Chapter 277: Power of Origin

Chapter 277: Power of Origin

Wuling Island, Beast Mountain, a forbidden land.

Chu Ning stood outside the vast forbidden area, his gaze fixed on the smaller spatial hurricane before him.

A solemn expression flashed in his eyes, and then he took a resolute step towards the mountain.

Half a year had passed since he arrived at Wuling Island.

Ever since he obtained the information from the notes left behind by the Golden Core cultivator, Qi Lihua, six months ago.

In the following months, Chu Ning had ventured into Beast Mountain numerous times.

He had practically plundered all the demonic beasts within the mountain.

He acquired a large number of beast crystals of various attributes, and among them, he kept almost all the metallic ones.

He gave them to Shi Xue'rong, so she could condense a bit of magical power.

In addition to her own storage bag, he also had to consider helping Chu Ning open his.

Of course, all of this had to wait until after Chu Ning entered the forbidden area of Beast Mountain.

Only by figuring out what was inside would he know if there was anything in the storage bags that could be of assistance.

As for the beast crystals of other attributes, Chu Ning used them for body tempering.

Although Qi Lihua believed that a fleshly body comparable to the Golden Core realm could withstand the spatial force.

Chu Ning knew that the higher the level of his physical strength, the better.

After learning how to use beast crystals for body tempering from the two tribes, Chu Ning had not stopped cultivating the Nine Transformations Body Tempering Technique for the past six months.

Even though he couldn't combine it with the incantations for practice.

The pure increase in physical strength still significantly improved Chu Ning's proficiency in the Nine Transformations Body Tempering Technique.

[Five Elements Chaos Technique (Heavenly Mid-Grade), First Layer (8644/50000)]



[Nine Transformations Body Tempering Technique, Second Volume, First Layer (20511/45000)]



[Refine God Technique, Fourth Layer (39345/64000)]



Compared to half a year ago, there was naturally no improvement in Chu Ning's Five Elements Chaos Technique and Refine God Technique.

As for the Nine Transformations Body Tempering Technique, it had increased by nearly 1,000 points.

During this period of more than half a year, Chu Ning had also come to the outskirts of the Beast Mountain forbidden area several times.

After experiencing the hurricane formed by the spatial force, he knew that even with a fleshly body at the level of Undying Golden Body, he absolutely couldn't withstand the spatial force.

So, he could only wait until after this spatial storm passed before entering the forbidden area.

Chu Ning didn't even enter during the brief moment when the spatial force hadn't formed after the storm.

Since he needed to investigate inside, his goal wasn't merely to enter, but to do so and still come out safely.

It was only at this moment, when the hurricane of spatial force had reformed, that Chu Ning truly felt that its power was indeed much smaller than before.

When he was confident that he could withstand it, he cautiously stepped towards the mountain.

As soon as his body came into contact with the hurricane formed by the spatial force, Chu Ning felt a huge pulling force acting on him.

It felt as if these forces were going to pull every part of his body into different spatial regions.

"Spatial Force!"

This was the first time Chu Ning had felt this power, and he couldn't help but feel a chill in his heart.

Then he continued forward slowly.

What slightly reassured Chu Ning was that as he continued forward, the force didn't seem to strengthen noticeably.

Without hesitation, Chu Ning began to quicken his pace.

After all, he only had three days.

After venturing in for two hundred zhang, apart from the hurricane, Chu Ning didn't discover anything else.

At this moment, he could only grit his teeth and continue forward.

After advancing nearly three hundred zhang further, Chu Ning arrived at the edge of a deep abyss.

This abyss was too vast and too deep; as far as the eye could see, it was all part of the abyss.

Chu Ning focused his gaze downward, but even with his eyesight, he couldn't see the bottom.

Unable to use his spiritual sense to probe, Chu Ning tried to walk along the cliff and found that no matter how he walked, he couldn't avoid the abyss.

Without hesitation, he began to climb down the cliff wall.

"Although Qi Lihua didn't reach this cliff, his judgment was correct.

Without a fleshly body comparable to the Golden Core realm, not to mention the pulling of the spatial force just now,

it would be impossible to climb down this steep cliff in the face of the interference from the storm."

