Immortality begins with Becoming an Alchemy Grandmaster

Chapter 931: Chapter 380: The Rise and Fall of the Flame Alliance, The Thundercloud Key

The Yu Ding Realm, located in the central southwest region.

There are two big Immortal Cities, which are Yan Yang Immortal City and Daguang Immortal City.

However, these two Immortal Cities are not the protagonists of this area.

The Flame Alliance is the true overlord of the southwest!

Unlike the other Golden Core Great Sects of the Yu Ding Realm, the Flame Alliance, although it claims to have a heritage, does not have strong internal cohesion.

The reason for this is that the formation of this sect did not come through a legitimate sect inheritance.

It was originally a Rogue Cultivator Group established by a Golden Core Ascendant Master from another realm.

After shining brightly in the Open War four hundred years ago, the prestige of this force grew ever stronger.

Especially within Burning Incense Valley!

That Golden Core Ascendant Master fortuitously discovered a Sourceless Fire—the Prosperity and Decline Mysterious Fire!

With this fire at its core, the force changed its name and became known as the Flame Alliance.

Just as the name suggests, ever since the Flame Alliance took root in the Yu Ding Realm, it has absorbed many Sect Cultivators from Sects who were ruined in the Open War.

Thus, it became an alliance.

The ties that bound them undoubtedly came from the enormous profits from their Tool Casting business and that Prosperity and Decline Fire, which involves changes to lifespan.

It is rumored that if one could refine a strand of this fire in their body, it could increase the lifespan of a Golden Core Ascendant Master by several decades!

Such a heaven-defying act naturally aroused the fervor of countless Golden Core Ascendant Masters troubled by insufficient lifespan.

Even it’s said that the reason why the Flame Alliance, a force similar to a Rogue Cultivator Alliance, was able to establish its own Sect was also related to their use of the Prosperity and Decline Fire to gain favor with the Yu Ding Sword Sect.

Of course.

Among these rumors, no one knows how much is true and how much is false.

At least, the idea that a fire capable of increasing lifespan could be controlled by a Golden Core Great Sect seems like a fantasy.

If it were really that wonderful, it would have been seized by the Sword Sect or even by Nascent Soul Ascendant Sects from other realms a long time ago.

As war broke out.

The Flame Alliance joined with the Sword Sect and began to wage war externally, keeping the whole sect extremely busy.

Unlike the tentative and self-preserving approach of the three allied forces of the Luo Yun Sect.

The atmosphere in the Flame Alliance was filled with fervor!

The wars between cultivators appear different from those of mortal kingdoms, with towering figures and mountains crumbling.

But in reality, there’s not much difference.

It still all comes down to an economic calculation!

And in war, there’s nothing that consumes more resources than Magic Tools, which are relatively low-end weapons.

The Flame Alliance is the number one Tool Casting Great Sect in the Yu Ding Realm!

They have earned an unknown amount of Spirit Stones and resources thanks to this war.

At the very least, the hundreds of Tool Casting Halls in Burning Incense Valley have never ceased their operations.

And the Magic Tools they sell are not even limited to the Sword Sect side.

Their vassals, the following Rogue Cultivators…

Even the Four Sects Alliance of the Luo Yun Sect secretly changed their names and sold low-end Magic Tools in the shadows.

In the eyes of the higher-ups of the Flame Alliance.

The war should be fought this way!

As long as they don’t suffer fundamental damage, they’re willing to keep it up for decades, even a hundred years!

In fact, this is why Duan Feng couldn’t make a go of his Tool Casting business on the Golden Sand Floating Island.

With Flame Alliance on the inside, and Tian Fan City on the outside, Duan Feng, a Tool Casting Crafter who could only forge Ascendant Grade Magic Tools, couldn’t even get a taste of the soup.

Some things, Luo Chen and Duan Feng both thought too simply.

And it’s not just Duan Feng, but also other small forces primarily focused on Tool Casting that didn’t reap much benefit from this war.

Instead, they even lost a significant share of the market.

This economic account has always been calculated by someone.

But deep beneath Burning Incense Valley, there are those who no longer wish to calculate it.

“Elder Di, are you coming out of seclusion?”

