Chapter 1197: The Situation of the Eastern Wilderness; Great Grandmaster Alchemist

On the Six Restriction Cloud Carriage, Luo Chen scanned a jade scroll with his divine consciousness. The whereabouts of Divine Origin City instantly became clear, putting a thoughtful look on his face.

Even just from this simple map, he could figure out many things.

Indeed, it was just as he had first suspected upon hearing about the city. In the Eastern Wilderness, the headquarters of the Heaven Origin Trade Alliance was nowhere near as free and autonomous as in the Northern Sea. The Divine Origin City here was surrounded by nine major immortal cities—three at the front, three at the back, and three on the right. As for its left side, that was where the East Sun Sect's own headquarters was.

It was clear how deeply wary the Nether Origin Sect was of the Heaven Origin Dao Sect. In order to prevent the Dao Sect from infiltrating the Eastern Wilderness, they had placed the Heaven Origin Trade Alliance's main city in the territory of the East Sun Sect, their most trusted subordinate. Moreover, they had done so with great attention to detail by having it tightly walled.

One could only wonder if they had been this wary from the very beginning, or if that wariness had escalated to this point because of the matter with the Saint Alchemist.

Luo Chen was too lazy to figure it out. The trade alliance was nothing more than a tool for the Heaven Origin Dao Sect to make money and gather intelligence, and had nothing to do with a guest elder like him. Truthfully, he was quite happy, because it meant his destination was very close!

He sent a voice transmission to his subordinates. "Go and rest. I'll handle things from here."

Even while speaking, he claimed control of the Six Restriction Cloud Carriage by pouring in a massive amount of mana. The vehicle first paused briefly, then it bloomed with a brilliant light and suddenly bolted forward, drawing a dazzling arc across the sky.

Under his control, the carriage traveled three times faster than before, around as fast as a late-stage Adept flying at full speed. At this speed, it wouldn't need a day to cross half of the East Sun Domain, even though this domain was larger than some small pocket worlds. Of course, it would take Luo Chen even less time if he were to fly at full speed by himself. However, he was not by himself, and not all of his people could keep up with him. Zhang Jingqing was only an Initiate, while Sang Jinghe had just formed his Golden Core.

In any case, Luo Chen had already taken a century to finally make this trip, so there was no point hurrying to save a day or two.

He divided some attention to steering the vessel, then got back to refining the crimson firmament energy. Though he had technically subdued it, this spirit essence retained a wild nature that was difficult to tame. Without the Primordial Unity Cauldron's help, refining it would have been extremely draining.

Following the method in the sword scripture, Luo Chen refined the violent part of the crimson firmament energy with the cauldron until it was suitable to be fused into the Primordial Slaughter Sword. During this fusion, the firmament energy would slowly develop into sword energy.

Luo Chen himself was also slightly influenced by this process, as evidenced by his now-sharp and imposing air akin to an unsheathed blade. The apprehensive reactions of Black King and Chi Zhong's team toward him clearly reflected this change.

***

The Six Restriction Cloud Carriage flew without concerns about whatever happened outside. At night, it came to a wobbly stop near an immortal city.

"At the end of the day, this thing is just the carriage of a major sect's master. Showy, but not tough enough. Damn thing almost fell apart when I ran it at full power..." muttered Luo Chen under his breath, placing the carriage back in his storage ring.

Heavenjade and the others approached. "Master, it's getting late. Are we going into the city?"

"Of course!"

Luo Chen directly strode toward the city gate. Under the starlight, the towering, black city wall resembled the spine of a giant beast sprawling on the ground. When Luo Chen approached the gate, a cultivator guarding it came forward.

"Please stop right there!"

Luo Chen casually tossed out his Star Gate Guest Elder token. As his unique mana was injected into it, the token shone, proving that it was not a forgery and was held by the rightful owner.

The guard was taken aback, but a quick glance at the token made him snap to his senses instantly. "Please wait a moment, Sage. I will open the gate immediately."

"Mm." Luo Chen nodded. Slowly, the heavy black gate opened before his eyes.

Around the same time, in a cave residence somewhere in Divine Origin City, a cultivator was surprised to receive a voice-transmission talisman.

