Chapter 529: Journey to the Celestial Eye Continent, Cultivation of the Spirit Shadow Technique
Chapter 529: Journey to the Celestial Eye Continent, Cultivation of the Spirit Shadow Technique
"You want to go to the Celestial Eye Continent?"
On Tianlan Peak, Cen Zikin was slightly taken aback upon hearing Chu Ning's words.
Previously, in order to reassure Cen Zikin and allow her to focus on her infant formation and vengeance, Chu Ning had never mentioned his plan to venture to the Celestial Eye Continent.
"My cultivation of the Refining Qi, Refining Body, and Refining Divine techniques has hit a bottleneck, and I still lack quite a few materials for crafting several treasures..."
At this moment, Chu Ning briefly explained to Cen Zikin his reasons for wanting to go to the Celestial Eye Continent.
Having cultivated the Five Elements Chaos Technique to the fourth layer, he could continue to cultivate using this technique, but his spiritual power advancement had slowed.
Additionally, he had perfectly cultivated the second volume of the Nine Transformations Body Refinement Technique, but the final volume remained elusive.
The most likely place to find the complete Nine Transformations Body Refinement Technique was the Nine Transformations Spirit Mountain, where the Nine Transformations Elder had once cultivated.
He possessed a map that recorded the location of the Nine Transformations Spirit Mountain.
However, over the years, his inquiries about the Nine Transformations Spirit Mountain in the West Alliance Continent, East Sacred Continent, and even the North Cold Continent had proved futile.
His only option now was to search for it in the Celestial Eye Continent.
As for the Refining Divine technique, he had mastered it long ago.
Perhaps only by finding the sect that Elder Divine Dream had once belonged to would he be able to obtain more advanced cultivation techniques.
Of course, there was also the matter of the Immortal Breed.
Chu Ning explained all of this to Cen Zikin in detail.
Cen Zikin listened to everything Chu Ning had to say and then fell into a long silence. Eventually, she lifted her head, her clear eyes meeting Chu Ning's gaze.
"Husband, I've decided not to go to the Celestial Eye Continent.
Since cultivation is so prevalent there, there must be countless powerful experts.
If it were just an ordinary trip, it would be fine, but with so many tasks for you to attend to, my current cultivation level might not be of much help and could even slow you down.
I can stay here and take care of these spirit plants and spirit medicines.
If there's anything that requires attention in the sect, I can handle it.
Our sect has been gaining prominence in recent years, and if both of us suddenly leave for an extended period, it might invite opportunistic actions from other forces."
Chu Ning reached out and gently caressed Cen Zikin's face.
"Have you thought it through? This journey of mine might not be a matter of just a few years.
If everything goes smoothly, that's one thing, but if it doesn't, it could easily take several decades, or even a century."
A fleeting trace of reluctance flashed in Cen Zikin's eyes, but she eventually smiled and said, "When did you become so sentimental, husband? I recall you telling me that as cultivators, we should pursue the path of immortality."
Hearing Cen Zikin's words, Chu Ning burst into laughter and said,
"Good! You're right, wife. If we can't achieve longevity, our devotion to each other will ultimately succumb to the passage of time.
Then I shall go ahead to the Celestial Eye Continent and scout the place. When the time is right, I shall take you with me to explore the four seas."
"Good!" Cen Zikin smiled at this moment.
"I shall await that day."
The two exchanged smiles and spent the next few days together on Tianlan Peak, naturally expressing their affection for each other more intimately.
Chu Ning also informed Yu Change of his plan to travel to the Celestial Eye Continent.
However, he did not reveal his destination to any other cultivators.
A month later, Chu Ning mounted a Golden Thunder Eagle and departed from Jiuhua Mountain, heading north.
After visiting the East Sacred Continent, West Alliance Continent, and North Cold Continent, Chu Ning now had a clearer understanding of the world's geography.
The structure of this world was similar to that of the Earth in his past life—spherical.
