Chapter 873 - 355: Wood Spirit Seed

Chu Ning flew back along the path he had come.

Soon he returned to the place where he had previously fought with the bald man.

There he stopped.

Earlier, when he hurried to chase the bald man, he didn’t carefully observe if there were other traces left here.

But now that he carefully sensed his surroundings.

He really did notice something different.

At the place where the bald man’s physical body was destroyed, there was a misty green light sphere.

This light sphere was full of spiritual energy, and Chu Ning was very familiar with its aura.

"Wood Spirit Seed?"

Chu Ning looked at the green light sphere, his face suddenly full of surprise.

With a casual gesture, he grabbed the green light sphere in his hand.

Chu Ning examined it closely, his eyes filled with a doubtful expression.

The aura on this green light sphere was exactly the same as the Spirit Charm of the Wood Spirit Seed he had refined before, and its spiritual energy was abundant, unmistakably a Wood Spirit Seed.

But to Chu Ning, it felt like its aura was incomplete.

"Could it be that this Wood Spirit Seed was refined by this person, so it’s not complete?"

As Chu Ning was pondering this, the green light sphere directly drilled into his body.

Having encountered the Gold Spirit Seed before, Chu Ning was not too surprised.

He just looked inward for a moment and found that it stayed in the Dantian without any abnormalities.

So he didn’t find it strange.

The only thing that puzzled him was the aura of this Spirit Seed.

He had also refined the Gold Spirit Seed, but its aura remained complete.

Comparing the two, the aura of this Wood Spirit Seed gave Chu Ning a clearly incomplete feeling.

Chu Ning couldn’t figure it out for a while, so he simply stopped thinking about it.

After checking the site and finding no abnormalities, he left directly and continued chasing towards Yaochi Palace.

...

"Junior Sister Cen, don’t worry. Fellow Daoist Chu has great magical abilities and won’t have any problems."

On the Bone Boat, Cheng Qinghui watched Cen Zijin, who kept looking back, and spoke to comfort her.

Cen Zijin sighed lightly at this moment.

"Although he possesses considerable magical abilities, that was a Nascent Soul cultivator! Based on a turtle shell with decent defense, it’s not so easy to get rid of a Nascent Soul cultivator."

In Cen Zijin’s perspective, that turtle shell might have been Chu Ning’s greatest asset.

After all, she had seen Chu Ning use that turtle shell to withstand the bald man’s attack before.

Listening to Cen Zijin’s words, Cheng Qinghui momentarily didn’t know how to respond.

She was also a Golden Core Late Stage cultivator, and naturally knew the intimidation of Nascent Soul cultivators.

Nascent Soul cultivators, in the Cultivation Realm, could serve as a guardian for a medium-sized sect.

Otherwise, when the Nascent Soul cultivator of the Yaochi Palace fell, they wouldn’t be facing such calamity.

Cen Zijin’s gaze directed to the back, her eyes like a clear spring suddenly filled with mystical thoughts.

"Senior Sister Cheng, you’re right. He won’t have trouble."

"Eight decades ago, we spent time together in Thousand Lakes and Thousand Islands, neither of us could see our future path clearly.

No one dared to express their feelings, and this farewell lasted eighty years.

Heaven has been kind to us, allowing us to reunite on my worst crisis after eighty years, it won’t easily tear us apart now."

After listening, the female cultivators of Yaochi Palace turned their gaze to Cen Zijin.

They had long seen that Chu Ning and Cen Zijin had an extraordinary connection, but Cen Zijin’s candidness left no room for guessing.

"Junior Sister Cen, only someone of Fellow Daoist Chu’s exceptional talent is worthy of you," Cheng Qinghui spoke with emotion.

Cen Zijin shook her head, "I didn’t know before that his aptitude could be described as exceptional talent.

When I first met him at Thousand Lakes and Thousand Islands, I had already succeeded in Foundation Establishment, while he was still just a Qi Refining cultivator."

Upon hearing Cen Zijin’s words, a Foundation Establishment female cultivator couldn’t help but curiously question:

"Junior Martial Uncle Cen, what exactly about Elder Chu attracts you?"

Cen Zijin smiled, "It’s just him!"

Upon hearing this, the female cultivators of Yaochi Palace showed confused expressions.

This was not easy for them to understand.

At this moment, Cen Zijin did not intend to explain.

The next moment, she suddenly raised her head, looking towards the back, with a touch of joy on her face.

Cheng Qinghui and Ge Dan were similarly affected.

Cheng Qinghui even stopped the Bone Boat.

"Fellow Daoist Chu is catching up!"

At this moment, Chu Ning wasn’t concealing his presence, and as he neared, the Golden Core cultivators sensed it.

Soon, a dazzling Escape Light swiftly approached, flying above the Bone Boat.

It was Chu Ning.

Although he had chased the bald cultivator far away before, the Eight Trigrams Flying Wheel was extremely fast.

Moreover, knowing everyone’s direction of advancement, he chased after them all the way.

And thanks to his strong Divine Sense, although he couldn’t completely align his flying escape direction, he relied on wide-range spiritual sensing and finally caught up.

Chu Ning landed directly on the Bone Boat, looking at Cen Zijin’s bright eyes revealing a look of concern, he couldn’t help but smile at her.

"It’s okay. I’ve got rid of that guy, he must have gone in another direction."

Chu Ning didn’t reveal to everyone that he had killed the bald man.

After all, a Golden Core Late Stage cultivator killing a Nascent Soul was indeed startling.

Some of his methods weren’t so easily disclosed to everyone.

"Hmm," Cen Zijin responded softly.

Cheng Qinghui laughed and said:

"Fellow Daoist Chu, it’s good you’re back, just now you hadn’t returned, our Junior Sister Cen nearly lost her soul."

