Chapter 62: Level 5 Celestial Snow Lotus, Lin Shengbin Arrives

Standing inside the icy cavern of the frost serpents, Chu Tianchen instantly felt a terrifying, bone-chilling aura spreading toward him from the depths of the cave.

Wherever this frigid energy reached, even the air turned bitterly cold.

Without delay, a single thought flashed through Chu Tianchen's mind as he activated the Nine Dragons Swallowing Heaven Technique. The vital energy within his four ten-thousand-zhang meridian wheels surged forth, and the Fire Cloud Sword in his hand abruptly sharpened with a lethal intent.

He continued walking forward.

Having already come this far, and having sensed the aura of the Heavenly Phenomenon Snow Lotus, there was no way he would turn back now.

Furthermore, the aura emanating from this frost serpent nest did not indicate the presence of a third-rank fierce beast. That blast of intense cold just moments ago had merely been unleashed by a second-rank frost serpent.

Following the trail of frigid energy, he soon reached the deepest recesses of the serpent cave. Upon arriving at the end, Chu Tianchen discovered that the cave branched off into four separate paths.

However, with Chu Tianchen's formidable perceptive abilities, he was quickly able to determine which passage concealed the Heavenly Phenomenon Snow Lotus.

Without the slightest hesitation, Chu Tianchen strode forward with his sword in hand.

The trial period lasted only three months, and he had no time to waste.

Roughly ten minutes later, as Chu Tianchen continued making his way through the tunnel, a piercing chill suddenly surged from ahead. The next instant, two frost serpents, each five to six meters in length, materialized before him.

Simultaneously, four more frost serpents blocked his path from behind, cutting off any route of retreat.

Although frost serpents lacked high intelligence, they were not entirely devoid of cunning.

Even so, their cultivation was not particularly high, and such a pincer attack posed very little threat to Chu Tianchen.

Boom!

With a burst of vital energy, Chu Tianchen stepped forward and swept his blade through the air, sending forth strands of sharp sword Qi that slashed directly toward the first-rank frost serpent lunging at him.

With just a single strike, the four-to-five-meter-long frost serpent dropped to the ground, expiring instantly without emitting even a whimper of pain.

Seeing their companion fall, the remaining frost serpents launched a coordinated assault, swarming around Chu Tianchen from all sides.

Chu Tianchen sneered coldly. With a flick of his wrist, his sword flashed through the air, claiming another life.

Next, he channeled his surging vital energy directly into his palm.

"Galloping Thunder Palm!"

With a low shout, Chu Tianchen delivered a fierce palm strike straight onto the incoming tail of a serpent, forcefully blasting the creature seven or eight meters backward.

At that moment, another frost serpent suddenly lunged forward and coiled tightly around him, exerting an extreme tightening pressure. Chu Tianchen felt himself enveloped by the bone-numbing cold, yet he practiced ice-attribute cultivation methods and carried the inheritance of the Ice-Yi Divine Dragon; naturally, his own aura was by no means inferior to that of the serpent.

If that constricting force had been applied to an ordinary first-rank beast, it would have shattered its bones by eighty percent.

However, Chu Tianchen's martial body had undergone several transformative baptisms and was virtually indestructible.

His raw physical strength alone was already comparable to that of a martial artist at the fifth tier of the Meridian Condensation Realm. How could a mere frost serpent hope to crack his body?

In the next moment, Chu Tianchen exerted explosive force, violently tearing the serpent wrapped around his body away and severing it in half with a single palm strike.

The final two frost serpents, witnessing their comrades being slaughtered one after another, finally revealed terror within their reptilian pupils.

Nevertheless, Chu Tianchen afforded them no opportunity, dispatching them with swift sword strikes.

He sliced open the carcasses of all the frost serpents. Out of the five creatures, only two yielded serpent beast cores. Pocketing the cores, Chu Tianchen pressed onward into the depths of the cave.

Moreover, he quickened his pace.

If the frost serpent grew desperate and swallowed the Heavenly Phenomenon Snow Lotus, his losses would be catastrophic.

Before long, Chu Tianchen tracked down the exact source of the Heavenly Phenomenon Snow Lotus's aura.

There, coiled before a half-meter-tall Heavenly Phenomenon Snow Lotus tree, was a massive frost serpent measuring seven to eight meters in length. It had clearly spotted Chu Tianchen, and its enormous pupils radiated a chilling, murderous intent.

This was a mid-stage second-rank frost serpent, comparable to a human martial artist at the fifth or sixth tier of the Origin Condensation Realm.

Yet Chu Tianchen was only at the fourth tier of the Meridian Condensation Realm—a gap of an entire major stage.

Despite this, Chu Tianchen's eyes held not a shred of fear; instead, they burned with excitement.

This was because the Heavenly Phenomenon Snow Lotus tree beside the serpent had already reached the fifth grade.

