Chapter 539

Immortality Starts from the Grandmaster of Alchemy, Main Text Volume, Chapter 547: Confession, New Mansion, Black King, Three Demons Come to Seek Revenge, One Injured, Two Dead.

The subsequent matters were simple; it was just cleaning up the battlefield.

The living Demon Spider Crab was easy to deal with; although it was third-tier, the processing mode was no different from the previous first-tier and second-tier ones.

Then there were the two dead Demon Spider Crabs.

One was blasted through the chest by Luo Chen with a single punch, but there were still relics left behind: two huge crab claws and a third-tier water-type demon core.

Zhu Qi had a more miserable end.

The material of Luo Chen's Hunyuan Cauldron was excellent, and even though the impurities had not been completely cleared, under the throwing of his ancient physique, it could still erupt with massive force.

Moreover, years of uninterrupted refining and frequent alchemy had made his mastery of the Hunyuan Cauldron increasingly perfect.

With a single strike, there was no corpse left, and not even the demon core survived.

However, the compass that served as the hub of the great formation and the eight crab legs used to set up the formation were completely preserved.

This was also a good harvest.

Leaving the Black-Scaled Flood Dragon to clean up the battlefield for him, Luo Chen carefully savored the previous battle.

Beyond the use of spells and such, the combat power erupted by his physique was very clearly visible.

Facing demon beasts that were also strong in physique, he could suppress a third-tier early-stage one without any suspense.

And a third-tier mid-stage demon beast was clearly no match for him either.

The reason he was trapped in the great formation was that he had been slightly careless.

After all, few people would think that demon beasts would use formations, the "scientific crystallization" of human cultivators.

This also served as a reminder to Luo Chen: when facing any enemy, one must not be careless.

"The 'Ten Thousand Daos Convergence', which has already reached perfection, has derived the function of partial body changes, which has made up for my combat in pure physical terms."

"In this way, even without performing the complete Heavenly Peng True Body transformation, I can still erupt with partial body-refining strength."

"And if I transform completely, ancient third-tier late-stage..."

Luo Chen savored this, recalling the battle with the Golden Wolf King on the Heavenly Drum Plain in his mind.

Looking at it now, if he were to transform completely now, he might be able to block the opponent's full-force frontal impact without any damage.

In other words, his current strength is enough to not fear the vast majority of third-tier late-stage great demon kings.

And if he waits for his Core Formation fourth-layer realm to be completely stabilized.

Even when facing a late-stage great cultivator at the seventh layer of Core Formation, he could possess enough self-preservation power.

"Even with preparation, could I defeat them?"

Luo Chen muttered.

He was a bit unsure of his true strength.

But no matter how unsure, he had the confidence to win strongly against Wu Qi's attack.

"My physique has had enough cultivation but not enough exercise; I feel there is still a lot of room for development."

"Moreover, with the blessing of the Black Emperor Paste, there is a high probability of advancing to the fourth-tier level. If that happens, perhaps it will usher in a true qualitative change!"

While Luo Chen was summarizing, the Black-Scaled Flood Dragon swam over cautiously.

"Master, these are all the spoils of war."

Luo Chen put these things into his storage ring and then released the Cleansing Spell extensively toward this sea area.

But after cleansing for a while, he couldn't help but shake his head.

Many battle auras could no longer be completely eliminated by low-level spells like the Cleansing Spell.

It could only achieve a short-term concealment effect.

He looked around, set his mind, and took the Black-Scaled Flood Dragon back to Heavenly Pivot Island.

He first glanced at the Heavenly Pivot Fighting Gull lying on the ground, his brows furrowing.

"What happened?"

The Heavenly Pivot Fighting Gull replied in a low voice, "A Core Formation late-stage great cultivator placed a Demon-Suppressing Talisman on me, and I cannot mobilize my demon power."

Demon-Suppressing Talisman!

One of the most widely circulated talismans in the North Sea cultivation world, ranging from first-tier to fourth-tier, everything is available.

Its function is also very simple: to suppress the demon beast's inner core and seal the entire body's demon power.

The reason why such talismans exist.

Is because some cultivators like to capture living demon beasts, raise and subdue them, and make them spirit beasts.

Moreover, many like to use them as rewards for juniors with low realms.

Therefore, to facilitate their subduing of demon beasts, Demon-Suppressing Talismans are mostly used in pairs; the junior obtains them to use the talisman to drive demon beasts of a higher realm than themselves.

Luo Chen sent out his spiritual sense and carefully investigated the Heavenly Pivot Fighting Gull's body.

