An Alchemist's Path to Eternity

The moment the embryo moved, Luo Chen knew that his opportunity to form a Nascent Soul had arrived. For one fleeting moment, his consciousness seemed to merge with heaven and earth so completely that no boundary remained between them. Yet that very realization stirred his thoughts and broke the stillness. The Golden Core within his sea of qi fell silent, and the wondrous state slipped away as quickly as it had come.

Even so, Luo Chen did not let the loss trouble him. He had already reached the required realm, and now that he had entered that state once, he was certain he could do so again. Rather than fixating on the opportunity that had slipped away, he settled his mind and went over what he had just experienced.

The fundamental requirement for forming a Nascent Soul was the process of uniting the Three Treasures. Once they merged within the Golden Core, the core would transform into a Nascent Embryo and begin resonating with heaven and earth. As long as that harmony remained unbroken, the embryo could be nurtured until it matured into a true soul. This was why the process was often described as "shattering the core to give birth to a soul."

Yet the analogy ran deeper than that. The Nascent Embryo was born from the cultivator's union with heaven and earth and conceived through resonance with the Great Dao itself. That resonance marked the beginning of the Embryo Movement process, and once it started, it had to be sustained without interruption until the Nascent Soul fully formed. If it faltered at any point, all prior effort would be lost.

For an Adept, however, sustaining Embryo Movement through personal power alone was practically impossible, which therefore made external aid indispensable. Such aid generally took one of two forms: a stable source of power that could preserve the state or a sudden burst of stimulation that could strengthen it.

Among the many ways that had been explored thus far, the most reliable was a fourth-tier spirit vein. A spirit vein of that tier would have given rise to a true blessed land and could influence the environment of an entire region. Dragon Abyss Island itself was perfect proof of this; its expanses of spirit soil had formed over long years due to the vein's nourishment. If a cultivator could enter Embryo Movement while drawing on that steady flow of spirit energy, the connection with heaven and earth would sustain itself naturally and last far longer than it otherwise could.

The other famous option was the Nascent Soul Pill, whose medicinal power could temporarily elevate the Three Treasures and stabilize the Nascent Embryo, allowing the cultivator to hold the state for a longer period.

Great sects also had some other treasures that served a similar purpose, but Luo Chen had no reason to concern himself with those. For him, these two were sufficient, and more importantly, they were things he already possessed. In fact, when his Embryo Movement had broken off earlier, he had clearly sensed that he could slip back into that state with hardly any effort.

With that certainty in mind, Luo Chen steadied himself and closed his eyes. Drawing upon the Nascent Soul formation art he had comprehended years ago, he began to cultivate and guide the Three Treasures toward merging once again.

Half a day later, a muffled pulse resounded from the depths of his sea of qi as he entered the state of Embryo Movement once more. This time, he entertained no stray thoughts and focused entirely on the changes taking place within his body.

After some time, he discovered that beyond his solid foundation and Three Treasures being stronger than those of ordinary Adepts at Perfected Mastery, the greatest reason he could start Embryo Movement at will lay in his new constitution, the Fire Spirit Body. That constitution was, in essence, a creation blessed by heaven and earth. It was only compatible with one element, but that affinity was naturally perfect, and it let him resonate with the world around him with almost no resistance. Because of that, whenever he attempted to merge with heaven and earth, he could reach an extraordinary degree of harmony.

Once he had confirmed this, he pulled himself out of the state and let out a long breath. "Phew..."

Han Zhan had been right. With his foundation, it was entirely possible for him to form his Nascent Soul just like that, even without the aid of a Nascent Soul Pill. But then again, could he truly sustain Embryo Movement long enough to see the breakthrough happen?

Luo Chen had no desire to gamble on uncertainty. When it came to cultivation, he preferred to secure every advantage he could rather than leave things to chance.

Thus, he rose and stepped out of the thatched hut and arrived outside the Reverse Five Elements Spirit Formation. He waved his hand, dispersing it to reveal the yellowed copper basin underneath. Inside, nine five-colored pills the size of longan fruits lay arranged in a specific pattern. The moment the formation disappeared and its protection vanished, six of them began to wither. Their glow faded as the last shreds of vitality were drained away, and within a single breath, they crumbled into powder. Only three remained.

"Hmm?"

Luo Chen let out a quiet sound of surprise as he picked up the remaining pills and examined them carefully. Two had crossed the final threshold and reached the middle grade, while the third, which had occupied the central position and absorbed most of the formation's nurturing power, had undergone an even greater transformation. Five bands of colors flowed across its surface, while faint cloud-like patterns drifted within. Its medicinal power had become so potent that the pill could no longer contain it completely, and wisps of energy continued to seep into the air.

Luo Chen's gaze sharpened, and he immediately placed two mana seals over the pill to prevent any further leakage. They did not do much, however; the medicinal power within remained restless and unstable.

"Top-grade pills nurtured through the pill nourishing technique still aren't as stable as pills refined to that tier from the start." Luo Chen frowned slightly. "I'm afraid this medicinal power won't last long. Still... this is already better than I expected."

A top-grade Nascent Soul Pill! Its surface shimmered with flowing bands of five colors, faint cloud patterns drifted across it as though it was a live picture of the summer sky, and even among pills of the same tier, it stood out at a glance.

