Chapter 157: Sharing a Cave Abode (Two in One) (Part 2)

Chapter 157: Sharing a Cave Abode (Two in One) (Part 2)

Then, he recalled that Shadow Moon Island and Green Wave Island were affiliated with the two major families.

"Could they be here because of Peng Dajun and He Mingjin?" Chu Ning wondered inwardly, feeling a sense of vigilance.

"Whoever is inside, please come out and greet us," the one in the yellow robe, Song Feng, said impatiently.

Chu Ning stood up and prepared to go outside, but Cenzi Jin spoke up, "That Song Feng has a nasty temper, and both of them are at the middle stage of Foundation Establishment. Be careful, Fellow Daoist Chu."

Hearing Cenzi Jin's warning, Chu Ning nodded and quickly flew out of the cave abode.

When he approached the two cultivators, he cupped his hands and bowed, "I am Chu Ning from Fei Hong Island. Greetings, Seniors. I was in the midst of cultivation, please forgive me for any inconvenience."

Meanwhile, Song Feng, dressed in yellow, abruptly spoke up, "Are you the Chu Ning who defeated a Qi Refining cultivator at the peak of their power during the Thousand Islands Competition? I heard that Fei Hong Island has a second-grade spirit vein. Is this where you cultivate?"

"Oh, I remember now. I heard you're also a Talisman Master with some impressive skills." Liu Wanhong recalled as he spoke.

Chu Ning hadn't expected that after half a year, Song Feng would still remember him.

So he hastily replied, "It's just a minor skill, not worthy of your attention, Seniors. Indeed, there's a very small second-grade spirit vein here, so I built my cave abode."

Hearing Chu Ning's honesty, a hint of satisfaction appeared on Song Feng's face.

However, the next moment, both of their gazes intensified as their spiritual senses enveloped and pressured Chu Ning.

"Have any other island's Core Formation cultivators visited recently?"

Sensing their spiritual senses, Chu Ning's face immediately displayed a slightly startled expression.

He quickly replied, "No, Seniors, you are the first Core Formation cultivators I've seen since establishing my cave abode."

"Really?!" Song Feng increased his spiritual sense pressure, his voice turning colder.

Chu Ning shook his head, "Truly, I dare not deceive Seniors."

Liu Wanhong mumbled softly, "Someone clearly saw them heading in this direction, so why haven't they appeared?"

Song Feng remained silent, merely glancing at Chu Ning before looking towards the cave abode's formation behind him, his eyes flickering with calculation.

Seeing the look in his eyes, Chu Ning's heart skipped a beat, sensing that something was amiss.

If they insisted on entering the cave abode to take a look, he would find it difficult to refuse outright.

At that moment, the blue-robed cultivator, Liu Wanhong, spoke up, "Then let's go. If you see those two with these appearances later, be sure to inform us at Qian Huan Island immediately."

As he spoke, Liu Wanhong described the appearances of the two cultivators in detail.

"So they're here because of Peng Dajun and He Mingjin," Chu Ning thought to himself, his heart sinking.

He nodded repeatedly, assuring them that he would notify them if he saw the two men.

Hearing this, Liu Wanhong stopped talking and prepared to leave.

However, Song Feng coldly smiled, "We are from the Thousand Islands Alliance, and you dare to neglect our summons. You think setting up a formation from the Cen Family makes you untouchable? Since that's the case, it's time for you to suffer some consequences..."

As he spoke, Song Feng fixed his eyes on Chu Ning, and simultaneously, Chu Ning felt a surge of spiritual sense assaulting his mind.

"A spiritual sense attack?!"

Chu Ning immediately realized what Song Feng was up to and reacted.

At this moment, Chu Ning could have used the Soul Seal Technique to teach Song Feng a lesson.

However, doing so would also mean inviting trouble.

Of course, Chu Ning wouldn't let Song Feng get away with this blatant spiritual sense attack.

He employed the Soul Seal Technique to block the attack, carefully controlling it to avoid any backlash.

The next moment, Chu Ning cried out, "Ah!" as he clutched his head in apparent agony.

His face turned deathly pale, and his eyes took on a vacant look.

Seeing this, Song Feng coldly smiled.

Then, he turned and flew away.

Liu Wanhong didn't even spare Chu Ning a glance before disappearing with Song Feng.

It was only after they left that Chu Ning slowly lowered his hand from his head.

His eyes flickered with determination.

