Chapter 127: The Site for the Array

Chapter 127: The Site for the Array

As soon as the spear was in his grasp, a chill ran through Chu Ning. It was hard to believe that the weapon had just unleashed such fiery fury.

"The Fire Phoenix Feather Spear, a top-grade artifact."

Chu Ning recalled the information Shang Rui had mentioned about the artifact, and his heart stirred with excitement.

After all, he now possessed a top-grade artifact.

Considering that the Black Obsidian Dagger could only be relied on in critical situations, having a usable top-grade artifact would undoubtedly enhance his deterrence significantly.

Recalling the scene where Shang Rui had unleashed a sea of flames, forcing him to employ all his defensive measures, Chu Ning immediately picked up the artifact and attempted to infuse it with his spiritual power.

The next moment, Chu Ning's eyes widened in surprise.

His expression turned gloomy.

"This artifact is a special fire-attribute artifact, and I can't wield it with my wood-attribute spiritual power?"

Chu Ning, unwilling to give up, once again gathered his spiritual power and tried to channel it into the spear.

After a long while, Chu Ning had no choice but to relent, letting out a long sigh.

It was a pity that despite obtaining a top-grade artifact, he couldn't use it.

He glanced at the artifact reluctantly once more before eventually storing it away in his storage bag.

Since he couldn't use it, it held no value for him at the moment.

Chu Ning searched Shang Rui's body further and found only a storage bag besides the one he already had.

Subsequently, he used a few Fireball Techniques to turn Shang Rui's body into ashes.

"I won't play with fire, but letting you turn to ashes in the end is the least I can do."

Chu Ning muttered to himself, then promptly returned to the cave he had been in before.

After his battle with Shang Rui, not only had he exhausted most of his defensive measures, but he had also depleted a significant portion of his spiritual power.

Naturally, he couldn't afford to venture outside at the moment.

Upon entering the cave, he first placed a mid-grade defensive talisman on his sleeve, ensuring it could be activated at any time.

Then, Chu Ning took out ten small pieces of Earth Spirit Crystals from his storage bag and refilled his Earth Spirit Bracelet.

Only then did he take out several Recovery Pills and started restoring his spiritual power.

After circulating the Green Wood Eternal Spring Art a few times, Chu Ning felt his spiritual power fully restored.

He got up and opened Shang Rui's storage bag.

"Hmm? So many medicinal ingredients?"

When Chu Ning opened the storage bag, the first things that caught his eye were the jade boxes.

Upon opening them, he found that most of them contained wood-attribute or fire-attribute spirit herbs.

These spirit herbs seemed to be of considerable age.

In fact, there were no fewer herbs here than what Chu Ning had collected on his journey so far.

Recalling Shang Rui's mention of his imminent Foundation Establishment, Chu Ning wasn't too surprised to find such a large quantity of spirit herbs in his possession.

However, he wondered if Shang Rui had collected them in the sect or found them within the spirit domain.

Aside from the abundant spirit herbs, Chu Ning was delighted to discover over twenty pieces of medium-grade spirit stones in the storage bag.

There were also some relatively high-quality pills, and upon inspection, Chu Ning found a few that he could use.

There were two or three types of pills that he didn't recognize.

Additionally, Chu Ning found a jade slip inside, which surprisingly recorded some pill formulas.

However, as he had never studied pill refinement, he only glanced at it before putting it away.

"Although I can't use the top-grade artifact, the value of these other items is still considerable."

Chu Ning sorted the usable and unusable items into different storage bags, then left the cave with Ling Xiao Bai.

They spent quite some time exiting the mountain pass, and only then did they continue toward the site for the array.

Along the way, Chu Ning became increasingly cautious.

There were even a couple of instances where Ling Xiao Bai alerted him to the presence of spirit herbs, but as Chu Ning's puppet bird and spiritual sense couldn't detect them, he chose to give up.

However, as they drew closer to the site for the array, the spiritual energy in the area became more and more dense, and Chu Ning was able to obtain spirit herbs and plants every now and then.

Now, Chu Ning could understand why disciples were so eager to participate in secret missions and enter spirit domains.