"Strange. Why would someone from the Central Continent come here at this time? Shouldn't they be focused on the Northern Sea and Western Deserts?"

The talisman burned after completing its mission, while the cultivator frowned slightly. But the next moment, his eyes lit right up. "Wait a moment... Star Gate Guest Elder Luo Chen? Could it be the famous Wilderness Hermit?"

Considering this possibility, the man's eyes darted around, and he stood up.

***

When Luo Chen arrived at the city master's residence, someone was already waiting for him outside, under the starry sky. The man wore wide-sleeved robes, his hair was tied up nearly and secured with a high crown, and his smile was as warm as a spring breeze.

Luo Chen adjusted his clothes and clasped his fist. "My apologies for bothering you so late at night, fellow Daoist."

"Not at all, there's nothing important to do around these parts anyway. Your visit greatly pleases me, if anything. My name is Gu Zuokai. Come, let's go inside!"

Upon hearing this surname, Luo Chen couldn't help raising his brow slightly, and as they introduced themselves on the way in, his doubt was confirmed. The Gu family that this cultivator came from was indeed one of the Twelve Great Houses!

The Heaven Origin Trade Alliance had four big branches established in the four continents, and each branch was managed by four Nascent Soul elders. Most of these elders were from noble families; very few were from the Twelve Great Houses. The elder managing the trade alliance in the Eastern Wilderness being one of those few showed the importance that the Dao Sect attached to this continent.

Luo Chen initially treaded cautiously when talking to Gu Zuokai, but he gradually found that the latter was quite easy to get along with. It was a different kind of easy from when he got to know Fu Chaosheng, however; Gu Zuokai seemed like he was intentionally trying to make friends with him from the very start.

Is it because of my performance in the Mirage Dragon Pocket World? Well, I did stand out a little...

Luo Chen's guess was, of course, spot on.

Looking at the young man in front of him, who had the air of a drawn and ready sword, Gu Zuokai couldn't help praising him in his mind.

The people in the family said he's both extraordinary and easy to get along with. Now that I've seen him for myself, he's even more impressive than the rumors say. If I can recruit him into the Gu family, he will definitely be a powerful aid!

Meanwhile, Luo Chen did not beat around the bush and inquired about the current situation in the Eastern Wilderness.

Gu Zuokai was straightforward in giving him the answer. "The demon scourge in the Eastern Wilderness has been wreaking havoc for a hundred years now. The thirty-six domains are no longer what they used to be. Nowadays, twelve frontline domains have completely fallen into ruins, while three are still suffering from the ravages of war. The surviving forces have gathered into an army with five domains appointed as its base camp. We call it... the Suicide Army. They've been engaging in a war of attrition at the three frontline domains that are still disputed. As for the Six Domains of the Far East, they have long since been destroyed."

Luo Chen's hands tightly clenched inside his sleeves. Though he had already read intelligence about the fall of the domains near the Great Million Mountains, hearing it directly still made his heart tighten.

He asked in a heavy tone, "Can you tell me more about this Suicide Army, fellow Daoist?"

Gu Zuokai smiled compassionately and began explaining to Luo Chen in detail what was going on.

In stark contrast to the powerful force of demonic beasts, the various sects across the domains were scattered and disorganized, so they simply could not take the ocean of beasts head-on. But they could always do one thing: flee. As humans, they understood very well the saying "If you abandon the land to save the people, you'll eventually claim back the land; if you abandon the people to save the land, you'll eventually lose both."

Thus, once it became obvious that they could not stop the demonic beasts, the cultivators ran like farmers seeking refuge during a locust plague. Naturally, the scale of their retreat disturbed the sects in the rear.

From the chronicles of the Eastern Wilderness, it was clear that the farther away a sect was from the Great Million Mountains, the longer it had been established and the more solid its foundation was. Lofty as these sects were, they looked down on those refugees.

After watching twelve domains collapse and three turn into a perpetual battlefield, the prominent forces in the rear simultaneously took action in order to avoid following the same fate. They prevented the fleeing cultivators from running further back and demanded them to go back to the battlefield. To that end, five domains were freed up to serve as the base camp for the soldiers—the Mu Manor of the Mu family, the Windflower Domain of the Windflower Palace, the White Crane Domain of the White Crane Sect, the Hundred Beast Domain of the Hundred Beast Sect, and the Sword Domain of the Thousand Sword Pavilion.