"Song, I'll remember your surname."

Chu Ning's eyebrows furrowed slightly.

Then, he turned and slowly walked back into the formation.

As soon as Chu Ning re-entered the cave abode, Cenzi Jin rushed over to him.

Seeing his pale face, her eyes flashed with anger.

"That Song Feng is getting more and more outrageous. He actually used a spiritual sense attack on a Qi Refining cultivator."

After speaking, Cenzi Jin looked at Chu Ning with concern.

"Fellow Daoist Chu, how are you feeling now? Spiritual sense injuries are very slow to recover for Qi Refining cultivators. If it's severe, it may take a long time to heal."

Chu Ning waved his hand slightly, his face still pale but with a hint of rosiness returning.

"The treasure I used to defend against the Yin Spirit attack has some effect against spiritual sense attacks as well. Although I felt like my head was about to explode for a moment, the injury isn't too serious."

Chu Ning didn't want to exaggerate his injury, as it would be troublesome to keep up the act.

Besides, when he had defended against the Yin Spirit before, Cenzi Jin had already witnessed some of his abilities.

Since they were both spiritual sense-related attacks, there weren't any major inconsistencies in his story.

As expected, upon hearing Chu Ning's explanation, Cenzi Jin didn't press further, instead letting out a big sigh of relief.

"That's good.

Speaking of which, you might have gotten into this because of me."

Cenzi Jin sighed softly, "The Song Family and our Cen Family have had many disagreements. He must have realized that the formation here is somewhat related to me."

Hearing this, Chu Ning opened his mouth slightly.

He now realized that after the Thousand Islands Competition, when Cen Xianzi had sent her maid to invite him, his decision to refuse had been truly wise.

As he had thought back then, the title of 'First Fairy of the Thousand Lakes and Islands' would undoubtedly bring a lot of trouble.

Unfortunately, to obtain the formation and offer his help with talismans, he had eventually gotten involved with her.

Thinking of this, Chu Ning lightly sighed.

"Now we're both in the same boat, suffering from injuries.

Fellow Daoist Cen, you should be safe staying here.

It's been dangerous getting involved with you."

Hearing Chu Ning's words, Cenzi Jin's beautiful eyes narrowed slightly.

Although she knew he was speaking the truth, as a stunning beauty, she couldn't help but feel a little annoyed that he only saw her as a source of trouble.

As Cenzi Jin spoke, her eyes narrowed in thought. "Those two islands are indeed affiliated with the Liu and Song families."

Chu Ning pretended not to understand what she was talking about. After this incident, both of them lost their enthusiasm for conversation, and they returned to their respective stone chambers to cultivate.

In the following days, one focused on healing while the other focused on cultivation.

The different stone chambers were separated by restrictions, ensuring they did not interfere with each other.

Moreover, with the protection of the stone chamber restrictions, Chu Ning could cultivate the Blazing Fire Flaming Fist Spell without worrying about any noise disturbing Cenzi Jin.

Their interactions gradually increased from occasional conversations before and after meals to more frequent exchanges.

They talked about a range of topics, from the general situation in the Thousand Lakes and Islands to cultivation.

Occasionally, Chu Ning would ask cultivation questions, and Cenzi Jin would answer them one by one.

Over time, Chu Ning gained quite a few insights.

For example, he learned from Cenzi Jin that the six prominent families of the Thousand Islands Alliance were not united.

There were three factions within them.

The Liu, Song, and Huo families were relatively close.

Meanwhile, the Chen and Shi families had a good relationship.

The Cen family maintained a relatively independent stance between the two factions.

This balance was mainly due to their expertise in formations.

After all, in the Thousand Lakes and Islands, the teleportation formations and various island formations were all dependent on the Cen family.

Moreover, these teleportation formations were also a significant source of income for the Thousand Islands Alliance.

However, in recent years, Cen Zijin's uncle, Cen Wenquan, seemed to have the idea of getting closer to the Chen and Shi families.

This led to the other three families deliberately targeting the Cen family.

Previously, Cenzi Jin had invited Chu Ning to join her because, in the marketplace, they had been somewhat ostracized by the three families.

Aside from formations, their other businesses were largely lackluster.

During their conversations, they also casually inquired about each other's backgrounds.

For example, Cenzi Jin was curious about Chu Ning's various abilities and once casually asked about his origins.

Chu Ning, of course, casually brushed off the question.