Setting aside everything else, just the opportunity to obtain these spirit herbs and plants was a once-in-a-lifetime chance for most Qi Refining cultivators.

For Chu Ning, despite his abundant harvest, he still felt a twinge of regret.

In a relatively hidden small cave, Chu Ning watched as the sky outside gradually brightened, and only then did he slowly stop his cultivation.

Then, out of habit, he checked his cultivation proficiency.

【Green Wood Eternal Spring Art (Low-grade Yellow), 3rd Layer (1041/2100)】

【Nine Transforming Body Refinement Art, 1st Volume, Unbreakable Sinews 578/1500】

【Spirit Refining Technique, 2nd Layer 12/2000】

It had been twenty days since he entered the spirit domain.

During these twenty days, Chu Ning had been traveling during the day, but he still managed to maintain a relatively ample cultivation time at night.

Of course, since his cultivation duration wasn't as long as when he was in Yanji Fang, his progress was naturally slower.

In terms of body refinement, Chu Ning had a sufficient number of Golden Lan Fruits in his storage bag. By consuming one fruit per day, he could increase his proficiency by 2 points.

Any more than that would be pointless, as he didn't have the extra time for additional cultivation.

For spiritual cultivation, without the assistance of the Green Wood Spring Art, and with the need to spend time recovering spiritual power, his progress naturally wasn't as fast as it had been in the outside world.

However, the spiritual energy density in this spirit domain was very high, allowing for quick recovery of spiritual power.

Moreover, as Chu Ning typically consumed a Spirit Recovery Pill every one or two days, along with the continuous consumption of Golden Lan Fruits, he could still ensure a daily increase of 3 to 4 points in proficiency.

Among the three cultivation techniques, the Spirit Refining Technique was undoubtedly the most affected.

As a result, his progress in the Spirit Refining Technique was extremely slow. In the twenty days since he had entered the spirit domain, he had only managed to increase his proficiency by 10 points.

"There are so many spirit herbs and plants in this spirit domain, and I've even come across a few for body refinement. Why haven't I come across any that aid in spiritual sense improvement?"

Chu Ning sighed softly.

Then, he transmitted his voice to Ling Xiao Bai, "Little White, can't you sense spiritual sense-enhancing spirit herbs?"

"What are spiritual sense-enhancing spirit herbs?"

Hearing Ling Xiao Bai's question, Chu Ning widened his eyes in surprise. "You really can't sense them?"

At that moment, Chu Ning vaguely thought of a possibility and asked, "Can you only sense spirit herbs and plants with rich spiritual energy?"

Ling Xiao Bai nodded, and Chu Ning heaved a soft sigh.

No wonder! Whether for cultivation or body refinement, spirit herbs primarily relied on spiritual energy, and the better the spirit herb, the richer the spiritual energy it possessed.

However, this was not necessarily the case for spirit herbs related to spiritual sense improvement.

For example, if Chu Ning had not been cultivating his spiritual sense, he would never have been able to sense the wood spirit energy within the Black Night Iron Spirit Wood.

If there were similar spirit plants, they might exhibit the same phenomenon.

Ling Xiao Bai could only distinguish them by the richness of their spiritual energy and not by the strength of their spiritual sense.

"So, have I possibly missed out on such treasures along the way?"

Chu Ning muttered to himself, then shook his head.

That was not necessarily the case; it was possible that there simply were no such treasures to be found. After all, heaven-defying treasures that could enhance one's spiritual sense were incredibly rare.

With a sigh, Chu Ning stood up and walked out of the small cave.

He took out the direction-guiding needle and glanced at it before starting to walk in the direction it indicated.

After some time, Chu Ning discovered that the needle not only indicated the direction but also provided a rough estimate of the distance.

When he had first entered the spirit domain, the red needle had been very long. Now, it had shrunk to less than a third of its original length, indicating that he had traveled more than two-thirds of the distance.

"I need to speed up a bit."

He wasn't foolish enough to wait until the end of the month to test if the guiding needle was a joke.

With that thought, Chu Ning quickened his pace.

At the same time, he continued to send out his puppet bird every day to scout ahead.

As he drew closer to the site for the array, Chu Ning encountered more and more people each day, and he generally tried to avoid them as much as possible.