In the depths of Burning Incense Valley, shrouded in the strange aroma of fire and incense, a figure sat cross-legged on a stone pillar, looking solemn.

Another person walked in from outside, looked up at Di Wanyun seated on the stone pillar, and asked the question just mentioned.

Di Wanyun lowered his head, his expression so gloomy that it seemed like water might drip from it.

“Master, my son has died!”

These words made the air instantly heavy.

After a long while, the leader of the Flame Alliance slowly said, “Since that is the case, I will not stop you.”

Seeing Di Wanyun stand up, he said indifferently, “But you must realize that you are in a state of decline, and your strength has been greatly reduced. If you encounter an enemy of the same order after you leave, you will be at their mercy.”

Di Wanyun gave a cold laugh, “At worst, I will release the Prosperity and Decline Seal and fight with all I have. As long as there are no Late-Stage Golden Core Cultivators, what should I fear!”

Thinking of Di Wanyun’s fighting methods.

The Alliance Leader nodded in agreement.

Indeed, within The Seven Sects of Yu Ding, as long as he doesn’t encounter the Golden Core Sword Cultivators of the Sword Sect, or Late-Stage Great Cultivators.

With Di Wanyun’s strength, most people truly have no way to handle him.

But still…

“Releasing the Prosperity and Decline Seal will backfire on your lifespan. Given your already scarce lifespan, I’m afraid…”

“What does death matter if I am already living on borrowed time,” Di Wanyun took a deep breath and his eyes swept over the nearly twenty stone pillars standing in the depths of the earth.

Most of these pillars were occupied by cultivators sitting in silent meditation.

If cultivators from the outside world saw this scene, they would hardly believe it.

In the Yu Ding Realm, those holding the most Golden Core Ascendant Masters were the Yu Ding Sword Sect and Pill Valley.

Yet, in the Flame Alliance’s Burning Incense Valley, there were more than a dozen Golden Core Cultivators!

To think that openly, they still had five active Golden Core Cultivators.

Di Wanyun himself had only recently stepped down from public view, with the outside world believing he had grown old and weary of trivial matters.

This force!

It already far exceeded Pill Valley.

Even when compared purely in terms of the number of Golden Core Cultivators, the other Four Sects fall significantly short of the Flame Alliance.

Including the newly Ascendant Sect, Luo Yun Sect!

After scanning his fellow Sect members, Di Wanyun slowly got up.

“With them here, this Prosperity and Decline Big Array doesn’t lack one more Golden Core Cultivator. Alliance Leader, wait for my return after avenging my son!”

The Flame Alliance Leader frowned, “Are you certain you can find your enemy?”

A flash of sorrow appeared in Di Wanyun’s eyes.

Immediately after, his voice hardened.

“How could I not find him, my son sacrificed his divine soul to bestow the Prosperity and Decline Imprint upon the other.”

Hearing this, the Alliance Leader nodded.

With the bloodline technique of the Flame Alliance, the Prosperity and Decline Imprint was applied to one’s body.

If the other party did not quickly escape the Yu Ding Realm, they would be caught by Di Wanyun sooner or later.

“Alright, once you’ve finished your task, come back immediately!”

After saying this, the Alliance Leader’s gaze fell onto the small pit of fire at the bottom of the valley, murmuring, “Without someone to suppress it, once the Prosperity and Decline Fire backlash starts, they will all die.”

Di Wanyun did not waste any more words.

Under the watchful eyes of a few lucid fellow sect members, he struggled to leave the stone pillar.

After stepping down from the stone pillar, he seemed to feel much lighter.

His body flickered with silver-white light, and his figure then vanished without a trace from the bottom of the Burning Incense Valley.

And with his departure,

In the very center of those twenty great stone pillars, a faint flame within the pit trembled slightly, visibly growing in strength.

…

Deep underground,

Luo Chen looked at the massive doors in front of him with a strange look in his eyes.

The doors were simple and unadorned, without any depictions of flowers, birds, insects, or fish, no ancient inscriptions, not even the usual signs of door plaques.

What they had, was only the feeling of vicissitudes of life after being worn by the years.