Cen Zijin previously revealed true feelings and couldn’t help but sigh emotionally.

At this moment, being pointed out by Cheng Qinghui in front of Chu Ning, she felt a bit embarrassed.

A slight blush appeared on her fair cheeks.

At this moment, Chu Ning boldly took Cen Zijin’s slender jade hand and gently squeezed it.

Cen Zijin felt Chu Ning’s affection, and a hint of a smile flashed in her eyes.

Then Chu Ning turned to Cheng Qinghui and said,

"Fellow Daoist Cheng, although I have led that demon away.

However, the crisis hasn’t been resolved. With so many of us driving this Bone Boat forward, it’s too conspicuous.

Moreover, this item belongs to the Purple Moon Sect; it’s likely to attract the attention of some cultivators.

Whether we encounter allies or enemies of the Purple Moon Sect, it’s not good."

Hearing this, Cheng Qinghui nodded slightly. She also understood that what Chu Ning said made sense, so she immediately asked:

"Fellow Daoist Chu, what do you suggest?"

"I think we should separate," Chu Ning revealed the plan he had already thought of.

"Fellow Daoist Cheng and Fellow Daoist Ge, each of you take some cultivators and go ahead using flying escape.

We are about to enter the Tianyi Mountain Range, where the righteous sects are gathered. As long as you are careful not to intrude on any sect’s territory, there should be no danger."

At this point, Chu Ning’s gaze turned to Cen Zijin.

"Zijin and I can go ahead first and take a look at the Thousand Lakes and Thousand Islands.

After all, Zijin was there thirty years ago, and we don’t know the current situation there either.

Also, we need some time to repair the Teleportation Array.

We will wait for you outside the Thousand Lakes and Thousand Islands to rendezvous."

"I have no objections," Cheng Qinghui immediately expressed her agreement.

The others naturally had no objections either and immediately jumped off the Bone Boat.

Chu Ning left the Bone Boat to Cheng Qinghui for any unexpected needs later.

Chu Ning then summoned a Golden Thunder Eagle from the Spirit Beast Bag.

"Fellow Daoist Cheng, Fellow Daoist Ge, Zijin and I will go ahead now."

As he spoke, he took Cen Zijin and stood on the eagle’s back, flying away into the distance.

Cen Zijin seemed as if she wanted to say something but didn’t.

After flying nearly a hundred miles away, Chu Ning finally smiled and asked:

"Zijin, are you worried about the safety of Senior Sister Cheng and the others if we leave like this?"

Cen Zijin nodded and sighed softly:

"But I know what you said makes sense. It’s best for us to separate like this.

I can’t always expect you to hold off that Nascent Soul Cultivator and put yourself in danger."

Hearing this, Chu Ning couldn’t help but smile and said:

"Rest assured, that guy was a Nascent Soul Cultivator from the Yin Demon Sect, and I have already killed him. He won’t be chasing after us."

"What did you say?" Cen Zijin’s beautiful eyes widened in shock.

Even though she had seen Chu Ning use divine techniques to kill that Golden Core Late Stage Peak Cultivator before,

hearing that he had killed a Nascent Soul Cultivator was enough to leave her stunned.

Escaping from the hands of a Nascent Soul Cultivator unscathed and killing one are two completely different things.

Chu Ning smiled slightly at this moment, took out the Yellow Court Seal from his Storage Bag.

"This person was just an Early Stage of Nascent Soul Cultivator who had just promoted.

But this ancient treasure of mine is something not all Nascent Soul Cultivators have, and its power is enough to match ordinary Early Stage of Nascent Soul Cultivators."

"Ancient treasure?"

Cen Zijin looked at the Yellow Court Seal in Chu Ning’s hand, her clear eyes flashing with curiosity.

Ancient treasures are incredibly rare; not all Nascent Soul Cultivators or major sects possess them.

Many ancient sect relics aren’t always discovered by current cultivators, and even if they contain ancient treasures, they might not appear to the world.

This is entirely different from the Void Abyss in the Northern Cold Land, which appears periodically.

Chu Ning then told Cen Zijin about this ancient treasure, leaving her in awe.

Subsequently, Chu Ning also talked to Cen Zijin about his discovery of the Yin Demon Sect’s mineral vein and how he diverted the trouble.

Only then did Cen Zijin understand why Chu Ning was so confident in letting Yaochi Palace’s people move forward.

"Chu Ning, thank you!"

Cen Zijin actively held Chu Ning’s hand.

Chu Ning tightened his grip, smiled, and said:

"From now on, we don’t need to say such things between us."

Remembering something, he said to Cen Zijin:

"By the way, I don’t think I’ve told you this before. I originally came from the Cyan Creek Sect in the Cyan Gorge Mountain Range of the East Saint Continent."

This was indeed the first time Cen Zijin heard Chu Ning mention it.

"The Cyan Gorge Mountain Range’s Cyan Creek Sect? We are about to pass through there later."

Chu Ning nodded and smiled:

"Honestly, I didn’t spend much time there.

But since we’re passing through the Cyan Gorge Mountain Range, I wanted to mention it."

As he spoke, Chu Ning briefly shared his experiences in the Cyan Creek Sect with Cen Zijin.

This included the matters concerning the Wood Spirit Species Spirit Realm and why he left initially.

If not for that, he might’ve been sent to the Yin Demon Sect like other cultivators who received the Spirit Charm Qi.

After hearing this, Cen Zijin suddenly said:

"Now that you mention it, I recall something from decades ago that seems related to the Cyan Creek Sect.

This matter was widely discussed across the East Saint Continent; even in Yaochi Palace, I heard of it."

"Oh?"

Chu Ning’s eyes showed curiosity upon hearing this.