An Alchemist's Path to Eternity-Chapter 639: Battle in the Cavern; Pursuit Across a Thousand Li
Suddenly, Yousha's alluring figure trembled as confusion vanished from her eyes, replaced by sharp clarity.
"Something's wrong!" she cried. "Fellow Daoist He, wake up!"
He Lianyun jolted as her cry pierced through his mind, and he snapped back to his senses. Above, Luo Chen let out a muffled grunt. He glanced toward Yousha in surprise as she had actually seen through his Spirit Beguilement.
Moments ago, when he clashed head-on with Hermit Xiao's divine soul, the protection of the Forsaken Black Chess Piece had allowed him to unleash his Grandmaster-level Soul Intimidation and Perfection-level Spirit Beguilement without restraint. Only by clashing directly in the opponent's strongest domain had he been able to deliver such a decisive, fatal strike.
That victory had greatly strengthened Luo Chen's confidence in his mastery of divine soul assault. Compared to Hermit Xiao, both Yousha and He Lianyun's divine soul foundations were clearly far inferior. Having slain one of them instantly, his overwhelming momentum should have crushed their will. Yet, under such circumstances, his Spirit Beguilement had failed entirely and even rebounded slightly against him.
"I underestimated you, wretch," Luo Chen said coldly.
Bai Meiling's face tightened with concern as she watched Luo Chen rub at his temples and the corners of his eyes, suppressing the lingering sting of backlash. His cold tone caused sweat to stream down He Lianyun's back. It was they who had truly underestimated Luo Chen—or rather, Luo Chen's concealment had been far too flawless. Even Hermit Xiao, cautious as he was, had been deceived.
"Wretch?" Yousha echoed. "We go together! Either he dies today, or we do. Fellow Daoist He, there's no retreat left for us!"
The words had barely left her mouth when she thrust both hands outward. The crimson ribbon coiled around her waist, flared, and suddenly expanded. Within moments, it stretched several zhang wide, encircling both Luo Chen and Bai Meiling at its center.
"Useless tricks!" growled Luo Chen.
With a sharp shout, his figure burst forward, a streak of blazing light cutting through the air as he tried to break free before the crimson coils could close around him. Yet no matter how fast he moved, his enemies were ready; there was nowhere to escape. Luo Chen's heart jolted. His left hand traced a smooth circle through the air, and an azure barrier of glazed light instantly rose before him.
Hiss!
Within the barrier, a streak of black light slowly bored forward—the Armor-Piercing Nail! Then, He Lianyun drew a deep breath and threw another nail.
"Qi-Disrupting Nail!"
The second nail struck the azure barrier, and in an instant, the Grandmaster-level second-tier water defense spell shattered completely. The strange sight made Luo Chen's expression tighten. With his defense broken, the first black nail shot straight toward him.
"Let's see if your Armor-Piercing Nail is sharp enough to pierce my armor!" Luo Chen said coldly.
A low roar echoed like that of some ancient beast from the wild mountains. Layer upon layer of protective qi armor rippled across Luo Chen's body. Even though the Armor-Piercing Nail darted forward with seemingly unstoppable force, it finally halted against the shimmering qi armor.
Yousha manipulated her silk ribbon to constrict further, seeking to trap Luo Chen completely. As the blinding white armor flared across Luo Chen's body, she finally understood what Hermit Xiao's dying cry had meant.
"It was you all along!" she hissed, her face twisting with hatred. "Perfect! All debts have to be paid, and today you'll pay with your life for my husband's death!"
Only now did she reveal the raw, seething emotion she had buried inside for so long. Back in the Divine Transformation pocket world, her husband Mingsha had perished not only because of their greed for fortune, but also because Luo Chen had struck a devastating blow. Now, with her enemy before her eyes, she finally had her chance for vengeance!
Luo Chen ignored her venomous words completely. What drew his attention was He Lianyun. It was clear that the elder's means were far from exhausted; for one, he had three black nails.
While Luo Chen was still holding off the first two, the third finally shot forth—the Soul-Breaking Nail! The black nail tore through the air at blinding speed, heading straight for the center of Luo Chen's brow. Yet before it could strike his divine soul, a surge of dark radiance rose from within his body. The dark radiance spread out into a dense, impenetrable barrier, blocking the nail completely.
Seeing that dark radiance, He Lianyun's eyes widened, and his face changed drastically. "A defensive enchanted treasure for the divine soul!"
The instant those words left He Lianyun's mouth, Yousha's heart lurched violently, and she cried out, "Come back!"
It was already too late. Luo Chen frowned as an odd sensation once more rippled through his body. Moments later, he realized exactly where it came from. A transparent figure had pierced through his defenses, heading straight for his sea of consciousness. At the same time, a wild, arrogant voice rang out. "With a physique and cultivation like this, it's a perfect body for me. Your society and your Dao companions... I will take them as—"
Before the voice could finish boasting, it was abruptly cut off. In its place came a scream of sheer terror. "Ahhh!!!"
