"Mistress, you sent for me?"
Inside a newly tidied cave abode, Qu Lingjun bowed respectfully to Sima Huiniang.
Sima Huiniang looked at Qu Lingjun's weathered face—which appeared even older than hers—and nodded slightly.
"Foundation Establishment eighth layer, just one step shy of the ninth. It seems you haven't let your master down; you haven't slacked off over these years."
Qu Lingjun gave an embarrassed smile. "It is entirely thanks to the resources Master bestowed upon me that I have made such swift progress."
Sima Huiniang hummed in acknowledgment and asked, "Have you settled on a cave abode?"
"I have. Qin'er is very familiar with Mount Qingping, so she picked out a natural weak Tier 3 spirit vein specifically for me. It suits my current cultivation perfectly."
"And what of your cultivation in the Microdust Primordial Art?"
"With the cultivation insights Master wrote by his own hand, I have already reached minor accomplishment in it. I hope to push it to moderate accomplishment before reaching the peak of Foundation Establishment."
"Moderate accomplishment already counts as entering the threshold!" Sima Huiniang praised. When she had been in the Foundation Establishment realm, she had barely managed minor accomplishment. Let alone grand accomplishment, even moderate accomplishment had been far beyond her reach.
In truth, that had been the norm before Luo Chen returned.
Back when he created the Microdust Primordial Art during the Core Formation stage, it had not yet been sufficiently refined. The version he left behind had an exceptionally high threshold for cultivation, and few in the Luotian Sect could even get started.
Only because Wang Yuan remembered Luo Chen's instructions before his departure—continually pruning and modifying the Microdust Primordial Art—did it gradually become suitable for Foundation Establishment cultivators to learn.
Even so, mastering that simplified version to minor accomplishment provided an immense boost to breaking through into the Core Formation stage.
That was precisely why the Luotian Sect had been able to produce Core Formation cultivators generation after generation.
Of course!
All of those issues changed the moment Luo Chen returned to the Eastern Desolation.
Having spent a century in the Northern Sea, he had long since cultivated the Microdust Primordial Art to perfection. Leveraging his higher realm, he had completely overhauled the technique, making it far better suited for both Foundation Establishment and Core Formation cultivators to learn.
Coupled with his personal cultivation notes, anyone studying the technique would avoid countless detours and find it much easier to get started.
Now, practically everyone in the Luotian Sect—including Qu Lingjun and Yao Mingyue—cultivated the new art Luo Chen had brought back.
When even someone of modest talent like Qu Lingjun could boldly claim he had a chance of reaching moderate accomplishment, those with superior gifts were bound to climb even higher.
It truly was a case of one generation planting trees so the next could enjoy the shade!
Sima Huiniang suddenly asked, "Do you have confidence in breaking through to the Core Formation stage before your lifespan runs out?"
Faced with this question, Qu Lingjun's reasonably bright mood visibly plummeted.
Lacking confidence, he mumbled, "I should be able to. Even if I can't, I will still attempt a breakthrough once."
For someone with a four-element spiritual root, the hardship of cultivation was something outsiders could never truly empathize with.
Even with the vast wealth of resources Luo Chen provided, Qu Lingjun could make no solemn guarantees in the face of his dwindling lifespan and steadily waning vitality.
Sima Huiniang looked with pity upon the insecure old man before her.
"It was the Luotian Sect that held you back all those years."
Qu Lingjun snapped his head up. "How can Mistress say such a thing? Without the Luotian Sect, without Master, let alone Core Formation, even Foundation Establishment would have been an unattainable pipe dream for me! How could you say the sect held me back!"
He sounded as though a raw nerve had been struck.
Sima Huiniang did not know whether to laugh or cry. She brought out a delicate wine flagon.
"Take it. Your master specifically instructed me to give this to you before he left."
Qu Lingjun looked curious. "What is this?"
"Longevity Spring. Its effects are just as the name suggests. Your body, with its steadily weakening vitality, cannot withstand heavy tonics. Once you take it, remember to drink small amounts frequently."
As an alchemist, Qu Lingjun naturally understood what drinking small amounts frequently meant—it was roughly the same principle as eating small, frequent meals.
Yet to think Master had left such a heaven-defying item specifically for him?
Panicking, he said, "How could such a treasure be wasted on a disciple of poor talent like me? It should be enjoyed by Master and Mistress!"
