Chapter 757

A place like the Heavenly Fragrance Tower must be quite famous within Lingtian Pass.

But Ling Fengzi didn't have the leisure to "catch" Luo Chen; he really was just passing by.

The two met and chatted normally for a few sentences.

However, under Ling Fengzi's slightly strange gaze, Luo Chen still felt a sense of guilt.

He made a slight compensation.

"I have already thoroughly studied your Wind Aperture Pill; I should be able to refine it in three months at most."

Hearing that it would only take three months, Ling Fengzi's eyes lit up instantly.

"Good, good, good, three months is just right!"

The words "just right" made Luo Chen feel a bit strange; the other party seemed to be in a great hurry to use the Wind Aperture Pill.

Facing his confusion, Ling Fengzi explained in a low voice.

"The current situation is becoming increasingly tense."

"As one of the five Nascent Souls who can move freely, I have to go out from time to time to scout the situation. Some time ago, I went to the Bikuo Domain, which has already been broken and occupied by demon beasts; even Bikuo Mountain has been destroyed, and I couldn't find the aura of Daoist Qingkong."

With just this sentence, Luo Chen's expression became solemn.

True Person Qingkong was the ancestor of Bikuo Mountain, and with his aura gone, one could imagine his fate.

"The terrain of Fire Ridge is complex, and cultivators mostly hide underground, so they should be able to hold on for a while longer."

"The Ba Dao Domain is in constant battle, truly living up to its name."

"But in my opinion, the fall of Bikuo Mountain means the collapse of the three domains has begun. Perhaps it won't be long before we see the demon beast army under the walls of Lingtian Pass."

"Under such circumstances, if I can obtain the Wind Aperture Pill, I will be able to thoroughly master a major method of the Misty Sect, and my chances of survival will increase by a few points."

"Therefore, I trouble you, Daoist Luo."

After some small talk, Ling Fengzi hurriedly said goodbye and left, clearly having other important matters.

Luo Chen's originally good mood became a bit heavier because of this conversation.

In the past, things only stayed in letters and intelligence, but now they were so close to him.

He had experienced the Great War between humans and demons.

During the opening war of the Xiaoyue Mountain Range, he had once been at the forefront.

But that level was actually quite ordinary for a Nascent Soul cultivator.

The great wars that truly made Nascent Soul cultivators tremble with fear were on the scale of the Northern Sea demon army attacking the Ice Extreme Sect, where ancient sects passed down from the ancient times were destroyed overnight.

And this time, the scale was even larger!

It was a head-on collision between the million great mountains of the Eastern Wasteland and the thirty-six domains of the human cultivation world.

The degree of danger was bound to be even deeper!

It used to be said that Nascent Soul True Persons were extremely difficult to kill, and for decades or even hundreds of years, one rarely heard of a Nascent Soul powerhouse being killed in battle.

In fact, this was indeed the case; none of those who could cultivate to this realm were easy to deal with.

Everyone had trump cards, everyone had methods; at worst, they could abandon their physical bodies, and their Nascent Souls could teleport a thousand miles.

Powerhouses of the same rank rarely dealt fatal blows to each other; most cultivated on their own, and occasional interactions were mostly to exchange what they had and share cultivation insights. It was just like Luo Chen's recent life, which seemed busy but was actually leisurely.

Unless it was a closed space, such as the Fallen Demon Land.

Or, there were methods specifically targeting the teleportation of a cultivator's Nascent Soul, such as the Azure Frost Demon Emperor's "Universe in the Sleeve," the absolute suppression of the Desolate Beast Ghost Immortal Tower, or even the suppression and locking of Luo Chen's Hunyuan Cauldron.

After many great battles in the Eastern Wasteland, without the Azure Frost Demon Emperor personally taking action, many Nascent Soul True Persons had fallen one after another; it was clear that someone on the demon side had mastered methods to restrain Nascent Soul teleportation.

This was the main factor why the many Nascent Soul True Persons in Lingtian Pass, including Luo Chen, did not want to easily go to the battlefield.

Everyone was confident in themselves, but no one had absolute certainty in facing the strange and peculiar innate abilities of the demon race.

Luo Chen walked, and before he knew it, he had arrived at the city wall.

Under the night curtain, the Black Ape Puppet stood quietly behind him, silent and soundless.

Luo Chen silently watched the pitch-black darkness in the distance, as if it were a giant beast with its mouth wide open, waiting at any time to swallow Lingtian Pass.

"I hope the Daoists in the Ba Dao Domain and Fire Ridge can hold on for two more years, at least until I finish my three-year patrol mission."

