Treading the Void, Traceless as the Wind God, Three Souls Returned to Peak Form!

Baili Qingchuan once again welcomed its masters. Every cultivator of the Luotian Sect had returned! Yet compared to the peak of more than three hundred people before, counting everyone up now barely yielded two hundred. A loss of a full third! Taking this as a glimpse of the greater picture, losses across the entire Eastern Desolation in this war were bound to be even more devastating! Yet no one had the luxury of time to grieve or mourn. Everyone's minds were consumed with constructing defensive fortifications and laying down offensive and defensive formations. Luo Chen entrusted the Luotian Sect's defensive preparations entirely to Min Longyu, with Sect Master Li Yingzhang leading the sect's forces to assist him. Every single effort was made in preparation for the impending decisive battle. As for Luo Chen, he joined Wang Yuan in deducing and completing the Wind Leg technique from the Wind, Moon, Thunder, and Cloud Path to Immortality. Strictly speaking, the Wind, Moon, Thunder, and Cloud Path to Immortality was a complete body cultivation technique focused on the lower limbs. Its four techniques—Wind Leg, Moon Step, Cloud Treads, and Thunder Kick—corresponded respectively to four aspects: rapid assault, combat maneuverability, long-distance travel, and explosive bursts. Unfortunately, when Luo Chen had obtained this manual, only the Thunder Kick had been complete, while the other three were fragmentary. Later, thanks to Wang Yuan's deduction, the Moon Step had been restored. Luo Chen had practiced the Moon Step and was thoroughly pleased with its results. Unless constrained by formations in combat, once unleashed, its dodging, leaping, and positional shifts made it difficult even for the divine senses of Nascent Soul experts to keep pace. Consequently, Luo Chen looked forward to the Wind Leg even more. He possessed a formidable physique that had rendered exceptional service in countless battles. Yet when it came to unlocking and applying that physique, Luo Chen had never achieved true perfection. Years ago, the Demonic Lord Seven Scattered Hands that he had synthesized from the strengths of various schools focused primarily on developing upper-body techniques. If he could unlock powerful lower-limb techniques as well, his combat capabilities would unquestionably take a massive leap forward. *** "The Piaomiao Sect's Three Styles of the Wind God are exceptionally fast and intensely forceful, domineering and harsh. Once unleashed, they strike as fiercely as a tempestuous storm." "However, the art has flaws. It emphasizes form over intent, capable of release but not restraint." "In terms of sheer upper power, it falls short of the original Thunder Kick. Being unable to rein it in or let it loose freely in battle makes it all too easy to endanger oneself. Hence, the art is rather lackluster." "On the other hand, the Void-Treading Steps you obtained from the White Crane Sect prioritize intent over form, emphasizing self-mastery over body and mind." "The two truly complement one another." "If we take the core principles of Wind Leg to fuse both martial arts, we might genuinely be able to restore this ancient body art!" On a flat plain in Baili Qingchuan, Wang Yuan spoke with fluent eloquence to Luo Chen. As a martial arts master, Wang Yuan might have been surpassed by Luo Chen in body cultivation realm, but in terms of understanding martial techniques, he stood far above Luo Chen, who was merely a borrower and adapter. Over the past two hundred years, without guidance from predecessors, Wang Yuan had relied on his own insight and comprehension to pioneer multiple techniques. Giant Spirit Transformation was a consummate art of physical transformation! Blood God Tribulation Finger, Immortal Returns to Pengying, and Blood-Melting Demon Finger—these three fingers of gods, demons, and immortals—represented the pinnacle of blood and qi manipulation! After reaching the Smelting Furnace Realm, he had further fused thirty-six strands of divine wind and thirty-six earthly fiends to create an offensive combat technique named Divine Astral Battle Qi. Back on the Battle Arena at Lingtian Pass, Wang Yuan had unleashed Divine Astral Battle Qi to forcefully shatter the Four Symbols Dharma Realm of Yin Sixiang from the Five Elements Divine Sect. One had to realize that the Four Symbols Dharma Realm was remarkably similar to the Senluo Fire Prison Luo Chen had developed during his Golden Core stage; both mimicked the domain power of a Nascent Soul cultivator. Once unleashed, few beneath the Nascent Soul realm could withstand it. Yet even so, Wang Yuan had broken through it by brute force, compelling Yin Sixiang to deploy Old Ghost Motian's Motian Cliff. This alone proved the might of the Divine Astral Battle Qi. It was fair to say that Wang Yuan's remarkable comprehension had played the greatest role in bringing him to where he stood today! He was unlike Luo Chen, whose so-called body cultivation was largely the result of a mad accumulation of resources. At present, in their joint deduction of the Wind Leg, Wang Yuan took the lead. Yet Luo Chen was far from useless. For instance: "Pour all of