During a break, the Elder found Chen Xing'an and couldn't help but sigh, "This thing of yours is quite extraordinary."
"Is it?" Chen Xing'an could only agree. He knew it wasn’t simple, but he wasn’t entirely sure just how extraordinary it was.
"If I can figure it out, it could play a huge role in battle."
One of humanity’s greatest advantages in fighting against the demon beast hordes was their ability to utilize various tools.
This particular spirit stone in front of them clearly had its spiritual energy artificially infused.
If they could mass-produce these, storing vast amounts of spiritual energy within the stones and then deploying them in battle—the thought alone was exhilarating.
This could significantly extend combat endurance.
While the cultivation world had similar treasures, their materials were expensive and their crafting process was complex.
This spirit stone, however, seemed far more efficient.
The Elder continued questioning Chen Xing'an, "This spirit stone looks quite new. Which senior crafted it?"
The formations inside the stone were intricate, but the Elder wasn’t completely useless—he could tell it had been made recently.
Knowing he couldn’t hide it, Chen Xing'an admitted, "A senior we met on the road gave it to us."
Now that they were safely aboard, revealing a little shouldn’t be a problem.
Li Yu added, "He mentioned he might visit us if he heads north."
A small precaution.
The Elder didn’t mind at all. "In that case, lend this to me for research. I’ll compensate you with treasures."
Chen Xing'an had no choice but to agree. Thankfully, Li Yu didn’t spill anything further.
The Elder, utterly fascinated, delved deeper into his studies.
The journey of the Misty Cloud Sect’s group proceeded smoothly.
No one dared cause trouble—most of the demonic factions had already been dealt with, leaving only occasional encounters with demon beasts.
But the group’s strength was more than enough to handle them unscathed.
Chen Xing'an and Li Yu also realized how naive they had been before—these demon beasts alone could have killed them several times over.
Luckily, they had met a benefactor.
The Elder’s research, however, wasn’t going well.
He prided himself on his knowledge of formations, yet he couldn’t decipher this one at all.
Still, he made some progress.
He could now replicate the spirit stone, but it only harnessed Qi Refining-level power.
Moreover, the production cost was too high, and the results were underwhelming.
It was practically useless. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t find a way to infuse more spiritual energy.
By the time they reached the north, he still hadn’t cracked it.
Then, shamelessly, the Elder offered to buy the stone outright.
Chen Xing'an figured it wasn’t a bad deal, and refusing would be awkward, so he sold it.
Before parting, the Elder added, "Chen Xing'an, if you ever meet that senior again, do contact me."
He handed Chen Xing'an a communication treasure.
Normally, the Elder would have given up, but with the impending war against the demon beast hordes, he couldn’t let such a useful treasure slip away.
If successful, they could mass-produce these stones, infusing them with spiritual energy before the battle, boosting the combat strength of countless cultivators.
Chen Xing'an could only nod.
Still unsatisfied, the Elder gathered all the formation experts in the north for a discussion.
One by one, the masters of formations examined the stone.
"Where did you get this? It’s fascinating!"
"If we can replicate it, it’ll be a game-changer for the upcoming war."
"Tsk, the intricacy of this… I can’t make sense of it at all."
More and more experts joined in, but like the Misty Cloud Sect’s Elder, they could only scratch the surface.
At best, they managed to store Foundation Establishment-level energy—barely.
The crafting process took too long, and the failure rate was as high as eighty percent. Completely impractical.
They’d be better off forging other treasures with that time and effort.
If only someone could explain the underlying principles.
The formation masters sighed in frustration.
But no such person existed.
......
"They’re really gone."
Su Luo extended his senses once more, but Chen Xing'an’s aura was nowhere to be found.
Seems they had truly left.
With that, he abandoned his plan of amusing himself with the newcomers.
Little Yu said, "I could pretend to be a newcomer if you want, Su Luo. You could have fun watching me."
"What kind of weird hobby do you think I have?" Su Luo rapped Little Yu’s head lightly.
Little Yu pretending to be a novice?
That would be laughable—with her strength, what trouble could she possibly face?
Jiang Ningshu pointed at herself, signaling she could also play the role of a clueless newcomer for his entertainment.
"Enough already. Do I really seem like someone who enjoys watching others struggle?"
"You absolutely do."
Though Jiang Ningshu privately thought Su Luo was mostly just lazy.
"Let’s go. If we’re any slower, we’ll miss the war."
Jiang Ningshu asked, "If we join, will there even be a fight left?"
"Don’t underestimate the demon beast hordes. They’ll at least hold out for a while."
"So you’re saying they still don’t stand a chance?"
"What did you expect?"
Humanity was plenty strong.
The cost might be high, but victory was guaranteed.
And so, Su Luo and his companions leisurely continued their journey north.
......
Seven days later.
Most of the southern cultivators preparing for the war had arrived in the north, where the Emperor Heaven Sect had arranged accommodations for them.
The tension was palpable—the battle could erupt at any moment.
But the exact timing depended on when the demon beast hordes launched their assault.
Judging by their movements, it wouldn’t be long now.
