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Chapter 401: Refining the Mysterious Icy Flame, Blazing Inferno Scorches the Heavens
Chapter 401: Refining the Mysterious Icy Flame, Blazing Inferno Scorches the Heavens
At the Nine Floret Sect...
He Feng and the others met Chu Ning in the area designated for receiving guests from other sects.
Sensing the aura unique to Nascent Soul cultivators emanating from Chu Ning, everyone's faces betrayed their astonishment once more, despite their mental preparation.
He Feng, a cultivator from the Guiyuan Sect and the one with the highest cultivation among them, immediately led the group in paying their respects.
Although the Guiyuan Sect was far more powerful than the Nine Floret Sect in terms of strength, Chu Ning's Nascent Soul cultivator status was unquestionable.
Chu Ning waved away their formalities and invited them to take a seat, all the while politely declining their gestures.
He Feng couldn't help but exclaim, "Senior Chu, it's been eleven years since we last met, and I never thought I'd have the chance to witness your Nascent Soul condensation with my own eyes. It's truly a blessing! I'm sure Elder Lu and the others will be overjoyed to hear of your advancement. Junior He dares to invite you on behalf of the sect's elders. If it's convenient for you, Senior Chu, please pay a visit to the Guiyuan Sect."
Chu Ning smiled and replied, "Chu has been thinking of Elder Lu and the others as well. However, I've just condensed my Nascent Soul and need to go into seclusion for further cultivation. Rest assured, I'll definitely pay a visit when I have the time."
At this moment, Xue Shoujing quickly interjected, "Senior Chu, the sect elders have been concerned about you ever since the trip to the Cloudsoar Forbidden Grounds. It's been decades since you visited our sect, so please make a trip there to catch up when you're out and about."
"Of course," Chu Ning said with a smile. "There are many old friends of mine in your esteemed sect. If you're organizing any trade fairs, Brother Xue, please let my sect know, and I'll attend if I'm available."
Xue Shoujing knew that Chu Ning was just being polite. With Chu Ning's current cultivation, it was impossible for him to attend trade fairs meant for Golden Core cultivators like himself. Nonetheless, he couldn't help but feel amazed.
"Senior Chu, I still remember your last visit clearly. During recent trade fairs, Daoist friends like Liao Chuanhai often spoke of you. We never expected your cultivation to progress so rapidly. In just a few decades, you've advanced from the early Golden Core stage to the Nascent Soul stage," Xue Shoujing said, shaking his head in disbelief.
The rest of the cultivators nodded in agreement. Chu Ning's cultivation speed was indeed astonishing.
"I've been lucky," Chu Ning replied calmly.
Having received an abundance of praise that day, he took the initiative to change the subject. "Is Liao Changhai from the Brightspirit Sect of the Lingcang Alliance? Has he been participating in your trade fairs recently?"
Chu Ning vaguely remembered Liao Changhai. During a trade fair organized by Xue Shoujing, Chu Ning had helped Liao Changhai decipher a fu source and provided him with a method for fu crafting. He had also obtained several drops of thousand-year-old spirit liquid from Liao Changhai, which proved to be extremely useful later on.
Xue Shoujing nodded. "You have a good memory, Senior. Liao Changhai is indeed a friend of mine, and he often speaks of you. He mentioned that he has another technique involving talismans and fu that he wishes to discuss with you, but he's been unable to meet you, much to his regret."
After exchanging a few more words, the other sect cultivators also extended invitations to Chu Ning, which he politely declined. They then engaged in casual conversation for a while.
The cultivators from the various sects didn't intend to stay long. After confirming that Chu Ning had indeed advanced to the Nascent Soul stage, they took their leave and returned to their respective sects to report the news.
Within just a few days, the entire Cloudsoar Alliance learned of the news that Chu Ning, the once famous first Golden Core cultivator of the Cloudsoar Alliance eleven years ago, had successfully condensed his Nascent Soul.
Inside the Guiyuan Sect, Lu Yuezhang, Jiang Cheng, Shi Xueron, and the others were astonished when they heard the news brought back by He Feng.
Lu Yuezhang sighed softly, "When I interacted with him, I knew that this Daoist Chu was no ordinary man, but I never expected his cultivation to progress so rapidly. To think that in such a short period, he has already reached the Nascent Soul stage."
Jiang Cheng, standing beside him, had an even more complex expression on his face. After a long while, he let out a soft sigh. "I've just barely touched the threshold of Nascent Soul condensation, and he's already formed his Nascent Soul. These cultivators from the Nine Floret Sect... If my Dao heart weren't firm enough, I would have been driven to the point of spawning heart demons by them."
Jiang Cheng's words drew the attention of the others.
Indeed, Jiang Cheng used to be on par with Yu Change within the Alliance, even slightly surpassing him.
