Chapter 313: Three Dantian Foundation Establishment!
Yang Chanyu said, "You were eliminated too, as expected."
Sun Lingtong asked, "How are you?"
"I'm not dead yet. I didn't expect Zhu Xuanji to be so formidable! In the battle just now, he must not have used his full strength." Yang Chanyu still had lingering fears when mentioning Zhu Xuanji.
"Such a strong figure must be among the top Golden Core cultivators in the world. Among the many Golden Core true disciples of the major sects, most would suffer defeat at his hands if they truly fought."
Sun Lingtong nodded, his face also pale. He walked to the window and was shocked to see the many Red Flame Demonic Beasts on the street. "I didn't expect the situation outside to deteriorate so quickly and become so dire."
Yang Chanyu said, "This Lava Immortal Palace might completely collapse in the end, and no one will get anything."
"When that happens, even escaping will be a problem!"
All this time, the reason Sun Lingtong and Yang Chanyu could avoid being found by Zhu Xuanji and others was due to the advantageous terrain of the Lava Immortal Palace.
If the palace were gone, they would be exposed in the volcanic lava, visible to Yuan Ying-level Meng Kui and Golden Core-level Zhu Xuanji, with dire consequences.
Yang Chanyu panted heavily, staring at Sun Lingtong. "I'm really worried now that after putting in so much effort, it will all be for nothing. Should we withdraw first?"
Sun Lingtong shook his head. "Ning Zhuo is still in the Secret Pavilion of Opportunities."
"Do you have that much faith in him?" Yang Chanyu raised her eyebrows. "I don't believe a mere Qi Refining cultivator has any cards to turn the tables against Zhu Xuanji."
"Gambling further would be unwise!"
"Sun Lingtong, we should retreat."
Sun Lingtong used his hands as a pillow and said with a laugh, "Hehe, I trust Ning Zhuo. Haven't you noticed? He hasn't been eliminated yet."
Yang Chanyu's expression changed slightly.
"Don't worry, I know what I'm doing. I wouldn’t bet my life on a sure-losing gamble." Sun Lingtong appeared confident on the surface but was secretly worried.
"Ning Zhuo, from here on, it’s all up to you!" Sun Lingtong sighed deeply in his heart.
In the Secret Pavilion of Opportunities.
In the Curved Light and Woven Shadows Array.
The "Country-Locking Technique" binding Rudie Maiden had already been broken by her.
After the small mechanical maiden regained her freedom, she lay on the surface of an ice block, anxiously watching the young cultivator inside.
The young cultivator was none other than Ning Zhuo.
At this moment, his eyes were tightly shut, and he had temporarily lost consciousness, falling into a comatose state.
Earlier, even though Ning Zhuo had hidden inside the Curved Light and Woven Shadows Array, he was still struck by the successive golden light beams that pierced through his body.
Although he avoided many fatal attacks thanks to the warnings from the mechanism ring, he was still severely injured in a short amount of time, leading to his current state of unconsciousness.
However, just before he passed out, Ning Zhuo had hastily released a pair of mechanisms from his storage belt.
The Floating Ice White Jade Hand!
The Floating Ice White Jade Hand contained Ning Xiaohui's spirituality. Through the relics Ning Zhuo had gathered from the cremation of Ning Xiaohui’s grandmother, he had fully activated its spirituality to the maximum.
The Floating Ice White Jade Hand activated the talent of Ning Xiaohui—Ice Jade Hand.
Ning Zhuo was frozen in a huge ice block, undergoing emergency treatment.
What reassured the small mechanical maiden was that Ning Zhuo's aura was growing increasingly stable and stronger.
The Floating Ice White Jade Hand hovered in mid-air, its palm pressed against the top of the ice block, continuously maintaining its talent.
Suddenly, Ning Zhuo's eyelids twitched slightly.
He regained consciousness, realizing that he had just fallen into a coma and was now inside an ice block, being healed by the Floating Ice White Jade Hand.
"My injuries are severe!"
"I've never been so badly wounded before."
"However, it was precisely because I fell unconscious that I was judged to have lost the battle, which deceived Zhu Xuanji, allowing my fake-death plan to succeed."
Ning Zhuo spread his spiritual sense, penetrating the ice block and "seeing" Rudie Maiden, the Floating Ice White Jade Hand, and the still-active Curved Light and Woven Shadows Array.
