Chapter 174: Seizing the Opportunity, Perfecting the Spirit Refining Art

Chapter 174: Seizing the Opportunity, Perfecting the Spirit Refining Art

A black light struck Chu Ning, and although the outer flame shield dimmed its radiance slightly, it surprisingly posed no hindrance as the black light pierced through effortlessly.

Immediately, the black light hit the invisible barrier of the Soul Fixing Bead.

To Chu Ning's delight, the black light vanished upon touching the invisible barrier.

"This Soul Fixing Bead must have come from that disc. Otherwise, it wouldn't have such an effective counter to the black light," Chu Ning thought.

"Ah!" "Ah!!"

At the same time, on the other side, several agonized cries rang out in succession.

Chu Ning fixed his gaze and saw that the Song family members had been struck by several black lights. All of them wore painful expressions, except for Song Ye and Song Cheng, who managed to maintain clear eyes.

The other three showed signs of god sense impairment as their eyes lost focus.

Chu Ning's heart stirred as he eyed the disc that had emitted the black lights and had since fallen silent.

He bit his teeth lightly, and his god sense abruptly condensed into a God-Illusion Spike.

He stabbed the spike towards the closest target—a tall black-robed cultivator.

After evading the black light earlier, the distance between them was now less than thirty feet.

"Ah!"

The black-robed cultivator, Ding Biao, whose god sense had already been heavily injured, couldn't help but cry out miserably again. He collapsed to the ground from the devastating blow.

Without hesitation, Chu Ning's eyes flashed with cold light as he condensed another God-Illusion Spike, this time targeting Wu Rongtang, the squinty-eyed cultivator who was a little further away.

Although there was some distance between them, it was only about sixty to seventy feet, well within the range of Chu Ning's God-Illusion Spike attack.

"Ah!"

As expected, the squinty-eyed cultivator also fell to the ground with a pitiful cry.

Chu Ning repeated the same tactic, directing his God-Illusion Spike towards the gray-robed cultivator, who was with Song Ye and Song Cheng.

The gray-robed cultivator didn't even have time to make a sound before he fell to the ground, lifeless.

In just a few breaths, three injured Foundation Establishment cultivators had perished under Chu Ning's God-Illusion Spike.

At this moment, Song Ye and Song Cheng seemed to have regained their wits.

They quickly moved closer together, and Song Ye once again activated the small gourd, enveloping himself in a yellow light.

However, compared to before, the yellow light was noticeably dimmer.

It was unclear if it was damaged by the previous attack of the dark light or due to Song Ye's own injuries.

As for Song Cheng, he now held a simple and unadorned jade pendant that emitted a faint white light, forming a protective barrier around him.

Both of them eyed Chu Ning with suspicion, unsure how he had emerged from the black light seemingly unscathed.

Seeing that they were alert and prepared, Chu Ning refrained from using the God-Illusion Spike directly. Instead, he turned his attention to the disc-shaped treasure that had fallen to the ground, and in a flash, he darted towards it.

"How dare you!" Song Ye exclaimed in outrage upon seeing Chu Ning make a move for the disc-shaped treasure.

Despite the painful lesson they had just learned from the disc's black light, Song Ye's desire for the object only intensified.

He refused to let Chu Ning take it so easily.

With a wave of his right hand, Song Ye produced an eight-trigram mirror. Channeling his spiritual power into it, he shot a beam of white light towards Chu Ning.

This was the same treasure Chu Ning had seen Song Ye use back in the Moon Cave.

Song Cheng was also quick to act, brandishing a golden longsword that appeared in his hand.

He swung the sword, sending a golden sword beam rushing towards Chu Ning.

Facing attacks from two Foundation Establishment cultivators simultaneously, Chu Ning remained vigilant, even though he knew they were injured.

He continued to rely on the Twin Fire Rings for defense and activated several intermediate-grade, mid-quality defensive talismans to bolster his protection.

Only after ensuring his defenses did Chu Ning retrieve the other child ring of the Twin Fire Rings and infuse it with spiritual power, sending it hurtling towards Song Ye.

Chu Ning intended to end the battle swiftly, so he unleashed a lethal move right from the start!