On occasion, when he came across someone traveling alone whom he couldn't avoid, he simply didn't join them.

After traveling in this manner for another three days, Chu Ning found a place to rest. He looked at the length of the guiding needle and calculated the remaining distance.

"If I continue at this pace, it will take at most four more days to reach my destination.

Considering I started from the very edge at Blue Moon Cave, my speed isn't too bad."

Chu Ning thought to himself as his puppet bird circled around him, keeping watch.

Suddenly, his expression stirred, and he casually glanced towards the east.

At the same time, he directed his puppet bird to fly in that direction.

Unfortunately, the puppet bird could only see up to a hundred meters away, and the sound Chu Ning had heard earlier was at least three to four hundred meters away.

Since the puppet bird couldn't see anything, Chu Ning stood up, intending to leave before whoever was there drew closer.

However, just as he was about to take a step, he paused again.

The sound that had reached his ears seemed vaguely familiar.

Thus, Chu Ning did not recall his puppet bird and continued to observe.

After a few breaths, a figure came rushing from the east.

"Is it him?"

Chu Ning was slightly surprised to see the person.

It was Shang Zhaoxiang.

When Shang Zhaoxiang looked back, Chu Ning saw a spider-like demon beast chasing after him relentlessly.

Chu Ning, who had been about to leave, immediately flew towards the east, casting a wind-walking spell.

"Senior Brother, save me!"

At that moment, Shang Zhaoxiang also spotted Chu Ning and was overjoyed to discover that he was at the seventh layer of Qi Refinement.

"A first-rank intermediate demon beast."

With a single glance, Chu Ning discerned the rank of the demon beast. He took out a hook-shaped intermediate artifact from his storage bag.

He had obtained this artifact near Blue Moon Cave when he had first entered the spirit domain.

It had originally belonged to the skinny disciple who had been killed for his treasures, but it had ultimately ended up in Chu Ning's possession.

As Chu Ning channeled his spiritual power into the hook, it shot out a golden beam that struck the spider, causing it to come to a halt. Chu Ning then waved his hand, and several metal sword auras shot out from his talisman ring, piercing the spider demon beast with countless holes.

Witnessing this display, Shang Zhaoxiang, who had stopped in his tracks, wore an ecstatic expression. "Senior Brother has such exquisite metal-type spells, and your metal-type intermediate artifact is even more impressive than your sword aura."

Shang Zhaoxiang continued to flatter, a habit that Chu Ning found rather amusing.

"So, this is how he cultivates relationships."

Due to the illusion spell, Shang Zhaoxiang did not recognize Chu Ning.

In fact, even if they had met after entering the spirit domain, Shang Zhaoxiang wouldn't have been able to identify him, as he now appeared as a middle-aged man who primarily used metal-type spells and artifacts, perfectly fitting the profile of a disciple who specialized in metal-type magic.

Chu Ning looked at Shang Zhaoxiang's slightly disheveled appearance and asked curiously, "Why did this junior brother attract the attention of such a beast? With your sixth layer of Qi cultivation, you should have avoided it instead."

"Ai, don't mention it!" Shang Zhaoxiang sighed and shook his head. "Along the way, I've avoided any slightly dangerous places, and since the teleportation site wasn't far, I managed to arrive safely.

I accidentally discovered a few Spirit Flowers that had withered, their seedpods about to open, indicating that the seeds inside were mature and ready for collection.

Thinking that these flowers might be rare spirit plants, and seeing no beasts around, I plucked them all.

Who knew that as I continued on my way, I would unknowingly pass by the cave of this beast and attract its pursuit?"

Shang Zhaoxiang sighed, casting a fearful glance at the spider beast's corpse.

"If it weren't for Senior Brother's help, I might have lost my life so close to the array site. That would have been a terrible loss."

Chu Ning nodded in agreement. "Yes, we're so near the array site, yet the beasts here seem to have lower levels. To lose one's life here would indeed be a waste."

"That's true," Shang Zhaoxiang said, a puzzled look on his face.

"It's strange, though. As we get closer to the array site, the spiritual energy becomes denser, yet there seem to be fewer spirit plants and herbs.

