Chapter 161: The Ancient Sect's Ruins and the Xuanming Jue

Chapter 161: The Ancient Sect's Ruins and the Xuanming Jue

After taking out the small gourd, Song Ye threw it into the air. As it flew, the gourd emitted a yellow light from its opening, aiming at the incoming black dagger.

In the next moment, the yellow light struck the dagger. The dagger's forward momentum was abruptly halted as it was hit by the yellow light.

The black dagger and the yellow light remained locked in a stalemate in midair. Suddenly, the dagger's spiritual essence dissipated, and it shattered into countless fragments that rained down towards the ground.

Witnessing this, Chu Ning's face turned to one of utter shock. That black dagger had been invincible ever since he obtained it. Even a Foundation Establishment cultivator had fallen to it. Yet now, it had been destroyed in a single strike.

However, Chu Ning had no time to dwell on this as he and Ling Xiaobai had already reached the restricted area.

Ling Xiaobai, perched on Chu Ning's shoulder, released a white light from the top of his head, instantly enveloping them both.

At the same time, a streak of red light and another of white light rushed towards them. Song Ye had just thrown out the gourd and was now casting another spell, while also attacking with the Eight Trigram Mirror he had used against the Fire-Winged Demon Rabbit in the cave.

Two spells struck at the same time.

"Whine!"

At the sight of the incoming spells, Ling Xiaobai let out a frightened whine. His body lunged forward, carrying the white light that enveloped Chu Ning, and plunged into the restriction.

Simultaneously, the two spells hit them. The air violently rippled, and both the spells and the figures of Chu Ning and Ling Xiaobai vanished.

From a distance, Song Ye watched as the human and beast disappeared, his eyes filled with confusion. He quickly flew forward, and his expression immediately changed.

"That just now, was it some sort of restriction? Could it be that there's an ancient sect's leftover restriction here? But how did they enter it when I couldn't sense any restriction at all?"

Song Ye's face was a mix of anger and bewilderment. He hovered in midair, his eyes darting about uncertainly.

"Feng Cliff Island, who exactly is this guy? He has quite a few tricks up his sleeve.

He can block spiritual sense scans, has a damaged magical treasure, a spirit beast with decent cultivation, and can even enter ancient sect restrictions."

As these thoughts crossed his mind, the anger on Song Ye's face faded, replaced by astonishment and suspicion. It was unfathomable to him how a cultivator at the ninth layer of Qi Refining could possess so many means.

Song Ye searched for a long time but found nothing. This caused his brows to furrow deeply.

He then coldly huffed and landed on a tree, sitting cross-legged. "Even if there really is an ancient sect's restriction here, I don't believe you can stay in there forever!"

...

Chu Ning and Ling Xiaobai had entered the restriction thanks to Ling Xiaobai's innate divine ability. As the white light dissipated, Chu Ning breathed a sigh of relief.

But the next moment, he saw Ling Xiaobai falling from his shoulder.

Sensing that something was amiss, Chu Ning quickly reached out and caught him. His expression immediately turned grim.

Ling Xiaobai's eyes were tightly shut, and his breath was extremely weak. His vitality flickered faintly, indicating severe injuries.

Chu Ning's face darkened as he immediately realized that these injuries must have been inflicted by Song Ye's attacks just before they entered the restriction. Since he had been wrapped in Ling Xiaobai's white light, these attacks had likely struck Ling Xiaobai instead.

"Xiaobai!"

Chu Ning called out, but Ling Xiaobai remained unresponsive, his eyes closed tightly.

Frowning, Chu Ning quickly took out several Return Spring Talismans, activated them, and placed them on Ling Xiaobai's body. He then reached into his storage bag and retrieved a jade bottle.

However, as he prepared to pour out a pill, he hesitated. Although Ling Xiaobai had been eating spirit fruits over the years, he had never asked for any pills.

Chu Ning was reluctant to force-feed him the pills...