With the other party offering no resistance, he quickly found that the third-tier Demon-Suppressing Talisman had already seeped into her demon core.

Without the caster actively unlocking it, this talisman is very difficult to clear.

Unless the main talisman is found.

Luo Chen looked carefully and nodded slightly.

"It's not a big problem; even without the main talisman, give me some time, and I can unlock it."

His confidence made both the Heavenly Pivot Fighting Gull and the Black-Scaled Flood Dragon somewhat stunned. Master can even unlock a Demon-Suppressing Talisman?

"The two of you rest a little, and follow me to leave in a while."

The Black-Scaled Flood Dragon was stunned, "Are we leaving?"

Luo Chen did not answer him and returned to the cave dwelling alone.

As soon as he entered, he saw the black Soul-Refining Banner stuck at the entrance.

Han Zhan's voice came at the right time, "Congratulations to Little Friend for your cultivation progress!"

Luo Chen waved his hand, "A mere fourth layer of Core Formation, not worth mentioning."

"What I'm talking about is not just the fourth layer of Core Formation, but also your physique! Three demon kings besieged you, and one of them was even a mid-stage demon king who mastered formations, yet you killed them so easily. Looking at the Core Formation level cultivators, you can be considered one of the best."

Luo Chen twitched his mouth and suddenly asked, "Compared to Gu Gu Shaoshang of Flying Cloud Stream, how am I?"

On the way back, he learned the detailed situation of the previous battle through the Black-Scaled Flood Dragon.

He also learned the origin of that ship of cultivators and the name of the leader, Flying Cloud Stream's Big Senior Brother Gu Gu Shaoshang.

Han Zhan smiled, "I only fought him for a few breaths, and the Ten Thousand Soul Banner is not my specialty magic treasure, so it's not easy to judge. But in my opinion, he should not be as good as you."

Luo Chen also smiled.

"According to Senior, he is not as good as me. But he, at the seventh layer of Core Formation, fought Senior to a draw, and in front of Senior, I still feel that your remnant soul is as deep as the sea. Hehe..."

Han Zhan was silent.

Luo Chen ignored him and went straight into the cave dwelling.

Magic power surged, turning into red hands, putting the miscellaneous medicinal herbs, books, wooden shelves, and cushions into his storage ring one by one.

The battle with the three great demon kings of the Demon Spider Crab clan had caused quite a stir.

He had killed the three demons, and the Demon Spider Crab clan would certainly not let it go.

These were not just some first-tier or second-tier little crabs!

Heavenly Pivot Island had already been exposed!

Therefore, abandoning this base was imperative.

This is also why human cultivators rarely choose to practice in wild mountain ranges or demon sea territories.

A battle or two, and it is very easy to attract the prying and attacks of a large number of demon beasts.

In that situation, quiet cultivation is simply impossible.

If it weren't for the two spirit beasts he had subdued, how could he have been so peaceful for these five years.

Leaving is the thing to do right now.

After packing everything up, Luo Chen looked at this cave dwelling with a small third-tier spiritual vein, feeling quite reluctant.

"What a pity."

Muttering, he waved his large sleeve.

The Spirit-Gathering Formation flags buried in the ground turned into streams of light and flew toward him, and a cracking sound came from above the cave dwelling.

Large swaths of falling rocks and gravel fell down with a rustle.

He turned and left.

Passing by the entrance, he recalled the Ten Thousand Soul Banner.

In the sky, a faint white cloud was flying slowly.

Luo Chen held the compass left by Zhu Qi and kept fiddling with it.

This is a water-attribute formation disk.

With his current accomplishments in formation cultivation, he could observe that there were thirteen formations engraved on it.

Ten of them were common first-tier and second-tier formations.

And the other three were quite extraordinary third-tier great formations.

The Sea-Sealing Eight-Trigrams Formation was also among them.

This formation is strong in extracting the endless water vapor from the sea to form a sealing and trapping formation; once inside, if there is no absolute explosive power, the setter of the formation is almost in an invincible position.

After all, human power has its limits, but the sea is boundless.

Luo Chen relied on his third-tier late-stage ancient physique and the high-tier magic treasure Hunyuan Cauldron, which he had tempered for a long time, to break it with violence in one go.

If it were an ordinary person, they would have been sealed inside and killed by those blood-colored spider silks long ago.

Besides the Sea-Sealing Eight-Trigrams Formation, there was also a Lan-Cloud Dense Mist Formation, which had a concealment effect.

As for the last third-tier great formation, Luo Chen couldn't see its origin.

While he was studying the formation disk, his brows suddenly lifted.

