Chapter 240: The Sealed Elder

Blood Pool Seal, Tier 3 Formation.

In his external brain, Old Brother immediately recognized the traces of this Blood Pool. The iron locks surrounding it formed the foundation of the formation, with the ground patterns and runes engraved on the chains all meticulously inscribed. The core buried beneath the Blood Pool, however, surpassed even Old Brother’s understanding.

“A seal?”

Chen Luo frowned. Within the Demonseed Sect Leader’s obsession, that “old fellow” he’d clung to until death had been sealed here. He’d initially imagined some prison or Demon-Sealing Tower, but now it seemed the old fellow’s accommodations were even more lavish than expected—a Blood Pool, no less.

All the better!

This meant greater value. No wonder the Demonseed Sect Leader couldn’t let go of it. After just one glance, Chen Luo found himself equally fixated. If he could fully absorb this concentrated Demonic Heart Power, his Demonic Heart Art would undoubtedly advance. He might even reach Foundation Establishment perfection and have a shot at Core Formation.

Cackle

A chuckle echoed from the depths of the Blood Pool.

“Watch out! Demonic Heart Impact incoming!”

The elder who had previously called for Chen Luo’s assistance issued a warning. In the next instant, a dark red shockwave erupted from the Blood Pool, sweeping across the entire chamber. The three elders paled under its influence, their auras fluctuating wildly as black-red energy began to twist around them.

This assault bore a striking resemblance to the Demonseed Sect Leader’s ultimate technique, the ‘Demonic Heart Stone’. However, the concentration of Demonic Heart energy here was not as potent. Standing at the cave entrance, Chen Luo absorbed his fill and felt somewhat unsatisfied.

“Rest assured, Senior Brothers. Let me lend you a hand.”

Chen Luo leaped into the air, alighting beside the trio with a surge of righteous energy. The original triangular formation now became a square. Once seated, Chen Luo channeled pure spiritual energy through his control, transforming it into Foundation Establishment cultivation power. This energy coalesced into a pale blue mist that he directed toward the central Blood Pool like an inexhaustible resource.

The three elders, who had been on the brink of disaster, suddenly regained control of the situation. The elder who had spoken earlier cast a grateful glance at Chen Luo. If Chen Luo hadn’t intervened, they would have damaged their foundations, possibly forcing them to request rotation early. If the Old Demon escaped, the consequences would have been even more severe.

Chen Luo wasn’t thinking about that. He just wanted to gain some benefits.

Under their grateful gazes, he extended his left hand. Pale blue magical energy flowed from his palm, instantly suppressing the churning Blood Pool and diverting seventy percent of the escaping Demonic Heart Power towards himself.

Be careful!

The three elders urgently shouted in warning.

This junior they’d never met before was being too enthusiastic.

“Three senior brothers, rest assured. With me here, the Old Demon won’t cause any trouble!” Chen Luo pressed his palm against the critical formation eye lock.

The ground trembled, the entire area shook, and the sealing lock clattered. The Old Demon beneath the Blood Pool seemed enraged by Chen Luo’s attitude, roaring furiously as more Demonic Heart energy erupted from the pool.

The three elders, already teetering on the brink of collapse, could no longer spare Chen Luo any attention. They closed their eyes in unison, focusing inward as they struggled to suppress the Demonic Hearts surging within them.

Inhale.

Chen Luo opened his mouth wide and drew in a massive gulp of air. A whirlwind of spiritual energy transformed into a vortex that he swallowed whole, its power coursing into his abdomen. His spiritual energy began to surge at an unimaginable rate. In this brief moment, the spiritual energy dragon that had remained stagnant for half a year of arduous cultivation suddenly coalesced into form, reaching eighty-three dragons in total.

A treasure land! An absolute treasure land!

What others would consider a perilous death zone was, to him, a blessed cultivation paradise. If the Old Demon continued these daily outbursts, he could reach Foundation Establishment perfection within half a year and even attempt Core Formation. But the feast ended before it began - the Old Demon’s eruption subsided as quickly as it had started. Its aura gradually weakened, and the churning Blood Pool above slowly calmed.

That’s it?

Just like that?

Chen Luo felt deeply unsatisfied. He pressed down harder on the Blood Pool, his magical energy piercing through its surface to stir the crimson waters below. But the Old Demon remained unresponsive. The Blood Pool stilled, becoming a stagnant pool of crimson.

Whew! I made it through that trial.

“Once we endure this wave of eruption, we can rest properly for a while.”

The three elders, having suppressed the Demonic Heart, let out long sighs of relief. Their gazes toward Chen Luo brimmed with gratitude - during the recent outbreak, he had shouldered seventy percent of the pressure, leaving them with merely ten percent to suppress. This was far easier than previous attempts.

The task of suppressing the Blood Pool had always been unpopular within Qiong Hua Sect. It was laborious without reward, and hindered cultivation progress. Now the sect assigned it through mandatory lotteries. These three had drawn the unlucky three-year guard duty, forcing them to reside by the Blood Pool for three years.

“Many thanks for your assistance, junior brother.”

“You’re too kind, senior brothers.”

