Chapter 206: Controlling the Heaven-grade Spiritual Treasure

"Remember, the Treasure Control Formula is not an ordinary dharma spell, but a unique ancient cultivation method tied exclusively to Heaven-grade Spiritual Treasures. It cannot be mastered overnight. You must comprehend it with a calm mind and progress layer by layer."

Xuan Zhenzi reminded him again.

"What I just passed down to you is only a fraction of the Treasure Control Formula. As you continuously inject magical power into the Heaven and Earth Ring, ancient characters will steadily surface on the spirit treasure. You must memorize them one by one. Do not rush your initial practice, or the treasure's light will backlash against you. At best, your efforts will be in vain; at worst, it will injure your Nascent Soul."

Nine Nether nodded. With a slight shift of his fingertips, Daoyang magical power surged from his palm like a stream, slowly flowing into the Five Elements Heaven and Earth Ring.

The ring trembled slightly, then burst forth with even more ancient golden characters. They slowly revolved around the ring, shrouding the entire cave dwelling in a brilliant golden light.

Wind and snow fell silently outside the mountain ravine. Only deep within that hidden cave did a gleam of golden light occasionally flare, only to be suppressed again by the formation.

Time passed silently in the cave, as if it had been swallowed up by the slowly rotating ring of light, leaving scarcely a trace.

"Not bad, Kid Qing." Xuan Zhenzi's voice filtered out from the ring, carrying a hint of praise. "In just half a year, your Treasure Control Formula has nearly reached the threshold of the second layer. An ordinary cultivator would need at least five to eight years of effort just to begin this layer. Given another half a year or so, you will have truly taken control of this Heaven-grade Spiritual Treasure."

Nine Nether did not reply. He simply opened his eyes, slowly stood up, and raised his hand in a gentle guiding motion. The Five Elements Heaven and Earth Ring flew out from his dantian, shrinking to the size of a palm, and hovered before him.

Immediately after, his figure blurred, and he appeared outside the cave dwelling.

Wind and snow rushed against his face as he stood suspended in the air. With a mere thought, the small ring rapidly expanded. It unfurled to seven chi across and floated behind him. Five rings of light, each a different color, rotated in sequence. They shone dazzlingly amidst the swirling snow, like a five-colored sun fallen to the mortal realm.

After stabilizing his stance, Nine Nether focused on feeling this unprecedented power. The ambient spiritual energy within a radius of several hundred li seemed to be gathered by an invisible net, slowly flowing around him.

He tried to manipulate it, and the spiritual energy flowed, gathered, dispersed, and spiraled according to his will. Everything was under his control, as smooth and natural as breathing. He looked down at his own hands, then glanced up at the slowly rotating halo behind him.

This was a power he had never possessed before. Controlling the spiritual energy of heaven and earth with a Nascent Soul body—that was a feat exclusively reserved for a Deity Transformation Cultivator.

He stood there for a moment, not speaking and making no further movements. He merely felt the quiet weight of that power flowing through his meridians.

With his current cultivation, he could control this Heaven-grade Spiritual Treasure for at most two quarters of an hour, but that was enough. With this Heaven-grade Spiritual Treasure in his possession, he could be called the true number one person below Deity Transformation.

'If one day I truly step into Deity Transformation, and still have this item in my possession... what level will I reach?' He did not say the words aloud. He simply reined in his focus and stored the Heaven and Earth Ring back into his dantian, like sheathing a freshly tested blade.

Xuan Zhenzi's voice drifted out from the ring, as if he had seen right through his thoughts. "Kid Qing, practicing the Ten Palaces Art and achieving the Unity of the Ten Palaces inherently requires a massive amount of ambient spiritual energy. Now that you have this Five Origins Universal Hub, the final condition is met. Once you cultivate to the Late Nascent Soul Stage Pinnacle, and then find an opportunity to break through the realm, your chances of reaching Deity Transformation will be at least forty percent."

"Only forty percent." Nine Nether's face remained impassive, but he quietly chewed on that number in his mind, offering no further reply.

Seeing him like this, Xuan Zhenzi didn't push the matter. He yawned, his voice carrying an obvious weariness. "Alright, I won't waste any more breath on you. If I hadn't been afraid of you messing up your cultivation, I would have gone back to sleep long ago. That Linghu kid's Nascent Soul hasn't been digested yet, so I am going into slumber. Unless it's something major, don't wake me."

With that said, the little golden figure spiraling along the ring's edge suddenly burst apart. It turned into specks of golden light that drifted through the air and soon vanished without a trace.

Nine Nether watched the scattering golden light, his gaze as placid as if he were watching a passing gust of wind. He then raised his eyes toward Ganzhou, paused for a moment, and withdrew his gaze.

Meanwhile, in the market towns and cities across Southern Frost, the liveliest topic of discussion over the past few days constantly revolved around the same event. In a tavern, several tables of rogue cultivators sat gathered together. Wine bowls clinked loudly as their voices filled the entire hall.