Chu Ning thought to himself, but the next moment, he suddenly paused, his face filled with surprise.

"No, the storm is still strong, but the spatial force from before is gone.

It's more like a storm formed by another kind of energy, an energy I've never encountered before but now feel familiar with.

Beast Crystal!"

After these thoughts flashed through his mind, Chu Ning stopped climbing down.

Having only climbed down ten or so zhang, he began to climb back up and soon returned to the top of the cliff.

Sure enough, the spatial force he felt before returned.

At this moment, Chu Ning carefully felt his way into the cliff area.

What surprised him was that as soon as he entered the range of the cliff, the spatial force immediately disappeared and turned into the other kind of energy found in beast crystals.

"There really is a secret in this Beast Mountain forbidden area!"

Chu Ning began to climb down continuously, and then he found that the deeper he went, the more intense this energy became, and the smaller the storm grew.

After Chu Ning ventured in for five hundred zhang, he finally caught a glimpse of the bottom of the cliff, just a few dozen zhang away.

At this moment, there was no trace of the storm, but the energy was so intense that Chu Ning was almost astonished.

"If this energy is compared to spiritual energy, then I've never seen a place as rich as this."

Chu Ning marveled inwardly.

The place where he had cultivated before, Tianlan Peak, and the core area of the Spirit Realm where the Golden Spirit Race was located, both had extremely rich spiritual energy.

But even those places didn't have energy as rich as this place.

"The demonic beasts here are probably of a higher level than those outside, so I must be even more cautious."

As soon as this thought crossed Chu Ning's mind, he became alert.

With a flash of Surprising Thunder Step, he appeared ten zhang away. At that moment, a monkey-like black-haired demonic beast flashed past where he had just been standing.

Without managing to attack Chu Ning, the monkey demonic beast let out a sharp shriek.

What surprised Chu Ning was that this monkey demonic beast was also at the peak of the fourth-stage, comparable to the False Core stage.

Without hesitation, Chu Ning unleashed several secret arts of the Nine Transformations Body Tempering Technique.

With a few punches, he blasted the demonic beast to pieces.

"Hmm, a Wind-attribute beast crystal."

When Chu Ning extracted the beast crystal from the defeated beast, he was surprised to find that it possessed the Wind attribute.

He had never come across one before, and he couldn't help but feel intrigued.

After carefully sensing his surroundings and finding no other demonic beasts, Chu Ning relaxed a little.

Then, he continued on his way.

Initially, Chu Ning had been thinking that progressing like this was aimless and without any clues.

However, after traveling less than a hundred zhang, his gaze was naturally drawn to a particular direction.

"I can clearly feel that the energy in that direction is even more abundant and dense."

Without any hesitation, Chu Ning proceeded in the direction he sensed.

Since he had ventured into the Beast Mountain forbidden area, it was only natural to head towards the place with the most concentrated energy, which was most likely where the secrets lay.

As he advanced, he occasionally encountered some demonic beasts, including those at the peak of the fourth-stage, comparable to the False Core stage.

Chu Ning didn't hesitate and directly eliminated any beasts he came across, not allowing them to hinder his progress.

However, Chu Ning noticed that after entering a certain area, where the energy density exceeded a certain level, there were no more demonic beasts.

"No wonder there are only fourth-stage peak-level demonic beasts here. If the energy density in this area continued to increase, my intuition tells me that these beasts would definitely be able to cross a certain bottleneck.

However, normally, after demonic beasts reach the peak of the fourth stage, the next step is to condense a Demon Core.

These beasts have already formed beast crystals. I wonder what would happen if they truly advanced to the next level?"

As Chu Ning didn't encounter any higher-level beasts, he couldn't find the answer.

However, he felt greatly relieved.

If there were beasts that continuously absorbed this energy to cultivate, after thousands or even tens of thousands of years, they might give birth to demonic beasts far surpassing the Nascent Soul stage in strength.

Even if he had come to this place, he could only flee in defeat.

At this moment, the density of the energy had reached an astonishing level.