Lin Xuan also arrived in the north. His recent elimination of the Right Envoy had further elevated his reputation.
The demonic factions were notoriously slippery and hard to pin down, yet Lin Xuan had managed to kill one—truly impressive.
Soon, he was summoned to examine Su Luo’s peculiar spirit stone.
Lin Xuan was a man of many talents—spells, swordsmanship, artifact forging, alchemy—and formations were no exception. His skill in this field was considerable.
The moment Lin Xuan held the spirit stone, he was instantly captivated.
Such an intricate formation!
Fascinating. Absolutely fascinating.
He began his analysis, but soon, something felt off.
The spiritual energy inside… it felt familiar.
After a closer inspection, he confirmed it: "Isn’t this Su Luo’s?"
The others were stunned. "Su Luo?! The demonic cultivator?"
"You didn’t hear? Su Luo was a spy for the Seven Stars Sword Sect, planted in the Heavenly Demon Sect."
"No way. Tell me more."
"He knows formations too?" someone else asked, more interested in that.
"Knows them? He’s a master," Lin Xuan said, having witnessed Su Luo’s expertise firsthand on multiple occasions.
Top-tier, without a doubt.
Really?
The others were skeptical.
While Su Luo had gained some notoriety during his time with the demonic factions, most saw him as far less formidable than the previous demon lords.
ut it can buy an entire year of absolutely perfect training results! Su Yu stared at his empty wallet and decisively opened up various online loan platforms. “Borrow a thousand bucks! Recharge my vitality!” Boom! His vitality broke a hundred points, shattering the limits of the human body! “Borrow ten thousand bucks! Recharge my combat skills!” Boom! A basic punching technique so common it was everywhere instantly maxed out, revealing the ultimate assassination technique of Five Elements Unity—Inner Force! When a rich kid hired assassins for a midnight ambush, aiming to break both of his legs, they instead ran headfirst into a monster—a human-shaped tyrannosaur, brimming with dragon-like vitality. With just two fingers, Su Yu snapped a steel staff reinforced with alloy. Staring at the killer’s stash of stolen cash—a staggering quarter-million dollars—he showed a corporate-sincere smile: “Thanks for the pre-exam gift pack, Mr. Zhao! I’m gonna go re-invest this!” Three days later, at the National Martial Arts College Entrance Exam, while everyone else struggled just to reach the passing line, Su Yu threw a single punch—and more than a thousand vitality points literally detonated the entire arena!
e bizarre and supernatural had descended. The previous emperor was a thoroughgoing tyrant; no longer satisfied with human women, he had set his sights on a stunningly beautiful supernatural entity. He met his end in his bedchamber, drained of all his vital essence. As the legitimate eldest son and crown prince, Wang Hao was thus hastily enthroned, becoming the young emperor of the Great Zhou Dynasty. No sooner had he awakened the "Imperial Sign-In Intelligence System" than he was assassinated by a Son of Destiny—a classic villain's opening. The Great Zhou, ravaged by the former emperor's excesses, was in national decline. The great families within its borders harbored their own treacherous schemes, martial sects began to defy the imperial court's decrees, and border armies, their pay and provisions in arrears, grumbled incessantly against the central government. Fortunately, the central capital was still held secure by the half-million Imperial Guards and fifty thousand Imperial Forest Army who obeyed the court's orders, along with the royal family's hidden reserves of power, barely managing to suppress the realm. As the Great Zhou's finances worsened and supernatural activities grew ever more frequent, the court sat atop a volcano. Ambitious plotters everywhere dreamed of overthrowing the dynasty, and even some reclusive ancient powers emerged, attempting to sway the tides of the world. At the first grand court assembly, the civil and military officials nearly came to blows, fighting tooth and nail over the allocation of fifty million taels of silver from the summer tax revenues. The spectacle opened Wang Hao's eyes—the Great Zhou's bureaucracy was not only corrupt but also martially proficient, a cabinet of all-rounders. Some officials even had the audacity to suggest the emperor release funds from the imperial privy purse to address the emergency. Wang Hao suddenly felt weary. Let it all burn.
't think I'm that capable, I'm just trying my best to stay alive. I've been kind all my life, never did anything bad, yet worldly suffering spared me not one bit. The human world is a nice place, but I won't come back in my next life. A kind young man, who wanted to just get by singing, but through repeated deceits and betrayals, has gone down an irredeemable path.
ing gift was a patch of barren land, and disciples were all picked up along the way. He spent fifty years diligently building three "ramshackle little sects," thinking he could finally live a carefree life relying on his disciples. But right at the fifty-year mark, he was suddenly swept away by a spatial rift and exiled to the Chaos Desolation, the Disorderly Ruins. There was no spiritual energy there, only slaughter. Relying on the cultivation feedback from his disciples, Gu Changyuan hacked his way through a sea of blood for eleven hundred years. When the system finally fished him back out, he discovered the ramshackle little sects he'd built back then had developed a rather... unusual style. Hold on... I vanished for a thousand years, so how did my ramshackle little sects become holy lands?!
