Chapter 1204: Mountain Peak

This ice-sealed mausoleum was already akin to a separate dimension.

And the Snow Cloud Peak at its very center was the heart of this world. It resembled a pillar supporting this realm, yet it was perpetually wreathed in persistent clouds, as if a celestial deity sat enthroned upon it, forbidding mortal gaze.

Chen Mobai, however, piloted his Flame Dragon straight upwards.

As he ascended, the exquisitely beautiful ice crystal waterfall seemed to possess sentience, growing enraged by his blasphemous act. Accompanied by bursts of chilling light, an ice crystal dragon, far larger and more terrifying than the Flame Dragon, emerged from the waterfall, roaring as it hurtled towards Chen Mobai.

In response, Chen Mobai waved his sleeve, and another fiery red Flame Dragon soared forth from his Pure Yang Immortal Robe. It collided with the ice crystal dragon mid-air, causing the heavens and earth to shake violently.

However, after the first ice dragon appeared, the waterfall seemed to come alive, birthing a second, then a third...

Rumble!

In an instant, the sky was filled with snow-white ice crystal dragons, brandishing their claws and baring their fangs, charging at Chen Mobai with savage ferocity from all directions.

But Chen Mobai's expression remained impassive. His fifth-grade Pure Yang Immortal Robe was now activated to its fullest, and infused with vast amounts of Pure Yang True Qi, Flame Dragons erupted one after another, forming a defensive array of nine dragons around him.

The original fourth-grade Pure Yang Immortal Robe had array patterns for the Nine Yang Blazing Flame Array. After Chen Mobai advanced it, this defensive array naturally upgraded as well.

It was now the Great Array of Nine Fire Flame Dragons!

Currently, it was only fifth-grade. If the Pure Yang Immortal Robe could ascend to the sixth-grade, then this array would similarly upgrade to the sixth-grade Great Array of Nine Fire Pure Yang Flame Dragons!

At that point, with every movement, the Grand Dao of Fire would encompass him, rendering him impervious to all evil,

And all manner of aberrant forces would be incinerated into nothingness before even reaching him.

Once the nine fiery Flame Dragons formed the great array, even dozens of snow-white ice dragons surging from the ice crystal waterfall could not breach Chen Mobai's defenses, nor could they even make him feel the cold.

Although he remained unaffected, the ice-sealed mausoleum itself began to crack and crumble under the collision of the two Grand Daos of Ice and Fire.

At the foot of the mountain, Han Xingzi, who had just been preparing to flee, felt his body shake violently. Unable to fly, he could only race towards open ground, while simultaneously raising his Lunar Orb above his head to ward off the rocks and snow chunks constantly falling from the sky.

At this moment, Chen Mobai resonated all six pieces of his Pure Yang set, elevating the power of his Pure Yang Immortal Robe by another level. The peak fifth-grade Great Array of Nine Fire Flame Dragons suddenly erupted, unleashing scorching super-high temperatures that melted the dozens of snow-white ice dragons attempting to obstruct his ascent to the mountain peak, causing a torrential downpour to descend upon the realm.

Chen Mobai, however, ascended rapidly, piloting a colossal fiery red dragon formed by the fusion of the nine Flame Dragons. It breached multiple restrictions, evaporated the ice and snow, and as it circled the mountaintop, its intense Flame Dragon's breath tore open the peak, which had been so densely enveloped that it seemed submerged in a sea of mist.

Upon the invisible Snow Cloud Peak, there stood a magnificent ice and snow palace, seemingly carved from a single massive ice crystal. Its surface was as smooth as a mirror, reflecting the pure snow light and the fiery glow of the Flame Dragon.

The entire palace gleamed with diamond-like brilliance, shaped like a dome, with a dazzling ice-blue gem embedded at its apex. This gem emanated powers of moonlight, frigidity, and cold air, enveloping the entire Snow Cloud Peak and the ice-sealed mausoleum.

Chen Mobai's eyes flickered as he peered into the ice and snow palace. It was an ice-blue world, with intricate and mysterious patterns carved into its walls. At its very center lay a rectangular ice coffin, surrounded by kneeling jade sculptures with wolf heads and human bodies, clad in jade armor, as if acting as guardians.

The entire palace was a burial ground.

No wonder it was called the Ice-Sealed Mausoleum!

The ice coffin itself was blank on all sides, but its lid bore an engraved pattern of a blue moon. Near the palace entrance stood an altar with a candelabrum and a single vermilion incense stick.

The slender incense stick was lit at its tip, emitting a familiar, cool fragrance.

It was precisely the "Entering Spirit Incense" that Han Xingzi had mentioned.

As Chen Mobai prepared to observe more closely, he noticed the Tongtian Zhi beginning to issue a warning. Simultaneously, the ice coffin started to tremble violently, its lid cracking open slightly. An immensely terrifying power of the Grand Dao spread outwards, overpowering the entire Snow Cloud Peak.

