novelhk Chapter 256 Crystal Marrow Causality, 3 Types of Thunder Crystals
Chapter 256 Crystal Marrow Causality, 3 Types of Thunder Crystals
Chapter 256 Crystal Marrow Causality, Three Types of Thunder Crystals
Ning Bu'er thought to herself that if Chen Yi hadn't asked her, she really wouldn't have dared to bring it up, since it involved her own secrets and was too embarrassing to talk about.
"I...I'm almost at the peak of the Golden Core stage in my cultivation recently, and my master has already prepared everything I need for Nascent Soul formation."
Her voice trailed off, a blush creeping onto her pretty face, tinged with shyness. "But if I want the demonic flames within me to advance further, I'll need some lightning crystal cores to help..."
'
Before she could finish speaking, she lowered her head somewhat embarrassed.
Chen Yi understood her meaning immediately and nodded in agreement: "This is easy to discuss, I agree."
He's long been accustomed to the bodies of top beauties, and planting lightning crystal cores is just a simple physical task for him.
He's happy to help with anything as long as the other party doesn't ask to become Daoist partners.
Ning Bu'er secretly breathed a sigh of relief when she saw him agree so readily.
She secretly glanced at Chen Yi's face, and the thought of having a lightning crystal core implanted in her cheeks made her cheeks burn and her heart beat faster.
She silently cheered herself up: Ning Bu'er, how can you be so spineless?
But then I thought, Qin Chengcheng and Yue Qingqiu from the Star Moon Sect had both done similar things to Chen Yi, so what I'm doing isn't really anything special...
Moreover, her master specifically instructed her to ask Chen Yi for his opinion.
Thinking about it this way, she felt there was nothing special about it, and simply regarded herself as a patient who needed treatment, and Chen Yi as the doctor who was "treating" her.
Three days later, at the shoulder of Leifeng Mountain.
Ning Bu'er stood in front of an inconspicuous cliff, raised his hand to form a special hand seal, and gently touched the cliff face.
As a faint light flashed, the ancient, mid-grade fourth-order dark array quietly activated, revealing the entrance to the cave behind it.
She stepped in first, gesturing for Chen Yi to follow.
The two walked along the cave deeper into the mountain. After traveling a thousand feet, the stones on the surrounding walls began to faintly glow with lightning, naturally possessing a trace of lightning properties.
The deeper you go, the stronger the aura of lightning becomes; you can even feel a faint electric current on your fingertips.
Looking at the rock wall, Chen Yi secretly guessed: This entire part of the Thunder-Attracting Peak was probably bombarded by lightning for tens of thousands of years and forcibly refined into Thunder Spirit Ore.
However, most of these ores are only of first or second tier quality, which is not very useful to him now that he has reached the peak of the third tier of body tempering. They can only be considered ordinary materials.
After walking several thousand feet deeper, a blinding flash of lightning suddenly appeared ahead.
The two quickened their pace and soon came to a thunder pool. The thunder pool was mostly dried up, with only a few dozen feet in diameter at the bottom of the pool still containing some thunder liquid, which shimmered with a bluish-purple luster.
Even though they were several feet apart, Chen Yi didn't dare to get too close.
The lightning aura emanating from the lightning pool was extremely sharp. Even with his peak third-tier physical body, he could clearly feel a cutting pain on his skin, as if he would be torn apart by lightning in the next second.
[It's actually a fourth-order Thunder Pool!] Chen Yi's heart jolted, and his expression instantly turned serious.
Ning Bu'er, who was standing to the side, had already naturally stood behind Chen Yi, using Chen Yi's peak third-tier physical body to help him resist the lightning spirit power overflowing from the lightning pool.
After all, her physical strength was far inferior to Chen Yi's, and if she were directly exposed to such lightning power, she would likely be burned.
Their gazes fell on the bottom of the lightning pool, where they saw a small, pale golden fish, about the size of a palm, swimming slowly in the remaining lightning liquid. The fish's body shimmered with tiny sparks of lightning, and it looked exceptionally lively.
When Chen Yi's gaze fell on the little fish, the thunderfish seemed to sense it, its swimming motion paused slightly, as if it had turned its head to "look" at Chen Yi.
