Chapter 198: Nine Derivations Spirit Mountain, A Pleasant Surprise

Chapter 198: Nine Derivations Spirit Mountain, A Pleasant Surprise

"So it was just a stone chamber within the cave abode." Chu Ning stepped out of the stone door and surveyed his surroundings. Just like the other cave abodes of the Elder's Mountain he had entered before, there were several stone chambers flanking the main hall.

In front, there was also a courtyard. And like the previous courtyards, it was devoid of any life. Not even a single spiritual plant could be found.

Chu Ning pondered for a moment and soon realized why. Since there was no spiritual energy within the spatial fissure, it stood to reason that these ancient cultivators wouldn't have bothered to plant anything.

Even if they had returned to the Tian Yan Realm from the fissure, the spiritual energy in this realm of a thousand lakes and islands wasn't abundant, and without seeds, it made sense that there were no spiritual plants here.

"As for the Heaven's Origin Plant I saw earlier, it must have either had an extremely robust life force or started growing after emerging from the spatial fissure." Chu Ning speculated as he made his way toward one of the stone chambers, holding the jade token.

As soon as he entered the chamber, his eyes lit up. "So many books!" There were several rows of bookshelves in the chamber, filled with countless books—perhaps thousands at a glance.

Chu Ning took a few quick steps forward, but before he could reach the bookshelves, he suddenly stopped. His movement had stirred up a breeze, and the nearest bookshelf, lacking any protective restrictions, crumbled to dust under the slight gust.

"There aren't any protective restrictions on these bookshelves at all," Chu Ning remarked with a bitter laugh. He wondered if it was because the books had been preserved within the spatial fissure, preventing them from decaying.

Now, however, they were completely decayed and unreadable. With a slight sigh, Chu Ning proceeded cautiously, using his spiritual sense to inspect the area. Soon, he shook his head.

The books were beyond salvage, but there were a few jade slips… With a casual wave of his hand, Chu Ning cleared the room of the paper dust, leaving only two jade slips behind.

He picked them up and examined their contents with his spiritual sense. After a moment, he calmly stored them away in his storage bag.

One jade slip contained an introduction to various places in the Tian Yan Realm during the Thunderfire Sect's heyday. The other recorded information about some ancient, renowned figures.

Although the information might not be accurate in the present Tian Yan Realm, it still piqued Chu Ning's interest, so he kept them both.

Finding nothing else of interest in the chamber, Chu Ning moved on to the other stone chambers. However, after searching three more rooms, he still came up empty-handed.

Finally, he arrived at the last stone chamber. As he stepped inside, his eyes lit up.

In the center of the room was a meditation mat, and the walls were inscribed with various restrictions, giving it the appearance of a cultivation chamber. Next to the mat was a rack, also protected by restrictions that didn't obscure its contents.

Through the restrictions, Chu Ning could make out objects stored within the compartments of the rack. He quickly walked over and channeled his spiritual power into the jade token, attempting to unlock the restrictions with it.

Much to his surprise, the restrictions on the rack couldn't be directly unlocked by the token. Frowning slightly, Chu Ning turned to Ling Xiaobai, who was now standing by his side, and asked, "Can you get past these restrictions, Xiaobai?"

"Whine!" Ling Xiaobai fixed her gaze on the restricted rack for a moment before letting out a whine and then darting through the restrictive barrier.

Seeing this, a smile appeared on Chu Ning's face. He had learned quite a few restriction-breaking techniques from Shen Meng's cave abode, but they were rather slow. Having Ling Xiaobai retrieve the items directly was much more convenient.

After a short wait, Ling Xiaobai emerged from the rack. She opened her mouth and, with a flash of white light, several jade boxes appeared in Chu Ning's hands.

He opened each one and found a single item in each: a map, a jade talisman, and a red feather. Chu Ning examined them one by one, his curiosity piqued.

First, he picked up the map and unfurled it. "Nine Derivations Spirit Mountain!" Chu Ning exclaimed, his eyes widening in surprise at the name. He was quite familiar with this place.

It was intimately connected to the Nine Derivations Tempering Body Technique he cultivated. In ancient times, a peerless genius had created this technique, the greatest body-tempering art of all time, and was revered by later generations as the Nine Derivations Master. His residence had been the Nine Derivations Spirit Mountain.

According to legends, this ancient powerhouse had later ascended to a higher realm, becoming the first person in the cultivation world to do so.

"Could this really be a map of the Nine Derivations Spirit Mountain?" Chu Ning wondered, shocked and excited. He carefully picked up the map, only to be surprised once more.

Aside from the name "Nine Derivations Spirit Mountain," the map seemed to be completely blank. No matter how he turned it or tried infusing it with spiritual power or his spiritual sense, the map remained obstinately blank.