The child ring was wrapped in fiery flames, carrying formidable power as it shot towards Song Ye, causing his expression to twist in fear.

The approaching ring filled his heart with unease, and its power seemed even stronger than the ancient gourd he held.

"Could this be a genuine treasure?" Song Ye thought in shock. He knew that his ancient gourd had been repaired after being damaged, and it had regained about eight to nine tenths of its original power.

But now, the incoming fire ring seemed to surpass even the ancient gourd's restored might.

Aside from a genuine treasure, Song Ye couldn't think of any other possibility.

"How could a Foundation Establishment cultivator like him possess a genuine treasure? Moreover, without late-stage Foundation Establishment spiritual power, it's impossible to wield a treasure effectively," Song Ye thought, his mind racing.

These thoughts flashed through Song Ye's mind, but his reaction was swift.

He swiftly turned the ancient gourd, infusing it with spiritual power to emit a beam of yellow light that clashed with the incoming fire ring.

"Bang!"

However, the ancient gourd, which had never failed him in the past, couldn't withstand the might of Chu Ning's fire ring.

The yellow light shattered upon impact.

In the next moment, the fire ring continued its trajectory towards Song Ye.

Song Ye's expression changed drastically, and he gritted his teeth. With a flick of his finger, he directed the ancient gourd itself to intercept the fire ring.

At the same time, the attacks launched by Song Ye and Song Cheng landed on Chu Ning's protective flame barrier.

To their astonishment, the flame barrier only trembled slightly, dimming a little, but it didn't dissipate.

After their attacks faded, with Chu Ning's continuous infusion of spiritual power, the flame barrier regained its former intensity.

Song Cheng's eyes narrowed as he prepared to swing his golden longsword again for another attack. However, he suddenly heard Song Ye's desperate shout for help.

"Help me!"

Song Cheng looked over.

The next moment, the fire ring shot out once more, speeding towards Song Ye.

It was under such circumstances that Song Ye let out a loud roar.

Seeing the fire ring's formidable offensive power, Song Cheng had no time to worry about attacking Chu Ning.

He swiftly swung his Golden Longsword, sending several sword beams towards the incoming fire ring.

Song Ye also directed the attack from his Eight Trigram Mirror towards the fire ring.

The combined efforts of the two, along with their top-grade magical artifacts, were futile as all their attacks disintegrated under the fire ring's blazing flames.

The fire ring continued its trajectory towards Song Ye, erupting with slight bursts of flame.

Taking advantage of this slight gap, Song Ye produced a large white net that trembled as he attempted to cover Chu Ning with it.

The net seemed to be aimed at blocking Chu Ning's retreat.

He actually intended to directly attack Chu Ning to resolve his own crisis.

But how could Chu Ning let him have his way?

Thunderstep!

Even before the white net could cover him, Chu Ning advanced instead of retreating, flashing towards the two of them.

At the same time, a Fire Phoenix Feather Spear appeared in his right hand.

As he channeled his magic into it, a fire serpent coiled around the spear.

With a fierce offensive, he charged straight at Song Cheng.

Divided Spirit Technique!

This spirit sense talent allowed Chu Ning to simultaneously control both fire rings and the Fire Phoenix Feather Spear.

Originally intending to support Song Ye with his sword, Song Cheng dared not be distracted any longer upon witnessing this.

He swiftly activated the defensive talismans on his body, and at the same time, swung his sword, sending a sword beam towards the swiftly approaching Chu Ning.

Without Song Cheng's help, Song Ye was unable to withstand the fire ring's attack.

Whether it was the Eight Trigram Mirror or his own spells, they all crumbled upon contact with the fire ring.

Startled, Song Ye quickly activated the defensive talismans on his body.

However, even these intermediate talismans were useless against the magical artifact.

"Save me!"

As the fire ring broke through his talisman defenses and was about to hit him, Song Ye saw that the fire spirit power he was most familiar with was about to engulf him.

At this moment, he couldn't help but let out a loud roar.

But at this moment, Song Cheng could not spare any attention for him.

His defensive shield shattered as soon as Chu Ning's Fire Phoenix Feather Spear, coiled with a fire serpent, touched it.

