Chapter 781: Birds Soar to the Azure Sky; Back to Where One Belongs (II)

Half a month later, Luo Chen slowly opened his eyes. He first glanced toward the silent Primordial Unity Cauldron and confirmed that Han Zhan had yet to awaken. After that, he opened the status panel. The translucent panel rippled as it unfolded, visible to him alone, and his gaze instantly focused.

[Status Panel]

Name: Luo Chen

Lifespan: 124/446

Spirit Roots: Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, Earth

Realm: Golden Core Stage Three (1/100); Archaic Tier Three (30/100)

Achievement Points: 101

[Techniques]

Heavenly Phoenix Nirvana Scripture: Skilled (101/200)

Myriad Path Convergence: Grandmaster (657/1000)

Myriad Beast Sutra: Beginner (15/100)

[Spells]

Fourth-Tier

Third-Tier

Perfected Mastery Spells (click to view details)

[Martial Arts]

Cloud-Seizing Divine Claw: Grandmaster (590/1000)

Blazing Fire Miasma: Grandmaster (530/1000)

[Alchemy]

Scaled Shift: Grandmaster (580/1000)

Burning Crane: Beginner (77/100)

Perfected Mastery Alchemy (click to view details)

[Professions]

Fourth-Tier Alchemist, Second-Tier Healer, First-Tier Formation Master

[Pills]

Fourth-Tier Pills

Third-Tier Pills

Second-Tier Pills

Perfected Mastery Pills (click to view details)

[Formations]

Third-Tier Formations

First-Tier Formations

Each vivid entry sent faint ripples through Luo Chen's thoughts.

I am already at the third stage of the Golden Core Realm at the fresh young age of 124. In the Eastern Wilderness, that makes me a prodigy, right?

Luo Chen could not help but sigh. Such a rate of cultivation meant that even True Inheritors of upper sects would struggle to keep up. Even Jadewater Dragon, with a true blue heavenly spirit root, fell slightly short by comparison.

In truth, Luo Chen had not progressed this quickly at the beginning. After forming his core, it had taken him a full ten years just to stabilize his cultivation and reach the first stage of the Golden Core Realm. The reason he had been able to break through two minor realms in succession over the following fourteen years, despite what should have been a far more arduous and prolonged process, lay chiefly in the fact that he had resolved his external resource constraints.

Whether it was his new cultivation technique or the acquisition of a third-tier spirit land, both had provided him with tremendous support. More importantly, he had refined large quantities of top-grade and even supreme-grade Starfield Pills to aid his cultivation. Across the entire Eastern Wilderness cultivation world, how many people could afford such extravagance?

He in fact suspected that not even Adepts of the Nether Origin Sect enjoyed such treatment. For the sect to provide them with top-grade pills was still reasonable, but supreme-grade pills made no sense from a cost perspective. That was nothing more than trading enormous resources for very little time. Luo Chen could afford to act this way, since he was his own clinician and pharmacist, but even massive sects were unwilling to invest so extravagantly in their own disciples.

Beyond these factors, the Fine Dust Primordial Art he had created also played a crucial role. He had devised this more than thirty years ago and cultivated it since then. By now, he had finally reached Perfected Mastery. Had he spent the past few years at the Luo Tian Sect, he would likely have already compiled a simplified version, one that would be classified as mid-grade at least, if not top-grade, and it would yield results surpassing those of other top-grade Core Formation arts.

"In the end, what really let me break through from the second stage to the third stage so quickly was the supreme-grade cave residence at Green Parasol Mountain and the Heavenly Phoenix Nirvana Scripture...."

Luo Chen sighed with emotion. Everything before could be attributed to his own efforts, and whatever words of praise came his way, he could accept them with a clear conscience and well-founded pride. This latter part, however, truly counted as fortune. A supreme-grade third-tier cave residence was something few could ever enjoy. As for the Heavenly Phoenix Nirvana Scripture, even the Holy Lands across the Five Continents might not possess something of that level, let alone the upper sects.

Between life and death, there is great terror, but also great opportunity. When I fell into the hands of the demons, I resigned myself to living like a caged bird, nothing more than a tool for others. Yet in the end, I still gained something from it. Gains and losses... In the end, everything follows its own balance. I suppose that's just how it is.

