Chapter 236: Another Jade Bone, Chu Ning Breaks the Formation

Chapter 236: Another Jade Bone, Chu Ning Breaks the Formation

Chu Ning paid no heed to the shocked expressions on everyone's faces and reminded them, "Let's quickly tidy up here and then continue our search. Although all ten cultivators from the Great Luo Sect have been defeated, it's best to finish this quickly to avoid any unforeseen complications."

"Yes, Brother Li is right!" Everyone readily agreed; none dared to disagree.

Soon, they thoroughly searched the five Great Luo Sect cultivators and continued their exploration. Before long, they arrived at the site of the previous battle between Chu Ning and Sun Shifan.

Naturally, everyone immediately spotted Sun Shifan's corpse on the ground, and their doubts were laid to rest.

He Yanmao sighed, "Sun Shifan and I were fellow cultivators of the same era, though he was about twenty years younger than me. Five years ago, he successfully condensed his Golden Core, and all of us fellow cultivators were filled with envy. Who would have thought that today he would meet his end at Brother Li's hands?"

Previously, He Yanmao had addressed Chu Ning as "junior brother" because Chu Ning's current appearance made him look only about thirty years old. But after witnessing Chu Ning's capabilities, he no longer dared to be so presumptuous.

Upon hearing He Yanmao's words, everyone realized that Sun Shifan was also a genius-level figure. Indeed, any cultivator capable of forming a Golden Core was an outstanding talent among their peers. And Chu Ning had killed his opponent despite being only at the late Qi Refining stage. This further deepened their admiration for Chu Ning.

As He Yanmao sighed and the others marveled, Chu Ning approached Sun Shifan, took his storage bag, searched his body, and then burned the corpse to ashes.

Then, Chu Ning joined the others and said, "Now that we've eliminated all the Great Luo Sect cultivators here, our relative danger should be reduced. Let's stick to our previous plan and search in groups. That way, we'll be faster."

"Good!" He Yanmao was the first to agree.

"It's strange," someone said. "We've searched over ten peaks, big and small, since entering the mountain gate, but we haven't found anything."

"Perhaps it's because this place is on the outskirts of the sect and wasn't the main battlefield back then," Shang Xiaohan suggested from the side.

Her explanation was met with general agreement.

Immediately, the group divided into three teams again and continued their search. Although there were no more cultivators from the Great Luo Sect, everyone remained vigilant and stayed relatively close to each other in case of any sudden events that might require their support. After all, compared to before, while the danger had lessened, their consumption of spiritual energy had increased significantly.

After searching for about another ten miles, Chu Ning's group finally discovered signs of a previous battle on a peak. They found not only skeletal remains but also some storage bags and magical artifacts. However, the quality of these items was not high, and after such a long time, they had lost their spiritual connection and were now useless.

Nevertheless, the discovery boosted everyone's spirits, and they continued their search.

Gradually, more and more corpse remnants were found, but to everyone's confusion, these bodies bore no valuables worth mentioning. It was as if they had all been thoroughly looted, leaving behind only low-grade artifacts that had long lost their value due to the passage of time.

After two hours of this, the three groups gathered at a peak, their faces filled with bewilderment and frustration.

"What's going on?" Yi Wenliang voiced everyone's thoughts. "Could it be that other cultivators came here before us and took everything, leaving nothing behind?"

Chu Ning's gaze lifted towards the peak, which was clearly the main summit, and he slowly said, "There might be some secrets up there as well. I sense the presence of a formation at the peak of this mountain."

"There's a formation?"

Everyone looked up at the peak, which was nearly two thousand feet high, and their expressions turned strange.

With their spiritual sense, they naturally couldn't probe whether there was a formation at the summit. Thus, their admiration for Chu Ning's powerful spiritual sense deepened.

However, they had not encountered any formations along the way, and the fact that there was one at the peak indicated something unusual.

He Yanmao asked, "Brother Li, what should we do now?" Although the sect had instructed him to be in charge of this operation, he naturally deferred to Chu Ning at this moment.

"Let's go up and take a look," Chu Ning said after a moment's thought. "Since we're here, we should find out what's going on. But everyone, be careful, and if there's any danger, retreat immediately."

With Chu Ning's decision, the group began ascending the stone path leading to the peak.

There were also numerous skeletal remains on both sides of this path, but their state of decay was much less advanced than those on the outer peaks, indicating that the cultivators here had either died more recently or had been of a higher cultivation level. After all, even if one did not specialize in body refinement, cultivating one's spiritual power still had a tempering effect on the body. The higher the cultivation level, the slower the body would decay after death.

However, just like before, they found nothing of value on these corpses. Even when they occasionally used their spiritual sense to probe outside the stone path and found other cultivators' remains, their inspections yielded nothing.

