Chapter 572: Flying Armor Piercing the Clouds
Upon the vast, flat, boundless frozen tundra, Frost Roar Valley resembled an enormous fissure in the earth, as though it had been torn open by an ancient dragon god.
The rift valley stretched for three thousand seven hundred li. At its narrowest point, only three people could walk side by side; at its widest, it reached more than eighty li across. The ice walls on both sides rose more than ten thousand zhang high.
The ice within the ravine was entirely composed of Everlasting Silence Profound Ice, making the place extremely perilous.
It was close to noon. Sunlight pierced through the frost mist that filled the valley, refracting upon the ice walls into countless prism-like patches of light. Riding the Wanli Dragon and looking down from above, Sun Ning and his companion saw the entire rift glimmering like the spine of a gigantic dragon, radiating a chilling brilliance—magnificent and breathtaking.
Everlasting Silence Profound Ice absorbed nearby sounds.
Thus, Frost Roar Valley had become a graveyard of sound.
Yet Profound Ice always had a limit to how much it could absorb and bear. Whenever that limit was exceeded, the ice would explode, unleashing violent shockwaves and sound tides.
When chains of Profound Ice detonated one after another, they could create, in an instant, a terrifying tidal wave of sound.
As the sound tide swept through the valley, it would trigger blizzards. Each occurrence became a catastrophic snow burial that extinguished all life.
This was Frost Roar Valley’s most unique phenomenon.
Yet miracles of life always existed.
The Ice Soul Wolf Pack and the Furry Mammoths were the two major tribes that lived and reproduced within Frost Roar Valley.
“One day, I’ll definitely come here to explore.” Sun Lingtong’s eyes shone brightly, his face filled with anticipation. “It must be incredibly exciting.”
Ning Zhuo nodded.
“Although I’m also curious about the mysteries deep within the rift, I’d rather wait until my cultivation has achieved success.”
The two did not linger long and soon entered the Wanli Dragon again to resume their journey.
They did not immediately enter the void. Instead, they circled Frost Roar Valley and conducted some reconnaissance, comparing what they saw with the maps they had collected to confirm their location.
Through this, they not only corrected their direction but also obtained the latest and most accurate map.
Ning Zhuo entered the cultivation chamber and began practicing the Five-Viscera Temple Divine Spirit Technique.
Fire Burial Prajna Spirit-Resolving Sutra!
Flames rose, burning silently. Tongues of fire coiled and danced under Ning Zhuo’s control.
The white-robed youth sat cross-legged before the flames, a faint Buddhist radiance covering his face.
Sun Lingtong rarely came to his side, leaving the Dragon Head Cabin unattended.
Ning Zhuo split open his own flesh and removed his kidney.
Demonic Blood Tendon Technique!
Blood tendons solidified in midair, forming a mass of bloody flesh that resembled countless red threads tangled together.
For the moment, it temporarily replaced the function of the kidney.
The kidney rapidly melted within the flames. Ning Zhuo was already highly experienced, and when the moment arrived, he decisively tossed in the Ten-Thousand-Year Water Essence.
The Ten-Thousand-Year Water Essence fused with the kidney, eventually transforming into a ball of light.
Within the light sphere faintly stood a temple. Inside that delicate miniature temple was a divine statue identical in appearance to Ning Zhuo.
Spiritual sense seized the object!
Ning Zhuo used his spiritual sense to easily draw the light sphere back into his body, returning it to the original location of the kidney.
The blood tendons created by the Demonic Blood Tendon Technique dissolved smoothly, their mission complete.
After refining the Water-Element Kidney Temple, Ning Zhuo did not rest. He continued onward and soon refined the Wood-Element Liver Temple.
At this point, the Five-Viscera Temple Divine Spirit Technique had been fully completed.
“The five elements are complete.”
“From now on, as long as I pour my spiritual sense into the temples and transform into the divine statue, I can enhance the power of any spell among the five elements. I’ll also be able to control them precisely, compensating for my lack of practice.”
