability?"
What was a divine ability?
It was when a Soul Formation cultivator, or an expert of an even higher realm, infused their comprehension of the true meaning of a Law into a spell, granting it earth-shattering might.
That was a divine ability!
No one answered Gu Yuan. Gu Chen's knowledge was inferior to Gu Yuan's, and he was still lost in the eerie marvel of Luo Chen's earlier finger strike.
It carried the might of magic power, harnessed the natural momentum of heaven and earth, and could even target a cultivator's physical body.
Such terrifying methods seemed to match only the legendary descriptions of the Tianyuan Dao Sect's seven great divine abilities.
Yet Luo Chen was merely an early Nascent Soul cultivator!
And an unaffiliated rogue cultivator with no backing whatsoever!
Had he created a divine ability of his own?
Gu Chen took a deep breath. Glancing at the crestfallen Gu Yuan, he sighed softly in his heart.
Perhaps among the cultivators entering the Mirage Dragon Grotto-Heaven this time, there were many prodigies seen once in a decade or once in a century, but the true genius was surely this Desolate Hermit, who was originally supposed to be a mere supporting green leaf!
How could such a genius remain obscure forever? In the days to come, his name would surely ring across the Mountain Sea Realm!
***
*Buzz!*
*Buzz!*
Two vortexes appeared abruptly, bringing instant silence to the noisy hall.
Every pair of eyes landed squarely on the man and woman.
Fu Chaosheng was the first to rush forward, stepping in front of the crowd to shield the bloodstained Fu Qinglan behind him.
Meanwhile, most of the surrounding cultivators locked their gazes onto Luo Chen!
The gazes carried a myriad of emotions: curiosity, astonishment, admiration, and even fury!
The fury, in particular, emanated from several Nascent Soul experts who made no effort to conceal their towering pressure.
With so many predatory glares bearing down on Luo Chen, it felt like a mountain pressing on his shoulders.
Yet Luo Chen treated it like a gentle breeze against his face. A faint smile graced his restored youthful visage as he cupped his hands to Fu Chaosheng.
"Fellow Daoist Fu, Luo has fulfilled your trust!"
Fu Chaosheng hurriedly moved to support his hands.
Before he could say anything, a sinister voice rang out.
"Desolate Hermit Luo Chen, you must give my Xiang Family an explanation for this!"
Luo Chen looked over. The speaker was a sinister-looking elder, presumably the Patriarch of the Xiang Family, head of the Thirty-Six Families.
Luo Chen even felt a faint sense of familiarity from the man.
Then he remembered: when the Seven Elders had deliberated whether to admit him into Heaven and Earth Peak, this person had been the representative of the noble families.
His features were not actually sinister; his brow was full and broad, and his features were harmoniously arranged, carrying a dignified air.
Yet the fury in his eyes made his mood abundantly clear to all. He looked as though he wished nothing more than to tear Luo Chen limb from limb.
Fu Chaosheng gritted his teeth and stepped forward.
"In the great competition, victory and defeat are routine matters for combatants. Besides, Xiang Qi was not eliminated by Luo Chen; he merely launched a justified counterattack to eliminate the Wrathful Vajra."
His words were beyond reproach, for it had been Shi Ju who eliminated Xiang Qi.
Yet another person had something to say!
It was the Lin Family Patriarch!
"Victory and defeat are beyond our right to criticize. But hasn't Luo Chen acted far too ruthlessly?"
The speaker was a handsome middle-aged man cradling a corpse with a gaping hole through its chest and abdomen, his face steeped in grief.
It was the body of Lin Jingtang, the child he had raised as his own son.
Fu Chaosheng tried to speak, but the Lin Family Patriarch glared at him with blazing fury.
"My Lin Family has been friends with your Fu Family for generations!"
Fu Chaosheng was struck speechless.
Luo Chen's expression remained calm as his gaze swept slowly across the room.
Most of the true disciples and Dao Protectors eliminated earlier were not present, but Qi Xiongcheng, who had exited almost at the same time as them, sat slumped in a chair, having not yet had the chance to go out for treatment.
Presumably, he was the one who had informed these people of what transpired in the grotto-heaven.
It made sense. Over fifty years in the Mirage Dragon Grotto-Heaven, Luo Chen had made quite a few enemies to protect Fu Qinglan.
Especially in that final battle: with a single finger strike, four Nascent Soul cultivators had seen one wounded, one fled, and two fallen!
