Chapter 1968: Chapter 725: The Grand Competition of Five Hundred Years, Luo Chen the Protector
"Daoist Friend Luo Chen, you don’t mind if this old man takes advantage of your kindness, do you?"
Fu Chaosheng said with a smiling face, his small eyes gleaming with wisdom, continuously sizing up Luo Chen.
Luo Chen smiled awkwardly, somewhat unexpected.
Back then, Han Zhan had indeed analyzed for him that Fu Chaosheng’s friendliness must have a purpose.
However, he hadn’t expected the other party to be so straightforward, taking advantage of the situation directly, lacking any merchant’s subtle bargaining style.
But since the matter had come to this, Luo Chen couldn’t possibly back out.
"How could I, what are you saying, Daoist Friend? Feel free to speak directly; if it’s within my capabilities, I will certainly assist with all my might!"
What a defined scope of ability!
Fu Chaosheng inwardly cursed, knowing that this Qingyang Demon King he met in a hurry back then was definitely not someone who focused solely on cultivation.
He did not dare boast worldliness, but his human dealings were not inferior in the slightest to these veteran merchants.
With a solemn face, Fu Chaosheng put away his smile and said seriously:
"This matter is not related to me, but concerns my granddaughter. I would like to ask you to protect her for a period of time."
As a bodyguard?
Luo Chen furrowed his brow, "What is your granddaughter’s cultivation level?"
"Equivalent to yours."
"This..." Luo Chen’s expression became more serious, "A realm equivalent to mine, and as a Holy Land disciple, she must have her own skills. Furthermore, you yourself, esteemed as a Tianyuan Dao Sect member, have countless powerful allies within, and as a Commercial Alliance Elder, you have extensive connections throughout the North Sea. Not to mention me, even a Mid-Nascent Soul Stage Cultivator could be mobilized. What kind of situation requires my humble assistance as a newly advanced Nascent Soul Stage Cultivator?"
As he spoke, Luo Chen already started having second thoughts.
Fu Chaosheng sighed deeply and said, "Have you ever heard of the Tianyuan Grand Competition?"
"Sect Grand Competition?" Luo Chen nodded, "Of course, I have heard of it. It is said to occur once every hundred years, with strong figures from the major powers of the Five Continents attending to observe and celebrate the birth of new geniuses in the Tianyuan Dao Sect. Such a prestigious competition is considered top-level even among numerous sect internal contests in the world. However, I am an outsider..."
"Then have you heard of the Mirage Dragon Cave Heaven?"
Luo Chen was baffled.
Fu Chaosheng, as if expecting this, began to describe the origins of the Mirage Dragon Cave Heaven.
In ancient times, Savage Beasts were widespread across the Mountain Sea Realm; they were the true rulers of this world.
At the time, the Human Clan was weak and scattered, subject to the beasts’ whim.
Not until the Five Great Sacred Lands emerged did they launch an ancient battle lasting millennia. One by one, powerful Savage Beasts were either slain, suppressed, or driven into the wilderness.
Inch by inch, the Five Great Sacred Lands carved out the Five Continents, the most prime regions for human cultivation, within the vast Mountain Sea Realm.
The Five Great Sacred Lands, pioneering and overcoming great difficulties, achieved immense merit!
That war was known as the Ancient Human-Demon War. The reason it was not called the Human-Savage War is that, in the middle to late stages, many weaker Savage Beasts switched to the path of Demon Cultivators, accelerating their realm advancement, eventually rebranding themselves as Demons.
Even now, many Demon Beasts in the Mountain Sea Realm can choose during the Fourth Order to transform, either pursue the Demon Cultivation path or shatter the Monster Pill, reverting to ancestral Savage form.
The Black King was the result of such a choice. With no Monster Pill, he could be said to have been forcibly led onto the path of the Savage Beast.
The internal divisions between the Demon Clan and Savage Beasts aside.
In that battle, the Tianyuan Dao Sect paid the greatest price and had the most glorious achievements, subsequently claiming the essence of the Mountain Sea Realm—Zhongzhou!
There, there are no endless Demon Beasts invading from the Eastern Wasteland and North Sea, no poison mist eroding from the South Border. Its resource richness far exceeds the barren West Desert.
And the Mirage Dragon Cave Heaven was one of the outcomes of the ancient battle.
"Mirage Dragon, one of the top Great Desolates. It can swallow clouds and expel fog, transform into the sun, moon, and stars, with an internally formed cave heaven."
"Even after death, its entire cultivation never dissipated, bringing endless troubles to Zhongzhou."
"Our sect’s strong individuals could have removed it, but under the First Generation Sect Master’s forceful persuasion, the Mirage Dragon’s corpse was converted into a secret realm, which is the origin of the Mirage Dragon Cave Heaven."
Fu Chaosheng caught his breath and continued, "The remodeled secret realm produces its own fortuitous opportunities, leveraging the power of the Mirage Dragon to allow Nascent Soul Stage Cultivators to achieve divine fusion with the world and comprehend the true intent of laws."
Luo Chen showed a look of amazement, "Nascent Soul Stage Cultivators achieving divine fusion with the world, aren’t they afraid of being assimilated by the world?"
"Weren’t you just in divine fusion with the world?" Fu Chaosheng countered.
Luo Chen explained, "It was by chance, resonating with the True Fire within me, using the interaction between the True Fire and the world to indirectly touch the truth of the world."
Fu Chaosheng smiled slightly, "Isn’t that quite the coincidence? The power of the Mirage Dragon bears a striking similarity to your Original Source True Fire. Moreover, the Mirage Dragon excels in illusion techniques, capable of creating deceptively real circumstances, allowing cultivators to comprehend the true intent of laws inside while, due to the cave heaven formed within the Mirage Dragon, maintaining a layer of separation with the outer world’s heavens and earth, thereby minimizing the risk of cultivators getting assimilated."
Luo Chen opened his mouth, momentarily at a loss for how to respond.
After absorbing the Minghuo within Elder Minghuo, the Prosperity and Decline True Fire underwent a transformation between life and death, which inadvertently led him into a state of sudden enlightenment.
Unexpectedly, this method had already been "standardized" within the Tianyuan Dao Sect.
It even seemed like that the Mirage Dragon Cave Heaven was possibly designed for more than one person, indicating an expansion.
Seeing Luo Chen’s shock, Fu Chaosheng shook his head and continued: