The sudden eruption of black qi instantly seemed to freeze the surrounding space. The cave, already unbearably cold, became even more frigid.
Evan Chu knew this was exactly the Coldglass Ice Gale Luna had warned him about. Sure enough, it was several times more powerful than Coldflame, and even more terrifying than the Coldtide that once erupted atop the mountain. Although he had already activated Watershift, his instincts still made him reflexively dodge aside.
After a few breaths, Evan heard Luna’s laughter: “Linfeng, you really are hopeless. If you could cultivate Watershift to its peak, you could unleash Coldglass Ice Gales yourself, or even the far more terrifying Coldfiend Flowing Flame. The current Coldglass Ice Gale can’t hurt you at all.”
Evan glanced at Luna and chuckled, "That Coldtide from last time really traumatized me. Once bitten by a snake, you’ll fear the rope for ten years, right? Better safe than sorry."
“That Coldglass Ice Gale is actually emitted by the Cold Soul Pearl. The extreme cold in here is also because of it. Since you’ve got time, why not cultivate for a while and see if you can fuse the Fivefold Element-Shift? When it’s time, I’ll wake you up,” Luna said.
Evan nodded, then sat down where he was. Honestly, he wasn’t confident about fusing the Fivefold Element-Shift. Luna had already taught him about the cycle of mutual generation and restraint among the five elements, but truly grasping it wasn’t something he could do in a single sitting.
Evan slowly recalled the subtle connections between the five elements, sinking fully into a state of emptiness, just like a meditating monk—motionless, sitting right where he was.
He had already fused water and fire. Now he just needed to fuse the other three elements. He had an idea: randomly fuse two elements first, and once those were merged, combine them with water and fire. If that worked, he’d have four fused. Then he could try merging the last element into the other four.
Once Evan thought of it, he acted—that’s just his style. He decided to fuse metal and earth first, and let wood be the last to merge with the four elements.
In fact, Evan’s decision was exactly right. Earth generates metal, so earth and metal are the easiest pair to fuse. Wood, meanwhile, is quasi-neutral: it restrains earth but is restrained by metal. Once metal and earth are merged, wood won’t directly conflict with either, making it much easier to blend everything together quickly.
Day after day passed, but Luna didn’t return to Evan Chu’s body—instead, she quietly slipped into the Cold Pool. That barrier was nowhere near as simple as she’d made it sound. Right now, she was throwing herself at its restrictions with everything she had, her figure growing even more hazy—a clear sign her soul power was draining fast.
Evan had no clue about any of this. Eventually Luna emerged on the shore, muttering to herself, “Evan, whether you can break this barrier depends on what you grasp this time. I never thought it would be an innate Five-Element Barrier. My soul power can only break the outer restrictions—the real core, you’ll have to handle yourself!”
Half a month flashed by in no time. Luna woke Evan and said, “Evan, the barrier’s restrictions are pretty complicated. You’ll have to work through them slowly. I’m just a soul body—I can only help with the outer layer. The rest is up to you!”
Seeing Luna’s form even more blurred, Evan instantly understood. He said, “Luna, I know you’ve burned a ton of soul power for me again. You’d better return to my body—it might help you recover a little.”
Luna nodded. Her body flashed with white light, transforming into a tiny silver sword that hovered before Evan, circled once in the air, then darted back into the space between his brows.
Evan dove straight into the Cold Pool. The instant he entered, he activated Watershift—no way was he going to savor that bone-chilling cold.
He reached the barrier. Sure enough, Luna had already broken through part of it. But with all her knowledge, how could she not fully shatter it? Evan stared at the invisible wall, eyes locked tight.
“Evan, this is a Five-Element Barrier. You need true Five-Element power to break it. I’m just a soul body—I can’t do it myself. I hope you can pull it off.” Luna spoke up.
Evan was totally clueless about this invisible barrier, so he couldn’t help but ask, “How do I break an invisible barrier like this? Luna, can you give me some pointers?”
“To break a Five-Element Barrier, you need the power of all five elements. Gather all five at once in your hands, then strike the barrier. But you haven’t fully fused the Five Elements yet, so it won’t be easy.” Luna explained.
"No problem, I've already fused metal, wood, and earth. If I split my focus and channel water and fire in one hand while maintaining the other three in the other, I can pull it off. Honestly, I must be a genius to come up with something this difficult!" Evan couldn't help but laugh.
"Then give it a try!" Luna said.
Evan split his focus, gathering water and fire in his left hand and the other three elements in his right. When the time was right, he unleashed both palms simultaneously, striking the invisible barrier ahead.
"Boom!" A deafening explosion rang out, and the backlash from the blast sent Evan flying several meters back. Both his palms felt numb, almost as if he'd lost all sensation.
"What the hell? An explosion? This is ridiculous!" Evan grumbled in frustration.
Still, when he leaned in and scanned the barrier with his divine sense, he noticed cracks spreading across its surface. His attack wasn't useless after all. The method was crude and painful, but if it broke the barrier, he'd gladly endure it—after all, he hadn't fully mastered the Five Elements yet.
Next, Evan kept bombarding the barrier, resting a few minutes after each strike until his arms regained feeling before attacking again. Only now did he realize how terrifying Five-Element power truly was—even with his current defenses, he could barely withstand it. If this force were fused into martial arts, their destructive power would be unimaginable.
After many rounds of attacks, the invisible Five-Element Barrier finally shattered. This was a thrilling moment—Evan immediately stepped inside, finding the water just as bone-chilling as before, no different from the outside.
But there, a strange Sacred Snow Lotus was quietly growing. Its flower was seven-colored and gave off a faint, ethereal fragrance. Even though it was underwater, not a single drop clung to its petals, which puzzled Evan.
But that wasn't the main thing—what he really needed was the lotus root beneath it. Sure enough, a short segment was exposed, exactly what he needed from the Sacred Snow Lotus. He quickly drew the Frostbane Sword to break the ice and extract the root, but just then Luna urgently called out, "You can't do that..."