"Success!"
Inside the Duzhen Cave Abode, Luo Chen opened his eyes, his face alight with joy.
At this moment, the magic power within his body was circulating along a completely different pathway than before.
From the soles of his feet up to the crown of his head—and even outside his sea of consciousness—wisps of magic power nurtured every part of him.
The latter phenomenon in particular was something others might not understand, but Luo Chen knew its meaning clearly.
It meant that the complete Heavenly Phoenix Nirvana Scripture possessed the efficacy to temper the divine soul—a feat far beyond the reach of most cultivation arts in the world!
For Luo Chen, this was an unexpected windfall.
Having cultivated the Soul Splitting Art, he grasped the principle of expanding his soul's foundational reserves: dividing the main soul so that both the main soul and secondary souls could grow simultaneously, yielding twice the results with half the effort.
Awkwardly, however, when he obtained Han Zhan's soul fragments in the past, certain memories had been missing, lacking one of the most critical elements—a method for advancing secondary souls.
Because of that shortcoming, Luo Chen had gone to great pains to collect soul essences and refine Great Soul Pills, relying on external power to compensate.
Now, however, the Heavenly Phoenix Nirvana Scripture took the most open, upright path of "refining qi into spirit" by using magic power to nurture the divine soul, leaving him with no more shortcomings!
From here on, the secondary souls he split off would no longer lag so dreadfully behind the main soul in growth.
And credit for all of this...
Luo Chen drew a deep breath. With an inexplicable sense of anticipation, he extended his divine sense into his violet palace.
The tiny Nascent Soul child snapped its eyes open.
Full of childish whimsy, it toddled into a corner of the violet palace.
There, a fire tree patterned in green and white spread its branches.
Compared to before, however, the fire tree was far more subdued.
The reason was simple: perched upon its canopy, a little golden bird slept soundly with its wings tucked in.
Seeing Luo Chen approach, the green-and-white fire tree swayed its branches, looking thoroughly aggrieved.
Yet Luo Chen paid it no mind, his gaze falling upon the little golden bird.
Mysterious and dazzling, it radiated breathtaking beauty and majesty.
Its feathers were soft, as though spun from clouds and rosy dawn.
The crest atop its head shone as brilliantly as the blazing sun, impossibly noble and extraordinary.
With a single glance, Luo Chen recognized what kind of entity it was.
A phoenix!
The mythical divine bird phoenix of immortal legends!
At the moment, however, its golden light was dim and its figure ethereal, as though a single gust of wind might scatter it away.
Luo Chen carefully reached out a chubby little hand. The golden flame, which ought to have been blistering, felt remarkably warm to him, not scalding in the slightest.
As he channeled magic power into it, the little golden bird seemed replenished. In a daze, it turned its head and continued dozing.
The green-and-white fire tree beneath it felt terribly wronged, convinced that the magic power should have been its own!
Luo Chen withdrew his hand, a satisfied smile emerging on his face.
The Nirvana Holy Fire!
Even he had not expected such a surprising harvest.
Earlier, the cautious Luo Chen had not dared let his main soul undergo soul nirvana, choosing instead to let his strongest secondary soul attempt the trial.
During the arduous nirvana process, the secondary soul had gradually reached its limit, drawing closer and closer to failure.
Luo Chen had almost resigned himself to that reality.
Yet to his astonishment, while circulating the nirvana technique of the Heavenly Phoenix Nirvana Scripture, he had drawn out a golden speck of light from deep inside the Wither-Bloom Divine Fire.
The instant that speck of light merged into Luo Chen's magic power, it transformed into a golden flame.
Though faint and far weaker than the Wither-Bloom Divine Fire in its prime, its grade and stature far surpassed anything the current Wither-Bloom Divine Fire could match.
This golden flame surged into his sea of consciousness and enveloped his second secondary soul.
Although it still failed to complete the soul nirvana, the flame preserved the secondary soul from destruction.
Furthermore, as the golden flame swept through Luo Chen's entire body, the Heavenly Phoenix Nirvana Scripture—which he had struggled to master—finally opened up. Magic power flowed smoothly through every limb and meridian, circulating with natural familiarity.
In that instant, Luo Chen knew he had crossed the threshold of the Heavenly Phoenix Nirvana Scripture.
His switch of primary cultivation art was a success!
Only after everything settled did Luo Chen realize in hindsight what had occurred.
That golden flame was the Nirvana Holy Fire!
Its origin was the Heaven Refining Cauldron from the Land of the Fallen Demon.
