Chapter 1012: The First to Arrive

Han Zhan's words struck Luo Chen like a blow to the head. The excitement that had been burning within him moments earlier vanished instantly, replaced by a chill that ran down his spine. It felt as though a bucket of cold water had been poured over his head, and he could not stop himself from trembling. He asked in disbelief, "How could this be?"

Han Zhan sighed. "How could this not be? I was going to talk to you when you couldn't get the fourth-tier Sky-Burning Fire. I never thought you'd actually succeed. But after that, when I saw that you wanted to keep going, I couldn't stay silent any longer."

Luo Chen fell silent. He glanced toward Vermilion Bird Mountain, then made his way to a barren patch of land where the spirit energy was thin. Then, he sat down cross-legged, steadied his thoughts, and turned his consciousness inward.

Within his sea of qi, both the Golden Core and the Nascent Core rotated steadily. Nearby, however, a wisp of azure flame flickered with unusual vitality. As it swayed and stretched, it took on the outline of a small tree, vibrant and full of life. More importantly, Luo Chen could clearly sense a faint will emanating from within it. In other words, his primordial true fire had already gained sentience. Under normal circumstances, this would have been cause for a celebration. Yet now, with what Han Zhan had just told him, Luo Chen felt as though a sword hung suspended above his head, ready to fall at any moment.

Han Zhan's voice drifted over slowly. "The sea of qi is where the Golden Core resides. One day, it will become your Purple Mansion and the home of your Nascent Soul. But your primordial true fire gained sentience before its time and has already begun changing your sea of qi and turning it into a place better suited for itself. When the day comes for your Nascent Soul to be born, where is it supposed to go? You simply cannot house both of them! And that's a problem for the future; the real danger is right in front of you. Now that the Withering-Flourishing True Fire has gained sentience, if it ever turns against you, how exactly do you plan to stop it?"

The possibility that the Withering-Flourishing True Fire might one day replace him flashed through Luo Chen’s mind, and cold sweat instantly soaked his back. Only now did he realize that hidden beneath this opportunity was a danger of equal magnitude.

"Then why didn't I notice any of this before? I always felt like I still had plenty of room left."

"Because your powerful physique gave you that illusion!"

A cultivator possessed the Three Treasures of vital essence, qi, and spirit. When they reached the state of Three Flowers Gathering at the Crown, a Nascent Soul would be born. Now that the Withering-Flourishing True Fire had developed sentience and formed a will of its own, it could already be regarded as a rudimentary Sage-like existence.

Among the Three Treasures, Luo Chen's greatest strength was undoubtedly his vital essence. His physique was powerful enough to bear the Withering-Flourishing True Fire and accommodate its continued growth. But his spirit—namely, his divine soul—was not necessarily capable of handling it. If he stubbornly continued down this path and devoured more Sourceless Flames to strengthen it, the situation would eventually become one where the master was weak and the subordinate strong, and in the end, usurpation would be inevitable.

Even the best possible outcome would be bleak. Exactly as Han Zhan had said, he would no longer be Luo Chen but the Withering-Flourishing Fire Sprite. Worse still, he might be assimilated by Blazing Purgatory itself and become one of the countless fire sprites inhabiting this place.

After understanding everything, Luo Chen revealed a bitter smile. "My physique truly brought me success and nearly destroyed me in the same breath."

Han Zhan comforted him. "You can't blame yourself for that. I doubt even the Monarch ever imagined an Adept could pull something like this off. A powerful physique, a special cultivation technique, and a high-tier true fire... With all of those combined, you managed to do something that should only be possible for Sages."

"Oh? Can Sages do such a thing?"

"Yeah. A Sage's Nascent Soul is powerful enough to restrain a fire sprite and may even use the opportunity to glimpse the Fire Laws. Compared to that, your divine soul is simply too weak."

Luo Chen fell silent. He had always taken pride in the strength of his divine soul. There had even been a time when it surpassed the strength of his physique. That advantage came from years of practicing soul refinement techniques, the Spirit Passage Pills he had consumed, and the repeated tempering of his soul as he experienced Heart Devils. Unfortunately, after advancing into the Golden Core Realm, it had become increasingly difficult to improve it.

