Chapter 374: The Jiuhua Star Ship

Chapter 374: The Jiuhua Star Ship

"And it's not just that. Elder Chu's cultivation speed is also something that we old fellows feel ashamed about."

As He Feng spoke, he turned to Ge Liuyang and said, "Brother Ge, can Elder Chu go to my Formation Pavilion now?"

Ge Liuyang immediately shook his head like a rattled drum. "That won't do either. I know you want to perfect the sect's formations, but this matter has not yet been discussed, and all the materials for my treasure refining are already prepared. I was also going to ask for the help of your Formation Pavilion, Elder He, so I think it's best to let this go."

Seeing that He Feng was about to argue further, Chu Ning quickly interjected, "Elders, there's no need to argue. I won't be leaving the Jiuhua Sect in the short term, so it doesn't really matter which place I visit first."

Chu Ning smiled as he said this, then turned to He Feng and continued, "Elder He, I also wanted to visit Land Master Lu at the Refinement Pavilion. Why don't I go there first, and then head to the Formation Pavilion afterward?"

Hearing Chu Ning bring up Lu Jiakang's matter, He Feng didn't say anything more. "Alright, then I'll wait for Elder Chu at the Formation Pavilion."

Without further ado, He Feng bid farewell to Cheng Qinghui and left.

This was Ge Liuyang's first time at Purple Mist Peak, so he took a tour inside the peak.

He inquired about the many Foundation Establishment cultivators from Yao Chi Palace and their damaged magical treasures during the previous conflict.

The Elder of the Refinement Pavilion readily expressed that each of them could go to the Refinement Pavilion to choose a suitable magical treasure.

This act of generosity naturally filled Cheng Qinghui and the others with gratitude.

At this point, Chu Ning and Ge Liuyang flew towards the Refinement Pavilion, and Ge Liuyang remembered Chu Ning mentioning Lu Kang earlier, so he asked about it.

Chu Ning immediately told him about the Origin Stone.

Ge Liuyang's face lit up with delight when he heard this. "Little Brother Chu, are you serious? If it can truly help Lu Jiakang strengthen his body and successfully form his Golden Core, that would be wonderful news!"

It was no wonder that Ge Liuyang was so excited. Although Lu Jiakang was not his personal disciple, he was the chief executive of the Refinement Pavilion, and the two of them shared a close relationship.

At that moment, when he heard that Chu Ning might have a way to help Lu Jiakang strengthen his body, Ge Liuyang was overjoyed.

After hearing that Chu Ning agreed to give it a try, the two of them quickened their flight technique in their eagerness.

They had just flown to the airspace above the Refinement Pavilion when Ge Liuyang's voice rang out throughout the entire pavilion. "Kang, come out and meet Elder Chu!"

Hearing Ge Liuyang's words, many of the pavilion's disciples looked on curiously.

Even some of the disciples who were originally refining tools in the refinement rooms poked their heads out to take a look during their break.

Upon hearing the voice, Lu Jiakang, Cui Rongrong, and the others came out to greet them directly.

"Elder Chu!" Lu Jiakang, as the chief executive of the Refinement Pavilion, led the others in greeting. "We heard that you had returned to the sect, and we have been looking forward to your visit to the Refinement Pavilion."

"Enough with the formalities!" Ge Liuyang waved his hand. "Lu Jiakang, stay, and everyone else, disperse. Elder Chu has brought good news for you this time."

Hearing Ge Liuyang's words, Lu Jiakang was slightly taken aback.

However, he still heeded Ge Liuyang's words and gestured for the others to scatter.

Then, he led Chu Ning to a room within the Refinement Pavilion.

Chu Ning didn't beat around the bush and immediately took out an Origin Stone, handing it to Lu Jiakang.

Lu Jiakang took it with a puzzled expression. "Elder Chu, what is this?"

"It's an Origin Stone," Chu Ning replied, recounting the conversation he had with Qi Guangshou and the others to Lu Jiakang.

To Chu Ning's surprise, Lu Jiakang didn't seem overly excited at the moment. Instead, he held the Origin Stone and smiled bitterly at Chu Ning. "Thank you, Elder Chu. I'll give it a try. To be honest, in recent years, the sect has actually collected quite a few spirit pills and medicines for me to temper my body. I've also cultivated some body-tempering techniques, but perhaps due to the aftermath of my injuries, or the conflict between the medicinal properties, they haven't had much effect. So, I gradually gave up on that idea."