The East Sacred Continent, West Alliance Continent, North Cold Continent, and Nanyang Continent were all located in the same hemisphere.
The Celestial Eye Continent, on the other hand, was situated alone in the opposite hemisphere.
The East Sacred Continent and West Alliance Continent were both wider in the south and narrower in the north, and the two continents were separated by the Boundless Sea, which formed an inverted triangle.
The North Cold Continent sat right in the middle of the northern side of the triangle.
In theory, whether one traveled from the West Alliance Continent, East Sacred Continent, or North Cold Continent, as long as they headed north and crossed the boundary line of the two hemispheres at the northernmost part of the Boundless Sea, they would reach the Celestial Eye Continent's Sky Grassland in its northern region.
However, in reality, because the West Alliance Continent extended further north and the Sky Grassland was shaped like an inverted concave, the shortest route to the Sky Grassland from the Boundless Sea was from the West Alliance Continent.
This was the route Chu Ning chose for his journey.
Having experienced the flight across the Boundless Sea once before, he knew that the Boundless Sea lacked spiritual energy, and each additional day of travel would require more resources.
Even though Chu Ning had prepared ample amounts of various pills and spirit medicines for the trip and had plenty of eternal spirit milk stored in his bag, he still opted for the shortest flight path.
Chu Ning had already committed the route to memory.
At this moment, he sat atop the Golden Thunder Eagle with an ancient treasure in his hand—the Yin-Yang Scythe, the ancient treasure he had obtained from Hei Luo Mojun.
After acquiring this treasure, he had returned to the sect and busied himself with refining pills and gathering ingredients for his journey, leaving little time to study the treasures obtained from the two demonic cultivators in the East Sacred Continent.
But now, as he examined it, he was surprised to find that there was a secret technique inscribed on the Yin-Yang Scythe, similar to how one would find inscriptions on jade slips that could be read with divine sense.
"Spirit Shadow Technique!"
Chu Ning's eyes narrowed slightly as he glanced at the name of this secret technique and then proceeded to examine it in detail.
Soon enough, a hint of surprise flashed in his eyes.
Upon reading the manual, Chu Ning realized that it described the technique used by Heiro the Demon Lord during their battle, allowing him to launch attacks with his Nascent Soul separated from his physical body.
Ordinarily, Nascent Soul cultivators could also separate their souls from their bodies to attack. However, doing so would inevitably result in a significant decrease in the might of their physical bodies.
When Chu Ning witnessed Heiro using this technique, he noticed that both the soul and the physical body exhibited comparable power. This led him to speculate that Heiro must have employed some kind of secret art.
Little did he expect that this secret art would be recorded in the Yin-Yang Scythe.
After carefully studying the Spirit Infant Technique once more, a gleam flashed in Chu Ning's eyes.
Although this secret art was recorded in the Yin-Yang Scythe, the actual cultivation method did not seem to have much to do with the demonic path. At most, it could be considered a bit unconventional.
This art allowed the cultivator to separate their Nascent Soul from their body while retaining a portion of its power within the physical form, enabling them to launch simultaneous attacks like Heiro had done.
Of course, the conditions for this art were rather demanding. Firstly, the Nascent Soul had to be sufficiently powerful. According to the manual, the soul's size needed to reach one foot and five inches, which was typically only achievable by late-stage Nascent Soul cultivators.
Additionally, the Spirit Infant Technique included a method for cultivating and strengthening the Nascent Soul, but it required an extremely long time. According to the manual, the time investment was no less than what a cultivator would spend breaking through from the mid-stage to the late-stage of the Nascent Soul realm. As such, this aspect of the technique was rather impractical.
The second condition pertained to spiritual sense, which needed to be strong enough to divide into multiple strands to control various treasures and lock onto an opponent's vital breath.
Upon reading these conditions, Chu Ning's interest was piqued. He possessed a natural advantage when it came to cultivating this Spirit Infant Technique.
