"Hand it over!"
Luo Chen was not the least bit surprised by the Black King's eager bid for praise.
The fellow loved pulling stunts like this.
Back when they were pursuing the Demon Emperor, everyone else had been scrambling to track down signs of the great demon, yet the Black King had slipped off to the Dieyun Sect on his own to haul back dozens of jars of fine wine.
Now he had done it again.
However, mindful of Perfected Shenyuan's formidable prowess at the time, the Black King had not dared to go too far, looting only a portion of the treasures from Shenyuan Peak.
A mass of black light tumbled from the Black King's maw. Luo Chen sent his divine sense sweeping inside.
Books!
A staggering number of texts, packed densely together—hundreds, easily reaching into the thousands.
Ancient tomes made up a large share, but there were also plenty of newly copied scriptures.
Luo Chen idly picked out a volume and flipped it open, only to find himself thoroughly engrossed.
*Detailed Exposition of Five Elements Spells.*
It took quite some time before he pulled his attention away, an expression of genuine admiration surfacing on his face.
"I knew Shenyuan possessed a profound understanding of Five Elements spells, but I never imagined it would reach such depths. Every element, every tier of mastery—all of it comes with his personal insights and theoretical foundations. In battle, when combined properly, their power multiplies several times over.
"And judging from the text, this was merely what he penned during the early Nascent Soul realm. Truly a peerless talent of his generation!"
Filled with praise, Luo Chen skimmed through the remaining titles at a rapid pace.
*Yangyi Dao Method: Supplement.*
*Kongming Sword Scripture.*
*Seven Truths Core Formation Art.*
*Five Elements Divine Pill.*
...
The sheer variety was dazzling, almost overwhelming him.
Unlike most high-ranking cultivators who collected only advanced Daoist arts, Perfected Shenyuan's library contained vast numbers of low- and mid-tier manuals as well.
Among them was the *Seven Truths Core Formation Art*, which recorded seven superior methods for forming a Golden Core.
Not only that, the *Dragon Slaying Art*, which Luo Chen had practiced in his earlier years, was prominently included!
Luo Chen leafed through it briefly and made an astonishing discovery: the soul-severing marvel that had awakened once his own mastery reached the Great Circle was precisely in line with Shenyuan's predicted direction.
At the time, Shenyuan had conducted numerous experiments without success. After noting his hypothesis, he had ceased to pursue the technique any further.
Who would have thought that Luo Chen would end up proving his theory right?
Surveying the splendid collection before him, Luo Chen could not help but feel delighted.
If he could digest these scriptures, it would not only broaden his horizons immensely, but also elevate his attainments in spellcasting to an entirely new plane!
To think that Perfected Shenyuan had been able to cast spells on par with divine abilities without having grasped the true intent of laws spoke volumes about his mastery in this field.
To an ordinary cultivator, obtaining these texts might not hold much practical value.
Yet for Luo Chen, it was like a drowsy man receiving a pillow.
"Perhaps I can even use this to create a fire-path divine ability tailored for myself?" Luo Chen murmured, a flicker of hope rising in his chest.
Unlike before, when comprehending the Wither-Bloom True Intent had naturally yielded the divine ability Wither-Bloom Dao Finger, grasping the origin of fire within the Alchemy Saint's Blessed Land had granted him no corresponding divine ability.
In truth, that was the norm!
Since antiquity, countless cultivators had grasped the true intent of laws.
Divine abilities, however, were formidable techniques that experts gradually refined, summarized, and elevated from ordinary spells over prolonged periods of cultivation.
Particularly for elemental origins—the most fundamental law intents—comprehension merely allowed a cultivator to understand the underlying principles. Developing a corresponding divine ability required either personal ingenuity or guidance from predecessors.
Even the chosen talents of the Dao sects who had grasped law intents within the Mirage Dragon Grotto-Heaven had not created divine abilities on their own.
It was only later, through sect rewards, that they learned grand divine abilities handed down by ancient masters.
As for how well those techniques suited them, Luo Chen had no way of knowing.
Still, creating a divine ability was an arduous, long-term endeavor; Luo Chen was in no rush.
He swept the mountain of scriptures away in one go, then patted the Black King's broad, scaly back.
"What else?"
The Black King paused, then let out a raspy chuckle.
"I knew nothing escapes Master's sharp eyes."
As he spoke, another burst of black light rolled out from his maw.
This time, however, a brilliant five-colored radiance surged forth, shining so intensely that not even the Black King's source power could suppress it.
Luo Chen's eyes narrowed. "The Five-Colored Pagoda!"
It was none other than Perfected Shenyuan's natal magic treasure!
During their great battle, Shenyuan had employed few magic treasures—merely two.
