Chapter 713: Another Year of Spring

Before he knew it, another spring had arrived.

Chen Mobai opened his eyes on the summit of Mount Danxia, sensing his peak Golden Core sixth-layer cultivation. He couldn't help but exhale. Reaching such a level at the age of 71 was unprecedented.

Although this was primarily due to consuming the Tier 4 Immortal Peach Fruit, factually speaking, he had already surpassed Patriarch Yuanyang, who was widely considered the most talented person in the history of the Immortal Sect.

After resolving the elixir toxins, Chen Mobai felt he could attempt to break through to the seventh layer of the Golden Core next year at this time. Since the spiritual power advancements in both the fifth and sixth layers of the Golden Core were not achieved through his own painstaking cultivation, he knew there was an 80-90% chance the breakthrough would fail. But it didn't matter. The Pure Yang Purple Qi he had accumulated for years was meant for this very moment. Coupled with the assistance of top-grade spirit stones, triggering the breakthrough should pose no problem.

After completing his cultivation, Chen Mobai further honed his other techniques. He took out a piece of gold crystal, effortlessly dissolving it into the purest gold spiritual energy using his Primal Chaos True Qi. He then refined it into the Golden Light of Falling Treasures, enhancing this secret art he had been cultivating for a long time. Chen Mobai had long since cultivated this secret art of the Profound Heaven Dao Palace to the stage of "Falling Treasures." Whenever he had a bit of spare time, he mostly dedicated it to refining the gold crystals. The Artifact Refining stage was simply too tempting.

If he followed his previous progress, Chen Mobai would likely need several more decades to master it. However, now that he had mastered Primal Chaos True Qi, his speed had significantly increased. This was because all Five Elements essences, upon encountering Primal Chaos True Qi, would be broken down into the purest Five Elements spiritual energy, which was much easier for cultivators to absorb. Previously, when Chen Mobai absorbed and refined gold crystals, he had to painstakingly grind and purify them himself. Now, with a surge of Primal Chaos True Qi, it could be done in the blink of an eye. All that remained was to absorb the gold spiritual energy and refine it into the Golden Light of Falling Treasures.

Given his current divine sense realm, he could probably cultivate one streak of Golden Light of Falling Treasures every three or four days. The Artifact Refining stage, however, required 729 streaks of Golden Light of Falling Treasures. Chen Mobai had already cultivated 89 of these previously, so he only needed to condense 640 more. This meant that with just about six years of fragmented time, he could cultivate this secret art to grand accomplishment, granting him the level of a Tier 4 Treasure Appraiser. Since mastering Primal Chaos True Qi, Chen Mobai felt this was its most beneficial application.

However, if his divine sense realm could be further elevated, the speed at which he cultivated the Golden Light of Falling Treasures could be even faster. But while Pure Yang spiritual power could be boosted by Immortal Peach Fruits, there was no equivalent method for divine sense. Originally, according to his estimation, he would have mastered the 'Substantial Nourishment' of the second layer of the 'Phoenix Facing the Sun Diagram' by the time his Pure Yang Scroll reached the Golden Core sixth layer, thereby gaining immunity to all poisons. But now, because the Immortal Peach Fruit had directly cut short nearly twenty years of arduous meditation, the 'Phoenix Facing the Sun Diagram', even with the most favorable conditions like the Jade Green Wutong tree, couldn't keep pace with the Pure Yang Scroll's progress.

Chen Mobai also considered some solutions for this. For instance, he thought of cultivating with Meng Huang'er, something he had tried during the Foundation Establishment realm, using her Profound Sound Marvelous Method to listen to the Sound of the Great Dao and enhance his divine sense. Chen Mobai seized opportunities, either when he traveled to Wangwu Grotto-Heaven for official duties or when Meng Huang'er's performances found a way to pass through Danxia and Yumu cities, to rekindle their past. Unfortunately, his cultivation realm was simply too high. Although their reunion after a long separation was like a new honeymoon, and both physically and mentally they reached unprecedented wonderful states, the boost to Chen Mobai's divine sense was negligible. Instead, it was Meng Huang'er who benefited. Aided by him, a Golden Core True Person, and Chen Mobai's intentional or unintentional guidance with the 'Sound of the Empty Valley' during moments of spiritual resonance, Meng Huang'er was able to hear the Sound of the Great Dao, leading to a deeper comprehension of the Profound Sound Marvelous Method. That particular instance occurred when Chen Mobai was reporting for duty at Wangwu Grotto-Heaven. Having gained immense benefits, Meng Huang'er would subsequently find ways to secretly slip away and meet Chen Mobai whenever her performances took place in the southeastern regions of the Immortal Sect, specifically Danxia City and Yumu City. Fortunately, such opportunities were infrequent, otherwise, Chen Mobai's steadfast will might have been corrupted.

After dual cultivation, Chen Mobai also considered taking elixirs from the Immortal Sect that could enhance divine sense. However, such elixirs were all extremely precious, and those effective for him required waiting for them to be listed in the backend, at most allowing him to reserve one or two pills. If he bought too many, it would certainly attract the attention of relevant individuals within the Immortal Sect. After all, even among the Realm Faction cultivators in the Immortal Sect, using elixirs to advance ordinary cultivation realms was not advocated. Furthermore, Chen Mobai was renowned for his potential to reach the Soul Transformation stage. If it became known that he still needed to take pills to advance his realm, wouldn't that ruin his image?

