Battle Through the Heavens: Starting with Cao Ying as an apprentice

This gift is far too heavy! So heavy that Luo Cheng felt the jade bottle burning hot in his palm.

He had only managed to find a seventh-tier magic core that met his requirements by sheer luck; how could he possibly deserve such a generous gift? Overwhelmed with fear and excitement, he hurriedly said, "Mr. Su, this is far too precious. I have only done my humble best; I truly dare not accept such a gift..."

"Take it." Su Baichen's tone remained calm, yet carried an unquestionable air.

"What I give you is yours."

Luo Cheng's words caught in his throat. Seeing Su Baichen's calm yet firm expression, he knew that refusing would only appear pretentious and disrespectful.

He took a deep breath, gripped the jade bottle tightly in his hand, bowed deeply, and said with gratitude and a slight tremor in his voice, "Then... Luo Cheng shamelessly thanks you for your generous gift, sir! This kindness will never be forgotten!"

Su Baichen raised his hand slightly, indicating that he did not need to be so polite, and then changed the subject slightly, as if he were just mentioning a trivial matter: "There is another matter. During my travels in the Northwest Continent, I have managed to integrate some scattered forces by chance."

"My purpose in returning to Zhongzhou this time is to facilitate some resource exchanges with a few old friends and acquaintances, and to share what we have and what we don't have."

He paused, took a sip of tea, and continued, "This passage will inevitably rely on the spatial wormhole. Patriarch Luo controls this wormhole, so we may have to trouble him a bit."

Luo Cheng was an extremely shrewd man, and upon hearing this, he immediately understood.

So the elixir was waiting here! Indeed, there are no generous gifts that fall from the sky.

His mind raced.

Sigh, as expected, these pills aren't so easy to obtain.

But this thought flashed through his mind only briefly, followed by overwhelming joy—to have Mr. Su personally speak up and pave the way with sixth-grade pills, the scale of this "mutual market" and the connections it represents are probably far beyond his imagination!

This is a crisis, but also a once-in-a-century opportunity for the Luo family!

Without hesitation, he cupped his hands and solemnly said, "Sir, you flatter me! It is an honor for the Luo family to serve you! The Luo family and I will cooperate fully to ensure that the passage is unobstructed!"

After expressing his opinion, he finally couldn't suppress his curiosity and caution, and tentatively asked, "I just don't know... who your friends are in Zhongzhou? I'd like to consider how to make contact with them so as not to be impolite and delay your important business."

Su Baichen raised his eyes, his gaze calm as he looked at Luo Cheng, but the two words he uttered exploded in Luo Cheng's ears like thunder:

"Danta".

He remained calm as he added, "I am also a nominal elder of the Danta."

"Dan Tower?!"

Luo Cheng's pupils suddenly contracted, his knuckles, gripping the jade bottle, turned slightly white from the force, and his heart pounded violently in his chest.

[It's actually the Pill Tower! He's even a nominal elder of the Pill Tower!]

The Central Plains forces are renowned for their "One Hall, One Tower, Two Sects, Three Valleys, and Four Pavilions," among which the "One Tower" is none other than the Pill Tower!

That was the holy land of alchemists on the Dou Qi Continent, with deeply entrenched forces, unfathomable depths, and influence that spread throughout the continent.

After repairing his own wormhole, Luo Cheng had always fantasized about making connections with the top powers in Zhongzhou.

Unfortunately, the Luo family was located in a remote corner of the northwest and had limited strength, so they were never noticed by those powerful figures.

But now, the pie has not only fallen from the sky, it's also pure gold!

Mr. Su's meaning was all too clear: he wanted to use the spatial wormhole controlled by the Luo family as a transit hub for trade between the Dan Tower and the forces of the Northwest Continent!

What does this mean? It means endless resource flow, and it means that the Luo family will leap from an ordinary local family to a key node connecting the two major regions, and their status will undergo a dramatic change!

The ancestral graves are emitting auspicious smoke! No, they're practically ablaze!

Overwhelmed by joy, Luo Cheng quickly calmed down.

He bowed deeply again, this time with a more earnest tone, even carrying a hint of loyalty: "Mr. Su, rest assured! As long as the Luo family has a breath left, we will do our utmost to ensure the smooth and stable trade with Danta! The Luo family is willing to do everything in our power for this matter and will never fail your trust!"

He specifically emphasized "as long as the Luo family exists," making his dependence and reliance on them self-evident.