One was the crystalline flying sword, and the other was this very pagoda.
The former had been destroyed beneath the Great Five Elements Sword Array, while the latter had engaged in prolonged combat with Luo Chen's Hunyuan Cauldron, eventually breaking free to coordinate with Shenyuan in unleashing that terrifyingly powerful combination spell.
Its extraordinary quality was beyond doubt!
What drew Luo Chen's attention most was that, like his Hunyuan Cauldron, this pagoda was an artifact that embraced all five elements.
"Shenyuan and I truly shared much in common. Not only were we both born with five spirit roots, but even our choice of natal magic treasures was so remarkably alike."
Sighing with emotion, Luo Chen caught the Five-Colored Pagoda and turned it over in his hands to examine it closely.
With its master fallen and their soul-link severed, the pagoda had suffered severe damage.
Vast swaths of array formations had collapsed, and spiritual qi leaked from its frame at irregular intervals.
That was precisely why Luo Chen had noticed that the Black King was hiding something.
As he probed it further, Luo Chen gradually unraveled some of the artifact's properties.
Like the Hunyuan Cauldron, its primary function was suppression!
This alone revealed how closely aligned Shenyuan's early path of cultivation had been with Luo Chen's.
Cultivators with five spirit roots possessed abundant magic power, but during cultivation, they easily absorbed impure and chaotic spiritual qi.
Consequently, beyond its offensive capabilities, a natal magic treasure had to serve to suppress volatile spiritual power and refine away impurities.
"In its prime, this treasure would have been worth no less than the Hunyuan Cauldron. What a pity..."
Luo Chen shook his head and tossed the Five-Colored Pagoda aside.
The artifact was too heavily damaged to be of much use to him.
Repairing it might restore thirty percent of its peak might, but doing so would consume far too much time and effort.
In his current standing, Luo Chen had no shortage of a treasure or two.
Seeing this, the Black King's eyes lit up instantly.
Yet before he could catch the pagoda, it spun through the air and drifted right back into Luo Chen's hand.
"Master?"
Luo Chen paid no heed to his confusion.
His entire focus had locked onto the Five-Colored Pagoda once more.
He not only scanned it with his divine sense and channeled magic power into its core, but also formed rapid incantations with his fingers, sending streams of light sinking into the pagoda.
As the incantations took effect, the fractured array patterns stirred, rattling into motion under his guidance.
Though the flow was halting and jagged, Luo Chen did not care.
What he cared about was something else entirely!
A wisp of Wither-Bloom Fire flared up, settling over the pagoda to scorch it gently.
Faced with the terrifying aura of this rank-five divine flame, the Black King dared not make another sound, focusing entirely on carrying Luo Chen southward at full speed.
A long time passed before Luo Chen's voice drifted from his back, tinged with pleasant surprise.
"I almost missed it!"
"To think Shenyuan was willing to make such a colossal investment—adding a small piece of Living Earth when crafting his natal magic treasure!"
He had not misjudged. Through various tests of artifact forging, he had undeniably detected the presence of Living Earth within the Five-Colored Pagoda.
Though faint—likely no larger than a fingernail in total—it was nonetheless the legendary Living Earth!
In myth, a mere speck of Living Earth could stem floods and fill entire oceans!
Naturally, this tiny sliver inside the pagoda could not compare to the mythical substance of legends.
Even so, its fundamental nature remained unchanged.
It was still Living Earth!
The ultimate progenitor of superior earth-attribute minerals like Origin-Tracing Clay and Evolving Earth.
Luo Chen knew all too well how exceedingly rare such an earthly treasure was.
The "Tianrang" he had encountered years ago in the Land of the Fallen Demon was merely a half-finished byproduct of the Heaven Refining Demon Lord, who had gathered vast quantities of earth-attribute materials and attempted to reverse-refine Living Earth through the true intent of earth origin.
If even a legendary Demon Lord could not locate the real thing, the fact that Perfected Shenyuan had managed to incorporate it into his natal magic treasure spoke volumes about his immense fortune.
"Where on earth did he find it?"
The thought flickered through Luo Chen's mind, but only for a fleeting instant.
He was too excited to dwell on it.
Back when Tianyezi had forged the Hunyuan Cauldron for him, he had stated that if Living Earth—a supreme earthly treasure—could be integrated into the cauldron, it would achieve true perfection!
Luo Chen had no idea just how perfect it would become, but he knew for certain that it would never again suffer the tragic cracking it had endured in their previous battle.
"A bargain for me, then! Hahaha!"
Laughing heartily, Luo Chen did not even wait to restore himself to peak condition. Mobilizing the magic power he had only recently recovered, he directed the Wither-Bloom True Fire to begin smelting the Five-Colored Pagoda with full force.