Two fallen in particular marked the highest casualty count among the competitions of the past three millennia, second only to the very first one.
No wonder they were so agitated.
The Xiang Family, the Lin Family, the Wang Family, and even the Shi Family Patriarch and Gu Family Patriarch, who had yet to speak but kept their eyes fixed on Luo Chen.
Luo Chen smiled.
"Are you gentlemen truly intending to hold me accountable for doing my utmost to protect a Tianyuan true disciple? If so, I fear that in the next competition five hundred years from now, none of the new Dao Protectors will dare to act with a free hand!"
At these words, the expressions of everyone present shifted.
Footsteps echoed from the outer hall.
Before the person even entered, his voice preceded him.
"Guest Elder Luo speaks the truth. You are the ones who hired the Dao Protectors, and their duty is to safeguard the Dao of each true disciple. Rather than praising Guest Elder Luo for his loyalty and duty, you join forces to exert pressure on him. Does this not lack the dignity befitting great sects and noble clans?"
True Person Qideng strode in.
He represented the five outer-province elders of the Heaven and Earth Peak's Star Gate, and the term he used to address Luo Chen was "Guest Elder."
The implication was self-evident!
The Xiang Family Patriarch stepped forward from the crowd to confront True Person Qideng directly.
"This matter is not for the Star Gate to meddle in!"
True Person Qideng stroked his beard, his gaze bypassing him to look toward the two men behind him.
"Fellow Daoist Shi, Fellow Daoist Gu, what do you two think?"
Those two were also among the nineteen elders of Heaven and Earth Peak's Star Gate.
Under True Person Qideng's scrutiny, both remained silent.
In the end, though Luo Chen had offended the two prominent houses, Shi Ju and Gu Daosu had not been eliminated.
Launching an attack at this juncture would not only lack grace, but would also lack any valid justification.
Luo Chen had not expected Elder Qideng to speak up on his behalf in the name of the Heaven and Earth Peak's Star Gate.
Just then, a strand of divine sense enveloped the entire hall.
In an instant, everyone recognized who it was.
"Greetings, Sect Master!"
"Greetings, Sect Master!"
Salutations rang out in unison, but Mo Shouzhuo's divine sense offered no reply to any of them. Instead, it fell upon Fu Qinglan.
After observing her for a brief moment, a soft laugh echoed.
"Excellent!"
"Fu Qinglan may enter Zuowang Peak in the Lanke Mountain Range!"
With those words, the divine sense vanished instantly.
The crowd in the hall looked at one another, their expressions varied.
Only Fu Chaosheng was overjoyed beyond measure. His hands shook and his lips trembled, overcome by the realization of a dream he had pursued for countless years.
He grasped Fu Qinglan's hands.
"Child, you can go to Zuowang Peak!"
Zuowang Peak was the true core of the Tianyuan Dao Sect!
It was the cultivation ground of Soul Formation grandmasters.
For anyone below Soul Formation, entering required either immense meritorious service or the potential to reach the Soul Formation realm.
Even late Nascent Soul great cultivators could not enter Zuowang Peak without permission.
They would either grow old within their clans or enter Heaven and Earth Peak.
One could say that within the Dao Sect, Zuowang Peak's prestige far surpassed that of Heaven and Earth Peak!
Fu Qinglan, who had remained silent since coming out, finally broke into a smile. She patted her grandfather's hand while looking toward Luo Chen.
"Big Brother Luo, thank you!"
"Haha, why thank me? I merely did my duty!"
Luo Chen laughed heartily and strode out of the hall alongside Elder Qideng.
A myriad of gazes followed his departing back until he disappeared, yet the hearty laughter of his exit continued to echo in their ears.
Everyone knew that Luo Chen was now untouchable.
He was backed by the Star Gate's outer-province faction!
Fu Qinglan, who was about to enter Zuowang Peak to cultivate with high hopes of achieving Soul Formation, had openly displayed her close bond with Luo Chen without the slightest reservation!
Furthermore, there was the passing divine sense of the Tianyuan Sect Master. Though he had said nothing regarding Luo Chen, saying nothing spoke volumes on its own.
Certain rules could not be broken.
Certain grievances had to be swallowed.
As for hatred, they had no choice but to break their teeth and swallow them down with blood.
Yet as everyone looked at the grandfather and granddaughter of the Fu Family, a trace of envy showed in their eyes.
How could their fortune possibly be this good?
Chapter 767