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Chapter 73: Pressing Onward
Chapter 73: Pressing Onward
In an instant, the spiritual energy from the Spirit Stones rushed into Chu Ning's body.
After a while, one of the Spirit Stones shattered, and Chu Ning began absorbing another one.
This cycle continued.
Whenever he felt that he had reached his limit, Chu Ning would eat some Spirit Rice, take a short break, or cultivate his Divine Art and the Nine-Yan Body Refining Technique.
For five days, Chu Ning immersed himself in cultivation.
Each day, he consumed over 30 Spirit Stones, relentlessly pushing to improve his proficiency in the Green Wood Eternal Spring Art.
This continued until the night of the fifth day.
Green Wood Eternal Spring Art (Low-Tier Yellow Rank), Second Layer (499/900)
"Just one step away from the sixth layer. Keep going!"
Chu Ning's eyes lit up with excitement as he sat on his bed.
He casually grabbed six Spirit Stones and closed his eyes once more.
One by one, the Spirit Stones turned to powder in his hands until all six were completely depleted.
Chu Ning's eyes snapped open, a sharp glint flashing across them.
A smile appeared on his face.
"Refine Qi Six Layers!"
At this moment, the sixth law ring had formed in Chu Ning's dantian.
Green Wood Eternal Spring Art (Low-Tier Yellow Rank), Second Layer (501/900)
After breaking through to 500 and reaching the peak of Refine Qi Fifth Layer, Chu Ning continued to cultivate and absorb the remaining four Spirit Stones.
Finally, he pressed onward and directly advanced to the Refine Qi Sixth Layer.
Moreover, he stabilized his new realm!
"With the cultivation of Refine Qi Sixth Layer, I at least have more confidence in my ability to protect myself," Chu Ning exhaled softly.
"Just one more breakthrough, and I'll enter the late Refine Qi stage."
As this thought crossed his mind, Chu Ning suddenly thought of a problem.
The next step, when he broke through to the Refine Qi Seventh Layer, his Green Wood Eternal Spring Art would also advance to the third layer from the second.
He wondered if he could refresh his talent reward when he maxed out the second layer's proficiency.
If that was possible, then he could exploit this loophole.
For example, if he chose a technique with six or seven layers next time, could he refresh the reward six or seven times?
After some contemplation, Chu Ning vaguely felt that his golden finger might not allow him to exploit such a loophole.
However, he could only find out for sure once he reached maximum proficiency in the second layer.
Chu Ning stood up and used a Cleaning Art to wipe away all the Spirit Stone powder in the room.
Then, he cast a simple Rain Art on himself to wash off any residue, followed by a Drying Art.
After these quick spells, Chu Ning, who had cultivated bitterly for five days, felt refreshed.
After a good night's sleep, Chu Ning woke up early the next morning and began packing his belongings.
According to the sect's arrangements, the disciples from various peaks heading to Yanjifang would depart together that day.
There wasn't much to pack, though.
The Seven Star Spirit Fruit, talismans, and items for cultivation and talisman-making had long been stored in his storage bag.
All that was left to pack were a few changes of clothes and the remaining Spirit Rice.
In fact, after consuming a significant portion of the Spirit Rice over the past half a year, there wasn't much left to take with him.
Once he finished packing, Chu Ning took one last walk around the courtyard.
Looking at the dense network of Ironvine covering the yard, he felt a hint of reluctance.
More than a year ago, he had been a lowly Ding district menial disciple who had just passed his assessment.
In the blink of an eye, he had jumped two levels, from a Bing district disciple to an outer sect disciple.
His next-door neighbor, Qi Chongmao, whom he had killed in self-defense, had moved out, and Lu Yunfang and Luo Hongping, who had moved in later, had already relocated to the Bing district.
The place felt quite different now.
As these thoughts flitted through Chu Ning's mind, he let out a carefree laugh.
With a gesture, he used his art to uproot several strands of Ironvine and casually stuffed them into his storage bag.
Then, he strode out of the courtyard and headed toward the outer sect entrance.