A thousand years ago, the great battle between the Heaven Refining Demon Lord and Monarch Qixia had left far-reaching consequences.
The Heaven Refining Demon Lord perished, and Monarch Qixia's whereabouts became unknown.
Yet the Nine Refinement Signal Fire and the Nirvana Holy Fire left behind by the two continued their ceaseless struggle within the Heaven Refining Cauldron. Even after their flame spirit consciousnesses were worn away, their instincts continued to fight.
That lasted until Luo Chen arrived and attempted to claim the Heaven Refining Cauldron.
Back then, the Nirvana Holy Fire had already lost its conscious mind, yet its instinct drove it to leap toward Luo Chen at the first opportunity because he was cultivating the Golden Core chapter of the Heavenly Phoenix Nirvana Scripture.
Inside the Heaven Refining Cauldron, the Nine Refinement Signal Fire had held the home-field advantage and ground away its consciousness.
Luo Chen's body thus became its new home field.
The Nine Refinement Signal Fire relentlessly pursued it, causing Luo Chen's body to collapse and forcing him to undergo physical nirvana.
In the end, Luo Chen succeeded. The Nine Refinement Signal Fire vanished, and the Nirvana Holy Fire nearly dispersed, leaving behind only a spark of fire seed that was swallowed by the gluttonous Wither-Bloom Fire of that time.
Yet back then, the Wither-Bloom Fire's grade was far too low to truly devour and assimilate it.
Thus, over all these years, the seed of the Nirvana Holy Fire remained stuck inside the Wither-Bloom fire tree.
That speck of gold had always been there!
Now, with Luo Chen cultivating the complete Heavenly Phoenix Nirvana Scripture, the fire seed had rekindled from the ashes. Not only had the Nirvana Holy Fire reemerged, but it had also carried Luo Chen across the final barrier to basic mastery.
*What rank does it belong to?*
Luo Chen was intensely curious.
There was no answer. Once spiritual entities in the world reached the fifth tier, they were no different from ordinary humans; classifying them by numerical tiers became inappropriate.
Even so, Luo Chen knew that the Nirvana Holy Fire, which had fought the Nine Refinement Signal Fire for a millennium, possessed an extraordinarily high grade.
It was simply far too weak at present.
"Don't bully it,"
Luo Chen said, turning toward the aggrieved Wither-Bloom fire tree and admonishing it carefully.
"I know you're skilled at absorbing vitality, and I haven't been stingy about nurturing you over the years. Share a portion with it from now on so it can get through this fragile infancy."
The branches of the Wither-Bloom fire tree drooped, looking utterly dejected.
It did not like its master playing favorites.
Yet it had no way to rebel.
Besides, it could sense that the little bird slumbering upon its boughs shared an almost bloodline-like connection with it, so leaving it to fend for itself was out of the question.
Having settled things here, Luo Chen did not withdraw his consciousness yet.
The tiny Nascent Soul child sat cross-legged beneath the fire tree, and armor gradually materialized over its body.
However, this armor was tattered and broken, barely covering its form.
It was none other than the shattered Xuanchen Armor!
Luo Chen felt a twinge of heartache.
He had expended so much effort in the North Sea to forge this True Artifact armor, and it had rendered great service through countless fierce battles, only to be reduced to this state.
"Huang Man is dead, but Bi Zheng, Ox Ghost—just you wait!"
The Nascent Soul child muttered viciously before forcing the Xuanchen Armor out of its body.
In its current condition, the Xuanchen Armor could not be restored through magic power nourishment alone; it required a large infusion of materials.
Next, the Nascent Soul child pulled a small gray cauldron into its embrace.
The Hunyuan Cauldron was in much better shape.
Though it had suffered cracks, those fissures were repairing themselves with remarkable speed!
Given ample nourishment from magic power, it would likely return to normal before long.
Only then did Luo Chen slowly withdraw his consciousness from the violet palace.
Fingering the black armor fragment, Luo Chen revealed a rare look of hesitation.
Should he head back?
He had crossed the threshold of the cultivation art, and his stray path had been corrected.
It was indeed time to return.
Yet upon second thought, Luo Chen dismissed the idea.
Returning did not mean returning to the Luotian Sect; rather, he would likely have to report to the Mingyuan Sect at the first opportunity.
As he was now, his protective treasure armor was shattered and his natal treasure unfit for use. If any mishap occurred, he would have to stake his life again.
Moreover, he had already sent Black King to notify the Luotian Sect.