Firstly, his spiritual sense was exceptionally powerful, thanks to his Divine Consciousness Technique secret art. Not only could he divide it into a few strands to manipulate treasures, but he could even split it into ninety-nine strands if necessary.
Secondly, his Nascent Soul was significantly larger than that of ordinary mid-stage Nascent Soul cultivators. Although it hadn't reached the late-stage size of one foot and five inches, it was already very close.
With the aid of the Spirit Infant Technique's cultivation secret art, he might need to spend some time, but it wouldn't necessarily take as long as cultivating to the late-stage Nascent Soul realm.
Moreover, due to various factors during his Nascent Soul formation, his soul was far stronger than that of a typical cultivator. He might not need to reach the full one foot and five inches to practice this secret art.
With time on his hands, Chu Ning memorized the Spirit Infant Technique and immediately began attempting to cultivate it.
After several attempts, he paused. "The strength of my Nascent Soul is still a bit lacking. I need to borrow the strengthening method from the Spirit Infant Technique and cultivate further."
"In fact, aside from anything else, just the technique for enlarging the Nascent Soul makes the Spirit Infant Technique a top-tier secret art," he thought.
With that in mind, Chu Ning began cultivating the secret art for enlarging his Nascent Soul.
However, as he cultivated, he found that while the technique's effects were indeed remarkable, the progress was exceedingly slow. After cultivating for several days, he felt no improvement at all.
He even doubted that cultivating for a year might not enlarge his Nascent Soul by even a hair's breadth.
Opening his eyes, Chu Ning's eyebrows twitched slightly. In the next moment, he reached into his storage bag and retrieved an object—the Infant Nurturing Wood that he had obtained from killing Cheng Qingmao of the Heaven's Extremity Alliance.
Cheng Qingmao had somehow acquired this Infant Nurturing Wood to heal his damaged Nascent Soul. Aside from healing Nascent Soul injuries, it could also be used to cultivate and strengthen the soul.
Now, it would prove useful.
Chu Ning's Nascent Soul separated from his body, and he estimated its size to be around one foot and three inches.
Holding the Infant Nurturing Wood, the Nascent Soul sat cross-legged in front of him, and he began attempting the secret art for enlarging the Nascent Soul described in the Spirit Infant Technique once more.
Two days later, Chu Ning opened his eyes with a slight smile on his face. "With the aid of the Infant Nurturing Wood, the cultivation effects are indeed more noticeable.
If I continue at this pace, in about two years, combined with my regular cultivation, my Nascent Soul should be able to enlarge by about an inch."
Chu Ning muttered to himself as he appraised the Infant Nurturing Wood held by his Nascent Soul's tiny hand. This object was indeed a treasure.
Thinking that it wasn't advisable to keep his Nascent Soul separated from his body for too long, Chu Ning recalled his soul and temporarily stopped cultivating. He also returned Big Jin to the spirit beast bag and let Little Jin take over flying.
In the following days, Big Jin and Little Jin took turns flying, while Chu Ning alternated between cultivating the Spirit Infant Technique's secret art for enlarging the Nascent Soul and his regular cultivation.
Finally, they arrived at the northernmost edge of the Boundless Sea in the West Alliance Continent.
Without rushing into the Boundless Sea, they first found a place with spiritual energy to meditate and adjust their states, replenishing their spiritual power. After two days of rest, Chu Ning took out a leaf-shaped treasure, rose into the air, and stood atop it.
Back when he had flown back from the Northern Cold Continent, Chu Ning had used an Eight Trigrams Flying Wheel. While it was reasonably fast and didn't consume much spiritual power, he had later obtained this leaf-shaped treasure from Cheng Qingmao and discovered that it was even faster and consumed less spiritual power.
No wonder Cheng Qingmao had used it to try and escape.
Now, it served Chu Ning's purposes well.
Mounted on the leaf-shaped treasure, Chu Ning turned to look at the West Alliance Continent one last time before turning his gaze forward to the endless expanse of the Boundless Sea. Without hesitation, he flew toward it.
(End of Chapter)
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