Unlike his qi cultivation or physique, the soul could no longer be enhanced through external means, at least not any means available to him right now, and could only improve through realm advancement and the accumulation of time. Although his foundation was extremely strong and each improvement he made was greater than that of ordinary cultivators, his divine soul at the sixth stage of Golden Core was still merely comparable to that of a normal eighth-stage Adept.

That was also why he rarely used Mirror Flower Water Moon against late-stage Adepts. The issue had never been the spell's power; in fact, its effectiveness was beyond question. The real problem was the risk of backlash. Once the illusion failed against an opponent whose divine soul rivaled or surpassed his own, the resulting backlash could directly injure his divine soul. In the midst of battle, the consequences of such an injury were impossible to predict, and Luo Chen had never been willing to take that gamble.

To an outsider, such caution might have seemed excessive. After all, his divine soul was already far stronger than his peers, and yet he continued to judge himself by a harsher standard. From his perspective, however, it was perfectly reasonable. Ever since his Physique Refinement reached the fourth tier, he had been measuring himself against Sages. Compared to such existences, the strength of his divine soul still fell far short, and the gap between them was impossible to bridge. To make matters worse, the Woodrot Go Stone that had once protected his divine soul had been destroyed, leaving him with even less room for error.

Seeing that Luo Chen had fallen silent, Han Zhan added, "Still, don't think any Sage could have done what you did in here. The power of your primordial true fire is not something an ordinary body could bear, and it also requires a suitable technique for devouring Sourceless Flames. As for your cultivation technique..."

"That's enough." Luo Chen abruptly stood up. "Let's put an end to this business of devouring Sourceless Flames."

He looked out across his surroundings, a faint note of regret in his voice. To stumble upon such a rare land of opportunity, only to discover he could no longer make use of it, was difficult to accept.

Han Zhan let out a chuckle. "It's good that you've figured it out yourself. At least I won't have to watch a fire sprite turn on you and wipe out a century of your cultivation."

Luo Chen forced a faint smile.

"Oh, right!" Han Zhan suddenly added. "There's something else you need to watch out for."

"What is it?" Luo Chen asked with a slight frown.

"Your state of mind." Han Zhan spoke in a grave tone. "Think about it. Ever since you arrived here and absorbed that first Sourceless Flame, have you really been acting like yourself? You've been far more impulsive than usual and a lot less calm."

Luo Chen was stunned. Looking back, it really did seem to be the case. His sole objective in entering the Land of Fallen Devils had been the lotus. Yet after absorbing the first Sourceless Flame, he had somehow become indifferent toward the lotus that was practically within reach and instead threw himself wholeheartedly into collecting more Sourceless Flames. Not only that, but he had also become increasingly domineering toward the Flesh Ganoderma and Devil's Cloud. Even earlier, when Han Zhan had tried to warn him, his first reaction had not been consideration but irritation. He had instinctively rejected the advice before even thinking it through.

He felt a chill run through him. "Are you saying the fire sprite has been changing my state of mind?"

"Influencing, not changing!" Han Zhan corrected him.

Luo Chen drew a deep breath and immediately understood what he meant. Throughout the cultivation world, there were countless techniques, pills, and secret arts capable of either subtly influencing a cultivator or fundamentally changing them. In the past, consuming large quantities of True Flame Pills had left pill toxins in his body and changed the color of his skin. Earlier still, refining the Withering-Flourishing True Fire had drained away his vitality and turned his hair white. This time, however, it was the continual strengthening of the Withering-Flourishing True Fire that had gradually influenced the calm and detached mindset he had always prided himself on.

