Chapter 261: Return and Departure

Time flowed like a river, and eight years passed in the blink of an eye.

Chen Luo entered his fortieth year of cultivation.

After the battle at God Lake Immortal Sect, the power dynamics of the Three Sects were reshuffled. Nine Poisons Valley surged to become the strongest sect, followed by the Corpse-Raising Sect. The once-dominant God Lake Immortal Sect fell to the bottom, nearly destroyed by the Immortal Sect’s calamity. Fortunately, Chen Luo stepped forward at the last moment to assume the role of sect master, leveraging the Silver Carapace Corpse King and his mastery of formations to secure a sliver of hope. Three years later, conflict erupted between the Corpse-Raising Sect and Nine Poisons Valley, causing another shift in the Three Sects’ power balance.

Chen Luo aligned with the weakened Corpse-Raising Sect to jointly resist the increasingly powerful Nine Poisons Valley.

The interests of the Seven Nations were reshaped. The Yi Nation, formerly under God Lake Immortal Sect’s control, was seized by Nine Poisons Valley, while the Changnan Kingdom fell to the Corpse-Raising Sect. The only nation remaining under God Lake Immortal Sect’s dominion was the Shi Kingdom, slashing the sect’s income by two-thirds.

After several more turbulent shifts and five years of friction, the situation finally stabilized.

“Spiritual energy compression is the final step. Both the Blackstone Secret Technique and the Demon-Plant Art contain similar arcane methods.”

Over the course of eight years, Chen Luo successfully assimilated the brain of the Immortal Sect Leader—a remarkably complete brain belonging to a Core Formation cultivator—yielding unimaginable benefits. In the second year after acquiring this brain, he completed the final step of the Foundation Establishment realm, reaching one hundred spiritual energy dragons and officially advancing to the Great Master level of Foundation Establishment Perfection.

It was precisely because he had reached this stage that he possessed the strength to return to the Immortal Sect and assume the mantle of Sect Leader.

For the next seven years, Chen Luo and the Void Sage collaborated against enemies and engaged in joint cultivation. Through three Core Formation techniques, Chen Luo had largely recovered the cultivation memories from the Immortal Sect Leader’s brain.

It was akin to having a Core Formation Ancestor providing him with personal guidance. Over those seven years, their cultivation levels both reached the critical threshold of Core Formation. Had they wished, either could have triggered the Heavenly Tribulation at any moment to condense their Crimson Pill!

Only one step remained on the path to Core Formation.

“My Demonic Heart Art has taken a different path altogether,” the Void Sage sighed. “The cultivation techniques you provided can only serve as references now.”

Yet during those seven years of exchanging insights with Chen Luo, the Void Sage’s cultivation had progressed more rapidly than in the preceding century.

Recently, Chen Luo had begun sensing the Heavenly Tribulation, its overwhelming power hanging like a sword above his head, sending shivers down his spine.

“This region is spiritually barren,” he thought. “At best, it can only nurture Crimson Pill cultivators. To advance further, I need greater resources.”

Chen Luo felt the limitations of the Seven Nations. He had recently been contemplating a plan to return to the demonic cultivation realm.

With his methods, he could achieve Core Formation even in the Seven Nations, but the crucial issue was his desire to condense a flawless Golden Core. The foundation he had laid during Foundation Establishment could not be abandoned at this critical step. The path charted by the mummy’s brain could save him from many detours.

“Different paths, different doctrines,” he mused. “The path I walk places fewer external demands on me.”

The Void Sage’s cultivation grew increasingly formidable. Once he took that final step, the power dynamics of the Three Sects would be permanently solidified. Chen Luo had invited the Void Sage to join him in the demonic cultivation realm, but the sage had declined. The Void Sage was pursuing a different path, one that diverged from Chen Luo’s. Chen Luo suspected it might be related to his “shimu,” Elder Sister Bai Su.

“I will begin my tribulation crossing in half a month.”

Void Sage rose, having prepared for this moment for a long time. Chen Luo’s return had solidified his resolve.

The two finished their cultivation and returned to their respective training grounds.

