CHAPTER 442: OPPORTUNITY OF REINCARNATION, REFINING THE SWORD FORMATION

In the depths of his consciousness, a mysterious ancient stele loomed from above, with nine frame seals arranged in succession.

The first seal held the image of a talisman-crafting youth; the second, an old man with a white beard at the Core Formation stage; the third, a radiant Lan Chang'an; the fourth, Daoist Lihuo.

The fifth frame seal was now also fully illuminated.

Unlike the four above, the fifth frame contained no human figure.

“The fifth life of the Nine Seal Stele did not absorb a Deity Transformation level spirit body, but rather several fragmented pieces, not a complete divine soul origin. Therefore, it cannot be transformed into a past reincarnation life.”

Lan Chang'an had long understood this from the abstract information fed back by the Nine Seal Stele.

As such, from the Nascent Souls the stele had previously devoured, he only gained their memories, as if reading them as a third party. He could not, like with the fourth life, fulfill the wish of Master Lihuo and directly gain insights and inherit skills.

Even so, a smile still appeared on Lan Chang'an’s face. Because with the illumination of the fifth life on the Nine Seal Stele, a new ability had been “unsealed.”

Among them was an “erasure” function.

This so-called erasure referred to the ability to wipe out one of the lives experienced by the stele and go through a new cycle of reincarnation.

For example, if the first life was only at the Qi Refining stage and deemed too shallow in foundation, a new cycle of reincarnation could be initiated to overwrite and replace it.

Or more directly and crudely, devour a Nascent Soul and transform it into a reincarnation past life.

“The Nine Seal Stele is like nine saved files of lifetimes. As long as one possesses sufficient power of reincarnation, in theory, one can reincarnate endlessly.”

Lan Chang'an realized he had touched the core secret of the Nine Seal Stele.

However, this ability to erase and replace would consume at least the reincarnation foundation of the Deity Transformation fifth-life, and Lan Chang'an was unwilling to pay such a price at present.

Aside from this new ability, the scope of autonomous reincarnation available in the fifth life had expanded dramatically.

“In the first three lives, I was reborn in different regions of the Heaven Honoured Continent in the human realm, never stepping beyond this world. But with the activation of the fifth life, I can now choose to reincarnate beyond this world.”

This vast expansion in the scope of reincarnation was Lan Chang'an’s greatest surprise.

The highest cultivation limit in the Heaven Honoured Continent of the human realm was the Deity Transformation stage, and each emergence of such a cultivator was a miracle of heaven and earth.

This was due to the catastrophic changes in the world's environment after the ancient war, which caused the world’s level to plummet.

Lan Chang'an had already reached the Nascent Soul stage in this life, fulfilling his initial wishes and basic goals. Every advancement from here on would be a bonus.

He believed that once he left Great Qing and traveled to a more prosperous realm, in a few decades, he could hope to become a Nascent Soul Great Cultivator.

However, he had little confidence in breaking through to the Deity Transformation stage in this life.

Such breakthroughs, bound by the shackles of heaven and earth, had little to do with one's talent or effort.

They required immense opportunities and fortune.

Deity Transformation-grade spiritual items, long extinct in the human realm, and the legendary fifth-rank spiritual veins were just the bare minimum requirements.

“Now that the fifth life is activated, there are currently two methods of autonomous reincarnation.”

“The first is direct reincarnation, shedding this life and breaking free from the shackles of Heaven Honoured human realm. One can customize their next life. If reincarnated into a higher realm like the ‘Demonic Peak Realm’ or even the legendary ‘Fallen Immortal Realm,’ where the limits of heaven and earth are higher and resources are richer, the difficulty of advancing to late-stage Nascent Soul or even Deity Transformation would be significantly reduced.”

“The second is to experience a dreamlike alternate cultivation life, like a Yellow Millet Dream¹. Turn the dream-self into a reincarnation life. One can use the power of reincarnation to send dreams, guiding and teaching the ‘other self’ in the dream to grow rapidly. The greater the accomplishments in the dream life, the greater the gains from reincarnation.”