Upon hearing this, Su Baichen glanced at Luo Cheng again, his gaze lingering for a moment on Luo Cheng's excited and determined face, and he understood.

That old fellow is quite shrewd; he's seized the opportunity. But... he's also pragmatic.

He neither agreed nor disagreed, but simply nodded slightly: "That's good then."

Seeing that Su Baichen did not refuse, Luo Cheng felt a great weight lifted from his heart, and his smile widened, feeling that the future was bright.

He didn't notice that when his son Luo Tian heard "Danta" and his father's almost surrender-like statement, a complex and guilty look flashed across his eyes. He quietly lowered his head and just kept fiddling with the rice in his bowl.

Chapter 248 The Treacherous Soul Palace; Luo Tian's Choice

As night deepened, the hustle and bustle within the Luo residence completely subsided, leaving only a few dilapidated lanterns under the eaves swaying gently in the evening breeze, casting flickering shadows.

Su Baichen and his group had already returned to the guest courtyard to rest, but the Luo family father and son were not sleepy at all.

Inside the ancestral hall, the lights were bright and the air was filled with the smoke of incense. Luo Cheng stood alone before the ancestral tablets of his ancestors, his chest still heaving slightly from the excitement of the banquet just now.

He gazed at the silent wooden memorial tablets, his eyes gleaming with an unprecedented fervor.

"Our ancestors are above!"

"The Luo family... the Luo family is finally about to have a chance to soar to the sky! The Pill Tower! That's the Pill Tower! I, Luo Cheng, have finally seized it! Do you see? We no longer have to be confined to this corner of the Northwest, at the mercy of others!"

Luo Cheng muttered to himself, his voice trembling with barely suppressed excitement.

He could almost see the grand scene of the Luo family's caravan shuttling between wormholes, trading with the giants of the Central Plains, and he could see the future of the family's expanding power and bustling business.

He's lived this dream for most of his life, and now it's within reach.

He even envisioned in his mind his son Luo Tian taking the Breakthrough Pill, successfully advancing to the Dou Zong realm, his grandchildren growing up strong, and his family flourishing.

Overwhelmed with emotion, he bowed deeply to the memorial tablet.

Just then, a slightly urgent knocking broke the tranquility of the ancestral hall.

"Thump thump thump—!"

Luo Cheng was suddenly jolted awake from his reverie. He frowned and shouted in a deep voice, "Who?!"

A voice came from outside the door, Luo Tian's son, suppressing some emotion: "Father, it's me."

Luo Tian pushed open the door and entered. His face appeared particularly complex in the flickering candlelight, with a deep worry between his brows, which was completely out of place with the lingering festive atmosphere in the ancestral hall.

Upon seeing this, Luo Cheng felt a sense of foreboding, but he still tried to keep his tone calm: "What's wrong? Why aren't you resting so late? Is something important?"

He tried to find traces of joy in his son's face, but only saw heaviness.

Luo Tian did not answer immediately. He walked to the offering table, took out three incense sticks, lit them with the candlelight, respectfully inserted them into the incense burner, and bowed three times to the ancestral tablets.

After doing all this, he turned around, looked directly at his father, and asked in a hoarse voice, "Father, have you... forgotten something extremely important?"

"what's up?"

Luo Cheng subconsciously asked a question, his mind racing back to the details of the banquet, the pills, the agreement with the Pill Tower... Suddenly, as if a cold lightning bolt struck his mind, the color drained from his face at a visible speed, his pupils dilated, and his lips trembled slightly.

[It's over! The Soul Palace! That matter!]

Seeing his father's face turn deathly pale and his eyes wide with shock, Luo Tian sighed deeply, his sigh filled with helplessness and bitterness: "It seems... you've remembered."

“We… once made a promise to the people of the Soul Palace.”

Luo Tian spoke with great difficulty, each word feeling as if it weighed a ton.

"As soon as Mr. Su reappears near Tianbei City and within the Luo family's sphere of influence, we must immediately send them a message."

"To ensure that we wouldn't dare to disobey, they... they even planted a restriction in Xiao Yao's mind."

When Luo Tian mentioned his daughter's name, his voice was filled with undisguised pain and trembling.

Luo Cheng was struck dumb, standing there stunned. All his ambitions and beautiful plans were shattered by the cruel reality at that moment.

He opened his mouth, but no sound came out. He could only stare intently at the flickering candlelight, as if trying to find a glimmer of hope.

