"Fellow Daoist Fu, you kept me in the dark so miserably!"
The soft murmur carried a hint of accusation, a touch of complaint, and a thread of wry emotion.
The man had once claimed that the competition would last a year or a year and a half at most.
And in truth, that was indeed the case. Measured by the time of the Mountain Sea Realm, barely half a year had passed.
Yet for Luo Chen inside the Mirage Dragon Grotto-Heaven, a full fifty years had elapsed!
The lifespan that had slipped away was also an undeniable fifty years!
Fu Chaosheng wore a look of shame as he bowed and cupped his hands to Luo Chen.
"My apologies. Fu's conduct this time was indeed improper."
Luo Chen turned slightly to the side, refusing to accept the formal bow.
He paced slowly through the abode. "Elder, there is no need for such ceremony. Qinglan has already entered Zuowang Peak and stands a strong chance of reaching the Soul Formation realm in the future. How could I possibly accept such grand respect?"
Fu Chaosheng's expression grew slightly awkward.
In their cooperation this time, he had concealed the truth beforehand, yet Luo Chen had still given his all. In contrast, the gap in conduct was glaringly obvious.
Though a gentleman could sometimes be taken advantage of through high principles, the current situation had completely shifted.
Luo Chen's performance within the Mirage Dragon Grotto-Heaven had exceeded everyone's wildest expectations.
Those who hated him were numerous, but those who favored him were far more!
Right now, within the Tianyuan Dao Sect, countless clans were waiting for a chance to recruit Luo Chen.
If Luo Chen truly leaned toward another family, the Fu clan would become a laughingstock.
However!
Compared to the other clans, the Fu family held one decisive advantage.
Fu Chaosheng understood Luo Chen's needs far better than anyone else!
*Swish! Swish! Swish!*
Three items appeared before Luo Chen.
A book, a jade slip, and a gourd.
"These are?" Luo Chen narrowed his eyes, studying the three objects.
Fu Chaosheng introduced them one by one.
"This book is titled *Stone Chamber Immortal Secrets*. It was written two thousand years ago by a senior of our sect, recording over a hundred formations of various scales. The ranks range from the first tier to the fourth tier, covering everything one could need, and it even includes an incomplete fifth-tier defensive array. That senior had some connection with my Fu family in his youth, and before he passed away, he inscribed a copy to bestow upon our clan.
"This jade slip records a sword scripture titled *Thousand Heavens Myriad Transformations Sword Scripture*. Though not created by an expert of our sect, it was personally authored by an ancient Soul Formation grand cultivator, and it does not restrict itself to the distinction between sword pellets and flying swords. If one can master this sword scripture to great success, it is enough to dominate peers of the same realm. My granddaughter also practiced this sword scripture, but lacking sufficient bloodlust, she could only reach minor success, falling short of becoming invincible.
"As for this gourd, you should be very familiar with it. Inside lies the soul essence of tens of millions of souls. However, I have inscribed the refinement method for soul essence upon it—and it is the orthodox refinement method of the Yuan Demon Sect!"
He spoke measuredly, laying it all out.
When his voice died down, the immortal cave fell into utter silence.
Luo Chen finally turned around, looking intently at Fu Chaosheng.
"Our cooperation has already concluded. Though Luo suffered a hidden loss, the remuneration you provided previously was more than enough. These things are entirely unnecessary."
Indeed, Luo Chen had felt angry beforehand over the elder's failure to mention the time dilation.
Yet through his own efforts, he had taken only fifty years to leave the Mirage Dragon Grotto-Heaven, so his loss was not devastatingly severe.
Moreover, after emerging, Fu Chaosheng had not burned bridges; he had still spoken up on Luo Chen's behalf.
At this point, his anger had already dissipated.
His earlier display had merely been to gauge the elder's true attitude.
If Fu Chaosheng had flicked his sleeves and stormed off, their rapport would have ended right there, and Luo Chen would never have had any further contact with him.
If he continued to apologize, Luo Chen would not have held a grudge either, generously letting the matter pass.
Yet he had never anticipated that the elder would present such magnificent gifts!
Fu Chaosheng smiled faintly. "These are neither payment nor compensation. They are merely gifts from this old man to invite you to become an enshrined elder of our Fu family!"
An enshrined elder of the Fu family?
Luo Chen raised an eyebrow.
"Though Qinglan comprehended the true meaning of the Law and entered Zuowang Peak, the road to Soul Formation remains long. As for me, my lifespan is nearly spent; a hundred years from now, I will be nothing more than a handful of yellow dirt. When that time comes, for the vast Fu family to lack another Nascent Soul True Person to support it would be far too vulnerable."
