Longevity begins with alchemy master

The early autumn night was as dark as ink, slowly spreading out.

Deep within the ocean of clouds and mist, a young man with an ethereal air and eyes like crystal appeared.

He gazed at Li Canghai and Luo Chen, the old man and the young man, from afar, his face devoid of any emotion.

"Who do we have here that dares to offend my Tianyuan Dao Sect? It's you two, Li Canghai and Luo Chen!"

The moment Li Canghai saw the other person, he frowned slightly. "Liancheng, how have you been?"

While greeting the other party, he transmitted his thoughts to Luo Chen.

"Be careful, Liancheng Shenyuan has plenty of energy and shows no signs of injury."

Luo Chen's eyes flickered; he understood the meaning behind Li Canghai's words.

There are two possibilities regarding Liancheng's injury.

One is from a hundred years ago, during the Battle of Broken Soul Cliff, where the Five Elders of Tianyuan fought against Qixia Yuanjun. They paid a terrifying price—four of them perished—to severely injure Qixia Yuanjun, who remains immobile to this day. Liancheng was the sole survivor among the Five Elders of Tianyuan, also severely wounded. However, over the past century, he has fully recovered.

Another possibility is that the sixth-order Grand Array, Heavenly Dome Gathering Continent, was forcibly destroyed by Luo Chen's men. Logically, Lian Cheng, who was in charge of this array, should have suffered a backlash from it. However, at this moment, he showed no signs of backlash, his aura was calm and balanced, and he showed no signs of injury.

There are two possibilities. The former was within Luo Chen's expectations. The latter, however, was somewhat unexpected by Li Canghai.

Such a terrifying formation was forcibly stopped, yet the opponent was completely unharmed?

Could it be that the other side isn't the main force?

"I am naturally unharmed, but Li Canghai, your uninvited arrival today is rather impolite, isn't it?" Lian Cheng remained calm, still sitting cross-legged on the broken Heaven and Earth Peak. The surrounding clouds gathered and gradually formed an illusory Dharma image that was identical to his facial features.

Upon seeing this, Li Canghai's expression changed slightly. "A phantom? You're only at the early stage of the Nascent Soul realm, how could you possibly condense a phantom? No, it's not a phantom!"

He stared at the enormous cloud giant with astonishment and doubt, pondering the purpose of such a method.

Luo Chen, however, seemed somewhat familiar.

It feels like I've seen this kind of method somewhere before.
At this point, Li Canghai naturally no longer needed to hold back. After confirming that what the opponent had condensed was not an illusion, he simply took it as Liancheng bluffing.

He said loudly, "I have come here today with few requests, only asking that Fellow Daoist Liancheng give me something to help me achieve complete success!"

When he said this, Luo Chen, who was standing next to him, looked a little more serious.

Lian Cheng glanced at Luo Chen, then asked, "What is it?"

Li Canghai smiled nonchalantly: "It's very simple. I obtained the method for refining a spiritual treasure from some ruins, and it requires me to search far and wide for famous mountains and seas to refine it into a treasure. In the world today, the most famous mountains are the Yuanci of the North Sea, the Cuiping of the Western Desert, the Cangwu of the Eastern Wilderness, as well as the Lankeshan and Tiandifeng of the Central Plains. The Yuanci suppresses the five elements and is not for my use. The Cuiping is sealed by a high monk, and even its true appearance cannot be seen. As for the Cangwu, I naturally dare not go and disturb it."

A fierce glint flashed across Lian Cheng's face. "So, you've set your sights on my Central Plains?"

Li Canghai said matter-of-factly, "Spiritual mountains and precious lands belong to those with virtue. The Tianyuan Dao Sect is no longer the number one holy land that once dominated the world. You have Rotten Axe Mountain, Tiannan and Libei, and even four fifth-order spiritual veins on Tiandi Island. This is far too extravagant. I don't ask for much, just a small plot of land on Rotten Axe Mountain!"

After Li Canghai revealed his true purpose, Luo Chen, who was walking side by side with him, breathed a sigh of relief.

He was genuinely worried that what the other party wanted was something Liancheng could afford to provide.

Liancheng definitely won't give up Rotten Axe Mountain.

As expected, upon hearing this, Liancheng was so angry that he laughed instead.

After laughing, his voice turned cold.

"Fellow Daoist Li, do you not know that Rotten Axe Mountain is the ancestral home of my Daoist sect, the foundation of the Heavenly Origin for ten thousand generations!"

