Chapter 444: Nascent Souls Clash, Mysteries of Withering and Flourishing, Revisiting Old Grounds, Meeting Old Friends Again

The voice was aged, coming from a great distance.

Yet it was not issued in the form of a roar; it was merely a plain, simple sentence, yet it could be transmitted into Luo Chen's ears with absolute clarity.

Suddenly, a guess surfaced in Luo Chen's mind.

Spiritual sense transmission!

But from a thousand miles away, and not a targeted transmission focused into a beam, just how strong must one's soul foundation be to be heard so clearly!

Luo Chen swallowed a mouthful of saliva, stabilizing his mind.

Shaking his head abruptly, he looked up again.

In his deep eyes, he vaguely saw the scene in another place beneath the sky-filling thunder clouds.

A young Daoist, wearing a white bone Daoist robe with intricate patterns, sat on a white bone Daoist carriage, overlooking the rolling mountains.

Pulling the carriage for him was a three-headed flood dragon.

At this moment, it was baring its fangs and brandishing its claws, staring viciously at the old man opposite.

Dressed in a green shirt, with graying long hair neatly draped behind his back.

The old man did not show his true colors, but facing this White Bone Daoist and the three-headed flood dragon, he was completely unafraid, and even had a smile hanging on the corner of his mouth.

The White Bone Daoist stared fixedly at the old man in front of him.

"You know me?"

The old man smiled: "The master of the Great Snow Mountains—the White Bone Mysterious Snake, who does not know, who is not aware?"

"But I do not know you?" The White Bone Mysterious Snake looked at him with disdain.

The old man smiled slightly: "Human powerhouses emerge one after another; I am but a newly promoted Nascent Soul, it is normal that you do not know me. Allow me to introduce myself, Luoyun Sect—Han Zhan!"

The White Bone Mysterious Snake raised an eyebrow; there was no such person in its memory.

Especially since the other party's Nascent Soul realm, while stable, was indeed just a newly promoted early-stage Nascent Soul.

In this way, there was no such great threat after all.

Its gaze wandered, passing over Han Zhan, and fell upon the majestic Great Snow Mountains.

The former White Bone Dao Palace had already been crushed into powder, with only the Moonlight Ice Castle standing upon it.

The entire fourth-tier spirit vein it relied on for cultivation was now having countless spiritual energy surge toward the Moonlight Ice Castle, finally pouring into the female cultivator on the ninth level.

Its expression darkened instantly.

"Destroying my Dao Palace, occupying my spirit land, you human cultivators have crossed the line!"

Han Zhan, however, was indifferent to this: "My friend is borrowing your precious land to break through to the Nascent Soul realm; whether she succeeds or fails, it counts as troubling you, Fellow Daoist. When the time comes, she will naturally present a generous gift as an apology."

"A generous gift?"

The White Bone Mysterious Snake gave a ferocious laugh: "What do you take me for?"

Amidst the ferocious laugh, it had already slammed out a palm.

Han Zhan was unhurried, also slamming out a palm.

The vast magical power collided in an instant, shaking the Great Snow Mountains with a thunderous roar.

"Han Zhan?"

"The Supreme Elder of the Luoyun Sect!"

A thousand miles away, Luo Chen's expression tightened.

This was the first time he had seen that legendary newly promoted Nascent Soul True Person of the Yuding Domain; although his figure was thin, he was spirited, calm in the face of danger, and in every word and action, he possessed a rather immortal demeanor.

"Was he invited specifically to protect the path for Canglong Shangren's breakthrough?"

As Luo Chen guessed, the two great Nascent Soul stage powerhouses exchanged a blow.

Intense magical power fluctuations spread outward.

In the hazy distance, Luo Chen could no longer see the figures of the two.

But he could clearly feel that the thunder clouds between heaven and earth were gathering thicker and thicker, and even a small cluster of thunder clouds suddenly formed, enveloping the one human and one demon.

"Not good!"

"The two fighting has affected Canglong Shangren's breakthrough, and even the lightning tribulation has been strengthened."

"Even Han Zhan and the others will be affected by the lightning tribulation."

"In this way, I don't know if it's good or bad for Canglong Shangren's breakthrough?"