Fu Chaosheng's face glowed with enthusiasm as he said warmly, "If you are willing to become our Fu family's enshrined elder, the situation will surely be completely different. I hope you will accept!"
Luo Chen fell into thought. The man was making plans for what would follow his own passing.
That was why he was offering such heavy gifts.
Sweeping his gaze across the three items, aside from the gourd containing soul essence, he seemed to glimpse Fu Qinglan's shadow in the other two.
An array manual, and a sword scripture.
The Dao of Formations, and the Dao of the Sword.
Of these two capabilities, only Fu Qinglan, who had accompanied him for fifty years, knew both his strengths and his shortcomings.
He was skilled in arrays, yet lacked any truly formidable formations to display. The defensive grand array he had laid down in the grotto-heaven had been shattered with a single palm strike by Qi Xiongcheng.
He possessed the flying sword Yuantu, which rivaled a spirit treasure, yet his wielding of it was exceedingly crude—still relying purely on brute force to overpower others, with his technique entirely dependent on his own improvisations. If he could study an orthodox sword Dao classic, he would undoubtedly unleash the Yuantu Sword's power to the utmost.
Luo Chen pressed his lips together and accepted the three gifts.
"You both have put great thought into this!"
The phrase "you both" made it clear that Luo Chen understood the true origin of these offerings.
Fu Chaosheng laughed heartily.
"Fellow Daoist Luo, you worked hard inside the grotto-heaven. Rest well. This old man will not disturb you any longer."
"Allow me to see you out."
Both men wore smiles as they exited the cave abode.
Luo Chen escorted him a long distance before returning alone.
Fu Chaosheng flew off at an unhurried pace, a beaming smile on his face. This scene of cheerful, friendly conversation would surely be witnessed by many!
When that happened, no one would dare harbor thoughts of poaching from his Fu family.
The only pity was that Qinglan had rejected the proposal of becoming dual cultivation Dao companions with Luo Chen; otherwise, they could have bound him even deeper.
*Still, when I first made the suggestion, that girl was clearly tempted. Why did she end up refusing in the end?*
Fu Chaosheng felt somewhat puzzled.
He had seen that Fu Qinglan held genuine affection for Luo Chen in her eyes.
In particular, that public cry of "Brother Luo" had carried no falsehood whatsoever.
Yet after entering Zuowang Peak, her attitude had undergone a dramatic shift.
……
Inside the cave abode.
Luo Chen took out the three items once more and inspected them closely.
His gaze lingered for a long time on the method for refining soul essence engraved upon the gourd.
"To think it is refined like this... It is truly far too vicious, grievously harming the harmony of heaven."
After committing the refinement method to memory, Luo Chen could not help but sigh.
He also understood why the Yuan Demon Sect did not refine soul essence themselves, instead delegating the task to other Northern Sea cultivators.
If they refined soul essence on such a massive scale openly, not only would the Northern Sea cultivators harbor deep resentment, but even the sacred grounds of the other four continents would likely find the Yuan Demon Sect intolerable.
Now that Fu Chaosheng had taught him the method to fish, he would have to exercise great caution in using it.
Stowing the three treasures away, Luo Chen let out a soft breath of turbid air and resumed the unfinished business from earlier.
With a thought, his status panel unfurled before his eyes like a cascading waterfall.
[Lifespan: 280/1500]
[Spiritual Roots: Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, Earth]
[Constitution: Fire Spirit Body (Five Spirits Dao Body concealed)]
[Realm: Nascent Soul Third Layer 79/100, Desolate Ancient Fourth Rank 40/100]
[Law: Wither-Bloom True Meaning · Wood 1/100]
[Cultivation Methods: Wither-Bloom Dao Scripture (Practiced 135/200), Convergence of Myriad Paths (Great Circle), Myriad Beast Scripture (Master 510/1000), Soul Splitting Art (Adept 201/300)]
[Spells: Blazing Phoenix Prairie Fire (Master 620/1000), Flame Dragon Descends to Earth (Master 501/1000), Wither-Bloom Dao Finger (Divine Ability)]
[Body Techniques: Air Burst Step (Great Circle), Ninety Thousand Li (Great Circle), Demonic Lord Seven Scattered Hands (Master 875/1000)]
[Soul Techniques: Mirror Flower, Water Moon (Great Circle), Soul Intimidation Art (Great Circle), Spirit-Befuddling Technique (Great Circle), Devils and Gods Disperse (Practiced 110/200), Kai Mao Art (Perfect 385/500)]
With just a glance, Luo Chen's attention went straight to the new entries.
