"True Person, I have found a method to cultivate the Demon-Devil Concentric Tree!"
At these words, Luo Chen started, asking instinctively, "What did you say?"
"The Demon-Devil—"
"Wait!"
Luo Chen cut Sang Jinghe off, glancing toward Fu Hongzhang, who was in the middle of handing over resources to Tianxuan. Fu Hongzhang wore a look of bewilderment.
Seeing Luo Chen look his way, he hurried to lower his head.
"Come outside with me."
Luo Chen rose calmly, strolled out of the house, and cast a sound-isolating barrier around them.
Realizing he had spoken out of turn in front of an outsider, Sang Jinghe said fearfully, "Please forgive me, True Person. In my excitement, I was careless..."
"No matter."
Luo Chen waved a hand. He could understand the man's slip of the tongue; he was simply too excited.
Besides, although the Demon-Devil Concentric Tree was precious, it was a hybridized new species. Throughout ancient and modern history, the Mountain Sea Realm possessed no records of it, so it hardly mattered if a Fu clan cultivator caught wind of its name.
What truly caught him off guard was that Sang Jinghe had genuinely figured out a way to nurture the tree.
The Demon-Devil Concentric Tree had been created by the Heaven Refining Demon Lord using a True Scale Tree as the foundation, fusing it with the hearts of a fifth-rank ancient demon and a fifth-rank ancient devil.
It resembled a spiritual tree yet was not quite one, and seemed like a demon or devil yet was neither.
From the moment the hybridization succeeded, it was already of the fifth rank.
Yet because it went against heavenly harmony, developing sentience was exceedingly difficult for it. According to what Taisui had said back then, only by undergoing a lightning tribulation and weathering the wrath of heaven and earth could it attain sentience and bear fruit.
And according to Taisui's deduction, the fruit it bore might offer immense benefits to body refinement!
Unfortunately, after obtaining it, let alone making it mature and fruit for body refinement, Luo Chen hadn't even known where to begin just trying to nurture it.
He hadn't imagined that Sang Jinghe, a mere Golden Core cultivator, would actually find a way.
"Tell me in detail."
Perking up, Sang Jinghe launched into his explanation.
"True Person, according to what you told me, this tree was hybridized from the hearts of a demon and a devil, meaning its cultivation requires both demon qi and devil qi. Demon qi is easy enough to come by—one need only have a great demon breathe out dharmic power day and night. But devil qi is extraordinarily scarce in the Mountain Sea Realm. I have heard only direct-line disciples of the Yuan Demon Sect's Yuan Demon Lineage can cultivate it.
"Therefore, the orthodox method of cultivation is unfeasible.
"I tried several traditional cultivation methods, but the results..."
He spoke meticulously, detailing decades of research—from his initial experiments to his later theoretical deductions.
Luo Chen did not rush him, listening with complete attentiveness.
He dabbled in spiritual plant cultivation, but he could not match a dedicated specialist like Sang Jinghe.
Furthermore, since the Demon-Devil Concentric Tree was tied to his path of body refinement, he could afford even less carelessness.
Ever since reaching the mid-stage of Desolate Ancient Fourth Rank, his body refinement cultivation had nearly ground to a halt.
Conventional practice of the Convergence of Myriad Paths, and even tempering his body with true fire, had lost their efficacy.
As for external aids, though he possessed several body refinement pill recipes—some even left behind by the Heaven Refining Demon Lord—they were designed for the Devil Race and were not suitable for him.
Coupled with the fact that after forming his Nascent Soul he had poured excessive energy into the path of qi refinement, his once-strongest trump card had been forced into stagnation.
Even if his physical martial techniques had progressed considerably, it was ultimately inward refinement rather than upward elevation.
If the Demon-Devil Concentric Tree could bear fruit, perhaps he could use it to ascend to a higher level!
"Back on Longyuan Island in the Demon Sea, I watched you use the blood pool method to reconstruct Lord Black King's body, True Person. Inspired by that, I imitated the method and constructed a demon blood spirit pool.
"Yet that method proved flawed after all. The Concentric Tree had no interest whatsoever in the blood of those low-grade demon beasts.
"Later, I changed my approach. Although the Concentric Tree had incorporated the hearts of an ancient demon and an ancient devil, its foundation remains the True Scale Tree. According to ancient texts, the growth of a True Scale Tree requires large amounts of powder ground from the scales of fish-dragons, so I thought to replicate the ancient method.
"In the end, however, I discovered that this method also failed.
"After arriving in the Central Plains, I helped Fu clan cultivators resolve issues with their spiritual plants. Out of gratitude, they permitted me to peruse many of their records. Among them, I found numerous accounts of desolate beasts!
