Chapter 737: Yuan Zhen Arrives, Nascent Soul Lowers Head

The severe damage to her Vital Flying Sword, which was almost broken, caused True Lord Ice Cloud's divine sense to experience an intense pain she had not felt in over a hundred years. This long-unfelt pain completely unleashed her survival instincts, honed through centuries of cultivation.

An iridescent, jade-white sphere appeared in her palm, then, in an instant, erupted with a dazzling, crystal-clear cold light. Sensing the immense power of this ice-thunder sphere, Chen Mobai, whose Primal Chaos True Qi was depleted, could only throw out a Spirit Leaf Talisman given by Zhou Shengqing. At the same time, he controlled the Purple Lightning Sword, which unleashed its full power, to continue its rapid slash, hoping to seize this opportunity to strike down True Lord Ice Cloud, a Nascent Soul cultivator from the Eastern Lands, in the Barren Remains.

However, a snowflake suddenly appeared in mid-air, blocking the Purple Lightning Sword. The snowflake, cold white in color, shimmered with pure frost light, seemingly possessing the power to freeze space. The originally unstoppable Purple Lightning Sword was suddenly frozen just before True Lord Ice Cloud's neck.

Then, the power of the ice-thunder sphere erupted to its extreme, but without a single sound, like a silent cold tide spreading in all directions, forcing back Zhou Shengqing, who was attempting to surround and attack. Under the impact of the cold tide, the Spirit Leaf Talisman in front of Chen Mobai continuously dimmed, on the verge of completely shattering and disappearing.

A golden tempest flew down, protecting Chen Mobai's external avatar within its embrace.

"Thank you, Senior Brother, for your assistance."

If this external avatar were to be lost, Chen Mobai estimated it would take him one or two decades to re-condense it, even with sufficient resources.

"What a pity, True Lord Ice Cloud escaped."

Zhou Shengqing shook his head, controlling the Golden Tempest Pearl to protect himself and Chen Mobai, blocking the continuously surging cold tide.

Chen Mobai, telepathically connected with the Purple Lightning Sword, also saw through the sword's perspective how True Lord Ice Cloud, after using the snowflake-like spirit talisman to freeze space, retrieved her almost-broken Vital Flying Sword, transformed her form into a snow-white escape light, and rapidly vanished from her original spot.

"Nascent Soul cultivators are truly hard to kill!" Chen Mobai sighed. However, even if True Lord Ice Cloud hadn't escaped, he would have had no further means to deal with her. At most, Zhou Shengqing could have blocked her for a while using the Golden Tempest Pearl.

At this moment, as the cold tide erupted to its extreme, dark clouds gathered and thunder rolled in the sky above. It seemed the extremely cold environment here had triggered a celestial phenomenon!

After bursts of thunder, Chen Mobai and his companions finally endured the ice-thunder cold tide unleashed by True Lord Ice Cloud before she left. Looking around, the Barren Remains, once a place of green mountains and clear waters, was now a vast expanse of white, everything frozen and covered in vast white frost and snow.

Seeing this, Chen Mobai couldn't help but sigh in admiration, realizing how truly formidable the Primal Chaos True Qi was. When he possessed Primal Chaos True Qi, he could ignore these effects. Even True Lord Ice Cloud's most proficient ice-attribute grand techniques had no effect on him, forcing her to fight only with the purest form of her flying sword. But without the Primal Chaos True Qi, this cold tide unleashed by the ice-thunder had nearly frozen his external avatar.

Zhou Shengqing retrieved the Golden Tempest Pearl. In this encounter with True Lord Ice Cloud, he had also expended a great deal, having been almost entirely on the defensive. If not for Chen Mobai's timely support, he would likely be retreating by now.

The two arrived at the spot where True Lord Ice Cloud had vanished. The Purple Lightning Sword was frozen in mid-air, with a layer of frost appearing on its blade surface.

