Chapter 489: Frozen Battle

Lin Dong faced off against the elders of various major sects one after another, sparing no effort and using plenty of Fifth-Level Snow Condensing Fruits. In fact, this was exactly the effect he wanted.
The Snow Condensing Fruit was something he had obtained from Wan Cui Lin, the head of the Martial Assessment Institute who loved cultivating spiritual materials, back when he was at Qiufeng Mansion. Its medicinal effects weren’t outstanding, but they weren’t bad either. Ever since he learned he could open a shop on Tianfeng Street, aside from meeting the needs of his guard team, Lin Dong had stored up more of them. Today, they came in handy again.
By single-handedly matching the combined attacks of the elders from twenty-one sects, if word of this spread, it would be hard for the sect master of Yutian Sect not to be regarded as a super hero.
If he could also use his strength at the Seventh Level of Xin Ni to defeat the sect masters of two major sects who were at the Ninth Level of Xin Ni—people who should have been unbeatable—such dominance would surely allow him to easily conquer Dagong Mountain.
If Lin Dong wanted to become famous, leveraging his age and handling things properly, it wouldn’t be difficult for his reputation to spread throughout the entire Great Han Kingdom. Of course, Lin Dong wasn’t interested in that for now; all he wanted was to ensure that no one dared to steal from his shop on Tianfeng Street.
Over four hundred elders took turns attacking, but none of them revealed the true effects of the Snow Condensing Fruit. Lin Dong, on the other hand, told everyone that the opponents lacked sleep and needed to take the fruit.
With both sides willing, all over four hundred Snow Condensing Fruits were distributed in just two hours. Under Lin Dong’s control, the drum was struck only fifty-odd times.
As the sun set, the light on the mountain top gradually dimmed, but it didn’t affect everyone’s vision. Even in complete darkness, the people present could see everything clearly, though it required more spiritual energy.
The only pity was the food and drinks on those thirty-plus large round tables. The temperature on the mountain top was already low, so the once steaming dishes now had a thin layer of ice on them. Eating them like that would surely make them crackle loudly in the mouth.
Although the elders were interested in the Snow Condensing Fruit, none of them tried to take advantage of the situation. After the last person took their share and stepped back into the crowd, everyone’s attention turned to the sect masters of the two major sects.
“Sect Master Hao, may I ask for your permission to perform a silly act?”
Seeing that Hao Qingfeng, the sect master of Fengyun Sect, remained silent, with his eyes half-closed as if in a daze, Zhang Yuequan of Lingjue Sect understood that he didn’t want to fight a younger person. After hesitating for a moment, he spoke first.
“Thank you, Sect Master Zhang,” Hao Qingfeng said with a slight smile.

Zhang Yuequan inwardly scoffed at the sect leader of Fengyun Sect who had held the position for over fifty years without passing it on, then nodded with a smile. With a light tap of his toes, he moved to within ten meters of Lin Dong.

Lin Dong took a deep breath, suddenly turned around, and swung the drumstick in his hand fiercely at the giant’s thigh.

Boom…

Amid the loud noise, Lin Dong slowly turned back, holding the drumstick horizontally across his chest. He said solemnly, “Senior, please!”

Zhang Yuequan glanced at Lin Dong’s clothes, which were ordinary and didn’t seem like any kind of spiritual armor. He then looked at the drumstick in Lin Dong’s hand—the material was hard to identify, but it must be a decent spiritual artifact.

In other words, the spiritual artifact on the other party might not even be as good as his own.

Zhang Yuequan found it somewhat amusing that he was feeling so nervous around a junior. Being two realms higher and in the ninth stage of the Heart Reversal period meant he was almost invincible, even if the other party had a ninth-tier spiritual artifact.

He opened his palm, and a huge, crystal-clear axe appeared in it.

“The Ice Giant Axe?”

Gasps erupted from the crowd, even Hao Qingfeng was somewhat impressed.

This Ice Giant Axe was a ninth-tier spiritual artifact and one of the three sacred treasures of Lingjue Sect. Combined with Lingjue Sect’s unique spiritual skills, it possessed terrifying abilities to split mountains and freeze vast areas.

A person in the ninth stage of the Heart Reversal period facing one in the seventh stage, and yet using a sacred treasure right from the start—using a sledgehammer to kill a chicken might be an overreaction, but it certainly was an overreaction.

With a whoosh, aside from Hao Qingfeng and the other nineteen sect leaders who valued their status, all the elders stepped back five or six meters. Although they had never experienced the true terror of this Ice Giant Axe firsthand, its status as a sacred treasure of a major sect meant the rumors weren’t exaggerated. Staying too close could lead to disaster.

“This axe is truly formidable!” Lin Dong thought in awe. The handle was over three meters long, entirely crystal clear, and combined with the blade that was over a meter high, the total length was five meters. At first glance, the handle, which was only as thick as an ordinary axe, seemed disproportionate to the blade. Yet it appeared even more imposing and fierce than ordinary axes.

“Be careful!”

Zhang Yuequan warned, waving his arm from over ten meters away. The giant axe suddenly swung diagonally forward. A thin line of ice formed silently, as if to measure Lin Dong’s height, and shot toward him.

Lin Dong felt a chill in his heart. Wherever that line of ice passed, it created an expanding ice barrier covered with tiny holes. Clearly, the ice was extremely cold, instantly freezing the surrounding moisture.