"As long as we don't run into the first wave of demon beast impacts, many things will be easier to handle."

Luo Chen thought to himself.

It was a bit selfish, but the cultivation world was like this: let the fellow Daoist die, not me.

He stayed on the city wall for a while and then went back.

The Black Ape Puppet silently entered a watchtower, holding a Great Soul Pill in its mouth, slowly refining it.

Just as Luo Chen told Ling Fengzi, the pill formula for the Wind Aperture Pill had already been thoroughly studied while the Red Dog Puppet was familiar with it.

This was a somewhat special fourth-tier pill!

Its function was not to increase magic power or raise one's realm, but to open a new aperture in the human body.

Its name was the Hidden Wind Aperture!

That aperture could not be used to store magic power, but was used to hide wind, and it would draw the magic power of the whole body to wash through it time and time again.

The Wind Aperture Pill not only had to open the Hidden Wind Aperture but also had to use the pill as the core to stabilize it.

After thoroughly studying it, Luo Chen vaguely understood what kind of method Ling Fengzi was planning to cultivate.

Similar to refining the Source True Fire, the other party should be planning to borrow the Hidden Wind Aperture to additionally refine a certain kind of Immaculate Wind, which could be called the Life-Bound True Wind.

It was just that fire had a seed, while wind was formless; the Qi Sea Purple Mansion could carry a fire seed, but could not lock in formless wind, which was why it was necessary to open a new aperture.

If the other party could really reach such a point, that person's ability might usher in a qualitative improvement.

Just like when Luo Chen refined the Withered Glory True Fire back then, whether it was alchemy, artifact refining, or fighting enemies, he directly reached a higher level.

Since it concerned the other party's life-saving method, Luo Chen did not delay this time.

After returning, he immediately started the furnace to refine the pill.

Three months was the conservative time he gave.

In fact, two months later, Luo Chen succeeded in one furnace and obtained nine Wind Aperture Pills.

At this point, he could already fulfill his commitment.

But Luo Chen felt his hands were hot, so he simply threw the remaining two sets of materials into the Hunyuan Cauldron for refining.

Unexpectedly, he succeeded in another furnace and obtained nine more Wind Aperture Pills.

A total of eighteen!

When Ling Fengzi came, Luo Chen gave him nine; the other party, unaware of the situation, was overjoyed.

He kept calling Luo Chen's alchemy skills the best in history!

The predecessors of the Misty Sect had also refined the Wind Aperture Pill, and the best time was only five pills in one furnace.

This time, he only asked for one.

He never expected that Luo Chen would actually give him a full nine Wind Aperture Pills.

Luo Chen naturally smiled, brushing it off as good luck and that he was in the zone.

Ling Fengzi certainly didn't believe it; after returning, he reported to the Lingtian City Lord that he needed a period of closed-door cultivation, would come out in half a year at the latest, and hoped that no one would disturb him during these six months.

The Lingtian City Lord agreed.

And the news of Ling Fengzi's short closed-door cultivation reaching the ears of other Nascent Soul cultivators had a different meaning.

It represented that the pill he dreamed of had been refined by Luo Chen.

As a result, Luo Chen's name as an Alchemist became even more resounding.

The visiting cards thrown his way became more and more numerous. The realms of those who came to seek an audience also became higher and higher.

Xu Xiaoliu, the temporary gatekeeper, was happy at first, but later couldn't handle the aura of those big figures, even if the other party restrained themselves well and appeared gentle.

After all, the gap in realm was too large; the Foundation Establishment realm couldn't handle it.

In the end, the Fairy of Ruthlessness actually replaced Xu Xiaoliu and temporarily became Luo Chen's gatekeeper, receiving visiting cards and entertaining those visitors for him.

Unfortunately, to everyone's disappointment, Luo Chen did not agree to refine pills for anyone afterward.

The news he released was that while refining pills for fellow Daoists, he had occasional insights, his alchemy skills had a new breakthrough, and he wanted to calm his mind and contemplate for a period of time.

In this way, others naturally couldn't force him.

After all, the stronger Luo Chen's alchemy skills were, the higher the success rate would be when he agreed to refine pills for them in the future.

In fact, the truth was naturally not like this.

Luo Chen's alchemy skills had improved, which was beyond doubt; he was already a genuine fourth-tier alchemist before, and had even refined fifth-tier Derivation Pills in the Fallen Demon Land!

But even after refining fifth-tier pills, he hadn't reached the level of a fifth-tier alchemist.

To put it bluntly, that was luck, and he had borrowed the power of the system.

