Chapter 262: Unlocking the Spirit Realm

Chapter 262: Unlocking the Spirit Realm

At the same time, two objects appeared in Chu Ning's hands once more.

They were the robe and boots that Ge Liuyang had helped him refine for using the Shen Feng Dun technique.

Chu Ning looked at the two items before him and murmured softly, "This robe and boots were decent before, but now that I've broken through to the Golden Core stage, they're a bit inadequate."

Chu Ning had realized this during his previous encounters with various demons in the Jiuhua Mountains.

As he entered the Golden Core phase and his cultivation and magic power improved, his deployment of the Shen Feng Dun technique had become faster.

The enhancement these items provided was indeed limited.

Moreover, as Chu Ning's art of refining had improved, he could vaguely sense that these two items, which Ge Liuyang had claimed were comparable to magical artifacts, did not truly live up to that standard.

On the one hand, it was due to the limitation of materials, and on the other hand, it was also related to Ge Liuyang's lack of expertise in wind-based array spells.

At that time, the Jiuhua Sect had not yet obtained the complete legacy, and many wind-based arrays used for making robes were incomplete.

However, none of this seemed to pose a problem for Chu Ning at the moment.

On this trip to Tianying Pavilion, he had unexpectedly acquired a lot of artifact refining materials.

In addition to his own practice of wind-based spells and the assistance of the Array Spirit Body, he was confident in his ability to refine a dedicated wind-attribute artifact.

Moreover, with the Vessel Spirit Body, as long as Chu Ning could refine artifacts, he could cultivate multiple natal artifacts.

Chu Ning thought about it and felt that a robe would be very suitable as such an artifact, as he could wear it at all times and use it whenever needed.

That was why he had his eyes on the bottle of Dragon Whiskers Grass Essence owned by the palace-dressed female cultivator with the surname Jia.

This treasure was crucial in transforming the skins of many demons and artifact refining materials into a soft state suitable for making robes.

And so, he spent another ten days in the Refining Room.

In Chu Ning's hand now was a new blue robe, distinct from the previous one crafted by Ge Liuyang. This new robe featured more elaborate decorations.

Chu Ning had used special materials to create silk threads, weaving various array decorations along the cuffs, sleeves, and hem.

In addition to enhancing his speed by harnessing the power of the wind, the robe also provided offensive boosts.

This was designed to complement Chu Ning's use of the Wind and Fire Prairie Technique.

After all, whether he used the Skyfire Sword Technique or condensed the Fiery Spirit Bird, this technique could be employed.

In addition, Chu Ning had incorporated a Wind Concealment Array into this robe.

This array could render the wearer invisible, and once activated by spiritual power, even high-level cultivators would be unable to see through it with their naked eyes.

Of course, if the opponent had powerful spiritual sense, they could still detect him.

However, with the Divine Prohibition Technique, Chu Ning could perfectly counter this minor flaw.

After donning the robe, Chu Ning finally emerged from the Refining Room, where he had sequestered himself for over two months.

His appearance immediately caught Ge Liuyang's attention.

The elder of the Refining Pavilion appeared outside the Refining Room, curious to ask, "Chu Ning, have you refined your artifact?"

Chu Ning smiled and nodded. He opened his mouth and exhaled, causing a two-foot-long flying sword, shimmering with azure spiritual light, to fall into his hand.

He then handed the sword to Ge Liuyang.

Ge Liuyang took the sword and examined it briefly before his face lit up with surprise.

"You actually refined a Five Elements Spirit Sword and even incorporated Black Xuan Gold into it!"

Chu Ning took the flying sword back and retracted it into his body.

"I guess I got lucky. This time, when I accompanied Ling Shang to the Tianying Pavilion gathering, I obtained some treasures."

"I had to consume quite a few spiritual pills to replenish my magic power to complete the sword's refinement."

Hearing Chu Ning's words, Ge Liuyang shook his head and laughed, "What luck? Among Golden Core cultivators, the one I admire the most now is you, Chu Ning! Your artifact refining skills surpass mine, your pill refining surpasses Ling Shang's, and as a mere early Golden Core cultivator, you can kill a sixth-rank demon.

Haha! The Sect Master was right; our Jiuhua Sect has indeed produced a powerful Golden Core cultivator."

As he spoke, Ge Liuyang noticed the blue robe Chu Ning was wearing.

"Hmm, the grade of this robe has also reached the artifact level.

I presume the set of robes I refined for you before no longer meets your needs, so you changed it."

Chu Ning knew that Ge Liuyang was straightforward and didn't mind his comments. He cupped his hands and said, "Brother Ge, thank you for helping me refine this robe over the years. It has been a great help."