With a flip of his wrist, the Ten Thousand Soul Banner was held in front of him.

"Does Senior have anything you want to say to me?"

In the soul banner, Han Zhan sighed and said, "I just want to tell you that the soul origin remaining in this remnant soul of mine is very little, which is the key to my future body-shaping and re-cultivation. Unless absolutely necessary, I cannot make a big fuss and consume my origin because of some weak enemies."

Luo Chen curled his lips.

Sure enough, this Han Zhan had a trick up his sleeve.

Before, when dealing with Wu Qi, he used the excuse of excessive consumption of low-level souls in the Ten Thousand Soul Banner to hide the fact that he couldn't stop the opponent, forcing Luo Chen to personally block Wu Qi's powerful landing on the Flying Swallow Islands.

But over these years, he had filled all the first-tier and second-tier demon crab souls he hunted into the Soul-Refining Banner.

This banner had long since recovered the quality of a Ten Thousand Soul Banner!

It could even be said that because Luo Chen killed Yan Nantian back then, the many Foundation Establishment cultivator souls in this banner divided and devoured Yan Nantian's soul, making those hundreds of Foundation Establishment souls possess third-tier foundations.

After extensively replenishing low-level souls, one of the cultivator souls, who had been at the Foundation Establishment Great Perfection in his lifetime, gradually advanced to the third-tier ghost king level by devouring and merging.

This is also the reason why when Han Zhan drove the Ten Thousand Soul Banner, there was a second ghost king in it besides the original one.

In such a situation, this banner was already a genuine Ten Thousand Soul Banner!

With Han Zhan, who was at the Nascent Soul stage, as the operator, even if it were the worst, how could a mere Core Formation seventh-layer cultivator be his match?

But Han Zhan, while blocking Gu Gu Shaoshang, still had the Black-Scaled Flood Dragon use its innate demon art to barely save the Heavenly Pivot Fighting Gull.

For this, he also brought trouble to the door.

It can be said that Han Zhan had always been consciously holding back, hiding his true capabilities.

Thinking of the opponent's battle with the Proud Howling Wolf Emperor on the Heavenly Drum Plain and all his deeds on Mount Cangwu Mountain, this person is truly old and cunning, and quite likes to keep one or two trump cards.

Hearing the opponent state the reason for holding back, Luo Chen could only sneer.

"I don't know if what you said is true or false, but since Senior chose to travel with me in the Demon Sea and is bound by the Great Dao oath, I think it is best for us to cooperate sincerely."

Han Zhan asked back, "Does the sincere cooperation you speak of mean going all out for each other?"

Luo Chen pondered for a moment, and after weighing the gains and losses, said leisurely, "I hope so."

Han Zhan chuckled, "Then I might as well speak plainly; what I want, perhaps you going all out might not necessarily be able to achieve."

"Speak plainly!"

"Relying on hard cultivation to restore my Nascent Soul stage cultivation is already an impossible thing for me. And if it is possessing a Core Formation cultivator, I cannot rely on a possessed body to pass the Nascent Soul stage heavenly tribulation. So, I need a Nascent Soul cultivator, and it must be the body of a human cultivator, for me to shape my body and re-cultivate, and rebuild my Dao foundation. Luo Chen, can you do it?"

The leisure on Luo Chen's face disappeared.

Clatter!

Above the sea, bubbles were heavy, and as the ripples dissipated, it gradually returned to calm.

Under the sea, two figures dived deeper and deeper.

Finally, they arrived at a very deep seabed gully.

The Black-Scaled Flood Dragon stopped its movements and said respectfully, "Master, this is the most hidden one of the three backup bases."

Luo Chen looked at this gully, which was thousands of feet long and whose end could not be seen, with stalks of beautiful red coral swaying on both sides of the gully.

That is Blood Coral!

A second-tier spiritual plant, psychic, and possesses powerful offensive capabilities.

Because of its gorgeous appearance, it often attracts sea creatures for it to prey upon.

Therefore, this place can also be considered a dangerous place, and ordinary low-tier demon beasts will not come here.

He nodded with satisfaction.

The exposure of Heavenly Pivot Island was within his expectations.

Therefore, long ago, he had ordered Heavenly Pivot and the Black-Scaled Flood Dragon to find backup bases for him.

This was one of them, and also the most hidden place.

The Black-Scaled Flood Dragon hesitated for a moment, but still said, "Master, there is only the spiritual energy concentration of a second-tier spiritual vein here, and it is water-attribute; I fear it is not suitable for your cultivation. Why don't we go to Slide Bone Island instead!"

