Chapter 613: Breaking the Formation; Luo Chen's Frenzied Slaughter(III)

With a thunderous roar and eyes wide, he swept his arm forward. The hundred Initiates under his command surged toward Luo Chen, and he himself charged at the forefront. It was the task Qin Tairan had entrusted to him before leaving. Luo Chen was the instigator of this siege, and killing him would surely shatter the enemy's morale. It might even turn the tide for the Flame Alliance.

As the tide of cultivators rushed toward him, Luo Chen exhaled heavily.

I'm disgracing Initiates by massacring low-level disciples? When Danxia Peak was besieged, your Flame Alliance vassals did exactly the same. I'm merely repaying you in kind. Big Brother Qin, Liu Qiang, Xiugu... take these thousand people as your funeral offerings!

At his side, Chu Kui's anxious voice rang out. "Luo Chen, what do we do now?"

Luo Chen lifted his head, and his eyes were perfectly calm as he watched the surging tide of Foundation Establishment cultivators. "Do not worry. We have our own men as well."

At that, Chu Kui froze, but in the next moment, waves of Initiates surged up behind them. As they passed, several cultivators glanced at Luo Chen with a mixture of curiosity and awe; none had expected an alchemist to strike with such cataclysmic force the instant he moved.

Those mountains encircling Incense Burning Valley had been reinforced for three centuries by Flame Alliance formations, and yet, they had crumbled just like that?

According to the Falling Cloud Sect's intelligence, these mountains had long since lost their status as true spirit mountains. A thousand puppets and ten Adepts had once blasted the place until it lay in ruins and teetered on collapse. Luo Chen had merely taken advantage of the situation to unleash Landslide, a spell he had practiced to Perfected Mastery. Now, the Qi Refinement side was gone, and only the brutal contest among Initiates and Adepts remained to be decided.

At roughly one hundred zhang apart, the two tides of cultivators collided in a thunderous first shock. Amid the impact, talismans and enchanted artifacts detonated in dazzling bursts, and surges of spirit power rippled outward, sweeping the battlefield. After that first exchange, more than a dozen lay dead or wounded. On Luo Chen's side, the losses proved heavier. It was inevitable; their hastily assembled force lacked the cohesion of the Flame Alliance.

Noticing this, Dan Yangzi and several other late-stage Initiates quickly ordered their forces to spread out. Likewise, the Flame Alliance sought to avoid such losses. They too dispersed, and the battle erupted into a chaotic clash across the field.

Amidst the chaos, several figures charged straight at Luo Chen. In the lead was Xiao Lian, the leader of the Flame Alliance! His desire to kill Luo Chen burned hotter than ever. Yet halfway there, he was intercepted.

"Xiao Lian, your opponent is me!" Dan Yangzi stood before him, wielding the Violet Malice Sword, and with the sinister purple sigil glowing at his brow.

Xiao Lian's expression shifted. "Dan Yangzi, there is no grievance between us. Why are you here?"

"No grievance?" Dan Yangzi's face darkened with rage. "You killed my brother in the Blackwater Marshes. Did you think I would not find out!?"

Hearing this, Xiao Lian faltered, but Dan Yangzi allowed no room for reply as purple true fire swelled at the tip of his sword. The moment they met, he struck to kill!

In that instant, Xiao Lian could not spare a thought for Luo Chen. Dan Yangzi had once held the Dao Scion title in Green Pill Valley, a title no one could have taken from him without repeated duels having sapped his strength. Had that not been the case, Tao Wan would never have taken the position. Given his reputed strength, Xiao Lian could not afford to divide his attention.

"You think your primal true fire can kill me? What makes you think I don't have one?" A fierce light flashed in Xiao Lian's eyes. With a thrust of his palm, a withered white flame erupted.

The two fires collided, and shockwaves burst outward, surging for dozens of zhang in every direction. Initiates fighting nearby were forced into a panicked retreat.

Luo Chen turned away from the battle and toward his two companions. "How are your wounds?"

Chu Kui shook his head. "I'm fine. We were far enough that their strikes had already lost most of their strength. Besides, Brother Wang shielded me."