He also tried to casually ask about the outside world's rumors regarding Cenzi Jin, such as whether she was really accepted as a disciple by a Golden Core cultivator and why she chose to stay here instead of joining a major sect.

However, he didn't gain any useful information.

In the blink of an eye, Cenzi Jin had been living here for over a month.

One day, as Chu Ning entered the spirit herb garden, he was surprised to see something.

The hybrid spirit fruit between the Primordial Yang Fruit and the Iron Stem Orchid was growing extremely slowly after pollination.

Not only did it take longer for the flowers to be pollinated compared to the previous hybrid Primordial Yang Fruit, but the growth rate of the fruit was also much slower than the original fruit, and even slower than the Iron Stem Orchid.

In the past two months, the fruit had only grown slightly larger, and there were no other noticeable changes.

However, today, Chu Ning noticed a slight change.

The fruit was still small, but the red spots on it seemed to have decreased compared to a few days ago when he had been observing it closely.

"What's going on? If the fruit doesn't grow, that's fine, but why are the red spots getting smaller? Could it be a failed cultivation?"

Chu Ning wondered to himself as he recorded the changes in the spirit fruit.

Next, Chu Ning went to check on the Blazing Wood Twin Birth Fruit and the Iron Soul Flower, the two spirit herbs he cared about the most.

"Hey, it's bearing fruit!"

Seeing the few small spirit fruits on the Blazing Wood Twin Birth Fruit tree, Chu Ning's heart filled with joy.

He quickly walked over to the tree.

The spirit fruit was green, not the fiery red he had seen in the Spirit Realm.

Moreover, it was much smaller.

However, the shape was exactly the same.

Chu Ning's face lit up with a smile.

It had taken eight months, but the Blazing Wood Twin Birth Fruit had finally borne fruit. From now on, as long as he intermittently cast spells, it was only a matter of time until the fruit matured.

Chu Ning recalled that in the Spirit Realm, a Blazing Wood Twin Birth Fruit tree could bear 5-6 spirit fruits.

Now that he had 36 trees, he should be able to harvest around 150 fruits.

Whether he consumed them directly or refined them into the Xuan Lingbao Pill, it should be enough.

The only concern was the time it would take for the fruits to mature.

"I need to get Ling Xiaobai to help speed up the maturation process."

Chu Ning knew that he couldn't take all the credit for the rapid growth of these spirit herbs.

His Yin Wood Spirit Body and the practice of the Greenwood Eternal Spring Art were indeed more effective than ordinary cultivators.

However, the little guy's help in speeding up the maturation process was indispensable.

With these thoughts in mind, Chu Ning turned around and walked back into the stone chamber.

The little guy had been getting treats from Cenzi Jin from time to time, so whenever she wanted to play with him, he would always come running.

But Chu Ning couldn't neglect his important tasks.

Cenzi Jin, who had been playing with Ling Xiaobai in the stone chamber, saw Chu Ning beckoning to him and the reluctant look on the little guy's face. She couldn't help but ask curiously, "Fellow Daoist Chu, what are you planning to do with Little White? Why does he look so unwilling?"

"Pee! He'll be right back!" Chu Ning replied casually.

"Whine!"

Hearing this, Ling Xiaobai whined in protest.

Cenzi Jin's face turned slightly red, and after a moment's hesitation, she followed Chu Ning out.

And because of the restrictions in place, standing outside the herb garden, even Cenzi Jin couldn't see what was planted there or in the spirit fields beyond.

After a while, Chu Ning emerged, holding Ling Xiaobai.

Cenzi Jin reached out and took Ling Xiaobai from Chu Ning's arms, hesitating for a moment before asking, "Why did you bring Little White there?"

"To fertilize, of course," Chu Ning replied matter-of-factly.

"The droppings of spiritual beasts contain spiritual energy, which can promote the growth of spiritual plants. Actually..."

As he spoke, Chu Ning glanced at Cenzi Jin.

Cenzi Jin met his gaze, her eyes narrowing slightly.

She felt that he was becoming increasingly presumptuous, not showing enough deference to a Foundation Establishment cultivator like herself.

Sensing her gaze, Chu Ning was taken aback, unsure why she was looking at him like that.

"Actually, anyone with a little experience in cultivating spiritual plants would know this," he continued.

"For example, in sects, the droppings of spiritual beasts are often made into fertilizer."

Hearing this, Cenzi Jin's eyes widened slightly.