Hearing this, Chu Ning smiled and said, "Then why don't you give it a try now?"

Hearing Lu Jiakang's words, Chu Ning felt even more confident that the Origin Stone would help him temper his body.

Based on Chu Ning's personal experience, the power of origin was completely different from spiritual energy.

Naturally, there was no need to worry about any conflicts.

Lu Jiakang held the Origin Stone and channeled his magic power, but to his surprise, the Origin Stone in his hand showed no reaction, causing him to pause. "Elder Chu, how should this be used?"

Chu Ning could tell that Lu Jiakang was trying to activate it with magic power, so he promptly explained, "Do you have any movement techniques that complement your body-tempering techniques?"

Lucas nodded. "I do."

"Then that's fine!" Chu Ning smiled. "Don't channel your magic power. Just hold this Origin Stone and practice the movements. If you feel the power of origin entering your body, guide it to temper your body."

According to Shi Xuerong, wearing the Origin Stone for a long time would gradually strengthen and enhance one's body.

However, she had started wearing it when she had just reached the late Foundation Establishment stage, so it had taken a long time.

Lu Jiakang, on the other hand, had already formed his Golden Core, so they didn't have that kind of time.

He needed to actively guide the power of origin to temper his body.

Hearing Chu Ning's words, Lu Jiakang's face revealed a hint of surprise.

Then, he began to cultivate the body-tempering technique according to Chu Ning's instructions.

Lu Jiakang recalled what Chu Ning had said earlier and immediately began to guide it to temper his body.

After repeating this process several times over about half an hour, Lu Jiakang finally stopped.

His face was filled with excitement that he couldn't hide.

"It really works!"

As he spoke, Lu Jiakang bowed deeply to Chu Ning.

"Thank you, Elder Chu! Although I've only been practicing for a short time, I can feel that the tempering effect is not very noticeable yet.

But the power of origin has indeed appeared in my body and is strengthening my physical body."

"It's good that it works!" Chu Ning gently supported him, preventing him from bowing further.

Although he had been somewhat confident before, he couldn't help but smile more broadly now that he had Lu Jiakang's confirmation.

Speaking, he took out five Origin Stones from his storage bag and handed them to Lu Jiakang.

"Take these and cultivate with them first. If your physical strength still hasn't improved by the time you finish them, come back to me for more."

"Thank you, Elder!"

Lu Jiakang's face was filled with gratitude as he held the six Origin Stones.

They had neither seen nor heard of such items before.

For Chu Ning to give him six just like that was incredibly generous in Lu Jiakang's eyes.

Seeing Lu Jiakang's expression, Chu Ning smiled and said, "This item is indeed rare in the outside world, but it's not as precious as you imagine."

Chu Ning was telling the truth. He had obtained quite a few of these stones back when he was on Wuling Island, and even more from the cave at the exit of the Great Abyss to Snow Martial Valley.

Moreover, the Origin Stones he had obtained there were much larger than the ones he was giving to Lu Jiakang now.

But Lu Jiakang didn't know that, and he couldn't help but feel amazed.

"Elder Chu is truly generous to me. I will remember this kindness."

As he thought this, Lu Jiakang's eyes couldn't help but show his gratitude.

At this point, Chu Ning didn't bother to explain further.

While he had a lot of Origin Stones, he didn't plan to take them all out and show them off.

Chu Ning had a hunch that these stones would become very important in the future.

After all, the power of origin was a very peculiar energy.

At this moment, Ge Liuyang also smiled and spoke up, "Good, Little Brother Chu. As soon as you returned, you helped me solve one problem, and now it's time for you to help me with another."

Hearing Ge Liuyang's words, Chu Ning couldn't help but be curious.

Ge Liuyang reached into his storage bag and took out a roll of demon beast hide.

Unfurling it slowly, he revealed a drawing of a giant flying ship.

The ship's bow was shaped like a flying swallow, and its stern resembled flowing clouds.

According to the annotations on the drawing, the entire ship was several stories high, a hundred zhang long, and thirty zhang wide.