Luo Chen's eyes shifted to Wang Yuan. The man's massive frame loomed like a mountain before them. His flesh had been torn open, exposing bone, yet with every breath, torrents of blood qi surged, mending his wounds. Plates of armor spread across his bare torso. This method was strikingly similar to the qi armor created by Luo Chen's Myriad Path Convergence.

Wang Yuan noticed his gaze and spoke in a rumbling voice. "I am fine. I can still fight."

He was not saying this just to calm down Luo Chen. He had reached major mastery of Transforming Force, which allowed him to simply ignore most physical attacks, and Luo Chen had also given him the Black Armor Talisman. More importantly, the distance caused many of the attacks to lose power, and they could not possibly deal him a fatal blow.

Luo Chen's eyes gleamed. He swept his gaze across the battlefield and then to the distant horizons. The rogue cultivators watching remained motionless. The pressure was not yet enough. The storm had yet to topple the fence-sitters.

"In that case, let us fight into the valley!"

As soon as the words fell, Wang Yuan surged ahead. His body arced through the air and crashed into Incense Burning Valley like a descending mountain. Black armor encased him while blood serpents coiled around his form. His eyes blazed like lanterns, and his massive hands stretched out as though reaching for the stars. Under such ferocity, Qi Refinement cultivators and Initiates of lower stages could not endure even a single strike. Even mid-stage and late-stage Initiates turned pale at the sight.

Before long, Flame Alliance cultivators dispatched their elites to besiege Wang Yuan. At the same time, Chu Kui hurled himself into the fray. He picked out a grand cultivator at the eighth stage of Foundation Establishment and brought his staff crashing down upon him.

This was exactly the tactic Luo Chen had laid out for them beforehand. Well, more like the lack of tactics. Each would fight on their own. As for the reason behind this, it would soon become clear.

The Mystic Flame Sword rested in his grasp while the Crimson Cloud Wings at his back quivered faintly. Luo Chen's Spirit Eyes swept across the battlefield. In a clash of this scale, he dared not release his spirit consciousness, for it could easily backfire. The eyes he had cultivated over the years would serve him well in observation.

Only a short moment passed before Luo Chen formed a complete plan. He drew in a deep, forceful breath, and from every direction, qi surged toward him like a dragon plunging into his body. He then pressed his lips shut and trembled his wings again. The next moment, his figure vanished from sight.

***

Zheng Jun was a Flame Alliance cultivator who had reached the Foundation Establishment Realm three years ago. He was still at the first stage. In a battle of such scale, he was utterly insignificant, likely to perish at any moment from stray attacks.

By fortune, he had encountered an enemy also at the early stage of Foundation Establishment. Although the latter was one stage higher, he was merely a vassal of a major sect. In terms of enchanted artifact grade and spirit power, he was far inferior. As a result, Zheng Jun had the upper hand.

Even so, he was in no hurry to end the fight. He thought to himself,

If I keep this at the edge of the battlefield, it'll be easier to protect myself.

Just as Zheng Jun was feeling proud of his clever tactic, a flicker of red light passed across the corner of his vision. A single thought surfaced.

What was that?

It was the last thought of his life.

The Ailao Mountain vassal who had been struggling against him suddenly saw Zheng Jun's head fall from his shoulders. Blood sprayed in all directions, nearly splashing him.

What was that...

He stared in shock at the streaking red light, and then a single thought also occurred to him.

Dan Chenzi?

His gaze shifted, and lo and behold, he saw Luo Chen's figure streaking with unimaginable speed toward another Flame Alliance cultivator at the battlefield's edge. With a single stroke of the sword, Luo Chen cut him down.

The man swallowed hard.

Why would Dan Chenzi ignore those late-stage Initiates and strike only at the early-stage ones?

There was no time to ponder further. A voice rang out nearby, calling to him. "Junior Brother, come help me!"

He gritted his teeth as resolve set in. Whatever the reason, Luo Chen had just saved him. On the battlefield, matters of benevolence and morality held no weight. Whether one stood at the early or late stage of Foundation Establishment, all were the same. Life and death depended only on their skills and fortune.

He turned and rushed to aid his senior brother.

***

Outside Incense Burning Valley, tens of thousands of low-tier rogue cultivators had gathered to watch the battle unfold. They cared little for who would win or lose. What mattered most to them was whether spoils could be seized.

For the high-tier cultivators hidden in the shadows, their hopes leaned naturally toward the Flame Alliance's downfall. That way, the benefits for them would be even greater.

