Chapter 1056: The Storm Descends; Luo Chen Returns (II)
Chapter 1056: The Storm Descends; Luo Chen Returns (II)
Inside the Alchemy Palace, time seemed to have frozen. Countless droplets of blood hung suspended in the air, while shattered flesh and broken bones drifted through the hall.
Heavenjade had long since fallen into despair, but as the silence stretched on, she gradually sensed something strange. The connection between her and Luo Chen had vanished, yet his aura had not disappeared. It somehow lingered, as though the man were still breathing somewhere amid the scattered flesh and blood.
"Master... doesn't seem to be dead!"
Black King, who was still trapped between grief and relief, froze. "How's that possible? The slave seal on my divine soul has dissolved. Yours hasn't?"
For cultivators and spirit beasts, any contract short of a life-and-death bond would dissolve once one party died. That was why Heavenjade's first thought was that Luo Chen had died. Yet after countless days living with him, she was far too familiar with his presence to mistake it. What lingered in the hall was not merely a remnant of aura. It was also... the sound of a heartbeat!
Thump! Thump! Thump!
Among the countless pieces of flesh, a crimson heart was beating with vigorous strength. Each heavy pulse echoed through the hall, sending chills through both Heavenjade and Black King.
Then, under their stunned gazes, an astonishing transformation began to unfold. The suspended droplets of blood gathered together, shredded flesh grew anew, and shards of bones wriggled through the air as they struggled to reunite.
"Wait... am I imagining this?" Black King's eyes twitched as something buried deep within his inherited memories surfaced. It was a legend about archaic beasts. They were said to possess such terrifying vitality that even if only a single drop of blood remained, they could return from death.
Whoosh!
A massive plantain fan unfurled in Heavenjade's hands, right in front of Black King.
Seeing this, Black King flew into a rage. "Heavenjade, what are you doing?"
Heavenjade looked back at him coldly. "What am I doing? You should ask yourself that. What were you thinking just now?"
"I... I..."
Black King's voice faltered. A flash of shame, astonishingly human in its clarity, appeared across his fierce flood dragon face.
Heavenjade stared at him coldly, and her tone grew harsher. "Master has always treated me well, and he treated you even better. Imperial Nectar, demonic beast flesh, demon cores, enchanted treasures, and even pills. He even rewarded you with the corpse of that Cliff Serpent and helped you awaken your blood legacy. Even if the seals are gone, he is still our master. I'd advise you to abandon those little thoughts of yours."
Black King's face flushed with anger. "Don't accuse me! I've always been loyal to Master!"
"So you still remember your place." Heavenjade tightened her grip on the Nine Winds Plantain Fan, and her mana surged, as though it would erupt at any moment. "Even your name was given to you by Master. I'll say this only once. Unless you kill me, I won't let you take a single step toward him."
Black King was furious and ashamed at the same time. He was furious that his companion thought so little of him, yet ashamed because, for a fleeting instant, he really had entertained the thought of betraying his master.
Just as he was about to explain himself, his eyes suddenly widened. Heavenjade sensed it as well and turned back toward the scattered flesh and bones. They were still trying to reunite, but the process was agonizingly slow, as though every fragment had to be dragged back by force.
Then a power welled up from within the blasted flesh and bones. It was crimson and sinister in color, yet it carried none of the twisted malice to be expected from such a power. Instead, it was dense with vitality, as if life itself had condensed into crimson light. As that crimson energy spread outward, it enveloped every fragment of flesh and bone, and the struggling reconstruction suddenly accelerated.
At the same time, a faint golden flame instinctively blossomed within the forming body and began tempering every newly restored part. Yet instead of scorching the fresh flesh black, the flame refined it, making it look increasingly pure and ethereal.
However, the golden flame was too weak to last. With every passing moment, its light dimmed further until the trembling outline of an azure fire tree appeared beneath it. Just as the final golden spark was about to go out, the azure fire tree stirred. Countless branches stretched out, wrapped around that tiny flame, and swallowed it whole.
"Nirvana!"
That familiar voice echoed in the hearts of the two beasts and thundered through the great hall. At that single command, every piece of flesh and every fragment of bone fused together at once. Amid the billowing crimson light, the naked figure of a man gradually took shape.
Luo Chen remained seated cross-legged on the ground with his eyes tightly shut. The Nirvana of Flesh had rebuilt his body, but the power contained within it had not yet settled. It had been suppressed to its absolute limit, yet it still churned restlessly beneath his skin, terrifyingly violent and ready to erupt at any moment.
Nearby, the massive cauldron suddenly began to tremble. It sensed the aura radiating from Luo Chen and reacted as if it had encountered an enemy. This was the lingering influence of the battle between Heaven Refiner and Rosycloud. Luo Chen's Nirvana had been completed through Rosycloud's cultivation technique, and the power he had just reconstructed was fundamentally opposed to Heaven Refiner's inheritance. To the cauldron's remnant spirit, he was no inheritor, but a great foe. Even if it had to destroy Heaven Refiner's inheritance altogether, it would never allow him to take possession of it.
The cauldron rose from the ground and shot toward the ceiling, but the moment it chose to flee, the power sealing the gray light inevitably weakened. With a deafening crash, the Heaven Refiner Cauldron burst through the roof of the Alchemy Palace and shot toward the heavens.
Outside the palace, Moon Hermit was the first to react. A jade disc appeared in her hand and descended toward the black cauldron at once.
