Chapter 969: Back to the Myriad Immortal Society; Visiting Devil's Cloud Cave Once More

Across the boundless sea, waves rolled endlessly as a black figure darted swiftly through the waters. A longer observation revealed that it was actually moving in a circle, and at the center of that circle, a tiny black dot could faintly be seen floating in the sky.

Black King was patrolling the area, driving away any low-tier sea demons that might have dared to approach, all the while keeping an eye on that tiny black dot. Ever since his master had emerged from seclusion a month ago, they had left Purple Spirit Island and come here to test a new spell. Yet so far, there had been no movement.

"What exactly is Master doing..." As he grumbled to himself, his expression suddenly shifted. He turned and swam toward a distance. Moments later, his massive body came to a halt, blocking the path of a strangely shaped seahorse.

Upon seeing him, the seahorse babbled out a string of incomprehensible sounds. Black King's eyes widened. "Speak properly!"

The seahorse rattled on, babbling even more. Black King's patience wore thin, and he released a surge of demonic energy. "I don't care what you're here for, just go around. This area's mine."

Within the Mountains and Seas Realm, the distinction between humans and demonic beasts was, in truth, a one-sided classification imposed by humans. Among demonic beasts, the diversity of species was wide, and treating them as one race was simply ridiculous. It was not just their anatomy and bodily functions; their way of communicating, habits, affinities, and natural enemies all differed. Black King, having evolved from a Black-Scaled Giant Python, had no connection to this seahorse clan. Without prior knowledge, he could not understand its language at all. While divine consciousness could convey simple intent, it was far from true communication, and it often broke down entirely. As a result, demonic beasts relied on far more direct means of communication. At this moment, what Black King expressed was simple—This is my turf.

Faced with Black King's rising irritation, the seahorse hesitated for only a brief moment before releasing its own aura. Demonic energy surged outward like rolling waves, meeting Black King's head-on without yielding in the slightest. For a time, the two stood locked in a tense standoff. Then, suddenly, both beasts trembled and looked up toward the sky, from where they now felt tremendous pressure. Even though the distance to the source of the pressure was great, it still weighed down on their bodies. A flash of joy appeared in Black King's eyes. The seahorse, on the other hand, cast a wary glance in that direction, then turned and fled toward another stretch of sea.

"Smart choice!" Black King snorted and turned to swim in Luo Chen's direction. But as his gaze swept across the sky, he found no trace of his master.

Black King burst from the sea and rushed toward a stretch of churning waves. There, a white-robed figure drifted in the water, rising and falling with the tide. He hurried forward and lifted him onto his broad back. "Master, what happened?"

Luo Chen rubbed his forehead wearily, and his voice was laced with exhaustion. "Let's go back for now."

Black King gave a low grunt and turned toward Purple Spirit Island. To his shock, his master could no longer maintain the technique concealing his cultivation. The signs of depleted mana were unmistakable. What kind of spell could drain Master's mana like this?

Luo Chen was in no mood to explain. He sat atop the flood dragon's back, trying to recover his mana while lowering his head in thought. From time to time, his hand would drift to his lower abdomen, as if checking something even as his mind remained elsewhere. I'm not a goddamn spirit vein; I can't just keep drawing out energy. There has to be a limit. So how do I control it? The mountain lord's formation worked because of its earth aspect, which was heavy enough to restrain me, so he didn't need to use that much energy. But my mana is different. How am I supposed to turn it into something usable? And the Domain's range... I have to keep that in check. If I overextend it, the first thing to run dry will be my cores. No... that won't do. I can't put both energy sources in the same basket. One of them has to be kept for regular combat. Looks like I'll have to spend some time figuring this out.

***

When Black King carried Luo Chen back to Purple Spirit Island, they happened to run into Sang Jiugong, who was coming out of the caldera. "Oh? Azure Yang, did you just go out?"

After resting for a while, Luo Chen had recovered some of his mana and activated the Concealment Veil Formation again. To Sang Jiugong, aside from a slight hint of pallor, nothing seemed out of place. In truth, even that was hard to notice. As Luo Chen's cultivation became more advanced over the years, his complexion had grown even redder. If he were dressed in red instead of white, he'd look like a burning flame from a distance. With a constantly red face like that, how could anyone tell whether his complexion had changed at all?

Luo Chen gave a soft hum. "And you?"

Sang Jiugong clapped his hands and let out a chuckle. "The Purple Monkey Flowers have all been transplanted. Now we just need to watch the first growth cycle and make a few adjustments. Once that's done, we can leave."