However, as Luo Chen successively refined large quantities of Poison-Dispelling Pills, Hongyuan Pills, Great Soul Pills, and successfully refined Core-Forming Pills, Nine-Separation Pills, and Wind Aperture Pills—a large number of fourth-tier pills with different styles and varying difficulties—his level as a fourth-tier alchemist no longer had any moisture.

Even without relying on the system's entry, as long as he was given enough time, he was confident in refining any kind of fourth-tier pill.

At this point, the name of Alchemist was well-deserved!

The reason Luo Chen no longer accepted alchemy commissions was largely due to the influence of Ling Fengzi's words.

He had his subordinates collect a large amount of intelligence, all of which indicated that the situation was becoming increasingly rotten.

Under such circumstances, continuing to build his reputation was beneficial for the future, but it didn't have much improvement for the present.

People, in the end, have to rely on themselves.

Therefore, he also began closed-door cultivation.

Red Clouds Sword Qi, one strand every six months; even though he was delayed by some things, he had unknowingly refined eight strands.

He wanted to refine two more strands within the remaining time to reach the minor success realm.

At the same time, the polishing of his realm was approaching perfection, just one breath away.

All of this required a relatively quiet environment and could not tolerate distraction.

During the time Luo Chen was in closed-door cultivation, all things in the world were still operating.

Regarding the cooperation with the Tianyuan Alliance, under Li Yingzhang's promotion, the first step began to be taken.

Within Lingtian Pass, a new high-rise building rose from the ground at the location originally selected by the Tianyuan Alliance, and even the signboard was hung up.

Its name was 【Luo Tian Treasure Pavilion】.

Outsiders knew at a glance that it was an industry of the Luo Tian Sect, and they also knew it was an industry of the Alchemist Luo Chen; furthermore, because of the special nature of the location, many people speculated that it was related to the Tianyuan Alliance.

However, the business of this Luo Tian Treasure Pavilion didn't make much of a stir at the beginning.

The various resources sold were only aimed at low-tier cultivators, and even the business of Core Formation cultivators was rarely involved.

This decision came from Li Yingzhang.

He was more cautious than Luo Chen, worrying about opposition from the City Lord's Mansion and suppression from other old-established sects, so he didn't want to take too big a step.

Even for the many tasks entrusted by the Tianyuan Alliance, he only chose the acquisition of demon beast corpses.

Many forces in Lingtian Pass were doing this kind of business, so the Luo Tian Sect was not eye-catching.

Gu Zuokai was slightly dissatisfied, but he could understand the caution of the Luo Tian Sect, so he had to take it one step at a time.

They provided funds and venues, and the Luo Tian Sect provided manpower, slowly setting up the framework.

The low-tier cultivators in the city also gave face; perhaps they admired the name of Alchemist Luo Chen, or perhaps they were grateful for the gentlemanly style mentioned by many powerhouses, so they also began to trade some of the demon beast corpses they had obtained to the Luo Tian Sect.

Even if it was only a part, for the Luo Tian Sect, which was not large in scale, it counted as a stable income.

Another year later.

There was only half a year left until Luo Chen's three-year term was up.

Outside Luo Chen's cave dwelling, the Luo Tian Sect cultivators living around him were gathered together, chatting about big and small things.

The thing they talked about most was who would return to the sect and who would stay after the term ended.

Because of the establishment of the Luo Tian Treasure Pavilion, there was currently a shortage of manpower.

The sect provided a part, and even the old Sect Master Sima Hui Niang came personally to preside over the overall situation at the Luo Tian Treasure Pavilion, but it was clearly not enough.

Therefore, a portion would be drawn from this batch of disciples executing patrol missions.

The Fairy of Ruthlessness was also in this meeting, cold and sparing with words, but not out of place.

Her previous active show of goodwill had already made many people accept her.

In the eyes of Ceng Yilong and others, the Fairy of Ruthlessness was just like Yang Pingdu before; as long as one entered the sect, everyone was family.

In the future, they would support each other and walk together.

Moreover, the Fairy of Ruthlessness could be counted as a powerhouse; her strength at the sixth level of Core Formation was a great supplement to the current Luo Tian Sect.

Just as everyone was chatting, the Fairy of Ruthlessness suddenly stood up.

"What's wrong?" Ceng Yilong asked curiously.

The Fairy of Ruthlessness felt it carefully and sat back down.

She said it was nothing, but her heart was filled with suspicion and fear.

Just a moment ago, she vaguely had a feeling of heart-palpitating fear, as if something very dangerous had appeared.