Han Xingzi, who had only walked a few steps away, suddenly felt the Lunar Orb above his head spiraling out of control. Then, to his shocked and pained dismay, it soared towards the peak of the snowy mountain like a bright moon.

At the same time, the temperature throughout the ice-sealed mausoleum began to plummet drastically. Everything Han Xingzi could see started to freeze, and even the rocks on the mountain walls cracked from the cold.

The power of this Grand Dao of Ice continuously clashed and roared against the Great Array of Nine Fire Flame Dragons surrounding Chen Mobai, causing the very void to twist and freeze.

A few breaths later, the fiery red Flame Dragons, which had been circling the mountaintop, constantly spewing fiery breaths, found their flames extinguished. As a chilling, ice-blue Grand Dao power surged from within the palace, the Flame Dragons themselves began to be squeezed and contract.

Chen Mobai's expression grew solemn. This indicated that the being within the ice coffin had mastered the Grand Dao of Ice to at least the peak of the Soul Transformation stage, possibly even reaching the sixth-grade level.

No wonder the Tongtian Zhi had issued a warning.

Just as Chen Mobai prepared to summon his Primordial Yang Sword, the ice-blue gem at the palace's apex emitted a cold, piercing radiance. The wolf-headed, human-bodied ice sculptures, which had been kneeling around the ice coffin, seemed to come alive, opening their dark green eyes and collectively turning to gaze at him.

Amidst a wave of furious roars, twelve wolf-headed, human-bodied ice sculptures roared, carrying a blizzard with them as they flew out of the palace and charged at Chen Mobai.

Faced with these minor tricks, Chen Mobai's expression remained unchanged. A golden sword light blazed in the air, instantly slicing through all the charging ice sculptures.

With a series of cracking sounds, all the ice sculptures were split in two, their dark green eyes dimming as they fell towards the mountain base.

Just as Chen Mobai thought he had dealt with these noisy guardians, a series of wolf howls suddenly echoed once more.

Then, to his astonishment, the ice sculptures cleaved by the Primordial Yang Sword suddenly glowed with an icy blue light at their cuts, before miraculously rejoining and fusing back together.

This scene struck Chen Mobai as somewhat familiar.

The wolf-headed, human-bodied ice sculptures roared again as they lunged from mid-air, spitting out fierce frost blades. However, a single 'Chengping' strike from the Primordial Yang Sword effortlessly turned them into a scattering of snow fragments.

The first ice sculpture that charged forward was enveloped by Chen Mobai's newly reformed Nine Fire Flame Dragons, melted into water, and finally evaporated into steam.

He had initially thought this would prevent their revival.

But to Chen Mobai's surprise, something unexpected occurred.

The steam, as if time were reversing, transformed back into identical ice sculptures right where they had been.

This sight finally brought a realization to Chen Mobai's face.

He finally understood what that familiar feeling was.

This was the power of permanence of the Pure Yang Grand Dao.

Of course, observing the scene in the ice-sealed mausoleum, he knew this couldn't be the Pure Yang Grand Dao; it could only be the corresponding Pure Yin Grand Dao.

The being buried within the ice coffin must have comprehended the Grand Daos of Ice, Snow, and Pure Yin. Before self-interment in life, they must have used these Daos to forge these guardians, preventing anyone from reaching the mountaintop and disturbing their tranquility within the palace.

If any other Soul Transformation True Monarch encountered such immortal guardians that could revive infinitely, they would indeed be helpless.

But Chen Mobai was different.

Having understood the principle behind the wolf-headed, human-bodied ice sculpture guardians' infinite resurrection, he immediately summoned his Pure Yang Cauldron. Under the pervasive radiance of the Pure Yang Grand Dao, the twelve charging ice sculpture guardians were instantly enveloped.

In an instant, these beings, who could revive even after being dismembered by a sixth-grade Primordial Yang Sword, all began to wail as they ceaselessly disintegrated.

As wisps of cyan-blue light were neutralized and vaporized by the Pure Yang Grand Dao, Chen Mobai once again wielded his Primordial Yang Sword and struck.

A golden flash, followed by cracking sounds, and all the ice sculpture guardians were once again decapitated. This time, however, they could not revive. Their dark green eyes lost all vitality, and they plummeted down the mountain.

At the foot of the mountain.

Due to the violent shaking of the earth, the entire ice-sealed mausoleum began to undergo drastic changes, and the ubiquitous ice spiritual energy became incredibly chaotic. After losing his Lunar Orb, Han Xingzi found every step away from Snow Cloud Peak extremely difficult.

After narrowly dodging a rock falling from the sky, he saw a continuous rain of ice chunks descending from the mountaintop.

Thud! Thud! Thud!

Han Xingzi, agile and nimble-footed, dodged them all. In the process, he caught sight of the falling ice chunks, and his mouth fell open in utter shock.