Luo Chen waved his hand and walked toward the coral gully.

"Slide Bone Island is too dangerous. Although there is a third-tier spiritual vein, it is occupied by a large amount of Hidden Dust Sand, and it is adjacent to the Nine-Clawed Poison King Crabs."

"More trouble is worse than less trouble."

"Besides, I have already advanced to the fourth layer of Core Formation; for a short time, I will focus on stabilizing my realm, so I don't need a place with a very good spiritual vein."

Entering the coral gully.

Luo Chen looked left and right, and finally stopped under a rock wall.

"Let's have it here!"

Before he could take out the Profound Fire Sword to open up a cave dwelling, the Black-Scaled Flood Dragon swam over.

"Master, let me! Let me!"

"How can such a small matter be worth you wasting your precious magic power."

While speaking, he crashed into the rock wall, demon power spraying, turning into sharp blades, cutting the hard rock.

Seeing his sycophantic appearance, Luo Chen couldn't help but laugh.

"Da Hei..."

Just as he opened his mouth, Luo Chen recalled the scene where the Black-Scaled Flood Dragon disregarded its demon power depletion and forcibly stepped out to help him fight.

And the hard work of the other party over these years.

Even if it was because of being enslaved and for the sake of the Emperor Flowing Paste, it could still be called hard work!

Calling him Da Hei was a bit too casual.

At least, that Fighting Gull could still be called Heavenly Pivot.

Thinking of this, Luo Chen asked, "Speaking of which, do you have a name?"

The Black-Scaled Flood Dragon, who was working hard to open up the cave dwelling, was stunned, and then answered, "When I was young, the clansmen called me Xiao Tao, saying I could eat a lot. Later, I got fat, so they called me Da Hei. That Kun Flood also called me that."

Xiao Tao, Da Hei...

Luo Chen twitched his mouth. No wonder he called him Da Hei before, and the other party never noticed anything wrong.

He really is called this name!

However, this is too casual.

"I'll give you a name!"

The Black-Scaled Flood Dragon's movements stopped instantly, and he looked at Luo Chen eagerly, "Is Master going to bestow a name upon me?"

Luo Chen nodded and looked at the dragon horns on the Black-Scaled Flood Dragon's head; they were already appearing. He had also awakened a powerful innate demon art, which could devour foreign objects and rely on strong digestive ability to enhance himself.

If he doesn't fall in the future, he will surely achieve something, or have the aura of a king.

Thinking of this, he said softly, "Let's call you Black King!"

"Black King?" The Black-Scaled Flood Dragon was stunned, not reacting for a moment; where did he look like a turtle.

Luo Chen laughed dumbly and repeated it, "Black King!"

This time, the Black-Scaled Flood Dragon heard clearly.

"Black King? Black King!"

After muttering twice, he showed a look of ecstasy.

"Thank you, Master, for bestowing the name!"

Luo Chen shook his head, "You continue!"

Subsequently, he walked nearby, and after observing slightly, he had a plan in his heart.

Always using magic power to resist deep-sea pressure and block seawater erosion is not a long-term strategy.

Originally, he intended to set up a second-tier water-avoidance formation.

But now, he had a better substitute.

While pondering, he took out the compass he had just obtained from his storage ring.

First, he used his powerful spiritual sense to erase the Zhu Qi imprint left on it.

Demon beasts are strong in physique but weak in soul.

Although it was a third-tier mid-stage, its soul foundation was only third-tier early-stage.

Over these years, even if Luo Chen hadn't deliberately exercised his soul foundation, it had gradually grown to a level comparable to an ordinary Core Formation late-stage with the improvement of his realm!

He was also proficient in the "Hui-Jing" (Concealment/Prohibition) of the seven basic formation foundations.

Once he exerted it, it took only three or five breaths to erase the imprint of the previous owner remaining on it.

Subsequently, magic power was injected into it.

The three-layered interlocking compass began to rotate slowly, and the earth vein power and water vapor around it were also drawn, gradually changing.

Streams of water began to wander and rotate continuously with Luo Chen as the center.

The nearby blood corals swayed their bodies, emitting an instinctive fear.

Slowly, a water curtain spread out, pushing away the seawater here one by one, and even more mist spread out.

It is the Lan-Cloud Dense Mist Formation!

It has a very strong concealment effect and can blend well into the local environment.

The spreading mist, after diffusing a few times, also turned into red light, reflecting with the nearby blood-colored corals; whoever saw it would only think it was the light reflected by the blood corals.

Seeing this scene, Luo Chen nodded with satisfaction.