It was acceptable for Yu Change to enter the Nascent Soul stage before him, but now, another Chu Ning had appeared, not only defeating him in the late Golden Core stage but also taking a step ahead in their cultivation realm.
This was indeed a huge stimulus for Jiang Cheng, the genius cultivator of the Guiyuan Sect.
"Junior Sister, where are you going?" Jia Yumin asked, seeing Shi Xueron's departure.
Shi Xueron paused and replied with a calm yet puzzled expression, "Into seclusion for cultivation, of course. Where else?"
Hearing this, Jia Yumin breathed a sigh of relief. She had thought that her junior sister was planning to leave for the Jiuhua Sect.
But then, she frowned in confusion and asked, "Junior Sister, didn't you just emerge from seclusion after advancing to the late Golden Core stage? Why are you going into seclusion again?"
"Is that not what I should be doing?" Shi Xueron asked, her face serious. "When I was at the middle Golden Core stage, Chu Ning was only at the early Golden Core stage. Now that he's a Nascent Soul cultivator, I can't afford to slack off, having just reached the late Golden Core stage myself."
With that, Shi Xueron left without another word.
At that moment, Lu Yuezhang wore a smile on his face. "It's a good thing. With Chu Ning's achievements as a spur, I expect more disciples in our sect will devote themselves to diligent cultivation."
In fact, those spurred by Chu Ning's achievements extended far beyond the disciples of Daluo Zong and Guiyuan Zong.
Whether they were the cultivators who had ventured into the Yunxiao Forbidden Lands with Chu Ning or other Golden Core cultivators from the Yunxiao Alliance, many chose to enter seclusion after hearing this news.
Even within the Jiuhua Sect, there was a noticeable increase in the number of cultivators taking on missions or entering seclusion for cultivation.
Of course, Chu Ning remained unaware of all this.
After seeing He Feng and the others off, Chu Ning once again turned his full attention to cultivation.
However, he didn't immediately attempt to refine the Mysterious Icy Flame or use his Nascent Soul's power to unseal the inheritances left by the two sect leaders of the Leihu Zong in his mind.
Instead, he prioritized cultivating the fourth layer of the Five Elements Chaotic Principles.
After all, his Nascent Soul had just been formed, and consolidating his newfound cultivation base was of utmost importance.
As usual, Chu Ning continued his dual cultivation of the Five Elements Chaotic Principles and the Nine Transformations Body Refining Art.
However, as he cultivated these arts, he once again experienced something surprising.
"The merged energies of the two cultivations aren't settling throughout my body as they did before. Instead, they're directly infusing into my Nascent Soul!"
Recalling how the merged energies within him had also entered his Nascent Soul during his breakthrough, Chu Ning was only slightly taken aback before accepting this new reality.
And so, he continued his cultivation as usual.
A month later, within the cultivation room, Chu Ning felt that his cultivation base had stabilized to a certain extent. He took out a red and blue ice flower from the jade box—the Mysterious Icy Flame he had obtained from the Great Void Abyss.
Holding the sealed ice flower in his hand, a determined look flashed in Chu Ning's eyes. He formed hand seals, and several incantations landed on the flower, gradually unraveling the seal.
The red and blue ice flame reappeared, and a powerful aura filled the entire cultivation room.
At the same time, the temperature in the room plummeted as if they had reached the freezing point.
Following the instructions for refining the Mysterious Icy Flame, Chu Ning spat out a five-colored Nascent Soul fire, enveloping the ice flame.
As soon as the Nascent Soul fire came into contact with the ice flame, Chu Ning felt a bone-chilling coldness. Yet, at the very core of this coldness was a scorching heat that seemed capable of incinerating the heavens.
The juxtaposition of extreme cold and heat was extraordinary.
The Nascent Soul fire seemed to be on the verge of being extinguished, but Chu Ning quickly cast a series of incantations to stabilize it.
Once the Nascent Soul fire completely enveloped the ice flame, Chu Ning opened his mouth without hesitation and swallowed the entire mass.
In the next moment, he felt contrasting sensations of icy cold and scorching heat within his body.
His left side felt like it was immersed in an icy abyss, while his right side burned as if engulfed in flames.
Amidst this alternation of cold and heat, even his Nascent Soul trembled as if it wanted to leave his body involuntarily.
"What a domineering spiritual fire!" Chu Ning's heart shuddered, and he dared not slack off even for a moment.
Enduring the pain in his physical body and the torment in his mental state, he immediately followed the refinement incantation, channeling his spiritual power to begin refining the Mysterious Icy Flame.
As Chu Ning channeled his spiritual power, the Mysterious Icy Flame seemed to find its purpose, instantly settling into Chu Ning's ice spirit root, which had awakened over a decade ago.