your Source Power into your left leg, standing firm like a heavenly pillar. Channel the Source Power in your right leg through the Foot Jueyin Liver Meridian and Foot Shaoyin Kidney Meridian, focusing on stimulating Taixi, Jiaoxin, Zhaohai... these dozen or so acupoints. Twist your waist and lash out with your foot, striking twelve times in succession." "Try it!" As soon as Wang Yuan finished speaking, Luo Chen began testing it without hesitation. Any cultivator possessed a decent understanding of the body's meridians and acupoints, and Luo Chen, as an accomplished physician, understood the human form far better than ordinary practitioners. In an instant, he grasped Wang Yuan's meaning. Using Source Power in place of blood and qi, he channeled it into his left and right legs respectively, and then... *Crack! Crack! Crack!* Nine kicks flew in rapid succession, but upon the tenth kick, Luo Chen's expression shifted drastically. *Boom!* A burst of blood mist exploded from his violently whipping right leg. Immediately followed by a sickening snap that sent a shiver through anyone who heard it. Luo Chen landed on the ground, perched on one leg like a golden rooster. His right leg hung limp and mangled, drenched in blood. Broken! Luo Chen's flesh was mighty, his sinews resilient, and his bones harder than rare steel, yet in the course of the experiment, he had snapped it clean through. Confronted by such a terrifying sight, Wang Yuan was entirely unfazed, having long grown accustomed to it. He rushed over at once to inspect Luo Chen's broken right leg. "The Taixi point cannot withstand such immense energy. That is the critical point where your right leg failed." "The Zhaohai point must shoulder more of the burden." "This meridian should be fine; the Source Power ought to travel through here..." "That's my assessment. Luo Chen, how did it feel to you?" Luo Chen nodded and calmly voiced his sensations from just now. "The physical conflict reflects a contradiction between form and intent. The fusion of Void-Treading Steps and the Wind God Leg has an issue. One must be chosen as the dominant lead, or similar situations will recur." Wang Yuan stroked his chin, lost in thought. Seeing him contemplate, Luo Chen wasted no time. With a mere thought, his flesh began to slowly knit back together. In just a few moments, his right leg was restored as good as new. Catching this out of the corner of his eye, Wang Yuan could not help but shake his head in envy, even though he had witnessed it multiple times recently. Flesh rebirth and severed limbs reconnected! Such an extraordinary capability was the ultimate dream of body cultivators. Even after progressing to the Realm of No Leaks, few possessed it. According to his calculations, an orthodox body cultivator would have to reach at least the fifth realm to master such means. Yet Luo Chen, who only practiced body cultivation as an auxiliary art, could accomplish this. Comparisons were truly maddening! Fortunately, for their current research into the technique, this ability was peerless. This was one of Luo Chen's crucial functions right now! Relying on his capacity for flesh rebirth and limb reconnection, he could recklessly test every hypothesis and conjecture Wang Yuan put forward. He had no need to worry about the bodily harm sustained while experimenting with techniques. Testing again and again, ruling out incorrect answers one after another, advancing step-by-step toward the finish line of success. Under their seamless cooperation, the progress of deducing the Wind Leg advanced by leaps and bounds at an unimaginable speed. *** A month later. Still on that plain, two figures leapt and bounded, shifting left and right as leg shadows rained down. They were sparring, testing the moves. Terrifying booms like thunder continuously echoed from the void as legs and feet collided. Rolling shockwaves flattened the grass across the plain, leaving it unable to rise. Especially on Wang Yuan's side, whenever he kicked, leg shadows condensed of astral qi materialized in the air, blasting massive craters into the earth upon impact. Luo Chen's side, by contrast, appeared plain and unremarkable, showing no outward signs of overwhelming might. Suddenly! After a fierce collision, both figures parted and landed upon the ground. Wang Yuan staggered backward step after step, his boots carving deep imprints into the earth, his face flushed crimson. Luo Chen flicked his wrist, tossing over a gourd. Wang Yuan forced his body to a halt, caught the gourd, and uncorked it for a mouthful of spiritual wine, soothing his flushed complexion. He roared in delight. "Exhilarating!" With that, he moved to toss the gourd back. Luo Chen waved his hand, indicating the purple-gold gourd hanging at his waist. "Keep that gourd for yourself. I've got something better here!" Taking a small sip of the Thousand-Year Five Temples Immortal Brew, Luo Chen broke into a satisfied smile as well. Wang Yuan stamped his slightly numbed legs and asked, "You weren't using your full strength just now, were you?" Luo Chen chuckled. "Indeed not. I held back." Wang Yuan sighed with emotion. "I remember when we used to spar, I was always the one holding back. Now you're the one