What they had, were only lines drawn with the power and speed of lightning and thunder.

The two doors fit tightly together, concealing everything behind them.

But such a door, appearing in the most mysterious and dangerous Ninth Mountain of the Accumulated Thunder Ninth Mountain range, spoke volumes.

Luo Chen turned around, swallowed hard, and with a hoarse voice said,

“Brother Wang, have we stumbled upon an ancient Immortal Mansion?”

“That’s likely!”

Wang Yuan also stared at the two doors with fervent eyes.

What an ancient Immortal Mansion could mean, the entire Immortal Cultivation World knew!

It could be that there was nothing remarkable inside, or it could possess the entire inheritance of a high-realm cultivator.

For those of junior realm, a relic could potentially catapult them to prominence overnight.

A more powerful relic could even benefit an entire Sect.

Take the Sky-reaching Secret Realm once controlled by the Yu Ding Sword Sect!

Rumor had it that it was the Immortal Mansion of a Divine Transformation Great Power. Because of it, the Yu Ding Sword Sect changed their fortunes after the Open War, quickly consolidating their core strength over the years.

This relic before them, with its door, was undoubtedly an ancient Immortal Mansion!

“Shall we give it a try?”

After Luo Chen released his Spirit Consciousness and could not sense any danger, he invited Wang Yuan.

The other nodded and stepped forward.

Both placed their palms on the door,

and pushed together with all their might!

With the Body Refinement Stage strength both of them had achieved, their enormous power poured out.

However, the door did not budge.

“It won’t open?” Luo Chen frowned slightly, “Array? Prohibition? Mechanism?”

Wang Yuan hesitated, “Shall we try with spirit power?”

Luo Chen hummed in agreement.

They both mobilized their spirit power, channeling it through their palms.

Yet the door, still did not move.

But!

Crack!

A bolt of lightning suddenly split the sky above and struck down.

Luo Chen was startled and quickly dodged.

Wang Yuan did the same.

To their surprise, the lightning seemed to have no interest in them. Instead, it struck the stone door with a seemingly intelligent purpose.

They looked and saw faint traces of electric light now running across the door.

Luo Chen looked up, seeing the millennium-old thunderclouds above Trapped Sky Valley slowly converging.

His face changed slightly.

“Let’s go!”

Without a second thought, Wang Yuan followed him away from the door.

Once outside, Luo Chen looked up at the clouds with a face of mixed shock and speculation.

After a moment, he exhaled a turbid breath.

“I know what the key is.”

Wang Yuan also looked up at the strange thundercloud, “Is it the Power of Thunder?”

“It should be,” Luo Chen nodded, “It’s even possible that the origin and formation of the Accumulated Thunder Ninth Mountain are related to the Immortal Mansion beneath our feet.”

“So, what do we do now?” Wang Yuan hesitated, his eyes showing a touch of reluctance.

Luo Chen smiled lightly, “Brother Wang, why be so greedy? To keep our lives is worth more than anything. Besides, whether we have the means to attract the Power of Thunder to open the doors of the Immortal Mansion or not, as soon as the doors open, the Golden Core Cultivators on the battlefield are very likely to notice.”

“By then, this is not a place where we would get to taste the spoils.”

Wang Yuan pressed his lips together, reluctantly glancing at the double doors once more.

He had to admit, Luo Chen made sense.

“Let’s leave for now!”

“The Immortal Mansion is here, undiscovered for over a thousand years. Its wonder is evident; it likely won’t disappear.”

“Once we’ve advanced in realm and the war has ended, we can return here quietly to explore.”

“Who knows, there might even be an opportunity for Nascent Soul Transformation God inside.”

Such were their finest hopes.

Wang Yuan no longer objected.

He and Luo Chen then used their techniques to conceal the site.

Not just that, they also filled in the entire exterior of Trapped Sky Valley.

After everything was done,

Luo Chen swept the area, repeatedly applying the Cleaning Technique to ensure the remnants of battle essence were reduced as much as possible.

Finally, the two hurriedly departed.

Peace was restored on the Ninth Mountain,

except for the increasingly dense black thunderclouds accumulating in the Nine Heavens above!