Chapter 537: Triggering the Treasure Seal
Boom!!!
The white ice meteor descended with immense force, piercing through the Bamboo Joint Resilience light, smashing through clusters of giant trees before slamming into the mountainside and violently self-detonating.
Countless hailstones shot out wildly in all directions. Ice mist surged skyward and quickly blanketed the entire battlefield.
Ning Zhuo’s figure was completely concealed. Only the Three Generals Camp, standing amid the sea of flames, still remained united, firmly holding their formation.
Earth Element—Earth Escape Technique!
Ning Zhuo continued diving deeper into the underground.
A layer of white frost fur had formed over his body. The frost continued thickening, fiercely invading him.
“Even if I cast three spells in succession, I still can’t block a single spell from the Heavenly Frost Ghost Cultivator!”
Ning Zhuo felt a chill in his heart.
This direct clash completely revealed the gap between them.
“This should be the strongest enemy I’ve faced head-on so far, right?”
Speaking of it, Grandfather Long was undoubtedly stronger than Heavenly Frost. However, in the previous ambush battle, the White Jade Camp had been the main force resisting Grandfather Long head-on. Although Ning Zhuo participated, he had only acted together with Sun Lingtong, impersonating the Stone Dwelling Old Monster while roaming the battlefield to pick up benefits.
But now, not only was he directly facing Heavenly Frost, he was also the main force resisting him. Immediately, he felt an unprecedented pressure.
“Cough, cough.”
Ning Zhuo suddenly coughed. Tiny ice grains appeared in the blood he spat out.
He was secretly startled because he had already activated healing spells, yet the effects were poor.
“Little Zhuo, use the Warm Nurturing Pill to treat your injuries,” Sun Lingtong promptly reminded him.
Ning Zhuo immediately followed the advice and swallowed a Warm Nurturing Pill. Circulating his mana, he quickly refined the medicinal power, and the effect was immediate. Warm currents surged through his body, dispersing the cold. Even the white frost fur on his body gradually melted away.
“My Five Elements spells lean toward offense. Normally, I never focused on healing.”
Facing an unprecedented enemy, Ning Zhuo immediately discovered his own shortcomings.
“The Three Generals Camp already struggles against a single Earth Ghost. I shouldn’t regroup with them. Instead, I should try my best to entangle the Heavenly Ghost, Heavenly Frost, and buy time for the Three Generals Camp to retreat first!”
Ning Zhuo possessed the Puppet Dragon, which was equivalent to mastering a Nascent Soul–level void escape technique. Thus, although the enemy was fierce and the pressure heavy, he remained calm.
He had invested heavily into the Three Generals Camp. If they were wiped out in this battle, it would be an enormous loss for him.
“Next, I’ll cast spells underground and attack Heavenly Frost from afar!”
Earth Element—Flying Rock · Standing Spike.
Just as Ning Zhuo aimed at Heavenly Frost, his spiritual sense suddenly detected something. Instantly changing direction, he shot the spike-like rocks toward multiple spots below.
Ghostly creatures let out painful roars and shrieks.
Their sneak attack had been discovered by Ning Zhuo and was fiercely suppressed, but more than a dozen ghosts still rushed upward toward him.
These ghosts were pitch black. Orange-red lava cracks ran across their bodies, radiating intense fire energy.
They were all extremely skilled in earth escape, moving through the underground like fish in water.
“Magma Ghosts!”
Ning Zhuo exclaimed inwardly and cast another round of spells.
Although he killed several more Magma Ghosts, at the same time more and more ghosts surged forward endlessly.
Using the Puppet Dragon, Sun Lingtong could scout much farther than Ning Zhuo. He immediately warned, “Little Zhuo, don’t stay in one place.”
“Understood!”
Ning Zhuo fought while moving, slaughtering many Magma Ghosts along the way.
Suddenly, he felt a powerful chill emerge from nowhere, invading him violently from the inside out.
Within only a few breaths, his movements slowed, his limbs stiffened, and frost flowers formed on his eyebrows.
Sun Lingtong urgently warned, “Heavenly Frost is attacking you! But how he’s doing it is unclear.”
Ning Zhuo inspected inward with his spiritual sense. “It’s my soul! His attack originates from my soul and harms my physical body.”
Divine Ability—Frost Soul Gaze!
The white-robed ghost cultivator Heavenly Frost hovered in the air, his right hand forming a sword gesture before his chest as he silently activated the divine ability.
His eyes had turned ghostly white. Within his special vision, only the soul forms of living beings were visible.
At this moment, he was focusing on Ning Zhuo’s soul.
This divine ability was extremely mysterious. As long as one was gazed at by Heavenly Frost for more than three breaths, the target’s three souls and seven spirits would be enveloped in cold energy. But this cold did not first harm the soul—it expanded outward, attacking the physical body.
After the body was frozen and killed, the accumulated terrifying cold would then surge back to deliver a devastating strike to the cultivator’s soul.
