Chapter 0354: Difficult To Advance
Thinking of this, Ning Cheng directly took out the broken crystal stone, he decided to rush to the border of the Soul Sculpting Realm in one shot.
Initially, Ning Cheng’s progress had slowed down quite significantly in the past, because of which he had stopped cultivating using the broken crystal stone. However, at this time, when he once again started using the fractured crystal stone for cultivation, Ning Cheng found that his speed of absorption of Spiritual Qi had once again improved by a considerable margin.
Ning Cheng quickly understood the reason for it, after the abundant Spiritual Qi was absorbed; it assimilated into his body in the shortest possible time. This definitely had a direct relation to the strengthening of his corporeal body. Before when he used to absorb the Spiritual Qi, although the speed at that time was also fast, it had never reached such a frightening level. Thus, it showed that as one’s cultivation in regards to Body-Forging improves, one’s Cultivation Speed would also rise significantly.
“Katcha….” The broken crystal in Ning Cheng’s hand turned to dust, while at the same time Ning Cheng’s cultivation had also reached the pinnacle of Soul Essence Realm.
Ning Cheng, satisfied with his progress, stood up and thought that the broken crystal stone given to him by that old fogey was quite handy. Without this fractured crystal stone, even if he had the help from the Mysterious Yellow Origin that allowed him to possess a fast Cultivation Speed, he would probably not be able to reach the Great Circle of the Soul Essence Realm in such a short time. The only thing that he regretted at this moment was that he finally used up this crystal stone today.
At this moment, it did not matter to him if there was no pill to help him in advancing to the Soul Sculpting Realm; he currently possessed sufficient quantities of True Polar Bamboo Sprouts. This time, he could merely depend upon the True Polar Bamboo Sprouts to attack the boundary of the Soul Sculpting Realm. Unfortunately, there were no Thoughtless Ice Flowers to assist him in the process. Previously, he was anxious about Shi Qionghua’s safety, resulting him in forgetting to ask Chao Hei as to where he could find the Thoughtless Ice Flower.
Although he did not possess the Thoughtless Ice Flower, Ning Cheng still intended to try it first. In any case, if he did meet failure with the True Polar Bamboo Sprout, he could naturally seek out the Thoughtless Ice Flower next time before experimenting again.
To cross the tribulation in the Sifting Orchid Star, Ning Cheng did not dare to seek out a place prone to volcanic eruptions. Therefore, he chose to walk for several days towards the north, before he found a large patch of snow-capped mountains.
Then taking out a heap of Spirit Stones, he used them to arrange a vast Spiritual Gathering Array around it. With all these things in place, Ning Cheng finally started to prepare for attacking the boundary of the Soul Sculpting Realm.
Whether it was his physical state or his Sea of Consciousness, every part of him had reached unprecedented levels of focus, so when it came to absorbing Spiritual Qi, it was akin to dragon sucking up the water to dry the oceans.
Layers after layers of Spirit Stones turned to dust, forming a vast Spiritual Qi Mist that directly poured into Ning Cheng’s body.
As more and more Spiritual Qi accumulated in Ning Cheng’s body, it continuously transformed into True Essence. However, even with that case, he still was unable to touch the Soul Sculpting Barrier, let alone trying to break through it.
If only there were a Void Cleaving Pill, it would have been much better, Ning Cheng sighed to himself. He then took out a strand of True Polar Bamboo Sprout. Without the Void Cleaving Pill, he would have to use the True Polar Bamboo Sprout without any neutralizing medications.
Since he had already decided on it, Ning Cheng directly swallowed the True Polar Bamboo Sprout, causing a one of a kind chill to rise up from the depths of his heart. This made Ning Cheng pleasantly surprised; he had thought that the True Polar Bamboo Sprout needed the Thoughtless Ice Flower for neutralizing its effects. Since it was something that only grew in lava crags, it was definitely an extreme fire attributed Spiritual Grass, because of which he had never thought that it would give such a feel. This feeling was just like the refreshing cool feeling when one consumed peppermint, and it made one feel extremely comfortable, just like a swim in the lake during summer.
This type of feeling was genuinely comfortable, Ning Cheng thought and took out two more strains of the True Polar Bamboo Sprout and immediately swallowed them, causing the refreshing cool feel to grow more and more. It quickly spread throughout his entire body.
This kind of comfortable feeling made Ning Cheng almost forget that he was still in the process of attacking the boundary to the Soul Sculpting Realm. He had even taken out another two strains of the True Polar Bamboo Sprouts and was preparing to swallow them down.
But at this moment, Ning Cheng suddenly felt a ‘bang’ sound emerge from every Meridian inside his body. It was as if a powder keg was ignited, causing one after another blast of scorching hot heat waves to run throughout his body as if wanting to tear his body apart from the inside out.
The refreshing coolness from before was actually akin to petrol that had been splashed over him beforehand, but now that same gasoline had been ignited. That exhilarating cool feeling had utterly disappeared and replaced by a horrifying burning sensation. It felt as if he was drinking from a poisoned chalice.
