Chapter 0345: The 9 Ranks of Body-Forging
At the bottom of the canyon, the smell of sulphur grew even stronger. As Ning Cheng swept out with his Spiritual Consciousness, he found that the range of his Spiritual Consciousness was also quite restricted. Shi Qionghua turned around seven or eight corners before the topography widened up. After another incense stick worth of time, Shi Qionghua along with Ning Cheng arrived next to a volcanic lake filled with bubbling lava. Even if Ning Cheng were more tolerant than a Soul Essence Cultivator, he would not be able to stand in this place for long.
“Oh, looks like some people have come here before.” Shi Qionghua spoke with astonishment, as she stroked a huge rock by the side of the volcanic lake.
Ning Cheng spoke with a smile, “Many people have come to the Sifting Orchid Star in the past, and it would not be uncommon for a few to arrive here.”
Shi Qionghua shook her head and spoke, “That should not be the case. Ordinary Crucible Transformation Cultivators would not dare to come to this place casually. There are many natural restrictions in this place. Moreover, the volcano in front can also erupt at any time, once the volcano erupts, the Crucible Transformation Cultivators who entered here simply would never be able to leave.”
“How do you know that the volcano here would not erupt?” Ning Cheng asked in doubt.
Shi Qionghua spoke up casually, “I do not know, perhaps the next moment the volcano might erupt or perhaps it would not erupt for countless years.”
“And you still dared to come here?” Ning Cheng was shocked; he just was not able to think of anything. The possibility that the volcano erupting at any time was higher in this place. Moreover, he and Shi Qionghua also encountered a sudden volcanic eruption previously, so how could it not occur in this kind of situation where the smell of sulphur was so thick?
Shi Qionghua held Ning Cheng’s hand and spoke, “Uncle Yu had mentioned it to me that only if one had a strong heart can one have the capacity to become strong. If someone were afraid of just a volcano, then growing strong would be extremely difficult. When I was very young, a person used to come in and out of this place as he wished, and had never cared about volcanic eruptions.”
Ning Cheng retorted back in a somewhat angry manner, “Your Uncle Yu was just an idiot, even if one had a strong ass heart, having a strong heart is just fart especially when they are brain-dead.”
Letting a little girl live in this place was already too much, yet he was also teaching her about ‘possessing a strong heart to become grow powerful’. Was this Uncle Yu an idiot? How could not fearing death make someone strong? Ning Cheng had thought that this was the most retarded argument that he had heard until now. Cultivating a ‘strong’ heart would not be of any use in here. Instead, it would be better to turn into an ostrich, and hope that the volcano doesn’t erupt.
Hearing Ning Cheng scolding Uncle Yu, Shi Qionghua hurriedly spoke up, “My husband, Uncle Yu’s kindness is as heavy as a mountain for me……”
“Well, I don’t actually blame him. Let’s hurry out of this place, this place is completely unpredictable, if the volcano truly erupts, then even if we want to leave at that moment, we would not be able to leave.” Ning Cheng helplessly spoke; he thought that if he and Uncle Yu ended up meeting each other, there just would not be any common language between them.
Wanting to rush out of this place did not mean that Ning Cheng was afraid of death, but it was because he absolutely did not feel the necessity of doing such a thing.
Shi Qionghua showed a faint smile and spoke, “When I was ten years old, I already achieved a Rank 5 Imperial Body in Body-Forging. So even if the volcano does erupt, it would not be able to injure me. Moreover, the volcanic lake that you see in front of you, I used to often come here to bathe in it and to quench my body…..”
“What?” Ning Cheng blankly stared at Shi Qionghua. Shi Qionghua had a very delicate, soft and fragrant body. Yet she even took baths in the volcanic lake? Were Body-Forging cultivators really this powerful?
Then he recalled the issues that he wanted to inquire before, and immediately asked, “Qionghua, are you a Body-Forging Cultivator?”
Shi Qionghua did not answer Ning Cheng’s words. Instead, she just held Ning Cheng’s hand and spoke, “Just come with me, I will explain it to you slowly.”