"Yes, desolate beasts!"
At this point, Sang Jinghe's eyes shone with excitement.
"The Central Plains cultivators' understanding and utilization of desolate beasts surpasses all others in the Mountain Sea Realm, and their texts mentioned using desolate beast materials to cultivate spiritual plants!
"In their view, desolate beasts are an exceedingly unique kind of creature. They do not pursue human transformation, nor do they force sentience, relying solely on instinct to breathe the heaven-and-earth spiritual qi, yet they can cultivate step by step to the fourth rank, the fifth rank, and even ascend! They are truly marvels sculpted by heaven and earth, worthy of being called the darlings of this realm.
"I thought back then: if we used desolate beast blood as the primary ingredient, combined it with your blood pool method, and added copious amounts of scales from fish-dragons, could that substitute for demonic and devil qi to stimulate the growth of the Demon-Devil Concentric Tree?"
Luo Chen watched him until he finished speaking in a single breath.
Then...
"Is this your method?"
Sang Jinghe froze.
Under Luo Chen's gaze, his face gradually flushed red.
He stammered, "Though it is still only a hypothesis, in my view, this is already the most feasible path."
"Well, you have worked hard. It does sound somewhat feasible. I will take time to test it."
Luo Chen patted Sang Jinghe's shoulder in encouragement and gifted him a few bottles of pills he had refined in his spare time.
"Go back and pack your things. We are leaving shortly."
"Understood!"
Having received the pills and gained Luo Chen's affirmation of his idea, Sang Jinghe left in high spirits.
After he left, Luo Chen couldn't help shaking his head.
The man's hypothesis sounded decent enough, but carrying it out in practice was simply too difficult.
First of all, where was he supposed to find desolate beast blood?
Vast as the Mountain Sea Realm was, desolate beasts had gradually dwindled toward extinction following the ancient wars. They had either been slain, like the mirage dragon, or had retreated deep into the desolate wilderness.
The few that occasionally surfaced were mostly low in rank.
For instance, the Sea-Absorbing Golden Toad he had encountered once in the Northern Sea was merely at the third rank.
Given the rank of the Demon-Devil Concentric Tree, blood from a third-rank desolate beast would likely be completely useless.
Rustle, rustle...
An undisguised slithering sound reached his ears.
Luo Chen looked down to see a small black dragon creeping up beside him.
With a beckoning wave of his hand, the little dragon coiled around his right arm.
"Master, you're back!"
The Black King greeted him warmly, only to receive no reply.
Instead, a pair of contemplative eyes stared intently at him.
Somehow, that gaze sent a chill down his entire spine.
"Master, what are you doing? Xiao Hei hasn't caused any trouble at all this past year!"
Luo Chen withdrew his gaze with a faint murmur of acknowledgment.
Yet his mind was turning over the thought: what made desolate beasts unique was the emergence of source power, and their essence blood transformed into source blood. If they could cultivate step by step to the fifth rank, they would master the corresponding primordial source power naturally without needing a teacher.
That was precisely why desolate beasts were called the darlings of heaven and earth in the Mountain Sea Realm.
The Black King had now switched to the path of desolate beasts, and he was at the fourth rank.
Could his blood be used to nourish the Demon-Devil Concentric Tree?
Moreover, Luo Chen cultivated both dharma and body; his physique was barely distinguishable from that of a desolate beast. Would his own essence blood work as well?
Yet the thought vanished as quickly as it had come.
Depleting a large amount of essence blood would impact his and the Black King's strength too heavily; it simply wasn't worth it.
Once he settled down at leisure in the future, he could reconsider the matter!
Allowing the Black King to stay coiled around his arm beneath his sleeve, Luo Chen returned inside.
The lengthy handover of resources was nearly complete.
Tianxuan reported a figure that made one's eyelids twitch, and Luo Chen had no choice but to grit his teeth and produce that massive batch of spirit stones.
With that, his remaining savings dwindled to a mere thirty million spirit stones.
While this still matched the wealth of an ordinary Nascent Soul cultivator, he was no longer basking in the former glory of carrying an enormous fortune of three hundred million spirit stones.
At last, it was finished.
Luo Chen intended to set out immediately.
Fu Hongzhang stopped him, however, presenting one more object.
"What is this?"
Luo Chen took the hide-bound book and looked down.
Tongyou Ji.
"This is an obscure weiqi manual that my young mistress specifically sent someone to deliver. It contains many rare game records and endgame puzzles. The young mistress said that if you study this book thoroughly, your weiqi skills are bound to improve significantly."
So it was merely a weiqi manual!
