The next day, as the first ray of sun entered the valley, Xiao Ning woke up, stepped out, and jumped onto the roof. He immediately sat cross-legged, closed his eyes, and began meditating.
It was a habit Xiao Ning had developed recently. At first, he just meditated to calm his mind. Yet after a period, Xiao Ning noticed that his spiritual strength increased slightly.
Even after trying for a while, Xiao Ning couldn't find the reason behind it. He speculated that his cultivation and understanding of this world were still not enough.
In contrast to Dou Qi cultivation, the spiritual energy cultivation method is strictly controlled by the behemoths of the continent. Not everyone is qualified to access it.
Moreover, any treasure related to spiritual energy has a fatal attraction to every alchemist. After all, mental energy is the foundation.
Yet, it did not stop him from taking advantage of this unknown fortune and raise his spiritual energy.
So, every day, Xiao Ning would sit on the rooftop and meditate to increase his spiritual energy.
......
'Exhale!' Xiao Ning opened his eyes and let out a murky breath.
"Something must be hidden in this valley," Xiao Ning muttered as he gazed around. Otherwise, how could there be such a coincidence? The presence of unknown energy and its effect on spiritual strength alone baffled him.
Xiao Ning jumped off the roof and continued with his daily training regime. He poured most of his time into practicing the two Dou Techniques and teaching Xiao Xi Yian.
In such a manner, a few days passed. Oblivious to the outside world, Xiao Ning and Xi Yian buried themselves into training.
......
Presently, Xiao Ning stood in a quiet corner of the valley. His face showed a solemn expression. Slowly an illusionary golden figure condensed behind his back.
The most dazzling were its arms, and unlike the illusionary golden figure, its arms condensed at a rapid pace. If it were not for the Dou Qi fluctuations; Xiao Ning would have mistaken it for real pair of arms.
'Myriad Budha Hands!' Suddenly, Xiao Ning opened his eyes, and at the same time, the golden figure opened its eyes, raised dark-golden colored arms, and patted the boulder in front.
'Boom!' With a bang, the boulder disappeared, and a handprint appeared in its place.
'Exhale!' Xiao Ning let out a deep breath, and the golden figure behind him dissipated. His eyes glowed after looking at the masterpiece in front of him.
"Too strong," Xiao Ning involuntarily muttered. His eyes twitched after looking at the crater. Now he realized that 'Myriad Budha Hands' is at least a Heaven Grade Dou Technique.
The next moment, his face lost a little color, Xiao Ning sat on the ground, and his body trembled. At present, he could barely display the fur of this technique, and it consumed all of his Dou Qi.
Ever since Xiao Ning cultivated 'Battle Budha Art,' he had never faced this situation.
Xiao Ning shook his head and did not think much about it. It was already a miracle for him to display a Heaven Grade Dou Technique without hurting his foundation in the process.
His eyes flickered, and Xiao Ning turned his thoughts towards the mysterious energy present in the valley. Before, he didn't dare to investigate it, but now after successfully practicing 'Myriad Budha Hand,' he became confident.
After recovering a part of his Dou Qi, Xiao Ning returned towards the straw hut and spent some time with Xi Yian.
......
Xiao Ning used his spiritual strength to scan the area to find the place with the highest concentration of the mysterious energy.
After a while, Xiao Ning finally found the place.
He looked at the area, frowned, and muttered, "Out of all the places, how could this barren field has such a high concentration of mysterious energy."
After observing the area for a while, Xiao Ning took back his initial assumption and spoke out loud, "Everything makes sense; I should have thought about it earlier."
Earlier, Xiao Ning did not pay much attention to the valley; hence, he did not discover it. Only now did he notice that apart from this barren field in the center. The rest of the areas are green and filled with vitality.
Filled with curiosity, Xiao Ning slowly released a part of his spiritual strength and tried to sense the mysterious energy.
'Bam!' As soon as Xiao Ning released his spiritual strength, the energy present in the surrounding started rioting and converged towards Xiao Ning.
The mysterious energy treated Xiao Ning as hostile and began attacking his spirit.
'Bang!' As is a hammer hit his head, Xiao Ning clutched his head and tried to endure the pain. It was the first time he ever felt such intense pain.
Xiao Ning was confident in his ability to endure the physical pain, but it couldn't be said the same for his spirit.
After all, Xiao Ning never cultivated his spiritual strength; even his manipulation of mental power was rough, self-taught from the alchemy scroll in his possession.
Xiao Ning was aware of it, but he was helpless as there was nothing he could do. He decided to look for a secret technique related to it after going to Jia Nan academy.
Xiao Ning did not believe that as the top academy on the continent, Jia Nan academy did not possess a secret technique to cultivate spiritual strength.
Yet, how could Xiao Ning have known that his only weakness would become his Achilles heel. Before even getting a chance to explore the barren field, he encountered a fatal danger.
......
'Ahh!' Xiao Ning's eyes blood-red, and he screamed. Yet, no one, not even Xi Yian, could hear a sound. It was as if there was an invisible barrier blocking all sounds.
One after another, images appeared in his mind, one crueler than the other. Vaguely, Xiao Ning could see a blurry figure sitting on top of a corpse mountain.
The intense pain made it impossible for Xiao Ning to concentrate. He was lucky enough to keep his sanity.
The blurry man sitting on top of the corpse mountain casually looked at Xiao Ning and released a monstrous killing intent.
It seemed as if time and space punctured; Xiao Ning felt his body pressed down by pressure he never experienced before, and a monstrous killing intent raged in his mind.
Xiao Ning bit his lips, unwilling to surrender, he summoned, 'Golden Budha Flame' from within his Qi cyclone and enveloped his body.
He did not intend to protect himself with the flame; instead, Xiao Ning used the fire to burn his body and used the pain as stimulation to remain conscious.