The Wood-attribute Law true meaning, Wither-Bloom, sat clearly displayed, proving his eyes had not deceived him.
It was precisely the emergence of this new entry that caused the long-dormant Five Spirits Dao Body to shimmer with faint light.
Moreover, it was not the only new entry.
Under the Spells column, an additional skill had appeared: [Wither-Bloom Dao Finger].
This was the new technique Luo Chen had created himself.
Yet unexpectedly, this technique displayed no proficiency progress bar whatsoever!
In Luo Chen's nearly three hundred years of cultivation, this was an absolute first.
Furthermore, the entry was suffused with the suffix "Divine Ability."
*Could it be that this new technique I comprehended is no ordinary spell, but a divine ability recorded in ancient texts?*
Luo Chen felt a flicker of doubt.
If that were truly the case, the absence of a progress bar made complete sense.
A divine ability of this caliber had never relied on mechanical, repetitive practice to increase its might.
To make it stronger, only the technique's core—the true meaning of the Law—had to grow stronger, and the technique would follow suit.
Yet looking at the progress bar of the Wither-Bloom True Meaning, which sat merely at the entry level, Luo Chen promptly abandoned the idea of bolstering the power of the Wither-Bloom Dao Finger for now.
It was far too difficult!
Even comprehending this true meaning had borrowed the power of the Wither-Bloom Fire Spirit.
As for how to cultivate the true meaning of a Law, he was thoroughly enveloped in mist, with nowhere to begin.
When all was said and done, he ultimately lacked the inheritance of a master's lineage!
If he could also cultivate on Zuowang Peak with guidance from a Soul Formation grand cultivator, he would not be so utterly helpless.
With a sigh, Luo Chen directed his attention back to the beginning of the panel.
His lifespan, as expected, was the same as it had been inside the grotto-heaven.
It was 280 years, not the 230 years it would have been had only half a year passed in the outside world.
This also meant that the fifty years spent in the Mirage Dragon Grotto-Heaven were real, not an illusion.
Next, Luo Chen's gaze settled upon the Realm column.
Compared to the elusive true meaning of the Law, a tangible realm was far more dependable.
However, this realm at the third layer of the Nascent Soul—verging even on the fourth layer—felt unstable no matter how he looked at it!
"My foundation has become unstable!"
Comparing the panel with the vast quantities of superficial, unrefined dharmic power within his purple palace, Luo Chen arrived at this conclusion.
Even his Nascent Soul, though enlarged, lacked solid density.
All of this had been caused by hastily absorbing immense amounts of heaven-and-earth essence qi.
In the past, every strand of Luo Chen's dharmic power had been forged through countless trials, such that one portion of his dharmic power could rival five or seven portions from a cultivator of the same realm.
That was why his spells were so domineering and irresistible.
Yet now, this superficial dharmic power had become a hidden hazard.
"The focus of my cultivation going forward must change. Reactivate the Wither-Bloom Divine Restriction, suppress my realm, and temper my dharmic power simultaneously!"
With a single thought, Luo Chen dismissed the panel, while the miniature Nascent Soul within his purple palace formed spirit hand seals.
Streams of restrictions materialized, hovering outside.
As the little figure snapped its fingers, all the restrictions descended onto the Nascent Soul's surface, gradually sinking into it.
When the Wither-Bloom Divine Restriction reappeared, Luo Chen's Nascent Soul wrinkled once more, though this time his external appearance remained unchanged under his deliberate control.
Meanwhile, under Luo Chen's manipulation, the vast unrefined dharmic power detached from the Nascent Soul and flew toward a small azure tree resting close at hand.
The tree stood barely three inches tall, yet the veining of its branches and leaves was extraordinarily vivid.
It was none other than the Wither-Bloom True Fire!
Unlike the illusory flame tree of the past, this small tree was now exceptionally solid, composed entirely of immense essence qi and the fire spirit.
Its realm was a genuine fifth rank!
However, at this moment, the Wither-Bloom Fire Spirit was also restrained by the Wither-Bloom Divine Restriction, its consciousness sealed away.
This was not Luo Chen's doing by choice, but at the request of the Wither-Bloom Fire Spirit itself.
Upon Heaven and Earth Peak, there existed a presence capable of threatening it!
For that reason, the fire spirit had asked Luo Chen to suppress it until they left Heaven and Earth Peak.
"Though I cannot use you in battle for now, using you to cultivate poses no problem at all."
Luo Chen smiled faintly, driving the vast, volatile dharmic power entirely toward the vicinity of the azure tree.
