Chapter 570: Meng Chuan and Lord Xueyu

Soon, Meng Chuan and Palace Lord Xue Yu stood within the formation. On this journey through the cave mansion, only the victor would reach the end.

Palace Lord Xue Yu wore a light blue robe, and subtle light blue mystic patterns adorned his face. His eyes, like deep blue jade, fixed on Meng Chuan with immense pressure. Yet, Meng Chuan’s gaze remained calm. He was the least knowledgeable about this particular cave mansion among those present, and his primary objective for coming here was Peng Huang. Now that his goal was achieved, any treasures from the cave mansion were merely an added bonus.

In a distant corner, Taku and Old Demon Heifeng observed Meng Chuan. Though the entire Divine Maiden River Domain was vast and boundless, almost every Fifth-Stage Tribulation Being was widely renowned. Yet, this white-haired man, 'Dongning,' was utterly unknown to them; they had never heard of him before.

"A Primordial Spirit Tribulation Being who has mastered two Fifth-Stage Tribulation rules? I've never heard of such a person," Taku murmured.

"Mastering two Fifth-Stage Tribulation rules implies he's been a Fifth-Stage Tribulation Being for a long time," Old Demon Heifeng added. "Never having heard of him, he must be from some distant river domain."

A scroll appeared behind Meng Chuan. As it unfurled, it instantly enveloped the entire formation area. Palace Lord Xue Yu's ice domain also resisted, but the residual might of the world still pressed down on him. This terrifying pressure was enough to crush a star, yet the icy layer on Palace Lord Xue Yu's body easily withstood it.

"I truly didn't expect another Fifth-Stage Tribulation Being to emerge from my Three-Bay River System, and one who has cultivated to such a profound level," Palace Lord Xue Yu said calmly. "When Peng Huang mentioned you, I thought you were just a newly advanced Fifth-Stage Tribulation Being. Who would have thought you'd mastered two Fifth-Stage Tribulation rules? Did you once receive a serendipitous encounter from Ancestor Cang Yuan, enter a secret realm, and cultivate for a very long time?"

Meng Chuan smiled. "That golden roc told you quite a lot."

Palace Lord Xue Yu's eyes narrowed slightly. He had cultivated from a lower world to his current state, fighting desperately for every opportunity and enduring countless hardships to reach this day. In contrast, individuals like Meng Chuan and Taku, who benefited from ancestral legacies, could easily obtain numerous treasures and opportunities from their ancestors' hoards at the Fifth-Stage Tribulation level. Palace Lord Xue Yu naturally felt this was unfair, believing that under similar conditions, Meng Chuan and Taku's achievements would be far inferior to his own.

However, he overlooked that the powerful foundations of intermediate and higher worlds were also built by ancestors who endured immense difficulties. For instance, how difficult it was for Ancestor Cang Yuan to emerge from a lower life world and cultivate to become a Seventh-Stage Tribulation Being. His life's achievements merely provided some assistance to his descendants. But ultimately, for descendants to achieve great things, they still had to rely on themselves. For over a million years after Ancestor Cang Yuan, the entire Cang Yuan Realm had not produced even a single Fourth-Stage Tribulation Being before Meng Chuan. Meng Chuan's rapid growth to the Fifth-Stage Tribulation under the threat of the demon race was already astonishing. Had his strength been weaker, he might have died before fully maturing.

Palace Lord Xue Yu suddenly moved. Thunder and lightning crackled around Meng Chuan, and the flow rate instantly changed, maintaining a thirty-fold time flow advantage. Clearly, Palace Lord Xue Yu had a greater influence over space-time. With the advantage of a thirty-fold time flow combined with his movement speed, Meng Chuan's agility was naturally astonishing.

One sought to get close, while the other dodged away. While dodging, Meng Chuan was surprised to find that Palace Lord Xue Yu could consistently keep pace with him. He had the advantage of time flow, and without it, his opponent could probably close in easily.

"Under the suppression of my Primordial Spirit World, he can still instantly appear anywhere within the formation. What formidable spatial techniques!" Meng Chuan secretly praised.

"Go!"

Blood blades circulated around Meng Chuan, then transformed into streaks of black light – a total of thirty-six of them. Palace Lord Xue Yu's pupils constricted. He flashed thousands of miles away, yet a streak of black light still appeared right before him.

"Boom." Palace Lord Xue Yu gently brushed with his gloved hand. The black light and his palm produced a low impact sound. Palace Lord Xue Yu frowned slightly but deliberately did not block the second black light, allowing it to strike him.

Sizzle—

When the black light struck the icy layer on Palace Lord Xue Yu's body, each ice crystal within that layer contained a tiny void. The protective icy layer comprised over a hundred million such tiny voids. As the black light cleaved through the ice, it also cleaved through these individual tiny voids. After completely piercing the icy layer, it then struck the light blue robe. The robe slightly dented, and terrifying power transferred into Palace Lord Xue Yu's body, but he was fully capable of withstanding the impact.

"What?" Meng Chuan realized that the desolate blade light had not inflicted any real damage on Palace Lord Xue Yu. Clearly, his defensive technique, combining two rules, was indeed powerful enough.