In the end, Chu Ning had to give up. "For this map to be so treasured by a Nascent Soul cultivator, it must be genuine," he thought. "I just don't know how to view it. It must hold the location of the cave abode of the first person to ascend from this realm… The thought alone is thrilling!"

Chu Ning felt as if he were facing not just a feather, but an ancient spiritual bird enveloped in flames.

"Whine!" Ling Xiaobai let out a frightened whine.

"Liyan Spirit Bird!" Chu Ning exclaimed as he sensed the overwhelming power and heard Ling Xiaobai's reaction. Hastily, he placed the scarlet feather back into its jade box.

Then, he turned to face Ling Xiaobai. "Xiaobai, how do you recognize this feather?"

At his question, Ling Xiaobai shook her head but replied, "I don't know. I just have these memories. The aura I sense from this feather tells me it belongs to the Liyan Spirit Bird."

Hearing this, a gleam appeared in Chu Ning's eyes. He had long suspected that Ling Xiaobai was an ancient spiritual beast, and now his deduction seemed to be confirmed.

Although Ling Xiaobai had never seen the Liyan Spirit Bird, she could recognize it through her inherited memories. This strongly suggested that she herself was connected to these ancient spiritual beasts in some way.

While Ling Xiaobai relied on her inherited memories, Chu Ning had recognized it from the powerful aura it exuded.

"This is clearly the ancient spiritual bird depicted in the stone chamber's mural, accompanying the Fire Cloud Elder," Chu Ning mused. "According to the mural, the Liyan Spirit Bird fought alongside the Fire Cloud Elder against a demon from another realm, and they both perished in that battle. I wonder how this feather ended up in the hands of the Great Elder."

As these thoughts raced through Chu Ning's mind, he felt a sense of awe.

Just a single feather exuded such immense pressure; he could only imagine the power of the actual Liyan Spirit Bird.

"Without a doubt, this is a treasure!" Chu Ning exclaimed. Although he didn't know the feather's purpose, he knew it was a rare find and carefully closed the jade box before storing it away.

"As expected of a Nascent Soul cultivator, the items that caught his eye are truly extraordinary," he marveled.

His gaze then fell upon the jade talisman in the last jade box. The talisman was inscribed with intricate arrays of symbols, resembling the talismans he had often encountered.

"I recall reading in the records of Qingxi Zong that some top-tier talismans can be crafted from specific types of jade," Chu Ning recalled. "These jade talismans possess immense power, and some can even be used multiple times. However, the technique for creating them is said to have been lost. I wonder if this is one of those top-tier jade talismans."

Chu Ning's eyes lit up with interest as he examined the talisman. Holding it in his hand, he confirmed his suspicion—this was indeed a talisman.

With his connection to the Symbol Source Spirit Body, Chu Ning was extremely sensitive to symbols and talismans. Although the symbols on this jade talisman were unfamiliar to him, he was certain it was a powerful artifact.

"It's a top-tier jade talisman!" Chu Ning's heart raced with excitement. He even felt that with enough spiritual power, he could activate the talisman.

However, he refrained from doing so. Instead, he attempted to probe the talisman with his spiritual sense, as he had read that some top-tier talismans could reveal their usage through spiritual probing.

As he directed his spiritual sense toward the talisman, a smile appeared on his face. His guess was correct; he sensed information about the talisman.

"Ice Shadow Sword Talisman!" he whispered. "By infusing it with sufficient spiritual power, it can transform into a sword for attack."

In his mind's eye, Chu Ning could even visualize the sword's shape—a deep blue blade about two feet long, exuding a chilling aura.

"This jade talisman can indeed be used multiple times, and its power is influenced by the user's spiritual power," Chu Ning realized. "With my current level of spiritual power, I can unleash an attack with two-tenths of its full might. And that attack is likely no less powerful than the Thunder Pearl!"

Chu Ning's expression reflected his astonishment. As he probed further, he discovered that the amount of power consumed depended on the strength of the spiritual power injected into the talisman. Once the stored power was depleted, the talisman would become useless.

Having gleaned all the information he could from the Ice Shadow Sword Talisman, Chu Ning happily stored it away in his storage bag. Out of the three items, he finally had something he could use directly, and it was an incredibly powerful artifact.

Chu Ning glanced around the cultivation room once more, but aside from the meditation mat, nothing else seemed noteworthy. Thus, he turned to leave.

However, as he took a step, he paused again, his gaze drawn back to the meditation mat. It appeared to be made of ordinary canvas, yet despite the lack of protective restrictions, it showed no signs of decay.

"Could this meditation mat also be a treasure?" Chu Ning wondered. He reached out and grabbed the mat, inspecting it closely. Indeed, he noticed intricate arrays of symbols woven into the fabric, forming a small formation.

His eyes narrowed in realization, and he placed the mat back on the ground. Sitting on it, he cautiously began to circulate the Blazing Divine Wood Art.