By providing a territory, resources, and setting rules, the major sects reorganized the disorganized flood of fleeing refugees into a massive and unified army of cultivators that would resist the demon race.

That was the origin of the Suicide Army—a force formed out of desperation! Either they would die on the battlefield, or they would be condemned and destroyed by the twenty-one upper sects in the rear. Their only choice was to turn around and fight their way through the darkness until the sky was bright again, and only then could they return to their homeland!

Once Luo Chen learned about these things, a glimmer of hope rose in his heart, accompanied by a hint of dread. Had the Spirit-Link Gu been still alive, he would have known for sure that Sima Huiniang was not dead, but with it gone, he had no idea. She was certainly smart enough to realize the danger, take her subordinates, and flee. But even if they had escaped alive from the demon army... perhaps they were among that Suicide Army right now![1]

He pressed on. "The situation in the Eastern Wilderness is truly dire. Is there no explanation from the Holy Land?"

"Explanation? From the Nether Origin Sect?" Gu Zuokai scoffed. "Who knows how many demonic beasts there are in the Great Million Mountains? Sure, the cultivators here did start a step-by-step conquest, and they swallowed plenty of the demons' territory, but just like the human cultivators are doing now, the smarter and stronger of those beasts escaped to the rear. It's been thousands of years since the last major war, and since then, they've multiplied into a force to be reckoned with! The Nether Origin Sect has been holding its ground, and do you know why? They're using the lives of countless sects, families, and rogue cultivators to probe the power of the demon races!"

Luo Chen's mouth was agape. What he saw as inaction from the Holy Land was, in Gu Zuokai's mind, actually a strategy to test the enemy. Luo Chen admitted he might do the same if he were in those shoes, but regardless, this strategy was bound to deal a devastating blow to rogue cultivators and smaller forces.

On another note, he could tell Gu Zuokai was rather disdainful when he spoke of the conquest. After some thinking, he understood why. The Heaven Origin Dao Sect had never dragged its feet like the Nether Origin Sect! In ancient times, the Central Continent had been conquered in a single war; the demonic forces had been fully wiped out, hence the three thousand years of peace and prosperity. The Adepts and Sages everywhere in the Central Continent were the fruits of the Heaven Origin Dao Sect's perfect conquest.

"That said, the Nether Origin Sect doesn't actually do nothing. From time to time, it pushes the upper sects to send resources and dispatch their disciples to the battlefield. At least on moral grounds, no one can criticize them."

At this point, Gu Zuokai's expression turned serious.

"I think what the Nether Origin Sect is actually doing is pulling its arm back so it can punch out with even greater force. First they limit the battlefront, then they form a suicide army.... These moves are telling me they're probably preparing something even bigger!"

Luo Chen fell silent.

Something even bigger? Whatever that is, it'll likely include making the survivors fight back the demons while the Nether Origin Sect's own troops recover the lost territory. In this process, the Suicide Army will certainly be at the forefront. I can imagine the casualties already. If Huiniang and the others are still alive...

Luo Chen suddenly looked up. "Is there a teleportation formation in Divine Origin City?"

Gu Zuokai was stunned. "You want to go to the front lines?"

Luo Chen nodded.

Gu Zuokai spread his hands helplessly. "I'm sorry, but the Heaven Origin Trade Alliance is not allowed to set up teleportation formations in the Eastern Wilderness. If you want to go there, you can only borrow the East Sun Sect's formation. It's going to cost you quite a bit though, not to mention that ordinary people can't exactly use it in wartime..."

Luo Chen sent a jade bottle his way. "Please help me out, fellow Daoist."

Gu Zuokai didn't take it seriously. "You are too polite, even if you don't..."

The stopper popped out the moment the bottle reached his hand, and a rich, herbal fragrance wafted out. Gu Zuokai's expression slightly changed when he smelled it.

He carefully grasped the jade bottle. After examining it with his divine consciousness for a few moments, he finally promised in a serious voice, "I will do my best!"

