Chapter 365: The Jade Bed and the Primordial Water Divine Manual

Chapter 365: The Jade Bed and the Primordial Water Divine Manual

"There's a barrier restriction here?"

Standing at the spot pointed out by Bai Ling, Cen Ziqin was filled with surprise at that moment.

As a Jin Dan initial stage cultivator herself and exceptionally familiar with formation restrictions, she couldn't sense any fluctuations at all at this moment.

As for Chu Ning, he hadn't sensed it before, but at this moment, after Bai Ling pointed out the location, his powerful spiritual sense vaguely felt that there seemed to be something unusual ahead.

But it was only vague, not enough for him to truly find the barrier.

At this moment, Bai Ling, who had already transformed into a young girl, smiled lightly.

"Indeed, the small spatial barrier in front of us is where the remains of the Lei Huo Sect are located. I've entered it twice with my master, so I'm quite familiar with it."

Chu Ning pondered for a moment and said, "This barrier should be related to spatial power. That's why we can't easily sense it even with our spiritual sense.

According to the information I got from the Lei Huo Sect, a powerful outsider demon forcibly dragged the entire sect into a small space.

I wonder if the spatial barrier we sensed now was formed at that time or if it's unique to that small world."

"A spatial barrier!"

Hearing this, Cen Ziqin's face showed surprise.

"Then how do we get in?" she asked.

Hearing Cen Ziqin's words, both Chu Ning and Bai Ling smiled.

Bai Ling waved her hands, and two beams of white light appeared, enveloping Chu Ning and Cen Ziqin separately.

The next moment, the two of them were wrapped in the white light and drilled directly into the barrier.

"This..."

Cen Ziqin had never experienced anything like this before, and at this moment, she couldn't help but look at Chu Ning and Bai Ling with a curious expression.

"This is Bai Ling's special ability!" Chu Ning explained with a smile.

"When I traveled to various treasure lands, her innate ability helped me a lot."

Cen Ziqin looked at Bai Ling with curious eyes.

Only after truly experiencing it did she realize how extraordinary it was to have such an innate ability.

And how lucky Chu Ning was to have been able to enter such a treasure land when he was just at the Foundation Establishment stage.

At this time, Chu Ning also began to look around.

"Elder's Peak!"

Chu Ning easily recognized that the place he was in was the Elder's Peak behind the main hall of the Lei Huo Sect, and it was on the fifth level.

As Chu Ning led Cen Ziqin upward, he introduced her to Elder's Peak and briefly mentioned how he had obtained the Ling Dan Ji Yao, the Bing Huo Can Si Jia, and the Feng Huo Liaoyuan Shu here in the past.

Soon, the two of them reached the front of the seventh level.

The restriction between the sixth and seventh levels was still there, but what had seemed like an exceptionally powerful restriction to him back then was now nothing much.

This was partly because the restriction had weakened after a hundred years.

But more importantly, it was because Chu Ning's cultivation was now far beyond what it had been that day.

With Chu Ning's current cultivation, it was not impossible for him to forcibly break this restriction.

However, Chu Ning didn't need to do that, nor did he need to use Bai Ling's innate ability.

He casually took out two jade tokens from his storage bag and handed one to Cen Ziqin while holding the other in his hand.

The jade token he had obtained from Song Cheng, the old ancestor of the Song family, back then could grant access to the seventh level.

And the jade token he had obtained from the cave mansion of the Great Elder of the Lei Huo Sect allowed entry to the eighth level.

With these two tokens, he could naturally access these two levels without any hindrance.

Upon entering the seventh level, Chu Ning's gaze fell on the cave mansion on the left.

He hadn't explored any of the cave mansions on the seventh level or above during his first visit.

But the second time he entered, he had ended up in the cave mansion of the Great Elder when he passed through the spatial barrier.

After Chu Ning circled the cave mansion of the eighth-level Great Elder, he used the restriction jade token obtained from the Song family to enter the cave mansion on the right side of the seventh level.