Chu Ning scanned the entire drawing and then landed his eyes on the name at the very top, reading it softly.

"Jiuhua Starship!"

"Does Little Brother Chu recognize this?" Ge Liuyang asked.

Chu Ning thought for a moment, and his face changed slightly as he said, "That time when Ao Langtian from the Daluo Sect visited our sect, he seemed to be riding a similar flying ship. But it seemed much smaller than this one."

Ge Liuyang nodded, "That's right. The Jiuhua Starship is a type of flying treasure of our sect, and it's also a very powerful multi-person artifact.

In the early years, the Daluo Sect and our sect had a good relationship, and we often exchanged knowledge about pill and treasure refining.

Although we didn't give them the method to refine the Jiuhua Starship, we did provide them with a method to create an imitation.

Its power is far inferior to the Jiuhua Starship, but it has always been treasured by the Daluo Sect.

That time when they came to our Jiuhua Sect, they knew that we had lost the method to refine this treasure, so they deliberately brought their ship to show it off."

As Ge Liuyang spoke, his eyes flashed with displeasure.

"Fortunately, among the many legacies we brought back from Wolong Valley, there was the method to refine the Jiuhua Starship."

Chu Ning could sense the underlying meaning in Ge Liuyang's words, and he asked, "Do you want to refine this treasure again?"

Ge Liuyang nodded, "Actually, the idea to refine this treasure again is not just mine. It's something that everyone in the sect wants.

There is already chaos on the Western Alliance Continent, with the Demon Path Alliance and the Tianji Alliance in conflict. We're worried that the Cloudsoaring Alliance will eventually be dragged into it.

When that time comes, the battlefield could be anywhere."

Ge Liuyang paused for a moment before continuing, "Although conflicts between different sects and alliances mainly involve Nascent Soul and Golden Core cultivators, Foundation Establishment cultivators are not completely exempt from participating."

"If we have a treasure like the Jiuhua Starship, with Nascent Soul or Golden Core cultivators leading the way, many Foundation Establishment cultivators can also join the battle.

With the help of the formation on the ship, they can launch powerful attacks."

Chu Ning nodded, then turned to Ge Liuyang and asked, "So, the Formation Pavilion wants to further strengthen and improve the sect's formations as a precaution?"

Ge Liuyang nodded.

At this moment, Chu Ning picked up the Jiuhua Starship drawing from Ge Liuyang's hand and examined it carefully.

After looking it over for a while, Chu Ning's eyebrows furrowed.

"This drawing only shows the structure of the treasure ship and introduces some of the formations that can be used with it. It doesn't include detailed refining and formation deployment methods..."

"It's here." Ge Liuyang said, handing over a jade slip.

"The method to refine the Jiuhua Starship is extremely complex, and a single drawing can't possibly contain all the information.

I've compiled all the refining methods and formation deployment techniques into this jade slip."

Chu Ning reached out and took the jade slip, then scanned it with his spiritual sense.

As he did so, he became completely engrossed in its contents.

The reason why it took Chu Ning a considerable amount of effort to forge the Five Elements Spirit Sword was mainly due to his exceedingly high standards.

He wanted to incorporate top-tier materials like Black Mysterious Metal while also infusing his spirit into the weapon.

While this endeavor demanded a high level of proficiency in refinement techniques, spiritual power, and Elixir fire strength, it wasn't exceptionally intricate.

But the Nineflower Starship before him was an entirely different matter.

Because of its immense size, the starship's structure was extremely complex, requiring thousands of materials to be refined and molded.

Moreover, it was adorned with countless intricate inscriptions and patterns, and its formation arrays were equally sophisticated.

All these factors piqued Chu Ning's interest immensely.

Once he started examining the starship, he couldn't stop, devouring all the information in one go.

Even for someone like Chu Ning, this endeavor took three full days and nights.

And this was just the first time he was looking through it; he hadn't yet meticulously scrutinized every detail.

After absorbing all the content, Chu Ning put down the jade slip and exhaled softly.

His eyes, gleaming with enthusiasm, turned to Ge Liuyang.

"Brother Ge, when do you plan to start refining this treasure?"

