Chapter 158: Breaking Through the Body Refinement Bottleneck (Part 2)

Chapter 158: Breaking Through the Body Refinement Bottleneck (Part 2)

After cultivating like this for five days, to Chu Ning's surprise, the progress of Unceasing Sinews increased by another point.

This time, it was half as long as it would have taken with just the Jinlan Fruit.

"What a wonderful fruit!"

Realizing the critical role of the Iron Yang Fruit in his future body tempering, Chu Ning focused his efforts on it in the following days.

First, Chu Ning transplanted fifty Yuan Yang Fruits and fifty Iron Stem Orchids to the same spiritual field.

As both types of spirit fruits were about to blossom, he calculated that if they grew well, he would be able to cultivate a new batch of Iron Yang Fruits in about half a year.

As for the previous two hundred Iron Stem Orchids, they had just completed the pollination process with the Golden Core Fruit.

Chu Ning decided to go all out and not stop there.

He transplanted some of the Iron Stem Orchids that were originally meant for cultivating Jinlan Fruits, creating some space between them.

At the same time, he interspersedly planted about fifty Yuan Yang Fruits among them.

Since the flowers of the Iron Stem Orchids wouldn't wither so quickly, and the Yuan Yang Fruits would blossom in a few days, he might as well see if these three types of pollen could be crossbred to create something new.

After all, he wouldn't need so many Jinlan Fruits for himself, and cultivating too many would be useless.

After finishing the transplanting work, Chu Ning held a small jade box and entered the spirit herb garden.

Over the past few days, following the method for creating spirit herb seeds from the sect, Chu Ning successfully created Iron Yang Fruit seeds.

Now, he wanted to test if the Iron Yang Fruit could be directly cultivated.

Chu Ning took a seed from the small jade box and placed it in the spiritual soil. Then, he cast a Stimulation Technique on it.

At the same time, he released his spiritual sense to carefully perceive the changes in the seed.

The first Stimulation Technique had no effect.

Without hesitation, Chu Ning cast another Stimulation Technique.

After casting five Stimulation Techniques in a row, Chu Ning's eyes flickered slightly, and a hint of joy appeared in them.

Within the range of his spiritual sense, there seemed to be a faint life force emerging from the seed.

"The Stimulation Technique works!"

Realizing this, Chu Ning continuously cast Stimulation Techniques one after another.

Finally, after the twenty-fifth Stimulation Technique, a slender green sprout broke through the black seed's shell!

"This Iron Yang Fruit can be cultivated!"

Chu Ning was overjoyed at the sight, and without any hesitation, he took out all the Iron Yang Fruit seeds from the jade box, stimulated them, and planted them in the spirit herb garden.

Since he had discovered that the Iron Yang Fruit could be cultivated, Chu Ning decided to use one every three days. While improving his body tempering speed, he would also continuously create more Iron Yang Fruit seeds.

Meanwhile, the existing Iron Stem Orchids and the blossoming Yuan Yang Fruits completed a new round of pollination.

It wouldn't be long, perhaps less than a year, before Chu Ning could harvest a batch of Iron Yang Fruits.

The body tempering bottleneck that had troubled Chu Ning for so long finally seemed to have a potential solution.

One morning, as Chu Ning was busy in the spirit herb garden, a voice sounded from outside the formation:

"Fellow Daoist Chu, Jiang Hongguang has come to visit!"

Hearing this, Chu Ning left the spirit herb garden and returned to the semi-open stone chamber outside.

At the same time, he opened the passageway of the formation.

Soon, Jiang Hongguang walked in from the passageway.

"Fellow Daoist Jiang is punctual," Chu Ning said with a smile. Indeed, it had been exactly half a year since Jiang Hongguang's last visit to deliver the divided spirit stones.

"Fellow Daoist Chu has already reached the ninth layer of Qi Refinement?"

Chu Ning smiled and nodded, "Fortunately."

Jiang Hongguang immediately looked at Chu Ning with admiration.

"Fellow Daoist Chu truly has extraordinary talent. At such a young age, you have already broken through to the ninth layer of Qi Refinement, and Foundation Establishment is within reach.

I, on the other hand, have been stuck at the eighth layer of Qi Refinement for many years, and who knows when I'll reach the ninth layer.

At this rate, I'm afraid I won't have any hope of achieving Foundation Establishment in this lifetime."