Chen Luo reluctantly withdrew his hand. He’d tried stirring the pool several times, but the Old Demon below showed no reaction. It seemed truly drained - utterly lacking in endurance.

Only erupting once every few months? No wonder they sealed it beneath the earth!

“May we inquire about your identity, junior brother?” Elder Bai Xu, the most experienced among them, studied Chen Luo with furrowed brows. After reviewing all late Foundation Establishment disciples in the sect, he couldn’t recall anyone matching this description.

“I recently joined the sect and am now the Medicine Elder,” Chen Luo said, immediately producing his elder’s token.

Medicine Elder?

The three men were momentarily stunned.

They knew sects often recruited specialized talents from outside, such as alchemists, artificers, and healers. However, these individuals generally lacked combat prowess. Their spiritual energy was weak, and their cultivation progress was only sufficient for their primary profession - essentially logistical support personnel.

During the suppression of the Blood Pool earlier, they had all witnessed firsthand how Chen Luo’s spiritual energy was remarkably pure. He had single-handedly borne nearly seventy percent of the Demonic Heart Power, yet afterward appeared completely unharmed. This was clearly a bitter cultivator with an ironclad Dao heart - how could such a person be associated with logistical cultivators?

“Is he really a healer? And a second-rank healer at that!”

The three men stared at the token in their hands, utterly bewildered. The white-bearded old man seemed to doubt his very existence.

“I came here merely to gather medicinal herbs and happened to encounter the Blood Pool’s eruption,” Chen Luo said, accepting the token from the trio. His gaze swept over the Blood Pool once more.

The Blood Pool lay calm and still.

“That’s truly regrettable,” said the elder on the left, who had spoken first. “I had hoped to invite Shidi to join us in this Sealing Mission.”

When Chen Luo had shared the burden earlier, they’d genuinely felt the relief. If they could have brought Chen Luo into the mission, they wouldn’t have struggled so much during the Old Demon’s rampage.

However, as a Medicine Elder, he would undoubtedly refuse such a thankless and laborious task.

No one knew better than these elders the temperaments of alchemists and Medicine Elders within the sect. These people wore their arrogance like crowns, regarding all others as fools.

“Exorcising demons and upholding justice is our sacred duty as cultivators,” Chen Luo interjected with righteous fervor. “I resolved to this path even before embarking on the immortal journey! You must not deprive me of this chance to suppress the demonic threat simply because I am a Medicine Elder.”

He would take this mission!

Compared to the tedious tasks of alchemy and disciple training, guarding the Blood Pool was his true calling.

“Shidi’s unwavering Dao heart is indeed remarkable,” the left elder said, his face flushing with shame. “No wonder you fear not the Demonic Heart. This elder’s narrow vision has been shortsighted.”

In today’s cultivation world, few remained with a heart dedicated to the Dao. Within Qiong Hua Sect, who wouldn’t pale at the mention of suppressing the Blood Pool? After reaching Foundation Establishment, everyone focused on themselves—how many still cared about right and wrong?

To this elder, Chen Luo’s willingness to abandon the ‘comfortable and leisurely’ life of a Medicine Elder to join them in dirty, laborious work proved him a virtuous cultivator of the righteous path.

Months later,

Another figure stood atop Grey Stone Mountain.

When Chen Luo applied for a Sealing Mission, the Peak Lord in White thought he’d misheard. “Why abandon your duties as Medicine Elder to become a Sealing Elder?!” he exclaimed. “You’d reject safe tasks like teaching disciples and refining medicines to confront the Blood Pool? Is this the act of a sane man?”

Yet Chen Luo’s resolve remained unshaken. As an Inner Sect elder of Qiong Hua Sect, the Peak Lord had no authority to refuse his voluntary application.

Besides, Chen Luo had already sworn allegiance upon joining the sect—his blood had been recorded in the jade scroll registry. After some half-hearted persuasion, the Peak Lord gave up. With no other volunteers for the Sealing Missions, having one willing participant meant he could avoid playing the villain.

At the edge of the Sealed Blood Pool, Chen Luo sat with three elders in a circle.

At the center, the elder with the deepest aura and white beard was Mei Xuan, a great cultivator at the peak of Foundation Establishment. Like the Peak Lord in White, Elder Mei Xuan had the qualification for Core Formation. However, he wished to condense a higher-level Golden Core, so he had been suppressing his cultivation and not undergoing the tribulation. The remaining two elders were Weng Jiang, who had spoken with Chen Luo earlier, and Gong Cheng. Weng Jiang’s cultivation was at the same late Foundation Establishment stage as Chen Luo’s, but the spiritual energy dragons within his body had already reached ninety, not far from the peak. Gong Cheng’s cultivation was slightly weaker than Chen Luo’s, with only seventy spiritual energy dragons.

These three were the few late Foundation Establishment experts of Qiong Hua Sect in this area.

After accepting the mission, Chen Luo had stayed here for over three months, becoming familiar with the three elders.

During these three months, the Old Demon hadn’t erupted even once. Through conversations with the three elders, he learned that the Old Demon didn’t erupt daily. The frequency of eruptions depended on the Old Demon’s recovery speed. Generally, eruptions occurred every three months or half a year, with longer cycles sometimes spanning two or three years.