In that instant, Chen Yi felt a sharp pain in his soul domain. A pale golden soul lightning bolt struck without warning, carrying a terrifying and threatening power.
Chen Yi reacted extremely quickly. Almost the instant the soul lightning appeared, a faint light appeared between his brows, and ten layers of gray fourth-order divine sense shields instantly rose up, layer upon layer, blocking the divine soul.
"Puff puff puff puff puff!"
A series of cracking sounds rang out, and eight of the ten divine sense shields shattered in an instant. The remaining two were also covered in cracks and were on the verge of collapse.
Chen Yi broke out in a cold sweat instantly, barely managing to block the soul lightning attack, his heart still pounding.
"You really can do it!"
Ning Bu'er's delighted voice came from behind, her tone full of admiration. Clearly, she already knew about the existence of the Soul Thunder and was just waiting for Chen Yi to deal with it.
"My master said that, according to her research of the sect's ancient records, this place is very likely a training ground for the disciples of the Thunder Soul Sect, who were very promising tens of thousands of years ago."
Ning Bu'er slowly explained, "The original outer Thunder Pool was the initial test, while this Thunder Fish with Soul Thunder Attack is the ultimate test of this place."
However, tens of thousands of years ago, these trials were originally designed for Nascent Soul cultivators. Now, the Thunder Pool has mostly withered, and this Thunder Fish only has a portion of its original essence remaining, which is why its power has weakened considerably.
Upon hearing this, Chen Yi suddenly realized that the opportunity his master, Ning Bu'er, had given him was actually this special thunderfish.
But this thunderfish was beyond his comprehension: it was not like an inanimate object, but rather possessed a kind of intelligence and could take the initiative to attack.
In Chen Yi's understanding, only treasures that reach the level of spiritual treasures can give birth to a spirit and have consciousness, but the form and aura of this thunderfish are completely different from those of a spirit.
"Master also speculated that this Thunder Fish might be a soul puppet separated from a mid-grade or higher spiritual treasure of the Thunder Soul Sect."
Ning Bu'er continued, "Just like physical puppets, in the extremely advanced inheritance of the Thunder Soul Sect, cultivators can refine treasures and puppets in the realm of the soul, giving them fixed behavioral patterns, similar to thinking, but different from the autonomous consciousness of intelligent beings, and not true artifact spirits."
When such a spiritual object is combined with a certain amount of divine soul power, it becomes an excellent guardian treasure, and in itself, a rare and great opportunity.
Soul puppet? Such a wondrous thing exists?
I wonder what the effect would be if the soul puppet and the physical puppet were combined?
Unfortunately, such advanced secret techniques for crafting soul puppets are certainly very difficult to obtain.
At the same time, Chen Yi had a vague feeling that this opportunity was too great, even far exceeding the level of "Master's casual action" as Ning Bu'er had said, which made him wary.
He hesitated for a moment before asking, "Fairy Ning, does your master truly have no other requests? This opportunity is far too heavy for me; I feel unworthy of it."
Chen Yi could clearly sense that if he could refine and absorb this golden thunderfish, the quality of the thunder crystal marrow in his body would definitely improve by a large margin. At that time, he would probably be very close to completing the initial marrow refining and entering the fourth stage of body refining.
Such immense benefits compelled him to treat them with caution.
There are currently no other requirements.
Ning Bu'er shook his head, his tone frank, "Actually, my master was also just trying her luck with this opportunity. She never expected you to be able to take down this Thunderfish directly."
If you can truly refine it completely, then we can deal with the rest later.
At the end, she paused slightly, her expression showing a hint of hesitation.
"Don't wait until later to explain, it's best to make things clear now."
Chen Yi quickly pressed for details, not wanting to "receive benefits" in the future only to be met with irresistible requests from the other party, which would create a difficult situation and cause a lot of trouble.
"Hmm————" Ning Bu'er hesitated slightly, and after a moment of silence, he made up his mind.
