Chapter 1397: Sixth Rank Earth True Locust

Standing on the sea of sand, Chen Mobai should have been able to clearly perceive all conditions deep within the earth, thanks to the operation of the Earth Spirit. However, a strange Dao power blocked his perception, making it feel like he was looking into murky mud. This indicated a power of at least the sixth tier.

This meant that deep within the earth at the heart of this boundless sand sea, there was either a living sixth-tier creature or a powerful restriction left behind by one. Either scenario presented a hidden danger for the Five Elements Sect, which was destined to govern this region in the future. Since Chen Mobai had arrived, he was determined to resolve the issue completely.

As he pondered this, the yellow sand beneath his feet suddenly began to writhe as if alive. Chen Mobai's gaze sharpened. The Immortal Light from the Myriad Things Fortune Cauldron in his palm surged, instantly unleashing the artifact's full power in his hands. Although this was Zhuo Ming's natal artifact, Chen Mobai had also contributed to its refinement. Coupled with the profound mysteries of the Can Tong Qi, the spirit of the Fortune Cauldron even harbored the illusion that the grand master before it was its true owner.

As the Fortune Immortal Light spewed forth from the cauldron's mouth, radiating outwards from Chen Mobai's position to cover the vast yellow sand in all directions, an impending earthquake was thus suppressed and quelled. While the earthquake vanished, the boundless sea of sand split open, revealing a bottomless grand canyon.

Chen Mobai's divine sense surged along the fissure, delving into the earth's deepest reaches. He quickly spotted dense swarms of earth spirit locusts. Upon sensing his living presence, they shrieked and charged out fearlessly, baring sharp teeth, swarming to bite him.

"So, this is the nest of these insects," he muttered. Chen Mobai clicked his tongue at the sight, but he had already sensed that the sixth-tier power, which had previously blocked his divine sense, was alive. It seemed to have been startled awake by him; its aura, previously dormant, now became active, and a nauseating stench even wafted towards him. Chen Mobai's Earth Spirit Sense detected that the earth's spirituality within the boundless sand sea began to feel fear and dread after this creature awakened. Evidently, this sixth-tier creature deep within the earth was responsible for turning the area into a desert.

A resounding chime echoed. The sky above Chen Mobai's head opened, and the jade-white Primordial Bell, carrying the immense Dao power to suppress all creation, slowly descended. With every inch the Primordial Bell descended, thousands of earth spirit locusts flying up from the fissure would instantly freeze, then, upon collision with the locusts behind them, dissipate into dark yellow dust. In a blink, tens of millions of locusts had disintegrated into dust under the Primordial Bell's ripples.

Yet, with each deceased locust, a faint, earthy yellow light, like that of a firefly, emerged. These lights, like moths to a flame, continuously surged towards the Myriad Things Fortune Cauldron in Chen Mobai's palm, where they were absorbed and refined by the artifact. Gradually, a locust pattern began to form from nothing on the side of the otherwise earthy yellow cauldron.

At this point, Chen Mobai, who was deeply attuned to the cauldron, also understood the two paths it could take to advance to a higher tier. One path was to collect the essence blood or Dao resonance of all earth-element true spirits in the world, thereby becoming the master of the Earth Dao. If Zhuo Ming were to merge with the Earth Dao, the cauldron would then become a seventh-tier Acquired Dao-attaining treasure. The second path involved accumulating continuous fortune and virtue, entrusting itself to the Dao of Fortune, much like the Qianqiu Yuanyang Ruler.

However, the first path was already impassable. This was because the Dao of Earth already had a master in the Tianhe Realm. Among the Dragon Clan in the Lingkong Immortal Realm, in addition to the seventh-tier Kangjin Dragon, there was also a seventh-tier Yellow Dragon. It was precisely for this reason that, after learning about the young Yellow Dragoness, the old Flood Dragon had desired to "graze on tender grass" (a metaphor for an older person pursuing a much younger one), recognizing her as the bloodline of a seventh-tier indestructible true spirit. Marrying her would even elevate the status of their Xuanjiao clan. The Heavenly Venerable likely knew this, which is why the subsequent chapters of the Yellow Emperor's Vast Virtue Sutra, which he left behind, transformed the original natal artifact, the Myriad Things Vast Virtue Cauldron, into the Fortune Cauldron. Nevertheless, even if the earth-element path couldn't lead to the highest tiers, reaching the sixth tier was still entirely feasible.