Ning Zhuo felt delighted.
Sun Lingtong was also happy for his brother’s success.
Seeing Ning Zhuo close his eyes to rest, he quietly turned and went back to guard the Dragon Head Cabin.
Ning Zhuo successively poured his spiritual sense into the five visceral temples, experiencing each in turn. A sense of accomplishment rose within him.
This technique had been created by him, but its foundation originated from the Divine Spirit Art of the Five Viscera Temple. That art was the main cultivation technique of the Five Elements Divine Lord, gathering the essence of heaven and earth and harmonizing the wonders of the five elements, containing profound Dao and principle.
Thanks to his deep understanding of the five elements, Ning Zhuo had successfully improved it.
To cultivate this technique required the true essences of the five elements—metal, wood, water, fire, and earth—each at least ten thousand years old, making the cost extremely high.
But the results were excellent. During his time in Liangzhu Kingdom, Ning Zhuo had repeatedly produced stunning results on the battlefield using three of the elements.
“The key still lies with the Fire Burial Prajna Spirit-Resolving Sutra.”
“Without this Buddhist art, even if someone else learned my Five-Viscera Temple Divine Spirit Technique and gathered the Ten-Thousand-Year Five-Element Essences, they still wouldn’t be able to cultivate it.”
“Hmm… the Demonic Blood Tendon Technique also plays an important role.”
“It allows blood tendons to condense and temporarily replace internal organs. In that regard, it has many similarities with the technique of the Heart Demon Cave Lord.”
Among the Six Cave Sect, the Heart Demon Cave Lord’s main cultivation technique allowed cultivators to forge multiple demon hearts.
These demon hearts possessed miraculous life-saving effects. Relying on them, the Heart Demon Cave Lord could not even be killed by the divine ability Crimson-Heart Swan Arrow.
“The Heart Demon Cave Lord’s son, Lin You, is currently in my hands.”
“He practices the same demonic technique as his father.”
“When the opportunity arises, I’ll interrogate him and obtain that demonic art. Comparing it with my Demonic Blood Tendon Technique should help my future Sea of Consciousness cultivation.”
Thinking of this, Ning Zhuo slowly opened his eyes and took out a flower bud from his robe.
The red bud had grown dimmer and more transparent than before.
Holding the palm-sized bud, Ning Zhuo could clearly see with the naked eye that it tightly sealed Lin You inside, along with a mechanical carriage compartment.
“Without continuous supply of troops, the seal of the bud will gradually weaken until it disappears.”
“But that’s fine.”
“Lin You’s condition is worse. With so many seals placed on him and no food for so long, he’ll faint from hunger first.”
Ning Zhuo patiently waited for that moment.
This flower bud originated from the Red Flower Avatar. On the battlefield, after Mu Lan captured Lin You alive, she immediately handed it over to Ning Zhuo.
Aside from this one, there was another bud sealing Wu Hen, which had also been given to him at the same time.
It was very easy for Ning Zhuo to open these buds, but he worried that the prisoners inside might cause trouble.
Since there was no rush, he chose not to take the risk of unsealing them and interrogating the captives.
After completing the Five-Viscera Temple Divine Spirit Technique, Ning Zhuo immediately threw himself into the design work for mechanical battle puppets.
During this period, he had exhausted his mind planning a new body for Yuan Dasheng and had already developed several concepts.
The first idea started from Yuan Dasheng’s immortal aptitude Righteous Bone Gold Frame, equipping it with a suitable metal carrier.
The second idea was to engrave cultivation techniques to form spell prohibitions, creating comprehensive defenses. The two candidates were the Vajra Sutra and the Demonic Gold Blood Armor Technique.
The third idea was to use Black Gold Meteor Iron combined with Blood Jade Marrow to construct a mechanical armor capable of self-repair.
Yuan Dasheng’s role differed from Meng Yahu’s. Ning Zhuo planned to turn him into a close personal guard responsible for protecting him.