"Right away!" Ge Liuyang replied without hesitation.

"We've been collecting the various materials for decades, so we have everything we need.

Refining this treasure will likely take more than ten years, so we can't afford to delay any further."

Hearing Ge Liuyang's words, Chu Ning nodded in agreement.

Indeed, the amount of time required to forge this artifact was measured in years, and Ge Liuyang's statement was not an exaggeration.

If a single Golden Core cultivator were to undertake this task, it would indeed take more than a decade.

However, with the collective efforts of the many refiners in the Nineflower Sect, some portions could be handled by Foundation Establishment cultivators.

If they rallied the full force of the Refinement Pavilion, they could shorten the timeframe.

Chu Ning pondered for a moment before speaking up.

"I'm more than willing to participate in the refinement of the Nineflower Starship, but in terms of timing, I can't devote years solely to refining without cultivating.

Brother Ge, let me know which parts you want me to refine, and I'll make the necessary arrangements.

As for the formation arrays, we can work on them later when the artifact is close to completion.

At that time, we can enlist Elder He's help, and Zi Yin can contribute as well, given her expertise in formations."

"Great! Now that I have your assurance, I'm relieved," Ge Liuyang exclaimed, his face beaming with joy.

He reached into his storage bag and pulled out a jade slip.

"For nearly thirty years, I've been studying the refinement process of this starship.

I wanted to see if I could make any further improvements so that we could refine more of these treasures.

Unfortunately, my cultivation has stagnated, preventing me from making a breakthrough."

Ge Liuyang paused, taking a moment to catch his breath.

"Over the past year, I've reorganized my findings, and on this jade slip, you'll find a list of items that the Refinement Pavilion and I are unable to refine.

Little Brother Chu, you've already reached the late Golden Core stage, and your spiritual power surpasses that of your peers.

I believe that aside from the first ten items, you should be able to refine the rest."

Chu Ning took the jade slip and scanned its contents.

There were hundreds of items to be refined, and as he scrolled from the back to the front, he realized that he could indeed handle most of them.

However, when he reached the first ten items, his eyes narrowed slightly.

"Brother Ge, you mentioned that aside from these ten items, I should be able to handle the rest.

Are you planning to enlist someone else to refine these ten?"

"Of course, we'll need to find someone suitable for the task," Ge Liuyang replied, just as the door to the room suddenly opened.

Lu Jiakang entered, accompanied by two others—Sect Master Yu Changge and Elder Ling Cang from the Pill Refinement Pavilion.

Chu Ning's eyebrows furrowed in surprise at the sight of the two newcomers.

"Sect Master, Elder Ling, what brings you here?" he asked.

Yu Changge pointed at Ge Liuyang and smiled.

"Well, recently, we've been coming here regularly to learn about refinement techniques under Elder Ge's guidance."

Ge Liuyang chuckled and added, "Sect Master, this is out of necessity. There are ten components of the Nineflower Starship that are particularly challenging to refine.

"Our Elixir Fire isn't strong enough, so we need to borrow your Nascent Soul True Fire. These items can't be crafted by just anyone, and even with my guidance, Sect Master, you'll first need to familiarize yourself with the basic refinement process."

"I understand," Yu Changge nodded, smiling gently.

"However, I haven't delved deeply into the art of refinement in the past, and suddenly attempting to forge something of this caliber is quite daunting.

Thankfully, as you said, we have several years to work on it, so I should be able to get a handle on it."

Chu Ning smiled at this. "It's not necessarily a requirement for the Sect Master to personally refine these components. Perhaps I can give it a try."

Upon hearing Chu Ning's suggestion, the three men turned to him with curiosity.

Ge Liuyang hesitated, "Little Brother Chu, although you've reached the late Golden Core stage, and I know your spiritual power surpasses that of your peers, the refinement of these ten items is quite challenging.

It's not as simple as refining Black Mysterious Metal."

"I'm aware of that," Chu Ning smiled, not offering any further explanation. Instead, he extended his finger, and a purple-tinged, fiery-red flame appeared at its tip.

The sight of this flame caused the three men in the room to narrow their eyes, their gazes sharpening.

Ge Liuyang and Ling Cang exclaimed in unison, "Earth Vein Spirit Fire!"

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end