Lan Chang'an had not experienced either method, but had silently simulated them in his mind, each had its own pros and cons.

For direct reincarnation, his current life would end immediately; the third life in the Nine Seal Stele would become the foundation for the next.

But Lan Chang'an’s situation was currently very favorable. Once he digested the gains from slaying True Monarch Cyanwood, his strength would grow tremendously, allowing him to dominate Great Qing.

Not to mention the great fortune of the Xuanmu Vine Gourd. Given enough time, he might obtain the treasure of the “Lesser Xuantian Treasure.”

In such a favorable situation, abandoning everything to embark on an unknown reincarnation would naturally be a loss, not a wise choice.

“If I don’t give this life my all, how will I know what heights I can reach? Besides, the greater my accomplishments in this life, the stronger my foundation for the next.”

Lan Chang'an had already made up his mind.

Unless he reached a dead end or faced a hopeless crisis, he would not initiate a new life through autonomous reincarnation.

For instance, if Yan Donglai who was tied to the thousand-year great tribulation came knocking before advancing to late-stage Nascent Soul, Lan Chang'an believed he would stand no chance against such a legendary cultivator.

Activating the fifth life and gaining control over reincarnation gave Lan Chang'an peace of mind when facing great crises.

As for the second dream-based reincarnation method, its weakness lay in its lack of autonomy and unpredictable benefits; but its advantage was that it didn’t interfere with Lan Chang'an’s current life, both could coexist.

After illuminating the fifth life, Lan Chang'an gained a deeper mastery over the fundamental applications of reincarnation power through the Nine Seal Stele.

For instance, tracing a cultivator’s past life origins or future reincarnations, awakening past-life wisdom, and more.

If he were willing to pay the price, expending large amounts of reincarnation foundation, he could even indirectly influence another’s future reincarnation path.

...

After a long while, Lan Chang'an withdrew his consciousness from the Nine Seal Stele.

He released his Nascent Soul-level spiritual sense to inspect the immortal city where he was in seclusion.

This immortal city was located near the front lines, a key stronghold with major spiritual veins. It was one of the territories of the original Feng Kingdom spat out by the Beast King Valley in their retreat.

Despite their victory, the cultivator army of the Righteous Dao Alliance suffered heavy casualties, not only among the lower ranks, but even many mid-to-high level cultivators, including Nascent Soul true monarchs, were gravely injured in the fierce battle.

The Righteous Dao Alliance needed at least half a year to absorb the vast territory abandoned by the Beast King Valley, stabilize its native cultivation forces, and consolidate control.

Thus, even though signs of chaos had erupted in the Beast King Valley’s rear, prompting their hasty retreat, the Alliance chose not to pursue them in full force.

Among the Nascent Soul true monarchs of the Righteous Dao Alliance, Lan Chang'an’s condition was considered relatively stable.

He knew the true cause behind the internal chaos in the Beast King Valley.

If he relied on the fifth-rank wondrous item, the Black Wind Cloak, he could use the chaos to sneak deep into the Beast King Valley’s territory and gain further benefits.

However, out of caution for the mysterious presence within the Black Fog Mountain Range, Lan Chang'an chose the safer route and avoided unnecessary risks.

Now that the Fifth Life of the Nine Seal Stele had been activated, there was no need for him to continue hunting demonic Nascent Souls.

Within the quiet chamber, Lan Chang'an spread his hands and brought out sixteen Azure Profound Swords, his gaze fervent and filled with anticipation.

Whoosh!

He summoned his natal Nascent Flame, and with his current spiritual sense on par with demonic sect leaders, he began to erase the imprints left by True Monarch Cyanwood within the sword formation.

The sixteen floating Azure Profound Swords around him buzzed and trembled, fiercely resisting. Each was forged from spiritual wood of at least mid-fourth rank.