He also considered taking the Immortal Sect's elixir formulas and having the Five Elements Sect help gather the main and auxiliary ingredients for refining. As for the elixirs useful to him, they were at least Tier 3. With Yan Shaoyin already in seclusion to refine the Spirit Nurturing Pill, Zeng Woyou was the only option. However, Chen Mobai didn't quite trust the skill level of the Head of the Pill Refining Department. He estimated that it would take at least two or three failed attempts to practice before a successful path could be found. And the materials for each batch of Tier 3 elixirs were expensive; even a major sect like the Five Elements Sect would feel the pinch from a single failure. Since these weren't necessities like Foundation Establishment Pills, Chen Mobai felt there was no need to force their production. If he had the time and materials, he would rather invest them in the Five Elements Golden Core Pills. This core-forming spiritual medicine, second only to the Golden Liquid Jade Restoration Pill within the Immortal Sect, was a perfect match for the Five Elements Sect.

However, like the Golden Liquid Jade Restoration Pill, many of its ingredients were simply unavailable in the Sky River Realm, requiring various alternative herbs to be found and tested. Even with Chen Mobai's extensive theoretical knowledge, without a grandmaster alchemist like Yan Shaoyin personally verifying, the chances of success were extremely low. Given Zeng Woyou's skill level, it was likely that even after ten failed batches, he wouldn't necessarily succeed in refining a Five Elements Golden Core Pill using substitute ingredients from the Sky River Realm. It was precisely due to this concern that Chen Mobai only provided the Pill Refining Department with the formula for the Wood Element Golden Core Pill, allowing Zeng Woyou and Yan Jinye to study and comprehend it. After all, their Wood Meridian had the greatest need for this type of elixir. Among the sect's current perfected Foundation Establishment cultivators, Meng Hong, Yin Qingmei, Quan Shanlin, and Yue Zutao all practiced Wood Element cultivation methods. If they could successfully research and substitute the ingredients for this formula, then their Wood Meridian would be able to firmly hold the position as the head of the Five Elements for at least several centuries.

If the elixir method wasn't viable, the only way Chen Mobai could rapidly enhance his divine sense realm was through the Soul Devouring Art. However, he remained very wary of forbidden arts. After all, his future was promising, and if exposed, he would likely become a prisoner of the Immortal Sect. If only it could be like the Underworld Grand Array, completely transformed to ensure no traces of a forbidden art remained after cultivation. Unfortunately, improving the Soul Devouring Art would require even more effort than modifying the Underworld Grand Array. After all, with 'Void Walk' and 'Vacuum Dharmakaya' as reference samples, and his external incarnation formed from the power of the void, cultivating instant movement naturally had an inherent bonus. But for the Soul Devouring Art, there was no such recourse. After all, what Chen Mobai possessed was also incomplete. The difficulty of improving it would be tremendous; he might even have to drink all the remaining Enlightenment Tea that Wenren Xuewei gave him. Chen Mobai decided to put this matter aside for now. He would give it careful consideration once his Pure Yang Scroll broke through to the seventh layer of the Golden Core.

After finishing the refinement of today's gold crystals, Chen Mobai reviewed all the major arts and the Grand Dao of Five Elements stored within his Heavenly Calculation Pearl once more. Of these, the vast majority had already been comprehended by him. Only the 'Heaven-Severing Thread of Longevity Sword Intent', obtained from the Great Dao Tree, remained elusive, showing no progress whatsoever. Chen Mobai didn't dwell on this. After all, for him, even mastering true sword intent now would likely not significantly boost his combat power. With the Extreme Yang Slash, Purple Lightning Sword, coupled with his Primal Chaos True Qi and the Underworld Grand Array, he now confidently felt he could exchange a couple of blows with a Nascent Soul cultivator and then escape.

After a round of cultivation, Chen Mobai looked up at the moon, which had turned the night sky dark, and thought of his family. During the New Year this year, he noticed his parents had aged considerably. Although their limbs remained agile due to their cultivator status, their lifespan limits were approaching. They were quite open-minded about this. After all, with Chen Mobai as their son, the most astonishing genius in the Immortal Sect for a thousand years, their lives had been glorious enough. Their only regret now was probably not having grandchildren. Chen Mobai had no solution for this either; he couldn't just grab a woman, marry her, and have children for this reason. Precisely because of this, Chen Mobai had mostly stayed in Danxia City since last year. Every day after finishing his cultivation on Mount Danxia, he would use a Minor Teleportation Talisman to return home and accompany his parents.

As dusk fell and Chen Mobai was about to end his cultivation and return, he suddenly received a notification from his Faceless Golem in Beiyuan City. This indicated an important matter that required his presence as Sect Master. Chen Mobai frowned, made a call to his parents, then tapped his Tortoise Treasure, and arrived in Beiyuan City.

"Sect Master, these were sent by Junior Brother Jiang and Junior Brother Yue, respectively," E Yun said, handing two newly received jade slips to Chen Mobai, who had emerged from seclusion on the summit of Beiyuan City's highest peak. The latter took them and nodded slightly.

This spring, Jiang Zongheng and his disciple Duan Shuyu once again led the Rock Nation army to war, beginning the final process of unifying the Eastern Barrens. The resistance in Frost Nation was fierce, and with the covert assistance of the Snow Blow Palace, they surprisingly managed to halt the Rock Nation army for a time. Jiang Zongheng could only issue a widespread 'Hero's Summons' and simultaneously send a message to Yue Zutao. Because when Chen Mobai led the four True Persons to break the Water-Fire Grand Array, he had stated that helping unify the Eastern Barrens was a meritorious deed for the Five Elements Sect and should be rewarded with contribution points. That battle against the Water and Fire factions was merely a performance following a script; the four True Persons each received 10,000 contribution points, and the Foundation Establishment cultivators who accompanied them also gained 1,000 contribution points. Now, with the unification of the Eastern Barrens obstructed again, Yue Zutao immediately had the Spiritual Treasure Pavilion list this mission according to the previous rules.