"In this way, I can act without worry."

"It's just a bit magic-power-consuming; it's better to use spirit stones instead at ordinary times."

While he was setting up the formation, Black King had also opened up a rough cave dwelling on his side.

Luo Chen entered it, praised the other party, embedded the compass in the center of the cave dwelling, and began to set up the Spirit-Gathering Formation.

After doing all this, this place finally had the prototype of a cave dwelling that could be lived in for a short time.

Then, Luo Chen summoned the Hunyuan Cauldron.

Clang!

The large cauldron landed, and he pinched a magic formula.

The Heavenly Pivot Fighting Gull was shaken out from inside.

"Next, I will unlock that Demon-Suppressing Talisman for you!"

As for how to unlock it?

For Luo Chen, it was not a difficult matter.

This talisman mainly relies on the magic power imprint of a high-tier cultivator being applied to it, which leads to the difficulty of uncovering the secondary talisman without the main talisman.

He only needs to use the fourth-tier Dragon-Slaying Technique to cut off its magic power imprint.

Very coincidentally!

Over these years, in order to remove the massive medicinal baleful energy of the True Flame Pill, the proficiency of the Dragon-Slaying Technique had been brushed to the grandmaster level through day-after-day practice, and it was not far from perfection!

Cutting off the magic power imprint of a Core Formation seventh-layer cultivator was more than enough.

In less than half a day, the imprint completely dissipated.

The prototype of the Demon-Suppressing Talisman also appeared on the Heavenly Pivot Fighting Gull's forehead.

Luo Chen opened his hand and uncovered it, and the talisman floated onto the ground, losing its spiritual light.

Once the talisman was gone, she felt free!

The Heavenly Pivot Fighting Gull circulated her demon power and felt comfortable all over.

She lay on the ground and said joyfully, "Thank you, Master, for casting the spell!"

Luo Chen smiled slightly, "You are my spirit beast; this is what I should do."

Speaking of this, the smile on his face also suddenly faded.

To beat a dog, one must look at its master; someone tried to take his spirit beast, and this matter would not be so easily resolved.

Especially when Han Zhan had already struck, and the other party still didn't take the initiative to return it, that was an even greater crime.

"Do you still remember the aura of that ship of people?"

Once this question was asked, the Heavenly Pivot Fighting Gull was stunned, and then said hatefully, "Heavenly Pivot naturally remembers!"

The Fighting Gull clan is the most vengeful.

Therefore, they had the notorious reputation of being good at fighting because of their vengefulness.

Remembering the aura of an enemy is an instinct engraved in the blood.

Luo Chen nodded, "Since that is the case, then you rest a little, and go find that ship of people, see where they are, and what they want to do?"

A guess arose in Heavenly Pivot's heart: could it be that Master wants to avenge her?

Thinking of being teased, captured, and suppressed by others, she couldn't stop hating the other party.

If she could take revenge, that would simply be too satisfying!

However...

"Is Master going to avenge me?" Heavenly Pivot hesitated, "On that ship, there are many Core Formation experts, like you, Master, there are two mid-stage cultivators, and even a Core Formation seventh-layer great cultivator. This..."

A cold smile hung on Luo Chen's mouth, "You don't need to worry, just go and find them first. And don't alert the enemy; just knowing the general situation is enough."

Seeing that Master was resolute, the Heavenly Pivot Fighting Gull naturally did not resist.

Plus, not being used to the seabed environment, she immediately left the coral gully.

Watching her departing back, Luo Chen snorted.

He really wanted to know how a ship of people, and even seven Core Formation cultivators, could travel far to the Demon Sea and come to this quite dangerous Profound Rock Sea area.

If they were just passing by, that would be easy to talk about; at worst, he would swallow this breath.

If they were to do something big in the Profound Rock Sea area, then this would affect his grand plan of refining Black Emperor Paste.

At that time, to be on the safe side, he might have to lead the disaster to the east and borrow the hands of the five great demon crab clans to take revenge.

Under the chaos of war, he could also take the opportunity to hunt some demon crabs.

In recent years, the number of demon crabs hunted has become less and less, which is not enough for him to refine and store more Black Emperor Paste for his future cultivation plans after leaving.

After thinking all this through, Luo Chen closed the door of the cave dwelling.

The fourth layer of Core Formation realm had just been broken through, and it still needed to be stabilized; he must not let this hard-earned realm fall because of other trivial matters.

A rhythmic breathing cadence slowly sounded in the cave dwelling of this coral gully.

Changing places seemed to have no effect on Luo Chen at all.