As Luo Chen's thoughts raced, the two Nascent Soul powerhouses, after exchanging several blows, seemed to realize the impropriety.

The two subconsciously pulled the battlefield a bit further away.

After reaching a certain distance, a sudden change occurred.

Within the mountains, five figures suddenly appeared, each holding a sharp sword, floating up from the mountain peaks.

A hazy great formation suddenly took shape!

The moment the formation took shape, thousands of sword qi erupted, and five sword lights of different colors, like swimming fish, shuttled back and forth, flying toward the White Bone Mysterious Snake.

The White Bone Mysterious Snake's roar exploded like thunder.

"Sword formation!"

"Do you think that by stopping me, you can let that woman undergo the tribulation safely?"

"Wishful thinking!"

Amidst the angry shout, the mountains seemed to respond.

One after another, powerful demonic auras shot into the sky, charging fearlessly toward the Moonlight Ice Castle.

Every owner of a demonic aura was at least at the third-tier level!

Some were even several great Demonic Kings comparable to the late Core Formation stage, attacking the Moonlight Ice Castle from a hundred miles away.

"Not good!"

When he saw the third-tier Demonic Kings charging toward the Moonlight Ice Castle, Luo Chen's expression changed.

His range was also within a thousand miles.

He feared he would inevitably run into the Demonic Kings.

This was not just the level of pursuit from the Seven-Ring Snow Python King.

The Seven-Ring Snow Python's strength was not considered strong, even if, due to bloodline reasons, it could invite some existences from the same snake and python clan to attack Luo Chen.

But during the pursuit, these enemies could not unite immediately, so they did not form a climate. Therefore, Luo Chen could charge left and right, relying on his superior escape speed to continuously escape the pursuit.

But if this place were filled with third-tier Demonic Kings.

As a human cultivator living among them, he feared he would become the primary target for elimination.

This place could no longer be stayed in for long!

Glancing at the tall ice castle in the distance, shrouded in thunder clouds, Luo Chen gritted his teeth.

"Senior Sister Canglong, I'm sorry."

"I am currently weak and powerless, and cannot protect your path."

"I hope you achieve the Three Flowers Gathering at the Crown, the Five Qi Returning to the Origin, and succeed in the Nascent Soul Great Dao!"

Cupping his hands, Luo Chen flapped his wings and fled along the ground.

The further he flew outward, the more demonic beasts he saw.

It was no longer limited to the third-tier Demonic King level; even second-tier and first-tier demonic beasts seemed to have received a summons and were rushing toward the White Bone Dao Palace.

Luo Chen flew close to the ground, the green flames on his body blazing fiercely.

Wherever he passed, it was a path of blood and fire.

Half a month later!

A massive green demonic cloud suddenly flew across the high sky.

While flying, it emitted irritable cries.

The gale whistled, and the dense forest in the mountains was blown askew, a complete mess.

After a long time.

In the dense forest below, inside a withered tree root.

A figure walked out from inside the tree root, his aura completely restrained, as if he were a piece of rotten wood himself.

He looked up at the direction the green demonic cloud had gone, and couldn't help but let out a long sigh of relief.

"Having finally escaped from the Great Snow Mountains, I had only just entered the Guyuan Mountain Range when I was targeted by a third-tier Green Juvenile Eagle."

"Fortunately, such demonic beasts are not that sensitive to aura."

"Otherwise, I, Luo Chen, would not have been able to shake off this demon so easily."

This person was none other than Luo Chen, who had caused such a stir in the Great Snow Mountains not long ago.

After shaking off the pursuit of the Seven-Ring Snow Python, he had sneaked all the way into the Guyuan Mountain Range.

But he had not expected that, due to the changes in his Heavenly Roc True Body, he would attract the attention of the Green Juvenile Eagle, also a flying demonic beast.

Fortunately!

Although this type of demonic beast was very fast and powerful, it was not that good at tracking auras.

Relying on his Great Perfection Breath-Restraining Spiritual Art and the Turtle Spirit Covering Armor, he quickly escaped into the towering dense forest, and then continuously changed his aura, thereby dodging the Green Juvenile Eagle's tracking.

However, even so.

His current state was extremely poor.