"You certainly have filial piety. But haven't you considered that your master is a peerless talent who attained the Nascent Soul realm at just over two hundred years old? Where would he need such life-extending items?"
Sima Huiniang chided him with a chuckle, shoving the flagon into Qu Lingjun's flustered arms.
"Take it! Just how much longevity this flagon can grant, even your master isn't entirely sure. You're an alchemist yourself, so treat it as testing medicine for your master."
Qu Lingjun parted his lips, silently cradling the flagon in both hands, the corners of his eyes growing somewhat moist.
That man—who, after returning, had treated him strictly and spoken few words, barely meeting with him more than a handful of times—had sent items that grew better with each passing occasion.
How could a clumsy disciple like him deserve such doting care?
Qu Lingjun asked in a choked voice, "Where is Master? I'd like to see him once before entering seclusion."
The smile on Sima Huiniang's face slowly faded.
"Cultivate diligently. When the time comes for you to form your core, he will naturally see you."
Qu Lingjun clenched his fists. His earlier lack of confidence was replaced entirely by a desperate resolve.
He had to succeed in forming his core!
If only so he could stand before Master and tell him that his disciple had not let him down!
After Qu Lingjun left, a sigh echoed in the cave abode.
Sima Huiniang wore a dazed expression. In truth, she did not know where Luo Chen was right now either.
Yet she knew that Luo Chen's deliberate departure was not an abandonment of the Luotian Sect, but an effort to protect it.
Not telling them his whereabouts was likewise protecting them.
"Is it because of Di Tu?"
***
Atop Mount Daqing.
Di Tu sat alone in the Luotian Grand Hall, cold and desolate. Nothing about the hall hinted that it had been teeming with life not long ago.
A flicker of restlessness shone in his eyes.
Luo Chen had left him behind to guard Mount Daqing while taking the Luotian Sect cultivators away.
Didn't this hand him an opportunity to escape?
As long as he returned to his father's side, his father possessed the ability to unravel those slave seals and restrictions while completely preserving his primary soul.
When that time came, he would spend whatever it took to hire several commanders to secretly enter the Fenghua Domain and grind that Luo Chen's bones to dust!
No!
How could grinding his bones to dust satisfy his hatred?
He would harvest his soul blood, brand him with slave seals, make Luo Chen his slave, and torment him day in and day out!
Just as his expression grew twisted and vicious, a faint voice suddenly drifted into his ear.
"Thinking of running?"
It was Luo Chen!
In an instant, the vicious look vanished from Di Tu's face, replaced by sheer panic and terror.
"Master, this servant would never dare!"
"Heh heh..."
A light chuckle sounded, followed by absolute silence.
Di Tu looked around and extended his divine sense, yet he could find no trace of Luo Chen anywhere.
Forget a shadow; he could not detect even a whisper of an aura.
Yet, through an unseen connection, he could sense that the other party was watching him.
For a time, Di Tu was driven nearly mad.
He could tell that Luo Chen was wary of his ancient demon father.
Yet Luo Chen neither let him go nor killed him, nor did he let him see anyone. Leaving him to guard this dilapidated Mount Daqing—what was the meaning of this?
Moreover, what was the point of hiding here in a battle of attrition instead of going off to cultivate?
Deep in the earth vein of Baili Qingchuan.
A figure cloaked in black robes sat cross-legged.
This figure was somewhat gaunt, looking nothing like the tall, imposing Luo Chen.
Yet if Di Tu were to see this person, he would undoubtedly mistake him for Luo Chen.
This was solely because this body bore Luo Chen's flesh and blood, and the soul inside was none other than Luo Chen's.
With Luo Chen's body and Luo Chen's soul, who could say this person was not Luo Chen?
In truth, however, he was merely the puppet Luo Chen had crafted with his own hands—Jin San!
The soul housed within was only Luo Chen's third soul.
The puppet slowly withdrew his gaze. With him keeping watch here, Di Tu would not dare escape.
Even if Di Tu tried, he could be killed with a single thought.
For someone as precious about his own life as Di Tu, that was a gamble he would never dare take.
The puppet shook his head and refocused on absorbing spiritual qi to nourish his body.
The Tier 4 spirit node that had been so painstakingly condensed in Baili Qingchuan had been shattered by the great battle.
Yet that did not mean the puppet could not absorb spiritual qi!
The fall of two Demon Emperors had released the vast magic power they had accumulated over lifetimes of cultivation.
