Chapter 692

Amidst the clear breeze and white clouds, two figures drifted past.

From Fu Qinglan's words, Luo Chen gained an increasingly deeper understanding of the personnel composition of Heaven Earth Peak.

As a treasure land possessing a fifth-rank spiritual vein, the spiritual energy on Heaven Earth Peak is extremely abundant.

But to prevent unnecessary waste, cave dwellings on the mountain were only opened for Nascent Soul True Persons and Soul Transformation Great Experts; even if Core Formation cultivators occasionally appeared, it was merely for the purpose of serving.

As for the outer-continent cultivators who joined the Star Gate with their families in tow, their disciples and followers were arranged in other places.

It can be said that as long as one cultivates on Heaven Earth Peak for a long time, there are truly no Foundation Establishment cultivators coming and going, and all those one chats and laughs with are True Persons!

And the composition of True Persons on the mountain is also quite complex; while they are primarily outer-continent cultivators, True Persons from the older generation of other large families will also leave their families and join Heaven Earth Peak after they grow old.

The representatives of this are precisely the fourteen Heaven Earth Peak elders sent by the Twelve Great Houses and the Thirty-Six Noble Families.

After finishing these details, Fu Qinglan could not help but sigh with emotion: "This one mountain alone encompasses nearly half the essence of Central Province!"

Luo Chen did not refute this; perhaps in the eyes of outsiders, this mountain is heavy with the aura of twilight, but the people on the mountain are indeed all individuals with great capabilities.

If one combines this with the words Fu Chaosheng spoke earlier and thinks about it carefully, it is even more terrifying.

Is it this spiritual mountain that nourishes those aging Nascent Soul True Persons, or are those Nascent Soul True Persons feeding back into this mountain as they approach the end of their years?

He had no intention of continuing to ponder this and stopped his footsteps before Cave Dwelling No. A-78.

He took out the guest elder jade plaque bestowed by the Star Gate elder and activated it with magic power.

Instantly, the white clouds receded, and the outline of a strange peak was revealed deep within the mist.

"It is indeed a quiet and secluded good place."

Luo Chen gave a light laugh.

Fu Qinglan, however, frowned slightly. "The concentration of spiritual energy here seems a bit low."

Luo Chen wore a smile and strode inside, appearing quite satisfied already.

He knew that perhaps the other party thought he had not seen much of the world, being content with such an ordinary fourth-rank spiritual vein.

But he was even clearer that he was merely a passerby in Central Province, and even being a Star Gate guest elder was just a layer of gilding for him.

In a situation where it does not affect the essence, what difference does it make whether this layer of gold powder is a true guest elder or a temporary one?

As for the spiritual energy concentration...

A year or two would not affect anything.

Cave Dwelling No. A-78 had been uninhabited for many years, but that did not mean it was covered in dust or draped in cobwebs.

With the formation running year-round, it remained clean and fresh.

Luo Chen walked around and was quite satisfied.

There was just one shortcoming: Tianxuan Jing and the others had been left at the Fu family estate, and he had no capable people by his side; he feared he would have to do many things himself.

Seeing that Luo Chen was not dissatisfied, Fu Qinglan did not have much to say, but after he stopped, she took several jade slips from her storage pouch.

"What are these?"

Luo Chen took the jade slips and asked casually while flipping through them.

"My grandfather finally made a trip to Mount Lankeshan and had to visit his former fellow disciples. He said these things were what you needed, so he entrusted me to bring them over while I was on my way."

They were indeed things Luo Chen needed.

Five fire-attribute cultivation techniques: two fourth-rank and three third-rank.

Another jade slip contained the intelligence regarding the Eastern Wasteland that Luo Chen had specifically requested in private.

At the end, Fu Qinglan hesitated for a moment and took a small booklet from her bosom.

"This is the intelligence collected so far regarding the newly advanced Nascent Soul cultivators during the Mirage Dragon Cave Heaven Grand Competition, as well as information on their respective protectors. Although it is not yet complete, I think it will be of great help to us."

Luo Chen glanced at it and casually put it into his storage bag.

Seeing this scene, Fu Qinglan pursed her rosy lips.

So careless?

Does the other party have the confidence not to care about those opponents, or is he simply not taking this matter to heart at all?

Originally wanting to have a good talk, when the words reached her lips, Fu Qinglan subconsciously said: "I heard that Daoist Brother Luo advanced to the Nascent Soul realm not long ago, but your magic power is incomparably vigorous. This younger sister would like to witness it; I wonder if that is possible?"

