https://novelcool.info/chapter/Chapter-322-Array-Formation-on-the-Island/12550012/
https://novelcool.info/chapter/Chapter-324-Water-Attribute-Spirit-Body-Collecting-the-Five-Elements/12550014/
Chapter 323: Fifteen Years of Cultivation in the Island Cave Abode
Chapter 323: Fifteen Years of Cultivation in the Island Cave Abode
Upon returning to the formation, Chu Ning began to establish his own cave abode.
The cultivation chamber was, of course, situated above the hidden spirit vein. In addition, he also set up a spirit herb garden, a spirit beast chamber, a talisman-making room, and more.
Chu Ning also prepared a room each for pill refining and artifact forging.
Although this place lacked earthly fire, he could still refine using his pill fire and the earth vein's pure fire.
It was always good to be prepared.
After setting up the spirit herb garden, Chu Ning proceeded to plant the Frostbite Bloom.
As he was about to start his secluded cultivation, this herb was a necessity, far more effective than any pill.
Next, he planted the spirit herbs and plants he had brought from Iceland Immortal City, the ones that had originally been cultivated there.
While planting the Purple Source Fruit and Leafless Flower, Chu Ning had a sudden idea, and he divided a few of the spirit fruits into smaller portions.
He then began to practice the Spirit Locking Art he had learned from Meng Ling.
These two spirit plants were among the most numerous in Chu Ning's current collection, and he wanted to see how much the Spirit Locking Art would affect their growth.
Based on Meng Ling's cultivated spirit plants, the impact didn't seem too significant.
If that was the case, then in the future, he could definitely cultivate some spirit plants this way, without needing to use array formations to separate too many restricted areas.
Even after setting up his entire cave abode, Chu Ning still didn't rush into cultivation.
Instead, he went to a corner of the island and set up an array formation he had wanted to try for a long time.
The Cloud Thunder Array.
During his previous trip to the outer sea with Chang Ling Shan and the others, they had encountered the lightning tribulation of the Gold and Silver Birds.
Chu Ning had accidentally discovered that the power of thunder was quite beneficial for tempering the body.
Later, he had only attempted it once, inside Di Huo's Cloud Concealment Island array formation.
After obtaining the method to set up the Cloud Thunder Array from Di Yan, Chu Ning hadn't tried it himself because it was inconvenient to set up such an array in Iceland Immortal City.
This time, one of the reasons he wanted to cultivate on this island was to experiment with the Cloud Thunder Array.
Chu Ning had already prepared the materials needed for the array, and he had even purchased a thunderstone during his recent trip to Han Yan City.
It took him a day to set up the Cloud Thunder Array, after which he stepped into the formation, thunderstone in hand.
He embedded the stone and struck out a series of incantations that landed on a jade stone within the array.
Instantly, a bolt of lightning arced down and struck Chu Ning's body.
"This is intense!"
A tingling, numbing sensation accompanied the electric current, and Chu Ning immediately began to cultivate the Nine Transformations Body Refining Art.
It took some time, but he managed to dissipate that wisp of thunder power.
Chu Ning then continued to manipulate the array, and this time, a slightly thinner bolt of lightning descended.
As soon as it entered his body, it was guided by Chu Ning, who was already cultivating the Nine Transformations Body Refining Art, and began to temper his body.
"It seems a little weak," Chu Ning muttered to himself, and he once again adjusted the intensity of the thunder power.
After a few attempts, he quickly found a balance between the two.
He stayed in the array for half an hour before finally stepping out.
At the same time, he glanced at his cultivation proficiency.
【Five Elements Chaos Technique (Middle-grade Heaven-rank), Second Layer (43,138/100,000)】
【Nine Transformations Body Refining Art, Second Volume, Second Layer (33,465/90,000)】
【Refine God Technique, Fourth Layer (64,000/64,000)】
"Twenty points. The effect of tempering the body with thunder power is still as good as ever.
However, the power of this thunderstone's thunder is naturally not comparable to the tribulation lightning during the Gold and Silver Birds' tribulation.
If I were to rely solely on the thunder power provided by this thunderstone for tempering, I'd probably exhaust the thunder power in less than ten days."
