Chapter 733: Golden Core Second Stage; The Moonbreak Wings; Mirror Flower Water Moon; Tears of Blood Once More (II)

"Actually, I don't know why I even bother explaining. Let me put it like this: You have already tested this treasure. You should have felt its strengths. Its potential is extremely high. It can be cultivated as a life-bound treasure and even upgraded later. It's an exceptionally fine artifact,

and you know it

. Don't

you

think it's worth the money?"

Luo Chen nodded without realizing it. That was precisely why he had been so exhilarated when he returned earlier. The quality of the Moonbreak Wings far surpassed the three enchanted treasures he currently possessed. Even if the Shangshu Cauldron, whether still damaged or fully restored, probably still fell short.

However, upon further thought, Luo Chen's expression darkened again. Huyan Zhuo was clearly being generous with someone else's resources, using Luo Chen's funds to hone his own craft. He remembered his original request perfectly. All he had requested was a wing-type enchanted treasure that would allow him to use Ninety Thousand Li. The Moonbreak Wings far exceeded that requirement. There was no doubt that part of this came from Huyan Zhuo failing to control the costs, the result of his desire to create a piece of work that satisfied

him

, not the customer.

As Luo Chen's expression shifted, Huyan Zhuo's eyes widened. Obviously, he'd figured out that Luo Chen had figured it out.

"Oh right, it is still the Frontier War period. A slight rise in prices is normal, right? You should know that the raw materials for your Moonbreak Wings came from an Infernal Flame Black Phoenix and contain a trace of phoenix power. As for the cost..."

Luo Chen was agape. In this world, there were countless demonic beasts with the word "phoenix" in their names. There was no possible way all their bloodlines contained "a trace of phoenix power"! Phoenixes were true divine beasts! How could their power be so cheap!?

Huyan Zhuo did not care whether Luo Chen believed it or not and clasped his hands behind his back.

"Lastly, my name, Huyan Zhuo, is worth quite a number of spirit stones, isn't it?"

Luo Chen opened his mouth, then could only nod dejectedly. He had realized it now.

People often say Huyan Zhuo has a strange temper. That may or may not be true, but he definitely is strangely good at business. Is this really a person solely devoted to the artifact creation arts?

Huyan Zhuo sighed. "Well, it's fine. You need not force yourself. If you genuinely feel the price is too high, give them back. I can just erase your blood imprint and auction them later; there will be plenty of buyers."

"That will not be necessary. I'm paying," Luo Chen said helplessly as he reached into his storage ring to take out spirit stones.

He had already paid 50,000 as a deposit, so he only needed to pay the remaining 450,000. However, just as he was about to hand over the spirit stones, his hand suddenly paused.

Huyan Zhuo was taken aback. "Is there something else?"

Luo Chen tried asking, "You mentioned earlier that there were three failed attempts. Are there any defective pieces left behind that are still usable?"

𝗳𝚛𝚎𝚎𝘄𝕖𝕓𝕟𝕠𝚟𝚎𝕝.𝗰𝕠𝐦

The old man was stunned.

As expected of a master alchemist, he's not even leaving the scraps!

***

"Master, you are truly skilled at fleecing people! This transaction alone would be enough to rank among the top three in the history of low-grade enchanted treasure sales in Skysail City," Rengui said excitedly as he flattered him from the side.

Huyan Zhuo sipped his spirit tea, his expression full of self-satisfaction. "Young man, I did not fleece anyone. They may not be worth half a million, but they're actually not far from that. You think I'd sell half-assed things? Even as they are, they're no worse than ordinary mid-grade enchanted treasures, and their potential is enormous. As for how far they go in the future, that depends on how much effort Dan Chenzi is willing to put into nurturing them."

Rengui nodded repeatedly, with a fawning expression on his face.

Huyan Zhuo set down his teacup and smacked his lips. "But I have to say, Dan Chenzi is truly well off. After forming a core, most people end up poorer than dirt. Yet look at him, collecting materials for a life-bound treasure while also investing in building his sect's spirit land!"

"Actually, Master, not long ago, he spent one million spirit stones at the Moonbreak auction to buy a third-tier Wolf King!"

Huyan Zhuo clicked his tongue in admiration. "Did he? Damn. An Adept with such a wealthy background is truly rare. Only those late-stage Adepts can barely compare. Rengui, do you think alchemists are really that rich?"