As this magic power spilled outward, it disrupted the Fenghua Domain's spiritual qi, but it also flooded the domain with an enormous amount of spiritual qi.
Unlike a living human, the puppet did not require such refined absorption—he could simply gulp it down in great mouthfuls!
Before closing his eyes, a thought crossed the puppet's mind: *He has finally reached the Dieyun Domain!*
***
The Dieyun Domain!
Once the cultivation grounds of a major sect, the Dieyun Sect.
At its zenith, with three Nascent Soul True Persons presiding within, ties of friendship with the Mingyuan Sect without, and spiritual wine that sold far and wide, the Dieyun Domain had been renowned across the Eastern Desolation as a flourishing land.
Yet a single great battle had plunged the Dieyun Domain into instant decline.
It had not reached the point of turning into thousands of li of scorched earth, since the Demon Emperors led by Jinxiu Xian back then had charged straight for the Dieyun Sect's mountain gate.
Even so, describing it as nine houses out of ten standing empty was no exaggeration whatsoever.
A misty phantom drifted across the high heavens.
Gazing at the sparse population below, he understood that this was the result of Lingtian Pass forcibly conscripting the Dieyun Domain's remaining forces.
"This is for the best. Without powerful figures presiding here, it is all the better suited for me to lie low."
The phantom murmured to himself, quickening his flight.
Before long, he stopped outside the Dieyun Sect's mountain gate, which was guarded by only a handful of Foundation Establishment cultivators and some Qi Refining cultivators.
He glanced down at the massive crater outside the mountain gate, which had turned entirely white at some point.
He seemed to recall that it had been a pitch-black pit back then, hadn't it?
Luo Chen looked closer and immediately understood the reason for the change.
After so much time, this crater spanning several li had been filled with rainwater, turning into a lake.
Furthermore, with the onset of deep winter, the bitter cold had frozen it into solid ice, making it appear stark white.
From this, one could also see just how far the Dieyun Sect had fallen—even the formation meant to moderate the local climate could no longer extend to the mountain gate.
Luo Chen sighed with emotion. Without alerting any of the sect's mountain guards, he slipped quietly through the gate.
Retracing the route from memory when he had scouted the battlefield, Luo Chen slipped past everything.
At last, he stopped before a massive mountain dense with rich spiritual qi.
Mount Liuyun!
Once the cultivation grounds of the Dieyun Sect's Supreme Elder, Master Liuyun.
It was also the place where the Dieyun Sect's Tier 4 spirit vein was best preserved today!
Luo Chen swept his divine sense across Mount Liuyun in an instant, finding only a few low-level cultivators sweeping and shoveling snow on the outskirts, along with an elderly Core Formation cultivator presiding over a Tier 3 cave abode.
"The Mingyuan Sect didn't push things to absolute ruin after all, leaving the Dieyun Sect a Core Formation cultivator to guard the mountain gate."
Muttering under his breath, Luo Chen headed straight into Mount Liuyun.
Everywhere he went, he encountered no obstacles, yet strangely, not a single person noticed him.
Passing the elderly Core Formation cultivator's abode, he saw the man flushed red, reeking of alcohol, and sound asleep.
With a light laugh, Luo Chen finally entered the cave abode that had once belonged to Master Liuyun.
The illusory arrays proved useless before his eyes that could pierce all illusions.
Unlike the magnificent splendor or ethereal divinity one might have imagined, this cave abode struck Luo Chen as rather shabby.
There were only a few casually hollowed-out, spacious rooms, without even an isolating formation laid down.
Yet upon opening the cultivation chamber, the surging spiritual qi proved beyond doubt that this was indeed a genuine dwelling of a True Person!
"Rumor had it that Master Liuyun had a lax demeanor and lived sloppily. Looking at his residence now, that certainly rings true."
Luo Chen muttered as he inspected the spirit gathering array.
After a long while, he nodded in satisfaction.
That ambush—which had seen the three True Persons of the Dieyun Sect fall in battle and the mountain gate collapse—had not completely destroyed the sect's mountain spirit vein.
In fact, in his estimation, the damage was not even as severe as that at Fenghua Palace.
This likely had to do with the Dieyun Sect's mountain-protecting grand array.
Back when Luo Chen inspected the battlefield, he had made an accurate assessment.