However, Chu Ning wasn't too worried.
In the boundless sea, thunder storms didn't occur frequently, but it was still relatively normal for them to appear once every half a month or once a month.
When the time came, he could use the Cloud Thunder Array to gather thunder power, ensuring a smoother cultivation process.
Moreover, after this experiment, he wouldn't need to spend as much time tempering his body with thunder power every day, nor would he consume as much thunder power.
Even if he couldn't temper himself with thunder power every day, he should still be able to do so for half of every month without any major issues.
With these thoughts in mind, Chu Ning returned to his cultivation chamber and began planning his cultivation for the coming days.
He could definitely reduce the time spent on the Refine God Technique, as the proficiency of the technique couldn't be increased any further after reaching the fourth layer.
And Chu Ning hadn't found a suitable subsequent cultivation technique yet.
However, he couldn't stop cultivating the Refine God Technique altogether.
During this period, Chu Ning had tried something new. Although he couldn't increase the proficiency of the Refine God Technique, he found that he could increase its intensity.
This improvement wasn't reflected in the range of his released divine sense.
Instead, Chu Ning could feel that within a hundred li radius, the strength of his divine sense, when cultivated in this manner, could extend outward without any decrease in strength.
Chu Ning had a feeling that if he continued to cultivate in this way, he could maintain the same strength of divine sense within a three-hundred li range of released divine sense.
Another way to cultivate was to combine divine sense secret techniques like the Divide God Technique and the Sever God Technique with his cultivation.
For example, by increasing the strength of the divided divine sense created by the Divide God Technique, he could instantly unleash more Sever God Techniques.
With the help of thunder power for body tempering, he could also greatly reduce the time spent on body refinement cultivation each day.
Maintaining an increase of around five points per day was more than enough for Chu Ning.
Any more, and he wouldn't have enough thunder power.
"So, the focus from now on is still the Five Elements Chaos Technique!"
Chu Ning had made up his mind.
"When I first entered Iceland Immortal City, two periods of seclusion, each lasting about eight years, helped me break through to the second layer of the Five Elements Chaos Technique.
Chu Ning decided to cultivate peacefully for the next ten years, and if that wasn't enough, he would continue for another five.
His goal was the late stage of the Golden Core realm!
With his goals set, Chu Ning's subsequent cultivation became highly targeted. Most of his days were spent cultivating the Five Elements Chaos Technique, with some time also dedicated to the Nine Transformations Body Refining Art and the Refine God Technique.
In his free time, he tended to the spirit herbs, played with his spirit beasts, studied formation techniques, or crafted Ice Shadow Sword Talismans, and so the days passed by swiftly.
A year flew by in the blink of an eye.
On this particular day, Chu Ning stepped out of the Cloud Thunder Array, but instead of entering his cultivation chamber, he appeared outside the island, clad in a white robe.
This white robe was the very same one he had obtained from the late-Nascent Soul stage cultivator of the Saint Sun Sect in the icy mountain of Bingguan Mountain.
After testing its extraordinary properties, Chu Ning had been determined to perfect it.
Over the past year, he had experimented with various materials to refine the robe, attempting to incorporate wind-attribute spell patterns that would complement his Godly Wind Escape Technique.
The Phantom Escape Technique consumed too much spiritual power, making it ideal for combat situations, but for regular flight, the Godly Wind Escape Technique was a better option.
Chu Ning had previously considered crafting a decent flight-type magic treasure, but he hadn't been able to find suitable materials.
The blue robe he had crafted himself was quite effective when used with the Godly Wind Escape Technique, greatly reducing the amount of spiritual power required compared to the one crafted by Ge Liuyang.
However, it still didn't meet Chu Ning's expectations, as long-distance flight consumed a significant amount of spiritual power.
Especially after arriving in this northern cold region, where the seas and mountains stretched endlessly, he yearned for a durable flight-type magic treasure for emergencies.
Now that he had discovered that the white robe could significantly conserve his spiritual power, his wish had been fulfilled.
However, his year of experimentation wasn't without setbacks. Chu Ning had tried over a dozen materials, attempting to add decorations to the robe, but none of them had succeeded.