"Cultivators who walk the path of fire are often like this. The longer they cultivate, the easier it is for them to become irritable, aggressive, and stubborn. You've been showing some of those signs for years, but I never paid much attention to it and assumed that it's just part of your cultivation. But we're in the Land of Fallen Devils now. This isn't a place where you can afford to lose your head. If the fire sprite keeps influencing you and you start obsessing over quick gains, sooner or later, you'll make a fatal mistake. And when that happens, it won't just be your life on the line, but mine too."

The words were neither harsh nor accusatory. They flowed steadily and patiently, like a gentle spring rain settling upon his restless heart. As he listened, his mind settled, and the restlessness that had driven him for so long slowly settled. After a moment, he slowly exhaled before once again riding the clouds into the sky. As he set off, he softly said, "Thank you, Senior."

Han Zhan merely smiled and did not reply.

***

Not long after, Luo Chen arrived at the foot of Vermilion Bird Mountain. As soon as he came to a halt, the Flesh Ganoderma and Devil's Cloud emerged from their concealment and silently took their places beside him.

"Why aren't we going straight up the mountain?"

As he spoke, he noticed a figure seated cross-legged on a nearby peak. The person swayed unsteadily, as if they might collapse at any moment.

"Saberstorm? Is he the reason?"

The Flesh Ganoderma shook its head. "He's only part of it. There are two Demon Kings up there, and another aura I can't really make sense of."

Luo Chen raised an eyebrow. "Okay. Give me a moment; let's first find out what they're doing."

The Flesh Ganoderma and Devil's Cloud looked at Luo Chen in surprise. Even they, with their higher cultivation, had not been able to uncover the purpose of the three figures. Could Luo Chen, a mere sixth-stage Adept, really accomplish what they could not?

Luo Chen paid no attention to their doubts and quietly transmitted a message through divine consciousness. "Senior, I'll have to trouble you with this."

"Alright, no problem." Han Zhan smiled faintly and released his divine consciousness. As a Sage who specialized in soul-refining arts, his divine consciousness was extremely subtle. He probed pass over the area without stirring the slightest disturbance. Saberstorm and the others remained completely unaware.

After sweeping across the three figures, Han Zhan followed the flow of mana within the formation they had established. He traced the converging mana back to its source and penetrated deeper into the mountain. Deep within, upon a lake of magma, he saw a figure seated atop a lotus flower, with its aura fluctuating erratically. Just as Han Zhan focused on it, its eyelids twitched slightly, as though it were about to open its eyes.

Seeing this, he immediately withdrew his divine consciousness. His divine consciousness receded like a retreating tide, and at the same time, his urgent voice echoed in Luo Chen's mind. "Luo Chen, get under the mountain immediately. Someone has got there before us!"

Those few words alone caused Luo Chen's expression to change drastically. At a time like this, there was no point worrying about composure. Some situations simply could not afford delay.

He abruptly raised his head and shouted, "Someone got there first and is already refining the Five Elements Lotus. Let's go now!"

The others were caught completely off guard. Before they could even ask how Luo Chen had obtained such information, he had already shot into the sky. At the same time, his voice sounded through divine consciousness transmission. "One human and two demons. We'll each take one opponent. Flesh Ganoderma, you handle the Great King Squid; Devil's Cloud, stop Saberstorm; I'll take the Sea-Devouring Golden Toad!"

The Flesh Ganoderma's eyes lit up. The Great King Squid? That suited it perfectly. Devil's Cloud, however, hesitated. He knew perfectly well that he was no match for Saberstorm. Yet if Luo Chen was willing to take on the strongest opponent himself, how could he back off at a moment like this?

"Don't worry. They've been maintaining the formation for days. Their mana is nearly exhausted."

After leaving those reassuring words behind, Luo Chen shot toward the peak where the Sea-Devouring Golden Toad was stationed.

Just as he had said, the three figures atop the mountain were in dreadful condition. Even while seated cross-legged, they swayed unsteadily like dying candles flickering in the wind, making it obvious how little strength they could still exert.

Midair, two sharp cracks rang out behind Luo Chen as the Moonbreak Wings unfurled from his back. In the span of a blink, he had already crossed the distance and arrived before the Sea-Devouring Golden Toad. The toad, roughly one zhang in size, let out a deep croak as if trying to stop him. Luo Chen ignored it completely; he simply used Voidburst Step and crossed past its position.