"Ah, no need for formalities," Ge Liuyang waved his hand.

Then he suddenly said, "In fact, if you want to show your gratitude, why don't you take charge of this Refining Pavilion?"

"In terms of refining skills, I'm not as good as you now."

Upon hearing this, Chu Ning immediately replied, "Brother, please spare me. I'm already cultivating so many things, and I can't handle it all.

I don't have time to manage the Refining Pavilion, and my temperament is not suited for such tasks."

Hearing Chu Ning's refusal, Ge Liuyang waved his hand again and said, "Never mind, I was just asking casually. I know you wouldn't agree.

But occasionally, you should spend some time in the Refining Pavilion to guide the disciples."

"Of course," Chu Ning readily agreed.

He then left the Refining Pavilion and flew back to his Tianlan Peak.

Along the way, as he slightly sensed the effects of his new robe, Chu Ning was extremely satisfied.

With the Shen Feng Dun technique, his escape art was undoubtedly dominant among Golden Core cultivators.

Upon returning to Tianlan Peak, Chu Ning immediately took off the robe, stored it in his body, and began the cultivation process using his spirit and Elixir Force.

With the innate talent of the Vessel Spirit Body, he was indeed unaffected by any limitations.

If it were an ordinary early Golden Core cultivator, even if they could absorb a few artifacts into their body as natal artifacts, their spirit and dan li would be unable to support the cultivation of so many artifacts.

However, due to Chu Ning's golden core's might, comparable to a mid-stage golden core, coupled with his powerful spiritual sense, he could withstand it.

At the same time, he practiced manipulating his treasures and interspersing them with several top-tier spells.

He threw himself wholeheartedly into his cultivation.

Although Chu Ning had been promoted to the Elder of the Golden Core, he rarely participated in sect affairs.

Yu Changge and the others also knew that Chu Ning not only disliked these mundane matters but was also recently focused on cultivating various treasure abilities.

Unless it was an emergency, they wouldn't bother him.

Time flew, and another year passed.

On this day, Chu Ning was meditating and cultivating in his cave abode on Tianlan Peak.

At the same time, he was checking his cultivation proficiency.

【Five Elements Chaotic Principles (Middle-grade Heaven-rank), First Layer (8,644/50,000)】

【Nine Transformations Body Refining Technique, Second Volume, First Layer (19,511/45,000)】

【Refine God Technique, Fourth Layer (39,345/64,000)】

"In the past year and a half, I spent the first half refining talismans, pills, and treasures, and it's only in the latter half that I truly focused on cultivation.

After entering the Golden Core stage, my progress in various cultivations has indeed slowed down a bit.

Of course, this is also related to my deliberate control of my cultivation speed and the fact that I didn't take any pills, choosing instead to stabilize my realm."

As Chu Ning pondered his progress, he suddenly sensed an incoming message talisman from the outside world.

With a wave of his hand, he summoned the talisman.

"Hmm, the Sect Master is summoning me for a discussion?"

Chu Ning was slightly surprised. Normally, Yu Changge wouldn't look for him.

"Could it be about the Spirit Realm in Honghukou?"

At this moment, Chu Ning's heart stirred, and he vaguely guessed a possibility.

A few days ago, he had overheard some sect members mentioning this matter.

Without delay, he flew out of his Tianlan Peak and headed towards Jiuling Peak.

In the discussion hall, Yu Changge and Gong Yuquan had already arrived.

After Chu Ning's arrival, the other elders gradually gathered as well.

Once everyone was present, Yu Changge opened his mouth and said:

"Master has sent news that the Spirit Realm in Honghukou has completely formed and stabilized. The spatial node is expected to appear within two to three days.

It is said that in the past two days, Qin Changkong, the leader of the Cloudsoaring Alliance, used his secret technique to investigate..."

As he spoke, Yu Changge's eyes glinted with a subtle glow.

"There is a high probability that the spatial node leading to the territory occupied by the Cloudsoaring Alliance is within the Demon Spirit Gate territory originally occupied by our Jiuhua Sect."

"Is that true?"

Upon hearing Yu Changge's words, Elder Luo Jie of Jin Yuan Peak immediately blurted out.

However, he quickly realized what he had said and corrected himself. After all, Qin Changkong was the only late-stage Nascent Soul cultivator in the Cloudsoaring Alliance.

Since it was this person who had investigated using his secret technique, the information was most likely accurate.

Luo Jie then immediately asked, "Did the Alliance mention how many people can enter, and who specifically will be allowed into the Spirit Realm?"

Yu Changge shook his head.