Therefore, this was actually a rare window of freedom before he had to report to the Mingyuan Sect.
"I'll repair the Xuanchen Armor first, then familiarize myself with the Heavenly Phoenix Nirvana Scripture and strive to reach the proficient level before doing anything else!"
With his mind made up, Luo Chen hesitated no longer.
From his storage ring, he retrieved large quantities of mineral ores.
Over so many years of cultivation, he had amassed vast wealth.
A portion had been consumed in cultivation, another portion had been left to the Luotian Sect, and the remainder still held many valuable assets.
These ores, mostly sourced from Thousand-Ren Mountain in the Land of the Fallen Demon, were his treasures.
Their value was beyond measure!
If Luo Chen ever perished in battle and someone obtained his storage ring, they would strike a monstrous fortune!
Repairing the Xuanchen Armor was not difficult for Luo Chen.
When forging the treasure years ago, he had deduced every intricacy to the utmost detail to prevent failure.
He had even practiced the six armor formations individually to high proficiency.
Now, it was merely mending; as long as he had the materials, it posed no problem.
In less than three months, the Xuanchen Armor was restored to a rough outline of its former self.
It retained its original design, the only drawback being its current weakness. It required magic power nourishment and reinforced spiritual attunement.
Luo Chen did not find this troublesome.
Magic power was something he had in abundance.
As for spiritual attunement, his second secondary soul could handle it on his behalf.
Now then!
Luo Chen exhaled a breath of turbid air. He had the Nascent Soul don the armor for close-contact nourishment through magic power, while in his sea of consciousness, his massive main soul merged back with the secondary soul that had failed nirvana.
As the Heavenly Phoenix Nirvana Scripture circulated, his magic power surged in and out.
The rich, boundless spiritual energy within the cave abode rolled toward him, drawn in like a whale swallowing the sea with every breath.
And his aura began to climb steadily upward.
***
Cultivation knew no days or months; a century passed in a flash, as did a millennium.
In the blink of an eye, seven years slipped by!
This was the tenth year since Luo Chen's return to Mount Cangwu. Having remained indoors the entire time, he was nearly forgotten.
Only when an overbearing aura broke through the concealing array and scattered the clouds in the sky did people recall that a remarkable figure resided in Duzhen Hall.
"He broke through?"
Heqingzi looked on in shock. She had already thought Luo Chen's cultivation speed frighteningly fast—in barely two hundred years, he had matched her near-thousand-year accumulation of bitter practice.
Yet now she realized that had not been his limit at all.
If such a man could become a Dao companion, he would be an unmatched prospect.
If Luo Chen could maintain this cultivation speed, even the Soul Formation stage was not out of reach.
The Dao companion of a Soul Formation grand cultivator... Heqingzi was reminded of the Jinxiu Immortal.
That woman had not been particularly outstanding either, yet by latching onto the ancient demon Di Tian, she had achieved the realm of a Great Demon Emperor and attained exalted status.
"I can't let a prospect like him slip away!"
Heqingzi licked her red lips and hurried toward Luo Chen's cave abode.
Yet the cave abode's heavy doors remained firmly shut.
Outside, the Thunder Prison Divine Peng was walking away with a despondent expression.
He did not even greet Heqingzi when he saw her.
The Thunder Prison Divine Peng had noticed that the immense magic power Luo Chen displayed upon breaking through had already surpassed his own.
Though he had recovered most of his strength by now, he remained far from his peak.
Yet even if he truly returned to his peak, could he really settle scores with Luo Chen?
"Forget it!"
"The one who fought me back then was Jiuling Yuanjun after all. Why take out my grievances on Luo Chen?"
Ha!
With that thought, his sense of defeat evaporated into nothingness.
Heqingzi curled her lips at the Thunder Prison Divine Peng's retreating back. What she favored was the refined elegance of Master Yunhe and the handsome features and boundless future of Luo Chen; she had not the slightest interest in rough brutes like the Thunder Prison.
Of course, had she seen Luo Chen casually transforming into a giant hundreds of zhang tall, she might have thought differently.
Heqingzi's visit received no response.
At this moment, Luo Chen had no time to entertain her.
Taking advantage of his breakthrough, he was splitting his main soul.
He was now at the fifth layer of the Nascent Soul stage!
His already profound magic power had surged once more. Compared to a true grand cultivator, he was not the least bit inferior; he was even slightly superior to ordinary seventh-layer grand cultivators.
As for his divine soul, with three souls merged, it was roughly on par with Youquan's former strength.
Yet Luo Chen was still not satisfied.