Yuan Dasheng himself was skilled in martial arts and excelled in close-quarters combat within tight spaces—perfect for personal protection.
Thus, Yuan Dasheng’s primary strength would lie in defense.
Once his immortal aptitude Righteous Bone Gold Frame erupted, it would produce extremely powerful protection.
Therefore, Ning Zhuo’s current design ideas all sought ways to synergize with that ability.
Finding a suitable metal carrier required a large amount of experimentation.
As for engraving the Vajra Sutra or the Demonic Gold Blood Armor Technique, Ning Zhuo had discovered during his research that the two most powerful figures in history who possessed the Righteous Bone Gold Frame aptitude had cultivated these two techniques respectively.
Fortunately, both techniques had been widely circulated for many years, and various versions were collected within the Complete Book Tower.
Engraving the techniques would not be difficult—he simply needed to purchase them.
The third concept emphasized self-repair. Once Righteous Bone Gold Frame was activated, it would cause significant wear on the body. If the armor could repair itself afterward, it would be extremely convenient.
The design of Yuan Dasheng’s new body was still at the earliest conceptual stage—a long road ahead.
While feeling the difficulty, Ning Zhuo also couldn’t help recalling how fortunate he had been when designing Meng Yahu.
On the other hand, designing the lower half of the Hundred-Armed Arhat Armor proved much easier.
Because he already had a completed model, he only needed to expand upon it, making the design ideas much clearer.
Three main ideas emerged.
The first used Bodhi Wood as the main material to create bionic legs, then covered them with Demon-Subduing Chain Armor. A Guanyin Moonlight Ring would be embedded within the knees to enhance speed, while the feet would utilize the Bitter Cold Sutra.
The second used Barbarian Elephant bones to create a thick and powerful lower body, fusing the Black Iron Pagoda Armor directly with the mechanical body. Within the armor would be engraved the Five Sacred Mountains True Movement Diagram, while the feet contained a formation capable of triggering the power of a Giant Elephant Trample.
This idea came from Elephant King Xiang Yue.
The third abandoned legs entirely and instead used a lotus platform.
Inside the lotus platform would be a defensive formation engraved with the Eight-Division Heavenly Dragon Mantra. Once activated, eight heavenly dragon phantoms would appear, circling and lifting the lotus platform, granting both great speed and extraordinary agility.
Several days later.
The Wanli Dragon emerged from the void once again and returned to the real world to locate reference landmarks and confirm direction.
Wind swept across distant mountain ranges, carrying a refreshing chill that brushed across Sun Ning and his companion’s faces.
Large masses of clouds floated across the sky, forming several “sky windows.” Sunlight poured down through them, causing the melting snow to sparkle with crystalline brilliance.
Green grass already blanketed the slopes. Spiritual sheep as white as mutton jade grazed leisurely on the grass.
A sharp eagle cry drew their attention.
Looking into the distance, they saw a Golden-Feathered Profound Eagle streak through the clouds like an arrow loosed from a bow.
Sun Lingtong handed Ning Zhuo the jade slip that recorded the map.
“We should be near the border of Northern Wind Kingdom.”
This map had originally been given to them by Zhu Xuanji.
Ning Zhuo nodded, agreeing with Sun Lingtong’s deduction.
“According to our route, in one more day we should reach the Yin Soul Black Marsh.”
Black Water Mountain and White Paper City were both located within that vast marshland.
Sun Lingtong said, “Yin Soul Black Marsh lies between Northern Wind Kingdom and Flying Cloud Country. It’s a buffer zone between the two nations—a lawless land.”
“We’ve been using the Wanli Dragon the whole way without using teleportation arrays in immortal cities, so we haven’t left any traces. But once we reach there, we still can’t act using our original appearances. Who knows whether the Heaven-and-Earth Twin Ghosts have tracked us.”
The Soul-Devouring Sect was a super-powerful sect. Even if Sun Ning reached this place, revealing their true identities might still allow the sect to trace them.
