The Old Monster in Stone originated from a Ten-Thousand-Year-Old Earth Essence and itself did not possess any Divine Skills.
The Divine Power of Stone Cast Earth Treasure came after it swallowed a fragment of the Dividing Treasure Rock, and after a long period of cultivation, it finally achieved such a fruitful result.
This was extremely difficult!
Inherently, these types of Earth Essence and Fire Essence beings, compared to Demon Beasts and Spirit Plants, had even more difficulty entering the path of cultivation.
They needed at least ten thousand years of accumulation to possibly begin the path of cultivation.
For instance, the Ten-Thousand-Year-Old Fire Spirit in Fire Persimmon Mountain had absorbed the Spiritual Nature dissipated after the downfall of cultivators, and only then did it barely touch the threshold of cultivation. Such an opportunity was very rare for a normal Earth Essence or Fire Essence being.
The Dividing Treasure Rock is rumored to be one of the Earth Element Merits' treasures.
A poem to verify this says:
"The ash-white rock seems without shine,
Yet treasure Qi within does brightly align.
Billions of merits deeply entrenched,
Amass till thin yields to destiny's clench."
The Old Monster in Stone attempted a breakthrough at the Nascent Soul Stage, aiming to ascend to the Transforming Spirit Level.
Its failure to break through meant the Divine Power of Stone Cast Earth Treasure continued to take effect, which was quite an unexpected situation.
However, it was precisely because the Divine Power of Stone Cast Earth Treasure continued to emanate its might, like a teacher tirelessly demonstrating his proudest technique.
This gave Ning Zhuo a precious opportunity to observe and learn.
Much as the majority of cultivators faced with this opportunity could only stare helplessly, unable to seize it.
Only those whose Earth Element Realm reached a certain standard had the potential.
Ning Zhuo's Five Elements Realm was quite profound; therefore, he had the credentials to learn.
Moreover, prior to this, he had healed Sun Lingtong, gaining tremendous inspiration from Zhang Zhongyi.
If Zhang Zhongyi could rely on silver needles and threads to craft Hanging Thread Pulses and build a bridge to help Ning Zhuo, an outsider, to perceive the essence of petrification,
Then naturally, Ning Zhuo could use the Divine Power Life Hanging Thread and his own Mechanical Staff Head to achieve the same effect.
Compared to medical skills, Ning Zhuo was more proficient in Mechanical Techniques. These staff heads could be considered the equivalent of silver needles, only somewhat thicker.
And his Divine Power Life Hanging Thread could establish an extremely mysterious connection, far superior to the thread condensed by Zhang Zhongyi using Mana.
It has to be said that Ning Zhuo was quite adept at learning.
He grasped this opportunity and learned a new Divine Skill.
"Just as I had expected!"
"Since I can see through most of the Understanding Law Maps related to the Five Elements in the world, naturally, I can also deduce the relevant Five Elements Divine Skills."
Within Ning Zhuo's Divine Ocean Dantian, the Divine Power of Stone Cast Earth Treasure was gradually taking shape.
Different from the lotus shape of the Life Hanging Divine Power, the form of Stone Cast Earth Treasure was a Stone Ball.
The Stone Ball was simple and unadorned, quite similar to the current state of the Old Monster in Stone.
As Ning Zhuo's control over this Divine Skill deepened, the Stone Ball also gradually grew larger.
Ning Zhuo faintly felt an insight—when the Divine Power Stone Cast Earth Treasure was completely mastered by him, its complete shape would be a round and ancient Stone Ball.
Joy welled up within him.
"I mastered the Life Hanging Divine Power after numerous explorations of the Lava Fairy Palace, accumulating it over time."
"This time, by a fortuitous coincidence, it's very likely that I'll grasp the Divine Power Stone Cast Earth Treasure in one fell swoop!"
Ning Zhuo's thoughts sank deeper and deeper, immersing in the various principles contained within the Divine Power Stone Cast Earth Treasure.
"The earth, deeply buried, foundation, accumulation, quantitative change, qualitative change, the carving of time... Sedimentation, endless sedimentation."
Ning Zhuo was not just learning; he was also applying what he learned on the fly.
Using the Mechanical Staff Head and Life Hanging Thread, he injected Mana, expended Spirit, and continuously pried at the strict defenses of the Old Monster in Stone's remains.
If the Stone Ball were compared to a locked, multi-layered treasure chest, then when Sun Ning and his partner previously used iron pickaxes to chisel the Stone Ball, it was like forcibly smashing the chest's outer shell.
The inner defenses couldn't be broken by force unless the level of the attacks from Sun Ning and his partner reached the Nascent Soul Level.
Even if Ning Zhuo were to withstand the backlash and use the Big Snake Scythe to break in by force, the commotion would certainly be immense.
Sun Ning and his partner would have to set up formations in advance for concealment, making the whole process very troublesome.
What Ning Zhuo was doing now was like configuring a key after studying the structure of the lock.
As Ning Zhuo gradually mastered the Divine Power Stone Cast Earth Treasure, the effects of the key he configured became increasingly apparent.
Finally, a qualitative change occurred at a certain moment.
With a single swing of Sun Lingtong's pickaxe, they successfully opened the inner layer of the Stone Ball.
"We've done it, we've succeeded!" Sun Lingtong felt exhilarated.
His pickaxe swung continuously, its speed almost forming a blur.
A large number of Treasures were chiseled away by him, then directly pocketed into his bosom.
Sun Lingtong worked ferociously, soon becoming breathless from exhaustion.
The difficulty of mining was still immense, his Mana, Divine Sense, and physical strength were all greatly depleted. Sun Lingtong's cultivation technique mainly focused on the Upper Dantian, there was not much improvement in physical strength.
During a break, Sun Lingtong looked back at Ning Zhuo.
He couldn't help but feel a sense of appreciation: "It's useful, it's useful."
"Under my guidance, Little Zhuo is becoming more and more outstanding."
"He will surely become even more formidable in the future!"
Sun Lingtong couldn't help but look forward to the future.
With Ning Zhuo's profound Five Elements Realm, most of the Five Elements' barriers in this world would be broken by him.
"With Little Zhuo and me, the two brothers joining hands, maybe we'll become renowned all over the world by making big, special steals."
"Wow! The future really warrants anticipation."
After just a little thought, Sun Lingtong found the idea thrilling.