As Chen Mobai pondered this, he noticed the sudden decrease in locusts emerging from the fissure. Without hesitation, he positioned the Primordial Bell above his head, cradled the Fortune Cauldron in his hand, and descended into the abyss. As he descended, hundreds of millions of earth spirit locusts within the surrounding sand and rock scattered into terrified dust. Only their purest earth-element essence transformed into specks of light, flying like a galaxy towards the Fortune Cauldron's mouth.

Soon, after annihilating countless earth spirit locusts, the air around Chen Mobai grew quieter as he reached the fissure's deepest point. His expression then turned cold. He saw several bodies gnawed clean, reduced to mere piles of white bones. It was clear these were recent remains. One skeleton faintly shimmered with a pale blue, watery glow, indicating that its water-element cultivation technique had been refined to the marrow, reaching its peak. These were the Water Virtue Mountain Lord of the Five Elements Sect and the geomancers he led, who had come to investigate the earthquake.

"How dare you kill my sect's cultivators? You shall all descend to accompany them in death," Chen Mobai roared. With Chen Mobai's furious roar, the Primordial Bell unleashed its most piercing chime, and five-colored ripples instantly permeated every part of the fissure. Under the invisible sound waves, all locusts, regardless of their hiding place or whether they were fourth or fifth-tier, were annihilated into the purest earth-element essence, unless protected by sixth-tier power.

After annihilating countless locusts, the Primordial Bell's five-colored ripples finally encountered an obstruction at the very end of the earth. Chen Mobai felt a thick barrier blocking the bell's chime. He snorted coldly and instantly teleported there.

A vast, ancient palace appeared before Chen Mobai, its grand doors tightly shut. Around the entrance were several ash piles, resembling small mounds. A glance told Chen Mobai these were the last traces of fourth and fifth-tier Locust Mothers. Each of these creatures could once devastate the Eastern Barrens, but now, he only needed to ring his bell to reduce them to dust from afar.

Chen Mobai did not pause, moving directly to the palace's grand doors. With a sweep of his sleeve, he pushed. The sixth-tier earth-element true force encircling the grand doors fiercely resisted, erupting into terrifying dark yellow electrical surges. Yet, it proved no match for the Primordial Bell's immense power, shattering into countless pieces along with the doors amidst crackling sounds.

A sharp shriek suddenly pierced the air. A massive shadow, shrouded in a yellow cloud like a dark yellow ball of lightning, surged from the depths of the grand hall, howling as it lunged at Chen Mobai. A deep bell chime resonated. Chen Mobai didn't even raise an eyelid as the lightning ball before him shattered under the Primordial Bell's ripples, revealing a colossal insect body within. The hundred-zhang long insect body was shrouded in murky yellow mist. As its four transparent wing membranes flapped, faint Earth Dao patterns faintly appeared. The aura emanating from its entire being was no less formidable than that of a late-stage Soul Transformation cultivator. Nevertheless, confronted by the Primordial Bell's ripples, this fifth-tier Locust Mother still shattered uncontrollably. As the earth-element essence within its body began to expand uncontrollably, it burst with a *peng* sound, transforming into scattered chunks of flesh that splattered every corner of the grand hall.

Chen Mobai continued to use the Fortune Cauldron to absorb all the dispersed earth-element essence, but he pocketed a dark yellow inner core. This item would be of great use to Qing Nü. He also remembered to collect the essence blood, using the Fortune Cauldron for that as well. Chen Mobai had acted a bit too forcefully in his anger after seeing the bodies of Water Virtue and his companions. Otherwise, if he had captured the fourth and fifth-tier Locust Mothers, their prolific breeding rate would have quickly provided the Five Elements Sect with an endless supply of medicinal materials.

*Creeaaak!* Just then, a dull metallic scraping sound echoed. Chen Mobai looked up and saw a black-golden coffin in the very center of the grand hall. The sound came from the shifting coffin lid. Chen Mobai frowned slightly. Although the Tongtian Zhi had not given a warning, he preferred not to step onto the opponent's territory. He simply activated the Primordial Bell once more. With another resonant chime, this underground palace, protected by sixth-tier power, developed cracks under the five-colored ripples. Eventually, with a thunderous roar, it completely collapsed and vanished.

With the palace gone, Chen Mobai stood face-to-face with the coffin. *Thump!* The coffin lid burst open. A foul, bloody stench, accompanied by an aura of death and incredibly potent earth-element Dao true force, erupted like an overwhelming tide, pressing down on Chen Mobai.