Ning Zhuo had been locked onto by Heavenly Frost, and his situation rapidly worsened.
He quickly took out various pills and swallowed them frantically. Their medicinal power transformed into streams of medicine flowing through his body—dispersing cold, restoring vitality, and repairing flesh.
Ning Zhuo’s battle preparations were quite thorough. Mainly because he had ample wealth, he had purchased many pills before the war. Though the pill quality was mediocre, they made up for it with quantity.
Fire Element—Flame Cloak!
At the critical moment, Ning Zhuo’s profound Five Elements realm once again showed its power. In the face of danger, his thoughts raced as he consumed thousands of Mirror Thoughts in his Sea of Consciousness to design a Fire Element defensive spell.
Flames burst from the Fire Element Heart Temple and quickly spread through his entire body. From inside to outside, Ning Zhuo was wrapped in warm fire.
Sizzle sizzle sizzle…
Ning Zhuo was scorched by the flames. His flesh was being consumed by fire like roasting meat, immediately releasing the smell of burnt flesh.
Heavenly Frost’s vision was special and instantly noticed the change. He sneered and abruptly reduced the power of his divine ability.
In an instant, the cold greatly weakened, causing Ning Zhuo’s flames to surge upward, the tongues of fire rising three feet above his head.
Having been easily manipulated by Heavenly Frost, Ning Zhuo groaned and instinctively tried to stop the Flame Cloak spell. But at that moment, a flash of inspiration suddenly struck in his Sea of Consciousness.
The inspiration was like lightning splitting the sky of his Sea of Consciousness, shattering nearly a thousand Mirror Thoughts along the way.
Ning Zhuo poured part of his spiritual sense into his heart.
Inside the Fire Element Heart Temple, the statue suddenly became lifelike, its facial features resembling Ning Zhuo himself.
After this transformation, Ning Zhuo immediately felt his control over Fire Element spells rise to an entirely new level.
He quickly lowered the flame’s intensity to match the invading cold.
“Oh?” Sun Lingtong was both surprised and delighted.
He knew Ning Zhuo well. Although Ning Zhuo’s Five Elements realm was very profound, many of his spells lacked practice, so their real combat effectiveness was uncertain.
Especially spells created on the battlefield—they were highly targeted but often rigid and inflexible.
Heavenly Frost had immense combat experience and sharp insight. He immediately saw Ning Zhuo’s spellcasting was stiff, so he feigned retreat, suddenly reducing his power to push Ning Zhuo into danger again.
But he had not expected Ning Zhuo to seize control of the spell’s intensity at the critical moment and adapt to the fluctuating cold.
In fact, even Ning Zhuo himself hadn’t expected it.
“I hastily designed this Fire Element spell by borrowing the Fire Element Heart Temple.”
“Since the source flame originates from the Fire Element Heart Temple, I can indirectly adjust the spell’s strength through it. Wonderful!”
This small breakthrough opened a new door for Ning Zhuo.
Heavenly Frost rapidly adjusted his divine ability’s power, alternating between strong and weak. Ning Zhuo responded instantly, making the Flame Cloak on his body expand and shrink accordingly.
After testing once, Heavenly Frost confirmed that Ning Zhuo could withstand this level of attack. A strange expression appeared on his face.
“This boy is peculiar. He seems to possess some secrets. His combat potential is remarkable.”
“But if you think you can easily withstand my divine ability like this, you’re far too naive!”
Even after pushing Ning Zhuo this far, Heavenly Frost had not used the divine ability’s full power.
When fully unleashed, Frost Soul Gaze could generate extremely frigid ice intent that directly penetrated into a cultivator’s Upper Dantian Sea of Consciousness, freezing every thought.
Heavenly Frost took a deep breath and activated the divine ability with full force.
Terrifying cold poured down like a heavenly waterfall into Ning Zhuo’s Upper Dantian, bringing boundless chill and freezing every Mirror Thought in its path.
The mirror-like thoughts shattered, and the fragments were swallowed by the cold.
Ning Zhuo had cultivated for only a little more than ten years. He had never encountered bottlenecks in Sea of Consciousness cultivation and always felt everything was fine.
But against a powerful enemy like Heavenly Frost, the huge flaw in his Sea of Consciousness defenses was instantly exposed.
The terrifying cold encountered no resistance and flooded in, catching him completely off guard.
He excelled at designing spells using his Five Elements realm. But matters concerning his Sea of Consciousness fell within the domain of divine arts, where spells were mostly useless.
Unable to find a solution, Ning Zhuo could only delay for a few breaths before more than half the Mirror Thoughts in his Sea of Consciousness were frozen and destroyed, slowing his thinking severalfold.
This situation pushed him to the brink of defeat.
At this moment, all his thoughts and thinking were about to freeze and die completely.
Without thinking, even the most profound Five Elements realm could not conceive a single spell.
“Little Zhuo!” Sun Lingtong could not hold back any longer and was about to pull Ning Zhuo into the Puppet Dragon and escape through the void.