The fire spirit seemed to sense it; as its branches and leaves stretched, it drew in stream after stream of dharmic power.
And as it breathed and exhaled, it spat out wisps of far purer dharmic power to be absorbed by Luo Chen's Nascent Soul.
Seeing this, Luo Chen was filled with joy.
He had not yet had the chance to test the combat might of the fifth-rank Wither-Bloom True Fire.
Yet in aiding his cultivation, it could already provide tremendous assistance.
The dharmic power swallowed and expelled by the flame tree became vastly purer, and the fire spirit did not erase Luo Chen's divine soul imprint from that power.
Not only that, Luo Chen could even sense that if he absorbed spiritual qi from the outside world, the flame tree could also help purify and temper it.
Such capabilities had never existed before.
Even when Luo Chen had occasionally used the Wither-Bloom True Fire to temper dharmic power or magic treasures in the past, it had been time-consuming, laborious, and caused massive losses. How could it compare to this, where he did not need to expend any effort at all, as the fire spirit handled the entire process for him while controlling its own power to avoid depleting Luo Chen's dharmic reserves?
In this manner, Luo Chen could save a great deal of time.
And he had no intention of letting that time go to waste.
The *Stone Chamber Immortal Secrets* and *Thousand Heavens Myriad Transformations Sword Scripture* sent by Fu Chaosheng became the targets of his study.
……
While Luo Chen tempered his dharmic power and practiced arrays and the sword Dao, the competition within the Mirage Dragon Grotto-Heaven continued.
Due to the earlier actions of Elder Qideng and Fu Chaosheng, neither the cultivators of Heaven and Earth Peak nor the various great clans came looking for Luo Chen anymore.
Everyone knew the Tianji Pill was gone.
Luo Chen was also thoroughly bound to the Fu family.
Yet that did not mean no one sought him out at all.
For instance, one month later, Luo Chen received a special guest—none other than True Person Tianshan, who had previously fought against him.
Tianshan had guarded Yu Xu within the Mirage Dragon Grotto-Heaven for several decades, but had ultimately failed.
The blame did not lie with Tianshan as the Dao Protector; rather, Yu Xu simply lacked the destiny for it. The black qi in her illusory chess piece had filled to the brim, forcing her to withdraw.
Luo Chen later took the time to ask Fu Chaosheng about it, and the elder mentioned that Yu Xu had likely grown too eager for quick success. While absorbing the spiritual opportunity within a mirage core, she had drawn in a vast amount of mirage dragon qi as well, forcing her out of the grotto-heaven before her time was up.
In short, True Person Tianshan had finished his Dao Protector journey with neither merit nor fault.
Upon emerging, he came to visit Luo Chen.
The two harbored no deep grudges, and since they would both be cultivating on Heaven and Earth Peak in the future, running into each other often, it was only natural to foster good relations.
The meeting lasted for nearly half a day.
Luo Chen learned many anecdotes of the Southern Border from him, and shared some of his own experiences from the Northern Sea.
With that, the visit concluded.
Yu Xu's elimination served as the opening prelude to the competition's final curtain.
Not long after, Lin Bufan also triggered his illusory chess piece and returned to the Mountain Sea Realm.
To the disappointment of the Lin clan patriarch, he had failed to comprehend the power of the Law.
It had nothing to do with his aptitude, nor with anyone else.
Merely, while using a mirage core to cultivate, his spiritual opportunity had leaked, attracting an attack by phantom beasts. Lacking Lin Jingtang by his side to protect him, he had been forced to activate his illusory chess piece to escape the Mirage Dragon Grotto-Heaven with his life.
After Lin Bufan came Gu Daosu.
To everyone's surprise, despite also lacking a protector, Gu Daosu succeeded!
Regarding this, Fu Chaosheng's explanation to Luo Chen was that Gu Daosu possessed a Lanke Black Chess Piece bestowed by Chess Saint Ke Lianshan, and because he was already infinitely close to success himself, he had managed to grasp the power of the Source once more following a second sudden enlightenment.
With that, only four true disciples remained within the grotto-heaven.
And only one month was left.
Inside the grotto-heaven, that equated to less than ten years.
Could Shi Ju, Gu Yuan, as well as Longyuan and Mingyan, succeed?
Luo Chen no longer cared about any of this; he went to seek out Elder Qideng.
When he stated his intention, Elder Qideng was visibly surprised.
"The Northern Sea campaign will launch the moment the grand competition concludes. Why are you heading to the Eastern Desolation at a time like this?"
Chapter 769