While fifth-grade medicinal herbs might be easily found in the greater world, within the Great Gan Imperial Dynasty, they were exceedingly rare and immensely precious.

A single ordinary fifth-grade medicinal herb could easily be exchanged for tens of thousands of low-grade origin stones.

Thus, under normal circumstances, a martial artist stumbling upon a third-grade herb would consider themselves unimaginably lucky, let alone discovering a fifth-grade treasure.

Chu Tianchen was not surprised that no one had discovered this fifth-grade Heavenly Phenomenon Snow Lotus before. For one, this minor mountain range was unremarkable and not a spirit mountain, and the cave entrance appeared quite small from the outside.

Furthermore, because the Heavenly Phenomenon Snow Lotus was an ice-attribute herb, its scent was extremely faint. Unless one were a senior alchemist exceptionally sensitive to medicinal ingredients, it would be virtually impossible to perceive its existence.

This was likely the very reason it had managed to grow all the way to the fifth grade.

A fifth-grade Heavenly Phenomenon Snow Lotus was entirely sufficient to refine Bone-Condensing Pills.

Frost serpents were not creatures of high intelligence. Their speed of cultivation was exceptionally slow, placing them among the lower-tier beings of the beast kingdom. The reason this particular frost serpent had managed to reach the mid-stage of the second rank was entirely due to the spiritual Qi radiated by the Heavenly Phenomenon Snow Lotus.

Basking before such a spiritual medicine every day accelerated its cultivation drastically.

Upon realizing that this was a fifth-grade Heavenly Phenomenon Snow Lotus, Chu Tianchen finally understood why the serpent had not dared to consume it. A fifth-grade medicinal herb possessed medicinal potency so formidable that an ordinary second-rank fierce beast simply could not withstand it.

To swallow it by force would cause the beast's body to rupture and explode instantly.

The frost serpent lacked high intelligence, but it was far from foolish.

The next moment, the mid-stage second-rank frost serpent lashed its massive tail, launching a frantic attack toward Chu Tianchen.

Chu Tianchen gripped the Fire Cloud Sword tightly in his right hand, locking his gaze onto the serpent's vulnerable spot beneath its throat.

Boom!

In an instant, an invisible and terrifying force erupted from within his Fire Cloud Sword, causing the surrounding space to distort slightly.

Had Xiao Fan been present, he would have instantly recognized this attack.

This was none other than Sword Intent!

"Ice Soul Sword Canon: Frigid Light Slash!"

Chu Tianchen roared fiercely.

Instantly, sword Qi burst forth like a howling gale.

A piercing glint of sword light arrived first, followed by sword Qi surging like a dragon.

Intertwined with the power of Sword Intent, it conjured multiple sword afterimages that rained down like a tempest, churning toward the frost serpent to shred it apart.

The frost serpent whipped its gigantic tail, colliding head-on with his torrent of sword Qi.

The terrifying might of a mid-stage second-rank fierce beast erupted without reservation.

Boom!

Boom!

Boom!

The violent collision of forces sent damp soil and debris flying in all directions. Chu Tianchen was thrown seven or eight meters backward by the recoil, feeling a sharp, agonizing pain ripple through his internal organs.

Meanwhile, the colossal frost serpent split apart into several pieces, crashing heavily to the ground.

With a pale complexion, Chu Tianchen sank down into a seated position.

With that single sword strike, he had executed the second stage of the Ice Soul Sword Canon: the Frigid Light Slash.

The attack had practically drained every drop of vital energy from his body. Combined with the exertion of Sword Intent, the toll on his mental fortitude and soul force was equally terrifying. Consequently, although he had emerged uninjured by the frost serpent, his physical body had been pushed to its absolute limits, leaving him with a lingering sense of dizziness and exhaustion.

He hurriedly circulated the Nine Dragons Swallowing Heaven Technique, resting for a short while to recover his strength before standing up. He retrieved the beast core from the second-rank frost serpent and plucked the Heavenly Phenomenon Snow Lotus from its tree.

Next, Chu Tianchen sought out a dry patch of ground, sat cross-legged, and produced a vast quantity of origin stones to fully restore his vital energy before departing.

After roughly a day had passed, Chu Tianchen was once again brimming with vigor.

The Nine Dragons Swallowing Heaven Technique was truly a supreme treasure of the world.

He stood up and began walking toward the exit. Just as he stepped out of the cavern, he heard the rapid sound of footsteps approaching from outside.

Concealing himself behind a tree, Chu Tianchen peered out and saw Lin Shengbin rushing toward the cave accompanied by two martial artists at the eighth tier of the Meridian Condensation Realm.

"Why would this fellow show up here? Could it be that he knew I was inside all along?"

A look of perplexity crossed Chu Tianchen's face.