These wolf god guardians had been strictly warned about by the founding ancestors of the Three Ice Heaven Lineages in their dying words.

Before Han Xingzi, cultivators of the Nascent Soul stage from their three lineages had gone to Snow Cloud Peak, some even worshipping at the ice coffin.

On one occasion, a particular ancestor's worship was deemed insufficiently devout. One of the kneeling wolf god guardians awoke, broke the ancestor's legs, and forced him to kneel before the ice coffin until he bled dry, nearly causing his Nascent Soul to dissipate and perish.

Five other Nascent Soul cultivators had been present at the time, a total of six powerful Nascent Souls joining forces, yet they were helpless against this single wolf god guardian that could revive infinitely.

Since then, any cultivator from the Three Ice Heaven Lineages who reached Snow Cloud Peak entered and worshipped on their knees, in the most devout manner.

And now, Han Xingzi watched as these wolf god guardians were sliced in half and crashed down right before his eyes.

He counted carefully; there were exactly twelve wolf heads.

This signified that the wolf god guardians, whom the Three Ice Heaven Lineages considered absolutely invincible, had all become a thing of the past under the sword of Sect Master Chen of the Five Elements Sect.

Was this the power of the Eastern Continent's foremost Soul Transformation cultivator?!

At this thought, a glimmer of hope suddenly arose in Han Xingzi.

The existence of the ice-sealed mausoleum was both the foundation and the shackles of their Three Ice Heaven Lineages.

If Sect Master Chen of the Five Elements Sect could deal with the ice coffin on Snow Cloud Peak, wouldn't that mean all the resources here would be available for their Three Ice Heaven Lineages to utilize in the future?

Within the Three Ice Heaven Lineages, the Ice Heaven Palace had long been defunct in all but name since the passing of Venerable Bingyun, and now Venerable Luoying of the Snow Mountain Sect had also vanished.

His Shattered Jade Hall could completely unify and integrate the three lineages that had been divided for so long.

Coupled with the ten-thousand-year spiritual herbs from this mausoleum, he might even be able to negotiate with Sect Master Chen to exchange them for the Sage-Attaining True Spirit Pill.

Just as Han Xingzi was envisioning a bright future, a blue moon suddenly rose above Snow Cloud Peak.

Following this, an utterly bone-chilling cold wave, so intense it made him feel frozen stiff and halted his thoughts, spread outwards from the mountaintop.

Han Xingzi struggled to circulate his Lunar Scripture, barely managing to force his Nascent Soul to escape his frozen physical body, relying on his homologous True Qi. But without the protection of his physical body, his Nascent Soul dared not flee. It could only sit atop his head, summoning his innate magical artifact, painstakingly maintaining resistance against the freezing, earth-shattering cold.

Was this the realm of Grandmaster Extreme Yin, who could freeze the void?!

Han Xingzi's mind raced through the sect's ancient texts. As the sole ascended cultivator from the Ice Heaven and Snow Land, Grandmaster Extreme Yin had, during his ascension, frozen each of the nine layers of heavenly tribulation before the assembled Soul Transformation cultivators of the Heavenly River Realm. This feat was recorded by the Impermanence Hall as an unparalleled marvel of their world.

Thinking this, Han Xingzi's Nascent Soul looked up towards the blue moon above Snow Cloud Peak. Then, he witnessed an even more astonishing sight.

Below the blue moon, two fissures suddenly tore open in the void, as if a giant hidden in the sky had opened its eyes, the blue moon serving as the mark on its brow.

Those enormous pupils, like the purest, deepest blue gems, exuded endless apathy and frigidity.

"Who are you, to dare awaken My slumber?!"

The frigid words echoed from within the coffin inside the Snow Cloud Peak palace. Chen Mobai felt a power awakening, one that seemed to surpass even the peak of the Soul Transformation stage.

However, to his relief, although the surrounding void was frozen, it lacked the sense of complete control typically possessed by Void Refinement cultivators.

In other words, his opponent was not yet at the Void Refinement stage.

In that case, a fight was possible.

Upon this thought, Chen Mobai's second Nascent Soul immediately integrated the power of the Pure Yang set into itself, transforming back into a dazzling golden orb.

After revealing its true form, the Pure Yang Orb ascended into the sky, growing ever larger, evolving Grand Ancestor Yuanyang's "Nine Heavens Primordial Yang Violet Apex Form" to its ultimate extent.

A great sun, its edges radiating purple light, appeared within the ice-sealed mausoleum. Bearing a heat that could incinerate all creation, it rose to stand level with the blue moon.

Han Xingzi, observing from below the mountain, saw the blazing great sun and the icy blue moon shining together above Snow Cloud Peak. Two utterly distinct and mutually restraining Grand Dao powers fearlessly began their most direct collision!

Rumble!

In an instant, the sky collapsed, the earth sank, mountains and seas withered, and all living things within the ice-sealed mausoleum fell silent!