“I know you won’t give it to me, so I’ve come to collect it myself. There’s no need for you to deliver it to me.”

"You? And that little guy next to you?"

When the words "little guy" were mentioned, Liancheng stared at Luo Chen with disdain.

“You are very bold, the most audacious person I have ever seen in countless years, to offend the sacred land of the Nascent Soul stage.”

"If you have no guts, how can you have a life?" Luo Chen slowly made his way towards Tiandi Peak, saying, "If you are willing to return my life soul, then I will lead my people away."

Upon hearing the words "Life Soul," Li Canghai instantly understood why Luo Chen had gone to such lengths, risking his life to deal with the Tianyuan Dao Sect.

Without a complete life soul, a cultivator simply cannot break through to the Nascent Soul stage.

Even if one can forcefully enter that realm, the incompleteness of the soul will cause instability in the realm, and one will fall down sooner or later.

In fact, falling down is a blessing in disguise. If, due to a deficiency in one's primordial spirit, one were to become lost in the ocean of primordial energy during daily cultivation, that would be a matter of life and death!
According to rumors, Luo Chen once became a disciple of the Tianyuan Dao Sect and served as a guest minister in the external affairs of the Xingmen.

Thinking about it this way, it must have been around that time that my life force was taken away!
Thinking of this, Li Canghai became somewhat worried. What if Liancheng really generously returned the life soul? If his temporary teammate changed his mind at the last minute, he would be in a dilemma.

However, Liancheng's reaction relieved him.

On the summit of Heaven and Earth, the illusory giant of the cloud sea revealed a contemptuous expression on its face.

"Once you join my Tianyuan Sect, your life and death will no longer be in your own hands. You will live as members of my Dao Sect, and you will die as ghosts of the Dao Sect!"

Luo Chen remained calm. "I know this, which is why I came to collect it personally. I hope you won't take offense, senior!"

Liancheng grinned, "One of you wants to take what belongs to my sect, and the other wants to reclaim what belongs to you. Do you have the ability to do so?"

Under the moonlight.

A tiny speck of dust gently rose from Liancheng's palm.

Though the dust is tiny, it is as large as a mountain, and when it appears, the entire void ripples and surges.

The giant of the cloud sea stretched out his enormous hands, gently cradling the speck of dust, and then closed his hands together.

next moment!
The giant of the cloud sea suddenly spread out his arms.

A dark yellow light curtain suddenly opened.

It spread wildly from the mountaintop.

In the blink of an eye, the entire Tiandi Peak was enveloped in a curtain of light.

"A formation!" Li Canghai blurted out, his eyes gleaming.

Then, he struck out with his palm.

The immense palm force, drawing upon the primordial energy of heaven and earth, roared forth and slammed fiercely onto the light screen.

However, the reaction after they came into contact was eerily frightening.

Silent and without any reaction.

That massive palm strike vanished without a trace, like a clay ox sinking into the sea.

"This..." Li Canghai was surprised and uncertain, seemingly finding it hard to accept.

Luo Chen frowned, his gaze sweeping over the top and bottom of Tiandi Peak, his eyes lingering on the Xuanhuang light curtain, and a sense of familiarity arose within him.

This time, his memory gave him a very good response.

Luo Chen blurted out: "The Formation that Severs the Connection Between Heaven and Earth!"

Back when he participated in the Ascension Ceremony of the Pill Saint on Tiandi Peak, he sensed an omnipresent array that even his fourth-order physical body felt slightly pressured.

At that time, someone told him that the formation was the mountain-protecting formation set up by the Tianyuan Dao Sect for thousands of years—the Severing Heaven and Earth Connection.

However, this formation did not stop Qixia Yuanjun.

Unexpectedly, it was recreated in front of the two of them through Liancheng's hands.

Upon hearing this, Li Canghai suddenly realized, "So this is the formation. After Tiandi Peak collapsed, Tianyuan Dao Sect was never able to reproduce this formation again. I never expected that Liancheng would have such mastery of formations."

"What you want, we'll discuss with you after we break this formation and face me directly!"

After activating the grand formation, Liancheng ignored the two of them and closed his eyes, sitting cross-legged as before.

His strange behavior was somewhat baffling.

Despite facing a formidable enemy, they fail to take the initiative to attack.

He turned a blind eye, especially since the Tianyuan Dao Sect was still under attack.

It's even more impossible that they were afraid of Li Canghai and Luo Chen joining forces.

One merely stumbled upon an opportunity and luckily achieved the Nascent Soul stage. The other is still at the Core Formation stage, so there's even less to fear.