***

High Sun City was a large city under the East Sun Sect. It was comparable with Divine Origin City in scale, which meant that it could squeeze into the top ten immortal cities in the Eastern Wilderness. In this city, there was a super-long-distance teleportation formation leading to the White Crane Domain. Apparently, this two-way route existed because the East Sun Sect and the White Crane Sect had a good relationship and maintained frequent contact.

Outside a palace, Luo Chen was talking to Gu Zuokai, "Fellow Daoist, my attendants are quite... unique, in a way that it's not suitable for them to travel in the Eastern Wilderness in these times. May I ask you to have them escorted?"

Gu Zuokai checked Heavenjade's group, but did not see anything out of the ordinary. His expression changed, though, when the black dragon pattern on Luo Chen's left sleeve suddenly came to life and swiftly jumped onto Zhang Jingqing's shoulder. He sensed an aura on the same level as his!

They did say that Wilderness Hermit has a fourth-tier Demon Emperor servant. So it's true!

Such a being was indeed not advised to openly travel in the Eastern Wilderness these days. Still, on account of that Grand Origin Pill bottle, Gu Zuokai decided to turn a blind eye and help him.

"You can go ahead without worry, fellow Daoist. If things go smoothly, our caravan will only need two or three years to get your attendants to the White Crane Domain."

Luo Chen cupped his fist and bowed slightly. "In that case, thank you very much, fellow Daoist!"

Then, after leaving some instructions to Heavenjade, Black King, and the others, he strode toward the heavily guarded palace.

The guards gave way, and the door opened. When Luo Chen stepped inside, a Sage came up to greet him.

"This way, please!"

"Thank you, fellow Daoist Lu."

"It's no problem. The pills you gave me were really good. I was wondering if you have any more to spare?"

"Unfortunately, those were the only ten bottles I had on me. That said, I am fairly proficient at refining them. If you need more in the future, please let me know and we'll make things happen."

"Then let me thank you in advance, fellow Daoist Luo!"

Sage Lu was elated.

People often said that for Sages, external objects such as pills were no longer of much use in cultivation, but in truth, that was only limited to ordinary pills. The ten bottles of Grand Origin Pills Luo Chen had given him as the teleportation fee were all proper middle-grade fourth-tier pills; he had already taken one and its effect had nearly made him spring up from his meditation mat. He hadn't even absorbed all its medicinal energy yet, but he could imagine how much his mana would increase when he was done.

He had been stuck at the third stage for many years. Maybe these ten bottles of Grand Origin Pills would be what would break him out of it! And if the supply could keep up afterward, then even the late stage of the Nascent Soul Realm was not out of the question!

Giving Luo Chen a jade token, Sage Lu watched him enter the teleportation formation and personally activated it. After Luo Chen vanished in a flash of light without a problem, he heaved a sigh of relief.

He strode out of the teleportation hall and chatted with Gu Zuokai for a while before returning to his residence to continue cultivating with the Grand Origin Pills. But before he could sit down, a servant reported that a so-called Dao-nephew of his had requested an audience.

Dao-nephew? Is that Chi Zhong? Sage Lu was a bit curious. Usually, this Dao-nephew from the Nether Origin Sect would never visit him without a reason. He didn't put on airs and quickly summoned him in.

After Chi Zhong stated his request, Sage Lu looked hesitant. I see, so that guy is actually a guest elder of the Star Gate... No wonder Gu Zuokai would personally vouch for him!

He smiled and told Chi Zhong, "Don't worry. I will inform your sect about him."

"Thank you very much, Dao Uncle." Chi Zhong bowed and respectfully withdrew.

After he left, Sage Lu took out a jade scroll and began to write on it using his divine consciousness.

"Star Gate Guest Elder, goes by the name Luo Chen. Early stage of Nascent Soul. Extraordinary bearing; suspected to be a sword cultivator."

He stopped here and hesitated for a moment. In the end, he still added what he had just found out.

"Can refine middle-grade fourth-tier cultivation pills. Likely, a great grandmaster alchemist!"

1. This paragraph has been altered for consistency reasons and is not an accurate rendering of the raws. The author states here and a few more times in the following chapters that the Spirit-Link Gu is still alive, even though it has been clearly established that it died during Luo Chen's rebirth. ☜

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