Chapter 286: Studying the Codex, Taking a Disciple, Entering the City (III)

Walking slowly through the illusory streets, Luo Chen thought back to that moment, his heart stirring slightly.

He had to come! The ideal cultivation site for a Foundation Establishment Initiate was one with a second-tier spirit vein. Such places were incredibly rare, even within and around Dahe Market.

Normally, few Foundation Establishment cultivators would remain in a first-tier spirit vein area. Unless, they were family-bound cultivators like Mi Shuhua, Nangong Jin, or Li Yixian. Bound by their families and unwilling to abandon the rich resources, they had chosen to stay. Or alternatively, they were sect-affiliated cultivators dispatched to remote marketplaces under long-term missions to manage sect holdings.

Even without second-tier spirit veins, such cultivators often had special methods to assist their cultivation. Mi Shuhua, for instance, used a spirit-gathering array to transform land into pseudo second-tier veins. Duan Qiankun, on the other hand, would activate the Ice-Fire Spirit Spring to temporarily create a pseudo second-tier spirit land.

But such methods came at a steep cost.

The resources required were enormous, which was why many chose instead to rely more heavily on medicinal pills to supplement their progress.

Luo Chen, now freshly ascended to the Foundation Establishment Realm, found himself caught in the same predicament. To make his breakthrough, he had pushed the Ice-Fire Spirit Spring to its limits, activating it again and again.

In the end, he succeeded.

But the price had been steep. Nearly all of his stockpiled mid-grade spirit stones had been consumed in the process.

While the Luo Tian Society still held a decent reserve of spirit stones, they were all of the low-grade variety, barely sufficient for everyday operations.

As things stood now, Luo Chen had no way of sustaining access to a second-tier spirit land.

He didn’t have any second-tier pills suitable for cultivation in his possession. The only option that might have worked, Imperial Nectar, was out of reach. Its primary ingredients were rare, the refining process extremely difficult, and the cost so high it could never be relied upon regularly.

He couldn’t possibly kill Little Red, who had been so difficult to enslave, just to refine pills!

Left with no other viable options, Luo Chen had no choice but to cast his hopes toward the Dahe ghost city.

"Fallen Phoenix Mountain!

"If I wasn’t mistaken," Luo Chen muttered to himself, "then that second-tier spirit vein I sensed... it’s hidden inside Fallen Phoenix Mountain."

His mind flashed back to a few offhanded remarks from Sima Xian. That old man had once mentioned how the Nascent Soul sects possessed secret methods to condense spirit energy and elevate a spirit vein’s grade.

Tianlan Immortal City had been founded precisely on such a foundation.

The Dahe Market held the same potential!

Beneath the surface of this region slumbered a massive spirit vein. Even after all these years, the surrounding area remained vibrant with spirit energy. And if one included the scattered offshoots and fragmented tributaries of that main vein, it only served to further underscore just how vast the Dahe spirit vein truly was.

With such a deeply rooted and expansive first-tier spirit vein, it was no wonder the land had once served as the foundation for an immortal city.

"Pang Renxiong, that Golden Core Adept, has been in Dahe Market for nearly a year!

"There’s no way he hasn’t been cultivating!" And the only kind of place suitable for his cultivation would be a third-tier spirit vein.

"So, it’s very likely that he used the Jade Cauldron Sword Sect’s secret technique to temporarily elevate the grade of Fallen Phoenix Mountain’s spirit vein. That must be the source of the resilient wave of spirit energy I saw."

Luo Chen pressed his lips together and strode resolutely in the direction of Fallen Phoenix Mountain. The energy flow surrounding his body gradually shifted until it no longer resembled that of a living person.

It was the wondrous effect of the Spirit Suppression at Perfected Mastery!

Luo Chen had mastered it long ago. The Perfected Mastery Spirit Suppression allowed him to mimic others' energy flow. He had once used it to replicate the energy flow of a demonic wolf and had even managed to fool a second-tier demonic wolf.

Now that he was entering the ghost city, he certainly had his means.

Aside from his Netherworld enchanted clothes and Green Firefly Lantern, both tools are specifically used against ghosts. On top of that, his cultivation realm and mastery of numerous spells were his greatest sources of confidence!

When another solidified ghost wandered past him in confusion, Luo Chen felt fully assured.

Sure enough, ordinary ghosts couldn’t detect him at all; they simply regarded him as one of their own.

In fact, because of the natural pressure emanating from his recent breakthrough, these low-tier ghosts even faintly mistook him for a Ghost General.

Passing through the long-abandoned southern rogue cultivator market, Luo Chen slowed his pace and sighed.

Once a bustling hub of casual trade and rough barter, it now lay in utter decay. Signboards were splintered, bones littered the wide thoroughfare, and silence clung to the ruins. That catastrophe truly changed the fate of far too many people...

Suddenly, Luo Chen’s steps came to a halt.

His Spirit Eyes gazed faintly at a rundown building not far ahead.

Inside, a figure sat cross-legged, with flags planted upright beside him, and an expression twisted with ferocity.

It’s him!

***

Luo Chen hadn’t expected to encounter this person, especially not here and now.

Li Da, one of the few ninth stage Qi-Refining experts in the Dajiang Gang, wouldn’t have stood out under normal circumstances. But there was one particular event in his past that made Luo Chen take notice.

If that were all, it wouldn’t have mattered much.

But what truly caught Luo Chen’s interest was a particular encounter Li Da had once experienced. He had once joined forces with Gao Tingyuan and their subordinates to explore the cave residence of the Soul-Refining Hermit, Guyue.