Even the beasts seem to be of lower levels; I encountered two first-rank low-level beasts earlier."

Chu Ning had noticed this as well and pondered for a moment before replying, "Perhaps it's because we're closer to the array site, so more people are around, and any beasts or herbs would have been cleared by other senior brothers."

Shang Zhaoxiang readily agreed, "That's very likely."

As they spoke, Shang Zhaoxiang reached into his storage bag and took out a seedpod with faintly visible seeds, offering it to Chu Ning.

"Senior Brother, do you know what kind of flower seeds these are?"

Chu Ning casually took the seedpod, examining the greyish-green pod and the barely visible black seeds within. He carefully discerned its properties before shaking his head.

"I've never seen this type before, I'm not sure what kind of spirit plant it is."

As he spoke, Chu Ning instinctively probed the interior of the flower with his spiritual sense, wanting to get a clearer understanding.

The next moment, Chu Ning's eyes flickered with interest, and he asked, "Where did you find this flower? Are there more in that area?"

"Just on a cliff wall not far from here," Shang Zhaoxiang casually pointed in a direction, then added, "There were only a few of them, and they were all withered."

As he spoke, Shang Zhaoxiang took out five more of the same seedpods from his storage bag and handed them to Chu Ning.

"Senior Brother, if you're interested in this flower, you can have these seedpods. I don't recognize them, and they're of no use to me anyway."

Chu Ning looked at Shang Zhaoxiang in surprise, "Aren't you considering the possibility that this flower might be a valuable spirit herb?"

Shang Zhaoxiang waved his hand dismissively, "Nah, how could it be that easy? I just randomly picked up a few seedpods and expected them to be rare spirit herbs?"

"Moreover," he continued with a sigh, "even if they were something good, they wouldn't be as important as my life.

Senior Brother, you saved my life, and it's only right that I offer you some compensation."

As he spoke, Shang Zhaoxiang pushed the seedpods towards Chu Ning again.

"Also, there's no spiritual energy fluctuation coming from these spirit plants, so they're most likely not anything valuable. I'm just trying to ease my conscience."

Seeing Shang Zhaoxiang's insistence, Chu Ning hesitated for a moment before finally reaching out and taking the seedpods, placing them in his storage bag.

Simultaneously, he took out two jade boxes from his storage bag and offered them to Shang Zhaoxiang.

"These flowers do seem intriguing, and I don't recognize them either, but I'm interested in taking them out to study.

As for saving you, it was just a casual effort. Let's exchange these two spirit herbs for those flowers."

Shang Zhaoxiang was about to refuse politely, but when he saw the reluctance on Chu Ning's face, he finally accepted the two jade boxes after Chu Ning insisted a second time.

Upon opening the boxes and discovering two high-quality spirit grasses inside, Shang Zhaoxiang couldn't help but express his gratitude repeatedly.

After completing the exchange, Chu Ning declined Shang Zhaoxiang's suggestion to travel together, claiming that he needed to find his other companions.

He then changed directions and traveled for another day.

Finding a secluded spot, Chu Ning lifted the illusion spell and returned to his original appearance.

He was now very close to the array site, and the number of people he encountered was increasing. It would be more difficult to change his appearance going forward.

As for entering the array site, Chu Ning intended to do so in his true form.

After all, this was his real identity, and he wasn't sure if the sect would have some kind of verification process in place.

Even if there wasn't, Chu Ning would still need to leave eventually.

If he hadn't shown his true face at the array site, suddenly appearing later on would raise suspicions.

After reverting to his original appearance, Chu Ning no longer tried to avoid people.

He traveled in this manner for a day and then joined a group of twenty or so people, journeying together.

Among them was Shang Zhaoxiang.

Seeing Chu Ning, Shang Zhaoxiang was surprised and delighted, greeting him warmly.

When he heard that Chu Ning had teleported a short distance away and had encountered little danger along the way, Shang Zhaoxiang couldn't help but exclaim in admiration at Chu Ning's good fortune.

He envied Chu Ning's luck.

The two chatted as they walked, and finally, after another day of travel, in the afternoon of the following day, the group arrived at the location indicated by the guiding needle.

The array site.

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end