The core four Azure Profound Swords had materials that barely reached superior-fourth rank!

Lan Chang'an marveled silently, to cultivate such a large-scale, high-quality Azure Profound Sword formation, True Monarch Cyanwood must have paid a tremendous price in resources and lifespan.

Azure Profound Wood was a prized spiritual wood in the cultivation world, ideal for crafting offensive magical treasures, especially rare and precious wood-element flying swords.

Back in the Great Yuan, the royal sword cultivator Yu Yuanjin of the Great Yu Imperial Clan had once offered a Thunder-Dissolving Pearl in exchange for just a section of Azure Profound Wood from Lan Chang'an, a testament to its value.

During the earlier battle, True Monarch Cyanwood’s sword formation suppressed Lan Chang'an’s puppet formation with overwhelming force. Had the battle continued head-on, Lan Chang'an would have eventually lost the upper hand.

Once he refined all sixteen Azure Profound Swords, his offensive capability in direct confrontation would be greatly enhanced, giving him a real edge even against mid-stage Nascent Soul powerhouses.

Though his Barbed Arrow was formidable, it was fundamentally a stealth-based, ambush-type weapon that relied on surprise. In a direct battle, if his target had any precaution, its power would be greatly reduced.

“With my spiritual sense in the state of the fourth life’s descent, I surpass True Monarch Cyanwood considerably. Once the Azure Profound Sword Formation is refined and under my full control, I might unleash even greater lethality.”

Lan Chang'an understood clearly that formations such as this, be they sword or puppet-based, demanded extremely high spiritual sense control.

True Monarch Cyanwood's spiritual sense was comparable to a mid-stage Nascent Soul cultivator, and with the added compatibility of his Wood-element Evergreen Technique, he could command such a formation.

An ordinary early-stage Nascent Soul cultivator would be lucky to unleash half the sword formation's full power.

Among the sixteen Azure Profound Swords, four had just crossed the threshold into superior fourth-rank, allowing Lan Chang'an to glimpse True Monarch Cyanwood’s ambition.

“If all sixteen Azure Profound Swords were superior fourth-rank, once the formation was fully deployed, its power might rival some pseudo-spiritual treasures.”

Lan Chang'an couldn’t help but feel fortunate that Cyanwood hadn’t reached that stage yet.

Perhaps, in Cyanwood’s plans, after killing Lan Chang'an and obtaining more lifespan and rare resources, completing that final step would have been far easier.

...

Half an hour later.

As Lan Chang'an continued refining the Azure Profound Sword Formation, he suddenly sensed a surge of ferocious baleful aura and Nascent Soul pressure sweeping across the sky above the immortal city.

That presence did not belong to any of the Six Demonic Sects, it was Sect Master Liang of the Xuan Yin Sect, part of the Righteous Dao Alliance.

Lan Chang'an casually extended his spiritual sense, a white-haired Liang Shaotian roared with fury, demonic flames rising to the heavens. His deep black eyes were veined with blood.

“Liang Shaotian suffered serious wounds during the Nascent Soul battle, and now before fully healing, he flies into a towering rage, what happened this time?” Lan Chang'an murmured.

Not long after, several agonizing screams rang out from within the stronghold.

A number of demonic remnants were torn apart and burned to ashes by Sect Master Liang’s Black Dipper Demonic Flame.

Still fuming, Liang Shaotian led several Core Formation experts of the Xuan Yin Sect to attack a nearby Core Formation family that had failed to evacuate in time.

That family, a subordinate force of the demonic faction, was ruthlessly massacred by the Xuan Yin Sect, no man, woman, or child survived.

Despite being gravely wounded, Liang Shaotian had lowered his status to personally lead the slaughter.

Eventually, two Nascent Soul cultivators from the Righteous Dao Alliance came to intervene, one of them being Zhang Tianfeng.

Only then did Sect Master Liang’s fury subside, and the killings ceased.