To his surprise, despite the sparse spiritual energy in the area, his cultivation seemed to be benefiting from a slightly denser concentration of spiritual energy.

"This meditation mat actually helps gather spiritual energy during cultivation!" Chu Ning exclaimed in astonishment.

Over time, that would be surprising enough.

Since such a treasure existed, Chu Ning naturally didn't hesitate to take it.

Then, Chu Ning took a turn in this stone chamber and also in the entire cave abode.

After finding nothing else, Chu Ning finally arrived at the outermost part of the cave abode.

Through the restrictions, Chu Ning couldn't see anything outside, which made him hesitate.

"If I guess right, this Great Elder's cave abode should be on the eighth layer of Elder's Mountain.

Aside from the two Sect Leaders on the ninth layer, he had the highest status.

But the last time I came here, I only touched the seventh layer's restriction and encountered several puppet attacks.

If I go out recklessly..."

Chu Ning wasn't worried about the puppets he encountered last time.

Now that his strength had greatly increased, he could somewhat judge that although those puppets were not weak, they probably hadn't reached the Golden Core stage yet.

After all, relying only on the protective armor he had back then, those puppets hadn't harmed him at all.

However, Chu Ning was also unsure if there were other, more powerful puppets.

He now even suspected that the puppet-making technique he obtained from Song Li might have come from Thunderfire Sect.

After all, Song Li had the puppet-making technique, and his son, Song Cheng, had a Thunderfire Sect token in his storage bag.

What a coincidence that would be.

"Let's go out and see. If there really is a Golden Core cultivator, I can always retreat back into this cave abode."

After some hesitation, Chu Ning held the jade token and opened the restriction, leaving the cave abode.

As soon as he stepped out, he saw a different scene.

There, everything was intact, and above was a layer of restrictions that obscured the view.

Looking down, there were also restrictions between the eighth and seventh layers, but they didn't affect his line of sight.

In view was a wide stone path that slanted downwards.

At the end of the stone path was a grand hall, the same one Chu Ning had passed through when he first came to Elder's Mountain.

However, that time, he had only reached the sixth layer before turning back.

Now, Chu Ning looked across the wide stone path to another cave abode.

Restrictions flickered outside that cave abode as well.

Holding the two jade tokens, Chu Ning first walked towards the cave abode opposite and tried to open its restrictions directly with the token.

But he was unsuccessful.

Chu Ning then walked towards the ninth layer.

He hesitated for a moment but ultimately didn't dare to use the jade token to try and open the restrictions.

After all, the restrictions here were intact, and he was worried that recklessly touching them might be dangerous.

He had already gained a lot this time, with his cultivation base rising and several treasures obtained.

"Whine!"

Ling Xiaobai stood before Chu Ning and let out a soft whine.

"I still can't get past the restrictions here.

But I can get through the restrictions below!"

Chu Ning recalled how Ling Xiaobai hadn't been able to pass through the seventh layer's restrictions the last time, but now she said she could pass through the restrictions between the seventh and eighth layers.

This was obviously related to her advancement to a third-rank demonic beast.

However, at this moment, Chu Ning waved the two jade tokens in his hand and smiled:

"Little one, you can keep your abilities in reserve. I have restriction tokens."

According to Chu Ning's guess, the restriction tokens should be unable to pass through the restrictions to the upper layers, but they could pass through to the lower layers.

Of course, the tokens might not work for different cave abodes on the same layer.

There was only one way to find out - to try it.

With that in mind, Chu Ning held the two tokens and walked downwards.

He tried them, and as expected, the token he got from Song Li couldn't pass through the protective restrictions of this layer.

But the token he got from the Great Elder could easily pass through.

Descending to the seventh layer, Chu Ning's gaze swept across the cave abodes on both sides, and he felt curious.

"I don't see those wolf-shaped puppets here. Could those puppets be inside one of these cave abodes, and they only appear when the restrictions are triggered?"

With that in mind, Chu Ning held the tokens and started walking towards the cave abode on the right.

After trying both tokens and infusing them with spiritual power without success, Chu Ning walked towards the cave abode on the left.

Having confirmed that the Great Elder's restriction token couldn't open other people's cave abodes, Chu Ning didn't try again.

Instead, he directly used the token he got from Song Cheng and infused it with spiritual power.

The next moment, the protective restrictions of that cave abode were undone.

Instantly, the interior of the cave abode came into view.

The first thing he saw were the four wolf-shaped puppet beasts guarding the entrance.

At this moment, the four puppet beasts looked at Chu Ning, and perhaps because he held the token and didn't directly trigger the restrictions, they didn't attack.

Seeing this, Chu Ning finally felt relieved.

His gaze flickered as he struck the token with a spell seal.

"Sit!"

Chu Ning lightly shouted, and according to the puppet control technique he had learned, he issued a command to the four wolf-shaped puppet beasts.

To his delight, the four puppets obediently sat down at his command.

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end