Song Cheng's Golden Longsword clashed directly with Chu Ning's spear.

"Clang!"

Accompanied by a golden resonance, the light of the Golden Longsword dimmed.

At the same time, Song Cheng felt a tremendous destructive force transmitted through the longsword.

"This..."

Song Cheng's face changed drastically, and he quickly backed away while activating the defensive artifacts on his body.

He had originally thought that Chu Ning was relying on the fire rings to launch such a fierce offensive.

But after this head-on collision, he discovered that Chu Ning's magic power was actually stronger than his, a mid-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator.

"Who exactly is this person? How can a cultivator at the early stage of Foundation Establishment be so strong?"

This thought had barely flashed through Song Cheng's mind when his pupils suddenly widened.

He saw that the fire ring activated by Chu Ning had directly broken through Song Ye's layer-by-layer defenses and hit his body.

The next moment, Song Ye's body stiffened.

Immediately, his entire body was engulfed and consumed by flames.

Seeing this, Song Cheng's face changed drastically.

Because he saw that almost at the same time, Chu Ning stood still and no longer attacked with his spear.

Instead, he controlled the fire ring to rush towards him.

"Fellow cultivator, I am Song Cheng, the head of the Song family. If you spare my life, I..."

Having witnessed the power of Chu Ning's fire ring, Song Cheng knew he couldn't withstand it and immediately shouted.

However, Chu Ning completely ignored his cries.

The fire ring continued to rush towards him.

Song Cheng drove his magic power shield to its limit while trying to block the fire ring with his longsword.

But it was to no avail.

Everything crumbled upon contact with the fire ring.

Song Cheng could only watch helplessly as the fire ring hit him.

The next moment, a fierce flame ignited from his chest, instantly consuming his entire body.

"Our Song family will never let you off!"

Along with a mournful roar, Song Cheng's body turned into nothingness, leaving behind not even a trace of ashes.

Only his storage bag was left behind, intentionally spared by Chu Ning.

"Magical artifacts, too powerful!"

Standing in place, Chu Ning, who had just used the Twin Fire Rings in a real attack for the first time, couldn't help but marvel.

He felt that he hadn't even fully unleashed the full power of the Twin Fire Rings.

Yet even so, the mid-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator had almost no ability to resist and was directly killed.

Chu Ning's gaze shifted to the two storage bags on the ground and the three corpses nearby.

His eyes flickered slightly.

In just a short moment, he had directly killed five Foundation Establishment cultivators, two of whom were mid-stage cultivators.

Even he himself felt a sense of unreality at this moment.

However, his gaze soon fell on the pitch-black disc on the ground.

Chu Ning was well aware that if he hadn't inadvertently probed the treasure with his spirit sense and somehow triggered the black light, he might not have been able to face the five Foundation Establishment cultivators.

Even with his precious artifacts, ensuring his own safety might have been possible, but defeating all of them would not have been easy.

With this thought, Chu Ning first dealt with the three corpses and then collected all five storage bags.

Chu Ning activated the defensive shield on the Soul Fixing Bead with his god sense but dared not use it to touch the black disc, fearing that he might accidentally trigger another attack.

When he reached the black disc, Chu Ning carefully picked it up with his hand and noticed nothing unusual.

Only then did Chu Ning heave a sigh of relief and store the black disc into his storage bag.

Simultaneously, Chu Ning quickly approached the jade platform.

He first looked at the jade box that had contained the black disc and found a small jade slip inside. He immediately reached out and took it.

After examining it briefly and discovering that it recorded an introduction to the black disc, Chu Ning happily kept it.

At this moment, Chu Ning's gaze fell on the two remaining jade boxes covered by restrictions.

"Little White, the fluctuations from these restrictions don't feel that strong to me. You should be able to get them out, right?"

Ling Xiaobai let out a soft "Yin!"

Immediately, the little guy jumped onto the jade platform and headed straight into the restriction covering the jade boxes.

As expected, the restriction wasn't very strong, and Ling Xiaobai easily penetrated it.

Then, it opened its mouth, spraying a beam of white light that enveloped one of the jade boxes.

