Chapter 88

After leaving the lottery station, Ding Ning did not go to Guangzi's house to eat fish, but instead returned to his small courtyard by car.

The lottery results would only be known the next day, and there was nothing much to do tonight. Ding Ning was still thinking about coming back to absorb the earth fire.

As soon as he entered the door, the little fox cat pounced over. Ding Ning felt a bit guilty for leaving it here all alone.

After playing with the little fox cat for a while, Ding Ning entered the cellar, closed all the doors and windows, and then took out a small bottle made of pebbles.

The bottle was very hot, almost transparent, and Ding Ning couldn't help but be amazed. The pebbles, which had a melting point of 1800 degrees, were showing signs of melting. The power of the earth fire was indeed extraordinary.

After removing the seal of heaven and earth's primordial energy from the bottle's mouth and opening it, a wave of intense heat began to emanate.

Ding Ning placed the bottle in front of him, focused his mind, and began to refine and absorb the heat with his primordial energy.

If his realm were higher, he could directly absorb the earth fire, but since Ding Ning's realm was not high enough, he had to use this intermediate method, absorbing it bit by bit.

Absorbing the first bottle was the hardest; the fiery heat seemed to want to ignite him. Fortunately, Ding Ning had the experience and memory of a cultivator, and he managed to tough it out.

After absorbing the first bottle, it became much easier. Each bottle of earth fire energy could be completely absorbed after one major cycle of cultivation.

Ding Ning returned in the afternoon, and by the time he finished absorbing the first bottle, it was already evening. After that, he absorbed one bottle every one and a half hours. By the next morning, he had absorbed eight bottles of earth fire energy.

There were still seven bottles of earth fire, but Ding Ning was not in a hurry. After such a long period of cultivation, he needed to rest. After putting everything away, he got up and left the courtyard to go eat.

This area was near the high school district, and most of the breakfast customers were students. Ding Ning entered a noodle shop, where there were already many students.

When Ding Ning entered, he found that one of his dorm mates was also eating, Li Tu.

Li Tu was clearly taken aback when he saw Ding Ning and asked uncertainly, "Are you Ding Ning?"

"Have you forgotten me so quickly?"

Ding Ning smiled and sat down opposite Li Tu, saying to the owner, "Three bowls of beef noodles, please."

Li Tu quickly said, "One bowl of hot noodles is enough for me."

"These are for myself."

During cultivation, the consumption was great, and his entire body had to withstand the impact of the primordial energy. If he didn't eat more, he wouldn't be able to endure it.

Li Tu's eyes widened in amazement at Ding Ning's appetite, and he found it even harder to believe the change in Ding Ning.

"Ding Ning, you look very different, much thinner and more handsome. I can't imagine how you can eat so much and still lose weight."

"More food, more exercise, good for weight loss." Ding Ning gave a vague answer and asked Li Tu, "How's school been recently?"

"It's okay, but the teachers are very unhappy that you never come to school. Although the class president always explains for you, I don't think he can keep it up much longer. Recently, Meng Xiaowen has been speaking up for you."

Ding Ning nodded, realizing that he needed to visit the school at some point, at least to get past the teachers. Relying on Meng Xiaowen all the time wouldn't work, and he would eventually be expelled.

The beef noodles arrived, and Ding Ning ate them quickly, while Li Tu ate his hot noodles slowly.

Ding Ning glanced at Li Tu's bowl, which was very light and had no beef.

"Do you eat so little? Is it enough?"

"I have no choice; I need to earn money, and there are many children waiting for me."

"Children?" Ding Ning looked at him in confusion. Li Tu didn't look like someone who had children.

"I grew up in an orphanage and still work there as a volunteer. I have a good relationship with the children. If you have money, you can donate to the orphanage. I promise every cent will go to the children."

After Li Tu finished speaking, he also finished his meal and looked at Ding Ning.

Ding Ning felt a bit awkward as he patted his pocket. After this meal of beef noodles, he only had enough money to take the bus back to the old district. He was planning to return to the lottery station to continue making money as a fortune-teller and didn't have any money to donate to the orphanage.