According to Chu Tianfeng’s strategy, when reclaiming territory from the Feng Kingdom, unless a local force was deeply entwined with the Beast King Valley, the Alliance adopted a policy of leniency, inviting them to surrender and join the Alliance.

After all, the Alliance had suffered heavy losses during the cultivation war and was in urgent need of recovery.

Through spiritual sense communication with Zhang Tieshan, Lan Chang'an quickly learned the truth.

It turned out, Liang Shaotian’s first disciple, the late Core Formation cultivator named Li Hai, had perished in the recent war.

Liang, being grievously injured and ordered by Alliance Master Chu not to pursue vengeance, had no outlet for his grief.

Thus, he vented his fury nearby by executing demonic remnants.

The massacred Core Formation family had marital ties to the upper echelons of the Beast King Valley, and thus became the target of retaliation, completely wiped out by the Xuan Yin Sect.

Because Liang had lost his beloved disciple, Chu Tianfeng turned a blind eye and did not pursue the matter.

Lan Chang'an sighed inwardly and chose not to interfere.

In this cultivation war, all the various sects and forces of the Alliance had suffered losses to varying degrees.

Many lost key figures, causing their power to decline.

If not for Lan Chang'an’s protection, even Zhao Tan’er might not have emerged unscathed from the conflict.

Jin Yun Valley had lost two Core Formation experts, several Fake-Dan cultivators, and countless mid- and low-tier disciples.

Fortunately, the war ended in a great victory, and True Monarch Zhang of Jin Yun Valley secured substantial gains during the pursuit phase.

After the war spoils were distributed, all Nascent Soul cultivators of the Alliance would receive abundant resources.

Some wouldn't even need to fight, subordinate factions of the Beast King Valley in the conquered regions would offer tribute and allegiance voluntarily.

Lan Chang'an calmed his thoughts, then looked once more toward the direction of the Beast King Valley, calculating quietly.

“I wonder... how long can the Grand Elder of Beast King Valley hold out...”

...

Ten thousand li away, beyond the territories occupied by the Righteous Dao Alliance.

Amidst a rugged plain, a bottomless crater stretched into the earth.

Suspended mid-air above the pit floated a tall figure, a foreign being with a green-scaled face and the tail of a flood dragon.

His skin shimmered with cyan scales, each ripple emanating an oppressive bloodline aura far surpassing the Nascent Soul mid-stage. For hundreds of li around, all was deathly still.

“To hold me off for a full cup of tea's time, within the Nascent Soul middle stage, that is a rare feat indeed.”

The humanoid flood dragon retracted his clawed, scale-covered arms. His cold, empty gaze fell upon the massive, white, cocoon-like sphere nestled deep at the crater’s base.

Within the cocoon, the aura of the Grand Elder of Beast King Valley was faint to the point of vanishing, detectable only by the gentle, fetal rhythm of a heartbeat.

A flicker of surprise flashed through the flood dragon’s eyes as he pondered the situation.

The Grand Elder had already been wounded when they crossed paths, having suffered injuries and spiritual energy depletion in prior battles. He was not at his peak.

Even so, to withstand him for so long and without fleeing was a testament to the elder’s exceptional nature. Any other cultivator of the same stage would’ve been killed in the first exchange.

In the moment before his physical body was destroyed, the Grand Elder had activated a profound technique tied to his life-bound Heavenly Silkworm, cocooning himself in dense, tenacious spiritual silk.

Within breaths, he had transformed into a cocoon several zhang wide.

Now wrapped within that impenetrable silken sphere, the elder's defense rivaled that of a peak Nascent Soul cultivator.

The flood dragon had already tried, he could do nothing to it in the short term.

And from within the cocoon, a faint aura of life rebirth was now stirring.

“You’ve forced this old man to use my ‘cocoon rebirth,’ a technique I can only unleash once in a century,” came the weak voice from inside, gentle and strangely youthful, no longer the gravelly tone of before.