He had obtained several puppets with considerable strength from there.

However, since he didn't have the restriction jade token for the left cave mansion, and Bai Ling's spiritual power wasn't sufficient, they hadn't been able to enter it.

After running through these thoughts in his mind, Chu Ning spoke up, "Bai Ling, we've been to the right cave mansion. Now, let's take a look at the left one."

With his current means, he could certainly try to break the restriction on the cave mansion directly.

On the one hand, it would certainly be faster to use Bai Ling's innate ability.

On the other hand, Chu Ning was also concerned that the restrictions on the various cave mansions might be connected to the overall restriction of Elder's Peak.

If he rashly broke the restriction, it might trigger a chain reaction.

Hearing Chu Ning's words, Bai Ling waved her hands, and once again, two beams of white light enveloped Chu Ning and Cen Ziqin, bringing them into the cave mansion.

"Hmm, this cave mansion is quite well-preserved," Chu Ning remarked as he entered.

In terms of completeness, it could be compared to the cave mansion of the Lei Huo Sect's Great Elder that he had entered before.

Cen Ziqin, who had rarely seen such ancient cultivator's cave mansions before, couldn't help but curiously look around.

"Chu Ning, it seems like the ancient cultivator in this cave mansion cultivated water-attribute techniques," she observed.

"Indeed!" Chu Ning agreed, as he also examined the entire cave mansion with Cen Ziqin.

At the entrance of the cave mansion was a dried-up pond, from which one could imagine that it used to be filled with water-attribute spiritual plants.

The walls of the cave mansion were carved with various patterns of aquatic creatures.

Chu Ning and Xie Zikin's gazes fell simultaneously on the enigmatic bed, unsure if it should be called a jade or water bed.

Chu Ning took the lead and stepped forward.

Cen Ziqin followed, her eyes widening in surprise as she murmured, "This place is gathering dense water-attribute spiritual energy, and it doesn't seem to be solely due to the array restriction."

"That jade bed seems to be a valuable treasure," Chu Ning nodded in agreement.

As he spoke, Chu Ning turned to look at Bai Ling, gesturing for her to lead them both in for a closer inspection.

After all, the jade bed within the restriction was large enough to comfortably accommodate the two of them.

"Hmm?"

As soon as the two stepped into the restricted area, they couldn't help but utter a soft sound of surprise.

Standing on the jade bed felt like treading on water.

"The water spiritual energy here is so dense!"

Cen Ziqin exclaimed in awe.

"Chu Ning, the array restriction outside doesn't seem to be gathering spiritual energy. Instead, it seems to be sealing it in."

"Your observation is correct," Chu Ning replied with a slight nod. "The jade bed is gathering the spiritual energy, while the restriction outside is sealing it in."

Entering the array restriction, he felt the same way.

"The material of this jade bed is likely a rare artifact refining material," Chu Ning continued. "Coupled with the various runes inscribed on it, it has the effect of gathering spiritual energy. This jade bed can be considered a large functional artifact."

As he spoke, Chu Ning and Cen Ziqin began to carefully examine the jade bed, circling it slowly.

Upon discovering that the jade bed was neither connected to the cave abode's floor nor the outer array restriction, Chu Ning turned to Cen Ziqin and said, "Why don't you keep this jade bed? It might come in handy for cultivating water-attribute techniques."

Hearing Chu Ning's suggestion, Cen Ziqin didn't hesitate and readily accepted, storing the jade bed away.

The two exited the restriction and began to explore the other rooms within the cave abode.

However, after visiting several stone chambers, they didn't make any significant discoveries.

In one room, they found various bottles and jars that seemed to contain pills and elixirs. Unfortunately, all the pills within had lost their efficacy.

"It's such a waste," Cen Ziqin sighed, gazing at the pills. "With the abundant spiritual energy here and the protection of the jade bottles, high-grade pills could have lasted for tens of thousands of years. I didn't expect all the pills here to be ineffective."

