Chapter 72

Wang Lin suddenly had a bold guess. On a certain day, many people were sitting at their dining tables when disaster struck, and without any warning, the entire city turned into a desolate wasteland.

At this moment, a cold aura gradually emanated from the ruins, becoming heavier and heavier until it almost solidified.

"Judging by the scale of these ruins, the population must have been in the millions. A place where millions have died should be one of the best Yellow Yin lands among the four types of Extreme Yin lands," Wang Lin thought.

During Wang Lin's seclusion, Situ Nan had explained in detail about the Extreme Yin lands. There are four types of Extreme Yin lands: Heavenly Yin, Earthly Yin, Mystic Yin, and Yellow Yin.

Yellow Yin lands are the simplest; any place where a large number of living beings have died is considered a Yellow Yin land, and the more deaths, the better the quality of the land.

Mystic Yin lands are more difficult to find, usually appearing in extremely cold places.

Earthly Yin lands are even harder to come by, requiring great fortune to encounter, as they are places where the aura emanates from the depths of the earth.

As for Heavenly Yin lands, they are virtually impossible to form, as they require the simultaneous presence of Earth, Mystic, and Yellow Yin, which then undergo a miraculous transformation to become a Heavenly Yin land.

The higher the quality of an Extreme Yin land, the greater the benefit to cultivators.

Wang Lin immediately made a hand seal with his right hand and muttered incantations. Suddenly, red light points began to gather in front of him, eventually forming a red light ball.

This was a spell specifically used to test the quality of an Extreme Yin land. The light ball can emit four colors: purple, blue, silver, and red, each corresponding to the four types of Extreme Yin lands: Heavenly, Earthly, Mystic, and Yellow.

Situ Nan had also mentioned that even among different types of Extreme Yin lands, there are quality differences, each divided into four levels: ordinary, good, deep, and absolute.

Each level is further divided into ten grades.

Generally, a quality of ordinary third grade or above can be used to cultivate the Netherworld Ascension Technique, and a quality of ordinary eighth grade or above can significantly speed up cultivation.

After the light ball appeared, it emitted a strong red light, which grew brighter and brighter, eventually flashing five times.

Wang Lin stroked his chin, his eyes flickering. He knew that five flashes represented a quality of ordinary fifth grade for this Yellow Yin land.

After a moment's thought, he controlled the light ball and walked into the ruins. The cold aura grew denser as he walked, and eventually, he felt as if he were walking in water, the aura was so heavy that he felt suffocated after just a few hundred feet.

At this point, the light ball also grew brighter, reaching ordinary eighth grade.

Wang Lin did not stop and continued walking. After another few hundred feet, he reached the debris where the stone bead was located. He could not go any further; the cold aura was seeping into his body, causing his blood vessels to ache, and his spiritual energy was becoming uncontrollable.

Suddenly, the red ball split into two and flashed once. Wang Lin's eyes flickered; he knew this indicated that the quality of the land had reached good first grade.

Based on his search of the ruins during the day, Wang Lin knew that the ruins were vast, and his current position was probably less than one ten-thousandth of the total area.

Moreover, the deeper he went, the denser the cold aura became.

"This is definitely the best place for cultivation!" Wang Lin slowly retreated and stopped at the position where the quality was ordinary fifth grade.

This position, after his analysis, was the most suitable for his body. The Netherworld Ascension Technique requires a gradual approach to Extreme Yin lands, which Situ Nan had repeatedly emphasized before falling into a deep sleep.

Wang Lin pondered for a moment, then sat cross-legged on the ground, closed his eyes, and reflected on the detailed explanation of the Netherworld Ascension Technique that Situ Nan had given him.

The Netherworld Ascension Technique is divided into nine levels. Cultivating every three levels allows the formation of a Cold Pill within the body. Once all nine levels are completed, the three Cold Pills will merge, with a certain probability of directly advancing to the Core Formation stage.

This was the main reason Wang Lin decided to cultivate the Netherworld Ascension Technique, and it was also the most suitable and relatively fast cultivation method for him, according to Situ Nan's knowledge.

Of course, there were faster methods, such as the Core Seizure Technique, but capturing a Core Formation cultivator was practically suicidal for Wang Lin at his current level.

The Cold Pill of the Netherworld Ascension Technique is formed through the process of piercing the orifices. The technique has three major orifices: the Dantian, the Sea of Qi, and the Ancestral Orifice.

When these orifices are pierced, a Cold Pill is formed. Once the Cold Pill appears, the spiritual energy within the body immediately transforms into Yin Cold energy.