Ning Cheng followed Shi Qionghua around the volcanic lake. Before they arrived in front of an inconspicuous cliff. He saw Shi Qionghua come to a stop before this cliff and did not continue moving forward, so he immediately started paying attention to the cliff in front of him. Ning Cheng looked at it for a good long while but did not find anything strange about it. He also could not see any Concealment Array Formations around it. But then Shi Qionghua took out a jade card inlaid into the cliff itself, the next moment, the cliff suddenly issued a light ‘creak’ sound. The next moment, a cave entrance was revealed.
“I couldn’t even perceive that there was a concealed entrance here, just what is the rank of the Array Formation arranged here?” Ning Cheng spoke with complete astonishment.
“I don’t know, it was always here since as long as I remember.” Shi Qionghua spoke before she entered the cave. Ning Cheng also hurried in behind her. Once Shi Qionghua put away the jade card, the cliff wall once again closed up, without any difference from before.
After walking on the stony path for about ten meters, Ning Cheng then saw a very ordinary wooden door. Shi Qionghua shoved open the wooden door, causing a stone room of nearly thirty square meters to open up in front of Ning Cheng. The four walls of the stone room were embedded with a few Clear Light Stones. Ning Cheng had just entered this stone room when he immediately felt the dense Spiritual Qi. No, instead it was the thick Spiritual Qi that was not even one whit inferior to the Spiritual Qi he had felt when he cultivated inside the Small Spiritual Domain.
The stone room was elegant and straightforward, there was a jade table placed in the middle with a few chairs. In addition to it, there were also two more doors on either side of the room they were in. Ning Cheng swept out with his Spiritual Consciousness and found that there were two more rooms behind each door. Not only that, but the rooms had a cultivation futon laid out, as well as a bed and some simple daily necessities.
“No wonder you were able to cultivate so quickly, to be able to cultivate in this place, is simply a blessing.” Ning Cheng sighed and spoke. He immediately fell in love with this place.
Shi Qionghua seeing Ning Cheng became very fond of this place, felt even more happy in her heart, “Uncle Yu said that this is one of the safest places in the Sifting Orchid Star, even if the volcano outside erupts, one would be safe and sound in here…….”
Shi Qionghua’s words suddenly came to a pause, at the same time, she also took a few steps forward, as she anxiously picked up a jade strip and a piece of talisman from a corner. After she looked at the jade strip, her face immediately changed.
“What happened?” Ning Cheng quickly asked.
Shi Qionghua did not give Ning Cheng the jade strip to take a look, but hesitated a bit before she finally spoke up, “Uncle Yu came back, and this jade talisman and the jade strip were left behind by him. After he came here, he immediately left on a trip…..”
Ning Cheng also did not continue to ask about, since Shi Qionghua felt reluctant to speak, so why should he ask again?
Seemingly, under the influence of the message from the jade strip, Shi Qionghua turned silent. Ning Cheng frowned, he was about to speak, when Shi Qionghua suddenly took out two rings and handed it to Ning Cheng and talked, “These are Qi Le’s and Yan De’s rings, you can take a look at what is inside.”
Ning Cheng just nodded but did not say anything. If Shi Qionghua thought that matter was important enough to tell him, then she would eventually tell him. With their relationship between the two of them being that of a husband and wife, was there anything to hide from each other?
He quickly opened Yan De’s ring, causing Ning Cheng to go into shock on seeing piles of various precious materials and advanced level Spiritual-Grasses. There were at least a thousand Level 5 and Level 6 Spiritual Grasses each, and more than ten Level 7 Spiritual Grasses. As for precious materials, there were piles after piles of them. Although there were only a small amount of Spirit Stones inside, these other things were much more valuable than Spirit Stones.
Ning Cheng then impatiently opened up Qi Le’s ring, which caused rich astonishment to flash across Ning Cheng’s face. Qi Le’s ring had the highest amount of Spirit Stones that he had ever seen in his life; just the piles of Spirit Stones visible to him amounted to at least two to three hundred million in number. This made Ning Cheng suspect that this fellow might have dug up a Spirit Stone Mine sometime in the past, otherwise, where would one even find these many Spirit Stones?
He had worked his ass off to sell a barrel of Spiritual Enhancement True Nectar, only to raise around 80 million Spirit Stones. Currently, those eighty million Spirit Stones were almost entirely used up by him, leaving behind only a scant few.