"Fellow Daoist Jiang is too humble. You're not that old either, and you still have plenty of time." Chu Ning replied casually.

Jiang Hongguang laughed and said, "That's true. I have two matters to discuss with you today."

As he spoke, he took out a small bag of spirit stones from his storage bag and placed it in front of Chu Ning.

"These are the proceeds from the past six months, and I've exchanged them all for medium-grade spirit stones for your convenience."

Chu Ning didn't decline and reached out to take them, saying:

"Thank you, Fellow Daoist Jiang."

He had indeed casually asked about the exchange rate of medium-grade and low-grade spirit stones in the Thousand Lakes and Islands.

Jiang Hongguang was quite thoughtful in this regard.

"You're welcome, Fellow Daoist Chu." Jiang Hongguang said, and then he took out a red invitation card and handed it to Chu Ning.

"In ten days, my son will be one month old, and I would like to invite you to a small celebration."

Chu Ning was slightly surprised but immediately took the invitation and smiled, "Thank you for the invitation, Fellow Daoist Jiang. I will definitely be there."

Jiang Hongguang and his wife were both in their forties, and previously, they had not mentioned having any children.

Unexpectedly, at their age, they had another son, which was indeed quite a surprise for Chu Ning.

Hearing Chu Ning's congratulations, Jiang Hongguang laughed heartily.

After chatting for a while longer, Jiang Hongguang bid farewell and left.

Chu Ning began to think about what gift would be appropriate for the occasion.

Over the years, he had accumulated quite a few items in his storage bag.

However, most of these items were obtained by killing other cultivators, so they would not be suitable as gifts for a baby's full moon celebration.

Moreover, these items might bring disaster to the recipient if someone were to recognize them in the future.

After some thought, Chu Ning decided that it would be better to give a few talismans as a gift.

Of course, the grade of the talismans should not be too low, at least of intermediate-middle grade. As for the type of talisman,

Chu Ning's mind stirred slightly as an idea came to him.

He didn't have many intermediate-middle grade talismans on hand, mostly purchased from Yunhai Pavilion in the past.

But after experiencing the Spirit Realm and several other large and small battles, he only had one or two left.

However, he felt that he could try to draw these intermediate-middle grade talismans himself now.

In fact, ever since he reached the peak of Qi Refinement, Chu Ning had been analyzing the talisman source of intermediate-middle grade talismans.

However, the success rate of drawing these talismans had not improved.

So, he hadn't attempted to draw them until recently.

Two months ago, after Cen Ziqin crafted the Cloud Pattern Talisman Pen, Chu Ning started drawing more low-grade elementary talismans.

Now, with a success rate of over 70% for the few types of elementary talismans he knew, it was indeed time to try drawing intermediate-middle grade talismans.

With that in mind, Chu Ning immediately went to the talisman-making room.

He took out the necessary tools and began to think about a talisman called the Earth Arrow Spirit Talisman, an intermediate-middle grade talisman.

This talisman was a defensive talisman of the earth attribute that Chu Ning had purchased from Yunhai Pavilion in the past.

Having already analyzed its talisman source, he was now ready to try his hand at drawing it.

The difficulty of drawing intermediate-middle grade talismans was indeed high, and in theory, Chu Ning should be able to draw them successfully after analyzing their talisman source.

However, it wasn't that simple in practice.

After all, this was a case of drawing talismans beyond his current level.

It took dozens of attempts before Chu Ning truly succeeded in drawing the first talisman.

This success rate was the lowest he had ever achieved since learning how to draw talismans.

However, after drawing the first talisman successfully, the success rate quickly improved.

In the following days, Chu Ning continued to practice.

The success rate soon increased from only about 10% to nearly 30%.

The quality of the talismans was also becoming more stable.

Chu Ning selected the three best Earth Arrow Talismans and took a piece of jade to create a hollow jade pendant. He placed all three talismans inside the pendant.

When the day of the celebration arrived, Chu Ning left his cave abode and flew towards the center of Fei Hong Island.

Since there would be guests from other islands, Jiang Hongguang probably thought it unwise to let too many people know about the second-grade spirit vein.

So, the banquet was not held in his newly established cave abode but in the original island master's mansion in the center of the island.

Previously, due to the scattered spiritual energy of the first-grade spirit vein, Jiang Hongguang had not established a separate cave abode.