"Daoyang Sect truly lives up to its name as the number one great sect in Southern Frost for the past ten thousand years. Their foundation is terrifyingly deep." A man set down his wine bowl and smacked his lips.

"I always said those demonic brats from the Guiming Sect would get their retribution sooner or later. Now they've finally been uprooted. I suppose that vents some anger for all the rogue cultivators they've ruined over the years."

A young cultivator from a neighboring table leaned over, looking completely lost. "I've only been in seclusion for three years, how did the world turn upside down? Quick, tell me, what exactly happened?"

Someone at the table eagerly took up the thread of conversation and began to recount the story vividly.

Rumor had it that half a year ago, Daoyang Sect suddenly launched an all-out offensive against Guiming Sect. That massive demonic path sect, which had been entrenched in Southern Frost for years and claimed to stand on equal footing with Daoyang Sect, was completely eradicated in a matter of days. Almost every single one of its Nascent Soul cultivators was wiped out.

When the news first broke, most people refused to believe it. After all, it was a major demonic path sect—how could it be destroyed so easily? Later on, some managed to indirectly gather information from within Daoyang Sect itself. Coupled with the fact that not a single Guiming Sect disciple had been spotted anywhere in Southern Frost over the past half year, the truth of the rumors was gradually confirmed.

"I'm telling you, I have reliable information on this." A middle-aged cultivator wearing a long gown and waving a folding fan lowered his voice, as if afraid of being overheard, though he spoke quite rapidly. "I have a nephew who works as a steward in Daoyang Sect. According to him, that battle was earth-shattering. Dozens of mountain peaks were leveled to the ground, entirely altering the landscape. When those Nascent Soul cultivators fought..."

The people around him nodded in agreement, clicking their tongues in wonder.

Nine Nether sat at a table in the corner, holding a teacup, quietly listening to the man recount a "great battle" that he himself had never actually witnessed.

He did not interject, nor did he expose the increasingly exaggerated details. He merely took a gentle sip of his tea.

Linghu Shou was a formation Grandmaster. Nine Nether had found a manuscript while going through his storage pouch. The handwriting was fine and neat, as if the writer had spent a long time untangling those unspeakable past events.

From that manuscript, he saw the invisible thread connecting Daoyang Sect and Guiming Sect. The relationship between the two sects ran far deeper than the outside world ever imagined.

The founding ancestor of Guiming Sect had never truly betrayed Daoyang Sect.

Back then, after rumors spread of the Daoyang founding ancestor's—Xuan Zhenzi's—death, Daoyang Sect endured a period of severe turmoil. Internal strife and external threats arrived one after another. Subordinate factions gradually grew rebellious, and forces over in Ganzhou were secretly eyeing them as well.

To stabilize the situation as quickly as possible, the upper echelon of the time made a bold decision: they publicly announced that a Supreme Elder of the sect had fallen to the demonic path, using it as a cover to secretly establish Guiming Sect.

After over a century of careful operation, Guiming Sect gradually established a foothold in Southern Frost under the guise of a "demonic path faction." They specifically targeted small and medium factions that refused to pay tribute to Daoyang Sect, striking with ruthless methods and moving without a trace.

To protect themselves, those vulnerable factions had no choice but to attach themselves to Daoyang Sect once again to seek shelter.

Meanwhile, Daoyang Sect took the opportunity to retreat behind the scenes. They maintained their pristine reputation as a righteous orthodox sect, while using Guiming Sect as a "black hand" to continuously extort cultivation resources.

Factions that fell in line were left in peace. Those that resisted were "disciplined" by Guiming Sect. If they encountered a truly stubborn force, they simply wiped it out, quietly funneling the plundered resources back to Daoyang Sect.

This arrangement ensured that Daoyang Sect never had to dirty their own hands, nor did they ever suffer a shortage of resources.

One in the light, one in the dark; one righteous, one evil. The two sects acted as two sides of the same coin, perfectly covering for each other.

In just a few hundred years, Daoyang Sect hoarded a staggering amount of cultivation resources. The Nine Yang True Fire had been plundered from a medium-sized faction during that era. Countless other rare heavenly materials and earthly treasures had been seized right alongside it and deposited into Daoyang Sect's treasury.

As time passed, to prevent Guiming Sect from ever slipping out of their control, the upper echelon of Daoyang Sect took things a step further. They gradually replaced the leadership of Guiming Sect with Corpse Puppets.

Aside from a select few who needed to show their faces publicly, almost every single Nascent Soul cultivator within Guiming Sect was swapped out for a Corpse Puppet.

The core control Tokens for those Corpse Puppets were forever held in the hands of each generation's Supreme Great Elder. Through these layered precautions, Daoyang Sect enjoyed several thousand more years of secure dominance.

Nine Nether closed the manuscript, set it back on the table, and picked up his teacup for another sip.

The snow outside the window continued to fall, and the gossip inside the tavern rolled on, sounding as though it would never cease.

He listened to those half-true, half-false rumors for a while longer. He didn't interject, nor was he in any rush to leave.