The mountain-protecting array arranged by the Dieyun Sect did not rely excessively on earth veins like other sects; instead, it incorporated a vast number of cloud restrictions.
Thus, when the array broke, the boundless clouds blanketing the sky over the Dieyun Sect dispersed, leaving the mountain spirit ground preserved instead.
Of course, that was not to say there had been no lingering consequences.
When the massive clouds drawn by the array collapsed, the Dieyun Domain had endured months of torrential downpours—the frozen lake at the mountain gate was a clear example.
"I suppose it simply works out to my advantage for now."
Luo Chen took out his formation-laying treasures and began setting them up meticulously inside the cave abode and outside the cultivation chamber.
He did not tamper with the original illusory array guarding the cave abode, choosing only to arrange his own within the interior.
In this manner, outsiders would have no idea that the place had gained a new master, nor would Luo Chen be caught unaware if someone managed to enter.
Once all preparations were complete, Luo Chen stepped into the cultivation chamber.
Only now did the layers of disguise he wore before others fall from his face, revealing a rare look of exhaustion.
Looking inward at his Purple Palace, his Nascent Soul appeared withered, its chubby baby face drooping listlessly.
Such a posture would make the situation clear to any Nascent Soul cultivator.
Magic power depletion!
If it went any further, he would have had to consume the fundamental magic power that sustained his Nascent Soul.
Once that foundational power was lost, his Nascent Soul might even collapse, causing a catastrophic plunge in his cultivation realm!
The cause of this condition was, naturally, that great battle in Baili Qingchuan several days ago.
Simultaneously driving his natal magical treasure, the Hunyuan Cauldron, and the Great Five Elements Sword Array to set up the Triple Prison; wielding the blood sword Yuan Tu to slaughter enemies and exterminate demons; unleashing a ceaseless barrage of Tier 4 spells and illusions with everything he had... Every single one of these actions was an immense drain on his magic power.
In particular, that Wither-Bloom Dao Finger had instantly sucked whatever remained of his magic power bone-dry!
To others, his expression had seemed as steady as ever, his bearing unchanged, but that was solely because his powerful physical body masked his weakness.
The truth was that when he struck with that first Wither-Bloom Dao Finger, his magic power had already run dry.
Had the Great Demon Emperor Qi Xi not been scared off and charged back into the fray, Luo Chen's weakness would have been laid bare for all to see.
Over the past few days, Luo Chen had made frequent appearances and found no opportunity to recover his magic power. Only now had he finally secured some free time.
"All that preparation before the battle, yet I forgot that my own magic power could run out one day."
Luo Chen offered a wry smile, feeling a faint pang of lingering dread.
In truth, even in the middle of battle, he had a way to replenish drained magic power.
And that method originated precisely from the very Dieyun Sect where he now sat.
Back then, Black King had procured a large batch of spiritual wines, which included not only the Thousand-Year Five Temples Immortal Brew that Luo Chen valued most, but also a spiritual wine known as Golden Wind and Jade Dew.
A single sip of that wine could temporarily replenish a massive amount of magic power.
Yet Luo Chen had always prided himself on his profound reserves of magic power, and across countless battles, he had rarely ever exhausted them, so he had unconsciously overlooked it.
Only after unleashing that first Wither-Bloom Dao Finger had Luo Chen snapped back to the realization that his magic power, too, had its limits.
Yet with the Great Demon Emperor Qi Xi right in front of him, how could he have awkwardly pulled out Golden Wind and Jade Dew to recover his magic power?
Wouldn't that have been showing weakness?
That was why he had bluffed, forming the hand seal and posing to strike with a second Wither-Bloom Dao Finger.
If Qi Xi had genuinely charged, that second finger certainly would not have been unleashed. Luo Chen would have made the sensible choice to fall back in haste, drink the spiritual wine to restore his magic power, and then wage a fight to the death.
Perhaps he still could have repelled Qi Xi, but the spectacle would hardly have been graceful.
However, that bluff had not been entirely without its benefits!
Luo Chen raised his right hand, once again forming the hand seal to draw upon the surrounding spiritual qi.
In an instant, the already abundant spiritual qi within the cultivation chamber turned violent.
Luo Chen narrowed his eyes, staring intently at his fingertips.
Tiny vortexes began to take shape.
"Casting the Wither-Bloom Dao Finger in a state of magic power exhaustion can actually manipulate heaven-and-earth origin qi?"
Chapter 856