What was even more surprising for Ning Cheng was that there were also 23 best quality Spirit Stones in Qi Le’s ring. In addition to the black banner Magical Weapon that was still outside, Qi Le’s ring also contained seven or eight attack type Magical Weapons and even a few defensive Magical Weapons. There was also a flight type Magical Weapon that was an incredibly high-quality airship on the level of a low-grade True Artefact.
There were several times more Level 6 and below Spiritual Grasses in his ring compared to Yan De’s ting, even Level 7 Spiritual Grasses numbered in dozens. In addition to those items, Ning Cheng also saw a Spiritual Grass that was kept preserved separately from the others. This Spiritual-Grass was held in a high-quality jade box with heavy restrictions over it and was also covered by a thin layer of frost.
This unexpectedly turned out to be a Level 9 Spiritual Grass known as the Frost Sprout. Initially, to save him, Xu Yingdei had burned her own life, so Ning Cheng had planned to look for the Frost Sprout to help Xu Yingdei. He had never thought that the first thing he would find on arriving at the Sifting Orchid Star would be the Frost Sprout rather than the Heavenly Cusp Flower. This was indeed a happy surprise.
Of course, Ning Cheng certainly would never give this only strain of Frost Sprout to Xu Yingdei. The Frost Sprout was something precious; its value was not much lower than the Underworld Soul Flower.
“Qionghua, we ended up raking in a huge harvest, this Qi Le was really too rich.” Ning Cheng could not help but call out in joy.
Shi Qionghua also felt the joy from Ning Cheng, causing a gentle smile to emerge on her face, before she spoke, “Just wait.”
Finished speaking, Shi Qionghua entered one of the rooms, a moment later, Shi Qionghua came out with a jade strip in her hand. She gave Ning Cheng the jade strip and spoke, “Take a look at this first.”
Ning Cheng received the jade strip, and swept it with his Spiritual Consciousness, before he quickly looked up at Shi Qionghua in shock, “Qionghua, is this the complete Body-Forging Cultivation Method that you use?”
Shi Qionghua nodded and replied, “This was left behind by Uncle Yu, but I heard that it had been revised a few times before, so it might not necessarily be exactly the same as the original one. But in the Yi Xing Mainland, this is definitely one of the most complete Body-Forging Cultivation Method. The ways of Body-Forging is also divided into nine different ranks, the first three are for the Spiritual Body, and next three are for the Imperial Body, while the latter three ranks are for God Body.”
Ordinary cultivators who have never undergone Body-Forging can only be considered as having a mortal body. Although many cultivators do not undergo Body-Forging, as their cultivation increases to a certain degree, their corporeal body would also grow stronger. However, even if they turned stronger, they would be unable to contend against cultivators specialising in Body-Forging.
“So you are already at the 5th Rank of Body-Forging?” Ning Cheng immediately remembered Shi Qionghua saying that she was already at Rank 5 Imperial Body, asking instantly.
Shi Qionghua gave an ‘um’ sound and continued on, “When I was ten years old, I already possessed a Rank 5 Imperial Body, but for almost two decades after that, I was only able to improve upon it only a bit. I planned to come here with you to continue with Body-Forging. It’s just……”
Ning Cheng frowned; it looks like the enumerations from the jade strip were still weighing on Shi Qionghua’s mind. He did not have a considerable male chauvinistic ego, but this Uncle Yu seemed to have a substantial influence on Shi Qionghua and was also able to sense Shi Qionghua’s intent to leave, causing him to feel uncomfortable in his heart.
Shi Qionghua, as if feeling Ning Cheng’s thoughts, immediately arrived at Ning Cheng’s side, and sat down right next to Ning Cheng, then grabbing Ning Cheng’s hand, she spoke, “My husband, I will come back quickly. Uncle Yu had left behind a Void Cleaving Talisman for me. Once I take care of some matters, I will immediately come back here to accompany you. Then we can return to Jiangzhou to see sister Ruolan.”
“Let’s work together, one more person would mean one more addition to our strength.” Ning Cheng spoke without hesitation. Although Shi Qionghua’s cultivation was far higher than his own was, she was someone who was inherently kind natured. If he did not accompany her, then he would always be worried about her and would never be able to feel at ease.
Shi Qionghua handed Ning Cheng the jade strip in her hand and spoke, “This is what Uncle Yu had left behind for me. Take a look at it first, and then you’ll come to know.”