Thus, their ascent quickened unconsciously.

Soon, they had climbed nearly a thousand feet.

Then, he slowly approached the skeletal remains.

"Brother Li, is something wrong?"

Everyone was puzzled by Chu Ning's actions.

Chu Ning didn't answer but casually waved his hand, instantly turning the corpse into a pile of powder that was scattered by the wind.

However, on the ground, there were three bones as translucent as jade.

These bones were scattered across different parts of the body, including hand and leg bones.

One of them was even a skull fragment.

"Hmm? What is this? How can there be bones that look like jade?"

Shang Xiaohan was the first to speak up, her voice filled with curiosity.

The rest of the group also stared at the jade-like bones, their faces reflecting their astonishment.

Chu Ning reached out and grabbed the three bones from the ground.

Sure enough, he could clearly sense the familiar, powerful vitality emanating from them.

"These aren't bones!" Chu Ning shook his head.

He was no stranger to these peculiar objects.

In the past, he had obtained one from the body of the elder from the Leihu Sect, a late-stage Nascent Soul cultivator.

Later, he discovered that they weren't actually bones at all.

Instead, they were a form of life energy that had condensed and settled onto the bones.

He even suspected that they were related to Spirit Seeds.

However, the fact that this person had three of them truly surprised Chu Ning.

"This person shouldn't have had a higher cultivation level than that late-stage Nascent Soul elder from the Leihu Sect.

If my guess is correct, this is a Spirit Seed's essence energy that has transformed into a spiritual aura.

It doesn't represent the person's cultivation level but rather indicates that they refined and absorbed more of this spiritual aura."

As these thoughts crossed Chu Ning's mind, a hint of doubt surfaced.

"But when I entered the spiritual domain of the Wood Spirit Seed, I didn't realize that I could obtain more of this spiritual aura."

After a moment of hesitation, Chu Ning quickly cast this doubt aside.

Then, without hesitation, he stored the three jade-like bones into his storage bag.

These were precious items; he still remembered how, back at the Leihu Sect ruins, he had used one of these bones to not only fully recover but also to enhance his Yan Huo Shen Mu Gong, allowing him to break through to the mid-Foundation Establishment stage.

Of course, there was also his body refinement!

These bones could even help him break through bottlenecks in his physical cultivation.

After storing away the three "jade bones," Chu Ning looked up at the peak and said, "Let's go. Let's continue upward."

With that, Chu Ning took another step forward.

Although the others knew that the three jade bones Chu Ning had picked up were extraordinary, no one said anything at the moment.

When the sect had sent them to this valley, they had already been informed that any items they found, aside from the sect's legacy and artifacts of particular use to the sect, could be kept as personal belongings.

The items Chu Ning had obtained so far seemed to have no special use for the sect, so naturally, they belonged to him.

However, as they continued forward, they didn't come across any other rare treasures.

Until they reached the summit, where a grand hall stood.

"There really is an array formation here!"

Among the group, Yi Wenliang, the formation master, had a look of excitement on his face.

"Moreover, I can sense that this formation seems to have a deep connection with our Jiuhua Sect!"

Yi Wenliang's words immediately brought delighted expressions to everyone's faces.

Yi Wenliang took out the same disc-shaped artifact he had used earlier against the Great Luo Sect cultivators and placed it in front of the formation.

He then performed a series of intricate hand seals, causing streams of white light to fall onto the formation.

Soon, he was able to carefully examine the formation through the disc artifact.

After about an incense stick's worth of time, Yi Wenliang suddenly exclaimed in excitement, "This formation was indeed set up by our Jiuhua Sect's predecessors! It's the Cloud Sea Seven Stars Formation! However, it isn't the complete Cloud Sea Seven Stars Formation; only a part of it has been laid out here, mainly serving as an obstruction."

"Cloud Sea Seven Stars Formation!"

Several cultivators exclaimed in surprise upon hearing Yi Wenliang's revelation.

Shang Xiaohan also spoke up, her eyes shining with anticipation, "Is this the Cloud Sea Seven Stars Formation, one of our sect's three great formations that has been lost? I've seen records of this formation in the sect's ancient texts!"

Yi Wenliang nodded, "Yes, it's that formation!"

Hearing that the formation was one of their sect's legacy techniques, everyone couldn't help but get excited.

At that moment, everyone was thinking the same thing—there must be something left behind by the sect's predecessors within.

Shang Xiaohan, her eyes sparkling with anticipation, urged, "Brother Yi, quickly break the formation!"

The others nodded in agreement, encouraging Yi Wenliang to break the formation as soon as possible.