“Would the esteemed one show mercy, and spare Beast King Valley this time?”

“The Six Sacred Sects are one, should the Valley fall, the other sect leaders will not sit idly by. I’m confident I can endure until the masters of Nether Spring Sect and Unseen Gate arrive.”

The elder’s voice echoed with bitterness. Against an ordinary top-tier mid-stage cultivator, he would’ve traded injuries, then returned fully reborn and at peak strength, which would be a despairing turn for any enemy.

But the flood dragon before him was different. The pressure he exuded rivaled even the Nascent Soul Great Cultivator of the Xuan Sect from back then.

Cornered as he was, the flood dragon had barely expended any effort and was entirely unharmed.

Even if the Grand Elder emerged fully healed, he would likely be struck down all the same.

And if this descendant of a true spirit possessed some bloodline-activated technique specifically countering Nascent Soul cultivators, then his chances of survival were nearly nil.

Thus, not only did the Grand Elder refrain from hatching prematurely, he even deliberately slowed the rebirth process to buy more time.

“You believe stalling me will lift the doom hanging over Beast King Valley?” The flood dragon’s voice turned mocking, his lips curling in a peculiar smile.

The elder’s heart sank.

He had chosen not to flee, instead standing his ground to buy time.

The sect master of Beast King Valley held the Mountains and Rivers Scroll and by joining forces with the demonic Nascent Souls, so long as the final seal remained unbroken, they should’ve held the line.

Whoosh!

The flood dragon’s figure blurred and vanished from the crater.

The Grand Elder, his thoughts racing, shouted after him:

“You may not understand the cultivators of the Evergreen Technique!”

“That Evergreen True Monarch of the Righteous Dao Alliance, he was only at early Nascent Soul, yet suppressed this old man handily, leading to our defeat in the war. If he advances to mid-stage… the threat he poses to the Black Fog Mountain Range may well surpass Beast King Valley itself.”

At those words, the flood dragon halted in mid-air.

With his keen intellect, it was obvious the elder was trying to sow discord.

Even so, the Beast King Valley’s crushing defeat had been beyond his expectations.

And the Grand Elder was no fool, if someone could suppress him despite a stage gap, they were indeed worth noting.

“Evergreen True Monarch… Evergreen…”

The flood dragon murmured, the name stirring a faint memory, as though he'd once heard Xuemei mention it before.

…

Former Yan Kingdom, Beast King Valley Sect Grounds.

The vast mountain valley lay in ruins.

Grand halls and pavilions once towering with majesty now lay crumbled in dust. Rivers were severed, and the cries of beasts and screeches of birds echoed in chaos throughout the shattered valley.

Rumble!

The valley’s fourth-rank grand defensive formation was torn open by relentless assaults from beyond.

Above the valley loomed four monstrous avian kings, Golden Eagle, Luan Sparrow, White Crane, and Three-Legged Crow, each exuding terrifying pressure. They summoned violent hurricanes and waves of infernal fire, sweeping into the mountain gates.

The Three-Legged Crow, strongest among them, radiated a presence that surpassed most mid-stage Nascent Soul cultivators.

Aged Nascent Soul elders, faces filled with despair, led a handful of weary and elderly Core Formation cultivators, desperately using the grand array to mount resistance.

The sect’s guardian sacred beast, ancient and frail, threw itself before the breach, only to be torn to shreds and devoured by the four avian kings like mere prey.

Worse yet, the numerous spirit beasts reared within the valley had lost control. Crazed and disoriented, they wreaked havoc across the sect grounds, turning on disciples and cultivators alike.

Assailed from within and without, there was no way to mount an effective defense.

Before overwhelming power, the screams of the defenders resounded endlessly.

Many of the frenzied beasts and birds, under the lure of some mysterious force, surged toward the valley’s forbidden abyss.

“So the seal really was in that place…”

The four bird kings let out piercing shrieks and dove into the inner sanctum of Beast King Valley, soaring above the corpses of fallen Nascent Soul elders and Core Formation cultivators.

