An Alchemist's Path to Eternity-Chapter 753: Defiant Howls Defeat (I)

"Fellow Daoist, we need to gather our sect members. We will take our leave first."

"Mhm. We will meet again later."

After exchanging farewells, Jadewater Dragon returned to the battlefield with her companion to gather their sect members. Meanwhile, Luo Chen produced a strand of mana that wrapped around the panting Zeng Yilong, dragging him away, and flew toward the rear.

"Daoist Uncle, where are we going?"

Luo Chen looked toward the sky as he replied, "When experts of that level clash, it shakes heaven and earth. Their destructive power is far beyond what we can estimate, and so is the range of the aftershocks. If we don't want to end up as collateral damage, it's better to retreat further back."

By the time he finished his explanation, Luo Chen had already brought Zeng Yilong to an area where there was almost nobody around. After landing, he took out a formation disc and activated the formation using the simple hand seals taught to him by Min Longyu. Before long, a cluster of earthen-yellow radiance rose, then vanished in an instant. Only then did Luo Chen let out a relieved breath and focus all his attention on the battle unfolding above.

While he was making his preparations, the clash between the two supreme beings had already reached red-hot intensity. Even with Luo Chen's sharp eyesight and powerful divine consciousness, he could not see the battle clearly, as the combatants were a full level above him. Still, the oppressive atmosphere of the confrontation was enough to grasp its general outline.

Luo Chen frowned. "Why does it feel like they are going straight for the throat from the very beginning?"

In their view, the human forces had already secured victory on the main battlefield, and the fight between Sage and Demon Emperor was merely a formality. Both of them were striving toward Divine Transformation, and fighting to the death here was simply not worth it.

If someone argued that Han Zhan fought with all his strength due to the deaths of the Falling Cloud Sect disciples and his need for a cultivation land, such resolve was understandable. But the Wolf Emperor did not need to do the same. With his ability and talent, wherever he went into the vast wild mountain ranges, he would always have a place to stand. Yet now, judging by the ferocity of its attacks, it was clearly determined to kill Han Zhan no matter the cost.

Is he trying to turn the tide alone, kill Han Zhan, and win this Frontier War? But even if he wins this battle, the Howling Moon Mountain Range has already been gravely weakened. The overall trend is lost. The Falling Cloud Sect may retreat this time, but the next upper sect will still be able to take the mountains with ease. Unless Defiant Howl personally stays here and withstands wave after wave of relentless human assaults, there's nothing to be done. And that wouldn't be a wise move, or even a feasible one. So what exactly is he thinking?

***

No one knew what Wolf Emperor Defiant Howl was thinking. In fact, even Han Zhan, who was fighting him, had no idea. He only felt immense pressure.

However, this suited him just fine. It was exactly what he wanted. As he struck, mana surged through his body, and heaven and earth seemed to respond in kind. Strands of wood spirit energy poured toward him.

This was precisely the transformation that occurred after a cultivator advanced to the Nascent Soul Realm. Sages no longer relied solely on personal mana in battle; through the Nascent Soul's spirit pressure, they could draw in and control portions of heaven and earth's spirit energy that shared the same attribute. Using this as a foundation, Sages could construct a battle domain best suited to themselves. The cultivation world referred to this as a Nascent Soul Domain. At this stage, spirit pressure was no longer just oppressive force. It became a concrete ability that could be fully applied in combat.

Naturally, the construction of such a domain was influenced by many factors. Simply put, the more mana a Sage possessed, the more spirit energy of the same attribute they could draw from heaven and earth. At this moment, as Han Zhan's Nascent Soul Domain unfolded, his mana surged as a tide and spirit energy flowed without end. Within his Violet Palace, the Nascent Soul moved freely, as effortlessly as a fish in water.

However, before his domain had even unfolded halfway, it was forcibly pressed back by an extremely sharp and overbearing aura. Not far away, Defiant Howl snorted coldly. "You dare flaunt a Nascent Soul Domain before me? Have you forgotten that your cultivation is weaker than mine?"

He stepped forward and raised both hands.

Whoosh!