Liancheng is the ancestor of the number one holy land in the world. He has great pride and how could he be afraid?
The reason for this must be that there is something more important than dealing with the two of them.

Luo Chen frowned, then looked at Li Canghai.

"Senior, do you recognize this formation?" "Since you've given me the name, I naturally recognize it." Li Canghai smiled slightly. "Before, because its form of expression and power were different, I didn't recognize it. But now, looking at it again, it is indeed a variant of the Great Formation of Absolute Heaven and Earth Connection."

He stopped probing and instead slowly ascended, floating outside the Xuanhuang light curtain.

In mythology, there is a term called "severing the connection between heaven and earth," which means that heaven and earth, gods and humans each perform their duties and do not interfere with each other.

However, with the word order changed, the power of the Heaven and Earth Connection Array was completely different in the hands of the Tianyuan Dao Sect.

"According to the research of the Demon Lord of Refining Heaven, this formation is actually not complicated. It is based on a fifth-order spiritual vein, which isolates the primordial energy of heaven and earth and suppresses living beings. Those below the fifth order are unable to move, and those above the fifth order cannot control the primordial energy."

"That's why my move was like a clay ox sinking into the sea, leaving no reaction whatsoever."

"This formation is not very lethal, but it has an immediate effect on enemies at the Nascent Soul stage or above."

“If we break in, we will be deprived of our control over the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, and we will only be able to fight with our own magic power. However, the master of the formation will be completely unaffected, and every move he makes will be enhanced by the fifth-order spiritual vein, multiplying his power.”

"With this balance of power, we cannot enter this formation."

After some research, Li Canghai came to this conclusion.

Luo Chen hurriedly asked, "Can it be broken?"

“Okay!” Li Canghai nodded, but before Luo Chen could feel at ease, he continued, “But it will take time! The other side has been preparing this formation for a long time, otherwise they wouldn’t be able to activate it instantly. I’m afraid they can activate it the moment we enter the island.”

time……

Luo Chen looked solemnly at Tiandi Peak.

There, the giant of the cloud sea still held up the light screen, maintaining the operation of the Great Array that connects heaven and earth.

Liancheng himself sat cross-legged on a flat mountaintop, with countless intricate, endless lines beneath his feet, and streaks of blood were seeping into those lines.

If nothing unexpected happens, those patterns should be the foundation of another array formation.

A divine summoning formation!
This is the profound heritage of the world's number one holy land!
At the same time, three top-tier formations were activated simultaneously.

With the combined power of the entire sect, they activated the Celestial Gathering Land Array; with their millennia-old foundation, they activated the Heaven and Earth Connection Array; and finally, Ancestor Liancheng was still maintaining the operation of the Divine Descent Array.

If he actually succeeds...

"Luo Chen, I have good news!" Li Canghai said suddenly after observing for a while.

"You said."

Li Canghai quickly said, "This Heaven and Earth Connection Formation has been broken before, and the Heaven and Earth Peak itself is broken in two, making the formation's foundation unstable. Therefore, the formation in front of us is actually incomplete. Apart from its ability to suppress the energy of heaven and earth, it has no other power. So, I only need to target the earth's energy here to shorten the time by more than half and break the formation."

Luo Chen's eyes lit up, "Then I'll have to trouble you, senior!"

Li Canghai chuckled, "It's alright. Once this formation is broken, I'll have another formation to master. I can set it up in my cultivation grounds to better protect against external enemies."

As he said this, he began to get busy.

One after another, array flags flew out of his hands and disappeared into the ground.

One after another, spells were cast from his hands and entered the Xuanhuang light screen.

As time passed, the dark yellow light screen began to tremble slowly.

Upon seeing this, Luo Chen knew that Li Canghai's mastery of array formations was no exaggeration; in such a short time, he was able to break a peerless array that even sacred lands relied on.

But is such a short time really enough?
On the summit of Tiandi Peak, Liancheng had opened his eyes at some point and was coldly watching this scene, while Li Canghai continued to break the formation.

Luo Chen was puzzled and couldn't understand why the other party was so calm and composed.

While feeling uneasy, Luo Chen had already prepared for a great battle between the two sides after the formation was broken.

Just in case, he even bit his fingertip and smeared the purest source blood onto his eyes.

Fully activate the complete crimson and golden pupils!
At that very moment, Luo Chen's mind was jolted.

In their line of sight, streams of agile energy were converging from four directions toward a certain place below Tiandi Peak.