After some thought, Chu Ning put the pills away. Suddenly, he remembered something and quickly pulled out a jade slip from his storage bag.

This jade slip had been obtained from a Yin Demon Sect disciple whom he had killed in Ling Beast House back in the Free Spirit Domain. It recorded some methods for nurturing spirit beasts, as well as some basic spells.

Chu Ning had used the knowledge from this jade slip to nurture the Iron Rock Beast and form a contract with it. He also recalled that it contained some methods for aiding spirit beasts in their cultivation and healing them.

As he hadn't needed them before, he hadn't paid much attention to them. Now, he carefully browsed through the contents and soon found a healing technique.

"Wood-type spell!"

Chu Ning was delighted as he finished reading. Even if he hadn't practiced wood-type spells before, he was confident he could learn this one.

After committing the spell to memory, Chu Ning began to make intricate hand seals. Soon, a ball of green light formed at his fingertips.

He pointed a finger, and the green light struck Ling Xiaobai's body, enveloping him. The light flickered and then disappeared into Ling Xiaobai's body.

Without pausing, Chu Ning continued to make hand seals.

Immediately, strands of green light continuously fell onto Ling Xiaobai. As Chu Ning cast the spell, he could feel that Ling Xiaobai's vitality, though still flickering faintly, was slightly stronger than before.

Overjoyed, Chu Ning continued to cast the spell. However, after casting it twenty times in a row, his expression turned slightly gloomy.

It seemed that the healing spell had reached its limit in aiding Ling Xiaobai. In the last five or six castings, he hadn't sensed any change in Ling Xiaobai's condition.

Ling Xiaobai, who was lying in front of him, had actually opened his eyes slightly.

The little guy took a quick glance at Chu Ning before closing his eyes again.

Soon, Chu Ning heard Xiao Bai's mental voice in his mind.

"Blood... contract!"

Along with the fall of these words, a faint white halo appeared above Xiao Bai's head.

Seeing this halo, Chu Ning was slightly startled.

This halo was not unfamiliar to him.

The first time he met Ling Xiaobai, the latter had done the same thing to preserve his life, asking him to form a contract.

However, at that time, Chu Ning saw that Ling Xiaobai was no ordinary beast, and he was worried that it might be a special spirit beast. He was concerned that forming a contract might have some unforeseen consequences for him, so he didn't agree to it.

Now that Ling Xiaobai had suddenly brought up the contract again, Chu Ning was taken aback.

However, despite his surprise, Chu Ning didn't hesitate in the slightest.

Without needing to think deeply, he roughly understood that this contract proposal was probably related to Xiao Bai's injuries.

Quickly biting his finger, Chu Ning squeezed out a drop of blood that fell onto the faint white halo.

The white halo first shone brightly, and in the next moment, the drop of blood disappeared.

The white halo now had a hint of pale red, and it quickly descended and vanished into Ling Xiaobai's head.

The next moment, Chu Ning felt a strange connection established between himself and Ling Xiaobai.

It was as if he only needed to think, and Ling Xiaobai would immediately understand his thoughts.

At the same time, he could also sense everything that was happening to Ling Xiaobai at any time.

For example, at this moment, he could more clearly feel that Ling Xiaobai's injuries were even more severe than he had imagined.

Just as Chu Ning was about to ask Ling Xiaobai what to do next, he suddenly felt that there seemed to be an extra esoteric scripture in Ling Xiaobai's mind.

These scriptures were transmitted to Chu Ning's mind almost instantly.

What surprised him was that he didn't recognize a single character in these scriptures, yet he somehow understood their meaning.

"This should be Xiao Bai's comprehension of this scripture, which I then understood through our contract connection."

As this thought flashed through his mind, Chu Ning quickly comprehended the entire scripture.

"Xuanming Jue? If one party of the spirit beast and its master is injured, joint cultivation can help alleviate the injuries.

However, it will also consume a lot of magic power and spiritual power."

Chu Ning mumbled softly, his actions without hesitation.