His spiritual power was nearly exhausted, and his surging vitality was also running low.

His originally formidable physique, in this state, could no longer forcibly activate the Heavenly Roc True Body transformation.

"This place is still not very safe; let me find a place to recover my state first!"

Luo Chen looked around wearily, then chose the direction with the weakest spiritual energy fluctuations and leaped away.

He did not use any magic, but the simplest light-body technique, "Carefree Travel."

A figure bounded through the dense forest, and soon disappeared.

"Eh, it's actually a cute little rabbit."

"It's a pity we're in the wild, otherwise I could make the shredded rabbit that Master likes to eat."

Muttering sounds came from Bai Meiling's mouth.

She casually cast a wisp of ghost energy, stunning the little rabbit that had just barely advanced to a first-tier demonic beast.

Afterward, she circled the area before quietly returning to the stone cave in the mountainside.

Just as she entered, a gaze as substantial as reality fell upon her.

"Master, you're awake!"

Bai Meiling was not startled, but instead leaned in happily.

On the prayer mat in the stone cave, Luo Chen nodded slowly.

"How long has it been?"

Bai Meiling counted on her fingers and said: "You have been recuperating for a month."

Another month has passed?

Luo Chen muttered to himself.

Scanning himself with his spiritual sense, he couldn't help but sigh.

His current situation was a little better than before, but only limitedly so, having recovered only about one or two tenths of his strength.

At this time, let alone a third-tier Demonic King, even a late-stage second-tier demonic beast might be difficult for him to deal with. Killing it would be one thing, but if it attracted the attention of other demonic beasts...

In the end, there were too few medicinal herbs related to healing in his storage ring.

Over the past month, Luo Chen had eaten all the ordinary Harmony Elixirs and top-grade Blood-Increasing Elixirs he carried with him.

He had not taken the Dust-Falling Elixir.

He currently needed Blood-Increasing Elixirs to recover his vitality.

Otherwise, relying solely on spiritual power, he could not activate the third-tier flight art "Ninety Thousand Miles."

Mentioning "Ninety Thousand Miles."

A look of regret appeared on Luo Chen's face; the Lieyun Wings, which he had paid cultivators from the Hundred Refinement Mountain to forge, were already overwhelmed and completely ruined.

In this way, when he used "Ninety Thousand Miles" in his human form, his speed would likely be reduced by more than half.

It would only be slightly faster than a Foundation Establishment True Cultivator.

If only there hadn't been that flight afterward!

Luo Chen shook his head, no longer regretting these things.

In fact, there had long been signs of this.

From the moment he entered the Great Snow Mountains, Fu Jiusheng had mentioned more than once the changes in that safe route.

Too many low-tier demonic beasts had moved from their original habitats to the outside.

Now it seemed that these low-tier demonic beasts, which were born with a sense of danger, had realized some kind of impending doom.

And the source of that danger was clearly the lightning tribulation brought about by Canglong Shangren's breakthrough to Nascent Soul.

"She not only invited True Person Han Zhan to protect the path, but even used the town-sect high-grade magic treasure, the Moonlight Ice Castle."

"Not only that, the Heartless Fairy, Lady Yin Yue, Thin Frost..."

The names of the Ice Castle's Core Formation cultivators were muttered from Luo Chen's mouth.

If he hadn't seen wrong at the time, there was a Core Formation stage cultivator sitting in each of the first eight levels of the Moonlight Ice Castle.

For Canglong Shangren to break through to the Nascent Soul stage, she had used the entire foundation of the sect!

"I wonder if she succeeded?"

Luo Chen hoped the other party succeeded.

Not only because after Canglong successfully advanced to Nascent Soul, he would have a great backer.

But also because the other party was indeed a good person.

She was one of the only two high-tier cultivators he had met who had been kind to him.

The other was Haoran Zi, whom he had only met twice.

It was a pity that his state at the time was too poor, and his own strength was insufficient, otherwise he would definitely have helped out and contributed a little effort.

Withdrawing his mind.

Luo Chen's gaze fell on the first-tier demonic rabbit that Bai Meiling was holding; its fur was oily and bright, and its nostrils were red.

It was clearly still alive, just unconscious.

Suddenly, his heart stirred.