"Are you trying to tell me this?" she asked, a hint of annoyance in her voice.

Chu Ning nodded, then added, "Yes, otherwise, what would I be talking about?"

"Never mind!" Cenzi Jin's cheeks flushed slightly, and after a moment's hesitation, she turned and walked back into the stone chamber, still holding Ling Xiaobai.

Chu Ning watched her leave, a smile on his face, before following her into the stone chamber.

After walking a few steps, Cenzi Jin slowed down, waiting for Chu Ning to catch up so they could walk side by side.

Then, she reached into her storage bag and took out something, which she handed to Chu Ning.

"Here, the Cloud Patterned Brush. I've been busy healing, so I didn't have time to work on it until now.

I've cleaned all the iron meteorite threads in the past few days. Take a look and see if it's okay."

Chu Ning took the item from her. Cenzi Jin had asked him about crafting the brush before, and now he examined it.

The originally verdant bamboo body had turned yellow and was now shorter.

The top and bottom ends of the brush had been carefully treated, and the fine, hair-like threads at the tip had also been neatly trimmed.

It no longer looked like the Cloud Patterned Bamboo from before but rather a meticulously crafted brush.

Chu Ning infused a bit of spiritual energy into it, and the energy flowed smoothly to the tip, much better than the medium-grade brush he had used before.

"Good, just in time. I also refined some higher-grade ink while dealing with the Golden Feathered Panther. Now I have everything I need."

Chu Ning was delighted as he held the brush, then took out a box of ink from his storage bag and headed toward the talisman crafting room.

As for talisman paper, he had already made a batch of medium-grade paper, which would be sufficient.

Cenzi Jin watched Chu Ning enter the crafting room, but she didn't follow him in.

As a formation master herself, she knew it wouldn't be appropriate to enter without an invitation.

Alone in the crafting room, Chu Ning had already reached a level where he could craft low-grade intermediate talismans.

Now, he wanted to focus on improving his success rate, so it wouldn't be a good idea to have Cenzi Jin watching.

Otherwise, with such a high success rate right off the bat, his previous claims wouldn't hold up.

About half an hour later, Chu Ning emerged from the crafting room with the talismans he had made and stored them in his bag, holding only a few Xuan Water Spirit Talismans in his hand.

A smile spread across his face.

With the high-quality brush and ink, the success rate of his talismans had indeed improved.

Previously, his success rate for the Xuan Water Spirit Talismans was only around 50%.

Now, after a brief attempt, the success rate had increased by 10%.

With further practice, he believed he could raise it to 70% or 80% without much difficulty.

Hearing Chu Ning's footsteps, Cenzi Jin emerged from the stone chamber, her eyes sparkling at the sight of his smile.

"It looks like you've succeeded in crafting the talismans. May I see them?" she asked.

"As you commanded," Chu Ning replied, handing over the few Xuan Water Spirit Talismans he had made.

Cenzi Jin took them and examined them, her eyes shining with delight.

"What high-quality talismans!

Seeing these, it seems that your talent and skill in crafting talismans are truly remarkable, Fellow Daoist Chu."

Chu Ning didn't respond to her compliment but instead asked, "How did you explain the sudden appearance of these high-quality talismans in the Cen Workshop? Now, even intermediate-grade talismans have been produced."

Hearing this, Cenzi Jin gave him a slight glare.

"It's best to tell the truth, but now, I'll have to take the credit myself.

Anyway, in everyone's eyes, I'm a genius who's good at formations and can craft talismans as well."

Chu Ning chuckled and said, "In that case, congratulations, Fellow Daoist Cen. With everyone's high regard for you, it's only a matter of time before you're known as the best talisman crafter in the Thousand Lakes and Islands."

Cenzi Jin glanced at him, then sighed softly.

"Do you really think the bigger the reputation, the better? For me, it's more of a burden..."

She paused as if hesitating, then continued, "You asked me before if it was true that a Nascent Soul cultivator wanted to take me as a disciple. That's true, and it was the sect master of a major sect. If nothing unexpected happens, he should be able to break through to the Immortal Ascension stage within a hundred years."

Chu Ning was slightly taken aback by her words.

He hadn't expected Cenzi Jin to suddenly open up to him about her personal matters.

"Then why didn't you choose to join that major sect and stayed in the Thousand Lakes and Islands instead?" he asked curiously.

"It has something to do with my family's secret," Cenzi Jin replied after a slight hesitation.

...

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end