Luo Chen pressed his lips together; unusually, he found it difficult to calm down his emotions. Those three years at Green Parasol Mountain still felt unreal when he recalled them now. It was not self-pity but rather the sensation that everything had unfolded like a dream. He had not been oppressed or humiliated, nor permanently imprisoned. Instead, he had gained plenty. He had spoken and laughed with the Demon Emperors and had even witnessed an Ascendant acting personally. Among Adepts, how many could boast such extraordinary experiences?

The more Luo Chen thought, the deeper his thoughts wandered. Yet he was long accustomed to cutting off chaotic thoughts. After a while, he pulled himself back together and continued browsing the status panel.

The increase in his physical cultivation had been modest. Over so many years, it had risen by only 5 points. However, stage-wise, he was getting close to the peak of the early stage. In fact, he was only lacking 10 points before stepping into the middle stage.

Yet even this progress had only been achieved because the proficiency of the Myriad Path Convergence had increased by more than 100 points. The reasons behind the slow progress were naturally clear to Luo Chen. First, the technique was his own creation, and even after multiple rounds of simplification, it remained overly complex. Second, after leaving Tianlan, he no longer had Bai Meiling to regularly prepare spirit meals for him, which had cut off the simplest and most efficient path of dietary nourishment.

Finally, Luo Chen also lacked alchemical formulas that could aid his physique. Of course, if he were to forgo all restraints, slaughter demonic beasts on a large scale, and refine the life force of those demonic beasts with his primordial true fire, his cultivation would undoubtedly advance more quickly. However, doing so would be far too conspicuous and would easily invite trouble.

As this thought crossed his mind, Luo Chen subconsciously glanced at the Primordial Unity Cauldron. A vague idea surfaced in his mind.

"No rush for now. I will talk to him after he wakes," he muttered.

He then let his gaze slide further downward. In terms of spells, he had reached the Proficient level in the Dragon-Slaying Art. He had great hopes for it; once he attained full mastery of it, he truly believed it would reveal some more effects.

As for the Great Handprint of Primordial Qi, he had reached the Grandmaster level and was not far from Perfected Mastery. Its advantage, which Luo Chen had relied on in the past, was that it could be powered by all five elemental types of mana, and each would produce different effects. Sadly, that comprehensiveness was all but gone. After switching his cultivation to the Heavenly Phoenix Nirvana Scripture, his core only contained fire-element mana; the other four elements were all converted into fire. Naturally, the Great Handprint of Primordial Qi could only be executed in the fire-mana version. In other words, it could no longer be used to just restrain.

"Well, gains and losses again. Since I only have one type of mana, it's probably going to be even stronger, and I can just use it as a direct killing moon."

Within the third-tier section were also Mirror Flower Water Moon, the Fine Dust Primordial Art, and the Life-Severing Finger. The first two had already reached Perfected Mastery through years of hard practice and would undoubtedly provide him with even greater assistance in the future. As for the Life-Severing Finger that he had obtained from Li Jinhuang, Luo Chen had barely used it over the years. He had tested it a few times on demonic beasts, but the extracted life force never lasted long before dissipating. More importantly, the loss of his own lifespan had not stopped. The technique neither increased his lifespan limit nor replaced the natural depletion of his own lifespan. It was simply too impractical. Perhaps it had only been truly suitable for someone in circumstances like those Li Jinhuang once faced.

After finishing his review of spells, there was little else among the remaining entries worth dwelling on. In alchemy, he had gained one additional technique, Burning Crane, which he had acquired from Mu Yunyan. He had only just reached Beginner level, but it was already paying off. It was well suited for handling fire-element medicinal materials, even higher-grade ones like those used for Nascent Soul Pills. He had also reached Beginner level in the fourth-tier Transformation Pill, which technically made him a fourth-tier alchemist! At the same time, he had also achieved Perfected Mastery in both the Starfield Pill and Imperial Nectar.

As for formations, he still remained at the first tier, but he had practiced all the foundational first-tier formations to the Grandmaster level, and some even to Perfected Mastery. This had been achieved during the war at the Howling Moon. Back when he had been stationed beneath Thousand Leaf Peak on the front lines, he had been practicing by copying them daily out of boredom. Originally, he had intended to lay the foundation for refining his life-bound treasure. Who could have expected the famous Sage Heaven Smelter to spare him all that effort?

