Chapter 524

The information in the jade slip was not complicated.

It described in detail the intelligence on that Master Yunhe Shangren Nantian who had occupied the Du Feiyan Islands.

His real name was Yan Nantian, and he came from a cultivation family on a large third-rank island named Laoyan Island in the Demon Domain in his early years.

Later, a great catastrophe occurred on Laoyan Island, and the Yan family was nearly wiped out, with only Yan Nantian's lineage luckily surviving and escaping.

Even so, there were still powerful enemies hunting down Yan Nantian's lineage.

In the process of being hunted, that lineage withered, and gradually only Yan Nantian remained.

However, this person was also someone with good fortune, or rather, a person with a ruthless nature.

Not only was he not killed, but he became stronger and stronger, integrating and mastering the family's cultivation methods, and also concurrently cultivating the secret techniques of the Soul-Refining lineage of the Yuanmo Sect that were circulating outside.

After forcefully killing several waves of pursuers, he temporarily suppressed the enemy's pursuit of him.

But because of this, he himself was also injured.

To prevent being taken advantage of by enemies while he was weak, he specifically left the prosperous area of the Demon Domain and quietly fled to the remote Du Feiyan Islands, occupying the land and declaring himself king.

And the methods he was proficient in were one sword, one thorn, and one soul banner.

The sword was his natal magic treasure refined in his early years, a Water-element flying sword.

The thorn was named the Water-Splitting Thorn, a strange magic treasure that possessed the method of splitting water and transforming into a dragon.

That soul banner was the iconic Soul-Refining Banner of the Soul-Refining lineage of the Yuanmo Sect, but unlike the soul banners refined by ordinary cultivators using a large number of sea demon souls, the Soul-Refining Banner he had integrated a large number of cultivator souls!

Inside, there were eight major split souls, all of whom were late-stage Foundation Establishment Great Cultivators.

The only main soul was actually the soul of a Core Formation cultivator!

It was precisely because of this that Yan Nantian's strength could become stronger the more he fought, and braver the more he battled.

And his own cultivation realm was actually at the third layer of Core Formation, only one step away from the middle stage of Core Formation.

After reading this intelligence, Luo Chen couldn't help but click his tongue in wonder.

Clearly, this was not something Cheng Dou had collected in a rush; it must have taken a huge amount of time and energy to collect bit by bit.

In other words, this intelligence was not even specifically prepared for Luo Chen from the beginning.

"Perhaps if I hadn't come, he would have also found a way to hire someone to get rid of Yan Nantian, this mountain pressing down on his head."

"External reinforcements... the enemies who hunted down the Yan family of Laoyan Island back then?"

Luo Chen's eyes narrowed slightly.

He roughly knew why Cheng Dou thought he had the strength to deal with Yan Nantian.

Calling himself Master Yunhe Shangren Senior Qingyang, possessing a Source True Fire suspected to be the Senior Qingyang Demon Fire, and paying special attention to the intelligence of the Yuanmo Sect, he was 99% likely a cultivator of the Yuanmo Sect.

With the strength of a cultivator from a Demon Dao Sacred Land, dealing with a mere remnant who escaped from a family should be a sure thing.

"However, he isn't afraid of making a wrong judgment? If I fail, it will bring a disaster of extinction to the Cheng family?"

Amidst the questions in his heart, Luo Chen quickly answered himself.

It seemed Cheng Dou had been forced into a desperate situation.

Stuck before the Great Perfection, unable to make any progress, the pressure on his cultivation realm had nearly driven him mad.

For this, he did not hesitate to use his family as a gamble.

The moment he first met Luo Chen, he sent his own sister to win him over.

Looking at it this way, he certainly didn't lack the courage to risk his life for a gamble.

"It is somewhat similar to when I dealt with the Yan Alliance at the late stage of Foundation Establishment back then."

Luo Chen smiled slightly and put away the jade slip.