What surprised Chu Ning even more was that this dense energy didn't seem to turn into a mist or liquid like spiritual energy.

Chu Ning could clearly feel his body being enveloped by the dense energy.

However, this energy was invisible and formless.

He traveled in this manner for about forty li.

Two small mountains appeared before Chu Ning, with a gap of about one zhang between them.

Chu Ning vaguely felt that he had reached the place with the most concentrated energy.

His heart was filled with anticipation, and he directly passed through the gap between the two peaks.

In an instant, he arrived in front of a small valley.

However, when his gaze fell upon the scene before him, he froze.

Before him was a place resembling a spirit herb garden, filled with some of the rare and exotic fruits found on Wuling Island.

But compared to the fruits outside, these were obviously much older.

They were imbued with the energy of the heavens and earth unique to this place.

And behind this spirit fruit garden was a stone cottage.

It was clear that someone had once lived here.

Although he thought that even if someone had lived here, it was most likely a long time ago, Chu Ning still didn't dare to be careless.

He cupped his hands and bowed, calling out, "Junior Chu Ning has unintentionally intruded upon Senior's dwelling. Please forgive me.

Senior, would you be so kind as to come out and meet me?"

Chu Ning called out three times, but when no one responded, he continued forward.

He passed through the spirit fruit garden and arrived in front of the stone cottage.

Once again, Chu Ning called out, "Junior Chu Ning has unintentionally intruded upon Senior's dwelling.

I wonder if Senior is available for a discussion? I have a matter I wish to consult you about."

He called out twice more, but still, no one answered.

Chu Ning reached out and gently pushed on the stone door.

The door didn't budge, so he had to exert more force.

Only then was he able to open the heavy stone door.

"Thankfully, due to the lack of spiritual energy, there don't seem to be any restrictions set up here, neither in Qi Lihua's stone cave nor in this stone cottage."

Chu Ning thought to himself as his gaze fell inside the stone cottage.

He saw that the stone cottage was very simple, with only a stone bed inside.

In one corner of the stone cottage, there was something that resembled an array.

After a quick glance, a delighted expression appeared on Chu Ning's face.

He quickly approached the array and exclaimed, "A teleportation array!"

Although he hadn't deeply researched arrays, he could vaguely tell that this was a teleportation array.

However, the next moment, the delight in Chu Ning's heart diminished somewhat.

This array seemed to be damaged due to years of neglect, and it was also noticeably different from the teleportation arrays he had seen before.

"That's right, without spiritual energy, how could teleportation be possible?"

Chu Ning muttered to himself, his gaze reluctantly sweeping over the teleportation array before moving towards the stone bed.

"There's something written here?"

Soon, Chu Ning noticed the dense writing on the stone bed.

"Could this have been Jiuyuan Shangren's residence on Wuling Island before?"

Upon realizing this, Chu Ning's heart raced. Jiuyuan Shangren was someone who could come and go from this place, and he even set up a teleportation formation-like mechanism in this stone chamber.

That meant that the person might have truly grasped the secrets of Wuling Island.

This could be the key to his own escape from the island.

Without hesitation, Chu Ning began reading from the start.

> "Spiritual energy fills the heavens and the earth, spirit veins form, and all beings under the sky cultivate with fervor.

>

> I, Jiuyuan, embarked on the path of cultivation through body refinement, gathering the spiritual energy of the heavens and the earth into my body, and transforming it for my own use, thus creating the Jiuyuan Body Refinement Technique.

>

> After perfection in both body and qi refinement, there was no further progress, and ultimately, I could only be confined within this realm.

>

> So, I searched the ends of the earth, trying to find a power that transcends the constraints of the heavens and the earth.

>

> I crossed the boundless sea and trod upon the Spirit Mountains, but to no avail.

>

> By chance, I discovered this island devoid of spiritual energy, yet imbued with another form of energy that could aid in body refinement, and my heart rejoiced..."

As Chu Ning read these words, his eyes sparkled with intrigue. In this text, Jiuyuan Shangren meticulously recorded his findings and insights after discovering Wuling Island, as well as his speculations about spiritual energy and the unique nature of this place.