Ning Zhuo nodded.
“The Yin Soul Black Marsh is full of ghosts. It’s a perfect cultivation ground for ghost cultivators and soul cultivators. The Soul-Devouring Sect definitely has arrangements there.”
“Boss, you’re right. Let’s follow your plan.”
Sun Lingtong grinned.
“I have Theft Technique, which can disguise faces. And after absorbing the Evil God Bone Marrow, many of my methods have greatly improved.”
“First we disguise ourselves using theft techniques. Once inside the marsh, we won’t rush straight to White Paper City. Instead, we’ll wander around nearby towns first, get used to the environment, and gather information. If we can pass ourselves off as locals, even better.”
“Mhm!” Ning Zhuo nodded repeatedly.
“Our next destination is Yin Soul Black Marsh. In that case, this mechanical armor is best given to you now, Boss.”
He took out a brand-new Cang Tie Han Armor.
The mechanical armor was somewhat compact, perfectly matching Sun Lingtong’s build.
“Wow!!!”
Sun Lingtong’s eyes lit up instantly as he spread his arms and hugged it.
Back in Liangzhu Kingdom, Sun Lingtong had already asked Ning Zhuo to build him a mechanical battle armor. Whether it was the brand-new Cang Tie Han Armor or the Hundred-Armed Arhat Armor, he had been extremely envious.
During their journey, aside from designing various constructs, Ning Zhuo had used the mechanical work platform to build a unique mechanical battle armor specially for Sun Lingtong.
“Oh right, Boss, I even designed a startup slogan for you.”
Ning Zhuo looked proud of himself.
Sun Lingtong leaned closer to listen.
After memorizing it, he immediately poured in mana, connected with his spiritual sense, and excitedly shouted:
“Golden Swallow Cutting Clouds, Han Armor Cover My Body!”
In the next instant, the Cang Tie Han Armor disassembled in response.
First, the Five-Element Golden Core Disk spun out and attached itself to the center of Sun Lingtong’s chest.
Then the spinal structure aligned along his back.
Twelve Divided Mind Mirrors simultaneously shot out silver light.
Sun Lingtong stretched both arms straight as the arm armor pieces slid into place under the pull of the silver beams.
At his abdomen, the Evergreen Formation straps wrapped around like green serpents. After circling his waist three times, they emitted a vibrant green glow, forming a membrane of light that quickly covered his entire body.
Click, click, click.
The chest armor, leg armor, and golden wings assembled one by one, then tightened to fit his body perfectly.
In just three breaths, Sun Lingtong was fully equipped in the Cang Tie Han Armor.
With a light step, the Li Fire Formation at the soles of his boots shot out flames, propelling him into the sky like a lit firecracker.
“Waaah!”
“Amazing, this is amazing!”
“I look so cool! I’m way too cool!”
Sun Lingtong flew crookedly through the sky, darting forward and back, up and down, shouting the entire time in wild excitement.
Ning Zhuo smiled warmly as he gazed up at the sky, his heart filled with joy.
At that moment Sun Lingtong shouted:
“Little Zhuo, come up too!”
Ning Zhuo nodded.
“Alright.”
He released his own Cang Tie Han Armor. A few breaths later, he soared into the sky and flew alongside Sun Lingtong.
Suddenly Sun Lingtong called out:
“Little Zhuo, let’s see who’s faster!”
Before Ning Zhuo could respond, flames burst from both of Sun Lingtong’s hands and feet. His speed surged instantly, and with a whoosh he shot far ahead.
Ning Zhuo immediately protested angrily.
“Boss, you’re cheating again!”
He pushed his Cang Tie Han Armor to maximum output and accelerated in pursuit.
The two of them streaked through the sky, weaving through the clouds, chasing each other wildly in delight. The clouds were scattered into chaotic fragments, while the golden eagle flying above was so startled that it cried out like a crow and fled in panic.