Thinking that Chen Yi was not a bad person, there was no need to completely hide it from him, so she slowly explained: "Fellow Daoist Chen, as you know, our Nine Yin Demon Flame lineage has extremely Yin characteristics in its demon flames."
For cultivators who are not of the Nine Yin Body type, long-term cultivation can damage their bodies.
"If I could fuse with the lightning crystals and lightning crystal cores you've refined, I could improve the quality of the demonic flames and offset their negative effects on the physical body and soul. However, I'm currently in the early stages of Nascent Soul formation, so the lightning crystal cores are sufficient for me."
She paused, then changed the subject: "But my master is already in the late Nascent Soul stage. What she needs is not ordinary lightning crystal cores, but lightning crystal marrow, or more precisely, lightning crystal marrow liquid, which is of a higher grade than lightning crystal marrow."
Only something like this can help her refine her high-level demonic flames, and might even help her break through her current realm and advance further.
"But my master said that in the current cultivation world of Daqing, cultivators who have reached the mid-to-late stage of the fourth level by using lightning techniques to temper their bodies have long been extinct."
"If it weren't for those lightning crystal cores you planted in me back then, proving your ability to refine lightning-type spiritual objects, she would have given up on this idea long ago."
"Giving you this opportunity now is also a trial for her. If you can really break through this and reach the level of refining Thunder Crystal Marrow Liquid in the future, then in the distant future, you may be able to help my master."
Of course, the help I received then would have been a different kind of transaction, not included in this opportunity, so you don't need to feel pressured.
So that's what they were waiting for.
Upon hearing this, Chen Yi finally understood Master Ning Bu'er's true purpose—the so-called opportunity was actually a test.
If he can refine the Thunderfish and break through his cultivation level, there is a possibility of further cooperation between the two parties.
If he fails the test, then the cause and effect of his helping Ning Bu'er with the Thunder Crystal Core will be settled, and no one will owe anyone anything. In the future, there will be no more talk of who gained or lost.
After understanding the situation, Chen Yi's first thought was to refuse, and he didn't even want this tremendous opportunity in front of him.
After all, once he accepts the opportunity and successfully advances, the news that he can refine Thunder Crystal Marrow will inevitably be known to Ning Bu'er and his disciple.
However, the cultivation world has always had the hidden danger of "cannibalism among those of the same origin." If his secret is exposed, he may be in danger in the future.
But as soon as the thought popped into his head, Chen Yi thought about it more deeply and quickly realized that things might not be so bad.
Firstly, based on his previous perception of the entire Great Qing cultivation world, apart from himself, there was only one senior cultivator of the Thunder Crystal lineage who lived in seclusion in the far north. Within the entire Central Continent, there were no fellow practitioners of this path.
From this perspective, he is generally safe and will not face the threat of being "eaten by his own kind" in the short term.
Secondly, even if he kept it a secret from Ning Bu'er and his apprentice, in the long run, once he breaks through to the fourth level of body refinement and uses high-level crystal marrow energy to launch an attack, that senior in the far north will definitely be able to sense his location.
In this way, whether or not this secret was kept was not that important to that senior.
Even if we take a step back and assume that the senior in the far north is someone who wouldn't let go of even the smallest thing, and tried to "devour" him as soon as he sensed that he had just entered the fourth stage, then with Master Ning Bu'er, a late-stage Nascent Soul cultivator, there might have been enough to help him and save his life.
Moreover, based on Chen Yi's perception and judgment, the probability of that senior fellow disciple from the far north coming south to cause him trouble is actually very low.
After all, in his perception, the other party's lightning energy level far exceeded that of him, a "small fry". For that senior, going south to "eat" him would probably not be as beneficial as absorbing heavenly lightning once in the far north.
Even if the other party really has this intention, they will most likely wait until he has "fattened up" a bit more and has more value to be used before making their move.
In this way, Chen Yi could ensure his safety within the territory of Zhongzhou for a considerable period of time.
In this situation, if he could cultivate a good relationship with Master Ning Bu'er, Fairy Xuan Yin, it would be equivalent to having another late-stage Nascent Soul cultivator as a powerful figure. If he were to encounter forces like the second branch of the Ji family, who coveted his fourth-tier Thunder Brewing technique and wanted to abduct or silence him, Senior Xuan Yin would be able to help him protect him and ensure his safety.