Chu Ning explained, "This small world was once forcibly pulled into a spatial rift by the Outsider Demon. There was no spiritual energy in that place, but later, something must have happened for this small world to reappear. It's not surprising that these pills lost their power. However, it's impressive that this cave abode is so well-preserved. Let's continue to the other chambers; we might find something else of interest."

With that, Chu Ning led Cen Ziqin into the next room.

As they entered, their attention was immediately drawn to the murals adorning the walls.

Cen Ziqin glanced up, but quickly averted her eyes, her face reddening with embarrassment.

The murals depicted female cultivators, each one lifelike and unclothed.

"You seem quite engrossed," Cen Ziqin teased Chu Ning, a hint of annoyance in her voice. As she spoke, she inadvertently glanced up again and let out another surprised exclamation.

"It seems to be a cultivation technique inscribed on the wall!"

Chu Ning smiled and asked, "Did you notice that too?"

Without responding to Chu Ning's question, Cen Ziqin studied the murals intently, taking in each of the twenty-seven depictions in the room. Finally, she exhaled slowly and said, "The Primordial Water Divine Manual, what a profound water-attribute technique! The first eighteen murals illustrate the cultivation method, while the last nine depict the training methods for three secret techniques. This technique is likely a mid-grade or higher heaven-rank technique."

As she spoke, Cen Ziqin's eyes sparkled with excitement.

Chu Ning had also finished examining the technique and, with his higher cultivation level and the advantage of his Yin Wood Spirit Body, he had a deeper understanding of it.

"Ziqin," he began, "what technique are you currently cultivating? According to this manual, if you've already formed your pill, transitioning to this technique shouldn't be a problem. If the technique you're currently cultivating is vastly different from this one, you might consider switching to this technique."

Cen Ziqin's eyes lit up at Chu Ning's suggestion.

"The technique I'm cultivating is an upper-grade earth-rank technique from our Yao Chi Palace. It's quite powerful and especially suitable for female cultivators, which is why my cultivation progress has been steady. However, in terms of grade and potency, I'm sure it pales in comparison to the Primordial Water Divine Manual. The only concern is that this technique is quite profound and abstruse, and I haven't fully comprehended it yet. I'm not sure if I can successfully transition to it."

Hearing Cen Ziqin's words, Chu Ning's mind drifted to the memories of his own sect's ruins and the discoveries he had made there.

Upon hearing Chu Ning's words, Cen Ziqin extended her spiritual sense, soon enveloping the first mural.

And what happened next left her utterly astonished.

The patterns on the mural began to float, drifting towards Cen Ziqin and swiftly entering her sea of consciousness.

In the next moment, Cen Ziqin felt invisible words rushing towards her, followed by the mural's contents pouring into her sea of consciousness.

Only when she felt that the entirety of the first mural's content was imprinted in her mind did Cen Ziqin lift her head to glance at the mural on the wall, which now seemed devoid of its original essence.

Then, with a delighted expression, she said to Chu Ning, "It turns out that there are accompanying textual records behind these murals. With this, it will be much easier for me to comprehend the technique.

Chu Ning, how did you know that probing with spiritual sense would have this effect?"

"It's just a guess," Chu Ning replied. "I had a similar experience in the Great Elder's cave abode before."

"Oh, right. It seems that these murals are also condensed from the ancient cultivators' spiritual sense, and they carry a certain effect of enhancing one's spiritual sense. Try sensing if you can feel it."

Cen Ziqin closed her eyes and sensed it briefly before opening them again, her face lit up with delight.

"Indeed, there is! These contents are still lingering in my sea of consciousness, and I feel that if I fully digest them, my spiritual sense should improve significantly."

Hearing this, Chu Ning smiled and said,

"Don't rush. You've only tried it with one mural. Go ahead and try the others."

"Okay!" Cen Ziqin replied, and she continued to use her spiritual sense to probe the other murals.