Lastly, there were the achievement points. By perfecting so many spells, pills, and formations, he had been granted dozens of achievement points. Even though he had consumed 10 points to get a quick hang of the Heavenly Phoenix Nirvana Scripture, he still possessed a staggering total of 101 points. This was the greatest amount he had ever held, and it gave him an overwhelming sense of security. Were he to be given a fourth-tier spell, cultivation technique, or alchemical formula, he could directly learn it without the slightest difficulty.

After finishing his review of the status panel, Luo Chen fell into silence for a long time.

What next?

He did not know whether this place was the Southern Ocean near the Southern Frontier, or the Northern Sea famed for its abundance of demons. Either way, it was unimaginably far from the Eastern Wilderness. As for his home, the distance was beyond calculation. In the short term, he likely would not be able to return. Even if he did, he would probably have to face the war between the demon races of the Eastern Wilderness and the Nether Origin Sect. As a mere early-stage Adept, he likely would not even be able to protect himself amid such overwhelming tides. Moreover, he had refined pills for the demons, which basically amounted to high treason. If this was exposed, it would end up implicating his Dao companions and sect members....

"

Aiyaaah...

"

Luo Chen's previously excited mood sank into gloom. Far from his homeland, far from those close to him, stranded in an unfamiliar place, he was struck by a disorienting sense of having transmigrated all over again. The sect he had painstakingly built, the legacies he had created, his Dao companions, disciples, friends, and subordinates, the third-tier spirit vein he had seized with his own hands—all of it was gone.

"No! This is not the end. It's not like they are dead. As long as I am alive, I

will

find my way back."

With a harsh grunt, Luo Chen rallied his spirits once more. So what if he no longer had a third-tier spirit vein? The Mountains and Seas Realm was vast. Was the Eastern Wilderness truly the only place with high-tier spirit veins? Could none be found elsewhere? Nonsense! With his cultivation, as long as he did not have the misfortune of provoking a Sage, he could live comfortably wherever he went. Moreover, he possessed superb alchemy skills, so he had no reason to fear starving.

The most urgent matter was to clarify his whereabouts, then plan for his return and continue along the path of cultivation.

After settling his emotions, Luo Chen prepared to close the status panel. Yet just before doing so, a thought stirred in his mind. As his cultivation continued to rise, his horizons broadened, his lifespan lengthened, and the techniques he mastered would only grow in number. If the panel remained this complex, browsing it would become increasingly troublesome.

Thus, with a single thought, the status panel rippled and slowly restructured itself into three sections. The first section contained his foundational attributes, cultivation techniques, spells, and related entries. The second section focused entirely on alchemy. The third section was dedicated to formations. If he were to learn other skills in the future, he could simply open additional sections when the time came.

After settling everything, Luo Chen rose calmly, placed the Primordial Unity Cauldron in his storage ring, and left the quiet cave dwelling. He glanced at the cave entrance shrouded in vines. The spirit vein here was very low grade, barely at the edge of the second tier. Furthermore, due to the formation placed inside the cave, its recovery rate was practically crippled. During his half month of secluded cultivation, Luo Chen had nearly drained the spirit energy here dry, causing it to fall to the first tier. In fact, his cultivation had come close to severing the spirit vein's very foundation.

The demons of Green Parasol Mountain had not set up additional formations to conceal this place. Instead, they had relied solely on natural forests, winding vines, and mountain rocks to form a naturally occurring maze-like illusion, something obviously meant to prevent low-tier demonic beasts from accidentally wandering inside.

"I don't need to do anything extra."

Luo Chen smiled faintly as spirit light bloomed in his eyes, allowing him to see through the scenery beyond the mountain at a glance. He could easily see the path through the maze, so he stepped out one pace at a time, finally leaping into the vast ocean.

Waves crashed loudly against the shore. As the sun rose, the horizon stretched endlessly. Luo Chen glanced around in all directions, then took out a top-grade flying boat and dropped it onto the water. With a surge of mana, the boat moved off toward the southeast by itself.

The cool sea wind swept up his jet-black hair, and his robes fluttered loudly. Luo Chen gazed toward the unknown scenery ahead, his eyes shining brightly.

"At Green Parasol Mountain, I was like a bird in a cage, a fish trapped in a net. Now that I am leaving, I am back in the open sky, back to the vast sea... and I will never be restrained again."

The small boat carried the black-robed youth onward with the wind, in a quest to cross the boundless sea.