Instead, he built a fairly large courtyard in the most central location of the island to serve as the island master's mansion.

Chu Ning did not use the Chasing Wind Shuttle but chose to fly with the Godly Wind Escape Technique instead.

He hadn't used this escape technique much since obtaining it, so he wanted to take this opportunity to practice it.

Using the escape technique, Chu Ning arrived at the center of Fei Hong Island and saw a large courtyard in the distance.

As he had visited Fei Hong Island once before, he quickly descended in front of the courtyard.

"Are you Fellow Daoist Chu?"

As soon as Chu Ning landed at the entrance, a cultivator around twenty-five or twenty-six years old, at the fourth layer of Qi Refinement, stepped forward and asked respectfully.

Chu Ning nodded, somewhat surprised, "You know me?"

The young cultivator immediately bowed and said, "My master showed me your portrait and asked me to greet you especially."

Hearing the young man's words, Chu Ning couldn't help but feel a bit amused by Jiang Hongguang's solemnity.

He was surprised that Jiang Hongguang had taken on a disciple.

However, he thought it made sense, considering that at the eighth layer of Qi Refinement, one could already become the master of a small island in the Thousand Lakes and Islands.

Led by the young cultivator, Chu Ning took only a few steps before Jiang Hongguang came out to greet him.

"Fellow Daoist Chu, please forgive me for not coming out to welcome you sooner."

Chu Ning cupped his hands and said with a smile, "Fellow Daoist Jiang is too kind."

As the two of them spoke, Jiang Hongguang led Chu Ning towards the main hall.

The young cultivator behind them looked at Chu Ning's back with envious eyes.

"My master said that Fellow Daoist Chu has already reached the ninth layer of Qi Refinement, and he's younger than me."

The young cultivator murmured to himself.

Chu Ning was already quite far away, but he still caught what the young man said.

So, he smiled and asked, "Fellow Daoist Jiang, how many disciples do you have?"

Upon hearing this, Jiang Hongguang felt a bit embarrassed and said, "I'm ashamed to say that my wife and I didn't have any children for many years, so we wanted to have some juniors around us.

So, he didn't inquire further.

At that moment, the two of them entered the hall, where several people were already seated.

Jiang Hongguang proceeded to introduce everyone to Chu Ning.

As Jiang Hongguang himself was not particularly powerful, and Fei Hong Island had only been a first-grade spirit vein in the past, his acquaintances were mostly island masters from the surrounding smaller islands.

There were eight guests in the hall, and at a glance, Chu Ning noticed that only one middle-aged cultivator had reached the ninth layer of Qi Refinement, while the others were at the eighth layer.

Everyone was astonished to see that Chu Ning had already attained the ninth layer of Qi Refinement, and they were exceptionally enthusiastic towards him.

After all, they had witnessed Chu Ning's strength during the Thousand Islands competition a year ago.

Back then, Chu Ning had only been at the eighth layer of Qi Refinement.

At this moment, Jiang Hongguang introduced the last person, the middle-aged cultivator at the ninth layer of Qi Refinement, "Chu Daoist, this is Wen Yanchao from Water Cloud Island."

"Nice to meet you!"

As soon as Jiang Hongguang finished speaking, Chu Ning and the middle-aged man named Wen Yanchao immediately cupped their hands in greeting, and both men glanced at each other.

Wen Yanchao was curious about Chu Ning, a young cultivator who had reached the ninth layer of Qi Refinement.

Meanwhile, Chu Ning was thinking about the man's identity.

"Water Cloud Island? I recall that the Soul-Fixing Pearl I bought from a wandering cultivator some time ago was said to have been obtained near Water Cloud Island."

After Chu Ning arrived, two more guests joined, and everyone was now present.

As these people were considered to have some status in the Thousand Lakes and Islands, they were seated separately in a private room.

As for the rest of the people on the island, Jiang Hongguang arranged for them to be seated elsewhere.

Once everyone was seated at the table, Jiang Hongguang wanted Chu Ning to sit in the seat of honor, but Chu Ning absolutely refused.

In the end, Jiang Hongguang, as the host, sat at the head of the table, with Chu Ning and Wen Yanchao on either side of him.

At that moment, Yu Yuanxiu walked in, holding the baby, followed by Jiang Lan.

The guests presented their gifts one by one.

When Yu Yuanxiu approached, Chu Ning took out the white jade pendant he had prepared earlier.