The ancestral hall fell into a deathly silence, with only the faint crackling sound of burning incense sticks.

After a long silence, Luo Chengcai seemed to find his voice again, and asked hoarsely, "Did you... send it out?"

This was less of an inquiry and more of a final confirmation, with a faint glimmer of hope, even he himself didn't believe it, in his tone. He desperately wanted his son to shake his head.

Luo Tian didn't answer, but simply raised his eyes and looked at him with a complex gaze that mixed pain, determination, and calmness. Then, slowly, he nodded.

The last glimmer of hope was extinguished. Luo Cheng felt all his strength drain away, staggered, and grabbed the edge of the offering table beside him.

The icy touch brought him to his senses slightly, but then another, more terrifying thought seized him: "The banquet! During the banquet, did you, as they instructed, put the 'soul-dispersing potion' in the food and drinks?!"

That was another insidious method taught to them by the Soul Palace, which was said to temporarily suppress battle qi and slow down people's reactions.

Luo Tian shook his head, his tone tinged with self-deprecation: "No! Father, Mr. Su has been too good to us. He first showed his kindness in repairing the wormhole, then generously bestowed a sixth-grade pill upon us today, and the Breakthrough Pill was clearly prepared for me."

"And it brings us the Tower of Pills, the path to heaven... Such a generous gesture, if we were to do such a despicable thing again, how would we be any different from beasts? I... I'm afraid that if I did it, my conscience would never be at peace for the rest of my life, and I would be cursed by my ancestors in my midnight dreams!"

Hearing that his son had not drugged him, Luo Cheng's tense nerves relaxed slightly, but a huge sense of crisis immediately surged up like a tide, overwhelming him.

The message has been sent, and the Soul Palace must already be on its way or making preparations.

This is tantamount to them betraying Su Baichen's trust and putting this benefactor, whose strength is unfathomable and whose background is extremely powerful, in danger.

On one side is the threat of the Soul Palace and the deadly restriction in the mind of his granddaughter Xiaoyao; on the other side is Su Baichen's generosity, trust, and the opportunity that will transform the entire family.

Luo Cheng was in a state of utter confusion, as if he were standing on the edge of a bottomless cliff, where he could be smashed to pieces no matter which way he went.

He coveted the bright future Su Baichen brought, yet feared the Soul Palace's immediate retaliation and the pain of losing his granddaughter. Large beads of sweat rolled down his forehead.

“Father, let’s tell Mr. Su the truth…!” Luo Tian suddenly spoke, his voice not loud, but carrying a resolute determination.

"What?!" Luo Cheng looked up abruptly, staring at his son in disbelief.

"Are you crazy?! Telling Mr. Su is tantamount to completely offending the Soul Palace! Xiao Yao... she's your own daughter! That restriction..."

"I know!" Luo Tian interrupted his father, his eyes reddening and his voice choked for a moment, but he quickly suppressed it and became cold and hard.

“That’s why I’m saying this. Even if we conceal it, if Mr. Su is ambushed, given the Soul Hall’s style of doing things, do you think they will let Xiao Yao go? Will they keep their promise to lift the restrictions? Father, don’t you and I know what kind of reputation the Soul Hall has in Zhongzhou, and what kind of shady things they do?”

Luo Cheng was speechless.

The Soul Palace, that colossal entity hidden in the shadows, is infamous like the chilling winds of the underworld, leaving devastation and agonizing cries of souls wherever it goes.

He had heard far too many stories of people who, by cooperating with them, were like asking a tiger for its skin, and were ultimately devoured without a trace.

Expecting them to keep their word? That's wishful thinking.

Seeing his father fall into a painful silence, Luo Tian continued, "Now that the news has been sent, we have made a grave mistake. Confessing to Mr. Su might... might still offer a glimmer of hope."

"Mr. Su's strength is unpredictable, and as an elder of the Pill Tower, he may not be without means to deal with the Soul Palace, and may even... save Xiao Yao."

“Even in the worst-case scenario… at the very last moment, we didn’t completely abandon our conscience. But if we continue to conceal it, we will not only lose Mr. Su’s trust and the Luo family’s chance to rise, but we may also end up losing everything, including Xiao Yao…” He couldn’t finish his sentence.

Luo Cheng stared blankly at his son, the heir whom he had always thought needed more training and was not decisive enough, but now his face showed a determination and clarity that he had never seen before.