Chapter 76

Feng Huayuan cautiously walked through the jungle, his powerful spiritual awareness of the Nascent Soul stage spreading out. Suddenly, his face lit up as he sensed Wang Lin’s location and was about to teleport over. At that moment, a strange wind blew, and a sinister voice drifted over.

"Get out!"

Feng Huayuan’s face changed drastically, and without hesitation, he immediately took a few steps back and focused his gaze.

A mass of black mist suddenly drifted over from a distance. The black mist was filled with cold winds, and a withered arm extended out, silently pressing toward Feng Huayuan.

Feng Huayuan’s spiritual awareness swept over, and he was greatly alarmed. The other party’s cultivation was actually at the Middle Nascent Soul stage. Without hesitation, he retreated again.

The withered arm flickered lightly, transforming into a large hand that grabbed toward Feng Huayuan.

Feng Huayuan let out a bitter smile and, without a word, turned and fled. A Middle Nascent Soul cultivator was not someone he could resist. Although he had long known that there were powerful beings in this jungle, he didn’t expect the other party to be at the Middle Nascent Soul stage.

His body flashed, and Feng Huayuan disappeared from the spot. A cold snort echoed from the black mist, and the large hand that had appeared also vanished in an instant.

In the air outside the jungle, Feng Huayuan’s figure had just appeared when his expression suddenly changed. The large hand silently appeared behind him and fiercely grabbed.

Feng Huayuan inwardly lamented, patted his storage bag, and produced a piece of animal skin. His right hand quickly pointed, and the animal skin immediately glowed with a yellow light, wrapping around his body and rushing away at an incredible speed, narrowly avoiding the large hand.

Despite this, he was still hit by the finger wind of the large hand, spitting out a mouthful of blood as he fled without looking back, his face pale.

A mass of black mist appeared in the air, then contracted, revealing the figure inside. It was a man who looked like a mummy, his skin tightly wrapped around his bones. He gazed in the direction Feng Huayuan had fled but did not pursue him. Instead, he turned and returned to the jungle.

He drifted around the jungle calmly, as if searching for something. Not long after, he stopped at an open area, his expressionless face looking down at the ground. He waved his hands, and the ground rumbled, splitting apart beneath his feet as if torn by a force, revealing a long crack.

The moment the crack appeared, a fierce cry came from underground, and a black figure quickly rushed out, attempting to flee. The mummy-like man let out a light snort, and within ten feet, a cage formed. The black figure screamed in terror, hitting the cage wall and bouncing back. He no longer tried to escape but knelt on the ground, repeatedly kowtowing.

The mummy-like man slowly spoke, "A hundred years have passed, and I didn’t expect the body of the master to have cultivated into a Corpse Spirit. Since you have developed consciousness, you are one of us. I can spare your life, but you must use the subtle connection with the master to help me find his Nascent Soul."

The Corpse Spirit nodded repeatedly, looking at the mummy-like man with fear and respect.

The man waved his hand, and the cage around them immediately dissipated. He stared at the Corpse Spirit and said in a sinister tone, "Let’s go. Lead me to find the master’s Nascent Soul. If you can find it, after I consume the Nascent Soul and gain freedom, I can consider helping you evolve into a Corpse Demon."

The Corpse Spirit was stunned, then immediately overjoyed, nodding vigorously. He then stood up and ran into the depths of the jungle.

The man’s expression remained unchanged as he followed.

At this time, in a part of the ruins where sunlight could not reach, a blue-skinned strange man gazed in the direction of Wang Lin, his eyes filled with hesitation.

As for Wang Lin, although the amount of Yin energy he absorbed yesterday was large, its quality was only ordinary, around the sixth or seventh grade. Such quality, even in large quantities, would not significantly increase his power when combined with spiritual energy and mutated. Moreover, it was no longer suitable for his cultivation of the acupoint technique. Wang Lin’s eyes flickered as he gazed into the depths of the ruins. His goal was there.

He prepared to explore deeper to see the limit of the Yin energy quality in the ruins.

After all, the higher the quality, the greater the success rate of the acupoint technique!

That night, Wang Lin held a seal in his right hand, cast a light ball to test the Yin energy, and walked deeper into the ruins.

After walking for a while, the light ball floated in the air, emitting a bright red light, flashing rapidly several times, and with a "pop," it split into two.

The moment two red light balls appeared, Wang Lin’s face lit up. He knew this indicated that the Yin energy quality here exceeded the ordinary and reached a high grade.

As he continued forward, the two light balls’ red light flickered, and the quality gradually improved.

High grade two, three... all the way to five. Wang Lin stopped, and in front of him was a wide road, with ruins on both sides. However, it was still evident that countless years ago, this place was a prosperous area of the city.

Wang Lin calculated the distance and estimated that he had not yet reached one-thousandth of the total area of the city. Without a word, he immediately quickened his pace.

