Chapter 571: Meng Cun's Age

This was truly rare. To reach the Five Tribulation realm signifies a certain threshold in one's spiritual will. Being suppressed to this extent by Meng Chuan's 'Will Impact' only meant that Meng Chuan was incredibly strong in this regard!

In truth, when it came to spiritual will, Meng Chuan was already an exceptional talent among Five Tribulation realm experts. However, the immense power of his 'Will Impact' was largely thanks to the 'Primordial Star' technique, a legacy from an Eight Tribulation realm expert, and the 'Demon Cone Secret Art'. If he only had the Demon Cone Secret Art, a single attack would shatter the cone, requiring a short while to fully recover.

If he only possessed the 'Primordial Star' technique, his offensive power would be lacking.

Together, these two allowed the demon cones to shatter and reform continuously, enabling a relentless barrage of attacks!

"I, I..."

The Snow Jade Palace Master's head buzzed from the bombardment, filled with both anger and panic. "Is my spiritual will truly this weak?"

His will was suppressed.

While his opponent's strength was one factor, his own weakness was another.

If his own will were strong enough, he would have no trouble maintaining absolute clarity within his physical body.

"This Meng Chuan had no prior reputation," the Snow Jade Palace Master knew Meng Chuan's background well. "He can even crush my will?"

"My will is actually this weak?"

"Then what hope do I have of reaching the Six Tribulation realm?"

At this moment, the Snow Jade Palace Master felt a colossal disparity.

Spiritual will had a profound influence on the path of cultivation.

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

One demon cone after another continuously slammed into him.

With a gaze of desperation, the Snow Jade Palace Master stared at Meng Chuan, thinking inwardly, "I should thank you. You've made me realize my spiritual will is still very fragile."

"So, prepare for my final move."

The Snow Jade Palace Master no longer wished to prolong the fight; the suppression of his will was simply too unbearable.

While Meng Chuan continuously barraged his opponent with the 'Demon Cone' primordial spirit mystic art, he also commanded thirty-six blood blades, which transformed into streaks of black light, to encircle and attack the foe.

The Snow Jade Palace Master could only employ his movement technique, his figure repeatedly appearing at different locations within the ten-thousand-mile formation, flickering over a dozen times in the blink of an eye.

Suddenly, the Snow Jade Palace Master's gaze sharpened.

He used his movement technique to charge directly at Meng Chuan.

With his primordial spirit world suppressing everything around them, Meng Chuan naturally perceived all of his opponent's movements clearly. Maintaining a thirty-fold time acceleration, Meng Chuan effortlessly dodged the close-quarters lunge.

"Still unable to get close," the Snow Jade Palace Master had already anticipated this outcome. Resisting the will impact, he suddenly flung his left hand, and eight ice beads shot forth from his palm.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

This set of 'Ice Beads' was a Seven Tribulation realm secret treasure, containing profound mysteries of time, space, and ice. The Snow Jade Palace Master had acquired them at a great cost.

The surrounding void froze, a level of congelation far surpassing what came before, even affecting spacetime.

"Not good," Meng Chuan realized. Spacetime seemed to be frozen, making it very difficult for him to influence the flow of time. He could only maintain an eight-fold time acceleration advantage.

At the same time, he himself was suppressed by the freezing effect, and his movement speed greatly decreased.

Each ice bead simultaneously struck towards him.

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

Meng Chuan desperately maintained his eight-fold time acceleration advantage, while also employing his movement technique to evade. Concurrently, streaks of black light intercepted the ice beads.

There were a full thirty-six blood blades; only eighteen were dispatched to intercept, with the rest continuing to besiege the Snow Jade Palace Master. Clearly, Meng Chuan was very confident in his defense.

The Snow Jade Palace Master, with his remaining mental energy, almost entirely focused on manipulating the Seven Tribulation realm secret treasure, the 'Ice Beads', completely abandoning any attempt to block the blood blades.

Accompanied by terrifying impact sounds.

The eight ice beads, traversing the void with unpredictable trajectories, were such that even the eighteen blood blades only managed to intercept six. The remaining two ice beads struck Meng Chuan's body.

Meng Chuan directly endured the impact with his body, not even using the string of beads on his wrist or the Demon Slaying Blade at his waist.

"Hmph."

His outer robe was a Six Tribulation realm protective garment. Meng Chuan's body fully withstood the impact force that permeated through the robe.

"Hmm?"

The Snow Jade Palace Master, who had placed all his hopes on this strike, was astonished to see two ice beads powerfully strike Meng Chuan. Meng Chuan's robe billowed, and he remained standing, fully absorbing the impact. Although his body briefly hunched, he immediately straightened up, without even spitting blood.

"A Body Five Tribulation realm expert?" the Snow Jade Palace Master exclaimed in disbelief. "And one with extremely strong defenses?"

"Cultivating both body and primordial spirit?"

Tagu and Black Wind Old Demon were also stunned to see Meng Chuan withstand the Seven Tribulation realm secret treasure's bombardment.

Primordial spirit tribulation realms and physical body tribulation realms each had their own strengths and weaknesses.