But it was only for an instant, and it disappeared in the blink of an eye.

"Is it from his side?"

Inside the cave dwelling.

Luo Chen looked with interest at the Yuan Tu Sword lying horizontally on his knees.

With a thought, the sword spat out a strand of crimson sword qi.

Although it was one strand, in reality, it was fused from ten strands of Red Clouds Sword Qi; as long as he was willing, he could split it off.

"This strand of sword qi, under the blessing of Yuan Tu, will kill any Core Formation cultivator upon contact."

"If the whole strand is fired out, a Nascent Soul powerhouse will also be injured if caught off guard."

It sounded like it wasn't much.

Compared to means like the Qingyang Great Handprint, Fire Phoenix Raging Plains, or even the Withered Glory Dao Finger, it was much worse.

But those previous means, which one wasn't a spell Luo Chen had cultivated for decades or even a hundred years?

And the Withered Glory Dao Finger was even more profound, originating from the Withered Glory True Fire and involving the true meaning of laws, so it could not be mentioned in the same breath.

Yet these ten strands of sword qi had only taken Luo Chen five years to refine, all things considered.

Moreover, this was only the minor success state of the "Thousand Clouds Myriad Transformation Sword Scripture," which theoretically was only effective against Core Formation cultivators.

The reason it was estimated to be able to injure Nascent Soul cultivators in Luo Chen's prediction was also because of the blessing of the Yuan Tu Sword.

If he cultivated to the intermediate stage later and refined a hundred strands of Red Clouds Sword Qi, he would definitely be able to truly threaten or even kill a Nascent Soul powerhouse!

Most importantly, this method did not require charging in advance, did not require drawing on the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, and could be released suddenly, making it impossible for people to guard against!

Luo Chen was very satisfied with the power.

But what he was more concerned about was clearly not just this.

With a thought, the attribute panel unfolded suddenly.

In the cultivation technique column, the proficiency of the "Thousand Clouds Myriad Transformation Sword Qi" had actually advanced from the entry level to the proficiency level.

Not only that, Luo Chen could feel that his speed in refining Red Clouds Qi afterward would also greatly increase, no longer the one strand every six months as before, but faster.

As for exactly how much faster, he hadn't had time to experiment yet.

"It's just as I expected!"

Luo Chen was quite excited.

The sword scripture originally recorded that it would take at least fifty years to reach the hundred-strand intermediate stage and at least five hundred years to reach the thousand-strand major success stage.

But with the blessing of the proficiency panel, he could greatly shorten this time.

Perhaps it wouldn't be long before he could master an additional major method!

Clearly, the surprises didn't stop at just one.

Luo Chen's gaze moved upward.

In the realm column, there was a slight change.

【Nascent Soul Third Layer 80/100】

His realm had finally stabilized!

The heaven and earth spiritual energy he absorbed when comprehending the true meaning of laws had been thoroughly refined, and the impetuousness had been quenched.

It shouldn't have been this fast, but while constantly quenching the Red Clouds Sword Qi, Luo Chen discovered that it had a significant auxiliary effect on pure magic power.

Coupled with the day-and-night burning and refining of the Withered Glory True Fire, he had only spent five years to thoroughly stabilize his realm.

"Let me go and try it out!"

Luo Chen quietly left the cave dwelling.

The Black Ape Puppet, which shared his thoughts, was already prepared, opening the door of convenience wide, and Luo Chen left Lingtian Pass without anyone knowing.

The area within a few hundred miles of Lingtian Pass had already been cleared.

Luo Chen found a quiet place and began to perform his spells.

Just as he thought, after his realm stabilized, performing these spells again not only increased their power, but most importantly, he could achieve the perfect control he had before.

The magic power fluctuations that leaked out from time to time in his early years could also be perfectly restrained.

His temperament was no longer sharp and exposed, gradually fading away, becoming deep and imposing, more in line with his bearing as an Alchemist.

Standing in front of a huge deep pit.

Luo Chen was full of joy, while stretching his spiritual sense to the maximum, thinking about his next arrangements.

"In this way, the cultivation that stopped before can continue again, striving to break through to the mid-Nascent Soul stage as soon as possible."

"The large batch of high-grade Hongyuan Pills I stored up finally has a place to be used."

"There is still more than half a year left for the fourth-tier mid-grade cave dwelling in Lingtian Pass; it cannot be wasted, it must be utilized!"

After some planning, Luo Chen prepared to return home.

Just at this moment, Luo Chen's expression changed slightly.

Without thinking, his spiritual sense, which was testing the extreme distance, began to retract frantically.