Chu Ning was the first to arrive at the outer sect entrance, and soon, several others joined him.
As for the Artifact Forging Room, a male disciple named Shen Zhengquan, at the seventh layer of Qi Refining, had been assigned.
Artifact forging was a challenging path to master.
From Shen Zhengquan's words, Chu Ning and the others learned that he wouldn't be forging artifacts at Yanji Fang. Instead, he would be in charge of selling magical artifacts and looking for suitable cultivation materials to purchase.
The actual artifact forging would still be handled by the various artifact forgers within the sect.
In addition to these two, there were also two disciples from the Spirit Beast Hall: a male disciple named Luo Yipeng at the seventh layer of Qi Refining, and a female disciple named Lu Miying at the fifth layer.
According to the two, the area around Yanji Fang was home to not only low-level demons but also some low-level spirit beasts that could be cultivated.
For example, there was a type of spirit beast called the Ash Spirit Rabbit. After being raised, its meat had a certain effect on improving one's cultivation.
It was especially beneficial for disciples at the Qi Refining stage.
So, their task was to repurchase similar spirit beasts from various loose cultivators or immortal cultivation families in the area, raise them, and then sell them.
With this introduction, it seemed that Chu Ning, representing both the Spirit Plant Hall and the Spirit Talisman Pavilion, was the weakest among them.
After all, Chu Ning only appeared to have the cultivation base of the fourth layer of Qi Refining.
However, the group was still curious about how Chu Ning came to represent both the Spirit Talisman Pavilion and the Spirit Plant Hall.
Chu Ning didn't hide the fact that he used to be a menial disciple and that he had some talent for talisman making, which was why the Spirit Talisman Pavilion had taken him in.
Since both halls were short-staffed, they had arranged for him to go.
When the others heard that Chu Ning used to be a menial disciple, they were a little surprised.
However, everyone knew that the Qingxi Sect didn't directly manage many spirit fields near Yanji Fang, and talisman making was relatively simpler compared to pill refining and artifact forging.
So, after a few brief questions, most of them stopped paying attention.
After all, Chu Ning had joined the Spirit Talisman Pavilion recently and hadn't spent much time there. Only a few people in the pavilion knew that he had decent talent, and since he had only been crafting low-grade, lower-tier talismans, the pavilion members naturally didn't pay much attention to him.
He was even less well-known outside the pavilion.
As the one with the lowest cultivation among the group and a former menial disciple, Chu Ning had inadvertently become the most overlooked person there.
On the other hand, Gu Xiaoqing, with her gentle and quiet demeanor and the highest cultivation level among them, naturally attracted the most attention.
Both Luo Yipeng and Shen Zhengquan seemed eager to strike up a conversation with her, clearly intending to get closer.
Chu Ning had originally wanted to keep a low profile, so he was happy to be ignored in favor of Gu Xiaoqing.
He stayed silent, waiting for the Outer Affairs Hall's manager to arrive while quietly observing the group.
Through their words and actions, he tried to gauge their personalities.
About half an incense stick's worth of time passed before a gray-robed elder appeared.
"Manager Lin!"
Hearing the others' greeting, Chu Ning guessed the man's identity and followed suit, greeting him respectfully.
Lin Changqing, the Outer Affairs Hall manager in charge of Yanji Fang and several other nearby market towns.
Lin Changqing was around fifty years old, with a perpetually cold expression on his face.
In response to the disciples' greetings, he merely gave a slight nasal acknowledgment.
"The disciples from the other market towns have already left. You are the last group. Now that everyone is here, let's go."
Lin Changqing's voice carried a hint of coldness.
His demeanor kept the outer sect disciples from daring to speak casually to him.
Lin Changqing didn't seem interested in small talk either. After giving his brief instructions, he waved his hand and took out a flying boat from his storage bag.
Chu Ning and the other four boarded the boat, and Lin Changqing led them into the sky, disappearing from the sect's mountain gate in the blink of an eye.
(End of Chapter)
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