"On this matter, Master didn't elaborate in his message, so I assume it hasn't been decided yet."

However, he soon smiled and said, "But since this spatial node is within the territory controlled by our Jiuhua Sect,

it is naturally most beneficial to us, and we should be able to get a few spots."

As he spoke, Yu Changge looked at Chu Ning and asked, "Chu Ning, do you still want to enter the Spirit Realm?"

"Sect Master, I do want to give it a try."

Upon hearing this, Chu Ning almost didn't hesitate to answer.

After multiple rounds of talent refreshes, all four arts of talismans, pills, treasures, and arrays in the Hundred Arts of Cultivation had been refreshed.

Chu Ning thought that the possibility of refreshing the other cultivation arts wasn't as high.

Moreover, the Array Dao Spiritual Body had even been directly refreshed from his hidden talents.

With this, Chu Ning felt that the next refresh might very well be a cultivation-type spiritual body.

Furthermore, considering that the system had always rewarded him with spiritual bodies that matched his cultivation,

and that he was currently cultivating the Five Elements Chaotic Principles, it wasn't impossible that he would gather the Five Elements Spiritual Bodies after two more refreshes.

Wood begets fire, fire begets earth, and earth begets metal. Without a metal spiritual root, he couldn't refresh a metal-attribute spiritual body.

This was a big deal.

Now that he had such an opportunity, Chu Ning was naturally determined to seize it.

Moreover, he wasn't just going to rely on luck but intended to strive for a fruitful outcome.

Seeing Chu Ning's resolute attitude, Yu Changge didn't say anything further.

His gaze swept across Luo Jie and Chu Ning.

"In that case, we must not delay. Luo Jie and Chu Ning, the two of you should set off as soon as possible."

As he spoke, Yu Changge looked at Gong Yuquan.

"Gong Yuquan, Master meant that if we can get three spots, our sect will also arrange for a late-stage Golden Core cultivator to enter.

I will stay behind to oversee the sect, and we will also need a late-stage Golden Core cultivator at Honghukou.

I'll trouble you to go as well. As for who will enter the Spirit Realm, we can discuss it when we arrive at Honghukou."

"Alright!" Gong Yuquan agreed.

The three of them were about to get up and make preparations when Yu Changge turned to Chu Ning and said, "Chu Ning, although your abilities are powerful, you've just formed your Golden Core recently.

If you can seize an opportunity, that's great, but don't force it.

You're still young, and there will be other chances in the future."

After Yu Changge finished speaking, the other Golden Core elders nodded in agreement and cast concerned glances at Chu Ning.

"The Sect Master is right, Chu Ning. You're still young, so there's no need to fight to the death with others."

"Indeed, within such a secret realm, we can't even fully trust those from the Cloudsoaring Alliance. You must be careful, fellow disciple."

...

Hearing their words, Chu Ning nodded and said, "Thank you for your concern, fellow seniors. I will be cautious."

The others didn't say anything further.

Chu Ning returned to his Tianlan Peak and found that there wasn't anything special he needed to prepare.

Ling Xiaobai, that little fellow, had helped Chu Ning out of many tight spots before.

Moreover, after advancing to the fourth rank, the little guy had gained another talent.

He could hear the transmitted thoughts of cultivators, and he had specifically tested it. As long as the spiritual sense wasn't comparable to that of a Nascent Soul cultivator, he could hear it.

...

Honghukou.

After more than a decade, Chu Ning arrived here once again.

Over the past decade, the Jiuhua Sect had naturally arranged for Foundation Establishment cultivators to guard this territory.

However, due to Chu Ning's unique situation, he had not participated.

Compared to a decade ago, there were now obvious changes.

The entire Honghu Lake area was divided and enveloped by three completely different arrays.

As soon as Chu Ning entered, he immediately sensed the dense spiritual energy, which was completely different from before.

The mountains on all sides were lush and verdant, and one could often see many spirit herbs and spirit fruits.

It was just that they were not ripe, so they were not picked by the cultivators.

"This place has indeed become an excellent place for cultivation.

It seems that the formation of this spirit realm has also affected the surrounding spiritual energy.

Indeed, this spirit realm is much more advanced than the Wood Spirit Seed spirit realm I saw before."

Regarding this, Chu Ning had actually done some research beforehand.

There was no clear hierarchy among different spirit seeds, but the spirit realms they created were different.

Like the Wood Spirit Seed spirit realm near Qingxi Sect, only Qi Refining cultivators could enter.

However, the spirit realm here could accommodate Foundation Establishment cultivators.

Of course, correspondingly, the time required for the spirit seed to appear was not as long as it used to be in Qingxi Sect.

