Resolving the Demonic Heart Gu was simple?
If it were truly that simple, it would not have troubled Luo Chen for decades.
Only after coming into deep contact with this Gu worm did Luo Chen understand why the Southern Border had clamped down so ruthlessly on its circulation back then.
Once a cultivator became bound to it too deeply, it turned into maggots on rotting bone, nearly impossible to purge.
Even Perfected Tianshan, who hailed from the Southern Border, dared not boast that it was simple. From where did this Valley Immortal before him draw such arrogant words?
Under Luo Chen’s skeptical gaze, Feng Jiang’s eyelids lifted slightly.
"Your previous line of thinking was flawed."
"You only thought of expelling the Gu, never considering turning it to your own use."
At those words, Luo Chen was visibly shaken.
In a daze, it felt as if a thin sheet of window paper was slowly being punctured.
Yet he still could not see clearly what lay behind it.
With a raspy voice, he said, "Indeed. Luo previously felt this Gu had harmed far too many, so I fixated solely on peeling it away and never considered what you just said."
Feng Jiang said in a deep voice, "Misfortune is what fortune depends upon; fortune is where misfortune hides. The Demonic Heart Gu could once spread like wildfire for a reason—it must possess extraordinary merits. Handled properly, it may very well prove to be a profound stroke of fortune for your son."
"Fellow Daoist, how might you instruct me?" Luo Chen asked with sincere earnestness.
"An ordinary person might truly be unable to use that method, but your son’s situation is unique. Rather than being implanted after birth, he was born with a Demonic Heart Gu as an innate companion. It might actually work." Feng Jiang glanced at the boy dozing in Luo Chen’s arms and murmured, "It is nothing more than dividing and dispersing it, and turning it to one’s own use!"
Luo Chen’s spirits lifted, dimly glimpsing the scenery beyond that window paper.
...
In a quiet side hall on Yingxian Peak, hidden among clusters of green pines.
Outside the hall, the boy sat cross-legged beneath a towering pine, drawing and expelling breath in a rhythmic cadence.
Inside the hall, the young man watched this scene through the window, his expression fraught with conflict.
After a long while, Luo Chen withdrew his gaze and turned his attention back to the thin sheet of rice paper before him.
Written upon it was the specific method imparted by Feng Jiang to resolve the issue of the Demonic Heart Gu.
The Demonic Heart Gu was a Gu worm that had once swept through the Southern Border.
Rumor had it that so long as it was planted, nurtured to a sufficient level, and the victim subsequently slain, the caster could instantly seize most of the other party's cultivation fruits.
Especially when breaking through realms and requiring an explosive surge of power, the convenience it provided truly made it an exemplar of the demonic path!
That was precisely why it bore the name "Demonic Heart."
Later, when word spread of the existence of the Demonic Heart Gu Emperor—and that all Demonic Heart Gu below the fourth tier were merely nourishment for it—its popularity waned somewhat.
Yet there were still people who sought to take the risk.
The primary reason was that, beyond its ability to plunder the cultivation of others, the Demonic Heart Gu could also accelerate the host's own cultivation speed.
As long as one mastered the proper moderation and could peel it away at any moment, all would be fine!
However, that balance was nearly impossible for ordinary people to maintain.
After all, anyone seduced by such cultivation convenience could hardly stand beside the abyss day and night without plunging in.
They would only sink deeper into doom beyond redemption, turning into nourishment for the Gu Emperor to harvest at will.
Luo Lingxi was different!
His bond with the Demonic Heart Gu was far too deep, far exceeding that of an ordinary person.
Thus, while it could no longer be thoroughly extracted, from another perspective, he could also be seen as an "inferior Gu Emperor."
Though still constrained by the sole Demonic Heart Gu Emperor in this world, Luo Lingxi himself possessed the ability to plunder others' Demonic Heart Gu.
If!
Granted, this was only an "if"—if Luo Lingxi could raise his innate Demonic Heart Gu to the fourth tier, he might well achieve the feat of "overthrowing the superior from below" mentioned by Perfected Tianshan.
Even if he could not reach that level, as long as he stayed far from the Demonic Heart Gu Emperor, he would not be in constant danger of having his entire cultivation harvested at any moment.
"Divide and disperse it, turn it to one's own use... It truly is simple, yet far too vicious and overbearing."