Ning Zhuo's name in the palace trial was "Entry Standard," while Sun Lingtong was using the name "Ning Zhuo."
When Sun Lingtong voluntarily surrendered and was eliminated, the name "Ning Zhuo" disappeared from the trial list, but "Entry Standard" remained.
"Supreme Goodness like Water..."
At the critical moment, Ning Zhuo had used the last two drops of Supreme Good Water to remove the surveillance technique on him.
This was one of the key actions that had ultimately misled Zhu Xuanji into thinking he was dead.
"As expected of a water-attribute treasure of great merit."
Even in his comatose state, Ning Zhuo could still sense the gentleness and goodness of the water. Water has no constant form, yet it accommodates all things. While being cleansed by the water, Ning Zhuo's heart was as calm as a bright mirror on a serene lake, feeling as light and free as flowing water.
"I fell into a comatose state with no fighting strength. The Lava Immortal Palace didn't deem me eliminated... Was it because I released the Floating Ice White Jade Hand and Rudie Maiden, recognizing that I could recover?"
"Or is it that the palace's restrictions have weakened to the point that they can no longer teleport cultivators?"
The destruction of the restrictions wasn’t a clearly defined process, with each stage distinct from the other.
Since the Secret Pavilion of Opportunities had been damaged, its restrictions had not been repaired and had been continually deteriorating.
However, the effect was not as drastically obvious as when the palace first suffered major damage, akin to a cliff-like drop.
This concern was precisely why Ning Zhuo and Zhu Xuanji had been forced into a battle earlier—Ning Zhuo was deeply worried that Sun Lingtong would truly die at Zhu Xuanji's hands.
Of course, at the start of the fight, Ning Zhuo had hoped his side would win. After all, on paper, Ning Zhuo's side had the advantage with three against one.
Yet, none of them had expected Zhu Xuanji to be so powerful!
"I've learned my lesson," Ning Zhuo reflected deeply in the ice block.
"This is the power of hiding one's strength!"
"In a way, this defeat was because I didn't hide as deeply as Zhu Xuanji did."
"Mother was right; I should stay hidden, remain low-key."
"Look at Zhu Xuanji. He’s a noble prince, a person of high status, yet he still hides his abilities so well. On the surface, he's a renowned detective of the kingdom, but in reality, he possesses divine abilities like the Golden Mountain Stance and Jade Pillar Posture!"
"Compared to him, I have too little to hide. Who am I in comparison?"
"If it weren't for the help of the boss, I really would have been eliminated this time!"
Ning Zhuo felt a lingering fear, taking this battle as a serious lesson and deciding to model himself after Zhu Xuanji, hiding his strength in the future.
Crack, crack.
The ice block was covered with cracks, and then it suddenly shattered with a loud crash.
Ning Zhuo regained his freedom, kneeling on the ground, then slowly opened his eyes and stood up from the fragments of ice.
Rudie Maiden cheered excitedly.
Ning Zhuo smiled at her and then looked up at the ceiling.
He secretly activated his divine ability, and in his vision, he could clearly see the hanging thread.
"The Supreme Good Water didn’t wash away the hanging thread."
This hanging thread, of course, was the "Life Hanging by a Thread" imposed by the Lava Immortal Palace on the palace trial participants.
Ning Zhuo's expression suddenly changed, and he bent over, vomiting a mouthful of blood.
In the blood, there were many pieces of ice, some of which contained traces of blood and flashes of golden light.
These were remnants of Zhu Xuanji's attack, which had infiltrated Ning Zhuo's body, frozen by the ice block, and finally expelled from his body.
Even now, the golden light in the ice pieces remained sharp and piercing, still gleaming fiercely.
After spitting out the ice, Ning Zhuo took a deep breath and felt that his condition had fully recovered.
Rudie Maiden asked if she should dismantle the Curved Light and Woven Shadows Array. She was starting to feel overwhelmed.
Ning Zhuo glanced around and had already made his calculations.
He asked Rudie Maiden to hold on for a bit longer while he took out a meditation cushion, sat cross-legged, and began to regulate his breathing.
Soon, his aura became completely calm.
The young cultivator closed his eyes slightly, and his fair skin emitted a faint cold light amidst the interplay of light and shadow.
"This is the perfect time."