It took decades for the sect to arrange for batches of Qi Refining cultivators to enter, relying on the array to force the spirit seed to appear.

After the Foundation Establishment cultivators entered, as long as a small number of them gathered and used their powerful magic power, they would be able to force the spirit seed to appear.

Although there have been significant changes to Honghu Lake, the overall geographical landscape has not changed much.

Within the Cloudsoaring Alliance's base camp, the Jiuhua Sect still occupied a mountain peak.

When the few of them arrived, Tang Xuan, Yuan Zhuo, and the He clan elder were already waiting.

With Chu Ning's group, Tang Xuan said to the group, "Regarding the matter of entering the spirit realm, the three alliances have discussed and come up with a general plan.

All Foundation Establishment cultivators will evacuate today, and only Nascent Soul and Golden Core cultivators will remain.

Two days from now, when the spatial node officially appears, we will open the spatial passage and let everyone enter."

As he spoke, a smile appeared on Tang Xuan's face as he said:

"This time, the number of people entering from the three alliances is related to the size of the territory they occupy. The Heaven Extreme Alliance will take up 40%, the Demon Path Alliance will take 35%, and our Cloudsoaring Alliance will take 25%.

The Cloudsoaring Alliance has a total of sixty people entering, and the Alliance, in recognition of our previous contributions, has allocated three spots to our sect."

Hearing Tang Xuan's words, everyone's eyes fell on Chu Ning.

Everyone knew that this contribution referred to the occupation of the Demon Spirit Gate's territory.

After all, the Cloudsoaring Alliance had nearly fifty sects, and Jiuhua Sect's ranking was not very high, yet they were still allocated three spots.

This was mainly because the spatial node was located right on the piece of territory that the Jiuhua Sect had taken from the Demon Spirit Gate.

"In addition to our Jiuhua Sect's three spots, the Alliance has allocated five spots to the Guiyuan Sect.

The Daluo Sect was the first to start occupying this place, so they were given four spots, and several other stronger sects were also given three or more spots.

I'm thinking that this time, there will definitely be quite a few late-stage Golden Core cultivators entering. Yu Yuan, Yuan Zhuo, what are your thoughts?"

After Tang Xuan's words, Chu Ning's eyes also fell on Gong Yuquan and Yuan Zhuo.

Although the spirit seed in this spirit realm was a Metal Spirit Seed, cultivators who practiced metal-attribute techniques would benefit more from obtaining the spirit seed or absorbing the spirit essence.

But that didn't mean it held no appeal for other cultivators.

First of all, such a high-level spirit realm would undoubtedly contain many precious treasures.

Because it had been proven before that although a spirit realm needed time to stabilize, the small world within it had already formed long ago, and many spirit realms were even relocated from elsewhere.

The precious treasures within were still extremely beneficial to late-stage Golden Core cultivators.

Secondly, if one could truly obtain the spirit seed and refine it, even if they didn't cultivate the same attribute techniques, it would still be of great benefit.

It was said that thousands of years ago, there were also cultivators who obtained different attribute spirit seeds, but after refining them, they still managed to break through to the Nascent Soul stage.

Obviously, this was still very attractive to late-stage Golden Core cultivators.

"Let's let Palace Master Yu enter."

"Let Yuan Zhuo enter!"

After Tang Xuan finished speaking, Gong Yuquan and Yuan Zhuo almost spoke in unison.

Then Gong Yuquan quickly waved his hand and said:

"Yuan Zhuo, you're almost a hundred years younger than me, but your cultivation is already on par with mine.

In terms of talent and potential, you surpass me, so I should be generous and give way to you.

Even if we enter, there may not be any opportunities, and even if there are, I should yield to you."

Upon hearing this, Yuan Zhuo, who was usually not talkative, didn't say much either. He just bowed to Gong Yuquan and said,

"Thank you, Senior Brother Gong!"

Seeing this, Tang Xuan also made the decision,

"In that case, Yuan Zhuo, Roger, and Chu Ning will enter the spirit realm."

After that, the few of them continued to discuss the situations they might encounter after entering the spirit realm.

Then, except for Elder He, who sent the Foundation Establishment cultivators back to the sect and returned, Chu Ning and the others stayed in the base camp to cultivate and rest, waiting for the appearance of the spatial node.

Two days passed in a flash. On this day, Chu Ning was still cultivating in his cave abode.

Tang Xuan's voice reached his ears.

"Let's go. The Alliance Master has sent a message that the spatial node has appeared, and it's indeed in the location we predicted.

The spirit realm is about to open, so let's hurry over."

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end