Ning Cheng, at this moment, could not even regret eating the three strains of True Polar Bamboo Sprouts before. Under this kind of terrifyingly scorching power, it would not be long when his entire body turned to ashes from the inside out.
If it weren’t because he already reached Rank 4 Imperial Body in regards to Body-Forging, he would have already turned into ash.
The Mysterious Yellow Bead also started rapidly spinning, causing the Mysterious Yellow Origin to rush out while dissipating throughout Ning Cheng’s Meridians all over his body. Unfortunately, even the Mysterious Yellow Origin was unable to put out this fire, nor was it able to contain this kind of combustion.
The tearing pain and the suffering caused Ning Cheng’s face to turn incomparably ugly to look at. Ning Cheng desperately guarded his Spiritual Seat, he knew that he had to calm down, if Ning Cheng could not calm down at this moment, then he would only be dying faster.
Ning Cheng immediately started operating his Body-Forging Cultivation Method, while at the same time tried to control this terrifyingly scorching heat to find and attack the barrier to the Soul Sculpting Realm.
A blood mist started to seep out of Ning Cheng’s body, tinged with a faint trace of flaming aura. This was not Ning Cheng’s first time suffering burns like this from the inside out. Initially, when the Yang Qi toxins were burning his body, he had also experienced similar burning flames. However, at that time, those fires were only trying to burn his golden core, while at this moment this rolling flame wave engulfed every single point in his body.
Ning Cheng was currently standing atop the snow-capped mountain peaks, but the thick snow beneath his feet was starting to melt away at an alarming speed. Moreover, the pace of its melting was also getting quicker and quicker as if the mountain had turned into a blazing inferno that was rapidly expanding.
Bouts of weakness started erupting within his body, even his skeleton was beginning to show signs of melting, causing Ning Cheng’s heart to sink into despair. He realized that he was too hare-brained and reckless in his actions, at this moment he had already started preparing himself to use the Underworld Soul Flower. If he indeed had no other option but to die, he would then merge a trace of his Soul Essence with the Underworld Soul Flower.
“Bang” Suddenly two different streams of True Essences collided and merged within Ning Cheng’s body. Moreover, the merger was almost instantaneous. It even suppressed that scorching hot flame wave in a moment, causing Ning Cheng to thank his blessings in his heart. He quickly circulated this stream of fused True Essence.
The next moment, Ning Cheng immediately understood what had happened. Before when he was undergoing Body Forging, he had always tried to merge the Body-Forging Cultivation Method together with the usual Cultivation Method that he was cultivating. However, Ning Cheng was never able to achieve any success with it. He had never thought that at this crucial moment, he would unexpectedly succeed in it.
At this moment, his Body-Forging Cultivation Method had fused entirely with his usual Cultivation Method that he was cultivating in, forming a brand new Cultivation Method with a new Heavenly Cycle.
A powerful aura accompanied this new Heavenly Cycle, with the completion of each Heavenly Cycle; it was able to carry away a part of the scorching hot flame waves, even that kind of terrifying tearing pain was no longer as frightening as it used to be.
At this moment, how could Ning Cheng show even half a moment of hesitation? He immediately started crazily operating his Cultivation Method. When these scorching hot flame waves were almost on the verge of dissipating, Ning Cheng was then able to feel the barrier to the Soul Sculpting Realm. He did not hesitate at all, as he immediately gathered up all the scorching hot flame waves before directly attacking the wall with all the strength that he could muster.
“Puff” a mouthful of blood erupted from his mouth, at the same time blood also emerged from all of his pores on his body in the form of a mist because of the all-out attack by Ning Cheng on the barrier to the Soul Sculpting Realm. It caused Ning Cheng to feel as if his five viscera and six bowels and even his Meridians and Dantian were tossing around all over the place.
The scorching hot flaming aura had also vanished without any trace, but Ning Cheng could feel that whether it was his cultivation or Body Forging, both of them had taken an enormous step forward. Now that he was able to use this approach to suppress the effects of the True Polar Bamboo Sprouts, Ning Cheng also did not hesitate anymore. He once again took out two more strains of True Polar Bamboo Sprouts and immediately swallowed them.
Having suffered so many hardships along the way, if he gave up in the light of this, then even he would feel a little pity for himself.
Now that Ning Cheng was fully prepared, once the refreshing cool aura passed by, he immediately welcomed the sudden burst of scorching flame waves that erupted inside him. However, this time when these strains of True Polar Bamboo Sprouts exploded with their explosive properties, it was unable to burn Ning Cheng’s five viscera and six bowels. Under the influence of Ning Cheng’s new Cultivation Method, these rampaging forces were collected, before forcibly used to attack the barrier of the Soul Sculpting Realm.
“Ka…..” A slight sound emerged, followed by Ning Cheng’s surroundings turning cloudy immediately.