On the rice paper was recorded the method to produce low-tier Demonic Heart Gu in large quantities.
Following this method, one would use the natal Gu to craft low-tier Demonic Heart Gu, distribute them, and implant them into others, completing the step of "dividing and dispersing."
In this process, the natal Gu was not actually weakened, so it would not trigger resistance from the Demonic Heart Gu.
On the contrary, as the scattered low-tier Demonic Heart Gu continuously grew, once they were recalled, the natal Gu would even advance.
The host could seize this opportunity to cultivate swiftly, bolstering a frail cultivation base and even extending their lifespan.
As for whether to retrieve the Gu worms later and harvest the nourishment, that was the subsequent step of "turning it to one's own use."
"Theoretically, it works."
"The specific method of operation seems flawless to me as well."
"Yet must we truly do this?"
Luo Chen hesitated.
The scattered Demonic Heart Gu would inevitably need hosts.
Even if Luo Lingxi remained completely in the dark, it was fundamentally a demonic practice.
Luo Chen himself had borne the title of Demonic Lord Qingyang in his early years, yet his conduct had always been measured and restrained; he had never truly fallen into the demonic path.
If Luo Lingxi did this, he would step half a foot onto the demonic path from the very beginning.
And the vast majority of demonic practitioners met tragic ends.
What father in the world would wish such a fate upon his son?
"Let us wait and see for now. He is still young."
With a soft sigh, Luo Chen solemnly put away the slip of paper.
...
"Luo Chen, you're finally willing to step out! I thought you weren't the least bit tempted by the Alchemy Saint inheritance and was even planning to transcribe a copy of the relevant texts to deliver to your door," Ye Lingtian said, half in mock complaint and half in delight.
Luo Chen replied helplessly, "Who wouldn't want the Alchemy Saint inheritance? But don't I have a little fellow at my side who needs taking care of?"
Ye Lingtian let out a booming laugh. "No matter. Ruoli is a rare, attentive soul among my Ye Clan's younger generation. With her helping watch over him, your worries are quite unnecessary."
Luo Chen nodded, raising no objection.
He had already observed Ye Ruoli earlier; she was indeed gentle and kind-hearted. Leaving Lingxi in her care for a short while would not cause any trouble.
Thinking of the future, however, Luo Chen still asked a couple more questions.
"What kind of person is Valley Immortal Feng Jiang, really?"
Ye Lingtian hesitated before speaking slowly: "A man who acts without scruple, walking the line between righteous and demonic."
Luo Chen frowned, instinctively feeling that this did not match the outspoken, helpful Feng Jiang he had just met.
Yet recalling the solution the man had provided, he had to admit that Ye Lingtian's summary was remarkably accurate.
Casually treating low-tier cultivators as nourishment and dividing the Demonic Heart Gu was not a method a late Nascent Soul Great Cultivator would normally suggest to a peer upon their very first meeting.
"When cultivators seek spiritual lands, we all pursue places where immortal spiritual qi is pure and tranquil, untainted and undefiled. Why, then, did Fellow Daoist Feng Jiang choose Fengxian Valley as his cultivation abode?"
Luo Chen asked again, adding:
"Moreover, observing his magic power surging ceaselessly, on the verge of uncontrollable release, does he not wish to achieve the Soul Formation realm in the future?"
Faced with these two questions, Ye Lingtian wore a bitter smile.
He said with a sigh, "I fear Junior Brother Feng will never achieve the Soul Formation realm in this lifetime."
"Oh? How so?" Luo Chen's interest was genuinely piqued.
From what he had observed, Feng Jiang's magic power was extraordinarily vast, even surpassing Luo Chen's current level, and exceeding Castellan Lingtian's as well.
His cultivation base was undoubtedly past the seventh layer of the Nascent Soul realm, roughly around the ninth layer.
He was merely a single step away from the Soul Formation realm.
Could it be an issue of age?
Yet Ye Lingtian addressed him as junior brother, so his age could not be that advanced.
Ye Lingtian fell into hesitation.
Seeing this, Luo Chen curbed his curiosity.
"If it is inconvenient to speak of, then leave it unsaid. Do not trouble yourself, Senior Brother Ye."
"Alas..."
Ye Lingtian let out a long sigh. "In any case, you will soon count as a disciple of our Mingyuan Sect, Luo Chen. There is no harm in telling you."
Indeed, it was "soon count" rather than "already was."