Magic power surged in his hands as he formed intricate incantations.

At the same time, he uttered a series of esoteric incantations.

Immediately, strands of spiritual power quickly gathered towards Chu Ning and Ling Xiaobai's location.

In the blink of an eye, the two were enveloped in white mist.

Usually, if he were enveloped by so much spiritual energy, Chu Ning's body would be rapidly absorbing it.

But at this moment, there was no such absorption, and Chu Ning's body was clearly exhibiting signs of rapid magic power expenditure.

If someone were to observe carefully with their spiritual sense, they would discover that there was a special passage formed by magic power between Chu Ning and Ling Xiaobai.

The spiritual power that gathered around Chu Ning was being channeled through this passage and rapidly flowing into Ling Xiaobai's body.

After about a quarter of an hour, beads of sweat began to form on Chu Ning's forehead, and a faint white mist started to emanate from it.

This was obviously a sign of excessive magic power consumption.

Chu Ning continued to maintain the magic power passage while quickly taking out several pills from his storage bag and swallowing them.

After less than another quarter of an hour, he took out more pills and consumed them.

Just as Chu Ning was about to take out more pills for the third time,

"Whine!"

He suddenly heard Ling Xiaobai's cry.

Immediately afterward, he felt the mental connection between them, formed by the Xuanming Jue, break.

Understanding what had happened, Chu Ning immediately stopped chanting and waved his hand, dispelling the white mist formed by the concentrated spiritual energy around them.

Chu Ning looked down at Ling Xiaobai and saw that the little guy had stood up and was looking at him with his eyes open.

Although his aura was still very weak, his vitality was no longer fluctuating faintly as before.

Seeing this, Chu Ning was overjoyed.

"Xiao Bai, are you alright now?"

"Whine!"

Ling Xiaobai cried once and jumped onto Chu Ning's body.

Chu Ning caught him and held him directly in his arms, muttering,

"It's good that you're alright. That old man is truly despicable. I'll settle the score with him sooner or later after we get out of here."

As he said this, Chu Ning looked around to examine his surroundings.

His eyes widened in surprise at what he saw.

All around him were damaged and dilapidated halls and pavilions.

He was currently in a corner not far from a large hall, which had collapsed by more than half and was in ruins.

Even so, Chu Ning could feel that this hall must have been grand and majestic before its destruction.

He couldn't see clearly behind him as the hall was blocking his view, but in front of him were pavilions of various sizes, most of which were severely damaged, with only a few remaining bricks and tiles.

Only a handful were still standing, but none of them were completely intact.

Chu Ning could feel the abundant spiritual energy here, but what surprised him was the lack of any vitality.

As far as the eye could see, everything was in a state of decay, with not a single plant in sight, let alone any animals.

"This is... the ruins of an ancient sect?"

Chu Ning quickly realized what this place was.

Previously, he had learned that the Thousand Lakes and Islands used to be a large cultivation realm.

Later, for reasons unknown, it was destroyed, and many of the sect sites had turned into small worlds.

However, on rare occasions, a sect site would still make an appearance.

And when that happened, intense battles would inevitably break out across the Thousand Lakes and Islands.

The last time a sect site had emerged was centuries ago, so news about such discoveries had been scarce in recent years.

Nevertheless, despite the overall mediocre level of cultivation in the Thousand Lakes and Islands, some remarkable treasures occasionally surfaced.

This was also related to the sect sites.

Some of these treasures were likely brought out by cultivators who had ventured into the sites, while others may have escaped from sites where the restrictions had partially failed.

Thus, when Chu Ning suddenly found himself in what appeared to be an ancient sect site, he was understandably astonished.

His face, however, did not betray his excitement. Instead, it reflected heightened caution.

According to the information he had come across, while treasures were occasionally discovered in the ancient sect sites within the Thousand Lakes and Islands, most of these sites no longer held any valuables due to the sheer passage of time.

On the contrary, they were fraught with danger due to the various esoteric restrictions within.