On the Sea of Clouds Plaza, Flying Cloud's face also lit up with delight. He did not hesitate and rushed toward the Heaven Refiner Cauldron, flinging out an enchanted-treasure net to capture it. Everyone else, save Blood Hermit—who was still absorbing Blood Nightmare's power—sprang into action as well.
But before any of them could reach the cauldron, Moon Hermit's expression changed. "Get away!"
A warning from the Myriad Beast Scroll's artifact spirit echoed through her divine consciousness. She withdrew without hesitation, abandoning even the white jade disc as she retreated. The others were only a moment slower, but that single moment was enough to decide their fate.
Before they could pull back, a world-shaking explosion erupted above them.
BBBBBOOOOOOOOOOMMMM!!!
High above the fourteen palaces, the black cauldron exploded before everyone's eyes. Even damaged and without a master controlling it, it was still a Transcendent Spirit Treasure. The power released at the instant of its self-destruction was something they had not even heard of in legends, let alone witnessed. It only took a single flash for a storm of primal qi to sweep across the entire Heaven of Bright Illumination.
"I can't protect you anymore," the black-robed Sage muttered before retreating frantically, completely abandoning Devil's Cloud. Left alone in the path of the storm, Devil's Cloud did not even have time to struggle before he was ground into dust.
The Seagon Matriarch's expression also changed drastically. She summoned a massive turtle-shell shield while assuming her true form, using both the treasure and her own body to withstand the raging tempest by force.
Flying Cloud, who had charged ahead the fastest, suffered the heaviest blow. His net shattered almost instantly, and countless fragments hurtled back toward him. Madness filled his eyes as he spat out a pearl whose light enveloped his body, but that pearl instantly began crumbling beneath the storm.
Uugghh... I fought so hard to get these treasures from the Artifact Realm! But I have no other choice now.
He had no time to grieve over it. Suppressing the pain in his heart, Flying Cloud threw out every treasure he had accumulated over the years, using them one after another to resist the storm.
On the plaza, Blood Hermit's expression darkened as the destructive tide swept toward him, forcing him to stop absorbing Blood Nightmare's power. Beneath him, Blood Nightmare finally gained a brief chance to breathe. He gripped the Godslayer Blood Sword with one hand and poured every last trace of Grand Elder Blood Sea's remaining power into it.
"GEEET LOOOST!"
At the same time, Fairy Jadecold unfurled a painting that depicted the profile of a woman, while Silent Fate brought out the defensive treasure his sect had prepared for this expedition.
Before the horrifying storm unleashed by the destruction of a Transcendent Spirit Treasure, everyone was forced to exhaust every means they possessed just to preserve their own lives.
The Alchemy Palace was at the very center of the explosion, and it naturally bore the full force of the storm. One great formation after another activated on its own, wrapping the hall in layers of spirit light. Yet beneath the relentless impact, those defensive formations shattered one after another. Amid the surging waves of destruction, Heavenjade desperately swung the Nine Winds Plantain Fan, trying to carve out a safe space around Luo Chen. But against such boundless might, her efforts were almost meaningless.
Just then, a black shadow rushed up from behind her.
"Black King, what are you doing?!" Heavenjade's eyes nearly split apart as she watched Black King charge toward Luo Chen.
Ignoring her attempt to stop him, he opened his enormous jaws and swallowed Luo Chen's newly reassembled body in a single bite, then swept Heavenjade away with his tail and sent her crashing into the corner beside one of the great hall's pillars.
After that, Black King lifted his head toward the sky and let out a furious roar. This roar had once been powerful enough to shake heaven and earth, yet the thunderous sound of this storm of energy drowned it out.
Only after a long while did the storm gradually subside. Of the fourteen palaces, only thirteen still hung in the sky like stars. The Alchemy Palace, which had once radiated dazzling brilliance, had been reduced to ruins. Towering purple jade pillars lay collapsed across the wreckage, while priceless roof tiles floated above the boundless sea of clouds like scattered grains of sand, drifting whenever the breeze stirred.
Crack!
Footsteps echoed through the ruins.
In a corner of the shattered palace, Heavenjade lay in her true form, her disheveled green-blue feathers soaked with blood. She was so weak she could barely move, but she still forced her eyes open. Through her blurred vision, a familiar figure slowly came into view.
"M... Master?"
"Mhm," Luo Chen answered softly, then took the Profound Dust Armor from Heavenjade and put it on before turning toward the pitiful black flood dragon curled up on the ground.
Black King's once-enormous body, nearly a hundred zhang long, had been reduced to a terrible mass of flesh and blood. Through a few of the many gaping wounds torn across his body, his demon core could be seen flickering with a faint, unstable light.
"Both of you did well." Luo Chen formed a spirit seal and stored the gravely wounded Heavenjade and the unconscious Black King into his spirit beast pouch. Only after that did his calm gaze shift toward the sky.
Above the ruins, a streak of gray light drifted through the clouds. In the distance, another figure was staggering its way against the current and charging straight toward it.
Luo Chen let out a cold snort and stomped down. The impact sent a violent shockwave rippling outward, causing the already crumbling Alchemy Palace to give way at last.
Before the wreckage could finish falling, Luo Chen had already vanished from where he stood. He crossed several hundred zhang and appeared before the gray light that had once been sealed by the cauldron. Without taking his eyes off it, he turned and threw a punch.
Mountain-Breaking Form!
With that single strike, the figure that had been approaching was blasted backward at an even greater speed than it had come at. Luo Chen stared coldly at the gray light before him. "This rightfully belongs to me!"