Seeing this, the toad abandoned its position in the formation and prepared to leap in pursuit. Before it could move, however—

BOOM! BOOM!

Two enormous figures descended and blocked its path. One was a black-scaled flood dragon that coiled on the ground and raised its head menacingly. Its tongue flicked in and out, and savage light gleamed within its vertical pupils. The other was a green seagull that held a gigantic plantain fan in its claws. With only a few sweeps, it dispersed the blazing fire energy in the area and carved out a battlefield of its own.

Heavenjade's voice sounded. "You're not going anywhere. You'll be dealing with us instead."

CCCRRROOAAKKKKKK!

The Sea-Devouring Golden Toad understood none of their words. It knew only that its master could not be disturbed. The man heading toward the depths of the mountain had to be stopped at all costs. Yet with two powerful demons barring its way, how could it catch up so easily? Thus, a fierce battle erupted in an environment utterly unsuited to all three demons.

Meanwhile, atop another peak, Saberstorm slowly pushed himself to his feet. "Devil's Cloud, it's been a long time."

"Indeed." Devil's Cloud studied him for a moment. "How did you end up like this?"

Saberstorm let out a bitter laugh. "I've spent my whole life hunting others. I never thought I'd be the one getting caught in the end."

Devil's Cloud shook his head, his gaze settling on the massive saber in Saberstorm's hand. "What a waste. The Golden Ni Saber is the enchanted treasure I was most proud of crafting in my younger days. Now look at it..."

Saberstorm's life-bound enchanted treasure had been personally crafted by Devil's Cloud using a devil saber crafting technique passed down from the devil sect. Although it had begun as a low-grade treasure, its foundation had been exceptionally solid. Over countless years of battle, as Saberstorm slew enemies and tempered it with bloodshed, it had advanced to the top grade. Today, it stood among the most renowned devil sabers in the Northern Sea cultivation world.

Hearing those words, Saberstorm showed a trace of shame. Yet he quickly regained his composure and said in a deep voice, "Forgive me. We stand on different sides now. What happens today isn't entirely up to me."

He raised the broad saber high as fiend qi surged around him. "Watch out. This next strike won't be easy to block."

Devil's Cloud took a deep breath as his treasures emerged around him in flashes of light. He could see that Saberstorm's mana was nearly exhausted, and his condition was terrible. He was going to bet everything on this one strike, and it was obvious it would have to be a devastating one. If Devil's Cloud failed to block it, he would die. If he succeeded, everything afterward could still be discussed.

Meanwhile, on yet another peak of Vermilion Bird Mountain, the Flesh Ganoderma walked toward the slowly rising Great King Squid with an easy smile on its face, seemingly unconcerned by the enormous tentacles surrounding it. Even so, part of its attention remained focused on the direction Luo Chen had gone in.

If I'm reading this right, the one inside is a Demon Emperor. Is Azure Yang really going to be okay?

The thought weighed heavily on its mind, yet it had never tried to stop Luo Chen, not even before he set off. It understood him far too well. Luo Chen had come here specifically for that lotus, and now that someone else had reached it first, there was no way he would just stand and watch.

***

Whoosh!

The streak of light abruptly halted above a lake of magma.

"So it's here?" Luo Chen murmured.

The wooden plaque hanging from his chest vibrated, confirming his suspicion.

In the next moment, Luo Chen extended a hand, and a gigantic clawed hand manifested and tore through the rock in front of him.

"GEEEET OOOOOUTTTT!"

Wherever the claw passed, blazing waves exploded outward, and firelight shone before it. He continued forward for nearly a thousand zhang before an expanse of azure light slowly emerged. It stopped the strike completely, preventing it from advancing even a hair’s breadth farther.

Two pairs of eyes met, separated by a thousand zhang of molten magma. Luo Chen's expression darkened. "Merman Emperor Liu Jun?!"

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