There is……

"The entrance to the Mirage Dragon Cave!"

Luo Chen said coldly, a chill emanating from his body.

"Luo Chen, the formation has already broken a gap, give me a little more time... What did you say?" In the distance, Li Canghai seemed not to have reacted yet.

Strands of bluish-white flames had already appeared on Luo Chen's body.

"The Tianyuan Dao Sect doesn't actually want to reunite the Central Continent; that's just a side effect. What they want to do is devour three continents—no, even the Western Continent, which has already sunk into the sea. They want to collect all the spiritual energy that was once scattered throughout the Central Continent, and in this way, rebuild the Heaven and Earth Peak and activate the Divine Descent Array!"

Li Canghai was somewhat incredulous, "Collecting spiritual energy is something that even a Nascent Soul cultivator can't do. It's a technique that only a True Monarch who has condensed a illusory form can do. Liancheng could never do that!"

"No, they can do it!" Luo Chen shook his head. The spiritual energy of heaven and earth was frantically converging into his body under his divine sense, and an extremely terrifying power was about to erupt.

Regardless of whether only True Monarch Refining Emptiness can capture spiritual energy, Luo Chen knew that Pill Saint Chu Yan had long ago developed a pill-making technique called "Refining Heavenly Secrets," which could capture a small amount of spiritual energy and refine it into pills.

Within the Tianyuan Dao Sect, there exists a spiritual treasure that can both suppress and absorb the spiritual energy of an entire continent.

Luo Chen had personally witnessed Tianyuan Sect Master Mo Shouzhuo use that treasure to open the Mirage Dragon Cave Heaven back then.

Its name is—Rotten Chessboard!
Mo Shouzhuo has perished, but the owner of this magical treasure is still alive; he is none other than Ke Lianshan, the Chess Saint of Zhongzhou.

If he advances to the Nascent Soul stage and fully activates the Rotten Chessboard, the effect will be even better than that of Mo Shouzhuo back then!

At this moment, Ke Lianshan was nowhere to be seen.

However, the Mirage Dragon Cave Heaven opened a year ago, and a large number of Nascent Soul cultivators entered it, so it must be more than just a simple cave heaven competition.

"He broke through to the Nascent Soul stage inside, while simultaneously manipulating the Rotten Chessboard to absorb a large amount of spiritual energy for Heaven and Earth Peak!"

As if to confirm Luo Chen's conjecture.

At the entrance to the Mirage Dragon Cave, a vortex appeared out of thin air, and a large amount of spiritual energy from heaven and earth poured into it.

On Tiandi Peak, Liancheng slowly floated up from the mountain, his entire body merging into the giant formed by clouds and mist.

At that moment, the giant seemed to come to life.

The giant stretched out a huge hand and reached for the nearby low but straight ridge.

Do not!
That's not a mountain ridge!
That was once the upper part of Tiandi Peak, but after it was broken, it fell to the ground and, over the past hundred years, has formed a low ridge.

The massive mountain ridge was grasped by the giant as if it were nothing, and then pressed down towards the Heaven and Earth Peak.

"Chongshan!"

Liancheng's powerful voice resounded throughout the void.

The moment Tiandi Peak reunited, everything returned to normal, just like the majestic mountain that Luo Chen had seen back then.

next moment!
"Seance!"

A beam of light shot into the sky, heading straight for the starry universe.

Within the mighty pillar of light, an extreme killing intent began to gradually seep into this realm.

It all seemed like a long story, but it happened in the blink of an eye.

Li Canghai stared blankly at the scene, feeling the extreme killing intent, and he felt like an ant.

"Luo Chen, let's go!"

Without hesitation, Li Canghai turned and left.

The divine descent array has been activated, and the arrival of the True Lord from the Upper Realm is inevitable.

Staying here means certain death!
However, Luo Chen did not follow.

Li Canghai looked back and saw Luo Chen, his body radiating bluish-white flames, rushing into the gap in the Heaven and Earth Connection Formation that he had just broken open.

An ant trying to shake a tree, a mantis trying to stop a chariot!
At that moment, a similar thought occurred to Li Canghai.

Without lingering, he escaped from Heaven and Earth Island, activated the teleportation array left outside, and disappeared into the distance.

As long as the green hills remain, there will always be firewood to burn. He couldn't possibly die here with Luo Chen.

Perhaps, a mere sliver of admiration was the respect he left for this young friend.

"Fellow Daoist Luo, take care!" (End of Chapter)