"Little White, we can't leave through the way we came in. That guy is probably waiting for us outside.

We'll have to find another way out and make sure to get as far away as possible.

Can you still sense the spiritual energy or any differences in the restrictions here?"

"I can!"

Ling Xiaobai's mental voice reassured Chu Ning, easing his worries to some extent.

The next moment, Ling Xiaobai's voice sounded again.

"I'm injured right now. If I'm to get you out of here, we'll need to find a place where the restrictions are very weak."

Hearing this, Chu Ning nodded slightly.

He tucked Ling Xiaobai back into his sleeve and rose to his feet, beginning to walk towards the back of the hall.

If this place was indeed a sect site, then logically, the further they ventured into the hall, the stronger the restrictions would become.

"Let's go in!"

Just then, Ling Xiaobai suddenly wriggled out of Chu Ning's sleeve.

"Inside?"

Chu Ning was slightly taken aback.

"The restrictions outside are too strong, and I'm injured. I can't break through them," Ling Xiaobai explained through their mental connection. Chu Ning nodded in agreement, choosing to trust the little guy's judgment without hesitation.

Looking towards the back of the hall, he furrowed his brows in contemplation.

The hall was connected to the mountain range, completely blocking their path. If they wanted to go further, they would have to pass through the hall.

With that thought, Chu Ning slowly approached the entrance of the grand hall.

He extended his spiritual sense to probe inside, and it effortlessly penetrated the hall.

However, the hall was so vast that within the range of his spiritual sense, there was nothing but emptiness.

Chu Ning took out the puppet bird and released it, but as soon as it entered the hall, it dropped to the ground.

"Little White, what's going on? It seems like the puppet bird can't get in either."

Ling Xiaobai shook his head. Although he could sense the restrictions, he was not omniscient.

Naturally, he couldn't pinpoint the exact nature of this grand hall.

If it had been any other time, Chu Ning would have asked Ling Xiaobai to scout ahead.

After all, the little guy could ignore most restrictions, and with his speed, he could escape any potential danger.

But seeing the little guy's weak state, Chu Ning had to abandon that idea.

An idea struck him, and Chu Ning slapped his spirit beast bag, releasing the Iron Rock Beast.

Then, he directed the beast to walk into the grand hall.

The Iron Rock Beast encountered no obstacles and continued walking forward without any signs of danger.

Witnessing this, a thoughtful look appeared on Chu Ning's face.

"Could it be that there's some kind of restriction in this hall that prevents the use of magical treasures?" Chu Ning wondered aloud, but he dared not throw any magical artifacts inside to test his theory.

If the restrictions within the hall were still active, they might interpret his actions as an attack and retaliate, which would be asking for trouble.

"Little White, do you sense any dangerous restrictions here?"

Chu Ning sought confirmation from Ling Xiaobai once more.

Then, he cautiously stepped into the hall, keeping his spiritual sense active and holding defensive artifacts and talismans at the ready.

To Chu Ning's relief, nothing out of the ordinary happened as he entered the hall.

The interior of the hall was also in a state of disrepair, with collapsed stone pillars and walls.

However, he could vaguely make out the original layout of the hall.

In the center were two chairs, each about two zhang wide.

Below them, on the left and right sides, were two rows of thirteen chairs, slightly smaller in size, about one zhang wide.

"This must have been the meeting place of the sect. The two central chairs were for the leaders, with the other sect elders seated below," Chu Ning mused, a scene flashing through his mind.

In his mind's eye, he saw two white-haired elders seated in the center, their faces clear and youthful despite their aged appearance.

Below them, cultivators of varying ages and appearances sat in the thirteen chairs, their attire indicating their different affiliations.

The further away from the center, the fainter the images became.

The last two chairs on either end were so blurry that Chu Ning could barely make out their occupants.

However, when he realized this, he was startled.

He quickly closed his eyes and opened them again, only to find that the images had vanished.

..

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end