After careful consideration, Chen Yi felt more and more that maintaining a good relationship with Ning Bu'er and his apprentice was far more beneficial than harmful.
Moreover, if we miss this opportunity, which was personally created and selected by a late-stage Nascent Soul cultivator, we don't know when we'll be able to encounter it again.
He knew very well that he couldn't always be so lucky, having a late-stage Nascent Soul cultivator pave the way for him and find opportunities for him like a "nanny".
Having figured this out, Chen Yi no longer hesitated and slowly nodded in agreement: "Since it is your teacher's kind intention, I will not refuse."
However, this matter concerns Chen's life and cultivation secrets. Regardless of whether he ultimately succeeds in refining the Thunderfish and obtaining the opportunity, he hopes that Fairy Ning and his master will strictly keep it a secret for him.
"It's a deal!"
Ning Bu'er's tone instantly became excited. She had been worried that Chen Yi would refuse because of his cowardice, but now that he had agreed, she felt relieved. This meant that no matter what, Chen Yi would continue to maintain contact with her and her master. This realization made her feel much lighter.
After a brief pause, Ning Bu'er continued, "Fellow Daoist Chen, the lightning here is extremely fierce. With my cultivation level, staying here would not only be of no help, but might even cause you trouble. Why don't I go out and wait, and leave this place to you alone?"
"No need."
Chen Yi shook his head, his gaze falling on her. "Since you have also cultivated the Thunder Crystal lineage, even if you are far away, you can still vaguely absorb the weak thunder power dissipating from the Thunder Pool, which will be of some benefit."
Um----
However, the number and quality of the lightning crystal cores you currently possess are insufficient to support your subsequent cultivation. I need to replenish them for you first.
Chen Yi spoke as he pondered, his tone calm, as if he were talking about something ordinary and simple.
Upon hearing this, Ning Bu'er lowered her head slightly, her slender neck instantly flushed red, and even the tips of her ears turned pink.
She neither refused nor denied it; she simply stood quietly in place.
Seeing this, Chen Yi stepped forward, naturally took Ning Bu'er's hand, and led her back a distance into the depths of the cave, away from the fierce lightning power of the Thunder Pool.
He then raised his hand to form a hand seal, and a flash of spiritual light appeared at his fingertips, setting up a simple protective array around him to isolate him from external interference.
Then he took out a few soft cushions from his storage bag, casually arranged them into a simple bed shape, and turned to Ning Bu'er, saying, "You can lie here."
Ning Bu'er did as she was told and was about to lie down when Chen Yi stopped her, saying, "Take off your clothes before you lie down."
"Still want to take your clothes off? With your current strength, can't you even plant a lightning crystal core remotely?"
Ning Bu'er hesitated slightly, his voice carrying a hint of doubt.
Ever since she learned that Chen Yi had a close relationship with Yue Qingqiu of the Star Moon Sect, she inevitably felt somewhat resistant to the overly explicit contact between herself and Chen Yi.
Are you serious?
Chen Yi's tone was calm, yet carried an undeniable truth: "Remotely planting a core would greatly increase the burden on my mana. I still need to challenge the fourth-tier lightning pool later, so I can't expend too much energy at this moment."
"oh..."
Upon hearing this, Ning Bu'er immediately had no reason to refute it—what Chen Yi said was indeed reasonable.
Without further hesitation, she lowered her head and first untied the laces of her black French boots with her fingertips, then took them off, revealing her slender and delicate feet.
Then she removed her stockings, revealing her delicate calves with a luminous glow in the dim light of the cave.
She then raised her hand to untie the belt around her waist, and the black dress slowly slid down, revealing the light-colored lining underneath, the curves of her figure faintly visible.
"Almost done." Chen Yi said, seeing that she was ready.
Ning Bu'er sat down as instructed, while Chen Yi went around to sit behind her.
Suddenly, a pale blue lightning flashed in his hand, and two lightning crystal cores containing 90 strands of lightning power appeared out of thin air in his palm.
