Chapter 310: Book Eight: Divine Emperor Mid-Stage, the Dao of Life and Death

Inside one of the small towers in the Elixir Tower complex.

Di Ming and his two subordinates were inspecting the elixirs.

“Huh.”

Countless elixirs floated suspended in midair.

“Qingxin Elixirs: 935 high-grade, 72 supreme-grade,” one subordinate observed and declared his judgment.

For Elixir Tower alchemists, producing mid-grade elixirs was already a major failure, let alone waste elixirs.

“Correct,” the other subordinate also verified and judged.

Di Ming glanced over, nodded in satisfaction, and stored the elixirs in two separate locations.

He was currently the deputy head of the Qingxin Hall in the Elixir Tower, exclusively responsible for the easiest tasks—“appraisal and collection”—and only for Qingxin Elixirs. Qingxin Elixirs were also the Elixir Tower’s best-selling basic elixir, accounting for roughly thirty percent of total sales.

As for gathering materials and alchemy, specialized personnel handled those duties.

“These elixirs have already been confirmed by the alchemists themselves, then appraised and stored by me, and will be checked once more before sale—how could there be any mishaps?” Di Ming found the work far too easy.

The most complex and core part of the Elixir Tower was alchemy—but his abilities were unsuited for involvement.

“Following Brother Luo Feng, I’ve become deputy head of Qingxin Hall in the Elixir Tower, earning two hundred Hunyuan Crystals per cycle. Just living this leisurely for ten thousand cycles would give me two million Hunyuan Crystals.” Di Ming was deeply satisfied with this job.

With this position, plus his free lodging in Luo Feng’s cave dwelling, he could still accumulate considerable wealth.

“Deputy Head, our Qingxin Elixir output has been rising steadily over the last cycle,” one subordinate said. “We heard the Cocoon is unhappy.”

“Will the Cocoon strike back?” the other subordinate also looked worried.

As the most ordinary members, they were surprisingly well-informed and knew the Cocoon and Elixir Tower had long-standing conflicts.

In the past, the Elixir Tower had bowed and endured—but now it was massively expanding production. Given the Cocoon’s tyrannical nature, how could it possibly tolerate this? Naturally, these ordinary members were growing anxious.

“Why panic? The Tower Lord and Lord Luo Feng are both stationed here—what are you afraid of?” Di Ming rebuked them.

“You’re from the Source World, so you’re not afraid—but we are! We’ve all moved into the Elixir Tower and canceled our rented dwellings.” The two subordinates were deeply uneasy.

Within the Elixir Tower complex, individuals like Luo Feng and key alchemists were assigned private small cave dwellings for seclusion and cultivation.

But those at the lowest rungs, like these menial workers, had no such space. Living permanently in the Elixir Tower meant they couldn’t cultivate in peace.

“You canceled your rented dwellings?” Di Ming was startled.

“We dare not leave the Elixir Tower. The Cocoon can’t touch the Tower Lord or them, so they might take it out on us.” The two subordinates remained on high alert—they had no clones.

Di Ming nodded.

He had learned from Luo Feng that the Cocoon Lord’s mental avatar had once clashed with Luo Feng! He expected the Cocoon Lord would return for revenge.

“You should be cautious,” Di Ming said.

He could offer no help in a confrontation between the Cocoon Lord and Luo Feng.

…

The Elixir Tower members were uneasy, yet unwilling to abandon such a good job—they could only proceed cautiously.

Luo Feng and the Evergreen Tower Lord had also prepared themselves!

Having begun “normal competition,” they were ready to face the Cocoon Lord.

“Her mental avatar suffered a setback. Given her temperament, she’ll definitely retaliate,” the Evergreen Tower Lord stated firmly.

“If her true body intervenes, I’ll have to rely on arrays for defense,” Luo Feng admitted honestly. “But if I simply hold my ground, I’m confident I can manage.”

“Hold your ground—that’s enough,” the Evergreen Tower Lord chuckled. “After all, this is Lancheng. There are city laws here forbidding mutual slaughter! She can’t go wild inside the city.”

Outside the city, they could fight freely.

Inside the city, many restrictions still applied.

“With her vengeful nature, she’ll come for revenge. I estimate she’ll act within a few cycles,” the Evergreen Tower Lord said.

“I’ve stationed this avatar here long-term, waiting for her to arrive,” Luo Feng smiled.

Time passed.

Cycles slipped by—soon ten cycles had passed, yet the Cocoon Lord never came.

“Huh?”

Luo Feng and the Evergreen Tower Lord, once on high alert, were baffled.

“The Cocoon Lord suffered a setback—and just let it go?” the Evergreen Tower Lord couldn’t believe it. “That’s not her nature!”

Who in all of Lancheng didn’t know the Cocoon Lord was a tyrant? Among the three major theft-and-plunder factions, the Cocoon Lord, the Guifang Lord, and the Master of Wan Ying Pavilion were all fearsome and brutal.

But the Guifang Lord and the Master of Wan Ying Pavilion were cautious and calculating types.

The Cocoon Lord, however, was “follow me or perish”—arrogant, brutal, and ruthless.

“Could it be that after clashing once with your avatar, she realized she couldn’t win?” the Evergreen Tower Lord looked at Luo Feng.

“I used a secret technique and wounded her, but I estimate it was only a light injury,” Luo Feng said, puzzled. “That minor wound shouldn’t matter.”

The illusory Cocoon had received a wound from his Lieyuan Technique, but compared to the entire illusory Cocoon, it was nowhere near serious damage.

“Perhaps the matter in the Dark Sacred Realm delayed her retaliation,” the Evergreen Tower Lord speculated.

“Hmm,” Luo Feng nodded.

…

Time flowed on.