Ning Zhuo made up his mind and officially began his final push towards the Foundation Establishment stage!
He retrieved a formation disk from his storage belt.
This formation disk was a Foundation Establishment-level magical tool from the Zhou Family.
Previously, Ning Zhuo had voluntarily offered up Night Wind Soft Iron, prompting Zhou Nongying to personally reward
him with this formation disk.
The Zhou Family excelled in formations, and their formation disks were clearly superior to those on the market.
Even though Ning Zhuo could set up a Spirit-Gathering Formation on his own, it was no match for this carefully crafted formation disk.
He immediately poured mana into it, and the formation disk hovered above his head.
The disk slowly rotated, outlining a three-dimensional formation in mid-air, with intricate and harmonious formation patterns.
Ning Zhuo then took out spirit stones, placing them at various key points in the formation.
The spirit stones began to deplete, converting into spiritual energy, filling the formation's space.
The spiritual energy accumulated more and more, quickly forming a mist.
Ning Zhuo took a deep breath and began to operate his cultivation technique.
Lower Dantian—Demonic Blood Tendon Technique!
His vital energy was vigorous, his blood surging. For a moment, his aura surged like a tide, fierce and overwhelming.
The blood tendons generated by his blood energy appeared in large swathes, rapidly covering his entire body, like a mesh of blood armor.
Not only externally but also within his body, the blood tendons extended, protecting his internal organs and attaching themselves deep into his bones.
Ning Zhuo's demonic aura was formidable.
Middle Dantian—Five Elements Qi Regulation Art!
Ning Zhuo slowly breathed in and out, and the five-colored mana in his Qi Sea churned endlessly, displaying a magnificent spectacle.
The mana gradually expanded, causing the surrounding area to glow in five colors, strictly balanced and harmonious.
The young cultivator exuded a celestial aura, full of vitality and charm.
Upper Dantian—Mirror Platform Spirit Technique!
His sea of consciousness expanded, and the mirror surfaces condensed from his spiritual sense emitted mirror light, illuminating all directions, scanning every angle.
Ning Zhuo's face showed a compassionate expression, full of profound Buddhist intent.
The thick spiritual energy was absorbed by Ning Zhuo with full force.
He absorbed it with such ferocity and speed that it formed a spiritual energy vortex.
The vortex spun faster and faster, quickly expanding until it filled the entire space inside the Spirit-Gathering Formation.
At the center of the vortex, Ning Zhuo's body was filled with spiritual energy, with his meridians, limbs, head, internal organs, and so on, all resonating with the energy.
A qualitative change occurred in an instant.
The lower Dantian transformed suddenly, and the blood energy flowed like a river.
The first checkpoint of Foundation Establishment—the checkpoint of essence was passed, as easily as breathing.
The middle Dantian followed suit, with the gaseous mana condensing and compressing into liquid form. It was as though fine rain began to fall in his Qi Sea.
Each drop of "rain" was a concentration of mana, five times denser than its gaseous state.
The second checkpoint of Foundation Establishment—the checkpoint of qi was passed, naturally and smoothly.
The upper Dantian's mirror light expanded, illuminating everything around it with clarity, reshaping the world. His spiritual sense surged, easily undergoing a qualitative change, transforming into spiritual awareness!
The third checkpoint of Foundation Establishment—the checkpoint of spirit was passed effortlessly, like water flowing.
With all three checkpoints cleared, his dantian was fully established! Even better, the three dantian were in harmony, unified in breath.
The Three Teachings Supreme Method!
Three Dantian Foundation Establishment!
It was achieved at this moment!!!
Dong, dong, dong...
Suddenly, the sound of bells echoed throughout the Lava Immortal Palace.
"The Transmission Bell?!"
"Why did it suddenly ring?"
All the cultivators were astonished.
"Could it be Ning Zhuo?" Sun Lingtong had a hunch.
"Three Dantian Foundation Establishment! He did it, he succeeded!!!" The Dragon Turtle Fire Spirit shouted in the main hall, its face full of fear.
It had thought that with Ning Zhuo severely injured, he would remain weak for a long time and would not be able to compete for the position of the Lava Immortal Palace Master.
But unexpectedly, Ning Zhuo had recovered so quickly and seized the opportunity to make a breakthrough, achieving a qualitative leap in cultivation.
He had become a Foundation Establishment cultivator!
(End of this chapter)