Luo Chen raised his head and looked at her in surprise.

"Didn't they say that you all must not act rashly before entering the Mirage Dragon Cave Heaven?"

Fu Qinglan insisted, "A simple demonstration will certainly not have any effect."

Luo Chen gave a light smile. "Since that is the case, then Luo has no objections."

As soon as the words fell, the wind and clouds trembled.

A tyrannical and peerless magic power expanded from him as the center, connecting with the free-roaming spiritual energy of heaven and earth, and instantly, a Nascent Soul domain took shape.

At this moment, it was as if a volcano had erupted!

Fu Qinglan's small face turned deathly pale.

She had the intention to release her Nascent Soul domain, but under the other party's suppression, she found even the step of connecting with the spiritual energy of heaven and earth to be arduous.

"The gap is actually this huge?"

In her heart, the young woman could not believe it.

【In the 3505th year of the Mountain and Sea Calendar, a beast tide emerged from the Million Great Mountains, impacting the thirty-six domains of the Eastern Wasteland human race...】

【In the 3531st year of the Mountain and Sea Calendar, the Eastern Wasteland sacred ground, the Mingyuan Sect, organized experts from major sects to counterattack the demon race and recover large swaths of lost territory.】

【The Ancient Demon Emperor Tian appeared frequently; although he did not act personally, he exerted immense pressure on the Nascent Soul True Persons, causing the front-line battle situation to be lost repeatedly.】

【The tug-of-war repeated for a hundred years without ceasing, and forty percent of the Eastern Wasteland's immortal cultivation domains were reduced to scorched earth.】

【In the 3566th year of the Mountain and Sea Calendar, the three halls of the long-lost Feather Clan sacred ground, Mount Cangwu, reappeared in the mortal world. Demon Emperor Qing Shuang killed his way into the human heartland alone, seeking to avenge the past, destroying the Heavenly Extreme Zen Sect and ruining the Hehuan Sect's mountain gate. Because the Supreme Elders of the two sects had fallen in the Million Great Mountains decades ago, there was no one who could stop Demon Emperor Qing Shuang, and the two major Nascent Soul sects were destroyed in an instant.】

【The Eastern Wasteland sacred ground, the Mingyuan Sect, was furious and took action personally, dispatching a large number of Mingyuan disciples to slaughter demons and exterminate beasts, counterattacking the Million Great Mountains of the Eastern Wasteland! Led by Lei Daozi Zhang Che, who revealed exquisite thunder-path cultivation, he is suspected of inheriting the orthodoxy of the Great Expert Bai Ye and has hopes of reaching Soul Transformation...】

Inside the cave dwelling, Luo Chen slowly withdrew his spiritual sense from the jade slip, his expression complex.

In just a short hundred years, the Eastern Wasteland had become scorched earth.

Even though he had been prepared in his heart, seeing the concrete intelligence still left his mind shaken.

In that situation, does the mere Luo Tian Sect truly still exist?

He did not know, but the emotions in his heart were already impatient to return to that piece of native soil.

Taking a deep breath, he circulated the "Dust Origin Art" within his body, and Luo Chen's agitated mood calmed down a bit.

Reflecting carefully on the content of the intelligence at this moment, he discovered a suspicious point.

The return of the Feather Clan sacred ground, Mount Cangwu, was about forty years ago.

At that time, he had just arrived at the Demon Sea's Long Yuan Island and stepped into the ninth level of Core Formation; outside, the seal of the Arctic Night Demon Heaven had been broken, and a large number of demon clans had escaped.

These things seem unrelated, but if one looks at the repair time of the teleportation array connecting the Eastern Wasteland and the North Sea in the Xintian Sea Area, it is somewhat of a coincidence.

The reason the Mount Cangwu sacred ground dared to return to the eyes of the world must be because it had something to rely on!

Demon Emperor Qing Shuang dared to kill his way into the human heartland because he had something to hold onto.

And this greatest reliance must be the Great Expert who is also a Soul Transformation existence—Sovereign Qixia!

"If Sovereign Qixia returned at this time, then where was she before this?"

"Could it be within the Yuanmo Sect mountain gate, inside the Arctic Night Demon Heaven?"

Luo Chen swallowed his saliva, suddenly struck by this wild idea.

"Forget it, these things are ultimately too far away from me; let's handle the current matters first!"

Luo Chen shook his head, not wanting to think—and not daring to think—about those behemoths standing at the pinnacle of this world.

Instead, he focused his attention on matters related to his own cultivation.