At this moment, Chu Ning left the stone chamber and proceeded to explore the remaining chambers.

Although the Primordial Water Divine Manual seemed profound, it wasn't of much use to him.

His Five Elements Chaos Technique was even more extraordinary in terms of its mystical nature.

On the other hand, it was perfect for Cen Ziqin, who possessed a water-attribute heaven-grade spirit root, and it would help accelerate her cultivation progress.

After touring the remaining chambers, Chu Ning had a few additional gains, mainly several types of artifact refining materials.

Without exception, they were all top-grade water-attribute artifact refining materials.

However, Chu Ning did not discover any complete artifacts. It seemed that during the battle with the Outsider Demon, the owner of this cave abode had exhausted many of their possessions.

After Chu Ning had inspected all the chambers, he waited in the cave abode's main hall for about an incense stick's worth of time.

Only then did Cen Ziqin emerge from the stone chamber with the murals.

"Are you done sensing them all?"

Chu Ning asked, looking at Cen Ziqin, whose face was filled with satisfaction.

She nodded and smiled faintly, "I haven't carefully examined these contents yet, but by recording them in this way, I feel like my understanding of them has already improved."

"These murals inherently contain the ancient cultivators' cultivation insights," Chu Ning explained. "By imprinting these insights, your comprehension of the technique will naturally be enhanced."

Cen Ziqin nodded slightly, acknowledging Chu Ning's words.

Chu Ning then shared his findings from exploring the remaining chambers, and the two of them left the cave abode, continuing their ascent towards the eighth level of Elder's Peak.

With the help of the Great Elder's restriction jade token, the two successfully entered the eighth level.

Chu Ning's gaze fell on the cave abode on the right.

"The cave abode on the left belongs to the Great Elder of Lei Huo Sect. I've already taken a look inside during my previous visit.

The one on the right should be the abode of the sect's second most powerful individual, logically speaking.

The last time I came here with Bai Ling, her abilities weren't sufficient, but now we can take a look inside.

The restrictions on these cave abodes are relatively well-preserved. Once you're inside, make sure to cast defensive spells promptly to avoid any unforeseen dangers."

Chu Ning cautioned, and Cen Ziqin naturally agreed.

Chu Ning then signaled for Bai Ling to bring them inside. At this moment, Bai Ling's expression turned solemn as she said,

"Young Master, according to my senses, the array restrictions here seem to be even stronger than those in the Great Elder's cave abode."

"Oh?"

Chu Ning was surprised by Bai Ling's words.

He put away the jade token he had obtained from the Great Elder's cave abode.

Then, he cast a spell on each of the two cave abodes, applying it to their respective restrictions.

After sensing it briefly, Chu Ning nodded and said, "Your senses are correct. If we're just talking about the cave abodes' array restrictions, this one is indeed more formidable than the Great Elder's.

This is a bit strange. After all, the Great Elder was a late Nascent Soul cultivator. Logically, the occupant of this cave abode shouldn't surpass him in cultivation, unless..."

"...unless this person was also a master of array formations!" Cen Ziqin interjected.

Chu Ning nodded slightly.

"Indeed," he agreed. "If your Cen family's array formation heritage truly originated from a descendant of that Lei Huo Sect cultivator,

then it's highly likely that there was a Nascent Soul cultivator in the sect who specialized in array formations.

On our journey here, we've encountered the cave abodes of ancient cultivators proficient in pill refining, artifact refining, puppets, and water-attribute techniques.

The two sect leaders of Lei Huo Sect each excelled in either thunder-attribute or fire-attribute techniques and spells.

"Okay!"

After Cen Ziqin replied, Bai Ling once again used her divine ability to envelop Chu Ning and Cen Ziqin, bringing them into the cave abode.

"There really are arrays here!"

As soon as he entered the cave abode, Chu Ning felt his surroundings darken, as if he had fallen into boundless darkness.

And beside him, there was no sign of Cen Ziqin or Bai Ling.

