Chapter 274: Medicine King City

Chen Luo now understood why he couldn’t land a hit on this thing.

It wasn’t truly a ‘person’, but a manifestation of collective faith - in essence, the lingering remnants of countless people’s wishes. He was essentially striking at vows made a thousand years ago.

The mummified brain provided feedback once more.

This time, Chen Luo held nothing back. The Silver Carapace Corpse King roared, channeling heaven and earth primordial qi into a punch that crashed into the spearman’s weapon.

Boom!

The ferocious force struck the spear tip, making contact this time. Now that he’d discerned the truth, manipulating heaven and earth primordial qi against this foe became trivial.

The iron spearman thrust his weapon into the Corpse King’s fist, but couldn’t advance further. Only Core Formation-level attacks could breach the Corpse King’s skin. With a bestial roar, the Corpse King sank his jaws into the spearman’s neck, unleashing Corpse Poison Demonic Qi to drain the opponent’s energy.

A thousand years of accumulation amounted to this pitiful display.

No wonder Immortal Cultivators scorned the Divine Path Stream. After a millennium of cultivation, their methods remained woefully inadequate compared to true cultivators. Even Chen Luo, not yet a full Core Formation cultivator, could use the Corpse King to counter this minor god. Beyond its ‘wishes’ trickery, the entity possessed no other capabilities.

The Divine Path Stream’s bizarre methods had initially caused him some trouble, but once he adapted, their effects vanished. Of course, if Chen Luo were merely an ordinary Foundation Establishment cultivator, he would have been defeated. Even the Minor God’s Domain, however flawed, wielded Core Formation-level power.

Crack!

A glass-like sound shattered the air as the scene before him trembled.

Before Chen Luo could deliver the final blow, the Silver Carapace Corpse King tore the aggressive Low-Ranked Spirit to pieces. The very fabric of the place began to unravel. When the scene stabilized, Chen Luo found himself back at the Iron Spear Temple.

The collapsed Iron Spear Temple.

The fire had been doused by rain, leaving the air thick with moisture. Opening his eyes, Chen Luo saw the Silver Carapace Corpse King had returned to the Corpse-Raising Sack, its stomach half-full.

He remained in the temple courtyard, the Lizard Demon hanging lifeless on the wall nearby. Around him lay scattered escorts, sprawled in disarray across the ground.

“Back?” Chen Luo turned to the minor god statue buried in the temple ruins.

The statue had toppled from its altar, lying askew amidst the rubble. As Chen Luo observed it, a ceramic-like crack appeared between its brows, spreading with crystalline fractures.

Boom!

The statue shattered, its head crumbling into pale stone fragments. With its support gone, the crumbling roof collapsed, burying the last traces of the divine image.

“Divine Path Stone.”

Chen Luo raised his hand, sending a wisp of spiritual energy that plucked the white stone fragment from the statue’s brow. He then approached the wall and placed his palm on the Lizard Demon’s head.

This time, no brain emerged.

The Lizard Demon’s true essence was a Yin Soul. The Core Formation cultivator’s head Chen Luo had excavated earlier must have been its true form. No wonder the creature had fought so fiercely to reclaim it.

So that head really was its true self.

“If it’s yours, you should have said so. How was I supposed to know?”

Chen Luo sighed as he kindled a fire, burning the Lizard Demon’s remains to ashes. He’d completely forgotten how many times the creature had protested about the head’s ownership during their pursuit.

“Are we… back?”

In the drizzling rain, Chief Shen and Daoist Qiu opened their eyes in bewilderment.

The sight of the collapsed Iron Spear Temple before them caused initial shock, followed by sudden awakening. As they took in their surroundings, expressions of relief spread across their faces. The other escorts soon followed suit. Only the Lu-named escort remained unconscious - his body having been ‘claimed’ by the Incense Fire Dharma Realm’s minor god, all his possessions now belonging to the deity.

“Where’s the senior?”

Daoist Qiu was the first to react. Their group had been waiting outside Iron Spear Temple since leaving, with no way to find their way back. The fact that they’d emerged now meant Chen Luo must have found a method within the temple to bring them all out.

Chief Shen and the others quickly scanned their surroundings, but unfortunately, they couldn’t locate their ‘savior’.

Chen Luo flew along the road on his sword.

His index finger touched the stone, and a layer of pale white energy flowed from its surface. This energy was identical to that of the spear-wielding minor god he’d destroyed earlier.

“Divine Path Stone.”

As Chen Luo sensed the stone in his hand, he finally understood why Zhangqing Zhenren had failed in his cultivation of the ‘Divine Path Manual’. It was because he lacked this very thing. The Divine Path Stone served as the foundation for cultivating the Divine Path Manual; only with it could one collect ‘Wishes’. However, this path was a dead end for Immortal Cultivators. A Divine Path cultivator’s limit depended entirely on the number of sacrifices they could gather, as well as the Divine Path Stone within their body.

In ancient times, Divine Path cultivators were merely subordinates under the great powers, created by them to handle trivial matters.

Several days later.

Chen Luo flew over the desolate wilderness and once again saw a populated area. According to the map he’d obtained at the Qiong Hua Sect outpost, this place was already considered the heart of the Southern Heaven Domain.

Ahead lay a large city. Even from several miles away, Chen Luo could sense the concentrated spiritual energy gathering there.