Luo Chen's expression turned grim as his divine soul erupted, surging forth like a furious tide. It engulfed the invading soul in an instant, not even giving it a chance to struggle. When his spirit consciousness withdrew, his expression was pitch dark. He ignored He Lianyun, who was hastily recalling his three nails, and fixed Yousha with a chilling stare.
"So that was your grand plan, huh?"
In that instant, he understood everything. No wonder Yousha hadn't shown much sorrow over her Dao companion's death, and no wonder someone with such a weak divine soul had been able to break free from his Spirit Beguilement so easily. Mingsha had never truly died—or rather, his body had perished, but his soul had not. By some method or another, he had hidden his soul within his Dao companion, biding his time until the chance arose to claim another body. Obviously, Luo Chen was a perfect vessel by any standards.
Yet the two of them had never anticipated that Luo Chen possessed a treasure capable of defending the divine soul, the Forsaken Black Chess Piece.
The art of possession came in countless forms, each strange and unpredictable. Still, all such arts followed one immutable rule: To take over another's body, one had to enter the target's sea of consciousness and devour the opposing soul. Unfortunately for him, Mingsha hadn't even set foot into Luo Chen's sea of consciousness before the Forsaken Black Chess Piece's protective radiance repelled him. Without the support of his own consciousness and fighting on foreign ground, his soul was crushed outright by Luo Chen's superior divine soul. And with that, Mingsha was truly annihilated.
The instant her Dao companion's presence vanished, Yousha's expression twisted with grief and rage. All restraints shattered as the amber-crimson silk ribbon in her hands burst with crimson light. A rain of blood fell through the air, thick with murderous fiend qi that reeked of death.
A cold snort escaped Luo Chen as crimson light flared across his own body. The Blazing Fire Miasma surged forth! Over the past nine years, he had recreated the Blazing Fire Miasma and cultivated it to the Grandmaster level, a level of major mastery. At that level, he no longer needed to rely on his roc form; even in human form, he could now wield this demonic art freely.
The surging Earth Fire Fiend Qi swept through the entire cavern. Within the blood rain, the fiend qi appeared stronger, yet its power was impure, tainted by the unrefined blood of countless living beings. Such chaotic filth could never suppress Luo Chen's refined miasma.
When the two forces collided, dense plumes of white smoke fizzled into the air. Their power intertwined in fierce opposition, and they consumed one another until both were extinguished. The instant the pressure lessened, Luo Chen sprang into motion, slipping free from the ribbon's encirclement. He transformed into a streak of white light that shot straight toward Yousha.
That burst of speed was so overwhelming it sent terror surging through her soul. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw He Lianyun fleeing toward the cavern's exit. Clearly, fear had taken hold of him and he had chosen to abandon the battle altogether.
"Then we die together!" she screamed.
A wild glint flashed in her eyes as the silk ribbon in her grasp expanded to its absolute limit. She had refined it to a level beyond what any Initiate should have been capable of, and she could make use of almost its entire power. The ribbon stretched to over a hundred zhang, filling every corner of the underground cavern.
"Detonate!"
When Luo Chen severed Yousha's head with a single strike, what followed was a violent explosion. It was not only the enchanted treasure self-detonating, but the entire subterranean cavern—everything began to collapse.
Rumble! Rumble!
A thunderous explosion erupted from behind, the explosion splitting the air as a violent shockwave surged through the tunnel. The old man's frail body trembled under the crushing pressure, his limbs shaking uncontrollably. Even his heart quivered in terror.
His body rivals that of a beast king. His spirit power is at the peak of Foundation Establishment. And not only does he have a powerful divine soul, but he even has an enchanted treasure to guard it. What madness possessed me to provoke such a monster?
He Lianyun's heart was seized with dread. The moment Luo Chen revealed the Forsaken Black Chess Piece, he knew that this man had no flaws; within the Foundation Establishment Realm, no one could do anything to him. An opponent of such level was utterly beyond their ability to contend with.
Only now he understood how Luo Chen could walk freely through battle after battle, dominating all before him. How laughable his folly! He had let greed cloud his mind and provoked Luo Chen for the sake of a slightly higher chance at Core Formation. Had he been as wise as Fu Jiusheng and left with grace, he might have glimpsed the Golden Core Realm and even forged goodwill with Luo Chen. In the cultivation world, such a bond would have granted him a powerful ally for the future.
I was wrong! This time... I was completely wrong!
Consumed by regret, He Lianyun fled as fast as his legs could carry him. A journey that should have taken two full days could now be covered within the time it took for a single stick of incense to burn. Alongside his regret was a flicker of desperate hope.
Yousha must have used some insane level of power before dying. Who knows what she did to cause things to explode like this.... The mountain's still shaking and rumbling. If Luo Chen was caught in that blast, he might be gravely injured and I—
A sudden tremor ran through his body, halting his steps in mid-stride. For an instant, a reckless thought flashed through his mind. Yet the sight of massive stones crashing down from the tunnel ceiling quickly severed that dangerous train of thought.