The white jade itself wasn't anything rare, so everyone was a little surprised to see that Chu Ning had only brought a pendant as a gift.

Chu Ning smiled and said, "This pendant is just a token of our meeting. Your son has spiritual roots and can embark on the path of cultivation. There are three talismans inside, which he can use for protection in the future."

Upon hearing Chu Ning's words, everyone finally understood.

Wen Yanchao smiled and said, "Fellow Daoist Chu's talisman art is renowned, and these must be your proud creations."

Chu Ning quickly waved his hand and said, "I can only draw elementary talismans, so it's a bit too humble as a gift."

Chu Ning didn't elaborate further, but everyone understood that there were intermediate talismans inside.

Everyone glanced at the pendant again, feeling even more impressed.

Intermediate lower-grade talismans were worth 200 spirit stones each, and Chu Ning had given three of them, totaling 600 spirit stones.

This was equivalent to the income of some of the island masters present for half a year.

"Fellow Daoist Chu is indeed generous. It seems that talisman artists do earn quite a lot," one of the guests commented.

Of course, no one thought that there might be intermediate-middle grade talismans inside.

After all, intermediate-middle grade talismans in the Thousand Lakes and Islands were worth at least 500 spirit stones, and defensive talismans of higher quality could even fetch 600 spirit stones or more.

No one expected Chu Ning to give away something worth over a thousand spirit stones as a gift.

However, despite their surprise, the guests were even more enthusiastic towards Chu Ning.

During the meal, everyone chatted and got to know each other better.

When Jiang Hongguang left the table to toast the guests in another room, Wen Yanchao took the initiative to invite Chu Ning, "Fellow Daoist Chu, I heard from Fellow Daoist Jiang that you've been in seclusion, cultivating most of the time. Now that you've emerged, do you have time to visit my Water Cloud Island in the next few days?"

Upon hearing Wen Yanchao's invitation, Chu Ning casually replied, "Since Fellow Daoist Wen has invited me, I, Chu, will definitely pay a visit."

Wen Yanchao was slightly surprised by Chu Ning's immediate agreement. He and Jiang Hongguang had been friends for many years, and he had heard from Jiang Hongguang that this young man who had helped him retain control of his island tended to keep to himself and rarely interacted with others.

So, he initially thought that Chu Ning had an eccentric personality.

But now, he saw that Chu Ning had agreed without any hesitation.

Sensing Wen Yanchao's surprise, Chu Ning smiled and said, "Previously, I was focused on cultivating and trying to break through to the ninth layer of Qi Refinement, so I didn't socialize much. I've been feeling a bit bored lately, and it would be a great opportunity to visit Fellow Daoist Wen's island to relax."

"Exactly, cultivating requires a balance of work and rest," Wen Yanchao said with a smile.

When Jiang Hongguang returned, Wen Yanchao shared what they had discussed, and Jiang Hongguang was also quite surprised.

So, the three of them agreed to leave for Water Cloud Island the next day.

To avoid making their plans seem abrupt, Chu Ning deliberately stayed at Jiang Hongguang's residence for a while after the meal.

After all the other guests had left, Chu Ning finally bid farewell.

As for Wen Yanchao, he planned to stay at Jiang Hongguang's residence for the night.

The three of them agreed to depart together the following day.

That night, after Chu Ning left, Jiang Hongguang and Yu Yuanxiu discovered that the jade pendant contained intermediate-middle grade talismans, and they were astounded.

Back in his cave abode, Chu Ning took out the Soul-Fixing Pearl and the jade slip he had obtained from He Mingjin to examine them carefully.

"This Water Cloud Island used to be called Water Cloud Cave, and it's said that a powerful cultivator once emerged from there, but there's no way to verify this information."

As Chu Ning read through the information, his eyes flickered as he contemplated a certain possibility.

The next morning, after taking care of his spirit plants and spirit herbs, Chu Ning went directly to Jiang Hongguang's residence.

The three of them set off for Water Cloud Island together.

"Is this island always like this? No wonder it's called Water Cloud Island," Chu Ning remarked as he stepped onto the island.

Although the spiritual energy here wasn't particularly dense, it was still a high-grade first-grade spirit vein.

However, the island was shrouded in mist, and even with Chu Ning's eyesight, he couldn't see through it.

But when he tried to probe with his spiritual sense, he found no obstruction.

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end