"What she just used," Zhou Shengqing mused, "should be the Ice Palace's Frost Flower Talisman. It is said that once activated, it can freeze a section of space and cannot be broken by anything less than a fifth-tier power." Zhou Shengqing recalled the recent scene and couldn't help but speak. The Ice Palace's predecessor was also a holy land; although it has now scattered and dispersed, some valuable artifacts must have remained. This Frost Flower Talisman is one of them. It is a top-tier fourth-grade talisman, combining both offense and defense. If a cultivator is struck by it, they are instantly frozen, leaving them completely at the mercy of their opponent.

Chen Mobai immediately summoned the Purple Lightning Sword's sword spirit, and the latter gave a trembling response: "Master, I'm a bit cold." Hearing this, Chen Mobai felt a pang of heartache; it was the first time he had seen the sword in such a state since acquiring it. He immediately offered ten high-grade spirit stones as compensation.

As soon as the spirit stones were placed on the sword blade, they instantly transformed into wisps of pure, luminous light, like fine mist, continuously absorbed by the Purple Lightning Sword. Approximately fifteen minutes later, the Frost Flower Talisman's effect began to fade. The layer of frost on the sword blade's surface also slowly melted, turning into drops of clear water that dripped from the sword tip. Yet, when a single drop of water fell onto the ground, it instantly transformed into an ice pillar shooting skyward. It was easy to imagine how terrifying the ice spirit energy from that Frost Flower Talisman was, which the Purple Lightning Sword had just directly withstood!

With a touch of heartache, Chen Mobai covered the Purple Lightning Sword with high-grade spirit stones, then retrieved it into his storage bag, allowing it to slowly recover.

True Lord Ice Cloud, having received this lesson, would certainly not appear so recklessly again. Furthermore, the cracking of her Vital Flying Sword would severely deplete her vitality and even damage her foundation. Based on Chen Mobai's understanding of cultivators in the Heavenly River Realm, True Lord Ice Cloud should not reappear before her injuries healed. It was even possible she would directly change direction and return to the Ice Palace in the Eastern Lands to recuperate.

However, there was also the possibility that True Lord Ice Cloud, being petty, might secretly hide herself and try to cause trouble for the Five Elements Sect. With her Nascent Soul cultivation, even now, severely depleted, she was still powerful enough to roam freely across the Eastern Barrens. So after Chen Mobai and Zhou Shengqing discussed it, the latter decided to remain in the Barren Remains to see if he could find the injured True Lord Ice Cloud. Chen Mobai, meanwhile, would return to continue leading the cultivators of the Five Elements' Five Branches to guard the entrance to the Barren Remains. Once True Lord Ice Cloud was discovered, activating the Five Elements Dao Soldiers could also hold her off for a period.

However, this method was not foolproof. After all, the so-called Barren Remains entrance was only for ordinary cultivators, as this path was the most frequently used and developed by cultivators from the Eastern Barrens and Eastern Yi, and powerful demon beasts had long since been cleared away. For Nascent Soul cultivators, any part of the Barren Remains bordering the Eastern Barrens was like flat ground. However, those areas also had third-tier demon beast tribes. If True Lord Ice Cloud intended to force her way through, she would definitely cause a commotion. At that time, they would be able to sense it immediately. Whether to continue fighting or avoid battle, they would be able to decide based on the situation.

After the discussion, Chen Mobai's external avatar transformed into a streak of light and headed towards the camp of the Five Elements Grand Army.

"Junior Brother, I sensed intense fluctuations of heaven and earth spiritual energy. Did you engage with that fellow?" In the camp, Mo Douguang, the most highly cultivated, flew in mid-air. Seeing the external avatar return and merge back into Chen Mobai's main body, he couldn't help but ask.

"Yes, after a tough battle, I cracked her Vital Flying Sword and temporarily forced her to retreat." Chen Mobai spoke honestly; True Lord Ice Cloud was the strongest opponent he had encountered since he began cultivating. Although the previous Bloom Palace Master was also of Nascent Soul essence, her cultivation realm was still at the Golden Core stage.