Right after, it sucked the jade box into its mouth.

Ling Xiaobai quickly exited the restriction and entered the one covering the other jade box.

It repeated the same process, taking the second jade box as well.

After exiting the restriction, Ling Xiaobai opened its mouth toward Chu Ning, and in a flash of white light, the two jade boxes appeared in Chu Ning's hands.

"Your talent for thievery is getting better and better."

Chu Ning smiled slightly as he watched Ling Xiaobai easily retrieve the two jade boxes.

If it were before Ling Xiaobai's advancement, taking these items wouldn't have been so easy.

With the jade boxes in hand, Chu Ning immediately opened them. His eyes lit up at what he saw.

Inside the middle jade box was a black book with several silver characters on it.

Refine God Technique!

This was exactly what Chu Ning had come here for.

Chu Ning was delighted and immediately picked up the book.

However, the next moment, he was puzzled.

"How do I read this book?"

Holding it in his hand, Chu Ning realized that aside from its shape, it didn't resemble a book at all.

He couldn't identify the material used to make it. The thin book felt icy in his hand.

Although it seemed to be made of pages, it felt like he was holding a block of jade when he tried to flip through it.

Moreover, no matter how Chu Ning tried, he couldn't open the book.

"Could it be that I need to use my god sense?"

An idea struck Chu Ning, thinking that since the book was related to god sense, perhaps that was how it was meant to be read.

So, Chu Ning immediately infused his god sense into the book.

To his delight, the cover flipped open, revealing the contents within.

On the first page were some introductions to the Refine God Technique, signed by Shen Meng Shangren.

Chu Ning continued to flip through the book with his god sense, and a smile soon appeared on his face as he skimmed the contents.

The techniques described within were identical to the Refine God Technique he had been cultivating.

Moreover, in addition to the first and second layers, when Chu Ning looked further, there was indeed content about the third layer.

However, when Chu Ning reached the last page of the third layer and tried to flip to the next page, he found that he couldn't.

Chu Ning now had a guess.

"Could it be that I need to cultivate the third layer of the Refine God Technique before I can continue reading the rest?"

He would have to research this later. For now, Chu Ning closed the book, put it back into the jade box, and stored it in his bag.

Chu Ning then turned his attention to the last jade box.

It was then that he noticed this jade box was different from the previous two.

The material seemed to have some similarities to the black book he had just obtained.

Moreover, after searching for a while, Chu Ning couldn't find a way to open it.

Recalling how he had viewed the contents of the Refine God Technique book, Chu Ning directly infused his god sense into this jade box.

However, this time, when Chu Ning's god sense entered the jade box, there was no response.

For the time being, Chu Ning didn't investigate further and simply stored the jade box in his bag.

At the same time, he began to carefully examine his surroundings.

"Little White, we should still be inside the Reincarnation Ancient Cave, but I don't know where we've been transmitted to. Can you sense if there's a restriction that can get us out of here?"

Ling Xiaobai's little face now wore a somewhat gloomy expression.

"I can't sense any restrictions on these walls..."

Hearing this, Chu Ning frowned slightly.

"It seems that the methods of those ancient sects and powerful beings are indeed formidable.

Little White, your previously invincible talent for ignoring restrictions has been blocked multiple times."

As Chu Ning spoke, Ling Xiaobai's small eyes showed a hint of dissatisfaction.

"That's because I haven't fully advanced yet."

Chu Ning nodded in agreement.

Ling Xiaobai's innate talent for ignoring restrictions was naturally related to the strength of the restrictions.

When Ling Xiaobai was still a first-stage magical beast, he could easily break through the defensive formation of the Qingxi Sect, a formation set up by Golden Core cultivators, while carrying Chu Ning.

After advancing to the second stage, he had no trouble bringing Chu Ning into the Reincarnation Ancient Cave.

However, the restrictions on the second floor of the inner hall and the stone chamber he currently occupied were obviously of a higher level.

Even after advancing to the second stage, Ling Xiaobai couldn't break through them.

In fact, within this chamber, Ling Xiaobai couldn't even sense any restrictions.

At this moment, Chu Ning's heart stirred as he thought of something strange.

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end