The red light emitted by the light balls was particularly glaring in the silent ruins. Wang Lin’s spiritual awareness spread out, and he was highly focused.

The quality represented by the two light balls gradually increased: high grade six, seven, eight.

As the sun rose and set, on the fourth day, Wang Lin had deeply entered the mysterious city ruins. He estimated that he was not far from the city center, as he had been walking in a straight line.

Along the way, deep pits several feet deep were visible everywhere, filled with murky rainwater. Some strange snake-like creatures occasionally leaped out of the pits, baring their venomous fangs at Wang Lin.

In addition, the surrounding buildings were severely collapsed, and almost no walls higher than ten feet could be seen.

Amidst the overgrown weeds, some swampy areas appeared on the ground, and some strange creatures lived in the mud. Wang Lin was once suddenly attacked by one of these creatures, which made him even more vigilant.

Despite having walked extremely far, the quality of the Yin energy did not increase much, and it never exceeded the high grade to reach the Deep Yin.

On the fifth night, Wang Lin emerged from the swamp, and before him was a vast cluster of buildings. Although all the buildings had collapsed, they still showed signs of prosperity from countless years ago.

The most prominent was a huge pit in the center, about 300 feet in diameter and nearly 30 feet deep.

This pit was very strange. Logically, it should have been filled with rainwater, but there was no liquid inside.

Wang Lin walked closer and, despite the dim night and the influence of the Yin energy on his vision, he could vaguely see countless honeycomb-like holes at the bottom of the pit.

The moment Wang Lin leaned over to look into the pit, the two light balls floating in the air suddenly emitted a red light they had never shown before and quickly merged into three. This indicated that the Yin energy quality here had reached the Deep Yin grade!

Wang Lin’s eyes flickered, and he did not immediately jump in but walked around the edge of the pit, always keeping an eye on the three light balls. He found that at the opposite position, the three light balls merged again into two.

Wang Lin understood that the key to the increase in the Deep Yin quality was this deep pit.

Wang Lin stroked his chin, hesitated for a moment, and still did not immediately jump in to test. Instead, he sat cross-legged and waited for dawn.

Soon, the sky gradually brightened. The moment the Yin energy dissipated, Wang Lin immediately stood up and jumped in. As he landed at the bottom of the pit, the green small sword appeared, emitting a cold light.

Wang Lin looked up at the sky. Logically, this place was so deep that it should have been filled with rainwater over countless years.

Wang Lin narrowed his eyes, and his gaze fell on the densely packed honeycomb holes on the ground.

Although he did not know how deep these holes were, it was clear that the rainwater had all flowed into them. Wang Lin squatted down and touched the ground outside the honeycomb holes, which felt slightly damp, confirming his analysis.

After carefully observing the surroundings and finding no danger, he sat cross-legged and waited for night to fall.

As the sun set and darkness enveloped the earth, the ruins were shrouded in darkness, and various birds and beasts fled, unwilling to stay here at night.

The light balls in front of Wang Lin gradually increased in red light, eventually splitting from one to two, and then from two to three.

Ordinary grade four, six, eight, ten, high grade one, three, six, ten, and finally breaking through to Deep Yin!

It was not yet midnight, but the Yin energy quality had already reached Deep Yin grade one!

Wang Lin’s eyes showed surprise. His spiritual awareness spread out, and gradually he discovered something strange. The increase in the Yin energy quality here was closely related to the honeycomb holes on the ground.

Strands of Yin energy emerged from the ground holes and quickly merged with the surroundings.

As time passed, the red light from the three light balls flickered again, reaching Deep Yin grade two! Finally, at midnight, it reached Deep Yin grade five!

Wang Lin no longer hesitated and immediately began to breathe in the Yin energy in a specific way.

As the Yin energy condensed in his chest at the Qihai point, Wang Lin noticed the difference in high quality. The Yin energy in his chest was dozens of times purer than before.

Quality changes can lead to quantity changes. This meant that the Yin energy he had previously absorbed in dozens of times the time could now be achieved in just one time.

Soon, a vortex of Yin energy formed in his chest at the Qihai point, and the vortex spun faster and faster. The anomaly in his Dantian point from the last time reappeared.

Within a hundred feet, the Yin energy immediately fluctuated and surged toward Wang Lin.

As the vortex in the Qihai point grew larger, his absorption speed and range became more and more intense, quickly surpassing the previous limit and reaching a distance of 1,000 feet.

The range continued to expand: 1,200 feet, 1,400 feet, 1,500 feet!

Within a ten-mile radius, the Yin energy surged as if pushed by some ghostly force, crazily rushing into the pit and being absorbed by Wang Lin.

As the Yin energy vortex in the Qihai point continued to expand, Wang Lin gradually felt he could not control it. He immediately grasped the timing and fully attacked the Qihai point, beginning the acupoint technique!