pulling your punches—and in my proudest domain of body cultivation, no less. Tsk, tsk..." Though he marveled in retrospection, there was no trace of jealousy. Luo Chen set down his gourd and strolled over lazily. "It is finally complete: treading the void, traceless as the wind god!" Treading the void, traceless as the wind god! These simple words were the finest summary of the completed Wind Leg. Once unleashed, it was as swift as a tempest and as powerful as surging breakers, shedding a touch of reckless brutality in favor of a denser assault. It could strike from virtually any angle, and it could even condense footprints out of Source Power and blood-qi for ranged attacks. Not only that, through the mad experimentation that had blown up Luo Chen's leg dozens of times, this move could now seamlessly chain into the Moon Step and Thunder Kick. It was truly endlessly versatile and unfathomably potent! "Do we still need to complete the remaining Cloud Treads?" Wang Yuan asked. Luo Chen waved his hand. "Not for now. The Ninety Thousand Miles we learned before is already a splendid method for long-distance travel. Of course, once we survive this great war and find free time later, we can research new techniques together just like this." Wang Yuan nodded, smacking his lips, thoroughly satisfied with their recent collaborative research. His transcendent martial comprehension paired with Luo Chen's terrifying, indestructible body was truly a match made in heaven for developing arts! Deducing the fragmentary Wind Leg in just a little over a month was proof enough. Were it not for the war, he would have loved to continue living like this indefinitely; perhaps he might even deduce an opportunity to break through to the fourth realm of body cultivation. Wang Yuan let out a sigh. "This decisive battle—who knows when it will come?" "Soon!" Luo Chen replied. Wang Yuan looked over, and Luo Chen repeated with solemn gravity, "Soon!" Unlike Wang Yuan, who poured all his focus into researching techniques, Luo Chen had kept an eye on Lingtian Pass between experiments. With Lingfengzi sending him intelligence from time to time, he remained well-informed about the demon army's movements. A full year had passed since the battle in which Lingtian Pass was breached! Over this year, Lingtian Pass had continuously replenished its cultivators, and the demon race had done the same. The eight great commanders had gathered! Dozens of fourth-tier Demon Emperors watched hungrily! The low-tier demon beasts under their banners were countless, far exceeding tens of millions. The nine surrounding great domains were packed with demons of all sizes, surging like ocean waves. Such a terrifying force was immense, but it could never be sustained for long. Even the Ancient Demon Di Tian could not maintain it indefinitely. Therefore, the arrival of the decisive battle was imminent! *** Completing the Wind Leg before the decisive battle was marvelous news. On the very day it was perfected, Luo Chen had achieved basic mastery. Furthermore, through repeated sparring with Wang Yuan, he had raised his proficiency to the proficient level. The reason it progressed faster than Thunder Kick or Moon Step was primarily that this body art had been developed through experiments on Luo Chen's own body from the very start, fitting him perfectly. Naturally, his cultivation speed was beyond imagination. Not only that, but Luo Chen had also raised Moon Step to the master level in the process. This was precisely why he could advance, retreat, strike, and hold back at will while sparring with Wang Yuan. However, upon reaching these two stages, his progress inevitably slowed, requiring far more time and effort to advance further. To prepare for battle, Luo Chen had to maintain peak condition, so he brought his training to a halt. At the summit of Mount Daqing, inside the Luotian Grand Hall. An ice fort exuding extreme cold stood quietly. Luo Chen sent his divine sense within and saw an ice coffin, inside of which Canglong still slept. Yet the furrow that used to crease her willow brows had long smoothed out beneath the hazy glow of a mottled stone mirror. With a thought, Luo Chen connected to his second soul, which had slipped into the stone mirror! *** "Canglong, I never imagined your soul foundation would be so formidable. I originally intended to wait until you reached Golden Core before imparting the Ten Directions Frozen Extremity Dao to you. Now it seems you already qualify to study this art at the Foundation Establishment stage." "The Ten Directions Frozen Extremity Dao? Could it be the legendary supreme technique of our Ice Fort?" "Indeed. This technique extends straight to the fourth tier and contains the method for forming a Nascent Soul. Only those possessing ice and water spiritual roots are qualified to learn it. Furthermore, one's soul foundation must be exceptionally robust to progress without hindrance. You may now attempt to study it." "Thank you, Master!" Clutching the original technique scroll, Canglong left her master's immortal cave brimming with joy. Along the way, she was met with gazes of jealousy, envy, respect, and affection. She paid them no heed. Only when she returned to her own cave abode did she gingerly unroll the Ten Directions Frozen Extremity Dao to study it closely. *Woof!