Luo Chen casually stowed it into his storage ring. "Give Qinglan my thanks for her kindness. If the opportunity arises in the future, I will certainly play a hearty game against her."
With that, he boarded the carriage with his retinue and flew out of the Wangwu Mountains.
Unlike the bustling fanfare of their arrival, their departure was somewhat quiet and lonely.
Yet in Luo Chen's heart, a rare fire burned.
He was going back to the Eastern Desolation!
...
Tianxing Port.
That was Luo Chen's first destination.
It was the premier coastal port in the eastern Central Plains.
To reach the Eastern Desolation, one had to depart from this port.
This time, Luo Chen chose not to take a teleportation array. Instead, he intended to obtain an official transit pass at Tianxing Port and pilot a flying boat back to the Eastern Desolation himself.
He did so partly because the Black King still carried many remaining dragon earthworms, and with his current wealth, he could hardly afford the exorbitant spirit stone fee required for teleportation arrays.
Furthermore, unlike the route to the Northern Sea, the path between the Eastern Desolation and the Central Plains was not rife with perilous terrain and demon beasts. The only real obstacle was likely the Ming Water separating the two continents.
Yet so long as one possessed a transit pass jointly issued by the Eastern Desolation and the Central Plains, passing through the Ming Water checkpoints would be smooth sailing.
Not long after departing the Wangwu Mountains, however, the Six Imperial Flying Cloud Carriage came to a stop.
They had run into an old friend.
Seeing Zhou Yunshen, who was weathered from travel, Luo Chen was somewhat surprised.
"Didn't you still need at least four or five years before you could reach the Central Plains?"
The former ancestor of the Coral Sea's Zhou clan wore a relaxed smile.
He answered, "We ran into experts from the Dao Sect clearing the perilous checkpoints along the way. When they returned to the Central Plains, they brought us along as well."
"So that's how it happened!" Luo Chen nodded.
From the intelligence provided by Elder Qideng before his departure, he had learned much about the current state of affairs in the Central Plains.
The route to the Northern Sea had been completely opened!
Next, the elite forces of the Dao Sect would take teleportation arrays ahead to the Northern Sea, while the great cultivator armies would cross the sea in batches toward the Northern Sea Cultivation World.
A grand war was imminent!
Going to the Eastern Desolation first now was, in truth, a slight loss.
Had he accompanied the Tianyuan army to the Northern Sea first, he could have seized the initiative and accomplished great feats.
Yet Luo Chen didn't hesitate in the slightest, remaining resolved to return first.
Conquering an entire continent was by no means simple, especially since the demon forces in the Northern Sea had gradually coalesced into a single entity, and the elites of the Demon Alliance had been forged in the battle against the Yuan Demon Sect—they were hardly push-overs.
This war might well turn into a long, drawn-out stalemate.
He would have plenty of opportunities in the future!
Zhou Yunshen was rather curious. "Are you heading toward Tiandi Peak as well?"
Luo Chen shook his head. "I just returned from there. I am heading to the Eastern Desolation now."
"The Eastern Desolation?" Zhou Yunshen was somewhat bewildered. Calculating the time, Luo Chen had only arrived in the Central Plains two or three years ago. Leaving already?
Luo Chen smiled and said, "The road ahead is long and arduous. Who knows when we shall meet next? Fellow Daoist Zhou, until we meet again."
Without lingering in conversation, he returned to the carriage, which then passed by Zhou Yunshen's flying boat.
Returning to his flying boat, Zhou Yunshen remained somewhat bemused.
Why leave right after arriving?
The other Northern Sea Nascent Soul cultivator accompanying him asked about it, and Zhou Yunshen freely shared what he knew.
The person remarked casually, "Perhaps he couldn't survive here in the Central Plains!"
"How could that be? The Desolate Hermit is young and promising. Where wouldn't he find a place to stand?" Zhou Yunshen didn't believe it.
The other chuckled. "That's not necessarily true. The Central Plains is dominated by clan heritages and is intensely xenophobic. The Star Gate on Tiandi Peak also enforces extremely strict age criteria for retaining guest elders. It really is possible he simply couldn't make it work here."
Zhou Yunshen fell silent.
Admittedly, the man's words held some truth.
Yet not long after, when they took a major city's teleportation array to Tiandi Peak and heard about Luo Chen's feats in the Grotto-Heaven Grand Competition, they could only stare at each other in shock.
A man prized by Star Gate elders and courted by major clans was hardly someone who couldn't survive here!
Instead, it was they who ended up in an awkward position.
"Return to the Northern Sea?"
