Chapter 61: The Aura of the Celestial Snow Lotus

Chu Tianchen found a secluded pile of rocks and sprinkled some scent-masking medicinal powder around the area to prevent detection by ferocious beasts.

Immediately afterward, he sat cross-legged and quietly waited for his prey to appear.

However, he did not idle away his time. Taking out some primordial stones from his storage ring, he began to circulate the Nine Dragons Heaven-Swallowing Art to cultivate.

His goal for the three-month trial period was to open up two more chakra meridians.

Once he returned, with at most three or four months after that, he would be able to step into the Tongyuan Realm and then find an opportunity to enter the inner courtyard.

Time slipped away bit by bit. A whole night passed without Chu Tianchen catching sight of even a shadow of a frost serpent, yet he did not leave.

It was truly strange for frost serpents to appear here. He had scanned the area with his perception, but could not detect anything peculiar about this mountain range.

Yet, relying on his experience and knowledge, Chu Tianchen concluded that there must be something here attracting the frost serpents, causing them to travel in groups into an environment unsuitable for their survival.

Chu Tianchen was determined to find out what it was.

After a brief rest, he resumed taking out primordial stones and cultivating.

A martial artist's cultivation was inherently this dry and monotonous.

Throughout the ages, no matter how formidable one's talent might be, anyone who achieved greatness had to endure this solitude and dullness.

He was still only in the initial stages of martial arts. According to books he had read, some powerful martial artists would enter closed-door cultivation for years on end at a time.

Where did this even rank compared to that?

Soon, a full day passed, and still there was no movement whatsoever.

Furthermore, no other martial artists had come here. This was not surprising, however; there were only a few hundred people in total, and their movable range within this Demonic Beast Mountain Range spanned hundreds of miles—it was hardly easy to bump into one another.

To be honest, Chu Tianchen secretly harbored some anticipation for Lin Shengbin to track him down.

When he set out this time, he had brought less than a million lower-grade primordial stones in total. Of course, if this were for ordinary martial artists—such as those who only opened up ten-zhang-wide chakra meridians—a million lower-grade primordial stones would be enough for them to open up nine chakra meridians.

Yet for Chu Tianchen, opening just a single one consumed that vast amount.

This was why everyone said that good talent did not mean one was destined to succeed.

Such gargantuan resources were simply not something ordinary factions could afford to sustain.

If Chu Tianchen had not inherited the alchemy legacy of the Dragon Emperor, then relying solely on himself—no matter how peerless his talent—where would he even go to acquire such resources for his own use?

Thinking about it, this Eternal Dragon Emperor was truly considerate.

If one day they truly met at the peak, he would definitely have to express his sincere gratitude.

Three consecutive days passed, and a thick layer of spent primordial stone waste had piled up in front of Chu Tianchen. His aura had also grown somewhat denser compared to a few days prior.

Yet the frost serpents still showed no movement.

"Could it be that they are no longer here? That can't be right; the residual aura here clearly indicates they were here not long ago."

Chu Tianchen thought to himself.

It was not until the evening of this day that, at last, a faint hissing sound of flicking tongues came from not far away.

At the same time, Chu Tianchen sensed that the surrounding air was gradually growing chilly.

He put away the primordial stones and looked in the direction of the sound. He saw a frost serpent, five to six meters long, slithering toward this side from a distance of several hundred meters.

Behind that frost serpent were two more, making a total of three.

Chu Tianchen observed them. All three frost serpents were only of the first rank. Except for the last one, which appeared to be at the late first rank, the other two were merely at the early first rank.

An early first-rank beast was roughly equivalent to the third layer of the Pulse-Connecting Realm.

A late first-rank beast was equivalent to the seventh or eighth layer of the Pulse-Connecting Realm.

Such low-rank ferocious beasts possessed very low intelligence.

The corners of Chu Tianchen's lips curved slightly upward as he channeled his primordial energy.

The first volume of the Nine Dragons Heaven-Swallowing Art he was currently practicing had been imparted to him by the Ice Yi Divine Dragon, and it belonged to the ice attribute.

The beast cores of these frost serpents still held some use for him.