That expedition had yielded considerable rewards for both of them. Gao Tingyuan had even obtained a fragment of the

Soul-Refining True Art

. Though it was incomplete, it had offered him a new path to Foundation Establishment after his dantian had been damaged by external force.

"And now, when even Li Yixian doesn’t dare enter ghost city, this guy comes in alone?” Luo Chen mused. “He’s either brave or reckless."

Luo Chen had no intention of interrupting him. This trip was to reach the spirit land at Fallen Phoenix Mountain and solidify his cultivation; creating complications now would be unwise.

But just as he was about to turn and leave, something caught his attention.

That enchanted artifact...

Without realizing it, Luo Chen began walking forward.

Footsteps rang through the empty street outside the ruin where Li Da sat cross-legged in grim meditation. As the sound reached the building, Li Da’s eyes snapped open, his face a twisted mask of tension and rage.

"Get lost!" he shouted, flinging three silver needles without hesitation.

The next moment, the needles froze midair, unnaturally suspended.

Yet in the very next moment, the three needles eerily floated midair.

"What... how is this possible?" Li Da gasped, his face paling as he instinctively tried to stand. But a crushing force bore down on him, pinning him in place. He sat frozen, unable to move even an inch.

At the doorway, a calm figure stood.

With a flick of his wrist, Luo Chen summoned the three silver needles into his hand. Another wave of his hand erased the spirit imprints embedded in them.

Li Da watched in horrified silence.

That spell, that casual flick, was the same technique Luo Chen had used to nullify Wang Haichao’s attack at the Foundation Establishment Ceremony.

Now, as merely a ninth-stage Qi-Refining cultivator, he had no chance of resisting this move.

"What kind of enchanted artifact is this?" Luo Chen asked with interest.

Li Da’s voice was hoarse as he replied, “Ghostmother Needles, a top-grade first-tier artifact.”

Ghostmother Needles?

Luo Chen raised an eyebrow. He could faintly sense that these three needles weren’t as simple as they appeared.

"These came from the Soul-Refining Hermit’s cave as well?"

“Yes.” Li Da’s body trembled, and dark energy flickered across his face as he gritted his teeth. “Senior Dan Chenzi, I don’t believe I’ve offended you. Could you possibly let me go?”

Luo Chen chuckled softly. "You truly think so? That little greeting you gave me earlier, I'd call that rather rude, wouldn’t you?"

He wasn’t wrong. Very few Qi-Refining cultivators would dare attack a Foundation Establishment Initiate. The last one who had tried was this very man in front of him.

Did he really think he could repeat that miracle? What a laughable notion in the cultivation world!

Li Da’s face turned sheet white in an instant.

Clinging to a shred of hope, he offered, “As an apology, this set of Ghostmother Needles... consider them my gift to you, Senior.”

Senior, huh? What a choice of words. The seniority rules of the cultivation world were truly difficult to get used to.

Luo Chen smiled faintly, his gaze settling on the banner in front of Li Da.

"That’s not enough. Sell me this enchanted artifact, and leave the city immediately, that will suffice."

"No!" Li Da reacted instinctively, blurting out a rejection before his mind had caught up with his mouth. The moment the words escaped, he realized his mistake.

Before Luo Chen could even respond, he sprang into motion. With a sweep of his hand, the ghostly banner he carried unfurled with a flurry of sound, releasing ten wrathful spirits that charged straight at Luo Chen in a screeching frenzy. At the same time, Li Da cloaked himself in the swirling folds of the banner and transformed into a stream of black wind, launching himself toward the rooftop in an attempt to escape.

Luo Chen stood still, watching the scene unfold with quiet detachment. As the ten wrathful spirits surged forward, he simply lifted his sleeve and flicked it outward. A wave of pure spirit energy swept across the space, and in an instant, every ghost was obliterated, snuffed out like candles in a storm.

Li Da trembled in both body and soul.

What kind of spell was that? My spells didn’t work. Enchanted artifacts didn’t work. Even wrathful spirits had no resistance against him.

Still, surrendering was absolutely out of the question. That enchanted artifact, those Ghostmother Needles, were his only shot at breaking into the Foundation Establishment Realm. There was no way he’d give up so easily.

Run. I have to run

, Li Da thought.

In the ghost city, he won’t dare to pursue me openly.

Just as Li Da started to believe he might escape with his life, his expression suddenly changed.

From the ground below, hundreds of emerald vines erupted like serpents, writhing and twisting toward him. They came from every direction, moving with unnatural speed. In the blink of an eye, a prison of green encased him completely.

Li Da spun back just in time to see Luo Chen standing calmly below, raising a hand and making a casual grasping motion.

"No!" he screamed.

His shrill cry was swallowed almost immediately by the wall of verdant vines. A faint splash of red flickered through the gaps, a brief flash of what had become of him.

A Perfected Mastery Entangle... it does have some merits

, Luo Chen mused.

Seeing the result, Luo Chen nodded with satisfaction.

A moment later, one of the thick vines slithered toward him, dragging behind it a large bundle wrapped tightly in cloth. Luo Chen reached out, took it without hesitation. The commotion just now would surely attract ghost soldier-level spirits. Best to leave quickly.

Sure enough, not long after Luo Chen departed, countless spirits began to wander. They clustered at the scene, finding no enemy, looking bewildered.

It wasn’t until a towering Ghost General arrived that the gathering slowly dispersed.