Ning Cheng was very calm in the face of this, he had crossed the Thunder Tribulation once before, so he was well aware that this was the prequel of the Thunder Tribulation before he advanced to the Soul Sculpting Realm. Therefore, without any hesitation, he immediately brought out the shadow of his Everlasting Blue Thunder City.
Now that he was at the Great Circle of the Soul Essence Realm, the shadow of the Everlasting Blue Thunder City that Ning Cheng had brought out was also a lot clearer. One could even vaguely make out some of the architectural shadows within the city.
Although separated by a considerable distance, but in just a short moment, a vast piece of thin Thunder Light descended like a waterfall.
Even if Ning Cheng felt prepared for it, he still turned quiet due to the extreme shock. He had never ever heard of such a Thunder Tribulation. Previously, didn’t the Thunder Tribulation Lightning Arcs descend one after another? Why then rather than dropping one after another, did it resemble a descending waterfall?
“Hong-Hong-Hong” Not waiting for Ning Cheng to finish pondering over it, this Thunder Waterfall directly engulfed the Everlasting Blue Thunder City’s shadow.
“Ka-Ka….” The Everlasting Blue Thunder City’s shadow blasted into nihility within a moment, causing the remnant thunders from the Thunder Waterfall that had slid to the edges of the Blue Thunder City’s shadow to make contact with Ning Cheng’s body finally. In just a breath’s time, it not only disintegrated Ning Cheng’s clothes, but this Thunder Tribulation had also even eaten away a considerable chunk of his skin and flesh.
Although a significant part of this Thunder Waterfall was blocked, Ning Cheng was still unable to resist it or even dodge it; it came and went too fast. Since Ning Cheng’s shadow of the Everlasting Blue Thunder City disintegrated, it caused even more severe injuries to Ning Cheng. Even the mountain under Ning Cheng’s feet was shattered to smithereens under that enormous force, transforming into a massive pit in just a short time.
However, it was also because of this short interval of time, which allowed Ning Cheng to survive.
The barrier to the Soul Sculpting Realm also did not wait for Ning Cheng to strike again before it automatically started to crack apart. Even though Ning Cheng was still deep inside the pit, he once again swallowed two more strains of True Polar Bamboo Sprouts, while simultaneously operating his Cultivation Method in an extremely crazy manner.
At this moment, if he could not advance, then Ning Cheng knew it very well that he would definitely die, so why would he dare to have any other thoughts?
The fused Cultivation Method immediately started to suck up vast quantities of Spiritual Qi from the surroundings. Even though most of the Spirit Stones turned into slag under the rumblings of thunder, it still did not affect Ning Cheng’s absorption of Spiritual Qi.
Under the impact of such dense and rich Spiritual Qi and the medicinal nature of the True Polar Bamboo Sprouts, a part of the Thunder Source that had invaded Ning Cheng’s body also started to be absorbed.
“Katcha….” Ning Cheng’s entire body felt as if it was going through an earthquake, as his muscles and bones that seemed to have been dislocated before reformed almost instantaneously.
It caused Ning Cheng to feel ecstasy in his heart, this kind of incomparably solid feeling, immediately caused him to realize that he had taken another significant step forward in Body-Forging, reaching the Rank 5 Imperial Body.
For Ning Cheng, although advancing to the Soul Sculpting Realm was an important goal; but pushing to the Rank 5 Imperial Body in Body-Forging was even more critical. Once he could advance in Body-Forging, then he had full confidence in crossing the Thunder Tribulation to finally step into the Soul Sculpting Realm.
With his bones and muscles reorganized, the ‘Ka-Ka’ sounds emerging from the process were like perfectly tuned music to his ears, causing Ning Cheng to feel incomparably satisfied. Even his injured flesh had recovered almost instantaneously.
He brought out the Everlasting Blue Thunder City’s shadow once again, just in time before a few more large swaths of Thunder Waterfall descended onto him.
This time, the destructive force contained in the Thunder Waterfall was much more powerful than before; however, the damage that Ning Cheng had to suffer was a lot less compared to the first exchange. Although the Everlasting Blue Thunder City’s shadow had been instantaneously shattered, Ning Cheng’s body was currently a lot stronger than before.
The Spiritual Power created by the Spiritual Qi and the True Polar Bamboo Sprout’s scorching flame waves was once again collected before Ning Cheng pushed them along as he repeatedly attacked the barrier to the Soul Sculpting Realm.
“Katcha….” The barrier to the Soul Sculpting 1st Level, under the repeated impacts, was finally cracked open by Ning Cheng like cracking open an eggshell. At this moment, the third wave of the Thunder Waterfall descended onto him.
Ning Cheng sucked in a mouthful of air, this time he had finally succeeded in advancing to the Soul Sculpting Realm, causing his aura to skyrocket suddenly, while at the same time his strength was also crazily increasing rapidly. Even if the successive Thunder Waterfalls were more intensive than before, he now no longer had to fear them.