Back at the fourth layer, he could have split off a third secondary soul, but considering the imminent war between humans and demons, he had put it on hold.
Now, there was no need to delay.
Not because he was entirely carefree about the future, but because after cultivating the Heavenly Phoenix Nirvana Scripture, he could rapidly recover from soul weakness and maintain stable combat power.
Most importantly, it was time to master the Prison Suppression soul art.
Inside the cave abode, Luo Chen's expression turned ferocious, his muscles contorting and his teeth grinding loudly.
Even having endured this twice before, the agony of splitting the main soul was something one could never get used to.
Yet this time, he kept himself from crying out in pain.
That was progress!
Though it felt as if an eternity had passed, barely dozens of breaths had elapsed.
Suddenly, Luo Chen's entire body went limp.
His main soul shuddered, and a cluster of golden light slowly descended into his sea of consciousness.
The first and second secondary souls looked toward the golden light in unison. It rolled once amidst the golden ripples of the sea of consciousness, gradually condensing into an ethereal form that finally mirrored Luo Chen's appearance.
The third soul took up another position, and together with the other two secondary souls, guarded Luo Chen's main soul right in the center.
Looking somewhat frail, Luo Chen turned to the third soul.
"Begin!"
The third soul showed no discomfort, seeming to know what to do all along, and immediately formed hand seals.
The other two formidable secondary souls formed the identical seals.
Instantly, the sea of consciousness rippled with golden waves. Scattered spiritual power surged toward the three souls, causing their auras to swell continuously.
Only when their forms matched the exact size of Luo Chen's main soul did the process halt.
Then, each formed the seal of embracing the primal, opened their mouths, and exhaled softly.
*Whoosh...*
Golden light sprayed forth, forming a spherical curtain of radiance that enveloped Luo Chen and the three secondary souls within.
The Prison Suppression Art was complete!
Only now did Luo Chen fully relax.
With a thought, the three secondary souls released the gathered spiritual power and returned to their original states.
Sensing the defensive strength of the Prison Suppression soul art, he felt immensely pleased.
The records of the Soul Splitting Art had not lied; this defensive soul art had no fixed rank, depending entirely on the number and strength of the secondary souls.
The more secondary souls one had, and the higher their cultivation, the greater the defensive power of the Prison Suppression Art.
As things stood, unless an attacker unleashed a divine soul strike more than three times stronger than Luo Chen's main soul, they could not harm his main soul at all!
In the present world, aside from Soul Formation grand cultivators, who possessed such immense soul reserves?
Very few indeed.
And even if such foes existed, Luo Chen would not cease his forward march. His secondary souls would grow in number, and the Prison Suppression Art would only grow stronger.
"What a pity about Han Zhan back then!"
"Had his physical body survived to host a sea of consciousness, using nine secondary souls to execute this technique, even my Dragon Slaying Art would have struggled to breach his defenses."
Never forgetting the well-digger when drinking water, Luo Chen murmured a few words for that old acquaintance whose memory was growing increasingly faint.
Afterward, he settled down to recuperate peacefully.
***
Several days later, before the main gates of Tongxuan Hall.
Clad in white robes, Luo Chen stood silently for a long time before finally turning to leave.
Monarch Qixia was not present!
The "moon-gazing maidservant" inside naturally would not, and dared not, open the doors for him.
Luo Chen did not force the issue. He had only come to maintain superficial courtesy and express gratitude to this "senior" who dealt fairly in transactions.
Nor did he visit Qingshuang or Youquan; their relations were hardly so close.
He simply sought out Huamei.
He handed over the new Transformation Pill recipe obtained from the Heaven Refining Demon Lord.
"This recipe does not require the Nascent Soul essence blood of human cultivators, and its use is not restricted to below the fourth tier. Even fourth-tier demonic beasts can take it."
Huamei was overjoyed and wished to keep Luo Chen longer to consult him on alchemical matters.
Yet Luo Chen had already resolved to depart.
He lacked the standing to take away his old friend Haoranzi; this was the utmost he could do.
At the very least, Mount Cangwu would no longer drain Haoranzi's blood to refine Transformation Pills.
Even as a prisoner, his days would be somewhat easier.
Luo Chen transformed into a streak of red light, vanishing into the bird-flocked expanse of the Mount Cangwu range.
A thousand li beyond the mountains, his figure paused briefly.
A beam of black light broke through the earth, surging toward him before disappearing into his arm.
A flash of red light, and he was already at the horizon.
Chapter 889