Chapter 214: Primordial Stone
Chapter 214: Primordial Stone
“Cultivation differs from governing nations. Battling heaven requires an unyielding will, confronting earth demands relentless advance, and facing human rivals needs courage as your spearhead.”
Cheng Lingyu fell silent. These struggles against heaven, earth, and mankind defined life’s unavoidable trials – everyone endured them, though through different paths.
“Lady Thousand Snow speaks wisdom. Statecraft focuses on ruling territories while cultivation spans boundless seas – one contracts, the other expands. Entirely opposite directions.”
Thousand Snow laughed lightly. “Selfish hearts seek enlightenment. Selfless hearts remain untouched by techniques. Even the heavenly way holds selfishness, manipulating the heavens through power.”
Cheng Lingyu felt shaken. Thousand Snow’s cultivation insights surpassed his understanding, broadening his perspectives.
“What does Lady Thousand Snow seek? May I assist?”
Thousand Snow gazed at Lingyu, her eyes shimmering like disturbed water. The swirling depths nearly ensnared his consciousness, nearly knocking him unconscious instantly.
Cheng Lingyu strained against the compulsion, unleashing his Dreamy Magic Eyes completely. Yet resistance proved futile.
At the critical moment, his Nine Ring Star Vortex shuddered, emitting peculiar vibrations that jolted him awake.
“You intrigue me – harboring numerous secrets. I seek a stone called Sky Insight Stone. Rumors claim one exists in this ancient ruin, yet my search proved fruitless.”
“Could the rumors be false? Or perhaps the timing’s wrong?” Cheng Lingyu reasoned.
“Possibly. Toxic mist fills this ravine. Does that frighten you?”
“Not at all. I wish to investigate below. Will Lady Thousand Snow accompany me?”
“Go ahead. I’ll wait here.”
Thousand Snow stood like wind-swept divinity, her beauty making Cheng Lingyu’s soul tremble.
Hiding his disappointment, he nodded. “Then I’ll descend first.”
Leaping into churning black mist, Cheng Lingyu plunged toward the ravine’s depths.
Bitter cold permeated the gorge – unbearable for ordinary folk. A dragon-shaped shadow materialized around Cheng Lingyu, inhaling the chilling aura and warming the surrounding air.
The toxic black mist recoiled mysteriously from his presence.
Below lay a moisture-laden small stream. Beast’s bones littered the ravine floor, decayed by black vapors seeping from the earth.
The stream’s clear waters contrasted starkly with the poisonous haze. When Cheng Lingyu approached to test the water, reality warped suddenly. The stream exploded into a massive river with hundred-foot waves threatening to engulf him.
Cheng Lingyu stumbled back with a cry. Instantly, the roaring river shrank back to a trickling stream.
“Space manipulation?” he muttered, shaken by this unprecedented phenomenon.
Steeling himself, he inched forward cautiously. Crossing an invisible boundary transformed the stream anew. Retreating reversed the change – proving the spatial distortion’s limits.
“How strange this place is! How was it formed?”
Cheng Lingyu pondered deeply, his mind blank. He only recognized it involved spatial techniques but couldn’t grasp the reason.
“This is the Spatial Folding Technique. You’ll understand once you reach the Spirit Martial Realm.”
The information came from Youchen Nine Domains Orchid, which held deep knowledge of spatial arts. Sadly, Cheng Lingyu’s current realm was too low.
Activating the Glowing Star Seven-Colored Source, Cheng Lingyu searched for the Primordial Stone’s location. He discovered it lay directly beneath the small stream.
Cheng Lingyu hesitated. Approaching the stream would trigger its transformation into a raging river. Entering through the folded space risked being swept away by the torrent.
As he deliberated, Cheng Lingyu abruptly sensed danger. He whirled around to see a shadowy figure emerge from the black mist several meters away.
“Who’s there?”
His shout shattered the ravine’s silence. A Man in Black stepped from the mist—a gaunt, expressionless middle-aged man with a black snake coiled on his shoulder.
The man reeked of decay, his eyes hollow and lifeless like a walking corpse.
Cheng Lingyu instinctively retreated, accidentally crossing into the folded space near the stream.
The Man in Black wordlessly followed him into the distorted space.
“Who are you?”
Cheng Lingyu edged backward along the massive riverbank. Protective light shimmered around him as formations beneath his feet activated, layering defenses.