Moments later, several seal pillars within the valley’s forbidden grounds collapsed one by one, smashed by the combined might of the bird kings and the rampaging spirit beasts.

Hrrnnngh! ROAR—!

A soul-shaking roar erupted, as if from the depths of an endless abyss, making every creature in and around the valley shudder in terror.

BOOM—CRACK!

The ground trembled and mountains shook. Torrents of demonic miasma surged upward alongside magma and blazing earthfire.

Amid the smoke and ash, a towering beast emerged, its nostrils spewing black-green mist, chains dragging behind it, slowly crawling forth from the depths of the sealed chasm.

Compared to this sealed beast king, those fourth rank demon kings seen in past demonic wars were as infants.

“What terrifying demonic miasma!”

“This… is no beast of our world!”

The four avian kings, gazing upon the unsealed titan, were struck with dread. The oppressive aura it exuded neared that of the Black Mist King himself.

“Lord Greenface has sent word, we are to withdraw.”

The Three-Legged Crow, now in its humanoid bird form, retracted a strange bamboo flute from its hand.

“Retreat! Now!”

Sensing the beast’s bloodthirsty gaze fixated on them, the four bird kings beat their wings and vanished into the clouds.

The beast king, as tall as a mountain peak, had black-blue skin, horns like an ox, and four pillar-like demonic arms. Its eyes burned with madness and bloodlust.

RUMBLE—

The valley’s halls, beast gardens, and aviaries crumbled into dust.

Those cultivators and beasts who remained were struck with terror and fled in all directions.

Many failed to escape, the black-green mist exhaled from the beast’s nostrils dissolved them into puddles of blood on contact.

Its destructive power defied imagination. With every breath, countless lives perished.

One by one, the grand structures of the sect collapsed. Dust choked the skies. Even the Beast King Hall was on the verge of being razed to the ground.

Finally, several Nascent Soul cultivators from the demonic sects arrived in haste, returning to the shattered sect grounds of Beast King Valley.

“The seal… it’s broken!”

At the forefront, Sect Master Meng’s heart sank. He stared in shock at the ruined mountain gate, newly built but now soaked in blood and wreckage.

Rrroooar—!

The unsealed beast king exhaled its vile mist, a monstrous presence wrapped in demonic fury, its savage eyes locking onto Sect Master Meng and his group.

Though its mind was clearly disoriented, the malice in its gaze showed recognition and hatred.

It remembered.

Sect Master Meng had extracted its blood to cultivate the fourth-rank demon kings.

“The sealed beast king…”

The gathered Nascent Soul cultivators of the demonic faction felt their scalps go numb, a suffocating pressure weighing upon them.

“Hurry! Assist me in resealing this monster!” Meng bellowed, summoning the damaged pseudo-spiritual treasure Mountains and Rivers Scroll.

Yet before he finished speaking, a bestial roar echoed from behind them, panic erupted in their rear ranks.

“Damn beast!”

A familiar demon king aura surged behind them, resonating faintly with the unsealed beast.

“Sect Master! That injured and weakened fourth-rank beast king has betrayed us, it’s turned on our forces!”

At those words, Sect Master Meng nearly blacked out, his body swaying unsteadily.

Truly, misfortune never comes alone.

The Grand Elder’s fate remained unknown, the sect was in ruins, the beast king had broken free, casualties were beyond counting…

An unprecedented catastrophe.

If handled poorly, the fall of Beast King Valley was no longer just a possibility, it was a looming certainty.

¹ The Yellow Millet Dream" (黄粱一梦) is a Chinese idiom derived from a Taoist tale about Lu Dongbin, one of the Eight Immortals. It symbolizes the fleeting nature of worldly ambitions and illusions, as Lu experienced an entire lifetime in a dream while waiting for millet to cook. The story serves as a reminder of the impermanence of material success and the importance of spiritual enlightenment.