He then separated his hands, using the Thunder Crystal Core to press against two key acupoints on her heart and back.
In an instant, Ning Bu'er felt a tingling sensation spread along his acupoints, followed by the burning pain of electric shock as the power of the violent lightning crystal surged into his body.
She dared not be distracted, and immediately concentrated all her energy, mobilizing her internal magic power, divine soul and demonic flames to guide and receive the two lightning crystal cores into her body. As for the position of Chen Yi's hands, she no longer had the strength to care about them. In the face of the true path of cultivation, she really could not care about such trivial matters.
Chen Yi was a gentleman; he simply placed his hands firmly on the acupoints, focusing on guiding the power of the lightning crystal core, without deliberately touching any other parts.
Even so, her soft skin and the faint, virginal fragrance emanating from Ning Bu'er were still difficult to completely conceal.
Chen Yi quickly banished these distracting thoughts and focused entirely on planting the lightning crystal core for Ning Bu'er.
As time went by, eight lightning crystal cores had been implanted in various important acupoints on Ning Bu'er's body, and lightning light was faintly flowing on her body surface.
"Fairy Ning, since you intend to combine the Thunder Crystal Core with the cultivation of Demonic Flame, you must also pay attention to the major acupoints near the lower body, such as the dantian, perineum, and buttocks, otherwise it will affect the fusion of Demonic Flame and Thunder Power."
Chen Yi offered a timely suggestion.
Ning Bu'er, who was currently focused on consolidating the lightning crystal core within his body, could only nod weakly upon hearing this, his voice tinged with weariness: "You can decide what to do."
It was just skin and flesh; she no longer cared about that and devoted herself entirely to cultivation. The next moment, Ning Bu'er felt a piece of clothing on her body being gently removed, revealing the acupoints on which the lightning crystals needed to be implanted. Immediately afterwards, two condensed lightning crystals were precisely pressed onto her acupoints, and as Chen Yi's magic power was activated, they slowly merged into her body.
Ning Bu'er's cheeks flushed crimson instantly. Just as she was about to say something, a tingling, electric force rapidly spread from where the lightning crystal had merged. The force carried a violent lightning attribute, yet Chen Yi had masterfully controlled it, instantly overwhelming all her senses. She could no longer think of anything else, and could only concentrate all her attention, guiding this lightning power along her meridians, gradually integrating it into the depths of her acupoints to solidify the foundation of her lightning spirit body tempering.
Chen Yi continued to use the same method as before, steadily controlling his magical power with both hands, focusing on completely fusing the Thunder Crystal Core with Ning Bu'er's acupoints. Throughout the process, he remained solemn, without any unnecessary movements, completely immersed in the process of assisting cultivation.
There were no unnecessary movements; his expression was serious and focused, as if he were simply performing an ordinary task to assist in cultivation.
Immediately afterwards, two condensed lightning crystals were precisely pressed onto her acupoints, and as Chen Yi activated his magic power, they slowly merged into her body.
After a long while, with the last lightning crystal core embedded in the acupoint, all sixteen lightning crystal cores on Ning Bu'er's body were now planted.
Chen Yi did not stop. Instead, he used his divine sense and magic power to carefully draw array patterns in her body, connecting the sixteen lightning crystal cores to form a simple crystal core connection array. This would allow the lightning power to flow more smoothly in her body, helping her to achieve twice the result with half the effort in her subsequent cultivation.
【Ning Bu'er, Ning Bu'er, it's nothing. So what if you've been touched? It's just a shell, there's no need to take it too seriously.】
This is the third time already, so I might as well never get married again.
Ning Bu'er closed his eyes, feeling the immense power emanating from the six lightning crystal cores within his body, and constantly gave himself mental suggestions, trying to suppress the shame.
Even so, her cheeks were still burning red, and her breathing was somewhat rapid.
What worried her even more was that Chen Yi stopped moving after planting the lightning crystal core. Why wasn't this jerk putting his clothes on for her?
Are we supposed to wait until she opens her eyes and makes eye contact with him before letting her dress herself?
After waiting for a long time, Ning Bu'er still didn't see any action from Chen Yi.