However, Yi Wenliang hesitated and said, "I can only try. Although this isn't the complete Cloud Sea Seven Stars Formation, it's one of our sect's three great formations, and it has long been lost. There are no records in the sect about how to break it, so I can't guarantee that I'll be able to break this restriction."

With that, Yi Wenliang put away the disc artifact and stepped forward toward the grand hall's formation.

He began performing a series of hand seals, causing beams of white light to fall onto the formation.

However, the formation didn't react much; instead, after a dazzling flash of light, Yi Wenliang was forced to take two steps back.

Yi Wenliang shook his head and tried again, this time using a different set of hand seals to break the restriction.

Half an hour passed as Yi Wenliang repeatedly attempted to break the formation more than ten times, but his face only grew more gloomy.

"I can't break this formation. Although it isn't the complete Cloud Sea Seven Stars Formation and lacks its illusory and offensive capabilities, it's still one of our sect's three great formations. The predecessor who set up this formation had a cultivation level far beyond mine.

While they understood that one's cultivation and abilities played a role in dismantling formations and restrictions, it didn't necessarily mean that those with higher cultivation would excel at breaking them.

He Yanmao, despite having a higher cultivation level than Yi Wenliang, wouldn't be as skilled in breaking formations as the latter, who was a formation master. Now that Yi Wenliang had failed to break this particular restriction, they were curious to see what Chu Ning could do.

Yi Wenliang blurted out, "Brother Chu, are you also a formation master?"

Chu Ning shook his head without saying a word and walked up to the formation.

He was certainly no formation master, and asking him to set up a formation would be quite a challenge. The array in his cave abode had been set up by following instructions from Cen Zikin's items, with Chu Ning simply mimicking the process.

If the formation before him had been complete, he wouldn't have dared to attempt breaking it. A thorough understanding of formations was necessary for dismantling a complete formation.

Even with the jade slips on formations that Cen Zikin had given him, Chu Ning found the subject profoundly complex and hadn't spent much time studying them.

However, as Yi Wenliang had pointed out, this formation was only partially laid out, primarily serving as an obstruction. Chu Ning, having learned various restriction-breaking techniques from Shen Meng Shangren in the Cycle Ancient Cave, felt that the underlying principles of this formation resembled a couple of those he had encountered before.

That was why Chu Ning had volunteered to give it a try.

As he reached the formation, Chu Ning began to cast a series of intricate hand seals. The others, seeing his actions, refrained from asking further questions and instead watched with anticipation.

They wanted to see if the brother who had slain a Golden Core cultivator could bring them another pleasant surprise.

Chu Ning executed several hand seals, infusing them with spiritual power and sending them into the formation. Immediately, he sensed the unique characteristics of the formation.

"As expected, it's a formation imbued with spiritual sense. Even Xiao Bai would find it challenging to penetrate," Chu Ning mused.

With that thought, he switched to a different set of hand seals. Once again, he attempted to break the restriction.

"It's working!"

As soon as he executed this new set of hand seals, Chu Ning felt a surge of excitement. Without hesitation, he continued to cast the same series of seals, infusing each one with spiritual power and spiritual sense, sending them into the formation before him.

The invisible formation began to ripple in response to Chu Ning's actions.

"Brother Li is breaking the formation!" the cultivators exclaimed, their faces lighting up with joy.

Although they weren't well-versed in formations and restrictions, they could tell that the formation was gradually weakening under Chu Ning's assault.

Yi Wenliang, witnessing the intricate and profound hand seals Chu Ning was using, was astonished. He never expected Brother Li Qun to possess such extraordinary techniques for breaking restrictions.

As Chu Ning continued to cast his hand seals, the formation rippled more and more vigorously.

Finally, after Chu Ning executed dozens of seals, the formation underwent a violent fluctuation, and an arched doorway large enough for two or three people to pass through appeared.

"The formation is broken! Brother Li's abilities are truly astonishing!"

Amidst the group's delighted and admiring gazes, Chu Ning paused for a moment to sense the fluctuations in the formation. Then, he said, "Let's go. We can enter now."

After saying this, Chu Ning turned to He Yanmao and Yi Wenliang and instructed, "You two go first with everyone else. I'll bring up the rear."

Chu Ning did this to ensure that if there were any unexpected changes with the formation, he would be the last one affected, thus reducing the risk for the others.

Hearing Chu Ning's instructions, the group entered the newly formed archway in pairs.

Chu Ning was relieved to see that the formation remained open after it was broken, giving him enough time to enter last. Once everyone else had gone through, he followed suit, stepping through the invisible archway and into the grand hall.

As he entered, Chu Ning was perplexed by the silence that had befallen the group. But when he stepped into the hall and saw what was inside, he, too, couldn't help but gape in astonishment.

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end