*Clang! Clang! Clang!* The Primordial Bell chimed three times in quick succession, emitting three continuous layers of five-colored ripples that barely managed to withstand the assault from within the coffin. Chen Mobai's expression grew slightly grim. This exchange revealed that the creature awakening from the coffin was not an ordinary Void Refinement cultivator, but one at the peak of the Void Refinement stage. Had he not arrived, the righteous forces of the Eastern Continent might have only been able to pray for the Ascension Light to take it away.

Just then, a buzzing of flapping wings emanated from within the coffin. Soon, the full form of the creature within the coffin appeared before Chen Mobai. It was a humanoid creature with two arms and two legs, its body covered in a carapace of innate Wutu crystals. On its back were six wings, thin as cicada wings, adorned with golden lines that outlined earth-element Dao patterns. These wings flapped, lifting it into the air. Two antennae on its head resembled dark yellow lightning, and a pair of protruding compound eyes gleamed with crimson light as it stared at Chen Mobai.

"A sixth-tier Wutu True Locust!" Chen Mobai murmured. He couldn't help but nod, realizing why there were so many earth spirit locusts here — it was an ancestral tomb.

"Who are you? Why have you slaughtered my kin?" the Wutu True Locust demanded. The Wutu True Locust, possessing extraordinary intelligence, glanced at the Primordial Bell above Chen Mobai's head. It did not immediately attack, but instead posed a question.

"Those corpses outside belong to my Five Elements Sect disciples. Your kin killed my people, so I killed them, and I will kill you too," Chen Mobai stated impassively, pointing at the bones of Water Virtue and the others.

"There's a bit of a misunderstanding here," the Wutu True Locust replied. "I ate one of them myself. I had just woken up and was incredibly hungry. My apologies." With that single statement, the Wutu True Locust understood that only one of them would survive this day. It no longer held back.

Chen Mobai's face turned even colder. "Then you may die now." But before he could finish speaking, the Wutu True Locust flapped its wings, seizing control of all sand particles within a ten-thousand-li radius. It transformed them into a boundless prison, condensing the area around Chen Mobai into a massive, dense pillar of glazed earth. This was an innate divine ability within the Wutu True Locust's bloodline. In ancient times, several powerful sixth-tier true spirits on the Eastern Continent had been sealed within this glazed material, their Dao essence absorbed over long ages until they became mere white bones in the yellow sand. The Wutu True Locust had already been employing this divine ability while still inside the coffin.

"Indeed, still too young," a hoarse rasp escaped the insect's abdomen. "After I consume you, I should just about recover half of my strength." The Wutu True Locust opened its mouth, and as its mandibles parted, it sprayed dark yellow mist that seeped into the massive glazed pillar before it.

Just as it prepared to feast on this excellent blood meal, the void behind it suddenly warped. Then, Chen Mobai stepped out, completely unharmed, and slammed the Primordial Bell down with great force! *CLANG!* The two antennae on the Wutu True Locust's head were instantly severed. Its upper body was smashed into the earth by the Primordial Bell, while its lower half remained suspended in mid-air.

After smashing the grotesque insect in half, Chen Mobai unhesitatingly waved his hand, casting a Dharma Realm. He brought the severed half of the body into it, then sent in the Fortune Cauldron as well, using the Dharma Realm's power to empower the cauldron and aid its refinement. This entire process took but a blink of an eye.

But with a thunderous roar, that part of the earth flipped over. Using this divine ability, the Wutu True Locust's upper body broke free from beneath the Primordial Bell, and it stared at Chen Mobai with wide, disbelieving eyes.

"Who exactly are you? A mere early-stage Void Refinement cultivator, yet you possess such a powerful magic treasure! And how could you escape my seal? It's supposed to block *any* void spell!" it shrieked. Based on the Wutu True Locust's ancient combat experience, everything about Chen Mobai now utterly defied its understanding. As it spoke, the Wutu True Locust also realized it could not retrieve its severed half. Left with no choice, it expended its essence to perform flesh and blood regeneration, regrowing its missing lower body.

"The reason you could seal other Void Refinement cultivators is merely because they only grasped the superficial aspects of the void. But I… I *am* the void!" Chen Mobai declared. As Chen Mobai spoke, he glanced up at the sky. Although he had effortlessly broken free from the Wutu True Locust's seal using his Vacuum Dharma Body, he had also inevitably revealed his Void Refinement cultivation. Two ascension lights were already descending towards them, one after another. Clearly, the Wutu True Locust was oblivious to this.

Chen Mobai suddenly had a feeling he had been tricked. While he could use his Dharma Realm to evade ascension once more, Chen Mobai himself intended to go to the Lingkong Immortal Realm anyway.