"According to Jiuyuan Shangren's speculations, the spiritual energy in the Tianyan Realm actually originated from elsewhere.

It suddenly appeared in this realm under specific circumstances.

And the energy inherent in the Tianyan Realm itself was obscured and gradually disappeared after being overwhelmed by the influx of spiritual energy.

Jiuyuan Shangren referred to this as the Power of Origin, and he believed that the energy within Wuling Island is precisely that Power of Origin!"

Chu Ning was astonished as he read this deduction. In the text, Jiuyuan Shangren even suggested that mastering the cultivation method of this Power of Origin would unlock various unimaginable abilities.

He also researched how to harness this Power of Origin to manipulate spatial forces, just like the teleportation formations and spatial artifacts found outside the island.

Additionally, he explored ways to utilize this Power of Origin to power artifacts.

"Teleportation isn't solely dependent on spiritual energy; it can be achieved by harnessing the spatial forces of the heavens and the earth.

That's why Jiuyuan Shangren established a teleportation formation here to facilitate travel."

Chu Ning's gaze swept over the corner of the stone chamber where he had previously sensed the formation.

His intuition had been correct; that formation was indeed a teleportation array.

Unlike the teleportation formations outside, which required spirit stones to function, this one was powered by the beast crystals, or as Jiuyuan Shangren called them, Origin Stones.

"So, the artifacts used by the tribes on Wuling Island were actually created by Jiuyuan Shangren through his research.

Essentially, he applied the principles of external artifact refinement, which explains how Qilihua was able to comprehend the method of drawing upon her internal power."

At this moment, Chu Ning's gaze rested on the formation in the corner, and a smile curved his lips.

He now knew for sure that there was a way to leave the island.

As long as he could repair this seemingly damaged teleportation formation, escape was possible.

While Chu Ning had never set up a teleportation formation himself, he didn't need to create one from scratch; he just needed to repair it, which seemed feasible.

Jiuyuan Shangren had already left behind insights into the differences between this Origin Stone-powered teleportation formation and the standard ones.

As long as Chu Ning thoroughly understood how typical teleportation formations worked, he would be able to figure out how to fix this one.

"Back then, when Cen Zikin gave me those array texts, I remember they included quite a few methods for setting up teleportation formations.

And after awakening my Array Dao spiritual body, I also obtained several array jade slips from the Jiuhua Sect.

With my innate talent in arrays, given some time, I should be able to find a way to repair this teleportation formation.

The challenging part will be gathering the necessary materials, but I have several Golden Core cultivators' storage bags, and Qilihua was even a Nascent Soul cultivator.

I should be able to scrounge up what I need."

As these thoughts raced through his mind, Chu Ning approached the teleportation formation and found a hand ring-like object nearby.

Then, he left the stone chamber and hurried back the way he came.

To accomplish his goal, he would need Shi Xue'rong's help.

Only she, with her condensed magical power, could help him retrieve the necessary items from the storage bags.

If she couldn't enter this place before, it would have been a troublesome endeavor.

However, Chu Ning had found a special artifact crafted by Jiuyuan Shangren specifically to facilitate entry into this forbidden land during periods when the spatial forces were weakened.

Now that the spatial forces were diminished, there was a high chance that Shi Xue'rong could enter safely as well.

Chu Ning retraced his steps, climbed back up the cliff, and left Beast Mountain.

He affixed the hand ring with the Origin Stone and felt the spatial forces lessen significantly.

Without delay, he hurried back to the East Forest Tribe.

He didn't linger or provide many details to Xie Xianhai and the others.

After picking up Shi Xue'rong, Chu Ning returned to the Beast Mountain forbidden land.

From that day forward, the people of Wuling Island never saw Chu Ning and Shi Xue'rong again, and they assumed that the pair had met their end within the forbidden land.

Thus, Beast Mountain became even more notorious as a place of certain death in the eyes of the island's inhabitants.

However, none of them knew that in a small valley within the forbidden land, Chu Ning dedicated himself to studying the Power of Origin and the art of formations.

Time flew by, and five years passed in the blink of an eye.

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end