"Indeed. Our sect's armies have already mobilized toward the Northern Sea. You hail from there, so you certainly understand the local conditions better. Of course, it depends on your willingness. Our sect does not strictly require you, as we also have the Penglai Immortal Sect to serve as guides in the Northern Sea. But if you want your juniors to have a better life in the Central Plains in the future, it is best you do something for the Tianyuan Dao Sect. Consider it carefully!"
Faced with the coaxing persuasion of the Tianyuan Dao Sect expert, Zhou Yunshen and the others hesitated.
...
In the bustling, crowded Tianxing Port.
A magnificent carriage slowly took to the air, circled briefly, and soared eastward.
Aboard the Flying Cloud Carriage.
Luo Chen held a jade slip, examining it with great interest for a time.
This was the transit pass he had received after presenting his Star Gate guest elder identity token.
It was said that near the landmass of the Eastern Desolation, there was a sea expanse covered in Ming Water that repelled the attacks of marine demon beasts.
And throughout the year, experts from the Mingyuan Sect were stationed over that sea expanse.
Only by presenting this transit pass could one set foot onto the territory of the Eastern Desolation.
"Such strictness... is it meant to keep outsiders out, or insiders in?"
Thinking of how Alchemy Saint Chu Yan had defected from Mingyuan to join the Tianyuan Dao Sect, Luo Chen couldn't help pondering deeply.
Before long, however, he lost interest in the transit pass and brought out another jade slip.
The journey ahead was vast. Even with Tianxuan and Sang Jinghe taking turns driving the vessel day and night without stopping, it would take half a year to a year.
This time could not be wasted.
Conveniently, Fu Chaosheng had previously gifted him a set of formation books and a sword scripture.
Studying the path of formations was overly cumbersome, demanding immense accumulation.
The sword scripture, on the other hand, held great appeal for Luo Chen!
Powerful as the Yuantu Sword was, the dharmic power it demanded was far too vast. Lacking proficiency in the sword dao, he tended to bleed away excess dharmic power when wielding the flying sword, and its speed was only mediocre.
This sword was difficult to master!
Its previous master, Blood Nightmare Moluo, had been unable to unleash its full potential. And the two times Luo Chen had deployed it, he had either prepared long in advance to build up momentum or struck by surprise from the shadows; neither counted as utilizing it perfectly.
If he could shore up this shortcoming, perhaps he could maximize the sword's might.
Sending his divine sense into the jade slip, a soul-piercing sword intent instantly surged, giving rise to myriad shifting visions.
Thousand Heavens Myriad Transformations Sword Scripture.
It claimed that it was not restricted to sword pellets or flying swords—either could be practiced—and it even reached up to the fifth rank!
[Those who cultivate sword pellets shall uphold the sword heart and comprehend sword intent, straight to the supreme sword dao...]
[Those who wield flying swords shall ascend the Nine Heavens, gather spiritual essence, nurture infinite sword qi, and achieve the grand spectacle of a thousand heavens...]
Studying the sword scripture once more, Luo Chen became thoroughly engrossed.
A long while later, he lowered the jade slip and looked upward.
His gaze seemed to pierce through the canopy, looking beyond into the Nine Heavens above.
"I need to ascend there to gather spiritual essence?"
The term "spiritual essence" was somewhat obscure.
In reality, however, it was not unfamiliar to Luo Chen.
That which blossoms without fruit is called ying; that which concentrates the purest essence is also called ying.
Simply put, the quintessence of any substance could be called its ying.
For example, the blossoming flowers of vegetation!
And "spiritual essence" broadly referred to the quintessence of spiritual elements.
For instance, the thunder essence Luo Chen had obtained previously was concentrated from the quintessence of the lightning element.
Another example was the Green Duckweed Nether Wind he had seen before, which was actually considered a wind essence.
And familiar waters like Profound Primal Heavy Water, Ren Water, and Celestial One True Water were all water essences.
In short, spiritual essences were rare treasures. When cultivators wished to forge magic treasures or cultivate potent secret techniques, they would often seek out high-grade spiritual essences.
And according to the Thousand Heavens Myriad Transformations Sword Scripture, if a sword cultivator who wielded a flying sword like him wished to practice this scripture, he needed to ascend into the Nine Heavens to harvest the corresponding Nine Heavens spiritual essence and temper his sword qi with it.
"The barrier to entry is rather high!"
Luo Chen muttered, but he was not discouraged; rather, he felt eager to try.
Since he possessed a peerless sword, how could he wield it clumsily?
Now that he even had a concrete method to deploy it, he should devote himself to cultivating it properly.
Compared to the elusive Great Five Elements Sword Formation, the Yuantu Blood Sword already held in his hands was undoubtedly far more dependable!
Chapter 771