The disappearance of the Tribulation Gu inside his natal magical treasure was no small matter; how could Luo Chen not be alarmed?
Fortunately, when he sealed the Gu earlier, Luo Chen had placed many restrictions upon it.
Guided by his divine sense, Luo Chen finally located its trace somewhere within the Hunyuan Cauldron.
It was precisely the spot that had cracked open during the great battle in the Medicine King Domain all those years ago.
Those fine cracks had gradually begun to knit together under years of nurturing, yet they had always fallen just a bit short of mending completely.
It was because of that lingering imperfection that Luo Chen had been reluctant to fight anyone in recent days.
After all, if his natal magical treasure was flawed, should an enemy find the flaw and destroy it, the psychic connection would cause Luo Chen to suffer an extremely severe backlash regardless of how many split souls he possessed.
At this moment, those startling cracks clearly outlined a fluttering butterfly!
Filled with suspicion and doubt, Luo Chen reached out and touched the butterfly pattern.
He was certain: this was indeed that fifth-tier Tribulation Gu!
In fact, if he wished, he could still extract it from his natal magical treasure.
Yet Luo Chen did not do so.
"Did my natal magical treasure sense that this Gu would help repair its own flaws, and actively absorbed it?" Luo Chen muttered to himself.
He could sense that the Hunyuan Cauldron was indeed free of any defects now.
Yet that raised another question!
The Hunyuan Cauldron was not yet a spirit treasure that had birthed an artifact spirit; how could it possess consciousness of its own and take the initiative to absorb external things?
Suddenly!
A scene from the Land of the Fallen Demon all those years ago surfaced in Luo Chen's memory.
Back then, a wisp of sealed grey light had escaped from the Heaven Refining Cauldron in the Alchemy Hall, prompting the Moon Hermit to intervene and fight for it.
In the end, that wisp of grey light had been absorbed by the Hunyuan Cauldron.
Later, it was also thanks to that wisp of grey light that the Hunyuan Cauldron could absorb the most terrifying final wave of lightning when Luo Chen crossed his Nascent Soul Heavenly Tribulation.
Its active absorption of the fifth-tier Tribulation Gu now was almost certainly its doing as well.
"So what exactly are you?"
Luo Chen spread his divine sense, searching every inch of the Hunyuan Cauldron high and low.
In the end, he found nothing!
"Are you simply too powerful for me to detect, or have you integrated completely into my natal magical treasure, existing everywhere yet displaying nothing out of the ordinary?"
Luo Chen could find no answer.
The only thing he could be sure of was that he could still command the Hunyuan Cauldron as effortlessly as his own limbs, and the grey light posed no harm to him.
Instead, in its two successive spontaneous acts, it had done things that benefited him.
"The boundless cosmos holds far too many mysteries and wonders; with my current cultivation realm, I am far from capable of discerning the true essence of all things.
"Only by comprehending the true intent of the laws and understanding the laws of nature and the essence of the world can I lay the groundwork to explore such mysteries.
"For now, I shall let it be!"
Luo Chen gave a faint sigh, no longer fretting over things beyond his control, and refocused his efforts on comprehending the true intent of the fire law.
...
The matter of the mother and son, Sima Huiniang and Luo Lingxi, disturbing the sect's low-level disciples caused no ripples.
Everything had been carried out in secret, and ended in secret as well.
Sima Huiniang was confined to solitary quarters, Luo Lingxi's cultivation remained halted at the fourth layer of Qi Refinement, and Zang Yuzhi and the other three disciples had no idea what grand ordeal they had just gone through.
They only knew that the Supreme Elder greatly appreciated their diligent cultivation, and had thus summoned them specifically to Dan Mountain to impart earnest guidance, bestowing a vast quantity of cultivation resources suitable for Qi Refinement cultivators.
Upon their return, their enthusiastic sharing spurred the low-level disciples of the Luotian Sect to cultivate with even greater diligence.
Only a few short years after entering the Alchemy Saint Blessed Land, several individuals had consecutively broken through to Foundation Establishment.
The sect had even gained another Core Formation cultivator.
Everything was developing in a positive direction, and the same was true for Luo Chen.
Having drawn fourth-tier Prairie Blaze of the Fire Phoenix talismans and brought that spell to the Grand Perfection realm, crafting similar fourth-tier fire-attribute talismans posed little difficulty for Luo Chen anymore.
All he needed was to use the repeated talisman-crafting process to advance the Flaming Dragon Descent spell to Grand Perfection as well.
Naturally, there were differences between the two.