However, Luo Chen's side posed a far more complicated picture. Even if they were to lose, the hidden observers would not dare to strike rashly. After all, one had to consider the major sects standing behind them.

Within the darkness, strands of divine consciousness transmitted back and forth.

"Fellow Daoist Diwu, you have come?"[1]

"And so have you, Fellow Daoist Jiang!"

"I heard the Flame Alliance managed to get some Lightning Essence flowers from the Divine Transformation pocket world. What about you?"

"The same for me!"

"As if! I heard you have some ties with the Jade Cauldron Domain's newly advanced Sage. Will you intervene in this battle?"

"That remains to be seen!"

"True enough. At the very least, we must wait until the Adepts finish fighting before we decide."

"Indeed!"

"Fellow Daoist Diwu, who do you think will win?"

"Hard to say. People like us don't finish fights in moments."

The Adept named Diwu Qi was focused on the battles in the skies when sudden cries of shock reached his ears. He followed the gazes of the Qi Refinement and Foundation Establishment cultivators and quickly spotted an unusual sight on the battlefield. His brow furrowed at once.

"Dan Chenzi may have a great reputation, but he conducts himself with little refinement!"

In his view, Luo Chen had become a streak of crimson light, weaving across the battlefield without pause. Each strike cut down a life, and most of those who fell beneath his sword were cultivators only at the early stage of Foundation Establishment.

"His first strike destroyed the Flame Alliance's Qi Refinement formation with overwhelming spells, and I admired his boldness then. Yet now, he disregards his status as a grand cultivator and only targets Initiates weaker than himself.

Tsk, tsk...

Is this the style of the youth who stirred such storms in the Jade Cauldron Domain?"

The words were laced with scorn and spoken without restraint, ensuring that every Adept nearby heard them. Some gave voices of agreement, while others offered different opinions.

"Fellow Daoist Diwu, you come from another domain. Perhaps you do not know the backstory," someone else muttered.

Diwu Qi was puzzled. "The what?"

The Adept in the shadows explained, "Dan Chenzi may have risen from a random marketplace as a rogue cultivator, yet he possesses extraordinary alchemy skills. With that, he founded a small faction called the Luo Tian Society. It was doing quite fine, but two years ago, the Flame Alliance rallied its vassals and besieged the Luo Tian Society with several times its number of Initiates. Not only that, but our very Fellow Daoist Qin from the Flame Alliance struck ruthlessly in an attempt to slay Dan Chenzi. So if we're talking about the strong bullying the weak, then I feel we must first cast a stone at the Flame Alliance."

Diwu Qi could only listen in astonishment. He had merely promised the Falling Cloud Sect that he would act once the situation showed a decisive shift; he had never expected such tangled enmities to lie beneath. He muttered, "So it seems Dan Chenzi is a man of principle after all. However one treats him, he responds in kind."

The cultivator surnamed Jiang, who happened to be from the same domain as Diwu Qi, also spoke up. "Indeed. This is nothing less than an eye for an eye and blood for blood! And you must admit that his methods have already changed the flow of battle."

The initial odds appeared to favor Luo Chen's side, but that was only on the surface. On paper, he had assembled a force that seemed stronger than the Flame Alliance. By comparison, the Flame Alliance cultivators were fewer in number, but they all hailed from the same lineage or had been vassals for a long time. They were truly united as one, and due to this, their combined strength still surpassed that of Luo Chen's side.

Yet Luo Chen's tactics steadily reshaped the situation. Within a short time, he had broken through more than a dozen entanglements. The cultivators he freed then rushed to other fronts, creating situations where many struck against few.

Even more striking was what followed. Under the eyes of several Adepts, Luo Chen's figure flickered with increasing speed. His speed grew so swift that even those lofty Adepts could not help but take notice! More importantly, the people he pointed his sword at were no longer limited to early-stage Initiates. Mid-stage ones and even late-stage ones were falling to his blade one by one.

One Flame Alliance cultivator after another met their end, and the tide of battle inside Incense Burning Valley became unmistakably clear.

1. 第五 (Dìwǔ) is literally "fifth" in English. It's a rare surname that dates back to the Spring and Autumn period and is believed to have originated from a noble family in the State of Wei. ☜