Suddenly, Chu Ning felt both the icy power and the red flame's power diminish significantly.
"Hoo!"
Chu Ning emerged from his meditative state, his eyes reflecting a hint of relaxation.
While it was impossible to complete the refinement of the Mysterious Icy Flame in such a short time, his initial efforts had stabilized it within his body.
Even without using his spiritual power to suppress it, it would no longer harm his body from the inside out.
"It will likely take at least half a year or even a full year to completely refine this Mysterious Icy Flame.
In the meantime, I might as well take a look at what those two Nascent Soul late-stage cultivators from Leihu Zong left behind for me."
With that, Chu Ning activated the Nascent Soul power within him and approached the two glowing orbs that had been residing in his sea of consciousness for over a decade.
After examining both orbs, he heaved a long sigh.
"As expected of Nascent Soul late-stage cultivators, they really left behind some treasures."
After organizing the information from their legacies, Chu Ning's gains were considerable.
"One of the cultivation techniques was a top-grade, high-level fire-attribute spell called Blazing Sky Severance, which was more powerful than both the Inferno Flame Technique and the Heavenly Flame Sword Technique."
Compared to this, Chu Ning didn't value the other spells and techniques left by Huo Yun Shangren as highly.
As for the legacy of Tianlei Shangren, it included several powerful thunder-attribute spells that also caught Chu Ning's attention.
Unfortunately, without a thunder spirit root, Chu Ning was unable to cast them.
In addition to cultivation techniques and spells, the legacies of both cultivators also contained methods for crafting magical treasures.
One technique, in particular, drew Chu Ning's interest—a method for creating imitation spiritual treasures, mentioned in the legacies of both late-stage Nascent Soul cultivators.
During his previous cultivation attempts, Chu Ning had also tried to activate the spiritual treasure Xuan Xiao Jing, which he had obtained from the Great Void Abyss.
Unfortunately, he had been unsuccessful.
According to Chu Ning's speculation, if there wasn't a special method to activate it, then it was likely due to his insufficient cultivation level and spiritual power.
However, the legacies of Lei Huo Zong's two leaders recorded the crafting method for an imitation spiritual treasure, the Nine Heavens Thunderfire Hammer.
According to their records, Leihu Zong had successfully crafted this treasure in the past.
While this treasure also required a massive amount of spiritual power to use, a cultivator at the early or middle Nascent Soul stage with sufficient spiritual power should be able to wield it.
This information piqued Chu Ning's interest.
Even an imitation spiritual treasure would likely be more powerful than ordinary ancient treasures.
Although crafting this treasure would require both rare materials and a profound understanding of the crafting technique, Chu Ning was determined to give it a try.
"For now, the two ancient treasures I possess should be sufficient. But if the opportunity arises, I'll definitely craft this imitation spiritual treasure."
Additionally, Chu Ning found a consciousness-enhancing cultivation technique in Tianlei Shangren's legacy.
After trying it out, he reluctantly gave up on it.
This consciousness-enhancing technique was not as complex as the Lianshenzhu, and it didn't have multiple layers.
Unfortunately, after cultivating it for a while, Chu Ning noticed no improvements in his spiritual sense, nor did his system show any signs of enhancement.
He surmised that this technique was not as advanced as the fourth layer of the Lianshenzhu.
Thus, he passed this consciousness-enhancing technique to Cen Zikin, while he himself continued to cultivate the Lianshenzhu.
In the following days, while continuing to cultivate the Five Elements Chaotic Principles and the Nine Transformations Body Refining Art, Chu Ning focused most of his energy on refining the Mysterious Icy Flame.
In addition, he also cultivated the Chiyan Fen Tian, an extremely powerful spell, and the Void Walk, an incredible secret art.
A year later, on Tianlan Peak...
Chu Ning stepped out of his cultivation room and into the fresh air.
"By cultivating the Chiyan Fen Tian simultaneously, the refinement of the Mysterious Icy Flame has slowed down a bit. It took a full year, but it was worth it.
Not only have I successfully refined the Mysterious Icy Flame, but I've also mastered the Chiyan Fen Tian, a top-grade, high-level spell. I've also made progress with the Void Walk, now able to teleport ten zhang away. It's a lifesaving technique."
Chu Ning mentally reviewed his cultivation progress over the past year before stepping out into the courtyard.
He spotted Cen Zikin and Bailling chatting happily.
However, before he could greet Cen Zikin, a message talisman suddenly flew towards the cave abode.
Chu Ning reached out and caught it, his eyebrows furrowing slightly. Without waiting for Cen Zikin to ask, he quickly said:
"Something's happened. The sect leader has summoned us for a discussion."
(End of Chapter)
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