Without hesitation, Lin Dong twisted his waist, continuing to spin in place. The drumstick in his hand was thrust upward from below, straight toward the ice line.
Boom…
A long, resonant roar erupted—completely at odds with the situation. Lin Dong’s rapidly spinning body suddenly stopped and turned into an ice statue.
Hiss…
Gasps of shock filled the air. Aside from the people from the Wind and Cloud Sect, the sect leaders and elders of the other sects were all utterly astonished. At such a speed, they knew they could only brace themselves and withstand the attack. The outcome would undoubtedly be the same as Lin Dong’s—even if they managed to block the ice line, they would still turn into ice statues.
The ice statue was so blurred that it was impossible to see what was inside. This clearly meant the cold energy generated by the ice line was far more than just ordinary freezing. Otherwise, such a thin layer wouldn’t be enough to conceal Lin Dong inside.
Had it ended so quickly?
Seeing Zhang Yuequan calmly raise his arm again, many people thought the same thing. They had all fought against Lin Dong, including some elders at the seventh level of the Mental Realm. Though it was just a formality, they still had some understanding of Lin Dong’s strength.
If even Lin Dong couldn’t overcome him in one move, their chances were even slimmer. The sect leader of the Spirit Perception Sect was simply too powerful.
Three, four, five… Or perhaps it would take a dozen top-ranking elders working together to confront Zhang Yuequan, who wielded the giant ice axe?
Huh…
As Zhang Yuequan swung his arm, the giant ice axe slashed downward with force.
What emerged wasn’t the intangible ice line but a solid ice pillar that even ordinary people could see clearly.
The ice pillar wasn’t fast, yet it seemed to possess an astonishing gravitational pull. The surrounding moisture kept gathering around it, causing its diameter to expand.
Ten centimeters, twenty centimeters, fifty centimeters… In just a short distance, the ice pillar’s volume increased by hundreds or thousands of times. By the time it reached Lin Dong, it was no longer a pillar but a thick ice wall.
Everyone understood that Zhang Yuequan was holding back. Though the ice wall looked terrifying, its speed of advancement was slow, and its transparency meant it lacked sufficient hardness. A normal person might suffer broken arms or legs from such a collision, but a strong warrior at the seventh level of the Mental Reverse Realm would only be sent flying twenty or thirty meters away.
As everyone watched anxiously, hoping for the arrival of a peak-level warrior, the ice wall strangely stopped. After a pause, it reversed direction and rushed back at Zhang Yuequan.
“What’s going on?”

Everyone’s hearts pounded like drums, even Hao Qingfeng couldn’t help but become cautiously vigilant. They all suspected that this strange situation was caused by a peak-level expert acting in secret.

Zhang Yuequan, however, frowned slightly. As the person involved, he knew better than anyone else just how powerful the ice wall that had appeared was. Fast as lightning, combined with its massive size, it seemed formidable and terrifying. But if that was all, it meant nothing in the face of a master at the Ninth Stage of Heart Reversal. Zhang Yuequan had tested it mentally—and there wasn’t a trace of energy inside the ice wall.

This meant the ice wall was truly only fast and large in size. He refused to believe that anyone’s spiritual energy leakage could escape his detection, not even that of a peak-level expert.

In the face of someone at the Ninth Stage of Heart Reversal, a peak-level expert could hide their presence—just a wall was enough to keep them undetected. But spiritual energy leakage could never escape their detection.

Could it be…?

Zhang Yuequan felt a little reassured. He thought of Lin Dong, the person behind the ice wall. Lin Dong hadn’t been defeated in one strike, which was already much better than having a peak-level expert appear out of nowhere.

Raising his Ice Axe, Zhang Yuequan swung it casually. With a loud explosion, the ice wall shattered into countless ice spikes, shooting in all directions.

Bang!

With another loud noise, Hao Qingfeng’s eyes closed again. The sect leaders and elders also saw their rapidly pounding hearts calm down. They watched as Lin Dong, now turned into an ice figure, had the ice on his body shatter into pieces.

Undoubtedly, the strange phenomenon earlier wasn’t caused by the arrival of a peak-level expert.

Twisting his neck, Lin Dong pushed aside a piece of extremely cold ice hanging on his chest. He raised his mallet, his gaze fixed straight on Zhang Yuequan.

“As expected, heroes emerge from the young. You’re the first young man in history to withstand my axe, young master.” Zhang Yuequan stroked his long beard. Though his words were meant as praise for Lin Dong, he placed himself in a higher position first.

Of course, it wasn’t surprising that Zhang Yuequan acted as if he were facing a young rival rather than the leader of another sect. The Seventh Stage of Heart Reversal was still a terrifying strength no matter where one went. But in the face of the Ninth Stage, even dragons had to lie down and tigers had to rest—these two were not on the same level at all.

Hao Qingfeng’s closed eyes tightened further. He understood that he no longer needed to intervene.

Being able to block one attack doesn’t mean one can block a second—Lin Dong’s defeat was already settled. Since he had lost, there was no need for him to intervene. With a peak-level powerhouse present, although the sect leaders and elders of various sects were all there, it wasn’t impossible to attack and destroy the Yu Tian Sect outright. But each sect would have to lose at least five or six elders, and no one wanted to pay such a high price. Undoubtedly, no one would stop the Yu Tian Sect from being established by then.
No matter which scenario occurred, Hao Qingfeng believed he wouldn’t need to intervene.