Prairie Blaze of the Fire Phoenix was a wide-area attack akin to the Qingyang Great Handprint; when striking foes, it essentially carpeted the area indiscriminately, creating an immense spectacle.
Flaming Dragon Descent, however, was not like that.
It placed far more emphasis on locking onto an enemy with divine sense, capable of homing in even from a thousand li away.
Precise in its target, giving no chance of escape!
Consequently, drawing this talisman demanded vastly more soul power.
With each talisman he drafted, Luo Chen had to tread cautiously, balancing the proportions of dharmic power and divine sense to avoid an imbalance.
Time flowed quietly by as Luo Chen devoted himself wholly to talisman crafting.
A mere year later, winds and clouds stirred once more over Dan Mountain!
Vast, dense spiritual qi poured down like a torrential river, cascading backward into Dan Mountain.
Luo Chen slowly closed his eyes, thinking quietly to himself, *It is time!*
His physical eyes closed, but the eyes of his Nascent Soul snapped open. His vast divine sense billowed outward as before, reaching deep into the void.
This time, no one disturbed him, and Luo Chen did not look back.
At last, he arrived at that ocean of origin qi that felt as warm and vast as a mother's embrace!
Being inside it brought a trace of disorientation, but guided by spiritual opportunity, Luo Chen gradually unraveled the myriad transformations of the origin qi containing countless attributes, finally teasing out what he sought.
It was an ordinary flame.
It was far less intricate than the Wither-Bloom Divine Fire, lacked the vibrant spirituality of the Vermilion Bird Divine Fire, and could hardly be compared to the noble, dazzling brilliance of the Nirvana Holy Fire.
Yet it burned there quietly, providing light and heat to the mortal realm.
It could be the searing heat bursting forth when stars collapsed, the soul fire burning vigorously in the spirits of beings in the Nine Nether realms, or even a simple oil lamp lit by a mortal.
To master this origin was to command any flame beneath the heavens.
"So this is the Fire Origin."
As he murmured, a majestic, overwhelming force swept across, threatening to obliterate his soul and assimilate it into the sea.
Fortunately, with spiritual opportunity cloaking him, Luo Chen withdrew calmly.
Before departing, he even swept away a ball of extraordinarily pure origin qi.
*Boom!*
His divine sense returned, and Luo Chen opened his eyes.
Dharmic power erupted from his body, suddenly turning into streaks of blazing flame inside the spacious cave abode.
These flames were formed purely by rousing his own dharmic power!
Stimulated by the display, the Wither-Bloom Divine Fire and the Nirvana Holy Fire escaped from Luo Chen's purple mansion, flanking him on both sides in postures of submission.
Luo Chen was not surprised; after all, both divine fires had been refined by him personally.
With a single thought, his divine sense spread outward.
Atop Dan Mountain, the volcano that had lain dormant for countless years suddenly trembled once more.
Vast torrents of magma gurgled and coursed downward.
Towering flames erupted from the crater.
Luo Chen slowly flew out from his cave abode. Floating in the midst of it all, far from feeling scorched or blistered, he found the heat exceptionally comfortable.
It felt as if he had been born a spirit of fire.
With a mere shift of intent, he seemed like an emperor of flame, able to command the wandering fire-attribute spiritual qi between heaven and earth at will.
And not merely command!
He could even convert spiritual qi of other attributes into fire-attribute qi.
Luo Chen gradually understood why Soul Formation figures could alter celestial phenomena and battle freely in any environment.
Comprehending the true intent of a law was equivalent to acquiring the authority to wield that corresponding law.
Origin qi was inherently the aggregate of all spiritual qi; commanded by the authority of a law, it could be transformed.
Just as torrential rain had poured when the mighty Heize set foot on Mount Cangwu.
Just as winds and clouds turned into countless formation lines when Li Canghai appeared on the battlefield of the Ice Polar Palace.
Or just as everything in the world turned into a golden sea of fire when True Sovereign Qixia descended upon the Mingyuan Sacred Land, causing even the Nether Abyss to boil.
Restricted by his current cultivation realm, Luo Chen could not yet reach such heights.
Yet transforming a local region was no longer difficult for him.
Most importantly, immersed in this state, Luo Chen gradually realized why Nascent Soul cultivators who comprehended the true intent of laws could cultivate at speeds far surpassing ordinary practitioners!
"Spiritual qi converted to the proper attribute can also be absorbed and refined. In this way, one is no longer bound by the constraints of spiritual veins. As long as there is sufficient quantity, one can cultivate anywhere in this vast world.
"Though the efficiency may not match directly refining worldly origin qi, it largely eliminates the troublesome process of filtering out spiritual qi of the corresponding attribute.