This was because Luo Chen had not yet taken charge of the Alchemy Saint Hall, let alone had his name entered into the Dao registry or officially changed sect affiliations to become a Mingyuan disciple in the truest sense.
Yet Ye Lingtian had great confidence in Luo Chen, far more than in Chu Yu, Chen Mozi, and the others.
After all, that phrase from back then—"refining a hundred pills, masterful in all"—remained fresh in memory and deeply shocking.
He spoke in a low voice: "Whether it is his inability to break through to Soul Formation or his choice of Fengxian Valley as his cultivation abode, both stem from a single problem. And the source of this problem begins with Junior Brother Feng's journey to the Southern Border years ago..."
Valley Immortal Feng Jiang was an extraordinarily gifted cultivator among Ye Lingtian's generation, even surpassing the likes of Lei Daozi Zhang Che and Ye Lingtian himself.
Perhaps only the Alchemy Saint, who carved an unconventional path through alchemy, could rival him.
Long ago, he had already condensed a Nascent Soul, poised to surpass Ye Lingtian from behind.
Even powerhouses like Chongxuan and Hanyang were overshadowed by Feng Jiang during the same era.
At that time, Feng Jiang felt there were no peers within the Mingyuan Sect worthy of a fight. Castellan Lingtian only held a slight edge over him due to age, which could not be bridged in the short term, so he resolved to travel abroad.
The first stop of his journey was the nearby Southern Border.
He originally intended to tour briefly before heading to the Central Plains, where masters gathered like clouds, and the Northern Sea, where formidable experts emerged in endless streams. But unexpectedly, that very first stop ensnared him.
He entered the Gate of Life and Death!
That was the Soul Formation sacred land that struck terror into the Southern Border and was famed across the other four provinces!
Once one entered the Gate of Life and Death, life and death were no longer in one's own hands.
Though he eventually escaped and his cultivation surged, allowing him to attain the realm of a late Nascent Soul Great Cultivator, many things had slipped out of his control.
"Junior Brother once said that chaos reigns within the Gate of Life and Death," Ye Lingtian continued.
"Many powerful Gu Emperors had either vanished into seclusion or fled afar, and those remaining were all terrifyingly formidable. These remnants fought incessantly against one another, all to enter the true Gate of Life and Death and seek the opportunity for Soul Formation."
"Junior Brother Feng was among them, and he moved a step ahead of the rest, seizing a tier-five Gu worm worthy of being called an immortal seed."
"Afterward, hunted relentlessly, he fled back to the Mingyuan Sect."
"Yet that pursuit forced him to unseal the fifth-tier Gu worm prematurely, and as a result, he now suffers its backlash."
"Fengxian Valley was not originally like that. It was once a spiritual land closest to a fifth-tier spiritual vein within our Mingyuan Sect, not far from the pure, tranquil, undefiled place you described. It was only because Junior Brother spent hundreds of years suppressing the immortal Gu within it that the earth veins collapsed, triggering incessant natural disasters and earthly tribulations."
"It is precisely because he must continually suppress the immortal Gu that he cannot make a dash for the Soul Formation realm. In fact, if he were to achieve Soul Formation, that immortal Gu might attract even greater catastrophe."
Listening to this tale of the past, Luo Chen's eyes shone with fascination.
This was not the first time he had heard of the turmoil in the Southern Border.
Years ago, he had heard about it from Perfected Tianshan.
In fact, one reason Perfected Tianshan, the last sect leader of the Tianshan Cult, had left his homeland to seek refuge with the Tianyuan Dao Sect was tied to this.
The mysterious Southern Border was truly too chaotic.
Yet for it to be chaotic enough for Feng Jiang to slip in was startling.
What kind of Soul Formation sacred land would allow a genius disciple from another sacred land to wander in at will?
And what kind of beings could drive Feng Jiang—a scion of the Mingyuan Sect with peerless combat prowess who had even advanced to the late Nascent Soul stage—to the desperate measure of unsealing an immortal Gu prematurely?
Regarding this, Ye Lingtian was not entirely clear either, mentioning only a few names in passing.
The Sword Gu Emperor, the Ghost Judge, Daoist Bu...
"According to Master, among the cohort pursuing Junior Brother, the weakest were at the mid-Nascent Soul stage. Those three I just mentioned were Great Cultivators of the late Nascent Soul stage who had made their names long ago. For Junior Brother Feng to survive back then truly demonstrated astonishing skill."