Sensing the medicinal power that continued to leak from the pill, Luo Chen smiled faintly. Rather than panic, he remained utterly confident. "In that case, I can't afford to delay my breakthrough any longer."

***

For cultivators who had withdrawn from the world and given themselves over to arduous cultivation, the passage of time often went unnoticed.

Before anyone knew it, twenty years had passed since Luo Chen and his companions first arrived on Dragon Abyss Island. Throughout those two decades, the island had seen no turmoil or unrest, much less bloodshed. Everyone kept to themselves and quietly pursued greater heights in cultivation. Over time, the whole place came to resemble a sanctuary removed from the concerns of the world.

In the southern reaches of the island, Sang Jinghe tended a verdant pool in which several unusual trees had taken root. Inspired by Luo Chen's technique of refining pills in a blood pool, he had adapted the technique into the idea of his own and was now using the pool to nurture what appeared to be a type of spirit tree.

Not far away, Heavenjade practiced within a soundproof formation. The Nine Winds Plantain Fan swept through the air in graceful arcs and summoned a different gale with every movement. Each wind carried its own nature and force, but she controlled every variation effortlessly.

Over the years, she had not only consolidated her cultivation at the sixth stage of the Golden Core Realm but also reached full mastery of the Heavenspan Wing Codex and developed several killing moves from it. More than that, she had refined the Nine Winds Plantain Fan to make it fully hers and could now unleash far more of its power. In the past, her cultivation had been too shallow to tap into more than a small portion of its strength; now, however, the fan resonated seamlessly with her Xun Wind Body, and that elevated her combat abilities to an entirely new level. With a treasure that truly complemented her, she could at last stand as a capable support to her master in battle.

Atop Rosy Hill, an azure-robed Daoist sat alone as though he had never once risen from that spot in the past two decades. Luo Chen and the others assumed Han Zhan was still adjusting to the body he had taken, so they rarely disturbed him unless they needed guidance in their cultivation. Yet in those moments when no one was watching, a faint trace of urgency would surface in his expression.

At this moment, Han Zhan appeared to be gazing out across the sea, yet anyone who followed his line of sight would have found it resting on Dragon Abyss Island below.

Suddenly, a subtle disturbance broke the long stillness of Emerald Ripple Pool. Ripples spread across its surface, faint at first, then steadily widening until the tremor pushed beyond the water and began to shake the entire island.

Han Zhan's gaze settled on the pool, his expression growing ever more complicated as he watched the change unfold. "So it begins. Will he succeed?"

As soon as the words left his mouth, he shook his head. "No... he has to."

The moment Dragon Abyss Island began to quake, everyone stopped what they were doing and instinctively looked toward the source. Waves of spirit energy surged up from deep underground, forcing their way through the rock and soil before erupting into the sky.

Out over the sea, calm only moments ago, a vortex began to form. From within it, a massive flood dragon head slowly emerged and fixed its merciless gaze on the island. Overhead, dark clouds gathered and spread until they blanketed the sky like an enormous canopy. Within their depths, streaks of lightning twisted and crackled as their power continued to build.

***

BBBOOOOOOOMMM!!!

A violent explosion ripped through the depths of the abyss, and the thatched hut burst apart in a storm of debris. At the heart of the destruction, however, the white-robed Daoist remained seated cross-legged on his meditation cushion. He did not flinch at all, as though the devastation around him had nothing to do with him.

He had cast off every restraint on his mana, letting it rise and fall with the rhythm of his breathing. The five-colored pill rested quietly upon his tongue, while the hand seal before his chest shifted seamlessly between a blooming lotus and a phoenix ready to take flight. Spirit energy surged in from all directions as if drawn by an unseen force. Yet even that immense influx fell short of what he needed. Recognizing the limit of what the surroundings could provide, he swallowed the pill at once.

Gulp!

As the pill slid down his throat, an azure-golden flame stirred within him and rose to meet it. It burned through the mana seals binding the pill, stripped away its outer coating, and released the dense medicinal power within. The flame then guided that power through his meridians and into his sea of qi. Only after the flow had stabilized did the flame recede.

No longer restrained, the medicinal power gathered into a surging torrent and rushed toward his crimson Golden Core. At that moment, his awareness dissolved past the limits of his body. His mana flowed outward in gentle waves before returning to the Golden Core more refined than before. Gradually, that rhythm spread outward and merged with the surrounding space, as though heaven and earth had begun to breathe alongside him.

Under that influence, the already restless spirit energy in the abyss grew increasingly violent. It poured into Luo Chen without end, restoring vitality to his withered frame until his body filled out once more. Still seated cross-legged, he floated up from the ground and rose through the shattered remains. One zhang, ten zhang, a hundred zhang... until daylight suddenly burst into view under the oppressive canopy of dark clouds.

Crack!

The lightning tribulation, which had been gathering power all this time, finally descended. A bolt no thicker than a small snake streaked from the clouds and struck Luo Chen. Countless threads of electricity scattered across his body and flickered across his skin before fading into nothing.

Crack! Crack! Crack...

The next moment, nine of the same thin bolts streaked toward him from different directions. The lightning lashed against him, causing his hair to flutter, while his white robe billowed despite the absence of wind. Yet that was the full extent of their effect.

The tension in the air continued to mount until, without warning, a blinding white radiance swallowed the sky.

BBOOOOOOOOOM!!!

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