Treasure Art

It took about a breath's time for the dizzying sensation to pass and for Ning Fan's vision to clear.

"..."

His body lurched, and he nearly tumbled to the ground. Before he could fall, a figure caught him, and a familiar, comforting fragrance filled his senses.

Ning Fan looked up to find Yun Qingyao watching him with deep concern.

"Qingyao?"

He subconsciously surveyed his surroundings. He was standing right inside the main hall of Changming Peak. With a mere wave of her hand, that old crone had flung him from Qianyang Cave back to Changming Peak in the blink of an eye.

Such methods were truly extraordinary.

"..."

Miao Tian frowned, casting a worried look at Ning Fan. He knew Zhao Nantian had just marched Ning Fan off to the Zhao family compound.

No one expected him back so soon.

It was impossible to guess what had transpired.

"Oh?"

"Our Junior Brother Ning finally shows his face. Where did that little spatial trick come from?"

Li Yunqi slung an arm familiarly over Ning Fan's shoulder.

"If I have a choice, I never want to experience that again," Ning Fan said with a bitter smile.

When that black gale had wrapped around him, his entire body had been suppressed by an incomprehensible force. His life and death had rested entirely on the whim of another.

It was a thoroughly unpleasant feeling.

"Very well."

"Back to business. Regarding the Peak Competition, do any of you have further questions? Speak now. For all of you, this is a magnificent fated chance."

The Master of Changming Peak cut the chatter short. Though her question was addressed to everyone, her gaze remained fixed squarely on Ning Fan.

Ning Fan kept his mouth shut.

He had already gleaned plenty of useful information from the Zhao family's Dao Lord. The minor details could wait until the Peak Competition actually commenced.

While every Peak Competition varied slightly, the core format never changed.

"Good."

"Since there are no more questions, come forward and receive your resources. You are all exceptional disciples of our Yin Yang Peak."

"You must do everything in your power to elevate yourselves within the Yin Yang Tower."

"Bear this in mind."

"Your ranking is secondary; cultivating your strength is what truly matters."

Yin Fengyue, the Peak Master of Changming Peak, spoke with solemn gravity.

"Take yours."

Miao Tian stepped forward, carrying a tray laden with several storage rings. Every Dao Companion pair, including Ning Fan, received one.

"..."

Ning Fan accepted his storage ring and swept his divine sense inside. When he saw the number of Spirit Stones, his mouth twitched slightly.

It was exactly as the Zhao family's Dao Lord had predicted.

-Two thousand Spirit Stones.

Sigh.

One could only lament that Changming Peak's reserves were simply too meager.

Providing two thousand Spirit Stones to each of them was already their limit. Anything more would actively disrupt the peak's daily operations.

They couldn't very well halt the distribution of monthly stipends to the rest of the peak, could they? That would be a disaster capable of tearing the lineage apart.

"..."

Ning Fan squeezed his hand into a fist. Tucked safely against his palm was the storage ring from the Zhao family's Dao Lord. The thirty thousand Spirit Stones resting inside gave him an incredible sense of security.

"The Peak Competition will begin in a matter of days. Use this remaining time to further solidify your foundations and maximize your chances of climbing higher within the Yin Yang Tower."

"Alternatively, you may rest and hoard your cultivation resources, saving them for use after you enter the tower."

"The choice is yours."

Yin Fengyue murmured quietly before turning to slowly exit the hall, leaving only Miao Tian, Ning Fan, and the other disciples behind.

"For the next few days, formal training is suspended. Focus entirely on preparing for the Peak Competition," Miao Tian instructed.

"Yes!!"

At Miao Tian's announcement, Li Yunqi cried out in pure excitement. By the time he realized he had crossed a line, the shout had already echoed through the hall.

He clamped a hand over his mouth, staring at Miao Tian in absolute terror.

By then, Miao Tian's face had already turned as black as the bottom of a charcoal pot.

"Li Yunqi..."