Either the wind-attribute spell patterns failed to function, or they ended up increasing the spiritual power consumption of the white robe.
Chu Ning discarded all of these materials.
It was only six months ago that Chu Ning found a material that worked.
In fact, he had forgotten where he had obtained it from.
Over the past six months, whenever he had free time from cultivation, Chu Ning had been refining wind-attribute spell formations and incorporating the patterns into the white robe.
It was only recently that he had finally completed the task.
The white robe now bore noticeable differences from before. The collar, cuffs, hem, and even the waist, chest, and back were adorned with faint silver talisman patterns, and the robe was imbued with profound and mysterious spell patterns.
Even Feng Yanzhang, if he were to see it now, wouldn't recognize it as the same robe from before.
"White Spirit, Big Jin, Little Jin, let's race!"
Chu Ning stepped out of the formation and summoned White Spirit and the two Golden Thunder Eagles.
This past year had been much more enjoyable for White Spirit and the eagles compared to their time in Iceland Immortal City.
Not only did they have a few dozen li to roam freely on the island, but they could also fly out to the surrounding seas from time to time.
Although Chu Ning had cleared the island of demonic beasts, there were other islands within a thousand li in every direction, and the seas were still home to many low-level beasts.
Compared to relying solely on absorbing spiritual energy, their cultivation progress had accelerated significantly.
Hearing Chu Ning's words, White Spirit smiled and said, "Master, you're cheating! There's no way we can keep up with your Phantom Escape Technique."
"Don't worry, I won't be using the Phantom Escape Technique today," Chu Ning assured with a smile, conveying the same message to the eagles through divine sense.
"Guuuuu!"
Hearing this, the two eagles let out joyful cries and transformed into two dark golden shadows, soaring forward.
White Spirit and Chu Ning followed suit, flashing into motion.
Two white shadows trailed closely behind.
In just a few blinks of an eye, the white shadows overtook the eagles.
Chu Ning was slightly ahead of White Spirit.
They flew like this for five hundred li before Chu Ning finally came to a stop. Soon after, White Spirit and the eagles caught up.
"Huh? Master, you're so fast! Without using the Phantom Escape Technique, you're still faster than us," White Spirit exclaimed, transforming into a young girl as she looked at Chu Ning in surprise.
Her gaze then fell on the white robe that Chu Ning was wearing.
After they had started cultivating on the island, they had focused on their own practices, so even White Spirit hadn't known what Chu Ning had been up to every day.
This was the first time she had seen the newly refined and decorated white robe.
Chu Ning was also examining his robe, feeling quite satisfied.
His cultivation level was higher than that of White Spirit and the eagles, and the escape technique he employed was of a higher level, so it wasn't surprising that he was faster than them.
However, before this, when he didn't use the Phantom Escape Technique, he had been slightly slower than White Spirit after her breakthrough and advancement.
Now that he had added the wind-attribute formations to the white robe and was using the Godly Wind Escape Technique, he was even faster than White Spirit.
Most importantly, his spiritual power consumption was sixty percent less than before when using the Godly Wind Escape Technique.
This meant that he could maintain a rapid flight speed over longer distances.
Chu Ning explained a little about his robe to White Spirit, who then teased the two eagles.
Hearing White Spirit's rebuke, the two Golden Thunder Eagles let out a plaintive cry, feeling slightly wronged.
It was unclear if it was due to their cultivation of the Mysterious Life Technique or their consumption of a significant amount of Source Spirit Fruits, but the two eagles were remarkably more intelligent than other beasts of the same level.
Although they couldn't speak like White Spirit or communicate with Chu Ning through divine sense, they could understand the general gist of their conversation.
Chu Ning laughed and said, "I've also noticed that these two fellows seem to be progressing slowly. I'm waiting for them to reach the fifth-rank as beasts so they can truly unleash the sound of golden thunder and devour ghosts and souls."
Turning to White Spirit, he continued, "From now on, make sure to supervise them as they absorb the earth's spiritual energy for cultivation."
White Spirit readily took on the task without hesitation.
As they had come out using their escape techniques, Chu Ning decided to ride the eagles back to give them some extra practice.