Seeing Ding Ning's expression, Li Tu didn't say anything and left the noodle shop.

Although he couldn't donate at the moment, this gave Ding Ning a new idea. Perhaps his growth in divine consciousness would depend on this orphanage.

After finishing his noodles, Ding Ning returned to the courtyard to continue his cultivation.

This time, he cultivated until evening, finally absorbing all the earth fire.

When the last bottle of earth fire was absorbed, all the earth fire energy in Ding Ning's body gathered together, forming a complete flame!

The flame burned in his dantian. Since it was absorbed and refined in batches, it would not harm Ding Ning's body and even became a part of him.

Feeling the earth fire, which was several times more intense than ordinary fire, Ding Ning was filled with excitement.

Finally, he had the fire needed for alchemy and refining artifacts. This way, not only could he refine a storage ring to five square meters, but he could also improve the quality of the spirit-gathering pill.

He could even refine magical artifacts in the future!

As his excitement gradually subsided, Ding Ning skillfully controlled the earth fire for a while and then took out the obsidian essence and white light stone.

Refining a storage ring was a basic skill for cultivators, and there was no possibility of failure. The only difference was the quality of the ring, which depended on the refining fire used.

Ding Ning held the obsidian essence and white light stone in his left and right hands, respectively, and silently released the earth fire.

The cellar brightened, and Ding Ning's palms spewed out intense flames, enveloping the two stones.

The intense flames began to break down the components of the stones, softening them.

The obsidian essence, representing yin energy, and the white light stone, representing yang energy, gradually turned into black and white liquids, flowing in Ding Ning's palms.

"Yin and yang interact, space is born!"

Ding Ning shouted and clapped his hands together. The two liquids instantly merged, forming a yin-yang fish pattern in his palms.

The earth fire became even more intense, deforming the yin-yang fish and gradually forming a ring.

During this process, Ding Ning's primordial energy was injected intensely, making the ring his personal possession. In a world without cultivators, no one but himself could open the storage ring.

After five minutes, the flames in Ding Ning's palms gradually died out, and he was drenched in sweat, his primordial energy nearly depleted.

He slowly opened his palms, and a black and white ring appeared.

Two patterns intertwined and twisted, forming the curved part of the ring. On the ring's surface, a miniature yin-yang fish was clearly visible, exuding an ancient and mysterious aura.

"A very beautiful ring, this pattern is probably unique."

Ding Ning put the ring on his left ring finger and then entered its space with his divine consciousness.

The inside of the ring was empty, like a square room. Ding Ning's divine consciousness swept through, and he was pleasantly surprised to find that the storage ring had a volume of six cubic meters.

It seemed he had overperformed this time. He had conservatively estimated five cubic meters, but it turned out he had underestimated.

The walls were black and white, and the height and width were both six meters.

Ding Ning looked around for a while before reluctantly leaving the ring's space.

After leaving, Ding Ning first put the alchemy furnace, beast blood, and other items into the ring's space.

Then he went to the courtyard and took down the two three-leaf clovers and the seeds, putting them all into the ring.

Plants would not grow in the storage ring, but they would not wither either. Ding Ning took them down for safety, as he couldn't stay here to guard them for a long time.

After taking down the three-leaf clovers, the residual spiritual energy here was no longer necessary. Ding Ning returned to the cellar and began to absorb the earth's spiritual energy intensely.

The consumption of refining the storage ring was significant, and Ding Ning needed to replenish all the spiritual energy.

After this absorption, Ding Ning planned to abandon this small courtyard, so he absorbed without any restraint. This cultivation lasted for fifteen hours, until the next noon.

After finishing his cultivation, Ding Ning suddenly opened his eyes, a flash of light passing through them!

All the spiritual energy had been absorbed, and this spiritual acupoint was now exhausted. As a result, Ding Ning had entered the second stage of the Qi Induction realm!