"Give it to me!"

Bai Meiling handed it over skillfully and asked casually: "Is Master going to practice the Soul-Deterring Art?"

In the past, in the cave dwelling, she had also fed demonic beasts for Luo Chen, and then he would occasionally use low-tier demonic beasts to practice soul secret arts.

At this moment, she thought Luo Chen was doing that again.

However!

She did not know that Luo Chen's attainment in the Soul-Deterring Art had long since reached Great Perfection.

Otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to instantly kill Xiao Sanren in the fierce battle in the earth cave, and deter You Sha and Helian Yun.

Tugging on the ears of the unconscious demonic rabbit, Luo Chen fell into deep thought.

With a flick of his right hand, a wisp of green flame, like a lighter, slowly emerged from his slender fingertips.

In his mind, he seemed to return to the fierce battle in the earth cave, where he held Xiao Sanren's head, high in mid-air, overlooking You Sha and the other.

That time, he had used the Origin True Fire to incinerate Xiao Sanren's head.

At that time, a strange change had occurred in him.

However, because the environment was special, he hadn't had time to seek the cause and effect.

And what he had to do now was to attempt to recreate that change.

"Humans can do it, demonic beasts should also be able to?"

Luo Chen pursed his lips, and the Withering-Flourishing True Fire slowly enveloped the demonic rabbit.

Upon being burned, the demonic rabbit woke up in an instant.

A shrill cry was emitted from the rabbit's mouth.

Seeing this, Bai Meiling's expression changed slightly, revealing a look of fear.

"Maintain the formation well, don't let the sound out."

Luo Chen gave a calm, simple instruction, and continued to slowly burn the demonic rabbit.

Gradually, a mysterious power converged toward him.

After a while!

Luo Chen brushed away the ashes, a thoughtful look appearing on his face.

"That was... vitality?"

He could feel that the Withering-Flourishing Fire, which he had refined into his Origin True Fire, seemed to have absorbed a strange power after burning a living creature.

And this wisp of flame also seemed to have grown quite a bit.

As it grew, it also shared a tiny wisp of that power with Luo Chen.

After being nourished by this power, some of Luo Chen's injuries also recovered a bit faster.

"Perhaps, this is the true wondrous use of the Withering-Flourishing Fire?"

Amidst his doubts, he beckoned to Bai Meiling.

"Are there any other low-tier demonic beasts that have wandered into the maze formation?"

Bai Meiling's body trembled, and she nodded quickly.

"There are a few more!"

"Give them all to me!"

The second demonic beast was a skylark.

Luo Chen used his spiritual power to activate the Origin True Fire to slowly incinerate it, while simultaneously extending his spiritual sense, opening his spiritual eyes wide, and trying his best to observe and capture the appearance of that power.

One, two.

Three, four...

Finally, after Luo Chen had refined all the low-tier demonic beasts and wild animals that had wandered into the maze formation during this period.

He confirmed that power!

Whether it had offensive capabilities was hard to say, but that power could definitely strengthen the Withering-Flourishing Fire.

At the same time, a wisp of vitality shared from it would also be absorbed by Luo Chen's body.

His injuries were also visibly getting better.

"Withering-Flourishing, Withering-Flourishing! Where there is withering, there must be flourishing; refining the vitality of others into one's own body."

"So vicious, yet so wondrous!"

Luo Chen's eyes flickered with a mysterious light, his gaze seeming to pass through this simple cave dwelling and look toward the vast, boundless million mountains.

After a long time, he suppressed the impulse in his heart.

"Too reckless!"

"In my current state, it is better to be safe."

"Let's leave the Guyuan Mountain Range first!"

"On the way, I can find opportunities to refine some low-tier demonic beasts, but it's better to keep everything low-key."

Luo Chen did not intend to fully recover from his injuries in the mountains.

For one, the environment was not suitable, and for another, he didn't have enough materials on him to apply large-scale alchemy.

His spiritual power was vast, far exceeding those of the same stage.

But at the same time, because his spiritual power was too vast, it would also be slower to recover.

To recover to his peak state, without the help of elixirs and high-grade spirit lands, he didn't know how much more time it would take.