Hearing this, Luo Chen's spirits lifted. They had spent more than half a year on the island, and now they had finally reached a turning point. He followed Sang Jiugong to the caldera and examined it carefully. Along the way, Sang Jiugong explained the key principles behind his maturation techniques.

By using the caldera's unique geography to draw in the island's spirit energy and supplementing it with demonic beast flesh, the place had turned into an artificially created blessed land. The most crucial aspect, however, was the principle of the strong consuming the weak. High-tier Purple Monkey Flowers would devour the vitality of lower-tier ones, thereby compressing years, decades, even centuries of natural growth into a much shorter span.

"Do we need someone to keep an eye on it afterward?"

"That won't be necessary. Purple Monkey Flowers grow on their own, and they're not that delicate."

Seeing Luo Chen still a bit concerned, Sang Jiugong thought for a moment before adding, "If you're worried, I can have an Initiate disciple come by every so often to check on things."

"That could work, but... a disciple?" Luo Chen looked at him with some confusion.

The man smiled faintly, with a look of calm acceptance on his face. "I've only got another twenty or thirty years left. You can't expect me to trek all the way out here every year just to tend the fields, can you?"

Luo Chen was taken aback. He was well aware that Sang Jiugong was advanced in years, which was why the man had sought to establish a force and pass on his craft. But he had never expected that the end of his lifespan was already so close.

Thirty years... For an Adept, that was no more than the span of a single deep seclusion.

He pressed his lips together and could not find the words to speak. Sang Jiugong crouched by the edge of the sinkhole, his gaze resting on the dense clusters of purple flowers below. His expression was calm. The restless drive for fame and gain that had once defined him was gone, replaced by a quiet, unhurried serenity. "No need to comfort me. Everyone goes through this sooner or later. The path to immortality... is not something anyone can walk. I've wandered, I've fallen low, and I've had my share of glory too. But thinking about it now... It's tending to these plants that's always brought me the most peace. Feeding them, clearing out pests, watching them grow... The satisfaction from that feels even greater than breaking through to a higher realm."

Luo Chen stood there silently listening to the man's ramble. After a while, when Sang Jiugong paused to catch his breath, Luo Chen let out a quiet sigh. "I didn't expect you to be this calm and relaxed about it. Seems I'm the one who's been overthinking things."

Sang Jiugong straightened up and stretched his back. "That's just how I feel right now. Who knows? When the end really comes, I might still end up crying and regretting not cultivating harder when I was younger."

Luo Chen fell silent.

Sang Jiugong looked at him, hesitated for a moment, then said, "Azure Yang... there's something I'm not sure if I should bring up."

Normally, Luo Chen would have shut it down right there. But now, thinking that people don't lie when they're about to die, he let him go on. "My Earth Mulberry Sect... barely has anyone left. Just a handful of us. Even the core disciples are only at the Foundation Establishment Realm. In this huge cultivation world, we're like fireflies; one strong gust of wind and we're gone. I know we're not that close... but if the sect ever runs into trouble in the future, I hope you can lend them a hand, as much as possible."

He looked at Luo Chen earnestly. "This time... I'll truly owe you a favor. It's just... I'll probably have to repay it in my next life."

Luo Chen met his gaze and fell silent for a moment before giving a small nod. "Next life it is, then."

At once, Sang Jiugong burst into hearty laughter. The sound rang out clear and unrestrained, carrying for over ten li, and even the purple flowers peppering the caldera seemed to sway along with it.

***

Three months later, the two figures observed the caldera for a long while before finally leaving in satisfaction.

Some distance away from the island, a black flood dragon floated on the sea, rising and falling with the tide. Sang Jiugong was the first to leap onto its back. The dragon showed a hint of displeasure but said nothing. Together, they looked toward the figure floating high in the sky, watching as he cast spells and laid down formations. When countless streams of light rose from all directions and gradually settled into stillness, the miasma-shrouded region seemed to fade from view. Not that it had truly disappeared—Purple Spirit Island was still there. Yet to a cultivator's divine consciousness, the entire area felt empty, as though nothing existed at all. And to the naked eye, it was just an unremarkable island.

High above, Luo Chen gazed down at the formation enveloping the island with satisfaction. All his years of attainment in formations had been poured into this work. He had woven together concealment and illusion and had even used several low-grade enchanted treasures as formation cores to set up multiple killing formations within. Even if low-tier demonic beasts forced their way onto the island, they would be ground down long before they could pose a threat to his greenhouse.