Although the ice-attribute primordial energy contained within a first-rank beast core was not substantial, every little bit added up.

Right now, he was like a massive vessel for primordial energy; he could not afford to let slip a single shred of resource.

Instantly, the three frost serpents slithered past right in front of him. Chu Tianchen suddenly stood up, the primordial energy of his four chakra meridians surging like dragons with wild abandon. Wielding his third-rank Fire Cloud Sword, he swept forward.

"Ice Soul Sword Canon, Awakening!"

Chu Tianchen let out a low roar.

A frigid sword Qi was unleashed, slashing directly toward the late first-rank frost serpent.

That frost serpent's pupils instantly dilated, revealing a fierce glare as it whipped its tail toward Chu Tianchen.

However, the moment it made contact with Chu Tianchen's Fire Cloud Sword, its tail was cleanly severed by a single slash. In an instant, a cry of agonizing pain escaped its maw.

Following that, Chu Tianchen gave it no chance to retaliate, finishing it off with a single sword strike.

Though he had only opened four chakra meridians, the primordial energy contained within his meridians was incomparable to that of ordinary martial artists at the seventh or eighth layer of the Pulse-Connecting Realm.

Coupled with the preliminary awakening stage of the Ice Soul Sword Canon he practiced, his sword Qi cut across the void, leaving this beast utterly defenseless.

Seeing this, the other two serpents turned tail and fled in terror.

Clutching his sword, Chu Tianchen hurled it forward like a flying bolt, pinning the vital spot of another frost serpent and killing it on the spot.

He swiftly extracted the beast core from the late-stage frost serpent, then used his sword to split open the skull of the lifeless serpent next to it, which unfortunately yielded no beast core.

Without pausing, he took up his sword and gave chase to the last one.

That frost serpent had been scared out of its wits and fled for its life at great speed, but naturally, it was no match for Chu Tianchen's velocity.

However, Chu Tianchen was in no rush to kill it.

Sparing its life was merely to use it to locate its lair.

He wanted to see what kind of good treasure these frost serpents had stumbled upon.

Roughly half an hour later, Chu Tianchen saw the frost serpent speed into a secluded, shadowy cavern, and the corners of his lips curved upward once again.

These fellows might not have high intelligence, but they certainly knew how to hide.

This cavern was located halfway up the mountain slope. The entrance was not very large, and it was surrounded by some weeds, making it look exceedingly inconspicuous.

Chu Tianchen would never have guessed that such a small cavern could conceal anything of note.

He slowly walked over and arrived before the cave entrance. The opening was quite narrow, but when he extended his soul power inward, he discovered that the space inside was much broader.

He raised his sword and cleaved the entrance open wider before stepping inside.

Immediately, a bone-chilling wave of coldness surged over him.

Frost serpents naturally exuded an icy aura, and the walls of the cavern were frosted over with thick ice. It seemed there must be quite a few frost serpents residing within.

Releasing his soul power, he walked deeper into the cavern.

After about a few minutes, Chu Tianchen caught the scent of a faint medicinal fragrance.

"Could this be? The aura of the Heavenly Phenomenon Snow Lotus?"

"A Heavenly Phenomenon Snow Lotus actually grows here?"

Chu Tianchen said in astonishment.

Instantly, the smile at the corners of his lips became even harder to suppress.

However, he did not plan to use this Heavenly Phenomenon Snow Lotus for himself; it was meant for Ye Nieshang.

Ye Nieshang's Nine Heavens Divine Phoenix spirit was growing increasingly difficult to suppress. She needed a fifth-grade Bone-Ling Pill to neutralize the scorching fire energy of the Nine Heavens Divine Phoenix and help her control and refine it.

The primary medicinal ingredient for refining the Bone-Ling Pill happened to be the Heavenly Phenomenon Snow Lotus.

He had mentioned it to Mu Ran last time, but such precious medicinal herbs were far too scarce. Back then, his grandfather had to travel to the Greater World just to procure a single stalk.

He never expected to discover a Heavenly Phenomenon Snow Lotus in this small mountain range.

Yet, just as Chu Tianchen's smile bloomed, the very next moment, a terrifyingly frigid aura rapidly surged outward from the depths of the cavern...