A dazzling burst of golden light shot from his mouth. It expanded rapidly as it flew toward Han Zhan. Wherever it passed, the seemingly formidable Nascent Soul Domain proved completely incapable of stopping it.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

The golden light split into countless perfectly round golden blades. At first glance, they bore a strong resemblance to Luo Chen's Heavenly Moon Purple Gold Wheel. However, Luo Chen's flying blades were crescent-shaped, while Defiant Howl's were actually shaped like a full moon. This was the life-bound treasure Defiant Howl had refined by imitating human experts—the World-Shredding Golden Wheel. He had nurtured this enchanted treasure for hundreds of years, and it had accompanied him through his transformation and lightning tribulation. It was only one step away from advancing into a true artifact.

The moment this enchanted treasure appeared, Han Zhan's Nascent Soul Domain collapsed entirely. But Han Zhan did not wait passively for death. With a flick of his hand, five colored sword lights gathered at his side. As the sword light circulated, a sword formation took shape. Its scope was immense, as though it intended to envelop Defiant Howl. However, he was exceptionally vigilant and had long been prepared against this. He retreated calmly while controlling the World-Shredding Golden Wheel to continue attacking Han Zhan.

Defiant Howl revealed a cruel smile. "Without the support of a large spirit vein, the power of your sword formation is greatly reduced. Forget the Five Elements Sword Formation. Even if you deploy that puppet avatar to form the Two Poles Five Elements Sword Formation, you are still no match for me."

Once Han Zhan had occupied a spirit vein and held the advantage of terrain, Defiant Howl had no effective means to deal with him. That was precisely why, after the main battlefield collapsed and the human side believed their victory was assured, he had chosen to strike directly and abandon his terrain advantage. By doing so, he aimed to regain the initiative.

As expected, even after dark light flickered around Han Zhan and the puppets appeared to form the Two Poles Five Elements Grand Formation together with him, they could only barely withstand the endless waves of golden light.

Yet as the battle continued, Defiant Howl gradually sensed that something was amiss. His opponent's sword formation did not seem as weak as expected. Instead, it showed signs of steadily overpowering the World-Shredding Golden Wheel! Noticing this, Defiant Howl frowned and focused his senses to observe what was going on. Before long...

"So that is how it is. As expected of a human cultivator with outstanding aptitude, you actually integrated the heaven and earth spirit energy drawn by your domain into the sword formation. Heh... Pretty impressive. But that is all it amounts to."

Defiant Howl grinned savagely and transformed into a streak of golden light, starting to encircle the outer edge of the sword formation. Suddenly, he struck out with a palm.

BOOM!

The puppet crafted from Pang Renxiong's corpse was hit heavily and immediately became sluggish and stiff.

"Heh, I was right. Your sword formation requires spirit energy of all five elements, but your domain only draws the wood element. With that imbalance, the formation is nothing more than an empty shell."

Amid wild laughter, the golden light moved even faster, leaving afterimages one after the other in the void. Palm strikes whistled through the air every now and again, and every strike severely damaged a puppet. In just a few moments, aside from the Nascent Soul puppet avatar and the wood-attribute sword puppet, the rest were ruined. The sword formation's energy flow slowed, and the sword light it generated lost much of its sharpness.

From thereon, the fight only turned more imbalanced. Defiant Howl drove the World-Shredding Golden Wheel without restraint. It whirled around Han Zhan and launched relentless attacks, as if intent on carving him alive. If not for the Nascent Soul puppet avatar sharing the burden, Han Zhan would likely have been injured within just a few exchanges. Even so, if the situation continued, defeat was only a matter of time.

***

The specific details of the battle in the sky were not very clear to Luo Chen. Still, he could barely discern the overall situation. It was obvious that Han Zhan had fallen into grave danger and was being suppressed by his opponent.

The sword formation is formidable, but like any formation, it requires prior preparation. If you're forced to deploy it under pressure, you can't use it to anywhere near full effect. But still... this is a Sage we're talking about. Is this really all he's got? 𝕗𝗿𝕖𝐞𝐰𝗲𝕓𝐧𝕠𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝐨𝚖

The same doubt arose in the hearts of many. A Sage who dared to launch a Frontier War could not possibly be weak. Was Han Zhan going to just wait passively for defeat?