Chapter 411: The Altar
Chapter 411: The Altar
Breaking through a restriction, what met the eye was another stone cave.
Chu Ning, holding an ancient treasure, warily sized up his surroundings.
The cave was only a few dozen feet in size, but the surrounding stone walls faintly glowed with a pale golden light.
In the center of the cave stood an ancient altar, measuring three feet square.
Several stone pillars surrounded the altar, and at its center was a large stone pedestal inscribed with various runes.
Below the pedestal lay a pile of bones, mostly crumbled to dust but still recognizable as the remains of a large creature.
Scanning with his spiritual sense, Chu Ning noticed that the creature's skeletal structure was vastly different from that of human cultivators.
Its skull was twisted and irregularly shaped, appearing exceedingly bizarre.
In addition to the pair of arms extending from its shoulders, there was also a long arm bone protruding from its abdominal region.
"It's the Three-Armed Celestial Demon!"
Chu Ning immediately recalled the extradimensional celestial demon that had possessed You Jing and entered the Golden Spirit Species' spirit domain.
This discovery provided a plausible explanation for everything that had transpired.
This place was likely where ancient cultivators imprisoned the extradimensional celestial demon, accidentally discovered by You Jing.
Perhaps he had made some agreement with the demon, allowing it to possess him.
However, it was unclear whether this possession occurred before or after Chu Ning had severed its arm.
Judging from the state of the bones, the demon's physical body had been destroyed a long time ago.
Chu Ning carefully probed with his spiritual sense and finally confirmed that there was no trace of the extradimensional celestial demon, only a pile of bones.
He breathed a slight sigh of relief but remained vigilant as he began to carefully sense the surroundings of the chamber.
"Hmm?"
As he did so, Chu Ning couldn't help but exclaim in surprise.
"Master, what is it?" White Spirit asked, prompted by Chu Ning's unexpected reaction.
"Do you feel how the spiritual energy here is different from the outside?" Chu Ning asked.
"It's definitely not the same. It doesn't feel like spiritual energy per se, but..." White Spirit blinked, looking uncertain.
Chu Ning nodded, confirming her suspicion. He had been focused on the altar before and hadn't paid close attention to the energy in the chamber.
Now, he realized that within the restrictions of this place, there existed a peculiar energy—a fusion of primordial power and spiritual energy.
However, this energy was much thinner here compared to the valley where the Tree of Myriad Laws stood.
Chu Ning couldn't tell if it was because this place inherently had less energy or if it was due to the passage of time.
A thoughtful look appeared on Chu Ning's face as he continued, "It seems that these ancient sites possess this unique energy. Could it be that the energy of the heavens and earth during the ancient times was different from what it is now?"
As he spoke, Chu Ning pondered silently.
However, he hadn't felt this energy when he was in the Great Void Abyss, and he wondered if it was absent there or if the Great Void Abyss simply wasn't as ancient as this place.
White Spirit couldn't provide an answer to Chu Ning's question. He had asked her before if there was any mention of this energy in her inherited memories, but even after searching for a long time, she hadn't found anything.
After a brief moment of contemplation, Chu Ning slowly walked towards the altar, his gaze fixed on the pedestal that had once imprisoned and sealed the extradimensional celestial demon. He wanted to examine the runes on the stone pillars and the pedestal up close.
It was then that he noticed a hole in the pedestal, previously hidden by the demon's remains.
Chu Ning's heart stirred, and he took out a black chain made of Darksteel from his storage bag, the very same one he had obtained from You Jing.
Even after using a considerable amount to forge various treasures, there were still several dozen links left of the black chain.
Chu Ning picked up one end of the chain and compared it to the holes on the stone pedestal.
As expected, they seemed to fit together.
"Master, is this black chain from this place?" White Spirit asked at this moment.
Chu Ning nodded slightly.
"Black Xuan metal has a suppressive effect on extradimensional celestial demons. It's normal to find it here since an extradimensional celestial demon was once imprisoned in this place.