The greatest advantage of physical body tribulation realms lay in their extremely powerful single-target burst damage and formidable life-saving capabilities. As a peak Five Tribulation realm expert, the Snow Jade Palace Master's strike using a Seven Tribulation realm secret treasure... its power was immense. Among Body Five Tribulation realm cultivators, only those specializing in defense could hope to block it. Experts like Black Wind Old Demon focused more on 'Converging and Dissipating at Will,' and Tagu primarily cultivated blood, neither of whom could have withstood that strike without any physical harm.

Meng Chuan, however, did.

When a powerful individual possessed both a Five Tribulation realm primordial spirit and a Five Tribulation realm physical body, their threat level would drastically increase.

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

As the Snow Jade Palace Master watched Meng Chuan endure the strike, streaks of black light also slammed into him, causing numerous wounds to appear on his body. Many of the wounds pierced through him, leaving his body mangled, with nearly half his flesh and blood gone.

"I surrender," the Snow Jade Palace Master called out.

The encircling streaks of black light ceased, transforming back into a disc of blood blades.

The Snow Jade Palace Master's mutilated body rapidly healed, returning to its complete state in the blink of an eye.

"Only seven blades managed to injure my physical body," the Snow Jade Palace Master carefully observed Meng Chuan's waist, where the Demon Slaying Blade was worn. "And he didn't even engage in close combat."

Previously, seeing the blade at Meng Chuan's waist, he had assumed it was a weapon controlled by primordial spirit energy.

Who would have thought Meng Chuan was truly a physical body tribulation realm cultivator!

"He only attacked from a distance; he didn't even fight in close quarters," Tagu and Black Wind Old Demon secretly clicked their tongues in amazement. "If he had drawn his blade and engaged in melee combat, the Snow Jade Palace Master would likely have lost even faster."

There were indeed tribulation realm experts who cultivated both body and primordial spirit.

However, it was rare for both aspects to reach the Five Tribulation realm level. Generally, even if tribulation realm grand-power cultivators practiced both, there would still be a stronger and a weaker aspect.

What they didn't know was...

Meng Chuan's physical body was actually only at the Four Tribulation realm. However, upon reaching the peak of the Emperor Lord realm, his physical body already possessed Five Tribulation realm combat power. In close-quarters combat now, his burst potential was indeed stronger than his ranged attacks.

"He surrendered?" Meng Chuan finally relaxed, and the blood blades swiftly flew back.

"I thought it would come down to close-quarters combat."

Meng Chuan had been prepared.

If his opponent's methods had been stronger, he would have engaged in melee combat, even resorting to using the Thirteen Cosmic Pearls! Clearly, he hadn't been pushed to that extent.

"Whoosh." The formation slowly dissipated.

The snake-tailed protector deity smiled faintly. "Since one party has surrendered, the ultimate victor is Dongning!"

The ultimate victor in the exploration of the grotto-heaven had been decided: it was Meng Chuan!

"Congratulations, Brother Dongning," Tagu said with a smile. "Senior Cang Xing's grotto-heaven is a great opportunity."

Meng Chuan's heart stirred. "Senior Cang Xing?" He also nodded and smiled at Tagu, sensing the latter's goodwill.

"Impressive, truly impressive," Black Wind Old Demon praised. "I never expected Brother Dongning to hide so much strength when we fought. I didn't even realize Brother Dongning also belonged to the physical body tribulation realm lineage."

"Come with me," the snake-tailed protector deity urged. "As for the three of you, wait here; you will also receive a gift later."

"Everyone, I shall go in first," Meng Chuan said with a smile, then walked with the snake-tailed protector deity towards the enormous head of the forbidden creature.

The forbidden creature's enormous head, with its blood-red vertical pupils, gazed down, its eyes growing even colder, yet it could not obstruct them.

It was forever imprisoned there, serving as the power source for the entire grotto-heaven.

"Follow me," the snake-tailed protector deity flew up and entered through the enormous creature's gaping maw.

Meng Chuan also flew up.

Each tooth in this gaping maw was like a colossal mountain. They flew between the upper and lower teeth and entered.

"To think that Brother Dongning, who arrived last, would be the one to succeed in the end," Tagu said, shaking his head and smiling. "The course of events is truly unpredictable."

"Even without Brother Dongning, it wouldn't have been my turn," Black Wind Old Demon said, displaying an excellent mindset.

The Snow Jade Palace Master, however, stood silently to the side, not uttering a sound.

He was still contemplating his will's suppression. "My will has a significant flaw. I must refine my spiritual will. I have to thank Meng Chuan for allowing me to discover this shortcoming early." He looked up, watching the snake-tailed protector deity and Meng Chuan fly into the enormous head's gaping maw.

Deep within the gaping maw, a secret chamber was hidden.

This chamber was only a hundred feet wide, embedded within the forbidden creature's deep mouth flesh. Meng Chuan carefully observed the ancient chamber.

"Rumble." The chamber door opened on its own.

"Follow me."

The snake-tailed man walked in, and Meng Chuan followed him.

"Hmm?"

As soon as Meng Chuan entered, he found the chamber quite empty, with no other miscellaneous objects. He only saw a black mirror hanging on a wall, shining directly at him.

A hazy light enveloped him, and then ancient characters began to appear on the mirror.

The snake-tailed man smiled as he looked at the ancient characters, but then his smile froze. He turned to Meng Chuan in disbelief. "You've only cultivated for one thousand five hundred and eighty-seven years? How is that possible? How can a Five Tribulation realm expert be so young?"