Hearing his words, the various Golden Core cultivators of the Five Elements Sect who had flown over to surround him all gasped sharply. That was a Nascent Soul cultivator! And she was defeated?! Yin Qingmei, who had just formed her Golden Core, was even more dazzled and spellbound upon hearing this news. "Is this Godfather's true strength?!"

Mo Douguang and the others knew that Zhou Shengqing was also present, but even so, they were still extremely shocked by Chen Mobai's battle achievement. "The enemy might not give up," Chen Mobai said. "I ask everyone to continue assisting me in the future." Chen Mobai roughly explained the battle situation: True Lord Ice Cloud's injuries were not light, and it would be best for them if she retreated, acknowledging the difficulty. But they couldn't gamble on that; they could only assume True Lord Ice Cloud would not give up. After all, the Eastern Barrens was already the territory of their Five Elements Sect. If a Nascent Soul cultivator invaded and wreaked havoc freely, it would definitely shake their foundation. Especially since Chen Mobai had just received the "Crown of Heaven and Earth's Beings" bestowed by the living beings of the Eastern Barrens. He now regarded the Eastern Barrens as his home and would not allow anyone to enter and cause destruction.

Hearing Chen Mobai's words, Mo Douguang and the others also nodded. It was also at this moment that a thought suddenly surfaced in Sheng Zhaoxi's mind! This Junior Brother, the sect master, might truly be able to form a Nascent Soul!

Under Chen Mobai's lead, everyone flew down. Many Qi Cultivators had pale faces, holding spirit stones, recovering the spiritual power they had just expended by activating the Five Elements Dao Soldiers. Foundation Establishment cultivators, especially those with weaker cultivation, were in a similar state. In fact, Mo Douguang and the others also consumed a considerable amount; but as Golden Core cultivators, even if sixty to seventy percent of their spiritual power was similarly drained, what remained was still enough to completely overpower Foundation Establishment cultivators, so it wasn't apparent from their appearance.

It seems, ideally, five square formations of ten thousand cultivators would be needed to truly unleash the full power of the Five Elements Dao Soldiers. Chen Mobai thought to himself; however, achieving this was still a long and arduous journey. The entire Five Elements' Five Branches combined had fewer than twenty thousand cultivators. He only hoped that after dealing with True Lord Ice Cloud's matter, they could slowly develop the entire human race in the Eastern Barrens, using the spirit rice already widely planted across the Eastern Barrens plateau to cultivate a better next generation.

Thinking this, Chen Mobai also began holding spirit stones, closing his eyes to recover his essence, qi, and spirit. Although in this encounter with True Lord Ice Cloud, he had absorbed the Five Elements Dao Soldiers into his external avatar, his own power was also a crucial part, especially the intense consumption of his divine sense. However, wielding the power of a Nascent Soul this time also brought him tremendous benefits. Although he could not yet directly comprehend the mysteries of the Nascent Soul realm, at least he had gained some intuitive understanding and experience of its power. Next, he only needed to slowly transform this experience into enlightenment, which would be very beneficial for his future Nascent Soul formation.

Seven days quickly passed. True Lord Ice Cloud was even more cautious than Chen Mobai had anticipated, remaining hidden all this time. Zhou Shengqing, naturally, was no different. A Nascent Soul True Lord who intended to hide would be very difficult to find for Zhou Shengqing alone, unless the Five Elements' Five Branches mobilized a large army to search.

Chen Mobai, however, remained unchanged in his approach. He continued to have the five great formations recuperate their strength and periodically practice with the Five Elements Dao Soldiers, increasing their proficiency while also experiencing the power of the Nascent Soul realm. Although having so many cultivators from the Five Elements' Five Branches stationed here consumed massive amounts of spirit stones daily, resources could be earned again