"Impressive. Dare to try resisting thirty-six blades head-on?" Meng Chuan said with a smile, as thirty-six streaks of black light besieged Palace Lord Xue Yu.

"Hmph." Palace Lord Xue Yu snorted coldly. Did Meng Chuan truly think he was that foolish? He had only taken one blade to test its power. If thirty-six blades struck his body simultaneously, the concentrated power would severely wound even him. Palace Lord Xue Yu's figure was like a phantom, flickering unpredictably within the formation. With his movement technique, even with the thirty-fold time flow advantage, at most three to five blood blades could strike him simultaneously. Given his defensive methods, the blood blade disc clearly posed a very low threat to him. This was also because Meng Chuan had only recently broken through, and the integration of his two rules was still too crude. Palace Lord Xue Yu was stronger; his two rules were combined more subtly and were more refined in terms of defense and offense.

"Suppress!"

Palace Lord Xue Yu unleashed his trump card: 'Absolute Cold' combined with 'Void Territory'! Frost appeared across thousands of miles within the formation, freezing everything solid. Meng Chuan felt the terrifying low temperature affecting his physical body, freezing everything, bringing all to a halt. This move possessed immense power; an ordinary Fifth-Stage Tribulation Being, even if they could move under its effect, would have their speed drastically reduced. However, Meng Chuan's 'Primordial Spirit World,' relying on a World Secret Treasure, blocked most of Palace Lord Xue Yu's killer move, leaving only a minor residual effect.

"Even with his Primordial Spirit World blocking and weakening my move, his physical body is weak, and I fear his speed will significantly drop," Palace Lord Xue Yu thought. With a flash, he bore down on Meng Chuan, intending to pierce Meng Chuan's skull with a hand-blade. "It's over!"

Meng Chuan looked at him and didn't dodge.

"Boom."

A black demon cone flew out from beside Meng Chuan, instantly striking Palace Lord Xue Yu. It was the Demon Cone Forbidden Art! The demon cone, condensed from thirty percent of his Primordial Spirit essence, was frighteningly fast and unavoidable, striking directly at Palace Lord Xue Yu's body. Palace Lord Xue Yu's body trembled, and his eyes widened!

For mortals, and even for Venerables and Emperors, the physical body cannot block Primordial Spirit attacks. However, the physical bodies of Tribulation Beings have long since reached perfection. A perfected body has one key characteristic: it can block Primordial Spirit assaults! The stronger the body, the stronger the resistance. For example, even a secret art from a Seventh-Stage Primordial Spirit Tribulation Being would be unable to break through Ancestor Cang Yuan's physical defense.

But...

Primordial Spirit Tribulation Beings, recognizing this, have put more effort into studying 'will attacks'! Just like the forbidden creature's blood-red vertical pupil, which by a single glance incapacitated Palace Lord Xue Yu and Old Demon Heifeng for several breaths, that was a pure will attack.

"Ah."

Palace Lord Xue Yu felt a 'boom' as a terrifying will attack disoriented his consciousness, leaving him with only a fraction of his attention to barely cope with the external battle. The black demon cone disintegrated into countless light points, and guided by the 'Primordial Spirit Stars,' almost all of them returned to his Primordial Spirit. With a thought from Meng Chuan, another demon cone formed.

Upon reaching the Fifth Stage of Primordial Spirit Tribulation, the Primordial Spirit's indestructible nature became even more pronounced. Having cultivated the 'Primordial Spirit Stars' technique, moves like 'Star Radiance' were now regular attacks, and any loss of thirty percent of his essence would instantly and completely recover. Relatively speaking, 'Star Radiance' was less offensive than the 'Demon Cone Forbidden Art.'

"Boom." "Boom." "Boom." "Boom." "Boom." "Boom."...

The demon cones struck Palace Lord Xue Yu's body repeatedly. Even with physical resistance, they still impacted Palace Lord Xue Yu's will and consciousness. It was like a great hammer, pounding relentlessly. The demon cones shattered again and again, yet reformed each time, striking continuously! The regenerative capability of the 'Primordial Spirit Stars' technique, combined with the power of the 'Demon Cone,' made this move incredibly potent.

"What's going on?" Palace Lord Xue Yu felt his head buzzing. He could only spare a minimal amount of mental effort to deal with the outside world, able to utilize only thirty percent of his full strength.

"This is..."

Taku and Old Demon Heifeng, observing from afar, were utterly astonished. They could see with their own eyes the Primordial Spirit weapon, the 'demon cone,' flying out from Meng Chuan's body repeatedly, launching successive attacks on Palace Lord Xue Yu. In what felt like a blink of an eye, over a dozen attacks were launched consecutively. Palace Lord Xue Yu's movements slowed down.

"It's a mental attack from a Primordial Spirit Tribulation Being," Taku's pupils contracted. "Palace Lord Xue Yu's will is within his own body, giving him a positional advantage, and his physical body also offers resistance. Yet, Dongning's will attack, merely relying on a Primordial Spirit weapon, can severely cripple Xue Yu's strength?"

"With physical resistance, he still can't withstand Dongning's will attack, which is attached to a Primordial Spirit weapon?" Old Demon Heifeng was also greatly surprised. Such a scene was rarely seen among those of the same cultivation level.