He firmly believed that as long as he was strong enough, many seemingly troublesome things would be easily solved.

The spiritual energy concentration of Cave Dwelling No. A-78 is relatively average, far inferior to the Fu family's Mount Wangwu and Long Yuan Island's Earth Abyss, only comparable to the small Mount Qiong of Divine Origin City.

Since that is the case, there is no need to rush into closed-door cultivation.

Now that Fu Qinglan has sent five fire-attribute cultivation techniques, the techniques in his hands have suddenly become abundant.

This is an excellent opportunity to study techniques and create a cultivation technique suitable for his own Nascent Soul stage!

Luo Chen did not hesitate and took out the first rubbing jade slip.

"Eastern Jia Departing Fire Scripture"

The path of cultivation is nothing more than Qi refining and breathing.

Due to the structure of the human body and natural changes, it is subdivided into Yin and Yang, the Five Elements, the Twelve Heavenly Stems, the Four Symbols, the Eight Trigrams, and so on.

The subtleties here are not understood by most cultivators, but for Luo Chen, who also cultivates the path of formations, understanding them is not difficult.

In his view, this "Eastern Jia Departing Fire Scripture" is clearly a relatively exquisite fourth-rank cultivation technique.

The spiritual energy it absorbs is not as comprehensive as other ordinary fire-attribute cultivation techniques; instead, it focuses on the whole by focusing on the part, concentrating on absorbing the more essential parts of the heaven and earth fire-attribute spiritual energy.

To Luo Chen, this is somewhat like a chicken rib.

The "Heavenly Phoenix Nirvana Scripture", being the ancestor of fire techniques, follows the tyrannical concept of being grand and upright, ruling over all the fires in the world; it has no need to focus on the part.

However, some details regarding meridian adjustment in this technique are very worthy of reference and absorption.

After Luo Chen possessed the Fire Spirit Body, he did not develop this physique much.

At this moment, borrowing from the "Eastern Jia Departing Fire Scripture", he actually had some alternative ideas.

Subsequently, Luo Chen began to comprehend another fourth-rank fire-attribute cultivation technique, the "Li Li Ziyang Divine Art".

This is a cultivation technique with strict requirements for cultivation time and location.

Unlike Luo Chen's habit of liking to cultivate late at night, to practice the "Li Li Ziyang Divine Art", it is best to do so at dawn when the sun is rising and the morning glow is first shining, absorbing the first ray of the Sun's True Fire between heaven and earth.

The aura of the Sun's True Fire at this time is the most essential and pure, yet also the weakest, suitable for Nascent Soul True Persons to refine.

If this cultivation technique reaches great success, it can greatly enhance the power of the Nascent Soul True Fire, and it has a natural restraining effect on filthy and evil objects.

This day.

Luo Chen sat upright on an ancient phoenix tree, with a pitch-black abyss beneath him, and ghostly winds blowing.

His eyes were brilliant, staring straight into the pitch-black night sky.

When the night sky gradually dawned and a touch of fish-belly white gradually appeared on the horizon, the magic power in his body circulated naturally.

Between breaths, the rhythm and tempo rose and fell, as if echoing with heaven and earth.

Suddenly.

Swish!

A round ball, looking like an egg yolk, appeared in his pupils.

The sun was rising on the horizon.

Luo Chen's breathing rhythm also achieved synchronization at this moment.

As the sun continued to rise, a large amount of weak yet essential fire-attribute spiritual energy began to gather toward him.

"So that's how it is..."

When Luo Chen finished his cultivation of the "Li Li Ziyang Divine Art", an enlightenment emerged in his heart.

If the "Heavenly Phoenix Nirvana Scripture" focuses on increasing the quantity of magic power, then the "Eastern Jia Departing Fire Scripture" is biased toward internal adjustments, making the circulation of magic power smoother, while this "Li Li Ziyang Divine Art" focuses on the quality of magic power.

Through long-term cultivation, the magic power becomes incomparably essential and pure, and even the Nascent Soul True Fire possesses some slight characteristics of the Sun's True Fire.

As for the "Flame Brilliance True Scripture" studied earlier, it has its own unique features regarding the acupoints and the Purple Mansion.

"If I take the Heavenly Phoenix as the foundation and borrow and absorb the strengths of these three sets of cultivation techniques, can I continue comprehensive cultivation on the path of fire techniques?"

Luo Chen's eyes revealed a brilliant light, and his heart was full of greed.

He had the confidence to do so.