Seeing the smile he revealed, Cheng Cheng Haixin, who had been quietly observing, felt her spirit lift.

Is this being confident of success?

A faint voice entered her ears, carrying Luo Chen's calm and indifferent attitude.

"I have already understood the situation; now I have only one question that needs you to answer me."

Joy appeared on the woman's face, "Please ask, Master Yunhe Shangren!"

"It's very simple: it's not that I can't take action to deal with Yan Nantian, but the problem is, what reward will you use to hire me?"

Cheng Cheng Haixin subconsciously said: "The Cheng family has some savings; hundreds of thousands of spirit stones can still be produced."

Luo Chen shook his head; when he had the most wealth back then, his pockets held up to tens of millions of spirit stones.

Even if he was short of money now, he didn't lack these mere hundreds of thousands.

"Magic treasures..."

"Cultivation resources..."

"Cultivation methods..."

One condition after another that Cheng Cheng Haixin felt was quite valuable was proposed, but all were met with a shake of the head and a denial.

By the end, thin sweat had even seeped out on the woman's face.

"Is it not possible to include me?"

Luo Chen looked at her with a half-smile, "From the first day we met, didn't you already belong to me?"

Cheng Cheng Haixin bit her lip, and a sense of powerlessness suddenly welled up in her heart.

"Forget it, you go back first and have a good talk with your eldest brother; when you have thought it through clearly, come back and reply to me!"

Luo Chen waved his hand, and a gentle breeze lifted the woman and sent her out of the cave dwelling.

Rumble...

The two stone doors slowly closed, leaving only the woman's dazed expression.

On Black Swan Island, mortals came and went, very lively.

Because of a shipwreck, the Cheng family's demon-hunting ship had lost a large batch of skilled mortal crew members, and recently it had reached a new recruitment period.

Even though working at sea was very dangerous, it couldn't stop the fact that the Cheng family offered high treatment!

Therefore, this time during recruitment, it had attracted quite a few powerful mortals from other islands.

The recruitment place was set on the outskirts of the Little Mirror Lake Manor.

From far away, one could see a long line of people.

Looking over, everyone participating in the recruitment was a person with powerful blood and energy.

If divided by the cultivation realm of the secular martial arts world, the weakest of these people had the strength of a second-rate expert, and the powerful ones were even comparable to Grandmaster-level existences.

Suddenly, a commotion came from the end of the crowd, causing people in the front of the line to be unable to help but look back.

In their line of sight, a tall woman with a beautiful face walked over slowly.

She seemed to be deep in thought and didn't care about the gazes from the outside world at all.

The occasionally furrowed brows added a bit of fragility and sorrow to her beauty.

Until she completely disappeared into the depths of the manor, the long line of people began to have bursts of low discussion.

"That was Fairy Cheng Haixin, right!"

"It should be her; such a tall and outstanding figure, and a beauty that makes one pity her, is one of the best among the many female immortals on the thirty-six Du Feiyan Islands."

"Brother, it's too superficial to just look at the face. Isn't what Fairy Cheng Haixin is most praised for her terrifying talent of successfully reaching Foundation Establishment at thirty-six?"

"Yes, ever since the Great Catastrophe a hundred years ago, the Du Feiyan Islands have been in turmoil, and it wasn't until thirty years ago that they stabilized. In these thirty years, very few have successfully reached Foundation Establishment. Fairy Cheng Haixin was able to rise against the trend and forge the prestige of the Cheng family having seven Foundation Establishment cultivators, which truly makes our generation look up to her!"

"Given time, Fairy Cheng Haixin might not be unable to climb the peak of Core Formation. Everyone, chatting is chatting, but you must be careful with your words!"

"Yes, yes, don't talk about immortal matters!"

Cheng Cheng Haixin, the arrogant fairy in the eyes of outsiders, didn't care about the discussions behind her at all.

At this moment, her mind was filled with Luo Chen's attitude at that time.

He didn't want anything?