If there was anything lacking, it was puppets. Had he been able to station a few powerful third-tier puppets here, the island's security would rise to another level entirely. But Luo Chen had been too pressed for time these past years. Otherwise, with a master of puppetry like Han Zhan at hand, he would never have let such an opportunity go to waste.

He shook his head and landed lightly onto Black King's back. "That's everything here for now. Let's go back!"

Black King acknowledged before plunging straight into the sea. Spirit light flared around the two cultivators on his back, forming a protective barrier. Even under the water pressure that would have outright crushed a mortal, not a hair on their heads got wet.

***

The journey here from the Society had taken quite some effort, but the return trip was much faster. For one, Black King had already traveled this route and knew it like the back of his hand. For another, with Luo Chen and Sang Jiugong present, few dared to cause trouble. Even if they came across Demon Kings with strong territorial instincts, the two Adepts simply needed to release their aura to make the other side yield and give way.

In truth, the only thing that slowed them down was the war that had by now been raging for close to three decades. Throughout their journey, they had to pass through several territories controlled by the Blue Sea Alliance. With Black King's massive form, it was impossible to go unnoticed by a powerful cultivator. Fortunately, both Luo Chen and Sang Jiugong were star-ranked demon hunters. After presenting their tokens and stating their identities, the Blue Sea Alliance chose to let them pass without incident.

Luo Chen also took the opportunity to inquire about the state of the war. The news he received was somewhat unexpected. The alliance between Devil's Snare and the Penglai Immortal Sect had grown increasingly aggressive, even managing at times to suppress the numerically superior Blue Sea Alliance. That should not have been the case. The Blue Sea Alliance did not just hold the advantage in numbers—it was also backed by an Ascendant. If the devil side had seized an early advantage, that would have been understandable. But after such a prolonged war, why was the Blue Sea Alliance still being forced back time and again?

After some thought, Luo Chen felt that the answer pointed to the force standing behind the Penglai Immortal Sect: the Heaven Origin Dao Sect. It was one of the five most powerful forces in the entire Mountains and Seas Realm, in no way inferior even to the Primordial Devil Sect of old. It housed countless top-tier experts, and its Ascendants were unrivaled across the five territories. Perhaps it was because of the Heaven Origin Dao Sect's covert support that Ascendant Li of the Blue Sea Alliance hesitated to act, allowing matters to spiral unchecked.

Well, none of that has anything to do with me. I'm just a rogue cultivator. Why should I care what happens out there?

Luo Chen was in a good mood after dealing with the affairs on Purple Spirit Island. But alas, that mood evaporated the instant he returned to Surging Lake.

***

"Over the past year or so, quite a few people came looking for you. But once the Angler and the others returned and declared the Withered Wood Ridge mission complete, no one really kept pressing it. Blood Hermit's task took priority, so no one had the mind to worry about anything else."

Luo Chen held a stack of visiting cards as he listened to Heavenjade report on everything that had happened in his absence. When he learned that the Angler had been richly rewarded by the Blood Hermit, even receiving the promised insights into Nascent Soul formation, his expression turned slightly more serious. He, too, had gained something from the mission, beyond the immediate resources: His previous four-star demon hunter rank had been raised to five stars. With just a trip to the division to register, he would officially become a five-star demon hunter. The promotion came with its own advantages. Mission cycles grew longer and less frequent, and when it came to exchanging resources within the society, he would now enjoy a fifty percent discount—including the rent for Surging Lake!

Heavenjade handed over the visiting card and continued, "Also, someone from the Zhou family has come seeking a treasure. You'd agreed to see him before, so I didn't turn him away. When would you like to meet him?" 𝑓𝘳𝑒𝑒𝓌𝘦𝘣𝘯ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝑚

Luo Chen thought for a moment. "Tomorrow."

Heavenjade nodded and brought up the final matter.

"Ding Yi wants to see me?" Luo Chen frowned, his earlier concerns resurfacing in his mind. The Sunken Sea was a place he had little desire to venture to. But since Ding Yi had summoned him, this conversation was not something he could avoid.

Without even taking time to rest, he set out that very day for Devil's Cloud Cave, where he was welcomed by Ding Yi and Devil's Cloud. Before Luo Chen could say anything, Ding Yi took the initiative. He said in a grave tone, "The Heaven of Northern Yama is showing signs of upheaval."