There’s a spirit vein here—and not a low-grade one either!

Following his perception, Chen Luo flew toward the city. As he neared, he encountered a massive Formation with complex anti-air restrictions. Approaching Immortal Cultivators were forced to descend and enter the city on foot like ordinary people.

The official road stretched flat, crowded with merchants and Immortal Cultivators mingling in the flow. The procession split into two lines—one for Immortal Cultivators, the other for commoners. The civilian queue snaked dozens of meters long, a motley parade of villagers leading plows or carrying local produce. These were farmers coming to market their accumulated goods for survival resources. Caravans and armed escort groups added to the bustling scene.

The Immortal Cultivator line remained sparse. Most entered with a tossed spirit stone, receiving identity tokens from the gate guards that exempted them from the Formation’s checks.

Flanking the road stretched endless fields of spirit crops. Emerald-green spirit fields rolled across the landscape, their verdant expanse stretching as far as the eye could see.

This was the edge of the spirit meridians, where spiritual materials could be cultivated. Numerous spiritual planters were busy in the fields. Chen Luo had never seen this class of workers before. Compared to Pill Refiners and Artificers, spiritual planters occupied a lower social status. They stood slightly above rogue cultivators without established roots, most being dependent on powerful factions to exchange spirit plant cultivation for cultivation resources.

Following the queue, Chen Luo quickly reached the entrance. After paying one spirit stone, he was given a token in exchange.

He noticed the character ‘Xian’ engraved on the token, with complex restrictions embedded within. Despite his efforts, Chen Luo couldn’t decipher them immediately.

“Senior Brother, are you here for the Pill Refiner Convention?” A voice spoke by his ear. Two Qiong Hua Sect disciples were observing him curiously. The Qiong Hua Sect’s identity token still remained on Chen Luo, making him detectable as soon as he entered the city.

“Pill Refiner Convention?”

Chen Luo looked over. The speakers were a young man and woman, both dressed in white robes with Qiong Hua Sect’s standard-issue magic swords on their backs. Their cultivation levels were only at the sixth layer of Qi Refining, clearly indicating they were on their first mountain descent for practical training. Since Chen Luo had concealed his cultivation, they mistook him for a fellow disciple like themselves.

“Medicine King City holds an Alchemist Convention every decade,” the young man explained. “Those who pass the assessment receive an alchemist’s medallion from the city, which our Qiong Hua Sect also recognizes.”

After confirming Chen Luo’s sect affiliation, the two youths approached more closely, enthusiastically showing him around the city.

This place was Medicine King City, a powerful Immortal Sect occupying a Third-Tier Spirit Vein.

Medicine King City maintained neutrality among Immortal Cultivators. Its unique status attracted a large number of alchemists, who in turn drew countless rogue cultivators to the city. This influx of talent further fueled Medicine King City’s prosperity. Many disciples from the Southern Heaven Domain would make a stop here during their mountain descent training.

The reasons were twofold: to gain practical experience and to exchange cultivation resources while expanding their networks. Everyone wanted an alchemist friend to aid their cultivation journey.

“The Alchemist Convention is in three days. Would you like to go together, Senior Brother?” Yu Xiao asked Chen Luo, extending an invitation. As fellow disciples venturing down the mountain for training, Yu Xiao naturally assumed they should support each other - this was the way of Qiong Hua Sect. Those like Peak Lord Pan Shi, who had slaughtered so freely on the Flying Boat, were rogue sect members who only dared such recklessness when their lifespan neared its end. Such people were few and far between.

“No, I plan to explore the city first.”

Through conversations with Yu Xiao and Wan He, Chen Luo had gathered much information about Medicine King City. However, he had no interest in the Alchemist Convention. In his view, such competitions were a waste of time.

He had come to Southern Heaven Domain specifically to seek methods for achieving First-Grade Core Formation. Medicine King City seemed an ideal place for this purpose. He planned to rest and recuperate here, taking time to fully digest his recent experiences.

“I see…”

Yu Xiao’s face filled with regret, and Wan He beside him also looked disappointed. As their first time venturing down the mountain, they both felt a sense of insecurity and wanted to gather more fellow disciples. Chen Luo gave them an enigmatic impression - at first glance, he appeared to be a Qi Refining late-stage senior brother, but upon closer inspection, he seemed to have reached Qi Refining Perfection.

Training with a Senior Brother of such profound strength would surely complete their mission swiftly. Yet, given his own purposes, they couldn’t press for further questions.

After a brief farewell, the trio parted ways.

Chen Luo walked alone through the bustling streets, observing this thriving metropolis. He felt the stark contrast in cultivation atmosphere compared to the Southwest Territory. There, Immortal Cultivators stood as lofty figures above mortal affairs. Even those mortals aligned with them could only conduct business in the mountain foothill marketplaces. But Medicine King City was different.

Here, both mortals and Immortal Cultivators shared equal rights to commerce. Their currency, minted by Medicine King City itself, fueled this prosperity. This “monetary sovereignty” had made the city unprecedentedly vibrant. Every inhabitant contributed to its glory - whether cultivators or merchant caravans, all served as tentacles for the colossal entity that was Medicine King City, gathering resources from across the entire region.

Night descended, yet Medicine King City grew even livelier.

Lanterns blazed to life, their glassy glow spreading across the cityscape.