Rengui scratched his head. "Not as rich as you, Master. You've earned five hundred thousand in just a couple of months. If we count the other tasks completed along the way, the net profit for this year is close to two million already. We artisans earn quite a lot too!"

Huyan Zhuo shook his head. "Silly child, this is war profiteering. Under normal circumstances, how could anyone earn this much?"

After a moment's thought, he stopped dwelling on it. All that remained was to wait for Luo Chen to make a name for himself using the Moonbreak Wings. When that happened, his reputation as the creator of the wings would surely become even more resounding. He could also use the precedent of someone paying half a million for a low-grade enchanted treasure to elevate his own standing even further. In the future, when others sought him out for custom enchanted treasures, he would have far more room to negotiate.

***

After leaving the Treasure Pavilion, Luo Chen wore a dark expression. Another five hundred thousand gone, on top of the million he'd just paid for the damn wolf! Over the years, he had also paid out of his own pocket to invest heavily in the sect's blessed lands! On top of that, with Jiang Yu's fall and Cen Qiusheng's departure, he now had to cover an additional hundred thousand each year in pill cost shortfalls! Not only, but the materials needed for his life-bound enchanted treasure had also already cost him several hundred thousand spirit stones as well!

Before he'd realized it, he had gone from nearly ten million in liquid funds to only three million left, and almost all of it was in top-grade and mid-grade spirit stones. These things were strategic resources he was unwilling to spend as mere currency.

He felt a little panicked. If other Adepts knew what he was thinking, they would probably drown him in curses. It was a tall order for an ordinary Adept to gather a whole million, and that was after selling even their clothes. And here he was, panicking with his absurdly expensive treasures and another three million spirit stones left!

"From here on, aside from continuing to earn spirit stones for pill refinement, there should not be any major expenses. I only need to set aside a budget for the Fire Spirit Diamond. Thankfully, the finances can still hold!"

As Luo Chen took the sky, he kept comforting himself. If it really came down to it, selling the batch of demon cores he had stockpiled would replenish quite a bit.

After returning to the Luo Tian Alliance, he did not go straight back to his cave residence. Instead, he sent a voice transmission to Zeng Yilong and summoned him over.

"Daoist Uncle, did you summon me for something?"

"Nothing major. Your master has been in seclusion for several years, so I am checking your cultivation progress on his behalf."

While Zeng Yilong felt uneasy, Luo Chen released his divine consciousness and carefully examined Zeng Yilong's physical strength. After a while, he finally withdrew it with satisfaction. "Not bad. Although your progress is quite fast, your foundation is still very solid. In that case, you can use my third-tier flying technique."

Zeng Yilong hesitated. "Is it the flying technique my master mentioned, the one called Ninety Thousand Li?"

"Yes. Well, strictly speaking, it actually counts as a Physique Refinement technique."

"But to use it, don't I first need to practice the Sky Roc Transformation?" asked Zeng Yilong.

Luo Chen smiled and shook his head."It is not that demanding. The actual requirement for using this technique is quite literally just having wings. Look. What do you think these are?"

As he spoke, Luo Chen flipped his wrist. A pair of palm-sized crimson wings appeared before Zeng Yilong.

"A supreme-grade enchanted artifact. Let's name them..." Luo Chen glanced at Zeng Yilong. "Ascending Dragon Wings!"[1]

Zeng Yilong was stunned for a moment, then overjoyed. He immediately knelt to the ground. "Thank you for the treasure, Daoist Uncle!"

***

Next, Luo Chen first guided Zeng Yilong for several days in getting started with Ninety Thousand Li. After confirming that he had grasped the basics, he let him cultivate on his own, while he himself returned to his previous orderly routine.

In the small mountain valley behind the Luo Tian Alliance, wolf howls rang out without cease. Yet as time passed, they gradually weakened. By the end, they had become nothing more than low whimpering sounds.

Two years later, inside the cave residence, Luo Chen slowly opened his eyes. The mana fluctuations within his body surged violently and restlessly.

"I didn't expect this. Before the technique I placed so much hope in could reach major mastery, my cultivation broke through first. The second stage of the Golden Core Realm! One hundred and twenty years old—ten years since I left seclusion at the first stage. Finally, a small step forward."

Huuuuuu......

Luo Chen let out a long breath. This small step had been extraordinarily difficult. Especially during the earlier period, he had been charging blindly. No matter how well his plans were made, he always felt anxious yet powerless. In the later years, he had estimated the breakthrough to take place in three years or so, but inscribing the Concealment Veil Formation had cost him a lot of extra time.