She couldn't resist and secretly opened her eyes a crack, but as soon as she caught a glimpse of Chen Yi's gaze, she quickly closed them as if she had been burned, her pretty face instantly turning red from her neck to her ears.
That bastard was actually staring at me!
When Ning Bu'er thought of Chen Yi's somewhat appreciative gaze, a strong sense of shyness welled up in her heart for the first time.
When she planted the lightning crystal cores the first two times, she didn't have so many complicated thoughts, and was able to go all out.
But now, for some reason, her youngest daughter has become increasingly scheming and can no longer face things as calmly as before.
Finally, Ning Bu'er couldn't stand being stared at any longer. She suddenly opened her beautiful eyes and glared at Chen Yi fiercely. Her eyes held a hint of reproach, but also a hint of barely perceptible panic.
Then she quickly turned to the side, with her back to Chen Yi, and hurriedly put on the two modesty garments, the inner lining, and the skirt.
When she put on her stockings, she slightly bent her knees, revealing her beautiful legs in the dim light. Her legs were slender and long, with smooth and powerful muscle lines, without an ounce of excess fat.
Even her exposed jade feet were as clean as jade, with perfectly curved lines that were truly captivating.
It's no wonder that Chen Yi couldn't help but admire the scene for a moment while resting after finishing his work. Any male cultivator in this situation would be tempted to take a second look at such a sight, right?
Moreover, Chen Yi had charged Ning Bu'er for the first two times he helped her get the Thunder Crystal Cores;
This time he didn't mention charging a fee, mainly to thank Ning Bu'er for leading him to this opportunity.
But what's wrong with taking a few glances and admiring the stunning body of a third-level body-refining female cultivator?
A short while later, Ning Bu'er finished dressing.
She moved her body slightly, partly to test the smooth flow of the newly implanted lightning crystal core within her body, and partly to take the opportunity to hit Chen Yi a couple of times to vent her embarrassment and annoyance at being stared at by him earlier.
"Look at the feet!"
As soon as he finished speaking, a layer of black flames flashed across Ning Bu'er's right leg, and faint blue lightning also emanated from beneath the flames.
She moved swiftly and rapidly, her long leg carrying the power of thunder and fire as she kicked towards Chen Yi's cheek with ruthless precision.
Chen Yi was not afraid. Faced with his late-stage third-order body refinement cultivation, Ning Bu'er's early-stage third-order body techniques could at most only make him slightly wary.
He barely moved until Ning Bu'er's foot was about to kick his left cheek, at which point he suddenly raised his left hand and precisely grabbed her ankle, which was covered by her stockings.
Chen Yi's left hand was as strong as an iron clamp, squeezing Ning Bu'er's right foot so tightly that she couldn't move. Even the demonic flames and lightning crystal power wrapped around her leg were completely neutralized and vanished without a trace the moment they made contact.
"Ouch, ouch, ouch!"
Ning Bu'er couldn't help but call out a few times, but Chen Yi showed no sign of letting go.
Following Chen Yi's gaze, she immediately realized she had raised her leg too high. Her face flushed red again, and she angrily shouted, "All you do is look!"
Upon hearing this, Ning Bu'er felt even more ashamed and angry.
Using her right foot, which was being held, as a support, she suddenly sprang up with her left foot, twisting her entire body and flying sideways. Her left foot kicked towards Chen Yi's right cheek like lightning, clearly showing that she was truly angry.
This time, Chen Yi released his right hand and stepped forward, skillfully dodging Ning Bu'er's left leg, which landed three feet away from the back of his head. Her right leg was still on the other side of Chen Yi's head, held by his hand. Chen Yi then used a weak "Iron Mountain Lean" to gently push Ning Bu'er down. "Ah~," Ning Bu'er cried out softly, instantly losing her balance. Chen Yi touched his neck and shoulders, feeling embarrassed to continue the "fight." He quickly reached out to support Ning Bu'er's hips and legs, keeping her on his shoulders to prevent her from falling. Chen Yi slightly turned his head, avoiding eye contact, and said softly, "You're the one who started this fight, so don't blame me."