Then what did he want?

Before long, she arrived outside her eldest brother Cheng Dou's door.

As if knowing someone had come, the big door opened automatically.

Cheng Dou saw Cheng Cheng Haixin and was slightly displeased; why was she back again?

Cheng Cheng Haixin naturally knew her eldest brother's thoughts, but she didn't say anything, instead recounting the previous situation one by one.

Cheng Dou's face first revealed joy, but he quickly fell into deep thought.

What did Master Yunhe Shangren Senior Qingyang want?

No, or rather, what could his Cheng family give?

Thoughts constantly turned in his mind, and a moment later, Cheng Dou gave a bitter, astringent smile.

"We are a mere Foundation Establishment family; what do we have that a Core Formation Master Yunhe Shangren would take a fancy to?"

"Nothing!"

Cheng Cheng Haixin was stunned, "Ah!"

Cheng Dou shook his head, "It's not that we have nothing, but in reality, it's that we have to give everything. In other words, if we want to hire Master Yunhe Shangren Senior Qingyang to take action, our Cheng family must surrender to him without reservation, be driven by him, give people if he wants people, and give things if he wants things. That's all!"

Cheng Cheng Haixin's face changed instantly, "Such behavior, isn't that the style of a demon? I thought he didn't care for beauty and adhered to principles, and even thought it was the style of a gentleman."

Cheng Dou sighed: "He is a person of the Demon Dao to begin with; even if he were a gentleman, he would just be a Demon Gentleman."

Demon Gentleman Senior Qingyang?

Cheng Cheng Haixin said somewhat powerlessly: "Then we..."

"Give!" Cheng Dou seemed to have been prepared for a long time, gritted his teeth, and said hatefully: "Whatever he wants, we will give. Even if my Cheng family acts as a dog for others, the master will always give bones to eat. With his style of acting, he should be able to tolerate me charging toward the Core Formation stage in the future."

Cheng Cheng Haixin worried: "Eldest brother, is it too risky to pin everything on a strange Core Formation cultivator?"

"I have no other choice!" Cheng Dou sighed long, "Moreover, now that things have reached this point, the arrow is on the string and must be fired; it's not up to you or me anymore."

The wolf has already entered the house!

If one's cultivation realm is inferior to others, then everything is out of one's control.

By the Little Mirror Lake, the brother and sister were speechless.

On Wanghai Cliff.

Luo Chen held a bamboo scroll in his hand, reading it unhurriedly.

After reorganizing his combat system, his current methods were no weaker than during the opening war period.

Moreover, his cultivation realm had been raised to the third layer of Core Formation, and the power of various methods was even more formidable.

With strength, there is confidence. And with confidence, there is enough mental energy to study other things.

The Starry Elixir was no longer enough to support his subsequent cultivation.

The medicinal power attributes not matching the Fire element was one reason.

And another reason was that the medicinal materials required were too complex and too numerous.

With the richness of the North Sea's resources, if there were enough manpower, they could indeed be collected for him. But handling this aspect was not that easy.

Back in the Yuding Domain, it was because his Zhu Luotian Sect had a batch of pharmacists and alchemy apprentices cultivated from childhood; these people handled various medicinal materials upon entering, thereby saving Luo Chen from tedious work.

Now, that wouldn't work.

Moreover, Luo Chen couldn't trust others!

The elixirs he refined were for himself to eat!

He could check whether the raw materials had problems.

But if the processed materials still had problems, then the trouble would be more than just a little bit.

Therefore, for whatever reason, the Starry Elixir no longer met his requirements.

For this, Luo Chen had another solution!

Switch to another elixir, an elixir that was more compatible with his own elemental magic power and required relatively fewer main and auxiliary materials.

That was the elixir formula in Luo Chen's hand—True Flame Elixir!

Originating from the Yan Alliance, a third-rank Fire-element elixir!