"No way. I need to get out first," he muttered under his breath. "If Luo Chen's dead, then it's over. But if he's still alive, I can watch from outside and maybe even pick up what's left."
As he muttered to himself, another thunderous rumble echoed from behind. This time, the sound was entirely different from the earlier blasts. It was sharper, more rhythmic, like a massive beast's claws tearing through solid rock. It was as if someone was forcefully carving a path through the rubble. Naturally, among all the living beings in the immediate vicinity, only Luo Chen possessed that kind of terrifying strength.
"Damn it... he's still alive!" He Lianyun cursed bitterly and sprinted faster toward the exit.
Behind him, the sound of explosion drew closer, and from beneath came Luo Chen's icy voice. "He Lianyun, old dog, where do you think you're going?"
Even as the words echoed, a violent surge of spirit energy came crashing forth. He Lianyun turned sharply, only to see a massive ochre handprint hurtling toward him with unstoppable might. Where it passed, boulders shattered, the terrain itself crumbling under its power. It was fierce and overwhelming; its aura seemed capable of crushing all beneath heaven. It was the third-tier spell Luo Chen had recently mastered to Beginner level, the Great Handprint of Primordial Qi!
Faced with this dreadful strike, He Lianyun gritted his teeth and raised both hands, hastily forming a spell seal. A streak of cold light burst from his fingertips as a flying sword shot out, cutting through the air with desperate speed.
Pfft!
It pierced straight through the center of the giant handprint, punching a gaping hole through it. With that breach, the spell lost much of its cohesion. What remained of the palm strike crashed down upon He Lianyun, but he merely grunted as a shimmer of light rippled across his body. Clearly, he was uninjured. Instead of being slowed, he used the momentum from that blow to retreat even faster.
Deep within the mountain's tunnels, Luo Chen pressed forward, his spirit consciousness sharply catching the scene ahead. For some reason, that fleeting glow seemed oddly familiar, but with the old man speeding away, there was no time to dwell on it.
The path ahead had already been blasted open by his earlier strike, leaving the tunnel clear and unobstructed. A pair of ethereal wings unfurled behind his back. A spark of fire lit up, and in a single flash, Luo Chen appeared several dozen zhang ahead.
Whoosh!
That was the greatest speed he could achieve without assuming his Roc true form. He was confident that even against the Five Element Escape, his speed would not fall behind. No matter how fast He Lianyun fled, escape was impossible. And indeed, after only a few dozen breaths, Luo Chen's keen sight caught his fleeing silhouette in the distance.
"Old dog, face your death!"
A flick of his fingers sent bursts of flame flying forward. He cast Fireball one after another, as though he was throwing a bunch of paper balls. Their purpose was not to kill, but to obstruct. Yet He Lianyun did not even look back. He ignored the blazing orbs completely, continuing to rush forward as if he had seen nothing at all.
Each Fireball struck He Lianyun square, bursting into flashes of watery light before fading without a sound. Luo Chen's eyelid twitched as his Crimson Cloud Wings flared again. By now, the distance between them had narrowed to less than a hundred zhang.
"Earth Summit! Entangle!"
Two first-tier spells burst forth in an instant, forming a tangled web that blocked He Lianyun's path. The old man bellowed furiously, "Out of my way!"
A sharp gleam flashed from the sword in his hand as it swung in rapid arcs, cutting through the conjured barriers as if they were made of half-melted butter. The obstruction shattered, but the brief pause had already slowed his escape.
In the next instant, the Mystic Flame Sword came whistling through the air. Without even glancing back, he summoned his own flying sword to meet it head-on. The clash rang out behind him while his peripheral vision caught a glimpse of Luo Chen drawing ever closer. He quickly formed seals with both hands.
"Detonate!"
"Detonate!"
"Detonate!"
With three sharp cries, three talismans within the tunnel lit up at once.
Seeing the sudden attack, Luo Chen drew in a deep breath to reform the damaged qi armor as he charged straight through without hesitation. After rushing forward several zhang, his brows arched.
He veered sharply and slammed into the mountain wall, burrowing through solid stone to avoid the trap that lay ahead. It was a simple second-tier earth-element formation, the Black Mire Formation. A single misstep would have slowed even someone like him to a fraction of his normal speed.
Inside the mountain, Luo Chen didn't stop for a moment, and neither did his steps falter. Each step carried relentless force as his hands transformed into claws, tearing through solid stone with unbroken rhythm.
Squeech! Squeech! Squeech!
Chunks of rock broke apart under his claws. With each strike, surges of spirit power blasted outward, forcing open a new passage through the mountain's depths. Yet even so, his progress was too slow.
After a short while, sensing that he had cleared the range of the Black Mire Formation, Luo Chen broke through the mountain wall and reentered the natural tunnel. At that moment, the distance between him and He Lianyun had widened once more.
"I'd like to see how long you can keep running!" Luo Chen growled.
A fierce gleam flashed in his eyes as he recalled the Mystic Flame Sword and shot forward in pursuit.