Among these names, Luo Chen was only vaguely familiar with Daoist Bu.
Perfected Tianshan must have mentioned him in passing during one of their conversations.
As for the others, Luo Chen knew nothing.
Yet he could not help feeling curious.
"I imagine that in his successful escape, unsealing that tier-five immortal Gu played a tremendous role!"
Luo Chen said this because he could not otherwise imagine how formidable Feng Jiang would have to be to escape an encirclement by a gathering of Great Cultivators and mid-Nascent Soul experts.
Even he himself would not dare claim he could accomplish such a feat.
"We have arrived!"
Ye Lingtian pointed, and the flying eaves of a palace nestled deep amid white clouds came into Luo Chen's view.
It was none other than the Alchemy Saint Hall!
Luo Chen glanced at him, and Ye Lingtian had a frank expression.
"My apologies. Other matters can be discussed freely, but the immortal Gu Junior Brother Feng seized is somewhat special, so it is inconvenient to disclose."
"No matter. You have already dispelled many of my doubts." Luo Chen cupped his hands and drifted up the mountain alone.
...
If the Nether Abyss and Fengxian Valley were forbidden grounds of the Mingyuan Sect, then over the past few centuries, the Alchemy Saint Hall could also be considered one.
Upon entering the mountain, not a trace of living creatures could be seen; the quiet made it seem like a desolate, dead land.
Yet the surrounding spiritual energy was so dense that it felt like bathing in spring rain—how could it truly be compared to a dead land?
Especially after drawing near the Alchemy Saint Hall, Luo Chen sensed an aura that felt extraordinarily intimate.
It was like the faint fragrance of a woman, yet also like the warmth of hearth smoke; upon closer examination, Luo Chen keenly discerned that it was an intensely concentrated pill aroma!
"Just how many miraculous spirit pills did Alchemy Saint Chu Yan concoct in this Alchemy Saint Hall?"
Luo Chen clicked his tongue in wonder.
With such an immense accumulation of pill aroma, any successor refining spirit pills here would surely see a massive boost to their concoction success rate!
It truly lived up to its name as the former sanctuary of the Alchemy Saint!
Taking a deep breath, Luo Chen prepared to step into the Alchemy Saint Hall to ready himself for the upcoming trial.
Yet just as he was about to enter, his heart stirred.
Forming an incantation with his spiritual perception, his eyes instantly blazed with brilliant golden light.
Not only that, he carefully channeled his source power into both eyes.
Strands of red spread and extended from the whites of his eyes, finally linking to those golden pupils.
In an instant, outside the golden pupils, his eyes turned blood-red.
This was Luo Chen simultaneously deploying magic power and source power to stimulate his spirit eyes, creating the phenomenon of Crimson Eyes and Golden Pupils!
Luo Chen had done this once before on Heaven and Earth Peak during the Ascension Ceremony.
However, back then, Luo Chen's magic power was inferior to what it was now, and his eyes had not yet been enhanced by the Jade Emperor Golden Pupil Liquid.
Thus, this was truly the first time the Crimson Eyes and Golden Pupils manifested in full.
Beneath these eyes that seemed capable of peering through all things, Luo Chen looked toward the Alchemy Saint Hall and finally uncovered the source of that sudden strange sensation.
"It's spiritual opportunity!"
The entire Alchemy Saint Hall was shrouded in clouds and mist.
And within that mist, strands and wisps of spiritual opportunity rippled.
Though sparse and faint, far less dense than when the Alchemy Saint ascended back then, it undeniably existed.
He could not tell whether it was left behind by the Alchemy Saint or drawn here by the almighty figures of the Mingyuan Sect.
Yet this point alone gave Luo Chen pause.
"The Alchemy Saint inheritance may indeed have something worthwhile!"
Having previously paid little heed to the Alchemy Saint inheritance due to possessing Demonic Lord Liantian's alchemical legacy, Luo Chen now discarded his indifference, replaced by a determination to claim it.
The spiritual opportunity of a world was the exclusive domain of Soul Formation almighty figures and ascenders; ordinary mortals would treat even a tiny sliver as an invaluable treasure.
How could an Alchemy Saint Hall guarded by spiritual opportunity offer an ordinary inheritance?
Chapter 897