Luo Feng and the Elixir Tower Lord waited patiently, always ready for the Cocoon Lord’s attack.

Before they knew it, over two hundred cycles had passed.

Deep within the massive Cocoon.

“Finally, the corruption is stabilized,” the Cocoon Lord’s face showed exhaustion.

The sudden loss of hundreds of millions of souls had dealt her a massive blow.

These imprisoned souls, having endured endless torment without dissolving, were part of her power. Losing so many pained her deeply.

“I consumed another batch of cultivators from my homeworld, reinforcing my mental power and finally suppressing the corruption completely,” the Cocoon Lord thought.

With her power, everything in her homeworld’s Source World was her sustenance.

Countless cultivators’ lives were hers to consume at will.

Yet her mind could only contain a finite number of souls.

“Though I’ve stabilized the corruption, if my true body clashes with Luo Feng again and suffers his will technique… I fear another severe wound,” the Cocoon Lord thought. She’d spent so long stabilizing—she didn’t want to endure another Lieyuan Technique.

“I need a powerful enough artifact to resist will attacks,” the Cocoon Lord sighed.

She did possess one extremely powerful artifact—but it was in the Dark Sacred Realm! After all, her Dark Sacred Realm avatar… faced far more dangers. There, half-Hunyuan-level beings were common, and some wielded will techniques stronger than Luo Feng’s!

“The Dark Sacred Realm takes top priority!”

“As for Lancheng, I’ll find a suitable artifact myself. Without sufficient mental protection, I won’t fight Luo Feng again,” the Cocoon Lord thought. “Unfortunately, I’ve spent too much—I can only gather thirty billion Hunyuan Crystals now.”

Artifacts like the “Undying Heart,” offering strong mental protection and matching one’s nature, were always extremely hard to find. Thirty billion Hunyuan Crystals for such an artifact was merely a normal price.

Such treasures were exceedingly rare.

When a powerful cultivator tried to sell one, friends immediately bought it at premium prices.

“No artifact—only endure,” the Cocoon Lord fumed with frustration.

Normal elders, whose mental will had reached the ultimate bottleneck, would suffer only light injury from Luo Feng’s Lieyuan Technique and recover quickly.

But the Cocoon Lord, in contrast, feared Luo Feng’s Lieyuan Technique even more.

…

Suddenly, over three hundred cycles had passed since Luo Feng’s mental avatar clashed with the Cocoon Lord—and Luo Feng still hadn’t seen her strike. Life in Lancheng remained calm.

On the Origin Continent, inside the Star Tower.

Luo Feng sat cross-legged, his Life-Death Eye observing the 195th set of Hunyuan Bloodline from the Divine Emperor Early Stage.

Each Hunyuan Bloodline revealed a sliver of the mystery of “escaping the cage.” He sensed countless secret patterns perfectly unified, naturally harmonious—but his own path still fell far short of such “perfect unity and natural harmony.”

Yet Luo Feng could feel his own progress.

The more he studied, the more patterns he discerned. His understanding of Life-Death integration had become thorough; now, his “internal completion” matched the Hunyuan Bloodlines at ninety percent similarity.

“Simple integration is too ordinary.”

“Life and Death merging into one—that’s the transformation.”

A natural flash of insight arose in Luo Feng’s mind—he began attempting Life-Death fusion.

Suddenly, a fused Dao emerged within his heart!

“Life-Death Dao… broken through?” Luo Feng was delighted. “So fast?”

Last time, when his Life-Death Dao advanced from Divine Emperor Ultimate Stage to Divine Emperor Early Stage, he had deliberately meditated and pondered to achieve it.

This time, he hadn’t deliberately meditated—he’d been studying the mysteries of each Hunyuan Bloodline, deepening his understanding of Life-Death integration. When the accumulation reached sufficient depth, the Life-Death Dao naturally advanced into Divine Emperor Mid-Stage.

“I truly owe thanks to Master Yuanxiang. With his gift of five billion Hunyuan Crystals, I could afford so many resources for my cultivation and comprehension.” Luo Feng felt deeply satisfied.

He had also frequently used auxiliary elixirs purchased from the Elixir Tower over these three hundred cycles.

Precisely because of this, his comprehension of the Hunyuan Bloodlines had progressed so rapidly.

“I haven’t even finished studying all the Divine Emperor Early Stage Hunyuan Bloodlines I collected. Behind them lie even deeper ones: Divine Emperor Mid-Stage, Late Stage, and even Perfect Stage.” Luo Feng felt immense confidence.

Now, his Life-Death Dao had already crossed into Divine Emperor Mid-Stage.

After fully comprehending all these Hunyuan Bloodlines, how far would his “Life-Death Dao” advance?

“Boom~~~”

Luo Feng summoned a thought.

An endless sea of blood appeared around him. The Divine Emperor Mid-Stage Life-Death Dao was a qualitative transformation compared to the Divine Emperor Early Stage version!

“The Divine Emperor Mid-Stage Life-Death Dao should rival ordinary paths of the half-Hunyuan level,” Luo Feng tested briefly and sensed the immense leap in his realm.

This leap in realm surpassed even his previous gains from the “Undying Heart” and “Palm Realm.”

"Hah, such a joyous day!" Luo Feng was in excellent spirits; having been still for so long, he felt like taking action. "By the way, I haven't delivered the gifts I brought for my masters yet."

He had returned to the Origin Continent and feverishly studied the Primordial Bloodline until now, finally finding a moment to rest.

"I'll visit each of my masters."

Luo Feng immediately took his gifts and first went to Chu Capital to visit his master, Emperor Chu.

—

Recommend Mo Luo Sa's new book, "Sword Roar Through the Spirit Heavens," an excellent wuxia novel.

(End of Chapter)