At that very moment, a magical treasure in Ning Zhuo’s mind suddenly burst forth with boundless Buddhist light.
The Buddhist light shone like a blazing sun, clearing all cold wherever it reached.
It was the Buddha Heart Demon Seal!
This supreme treasure triggered passively, radiating endless Buddhist light and protecting Ning Zhuo’s Sea of Consciousness.
Within the light, countless Buddha Thoughts were born instantly.
In just a few breaths, tens of thousands of Buddha Thoughts spread across Ning Zhuo’s Sea of Consciousness.
Ning Zhuo’s thinking ability rapidly recovered.
“That was close!”
“I was only a step away from complete defeat.”
Within the Buddhist light, tens of thousands of Buddha Thoughts shone brilliantly. The light then traced back along the connection and counterattacked Heavenly Frost.
“Ah!”
Heavenly Frost screamed and hurriedly covered his eyes.
Blood overflowed from the gaps of his tightly shut eyelids.
Within the blood, Buddhist light leaked out!
Heavenly Frost was a ghost cultivator and was naturally restrained by Buddhist techniques. By activating the divine ability and forming a tight connection with Ning Zhuo, he suffered backlash from the Buddhist light, severely injuring his eyes.
For a short time, he would absolutely be unable to use Frost Soul Gaze again.
Sun Lingtong shouted, “Little Zhuo, great chance! Strike while he’s weak—let’s attack with everything!”
But Ning Zhuo shook his head.
“Killing and fighting, right and wrong… all are illusions. What meaning do they have?”
Sun Lingtong: ?!
Although Heavenly Frost kept his eyes closed, his vision was still filled with vast Buddhist light.
The light also illuminated his Sea of Consciousness, dispersing his other thoughts and replacing them with large numbers of Buddha Thoughts.
“These damned—what am I…”
Heavenly Frost began to repent internally.
“I truly deserve death.”
“Why would I harm others, especially such a vibrant and young life?”
“I am not human. Doing this goes against heaven! Why not treat others with kindness?”
“May all beings find happiness… my ass!”
At the end of his thoughts, Heavenly Frost forcibly twisted them back and cursed fiercely in his heart.
“These damned Buddha Thoughts, get out of my Sea of Consciousness!”
Heavenly Frost did not launch another attack, and Ning Zhuo did not seize the chance to attack either. Instead, he released the Floating Ice White Jade Hand to urgently heal himself.
Both sides fell into a strange standoff.
“We’ll attack in rotation!” Liu Er shouted.
Meanwhile, the clash between the Three Generals Camp and Earth Ghost entered a white-hot stage.
Liu Er, Guan Hong, and Zhang Hei rushed out of the Iron-Wall Formation, attacking Earth Ghost in turns.
This Earth Ghost of the Heaven and Earth Twin Ghosts immediately activated a spell to relocate.
What he used was not ordinary earth escape but the more advanced and powerful Earth-Travel Technique.
The Three Generals Camp had participated in the ambush battle and had seen the Stone Dwelling Old Monster rely on Earth-Travel Technique. They deeply understood its power.
So when they saw Earth Ghost using the same spell, they immediately changed targets.
“Take this, White Ghost!” Zhang Hei roared, charging into the sky and thrusting his spear at Heavenly Frost with killing intent.
Heavenly Frost kept his eyes closed, maintaining spiritual sense perception.
Just as the Black Serpent Spear was about to touch his head, he suddenly raised his hands.
Clang!
Heavenly Frost directly caught the powerful Black Serpent Spear with both hands, producing a metallic clash.
Spell—Nine Nether Cold Soul Claws!
His five fingers condensed profound ice, forming heavy armored claw gauntlets of frost.
Within the gauntlets were sealed numerous ice souls. Every swing released icy wind. Within the wind appeared countless painful faces of ice souls wailing in agony, severely disturbing spiritual sense.
The next moment, Heavenly Frost swung his claw.
Woooo—
Zhang Hei was struck by the violent cold energy and the mournful cries of ice souls, immediately falling from the sky.
But right after, Guan Hong stepped forward, empowered by massive army strength, taking Zhang Hei’s place to challenge the Heavenly Ghost.
After Guan Hong came Liu Er.
After many battles, Liu, Guan, and Zhang had developed perfect coordination. Relying on this tacit understanding, they formed a continuous chain of attacks.
Heavenly Frost became rather embarrassed.
Mainly because every time he tried to counterattack, the Buddha Thoughts in his Sea of Consciousness would emerge to interfere with his thinking.
Even forming killing intent became restrained.
When even his thoughts were restricted, casting spells became even harder.
The Heavenly Ghost was forced back by the three generals.
Seeing this scene, Earth Ghost burst into laughter.
It was the first time he had ever seen his best partner in such a miserable state.
Hearing Earth Ghost’s laughter, Liu Er, Guan Hong, Zhang Hei, and Ning Zhuo all felt their hearts tighten.
At the same time, they realized something—
Their opponent had not yet used his full strength.