"Ziqin!"

"White Spirit!"

Chu Ning called out, but there was no response.

At this moment, he stopped calling out and instead extended his spiritual sense to perceive the arrays before him.

Over the years, Chu Ning had gained extensive knowledge about the art of array formations.

During his time in the Purple Moon Sect, he had refrained from using his Nascent Soul-stage magic due to his concerns about encountering Yuan Ying-stage cultivators, just like when he had obtained the Xuan Bing Yan treasure.

Aside from cultivating, he spent most of his time studying array formations.

He reorganized his knowledge of array formations and deepened his understanding of them.

Moreover, with his innate talent for array formations, he quickly gained insights into the array formations in this place.

After about an incense stick's worth of time, Chu Ning found the weak points in the array and passed through it.

However, what he saw before him was another scene—a fierce sandstorm whipped by strong winds.

The intense force of the storm gave one a sense of being torn apart.

Chu Ning furrowed his brows slightly and began searching for the weak points in this array to break through it.

After passing through five layers of arrays, a white figure flashed before him.

White Spirit suddenly appeared in front of Chu Ning.

"Master, I finally found you. It took me a while to track you down."

As White Spirit spoke, she transformed into her human form and said with a surprised expression:

"There are too many arrays in this cave abode. On my way here, I passed through dozens of array restrictions, each with a different style and strength."

"Dozens of array restrictions?" Chu Ning asked, his face also showing surprise.

"How can there be so many here? By the way, have you seen Ziqin?"

White Spirit shook her head.

"When I saw how many array restrictions there were and that each direction seemed to have different arrays, I just chose one direction and kept going."

"Every direction has arrays, so if I had broken through the arrays from a different direction, I might have ended up somewhere else?"

Upon hearing White Spirit's words, Chu Ning's face turned solemn, and he backed up with White Spirit to the array he had just broken through.

After inspecting it carefully, he indeed found two other weak points in addition to the one he had initially broken through.

And when he broke through those two points, he ended up in different arrays.

"The structure of the arrays here is like a maze. I wonder if there's only one exit or if there are multiple paths to the exit."

Chu Ning muttered to himself, then turned to White Spirit and said, "I initially thought it would be interesting to break through layer after layer of arrays.

But now I think that approach might not work, and even if it does, it could take an indefinite amount of time.

So, I'll stay here and wait. You go and find Ziqin first, then bring her here.

After that, you can explore the area to find the final exit of this array."

"Yes, Master!"

White Spirit immediately left, and Chu Ning decided to sit down and meditate while waiting for White Spirit to bring Cen Ziqin back.

Nearly an hour passed before White Spirit reappeared with Cen Ziqin.

"You've found her!" Chu Ning exclaimed.

Cen Ziqin had apparently already heard about the situation from White Spirit, and she curiously asked, "Chu Ning, there are so many small arrays within this array. Have you ever heard of such an array formation method before?"

Chu Ning shook his head. "I have come across array formations with multiple layers like this in the past.

However, I've never seen one with dozens or even hundreds of different arrays within a single large array, like this one. Didn't you find any records of this in the heritage you obtained from your family?"

Cen Ziqin shook her head, and Chu Ning fell into thought. "In that case, this array is extremely complex and was most likely created by that Nascent Soul cultivator.

Speaking of which, White Spirit, go and take a look now. Find out where the final exit of this array is."

"Okay, Master. When I was looking for you two earlier, I got a general sense of the arrays here.

I shouldn't take too long to find the exit."

After replying, White Spirit's figure flashed and disappeared.

This time, White Spirit returned even faster, in less than half an hour.

Moreover, her tone was cheerful.

"Master, I've found the exit to this array, and there's something interesting there that you'll definitely be curious about."

　Today, I've reached 10,000 characters again! I'm back from my business trip, but there's a big event next Monday, so I might be busy these next few days. I'll still try to update as much as possible, though!

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end