As Chu Ning made his way back, an elderly cultivator with white hair hovered nearby, a puzzled expression on his face.
"I remember passing by this place before, and there used to be a small island here. Although it didn't have abundant spiritual energy and wasn't very large, I stopped here several times, so I shouldn't be mistaken."
As the old man muttered to himself, he scanned the area and even used his divine sense to probe, but found nothing.
After grumbling for a while, he flew away.
It wasn't until the old man's figure had disappeared for a good while that Chu Ning arrived and swiftly entered the formation.
Chu Ning had sensed the old man's presence from over 200 li away and deliberately slowed down, waiting for him to leave before making his appearance.
This wasn't the first time he had encountered someone like this.
This sea island used to be an uninhabited island, and while it was somewhat distant from Iceland Immortal City, it was surrounded by numerous larger islands. Many cultivators had passed by this location before and remembered its existence.
Naturally, they were surprised by the island's mysterious disappearance.
However, this area was still within the inner sea region, mainly frequented by Foundation Establishment and Qi Refining cultivators.
It was the first time a Gold Core cultivator like the one today had taken notice.
Based on the Gold Core elder's reaction, he didn't seem to have detected the extremely advanced formation hiding the island.
Upon returning to his cave abode on the island, Chu Ning passed by the spirit herb garden and paused before several spirit plants.
"I wonder what these spirit fruits will look like as they continue to grow."
Chu Ning's eyes fixed on several blue spirit fruits, a hint of curiosity in his gaze.
These spirit fruits were the Purple Source Fruits he had brought from Wuling Island and cultivated.
For the first thirty years, Chu Ning hadn't noticed anything unusual.
But a year ago, after trying the Spirit Locking Art he learned from Meng Ling, there were noticeable changes.
The fruits he had separated with the Spirit Locking Art were gradually turning from blue to a deeper shade.
And now, as Chu Ning examined them, a faint hint of purple was visible.
Although this purple hue was slightly different from the dark purple of the original Purple Source Fruits, leaning more towards a bluish-purple, the change surprised him.
"Could it be that after I brought them here and planted them, each Purple Source Fruit began to interfere with the others' growth? So, by using the Spirit Locking Art, these few fruits are now growing normally?"
Chu Ning had a hunch, but it wasn't a certainty.
However, even with this guess, he felt it was worth trying.
At that moment, Chu Ning selected about half of the remaining Purple Source Fruits and applied the Spirit Locking Art to each of them.
As for the Leafless Flower, using the Spirit Locking Art didn't seem to have much of an impact.
It made Chu Ning appreciate the uniqueness of the Spirit Locking Art even more.
Over the past year, Chu Ning found that the art only affected the growth rate of the Leafless Flower by about one percent.
For the spirit plants he cultivated, which took decades to mature, this impact was negligible.
At the moment, with so many separated areas in his cave abode, it didn't matter whether he used the art or not.
This year's outing had minimal impact on Chu Ning's secluded cultivation.
In the following years, Chu Ning continued to focus on cultivating in his sea island abode.
Initially, for the first two years, there were still cultivators who remembered this sea island and would occasionally stop by when passing through.
But as time went on, they seemed to forget about it, and in the subsequent years, rarely any cultivator would pause during their travels.
From time to time, beasts would inadvertently enter the island's formation from the sea, only to become prey for the Golden Thunder Eagles.
With an ideal cultivation environment, Chu Ning's primary focus remained on the Five Elements Chaos Technique.
"With White Spirit's help and the application of her Eternal Spring Art, the Snow Crystal plant produced an ample supply of spirit liquid."
Moreover, as the duration of their combined magical arts lengthened, the amount of spirit liquid produced also increased.
Not only did it take less than three months to condense the spirit liquid, but occasionally, a single leaf could yield up to five drops.
With the increased production of spirit liquid from the Snow Crystal Herb and a steady supply of pills, Chu Ning's cultivation speed remained consistently high.
His proficiency in the Five Elements Chaos Technique increased by more than ten points each day.
In these fifteen years, he dedicated himself to daily cultivation.
(End of Chapter)
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