The success rate of piercing the orifices is closely related to the quality of the Extreme Yin land.

Time passed quickly. When he opened his eyes again, the sky was gradually brightening, and the cold aura around him rapidly dissipated. As the sun rose, the cold aura vanished completely.

Wang Lin stood up. Since he had decided to cultivate here, he needed to set up a living area. He looked around and finally chose a collapsed house not far from his current position.

With a wave of his right hand, the debris and rubble floated up and fell to the sides, clearing a small area.

After finishing, Wang Lin sat quietly on the cleared ground, took out a bound book from his storage bag, and focused his mind to read it carefully.

This book was the detailed explanation of array formations he had exchanged for medium-grade spirit stones two years ago in the Teng family city.

At the time, he had taken a quick look and found that it contained detailed descriptions of several array formations, complete with diagrams and comprehensive explanations of various operations and setups.

After memorizing the contents, Wang Lin closed his eyes and pondered, occasionally waving his hands as if drawing something without using his spiritual sense.

A day passed quickly. As dusk approached, Wang Lin sighed, opened his eyes, and muttered to himself, "The array formations are profound. Even the simple small formations described in this booklet took me a whole day to barely understand. Especially the derivations, which require calculation, become increasingly difficult the further one goes."

Frustrated, he stopped trying to understand and instead followed the diagrams in the booklet, using the Gravity Technique to lift stones and place them outside the room according to the requirements.

He managed to set up a simple formation called the Small Maze Formation.

The formation was very crude and rudimentary, lacking even the most basic flags. Looking at the messy stones outside the room, Wang Lin smiled bitterly, carefully comparing them with the diagram and making minor adjustments to match the requirements.

Wang Lin took a deep breath, made the required hand seals, and pointed quickly. Instantly, a mist silently appeared and enveloped the area.

Wang Lin looked at the mist and smiled bitterly, thinking that while the formation might be effective in trapping ordinary people, it was virtually useless against cultivators and could not serve as protection.

After a moment's thought, Wang Lin muttered, "If one formation isn't enough, I'll set up two. If that doesn't work, I'll set up all the formations described in the booklet. That way, it should have some effect."

With that, Wang Lin used the Gravity Technique again, controlling the stones around him to set up several more formations. By the time night fell, he had completed several more.

Wang Lin sat cross-legged on the cleared ground. As the cold aura rose, he suddenly placed his hands on his knees and focused on his breathing. His breathing pattern was one long and five short. The "one long" refers to a long inhalation, while the "five short" refers to an exhalation that is one-fifth the duration of the inhalation, allowing him to quickly absorb the surrounding cold aura.

Strictly speaking, this was his first external breathing exercise after seizing a foundation. In the past two years, he had been absorbing liquid spirit energy underground, which was internally digested.

The cold aura was essentially the same as spirit energy. Wang Lin had been practicing breathing exercises for many years, so he was naturally proficient. However, he immediately noticed a difference. In the past, when he breathed in spirit energy, it felt as if there was a film outside his body, hindering the process. The spirit energy entered his body slowly, and only a portion was absorbed, with the rest dissipating during exhalation.

But now, that film seemed to have disappeared. As soon as he began breathing, the cold aura surged in like a flood. It felt as if he had a new body, and the cold aura entering his body was absorbed in large quantities, completely different from before.

Wang Lin pondered for a moment and came up with three possible reasons: 1) The cold aura was more suitable for his breathing than spirit energy. 2) After reaching the Foundation Establishment stage, his breathing naturally became faster than at the Qi Condensation stage. 3) Absorbing part of Teng Li's spirit root had significantly improved his talent.

Wang Lin did not delve into which reason was correct but immersed himself in the breathing exercise.

At first, Wang Lin was very uncomfortable because the cold aura was icy. As soon as it entered his body, it spread through his organs, causing a chill that made his body shiver. This feeling was the opposite of absorbing spirit energy, which made his body warm and comfortable.

As more cold aura was absorbed, Wang Lin's hands and feet turned cold, and the blood in his body became thicker, eventually slowing his heartbeat.

Frost began to form on his eyebrows, hair, and body hair, and a cold aura permeated his body, blending perfectly with the surroundings.

Time passed quickly. As the sun rose, the cold aura dissipated. Wang Lin's eyelids trembled, and he opened his eyes, exhaling a deep breath of white vapor. After a night of breathing, a small, faint energy ball had formed in his abdomen, silently rotating and gradually emitting a cold aura.

The spiritual energy in his body did not reject this energy ball; they coexisted without interfering with each other.