This elixir had not been famous in the four-hundred-year history of the Yuding Domain, and even within the Yan Alliance, very few could refine it or were willing to take it.

The reason lay in the fact that this elixir's medicinal power was overbearing and had endless sequelae.

After taking the True Flame Elixir, a strand of Fire-Baleful energy would remain in the body.

This kind of Fire-Baleful energy in the medicinal properties was traceless, difficult for magic power to dissolve, and long-term consumption would cause irreversible damage to the Qi Sea.

Yet, this kind of Fire-Baleful energy was part of the medicinal properties and did not belong to elixir poison, so general detoxification methods were difficult to resolve it.

This was the reason why the True Flame Elixir did not circulate much.

However, under Luo Chen's research, he had ways to overcome these shortcomings.

The overbearing medicinal power mainly manifested as an impact on the physique; with the strength of his early-stage Ancient physique, he could fully withstand this kind of impact.

And as for that so-called Fire-Baleful medicinal property, he also had two preparations.

One was the "Micro-Dust Yuan Technique" that integrated the core of the "Qingyuan Wonderful Elixir Method," and the other was the fourth-rank "Dragon-Slaying Technique."

With both methods working together, he didn't believe he couldn't resolve the aftermath of a mere third-rank elixir.

After making up his mind, the next things to do were simple.

Study the elixir formula and try to get started as soon as possible.

Find suitable manpower to collect various materials for him, so he could refine a large quantity of True Flame Elixirs.

And the latter was also one of the reasons why he was lingering on the Du Feiyan Islands for the time being.

This place was remote, and there were not many Core Formation powerhouses on the islands, making it very suitable for him to develop his forces.

After reading the True Flame Elixir formula again, Luo Chen put away the bamboo scroll.

Taking a handful of Feed-Spirit Pills from his storage ring, he threw them into the sea below Wanghai Cliff.

Watching the Blue-Ringed Giant-Toothed Sea Snakes swimming back from all around and scrambling for the Feed-Spirit Pills, Luo Chen thought about the Cheng family's reaction.

He didn't want "nothing," he wanted "everything"!

With a person as clever as Cheng Dou, he should be able to understand.

Driven to a dead end, or rather, having no other choice, he would inevitably agree.

And cultivation families are, in reality, the easiest to control and the fastest-forming type of force.

With many clansmen, blood ties, and fixed residences, unless the family is destroyed, they won't wander around everywhere.

Plus, he had no blood relationship with them, nor any master-disciple or relative/friend relationship, so the connection between them was not deep; if something really happened, he could just walk away.

Such a force would not bind him, which was exactly the best.

"They should be making a choice by now!"

Luo Chen smiled slightly, clapped his hands, waved his hand to let the full Blue-Ringed Giant-Toothed Sea Snakes leave, and once again formed the formation to guard Wanghai Cliff.

Letting the sea wind slap his face, blowing his black hair to flutter.

"And I, should also consider how to deal with that Yan Nantian."

Turning around, Luo Chen's deep gaze was cast toward the island in the center of the lake, a thousand li away.

Fairy Yaoyue Island!

Du Feiyan surrounding, lake heart inviting the moon.

Boundless black mist shrouded a radius of ten li, forming the absolute forbidden area on the Du Feiyan Islands.

Whether it was mortals or cultivators, all were forbidden from setting foot inside.

With Luo Chen's insight, he could naturally discover that the boundless black mist was a large-scale ghost aura.

Even inside, from time to time, came the low roars and growls of ghost-king-level existences.

To enter Fairy Yaoyue Island, one must first break this Ghost Mist Great Formation set up with the Soul-Refining Banner as the formation eye.

Luo Chen estimated his own methods, and finally his gaze fell on a viscous substance in the Hunyuan Cauldron that was like blood and fire.

"Since Core Formation, the Fierce Fire Miasma, which consumed countless manpower and material resources of the Zhu Luotian Sect as well as my own energy to nourish, should also have a place to be used."

(End of chapter)