Half a month passed in the blink of an eye.

Yin Thunder roiled across the sky. Void Sage stood atop Wu Dao Peak, facing the long-awaited Heavenly Tribulation.

“Let the Qi Refining materials remain within the sect. Consider this my final contribution as sect master.”

Chen Luo packed his belongings, ready to leave the Seven Kingdoms region.

He gifted all the materials that were no longer useful to him to Void Sage: Spirit Gathering Pills, Foundation Establishment Pills, first-tier spirit talismans, first-tier spirit artifacts, and more. These items had become increasingly insignificant to him, barely worth the space they took up in his Pouch of Holding, and trading them would be too trivial. The effort required far outweighed the potential gain, so he decided to give them away completely, hoping to sever some lingering ties to his past. Chen Luo left a portion for his senior brother, Du De, who had emerged from the Yue Country Tomb with him, and another portion for Ding Xiaoxia, Lian Qiang, and a few other acquaintances.

From his current perspective, Spirit Gathering Pills and Foundation Establishment Pills were resources he could acquire at will. The Spirit Condensing Herb, which had once required a perilous quest to obtain, could now be obtained with a single word.

This was the transformation brought about by strength and status.

Even monopolies operate in hierarchical tiers.

Chen Luo didn’t bother observing Void Sage’s Demonic Heart Tribulation. Both he and Void Sage cultivated the Demonic Heart Art, and though their paths diverged, their understanding of the tribulation was fundamentally the same. Void Sage had prepared for this ordeal for over a century and undoubtedly had countermeasures. Chen Luo’s presence would serve no purpose.

He flew out of the Immortal Sect.

In the distance, the heavenly thunder gradually subsided.

Chen Luo settled on a mountaintop and didn’t leave until a fresh Core Formation aura surged from the distance, reassuring him that Void Sage had successfully transcended the tribulation.

With the affairs of the Seven Kingdoms concluded, it was time for him to pursue his own Core Formation path.

“Senior Brother…”

On Wu Dao Peak, a green robe fluttered in the wind, her figure like a painting come to life.

In the end, he couldn’t persuade her to stay. He wondered if they would ever meet again in this lifetime.

It was half a year later when Chen Luo finally returned to the Qiong Hua Sect. In between, he had visited Gu Demon Mountain. Despite the years of turmoil after his departure, Gu Demon Mountain had persevered. His former disciple, Mu Xiaoyu, had also joined the Qiong Hua Sect. As a prodigy with a heavenly spirit root, she had been transferred to the main peak by the Peak Lord in White five years prior.

Now, Gu Demon Mountain was entirely under Ding Zhao’s command. The Core Formation Ancestor of the Qiong Hua Sect had slain the Blackstone Ancestor, officially claiming the entire Southwest Territory. The demon clans couldn’t withstand the Qiong Hua Sect’s expansion and were driven back north.

Notably, Chen Luo encountered neither the Yinsha Forest nor the marshlands on his return journey. The entire area had been devastated, leaving only an unfathomably deep pit.

Standing at the edge, Chen Luo sensed only a bone-chilling black aura and fragments of shattered trees.

The mystery of the Life-in-This-World Inn remained unresolved, and he wondered if he would ever have the chance to unravel it.

After passing these vanished landmarks, Chen Luo returned smoothly to the Qiong Hua Sect.

“The teleportation array to the sect will activate next month,” Xie Wu Dao, the Peak Lord in White, informed Chen Luo, showing no surprise as he reviewed the return request. Chen Luo’s nearly decade-long infiltration mission had succeeded, and he had played a vital role in defeating the Blackstone Ancestor. Seal Elders Gong Cheng and Weng Jiang had already reported the details when they submitted their mission reports.

“Thank you, Peak Lord,” Chen Luo said solemnly, watching his contribution points being transferred.

Both the Seven Kingdoms and the Southwest Territory were shallow waters, with scarcely any Core Formation cultivators. To achieve perfect Core Formation and even pursue the higher Nascent Soul realm, Chen Luo needed to seek out the resource-rich main sect of the Qiong Hua Sect.