* A dog barked nearby. She looked up to see a massive crimson dog with golden pupils walking out. Canglong smiled sweetly. "Mingzun, thank you for teaching me the Soul Splitting Art to strengthen my soul foundation. Master just handed down our Ice Fort's core technique to me ahead of time." Mingzun—the god of fire! The massive crimson hound named Mingzun resembled a blazing ball of flame, padding step-by-step toward the exit of the cave abode. Hearing the woman's words, he glanced back. Canglong froze, realizing something, and quickly asked, "Are you leaving?" Mingzun nodded and continued walking out. Anxious, the woman chased after him. "Cultivate the Soul Splitting Art well. I will return." By the time she ran out of the cave abode, the crimson dog had vanished without a trace, leaving only a lingering bark. The woman stood dazed for a long while before dejectedly walking back inside. *** *Whoosh!* A beam of ghostly light flew out from the ice fort and sank into Luo Chen's crown. After a long silence, Luo Chen slowly opened his eyes. After spending years with the aid of the Chenyuan Immortal Mirror and his second soul, Canglong had constructed a complete and relatively stable dreamscape. As a result, his divided soul no longer needed to remain inside at all times. Whenever he had free time in the future, he could re-enter to help stabilize the dreamscape and guide Canglong in practicing the Soul Splitting Art. As for now, Luo Chen naturally had to recall all of his divided souls to ensure he was at the absolute peak of his combat strength. Luo Chen sank into the depths of Mount Daqing and arrived at the spiritual node guarded by the Black King. Puppet Jin San sat cross-legged within the node, breathing in the heaven-and-earth spiritual energy. Luo Chen observed closely for a moment, revealing a look of satisfaction. "The nurturing is going well. At this rate, once the ten-year mark is met, it can be deployed in battle." However! That was still ten years away. For the time being, the puppet could not offer Luo Chen much assistance. With a thought, a beam of ghostly light flew out from the puppet and vanished into Luo Chen's sea of consciousness. The third soul had returned! Puppet Jin San remained seated quietly within the spiritual node. Without the guiding soul, the rate at which it absorbed spiritual energy immediately slowed. Yet thanks to the formations engraved upon it, it continued to draw in the surrounding spiritual energy at a steady pace. The Black King swam around Luo Chen, watching curiously. "Master, is something major about to happen? The Luotian Sect cultivators have been drawing heavily on the earth-vein spiritual energy lately, and now you've recalled your divided souls with such solemnity. Are we going to war again?" "Mm." Feeling the fullness returning to his sea of consciousness, Luo Chen responded casually. After years of nurturing, his second soul's strength had reached roughly the third tier of Nascent Soul. Even the third soul, which had been split off later, had advanced to roughly the second tier of Nascent Soul thanks to the nourishment of Great Soul Pills. With both returning to complement the immense foundation of his primary soul, Luo Chen felt that once he fully merged them, his spiritual strength would easily rival an ordinary sixth-tier Nascent Soul cultivator. *Such strength might still fall short of withstanding the attacks of Great Cultivators versed in soul arts, but against ordinary divine soul attacks, I can already endure them by force.* *Moreover, with two divided souls, my capacity for multitasking allows me to cast multiple spells simultaneously, catching foes completely off guard!* *Only this is my peak form!* In the war to come, Luo Chen, stationed in the rear, was relatively safe. Yet one had to account for every contingency! If a troublesome enemy appeared and threatened the Luotian Sect, he had to be ready to strike them down swiftly. Luo Chen would never again stand by and watch his friends, family, and disciples die before his eyes. He was fully prepared for battle. His gaze fell upon the Black King, and Luo Chen smiled faintly. "I almost forgot about you. Come up!" With a wave of his hand, the Black King shrank in size, obediently slithering onto his left arm and transforming into a dragon tattoo that sank into his flesh. With the Wind Leg mastered, the three souls returned to their places, and the Black King merged with him, Luo Chen had thoroughly attained the pinnacle of combat strength in his entire life! Just how strong was he? Luo Chen did not know. Yet he knew that so long as his opponent was not at the Great Cultivator level, he possessed absolute confidence in slaying them! Even against a Great Cultivator, he had a fair measure of certainty in retreating unscathed! "I wonder which unfortunate soul will stumble into Baili Qingchuan?" Luo Chen brushed off his robes and drifted back into the Luotian Grand Hall. He lit an exquisite Wondergod Leaf gifted by Lingfengzi and set it into the incense burner. Beneath the curling wisps of fragrant smoke, the white-robed Daoist sat cross-legged, tranquil and silent.