"And that is not all..."
Lost in contemplation, Luo Chen pinched an incantation seal.
A fire phoenix soared at his side, while a flaming dragon lowered its head from the heavens.
Encircled by dragon and phoenix, they faintly exuded a terrifying might capable of destroying everything.
Could the true intent of a law also be infused into spells?
Would such a technique count as a divine ability?
...
The upheaval on Dan Mountain produced an immense disturbance.
In an instant, it drew the attention of countless members across the Luotian Sect.
Figure after figure dashed toward Dan Mountain, eyes filled with undisguised concern.
Sima Huiniang, confined to her quarters, also received word from her disciple Yao Mingyue. In her frantic anxiety, she wanted to breach Luo Chen's formation and rush out to see if he was safe.
Wang Yuan, Lingfengzi, Bai Meiling, and even the Black King arrived at the scene immediately.
Yet before they could draw near, an ethereal voice drifted toward them.
"There is no cause for alarm. This Master has merely gained some insights during cultivation.
"You may withdraw!"
Everyone was astonished.
What manner of cultivation could stir up such a massive commotion?
Earth fire erupting, magma surging, winds and clouds gathering, dragon and phoenix circling—even standing more than a dozen li from Dan Mountain, they all felt distinctly uncomfortable all over.
Lingfengzi felt it most profoundly of all.
He tentatively released his own Nascent Soul domain, only to discover that he could not manipulate the worldly spiritual qi at all; instead, he felt scalding heat burning across his entire body.
This discovery left him utterly shaken.
"Could Senior Brother Luo have comprehended yet another law's true intent?"
Wang Yuan did not focus on qi refinement and did not understand how terrifying this was, so he asked curiously from the side, "Does that mean Luo Chen has comprehended two true intents now?"
In a daze, Lingfengzi murmured, "For an ordinary cultivator to comprehend a single law's true intent at the Nascent Soul realm already makes them a heaven-sent genius. Senior Brother Luo now wields two true intents—he is likely one of a kind under the heavens. Once he steps into the late Nascent Soul stage, I fear the title of the foremost beneath Soul Formation will change hands once again."
The foremost beneath Soul Formation?
Hearing that title, the Black King fell unusually silent.
He had faced Demon Emperor Qingshuang directly, and knew intimately how formidable she was.
Could a master who had comprehended two true intents be compared to her?
He did not know.
At this moment, what piqued his curiosity was that the voice just now did not seem to have come from the master on Dan Mountain.
*Was that one of his split souls?*
Meanwhile.
Within an elegant snow-capped peak named Mount Tian, Luo Chen's split soul emerged from the Dust-Karma Immortal Mirror, looking toward Dan Mountain from afar.
"My true self has finally broken through!
"Once he digests these gains, his cultivation will surely advance by leaps and bounds, and the day we depart the Alchemy Saint Blessed Land will be just around the corner.
"Now, only my side remains."
Murmuring to himself, the split soul slowly dissipated, retreating once again into the Dust-Karma Immortal Mirror.
...
"Fellow Daoist Canglong, shall we rest here tonight?"
A middle-aged-looking man in green robes suggested, his eyes fixed on the bright-eyed, graceful woman who resembled a snow lotus from Mount Tian.
Canglong nodded, offering no objection to the suggestion.
However, once inside the guest room, she turned to close the door.
The green-robed man leaned against the door and hesitated before saying, "I have a few cultivation perplexities I would like to discuss with you. Would it be convenient?"
Canglong smiled faintly, shaking her head with gentle yet firm resolve. "It is late. You should rest early, Fellow Daoist. If there are questions, we can talk tomorrow."
With that, she slowly shut the door.
Having the door shut in his face, Han Zhan looked distinctly displeased.
This was not what his master had told him before they left the sect!
Hadn't his master said that the Ice Fort suffered heavy losses during the exploration of the Lingkong Secret Realm and was in dire need of external allies?
Sending Fairy Canglong out to travel the Eastern Wilderness alongside him was clearly intended to foster closeness between the two of them and lead to becoming Dao companions.
In plain terms, a marriage alliance!
Yet as they traveled through more than a dozen domains, though Fairy Canglong appeared gentle, beneath that gentleness lay a politeness that kept him a thousand li away.
*Can we truly only be friends and never companions of the Great Dao?*
After his brief anger faded, Han Zhan felt deeply reluctant to accept it.
Among the women he had met, many were powerful, but few were as mysterious as Canglong, inspiring an endless yearning to unravel her secrets.
Like a rare pearl in deep waters, like a snow lotus on Mount Tian—mysterious and pure, aloof and untainted.