Still, Luo Chen had broken through in the end. He closed his eyes and turned his sight inward. Within the sea of qi, the five-colored core shone brilliantly, its size clearly doubled compared to before.

Beneath the core, a small cluster of green flames swayed along with the flow of mana. It was the Withering-Flourishing Fire he had refined. Having devoured the life force of many demonic beasts, this flame had clearly grown much stronger and even carried a faint sense of spirituality. For it to start out at the fourth-tier was indeed extraordinary.

In addition, there was also a wing within the sea of qi. It was rising and falling with the surging mana, like a small bird flying with the wind. Luo Chen clearly placed greater importance on this enchanted treasure that had cost him an enormous price. He had never even refined the Mystic Flame Sword or the Heavenly Moon Purple Gold Wheel within his sea of qi, yet the he did it to Moonbreak Wings.

Although continuously drawing in mana slowed his cultivation to some extent, Luo Chen had taken Huyan Zhuo's words to heart. This enchanted treasure possessed immense potential. Since the spirit stones had already been spent, it was only right to invest further resources and nurture it properly.

After briefly checking his own condition, Luo Chen opened the status panel. As expected, the upper limit of his lifespan had changed, increasing from 402 to 422.

"After the Golden Core Realm, does each minor realm increase the lifespan limit by twenty years? If that is the case, then if I cultivate to Perfected Mastery, would I not have nearly six hundred years of lifespan?"

Luo Chen was somewhat surprised. He had thought it would be the same as the Foundation Establishment Realm, where each minor realm added ten years. If that was so, then his future lifespan limit would exceed that of ordinary Adepts by a full hundred years.

"Immortality is within reach!"

Luo Chen was beamed with joy. It was rare to see him unable to contain his emotions. Matters concerning the Great Dao of Immortality were indeed hard to face with a calm heart. When his gaze swept over to the spells section and landed on Mirror Flower Water Moon at the Grandmaster level with a point of 997 out of 1000. He could not help but smirk again.

Sometimes misfortune came in clusters. While at other times, good things also arrived in pairs. After forming his core, he had run about everywhere, exhausting himself day and night. Now, at last, it was time to reap gains on all fronts.

He formed a seal and shouted, "Activate!"

Faint black lines surfaced across Luo Chen's body before quickly fading from sight. The restless mana fluctuations brought about by his recent breakthrough were likewise concealed. From an outsider's view, what Luo Chen now revealed was no different from before, still appearing to be at the first stage. This was precisely the formidable effect of the third-tier Concealment Veil Formation. After engraving the formation onto his body, its activation and withdrawal became even more convenient, and it responded at will.

After restraining his mana fluctuations, he once again went to the back mountain. He opened the formation,n and a massive figure lying prone on the ground immediately came into view. Upon sensing his arrival, the Grayleaf Wolf King even let out two soft whimpers like a docile puppy. At this, Luo Chen could not help but smacked his lips.

"Diwu Qi even said that you are fellow cultivators of the Great Dao like us. Now that I see that you are just a beast that eats raw flesh and has fur and hides, how can they speak of walking the Great Dao together with us?"

After muttering this, Luo Chen did not bother engaging further with it. With practiced ease, he began casting the illusion spell. It was clear that the Grayleaf Wolf King resisted the spell, yet once Luo Chen unleashed Mirror Flower Water Moon, it quickly sank into it again. Within that illusory dream, it even stretched its body from time to time, as though it had regained the bearing and majesty of a ruler in its own domain.

This time, Luo Chen did not limit himself to fully casting the Mirror Flower Water Moon just once a day as before. Instead, after one session ended, he immediately followed with the next. He intended to accomplish it in one continuous effort and cultivate Mirror Flower Water Moon to Perfected Mastery!

When the sun set beyond the mountains and the moon hung high, the entry for Mirror Flower Water Moon on the status panel shifted slightly before finally settling into stillness.

"

Huuuu

...After all these years, it is finally complete."

Luo Chen smiled faintly and looked toward the full moon high in the nine heavens. He was indescribably relaxed. Yet as he continued to stare, that smile slowly faded. Two streams of blood flowed down from his eyes as familiar scenes resurfaced from the cluttered depths of his memories. Luo Chen suddenly clutched his eyes and let out a low and suppressed roar.

1. This references Zeng Yilong's given name, which literally means "one dragon." ☜