The Fire Spirit Body gave him the foundation to concurrently cultivate various fire-attribute cultivation techniques.

The proficiency panel allowed him to study, fuse, and even create cultivation techniques, raising the upper limit.

As long as he grasped the measure...

Just then, Luo Chen's heart suddenly stirred.

Looking inward with his spiritual sense, in the Purple Mansion, the Withered Glory True Fire, which was slowly withering, seemed to be withering faster and faster with his many days of cultivation.

After absorbing the Withered Source Fire Marrow, the Withered Glory True Fire almost extinguished; this was not Luo Chen being alarmist to Fu Chaosheng, but a fact.

Logically, this situation should not have happened.

But Luo Chen deduced the reason for this situation.

The Withered Glory True Fire did not only have the side of flourishing vitality; it also had the other side of dead silence and withering!

It was just that for many years, stimulated by Luo Chen, it had been slowly improving and constantly strengthening its flourishing side.

Such strengthening actually had a limit.

Even if it fused with a trace of the origin of the Nirvana Holy Fire, it still could not cover up its limit.

But at the Mo Lan Court, after absorbing the seemingly ordinary fourth-rank Nether Fire, the Withered Glory True Fire found its direction.

And because of the guidance of the Withered Source Fire Marrow, its limited spiritual intelligence made a decision to walk in that one direction.

That was "flourishing to the extreme leads to decline, withering and flourishing repeat"!

Undoubtedly, this was the essence of the Withered Glory True Fire.

In Luo Chen's expectation, as long as it walked through the process of flourishing to the extreme leading to decline, and withering and flourishing repeating once completely, the Withered Glory True Fire would have the possibility of undergoing a complete transformation.

From nothing to something, until the fourth rank, then withering and dying in silence, returning to nothing.

When it ignited again...

"It's just that this time is way too much faster than I expected; how could it be like this?"

Luo Chen was somewhat puzzled.

In his expectation, this process would last at least several years, or even more than ten years.

But now, less than a year has passed, right?

"Could it be caused by my cultivation of other fire-attribute cultivation techniques?"

Luo Chen had always prided himself on being knowledgeable, but at this moment, he could not grasp it at all.

However, from the accelerated withering of the Withered Glory True Fire, he vaguely gained some inspiration.

"Withered and flourishing repeating, it inherently has the meaning of Nirvana; if I integrate this change into the cultivation technique as well, wouldn't it perfectly fit the concept of the 'Heavenly Phoenix Nirvana Scripture'?"

Once he thought of this, Luo Chen could not help but feel restless.

He had once had the experience of refining his body with fire.

Now, refining his Qi with fire again, it seemed it was not impossible.

For a time, Luo Chen fell into a long, deep contemplation. The magic power on his body began to circulate spontaneously, and the spiritual energy from the outside world surged toward him constantly, only to be exhaled constantly.

Surrounded by clear breezes and white clouds, with wind, rain, thunder, and lightning intermingling, he seemed not to have even realized the visit of the Fu family grandfather and granddaughter.

If this state were to be explained in cultivation terminology, it would be the two words: sudden enlightenment!

In a quiet cave dwelling on Heaven Earth Peak.

A delicate woman opened her eyes in confusion.

Her mind stirred, and she instantly found the source of the change.

Looking at the young man sitting cross-legged on the treetop, whose aura was constantly changing, her eyes revealed surprise.

After examining him carefully for a long while, she finally came back to her senses.

"Dongfang Bai's worries are not without reason."

"Such a heaven-defying genius has joined the Star Gate, which will harm the interests of the Central Province's heaven-favored ones; it is happening right now."

"My primordial spirit resonates with heaven and earth, drawing in vast spiritual opportunities. A portion helps me ascend, and a portion is absorbed by the Central Province land; this was originally something the Heavenly Origin Dao Sect was happy to see happen. Unexpectedly, it has now been shared by an outsider."

"Since that is the case, then I will give you a helping hand!"

Muttering to herself, her primordial spirit radiated, controlling those spiritual opportunities that should have merged into this land of Central Province, extracting a portion from them and gathering them toward the young man.

Not only that, but some weak magic power was stimulated from her fingertips, drifting toward that place and covering the four directions.

In the vast Heaven Earth Peak, apart from her, no other local mountain cultivators discovered the strange phenomenon of the young man.

After finishing all this, the woman's face showed a complex expression.

"As fellow alchemists, I hope you are free from shackles and have a free immortal path."

Everything happened in secret; no one knew, no one discovered, not even the person involved, Luo Chen, was aware of it.