This black chain was most likely used as a binding chain to lock down the extradimensional celestial demon, connecting to the array formation restrictions on this altar.
However, for some unknown reason, the array formation restrictions failed, and the black chain was removed."
As Chu Ning spoke, his eyes flickered with curiosity.
"If we go by this speculation, then You Jing must have come into contact with the extradimensional celestial demon during our first encounter.
Perhaps he was already possessed by the extradimensional celestial demon.
But for some reason, the demon didn't reveal itself."
As this thought occurred to him, Chu Ning couldn't help but feel a sense of relief.
If the extradimensional celestial demon had appeared back then, even with his cultivation of the Undying Golden Body,
without having cultivated the Nine Transformations Body Refining Art to the second volume, he might not have been able to withstand its attack.
After putting away the black chain, Chu Ning began to carefully study the various talismans on the altar.
With his extensive knowledge of array and talisman formations, he soon made a surprising discovery.
"The restriction talismans here are composed of eighteen different talismans. Although the arrangement of talismans on each of the stone pillars and the pedestal is unique, they are all formed from these eighteen types, and I've seen one of them before."
Hearing Chu Ning's words, White Spirit also began to examine the talismans curiously.
However, her knowledge of talismans paled in comparison to Chu Ning's, and she couldn't discern anything profound.
Intrigued, she asked, "Master, where did you see it before?"
"It was when I had just formed my Golden Core back then, at a trading conference in the Sky Sound Pavilion."
Chu Ning replied casually, then briefly recounted how the cultivator from the Longming Sect had asked him to analyze the talisman source and create a talisman manual.
Then, deep in thought, he said, "If this type of talisman can be crafted into a manual, perhaps the others can as well.
Let's go ahead and analyze the talisman sources of these eighteen talismans and master them. We can then research them further when we get back."
With that in mind, Chu Ning began touching the talismans on the stone pillars, his fingers brushing over the cool surface. This sparked his curiosity about the material of the pillars and the pedestal.
However, he soon focused his attention back on analyzing the talisman sources.
Seeing that Chu Ning was busy with the analysis, White Spirit didn't disturb him and instead left the altar, wandering around the stone cave to inspect their surroundings.
When she reached the wall with the faint golden light, her eyes narrowed in surprise.
She reached out and touched the wall, deep in thought, before opening her mouth and spraying a beam of white light onto it.
Immediately after, she swept her hands across the wall, and a layer of golden sand fell into her palms.
"What is this?"
White Spirit asked, intrigued.
Hearing the noise, Chu Ning looked up, and his spiritual sense swept over the sand, causing him to exclaim in surprise.
"Starry Gold Sand, this is one of the ten ancient refining materials, just like black Xuan metal.
It's mainly used in the refinement of defensive treasures. How did you get it off the wall?"
Upon hearing Chu Ning's words, White Spirit once again sprayed a beam of white light onto the wall.
She swept her hand, and more golden sand fell into her palm.
"Hmm, I didn't expect you to have such an ability," Chu Ning said with a light laugh. "Since that's the case, go ahead and collect all the starry gold sand from the wall.
After all, the extradimensional celestial demon is no longer here, so this defense is useless now."
"Yes, master," White Spirit replied.
Following Chu Ning's instructions, she began collecting the golden sand from the entire wall.
Meanwhile, Chu Ning continued to analyze the eighteen talismans on the stone pillars and the pedestal.
With his current ability to analyze talisman sources, even if these eighteen talismans were extremely profound, it would only take him a little more time.
After analyzing all eighteen talismans, Chu Ning thought for a moment before recording the structure and arrangement of the talismans on each pillar and the pedestal onto a blank jade slip.
He planned to take it back and study it further.
In fact, Chu Ning was also quite interested in the material of the stone pillars that were engraved with the talismans.
He considered taking them with him but realized that they were clearly connected to the restrictions of the place.
Fearing that doing so might trigger some unforeseen consequences, he ultimately decided against it.
(End of Chapter)
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