The Yin energy vortex was like a rotating sharp cone, repeatedly trying to pierce through the Qihai point. Slowly, the Qihai point showed signs of opening.

These signs became more and more pronounced. If the impact on the Qihai point was compared to breaking a tough wall, then now the wall was riddled with cracks, on the verge of collapse.

As time passed, after an hour, the Qihai point could no longer bear the pressure and collapsed with a loud boom.

A large amount of human potential erupted from the Qihai point like a volcanic eruption, quickly merging with the absorbed Yin energy, forming strands of extremely high-quality Yin energy.

At this moment, Wang Lin’s own spiritual energy in the Dantian also began to tremble uncontrollably. Taking advantage of the new-formed Yin energy not yet being strong, it quickly rushed forward and began to absorb it.

Each time a strand of Yin energy formed, it was immediately swallowed by Wang Lin’s spiritual energy, strengthening itself. Gradually, as Wang Lin’s spiritual energy absorbed more and more, the quality of his Yin energy improved, becoming even sharper.

A nebula-like structure appeared at the Qihai point, slowly rotating, and a blue spiritual energy slowly spread outward.

Wang Lin felt the extremely unfamiliar spiritual energy in his body, his eyes flickering, and he lightly tapped a nearby rock.

In an instant, a blue light flashed, and the rock immediately turned into an ice sculpture, emitting a cold Yin energy.

Wang Lin took a deep breath and kicked the ice sculpture, which shattered into countless pieces with a cracking sound.

Wang Lin carefully examined the pieces and was startled. He was shocked to find that the internal structure of the rock had completely changed. There was no trace of the original rock structure; it was entirely a layer of ice with countless fine cracks.

In other words, when he tapped the rock, the spiritual energy in his body not only froze the rock but also changed its internal structure, turning a rock into an ice rock!

Wang Lin did not know that his spiritual energy, through a series of transformations and absorptions, had undergone a subtle change. This change would even confuse Situ Nan if he were to awaken, leaving him puzzled.

In ancient mythology, besides the cultivation stages, there were also three mysterious stages of spiritual energy: Extreme, Dao, and Origin!

These three stages were not mutually exclusive; once formed, they would never change, unless one disbanded their cultivation and started anew.

The difficulty of entering these three stages was neither too great nor too small, but mostly achieved by chance and coincidence.

In ancient mythology, among these three stages, even those with some cultivation experience would not choose the Extreme stage. Although the Extreme stage had high attack power, it had too many drawbacks. The most fatal one was that it represented the ultimate end of all things. From then on, the spiritual energy could only follow an extreme path and could not be compatible with any other attributes. This was a key issue for breaking through to the Soul Formation stage and entering the Spirit Transformation stage.

The Spirit Transformation stage required merging with heaven and earth, forming a cycle, rather than following an extreme path.

Despite this, the benefits of the Extreme stage were numerous. The spiritual energy of the Extreme stage was unmatched by anyone of the same cultivation level.

Once cultivation reached the late Soul Formation stage, although there was no possibility of entering the Spirit Transformation stage, one could become the supreme expert below the Spirit Transformation stage, firmly holding the position of the top expert.

Most importantly, as cultivation progressed, the strong of the Extreme stage did not need any magical treasures because their spiritual energy was the most powerful magical treasure among those of the same cultivation level.

As for the Dao stage, it was the ultimate goal of all cultivators. It was said that once the spiritual energy reached this stage, entering the Spirit Transformation stage was just a matter of time.

This was why the Dao stage became the greatest pursuit and dream of cultivators in ancient times.

As for the Origin stage, if the Extreme stage was compared to death, then the Origin stage was life! It was not something cultivators below the Spirit Transformation stage could comprehend or achieve, and even for the Spirit Transformation stage, the Origin stage was an unattainable goal.

These three stages of spiritual energy were all elusive, especially after the destruction of ancient mythology, and the legends of these three stages gradually faded with time.

Now, cultivators no longer paid attention to their spiritual energy; they only cared about their cultivation stages.

Wang Lin did not know that his spiritual energy, due to multiple transformations and absorptions of Deep Yin, was developing toward the Extreme stage!

The key reason was the Yellow Spring Acupoint Technique. It was one of the few cultivation techniques that could cultivate Extreme stage spiritual energy.

However, the Yellow Spring Acupoint Technique that Situ Nan taught Wang Lin was vastly different from the ancient version. Many parts had deteriorated over time, and most of it was compiled by later generations, only somewhat similar.

As for the spiritual energy reaching the threshold of the Extreme stage, the most crucial reason was the Tian Ni pearl...

Wang Lin looked at his fingertip, his eyes flickering. At that moment, he suddenly looked up, lightly leaped, and flew out of the pit. His gaze fell on the blue-skinned strange man, whose body moved like a blue lightning bolt, rapidly approaching.