During the Qi Refining stage, the automatic recovery effect brought about by the proficiency of the Evergreen Technique was no longer that significant.

After making up his mind, Luo Chen no longer hesitated.

Letting Bai Meiling crawl into the Soul-Nurturing Banner, he put away the formation tools, and Luo Chen activated the Breath-Restraining Spiritual Art, restrained his aura, and calmly stepped into the Guyuan Mountain Range.

Guyuan Mountain Range!

Revisiting old grounds, Luo Chen didn't have too many feelings.

During those days at Dahe Workshop, he actually rarely entered and exited this mountain like those demonic beast hunters.

At that time, his realm was too low, and his means were scarce.

He could barely manage a Fireball Technique.

At this level, wanting to enter the mountains to hunt demonic beasts for a living was truly too dangerous.

Especially after he mastered alchemy and joined the Broken Mountain Gang, there was even less need for this.

Even the ruins of the Ghost God Valley Supreme Core Formation, which had caused such a stir back then, he had suppressed the greed in his heart and did not participate.

On the contrary, he would occasionally go to the Xiaoyue Mountain Range to visit Changyin Mountain.

"When one's strength is weaker, one is actually more cautious and timid."

"The stronger one's strength, the more the desire to kill arises; I, however, have become bolder and bolder."

Recalling the battles after Foundation Establishment, Luo Chen was filled with emotion.

In fact, some battles were unnecessary.

And in some fights, he might have been able to do better.

Amidst this reflection and emotion, Luo Chen's pace out of the mountains became faster and faster.

The reason for the increased speed was that he was more familiar with the Guyuan Mountain Range. Even if he hadn't set foot in it himself, he had seen the large number of maps left behind during the Broken Mountain Gang period.

And the other reason was that he would occasionally use the Withering-Flourishing Fire to refine the first-tier demonic beasts he captured.

Absorbing the vitality of the demonic beasts made his physical recovery ability stronger and stronger.

The faster his body recovered, the more his strength naturally recovered.

His speed naturally progressed from the cautious, slow-paced sneaking at the beginning to rapid advancement later on.

Two months later.

Luo Chen stopped in front of a fork in the road.

In fact, he had also entered the Guyuan Mountain Range once during the Qi Refining stage.

At that time, it was Miao Wen who had brought him personally.

It was also that time that he discovered the remnants of the Mi family, and they were all killed by Miao Wen; except for Mi Li, no one in the clan survived.

Luo Chen looked up at a high mountain.

It was a thousand zhang tall, yet there were no clouds around it.

This mountain was named Jueyun Mountain!

There were many demonic beasts inside, and there was no lack of second-tier demonic beasts.

It was an existence that the demonic beast hunters of Dahe Workshop dared not set foot in.

With Luo Chen's current strength, he naturally dared to explore it.

The reason he stopped was because of this mountain.

"That micro-meta-magnetic valley is inside, right!"

Luo Chen sighed.

Now, in his Thunder-Accumulating Treasure Ring, a puppet was lying quietly there.

That was a puppet made from the corpse of Uncle Mi.

"Since I'm here, let Old Man Mi be laid to rest and reunited with his clan!"

With a thought, Luo Chen leaped and flew into the mountain.

While flying, he extended his spiritual sense.

With the sharpness of his spiritual sense, he soon discovered powerful second-tier demonic beasts.

Bloodthirsty Mad Crocodile, Black Swamp Giant Python, Jueyun Leopard...

For these demonic beasts with more surging vitality, Luo Chen didn't have any thoughts.

He could easily kill them.

But if it caused any trouble, it wouldn't be in line with his original intention of returning home smoothly.

Before long, Luo Chen followed his memory and arrived at that meta-magnetic valley.

This was one of the many strongholds of the Broken Mountain Gang in the Guyuan Mountain Range, and it was a secret stronghold.

The reason it was set up in the meta-magnetic valley was because it contained trace amounts of meta-magnetic power, the five elements were forbidden, the spiritual energy was thin, and any demonic beast with a bit of intelligence would subconsciously stay away from this place.

Just as Luo Chen was about to lower his white clouds and enter the meta-magnetic valley.

A figure in his sight, however, made him stop abruptly.

"Eh?"

"Why is he here?"