He intended to tear down every residual array within the pagoda, discard the useless materials, and extract the raw essences he needed.
The Living Earth was his prime target!
Yet any other materials capable of fusing with Living Earth would naturally be of extraordinary grade as well.
If they proved suitable, Luo Chen would keep them too.
When the time came, he could employ his forging arts to blend them into the Hunyuan Cauldron, elevating the foundation of his natal magic treasure.
Sensing the activity on his back, the Black King quickly deduced his master's intentions.
He could not help but feel a pang of sorrow.
He had covertly swept the battlefield to scavenge that treasure for himself.
Having fused with the remnant soul of a desolate stone dragon, the faint aura of Living Earth held a natural allure for him.
*Ah well, it's just broken scrap in the end. Let Master have his fun—I still have other treasures tucked away!*
Comforting himself with smug satisfaction, the Black King flew on, carrying Luo Chen farther into the distance. The Southern Border seemed already within reach.
...
The name "Mountain Sea Realm" had ancient roots.
It was so named because this world was filled with countless mountains, rivers, and seas.
The realm was divided into five continents: East, South, West, North, and Central.
Yet these five lands did not encompass the entirety of the Mountain Sea Realm. They merely formed the central reference points of its geography because vast populations of the human race inhabited them.
Beyond the five continents lay the Million Mountains, the Endless Monster Sea, and desolate, untrodden wildernesses.
Why, for instance, did the Southern Border appear so enigmatic in the eyes of cultivators from outside realms?
It was not merely because the cultivators of this continent possessed eccentric temperaments and proved difficult to approach. More importantly, the geography of the Southern Border presented several natural barriers that prevented low-tier cultivators from freely venturing inside.
Take the Southern Ocean, for instance: teeming with countless gu insects, it severed connection between south and north.
And along the southeastern and southwestern borders lay perilous territories known as the "Wilds of Mist," which were nearly impossible to cross.
The Southern Border was mountainous, damp, and drenched in pervasive miasma that drifted through the valleys and wilds, forming impenetrable blankets of fog.
This mist did more than block the sight; it was laced with deadly toxins against which ordinary defenses were useless.
Low-tier cultivators dared not venture into its depths, let alone attempt to cross it.
Yet for native cultivators of the Southern Border, the Wilds of Mist—so feared by outsiders—served as a natural treasure trove!
Where living beings rarely set foot, heaven-and-earth treasures abounded!
Furthermore, because the land lay undisturbed, the treasures within accumulated age and grew exceptionally precious over time.
Thus, over the long years, a unique profession had emerged within the Southern Border's cultivation world: the mountain-seeker!
As the name implied, they were treasure hunters of the peaks.
They shared much in common with the herb-gatherers of the Eastern Desolation and the fishermen of the Northern Sea.
All of them ventured into untamed lands in search of fortune.
Yet unlike herb-gathering or deep-sea fishing, being a mountain-seeker demanded far more.
One needed not only formidable martial prowess, but also extraordinary discernment, lest one endure immense hardship crossing the Wilds of Mist only to overlook an unrecognized treasure.
Cheng Bai was one such mountain-seeker.
His cultivation was modest, standing only at the mid Foundation Establishment stage, but his backing was considerable: he served directly under Cave Master Minglei, the strongest among the Thirty-Six Cave Masters of Wind Thunder Gorge.
In the outside world, few dared cross him.
Yet at this moment, he moved with utmost caution.
Within the Wilds of Mist, one had to guard against omnipresent toxic miasma and elusive gu beasts, but above all, against fellow mountain-seekers.
The moment you revealed your tracks or showed a single flaw, no one cared about your background—murdering for treasure was as routine as breathing.
With an anti-poison pill under his tongue and clad in a stealth robe, Cheng Bai advanced rapidly toward his destination.
*According to the map taken from the mountain-seeker I ambushed last time, a seven-zhang-long tailless tuolong dwells in the Poison Dragon Pool just ahead.*
*Tuolongs are common enough, but a tailless tuolong is exceedingly rare.*
*They usually lose their tails only when infested by the larvae of a Formless Gu, driving them mad with pain and itchiness until they sever their own tails to be rid of it.*
The mere thought of a Formless Gu caused Cheng Bai's calm demeanor to heat up with desire.
The Formless Gu was a high-tier gu insect.
It was renowned as a battle-type gu, capable of turning a cultivator's form formless and ethereal, conferring unmatched utility in both combat and escape.
If he could capture one—even a mere larva—selling it would secure all the resources he needed to cultivate to the Golden Core stage.
As for a buyer, he had already scouted the avenue before setting out.