Dejected, Han Zhan returned to his own room.
He did not allow his disappointment to derail him; clearing away distracting thoughts, he persisted in cultivating with the rather sparse spiritual qi of the inn.
In the dead of night, a knock suddenly sounded at the door.
Han Zhan opened his eyes and swept his divine sense outward, discovering it was Canglong.
Delighted, he thought she had changed her mind, and threw the door open immediately.
The lovely Canglong stood outside. Seeing Han Zhan, she said in a low voice, "There is a good show to watch. Would you like to come along?"
Han Zhan paused, realizing he had misunderstood her intentions, but kept his expression neutral, nodded, and followed right away.
The two figures leapt into the air, vanishing into the night.
Before long, they arrived at a field of mass graves.
Several figures had surrounded a young man clad in a black robe.
Shouts demanding that he "hand over the treasures" spilled from their mouths.
The scene spoke for itself.
It was that most common trope of the cultivation world: an ambush to rob someone of their treasures.
So this was the "good show" Canglong had mentioned?
Han Zhan found it somewhat dull, but an instant later, a realization struck him.
*Why did she discover this before me?*
*My Luoyun Sect specializes most in soul-refining arts, and I have even attained entry in the Soul Splitting Art; my soul foundation is deep enough to look down upon my peers, yet she actually surpassed me?*
Even as he wondered, words gave way to blows, and battle erupted in the mass graves.
Fighting several opponents single-handedly, the black-robed man did not yield an inch of ground.
He wielded a long saber with consummate mastery; each slash unleashed a tempest of blood and gore.
Seeing that they could not subdue him, his assailants shouted in alarm:
"Tough target! Form the array!"
In the blink of an eye, the assailants took their positions in different spots, their dharmic powers intertwining to form a grand array.
The black-robed man gave a sinister grin. "I thought Eastern Wilderness cultivators were different from those elsewhere, but you are just as ill-mannered! In that case, die together!"
As he spoke, layers of black qi surged abruptly from Cultivator Ning's body.
Overwhelmingly tyrannical, the black qi shattered the array the assailants had erected after only a few impacts.
He himself fused as one with his magical treasure saber; as he slashed left and right, the souls slain beneath his blade multiplied.
The battle was effectively over.
The one or two survivors fled in terror.
His killing intent blazing, Cultivator Ning pursued them directly.
As he swept past a treetop, his figure suddenly halted, and he slashed backward with his blade.
A torrential blade qi cleaved the tree—wide enough to require three to five people to encircle—cleanly in two.
A brilliant white sword light flashed out, colliding forcefully against the blade qi.
*Boom!*
Cultivator Ning narrowed his eyes, staring at the two figures whose concealment had been broken.
"Are you also here seeking the treasures on my person?"
Canglong brushed the dust aside with a flick of her sleeve. "We are no oriole waiting behind the mantis. There is no need for swords and sabers, Fellow Daoist Ning."
Cultivator Ning raised an eyebrow. "Early Core Formation?
"To take a strike from my blade at such a cultivation realm—state your name!"
Canglong cupped her hands. "Jade Cauldron Ice Fort, Canglong of Mount Tian. Might I inquire of your name, Fellow Daoist?"
Cultivator Ning frowned. "Jade Cauldron Ice Fort? Never heard of it! I am Ning Yuzhuo of the Yuan Demon Sect of the North Sea. I have memorized your name. Until we meet again!"
With that, he sped away.
He was continuing his pursuit of the two who had fled earlier.
Han Zhan let out a breath. "What ferocious bloodlust that man carries!"
Canglong shook her head. "It is not just bloodlust. The power he wields is remarkably potent; I fear it is the demonic qi cultivated by the orthodox Yuan Demon Lineage of the Yuan Demon Sect."
Han Zhan asked in surprise, "Why has an orthodox disciple of the Yuan Demon Sect come to our Eastern Wilderness?"
Canglong had no idea either, merely treating tonight as having watched a good show.
Just as the two prepared to return, a resonant voice boomed from the city.
"Demonic scoundrel, how dare you run rampant!"
A golden alms bowl hung suspended in the sky.
Amidst waves of Buddhist chanting, Ning Yuzhuo of the Yuan Demon Sect, who had just been so insufferably arrogant, was sucked inside instantly.
Canglong stared at the scene blankly, feeling that this journey through the Eastern Wilderness had reached its end.
"As mere Core Formation cultivators, roaming a continent may be harmless enough, but believing one can swagger across the world is simply far too conceited.
"Fellow Daoist Han, let us part ways here!"
Chapter 924