Ignoring the question, the Man in Black strode toward the river. The shoulder snake suddenly expanded into a thousand-foot behemoth with gleaming black scales, casting dragon-serpent shadows across the water.
The colossal snake plunged into the river current. The Man in Black alighted on its head, never sparing Cheng Lingyu a glance.
Relieved, Cheng Lingyu retreated from the folded space. Peering at the original stream, he spotted a tiny snake carrying a barely visible black dot.
“Where are they headed?”
Following the stream downstream, Cheng Lingyu found it pooling into a basin dotted with faintly glowing whirlpools.
The snake entered a whirlpool, creating brief ripples before vanishing.
After hesitating, Cheng Lingyu approached. Crossing the boundary transformed the pool into an endless sea dominated by a swirling vortex emitting mysterious radiance.
Activating his Dreamy Magic Eyes, Cheng Lingyu glimpsed a shifting luminous mass at the vortex’s heart—a unstable portal-like phenomenon.
After lengthy observation, Cheng Lingyu withdrew without venturing further.
Returning to where he’d encountered the Man in Black, he refocused on locating the Primordial Stone—his original objective.
Within the folded space, the raging river’s violent currents threatened to engulf anything within reach.
Cheng Lingyu summoned the Glowing Star Seven-Colored Source, shaping it into a seven-layered octagonal pagoda. He cautiously lowered the structure into the furious waters.
The glowing pagoda—ethereal yet potent as an Immortal Soul—sank steadily through the raging current.
Upon reaching the riverbed, it continued descending toward the Primordial Stone’s location, drawn by the artifact’s innate attraction.
Merged with the Glowing Star Seven-Colored Source, Cheng Lingyu perceived underground vistas through its vision—including a soft glow buried deep beneath the earth.
That was the Primordial Stone. It lay within a hardened rock formation, encircled by shimmering Strange Stones standing guard like silent sentinels.
The Glowing Star Seven-Colored Source drew near the Primordial Stone. The seven-layered octagonal pagoda abruptly enlarged, covering both the stone and its luminous guardians.
Cheng Lingyu suddenly felt the earth tremble beneath him, vibrations intensifying as toxic mist within the ravine churned violently—the Primordial Stone was being dislodged.
Waves surged like towering walls in the massive river. From its depths rose the pagoda, glowing fiercely as it emerged. Within its radiance shone the Primordial Stone alongside twelve glittering Strange Stones.
Retracting the Glowing Star Seven-Colored Source, Cheng Lingyu found an egg-sized green stone resting in his left palm—smooth and warm to the touch. His right hand clutched twelve thumb-sized Green Gemstones, their cores swirling with emerald liquid brimming with concentrated energy.
“These resemble those red gemstones,” he mused, “yet their power source differs.”
After storing the Green Gemstones, he examined the Primordial Stone. Though appearing like an oversized Green Gemstone to ordinary sight, his Dreamy Magic Eyes pierced deeper—revealing life pulsing within its jade shell, alongside the Da Dao Imprint marking the Primordial Realm. Countless runes spiraled within, layers upon layers of intricate patterns weaving an unfathomable mystery.
“Such profundity,” Cheng Lingyu breathed. “This Primordial Realm rivals even the Sky Splitting Wind Seal on Fang Tian Bao Yin. My current cultivation level barely grasps its edges.”
Securing the stone in his Spirit Cloak Ring, he scanned the surroundings before ascending from the ravine.
Thousand Snow waited at the cliff’s edge, her beautiful face lighting with a faint smile. “Fortune favors you. What caused those strange tremors below?”
“Someone was there,” Cheng Lingyu answered. “A blank-faced Man in Black… with a serpent coiled on his shoulder.”
Interest flickered across Thousand Snow’s features. “Show me.”
They descended through parting toxic mist that recoiled ten paces from her. Reaching the pool’s edge, they entered the hidden space where water stretched endlessly. At its center, the vortex’s heart still pulsed with unstable brilliance.
After brief observation, Thousand Snow declared, “I’ll investigate. Your cultivation level can’t withstand this—wait here.”
Cheng Lingyu’s protest died unspoken as she dissolved into radiant light, piercing the vortex’s core.
Helpless, he focused his Dreamy Magic Eyes on the churning heart. The luminous mass convulsed violently after her entry, ripples of disturbance spreading outward.
“Has she met that Man in Black?” Worry tightened his chest. Though Thousand Snow’s power dwarfed his own, the black-clad figure had radiated palpable danger.