"Ch-Chief Disciple."

"Starting today until the day before the competition, you will run three laps around the main peak every single day. Do I make myself clear?!"

"I..." Li Yunqi's face twitched violently.

He wanted nothing more than to give his own mouth a vicious thrashing.

A quarter of an hour later, Ning Fan and Yun Qingyao returned to their cave dwelling.

"Husband, what should we choose?"

Yun Qingyao asked gently.

Whether to expend their Spirit Stones immediately on dual cultivation to boost their strength, or to save them for cultivation inside the Yin Yang Tower, was a choice that required careful thought.

For Ning Fan, however, there was no need to agonize over it.

"Wife, let's have a session first."

"Mm..."

Ning Fan took Yun Qingyao by the hand as they walked toward the bed chamber. Along the way, their garments fluttered to the floor like falling snow.

A moment later, a bright white light flashed.

"..."

Ye Honglian materialized in Yun Qingyao's place, lying beside Ning Fan. By now, she had grown thoroughly accustomed to their dual cultivation.

It had practically become second nature.

"Fairy Sister, what do you make of this?"

"Do you recognize it?"

"..."

Ning Fan flipped his palm, revealing two pieces of bone before Ye Honglian.

They were the exact bones the little turtle had spat out after devouring the corpse of the Heaven Extreme Realm Demon Beast.

"Hold still, I can't see them clearly!"

Ye Honglian shot him a sharp glare. But the moment her eyes locked onto the items in his hand, her gaze froze, and her eyes widened in astonishment.

"Are these... Beast Soul Bones?"

"Beast Soul Bones?" Ning Fan repeated, murmuring the unfamiliar name.

He had never heard the term before, let alone understood what purpose they served.

"A Beast Soul Bone is a unique bone that retains a fraction of a Demon Beast's soul. They only have a slight probability of forming when a sufficiently powerful beast perishes."

"The minimum requirement is the Earth Extreme Realm."

"Even when an Earth Extreme Realm Demon Beast falls, the odds of a single Beast Soul Bone forming are less than one in ten thousand."

"And you somehow have two?" Ye Honglian asked, her voice laced with disbelief.

"They're that rare?!" Ning Fan was genuinely startled.

He had never imagined that the beast corpse Lingxu Fairy had carelessly discarded would contain such priceless treasures. He only hoped their utility matched their rarity.

"Fairy Sister, what exactly do these Beast Soul Bones do?" Ning Fan asked eagerly.

"A Beast Soul Bone preserves the innate soul of a Demon Beast. If a cultivator can commune with and comprehend the soul fragment sealed within the bone, they can master a Treasure Art," Ye Honglian explained.

"A Treasure Art?" Ning Fan pressed.

"Yes. You can think of it as a highly specialized martial technique. However, invoking a Treasure Art does not drain your spiritual power. Instead, it relies entirely on raw physical strength, consuming the cultivator's own vital blood and qi. When a cultivator activates a Treasure Art, their physical form will even undergo a beastly manifestation."

"Oh?"

Ning Fan muttered to himself, a spark of genuine intrigue lighting up his eyes.

From the sound of it, this Treasure Art possessed quite an fascinating mechanism.

"I wonder what kind of might the Treasure Art inside these bones holds?" Ning Fan pondered aloud.

"That depends entirely on the realm of the Demon Beast the bones were harvested from, as well as the inherent physical strength of the cultivator executing the art," Ye Honglian said.

She found herself increasingly curious about how Ning Fan had acquired these bones. Surely he couldn't have hunted down an Earth Extreme Realm Demon Beast by himself?

That was virtually impossible.

"Mm..."

Ning Fan knit his brows tightly. These Beast Soul Bones had been left behind after the Flesh Puppet was dismantled.

He had no way of knowing whether the bones belonged to the core of the Flesh Puppet itself or to one of the various Hybrid Demon Beasts used during its horrific creation.

In short-it was hard to say.

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