Cave Master Minglei was cultivating a spell called the *Flash Lightning Art* and urgently required a Formless Gu to aid him.
If Cheng Bai captured it, he could present it directly to the Cave Master.
With Cave Master Minglei's well-known generosity, he would at least grant a lavish reward, and might even take Cheng Bai into his inner circle, giving him a real shot at reaching the Golden Core realm.
*I must succeed!*
Cheng Bai adjusted his grip on the trident in his hand. It was a low-grade magic treasure specifically meant for capturing the tailless tuolong, borrowed from a trusted friend.
Yet when he cautiously felt his way to the Poison Dragon Pool, there was no sign of the beast.
*Asleep?*
*That shouldn't be!*
*It's spring right now. Whether hunting or mating, this is their most active season.*
Cheng Bai inspected the surroundings patiently and finally discovered a patch of crushed vegetation.
It hadn't abandoned its lair!
It had likely gone out to hunt.
Licking his lips, Cheng Bai began laying down a rudimentary trapping formation around the pool, preparing to ambush the creature the moment it returned.
Yet after waiting a full day and night, there was still no trace of it.
He had patience, but if the prey had died during its hunt, his trip would be entirely wasted.
Taking a deep breath, Cheng Bai checked his array, then began tracking the flattened path the tuolong had left behind.
Ten li, fifty li, a hundred li...
Once he moved past the tuolong's normal range of activity, Cheng Bai's heart climbed into his throat.
What kind of prey could lure a tailless tuolong so far from its territory?
Suddenly!
His pupils contracted, his body trembling slightly.
Before him, countless low-tier demonic beasts lay prostrate upon the earth, shivering violently, paralyzed as if held down by some overwhelming weight.
Among them, a tailless tuolong was unmistakably visible.
It was the very quarry he had tracked into the Wilds of Mist!
Yet that was not what shocked him; what shocked him was the cause of this gathering.
An unnamed barren mountain stood amidst the throng of beasts.
Above it, dark clouds churned, split by crashing lightning and rolling thunder.
Such a celestial phenomenon did not appear artificial; it seemed born of nature itself.
*Could an extraordinary treasure be coming into the world?*
Legend had it that the birth of supreme heaven-and-earth treasures often stirred celestial phenomena.
In particular, when high-tier spirit anomalies gained sentience, they provoked heavenly tribulations akin to great demons taking human form or mighty experts undergoing tribulation.
Unlike intelligent demons, such spirits grew in ignorance and possessed meager ability to withstand tribulations.
Upon gaining sentience, they typically fell into extreme weakness.
If one could capture it during that vulnerable state, the rewards would dwarf a tailless tuolong and a Formless Gu larva by miles!
In an instant, Cheng Bai's heart burned with frantic greed!
Yet in the next breath, his face drained of all color.
A small cauldron flew uncontrollably out of the barren mountain, spinning as it drifted upward into the storm clouds. After circling once through the tempest, its radiance receded, and it sank back down into the belly of the mountain.
At the sight, a chill gripped Cheng Bai from head to toe.
*Wrong!*
*This isn't an earthly treasure being born—an expert is refining a supreme magic treasure right here!*
He abandoned all greed, reined in his aura, and began stepping backward with painstaking care.
Yet a rough, booming voice rolled out from the mountain, jolting his blood and rattling his divine soul.
"Little friend, now that you're here, why the hurry to leave?"
The voice resonated like thunder. Wherever the sound swept, low-tier demonic beasts ruptured, bursting into clouds of bloody mist.
Even the thick-scaled tailless tuolong failed to escape that fate.
Horrified, Cheng Bai dropped to his knees, kowtowing in terror.
"This junior is a mountain-seeker under Cave Master Minglei! I had no intention of disturbing Senior's cultivation! I beg Senior for mercy!"
"Oh?"
The rough voice carried a faint note of curiosity.
"I have not walked the world for some time. Since when did the Southern Border produce a figure named Cave Master Minglei?"
As the words fell, an immense force erupted out of nowhere, dragging Cheng Bai from afar and depositing him at the foot of the mountain.
Though terror gripped his face, Cheng Bai breathed a silent sigh of relief.
He had no idea where this old monster hailed from, but as long as he was willing to talk, there was hope!
The mountain trembled, and a stone gate ground slowly open.
A figure emerged from within.
A tall feathered crown rested upon his head; a radiant jade belt circled his waist. A form-fitting suit of black armor hugged his frame, and cloud-treading boots carried him forward, making him appear to walk upon clouds even while stepping on level ground.
Yet it was the man's extraordinarily young, handsome face that made Cheng Bai's heart skip a beat.
From where had such an impossibly young old monster emerged?
Chapter 934