“While the sect boasts abundant spiritual energy and resources, the competition there will be fiercer,” Peak Lord Xie Wu Dao cautioned solemnly. “Here on Sword Pool Peak, you’re an inner sect elder. But back at the main sect, you’ll merely be an ordinary disciple. You must consider this carefully.”

This group of them had chosen to expand outward precisely because they couldn’t compete at the main sect.

Many of the Qiong Hua Sect’s peripheral factions had developed this way, resembling subsidiary branches. Though nominally still members of the sect, their cultivation resources were self-procured. Their ties to the main sect were tenuous; any supplies needed from the main sect had to be traded for with equivalent resources.

“My mind is made up.”

“Very well.”

Seeing Chen Luo’s resolve, Xie Wu Dao didn’t press further. Cultivators at this stage possessed unwavering Dao hearts, not easily swayed by the opinions of others.

The day for activating the sect’s teleportation array soon arrived.

Chen Luo, carrying the materials for exchange from Sword Pool Peak, stood on the inter-domain teleportation array. After a moment of dizzying, disorienting pull, he vanished in a swirling cloud of smoke and dust.

The spirit stones that had powered the teleportation dimmed, crumbling into gray-white pebbles.

Hum!!

Chen Luo felt as if his skull had been brutally pounded by drumsticks. He leaned against the wall, gagging violently. The Qiong Hua Sect’s inter-domain teleportation array and the one in the Great Tomb of Yue Country were completely different, utterly incomparable.

He finally understood why the Qiong Hua Sect only sent Foundation Establishment and Core Formation cultivators to the Far West Territory, while recruiting Qi Refining realm disciples locally. With this rickety teleportation array, nine out of ten Qi Refining disciples would die, and the survivor would be left crippled.

I wonder how they sent Xiaoyu there… probably through a different route, Chen Luo thought.

It took him a long time to regain his bearings.

This was a temporary cave, stocked with pills to restore both spirit and spiritual energy. A restriction spell surrounded the area, requiring a Qiong Hua Sect disciple’s token to activate.

Chen Luo didn’t take any of the pills. Compared to the ones he already possessed, these were far too inferior.

Stepping out of the cave, he was blinded by a burst of sunlight.

The salty, briny sea breeze rushed to meet him, seabirds wheeled over the azure waters, and soft sand cushioned his feet.

He was on an isolated island.

Returning to the cave, Chen Luo noticed a bone scroll on a nearby table. It detailed the regions traversed by the inter-domain teleportation array and outlined the next leg of their journey.

“A mountain the array can’t penetrate? Do we have to wait for the sect’s inter-domain flying boat?”

Chen Luo rubbed his temples, reexamining the array’s tier. At most, it was fourth-tier.

When he had escaped from the Yue Country tomb, the inter-domain array within had propelled them through countless obstacles without issue. He had never heard of an area impenetrable to such arrays, especially since a group of newly initiated disciples had traveled through it unharmed.

Buzz!

While Chen Luo waited for the Qiong Hua Sect’s cross-domain flying vessel, the teleportation array behind him lit up again. A female cultivator in a long white dress, at the Foundation Establishment stage, knelt on the ground, vomiting violently—her condition even worse than his had been.

It took a long time for her to recover.

Chen Luo walked over and offered her a pill, grabbing it casually from the table. It was a small gesture, a courtesy.

“Thank you, Senior Brother.”

Since they were both disciples of the Qiong Hua Sect, they addressed each other by seniority based on cultivation level when traveling abroad. The female cultivator couldn’t discern Chen Luo’s cultivation, hence her respectful address.

“Where did you come from?” Chen Luo asked.

He was eager to learn more about the Qiong Hua Sect. As another member of the sect, she might offer insights into how other branches had developed.

“I came from Chi Xia Peak,” she replied.

“Chi Xia Peak?” Chen Luo frowned. He couldn’t recall that place from the Qiong Hua Sect records he’d reviewed at Sword Pool Peak.

“The sect has been expanding rapidly in recent years. Chi Xia Peak was established just ten years ago.”