Published at 14th of May 2023 5:00 am

Chapter 1044: Blooming Rings

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Sichuan Qiutian took out an extremely ancient-looking teleportation jade token and activated it. An instant later, weak lights, the same colour as the surrounding seawater, appeared from the token, covering Ning Cheng and Sichen Qiutian and teleporting them away instantly.

Ning Cheng sighed internally. The Dao of Arrays was no different from cultivation, without an end. The teleportation formation they had just passed through was much more sophisticated than the one he had gone through to enter the Secret City. At least he could still see some traces of that formation, even if he couldn’t set it up himself. It also made him realise the meaning behind the phrase, “the higher one’s strength climbed, the weaker one would feel”.

A few moments later, he and Sichuan Qiutian landed on a round stone platform.

Sichen Qiutian looked at the teleportation jade token that had now lost its dao rhythm and smiled to himself in a slightly deprecating manner. “This token can only activate the teleportation formation three times. It’s useless now.”

“Where did you two come from?” A harsh but steady voice came, and Ning Cheng saw a man with pitch-black tattoo markings on his head appear next to the stone platform.

Sichen Qiutian handed this man the used-up teleportation jade token and said, “Pill Union Sichen Qiutian has come all the way to Mysterious Ferry Ancient Clan for a special visit.”

The man looked at the two for a long while before finally nodding, “The two of you, please follow me.”

Ning Cheng and Sichen Qiutian followed behind this man, but he did not sweep out with his spiritual consciousness. With Ning Cheng’s experience, he could tell that even a mortal could easily perceive many dangerous things. Besides, he was a guest here, so surveying the surroundings in such a manner might actually be detrimental to them.

Besides, Ning Cheng wasn’t even sure if he was still in the Grand Essence Sea.

After walking for a full incense stick worth of time, the man leading them finally stopped in front of a stone door. He bowed to it and said, “Pill Union’s Sichen Qiutian has come for a visit using our Mysterious Ferry Ancient Clan’s teleportation token.”

Only after a long time did a voice come from inside the stone door, “An actual heir from the Pill Union? Let them come in.”

“Yes.” The man returned the jade token to Sichen Qiutian and said, “The two of you, please come inside.”

The stone door suddenly opened just as Sichen Qiutian received the jade token. Ning Cheng followed Sichen Qiutian through the open door and suddenly felt dazed. This wasn’t a ‘room’, but a chamber albeit empty. The chamber was simply too large, so large that Ning Cheng’s gaze couldn’t find where it started or ended.

Ning Cheng secretly muttered, ‘This place should most likely be the inside of an artefact’. Otherwise, it would not have such an effect.

A black-haired man sat not far from them in the middle of the chamber. This black-haired man’s exposed chest made him look somewhat like a Shaolin monk from Earth. However, the main attraction of this black-haired man wasn’t his bare chest but the golden tattoo markings on his forehead. The man who led him also had similar tattoo markings on his forehead, but it wasn’t gold but pitch-black. From the looks of it, the Mysterious Ferry Ancient Clan had some sort of a hierarchy based on the colour of their forehead’s tattoo.

As for the man’s cultivation, Ning Cheng couldn’t sense it at all. However, he felt sure it wasn’t lower than Sichen Qiutian’s cultivation.

“Are you Chan Chenxing’s disciple?” The man with the golden forehead tattoo opened his eyes and gazed at Sichen Qiutian. As for Ning Cheng, next to Sichen Qiutian, he simply ignored him.

Sichuan Qiutian bowed and gave a cultivator’s salute, “Yes, my teacher is none other than Chang Chenxing.”

The man remained silent for a full minute before asking another question, “I heard your teacher is dead. Is that correct?”

Ning Cheng shook his head internally. This fellow was just too direct with his words.

“My teacher left the Grand Essence Realm a long time ago to pursue the limits of his grand dao. As for the specific details of where he went, I do not know. However, when my teacher was about to leave, he once told me that if I faced a difficult problem, I could take this jade token to the Mysterious Ferry Ancient Clan to look for Senior Jin Molong.” Sichen Qiutian gave a deep bow and again handed over the jade token at the end of the sentence.

The man nodded. He took the jade token and looked at it for a long time before saying, “I am Jin Molong. Your cultivation is no worse than mine, so there is no need to call me senior. What is the matter you are here for?”

Sichen Qiutian was, at the very least, the head of the entire Pill Union. The reason why he respected Jin Molong this much wasn’t because of Jin Molong’s status or identity but because Jin Molong and his teacher were close friends. Therefore, he naturally had to show the proper respect as a senior. But now that Jin Molong said he didn’t need to address him as ‘senior’, Sichen Qiutian naturally wouldn’t be pretentious with it. He spoke up directly, “Many thanks, fellow Daoist Jin. Today, I came here to borrow the power of your clan’s Blooming Rings for three months.”

“You want to cultivate in the Blooming Rings?” As Jin Molong listened to Sichen Qiutian’s words, a flash of brilliant light erupted from his eyes as he glued his gaze to Sichen Qiutian. Even his tone turned somewhat cold.

Sichen Qiutian’s expression didn’t fluctuate even half a bit. Instead, he pointed at Ning Cheng and spoke calmly, “I’m not the one who will be using the Blooming Rings. Rather, he’s the one who would be using the Blooming Rings to cultivate for three months.”

Only then did Jin Molong’s gaze fall on Ning Cheng. After scrutinising Ning Cheng briefly, he frowned and said, “He’s only at the Dao Sculpting Realm and wants to use the Blooming Rings? Do you know the consequences of entering the Blooming Rings and being unable to control the flow of dao rhythm?”

“I know. I would still like to ask Dao Friend Jin if he can enter the Blooming Rings? If not, we will leave at once and not make things difficult.” Sichen Qiutian said without being overbearing or humble.

The jade token was personally given by the Mysterious Ferry Ancient Clan. If Sichen Qiutian couldn’t do anything even if he came here with the token, then the Mysterious Ferry Ancient Clan didn’t deserve its reputation.

Jin Molong also understood what Sichen Qiutian meant. He smiled slightly before speaking up, “The matter of entering the Blooming Rings is not something I can decide alone. You will need to wait for some time. I will have to consult with my peers before giving you an answer.”

After saying that, Jin Molong stood up, turned around, and left. Ning Cheng noticed that his entire figure had disappeared without a trace just as he turned around.

Despite understanding that this fellow was only pretending to be a ghost, Ning Cheng could only look on in envy as he couldn’t arrange such an array formation.

“Union Master, what are these Blooming Rings?” Ning Cheng asked.

Sichen Qiutian looked in the direction where Jin Molong disappeared and said, “The Blooming Rings is the number one treasure of the Mysterious Ferry Ancient Clan. But unlike its name, it’s a tree with several growth rings, no different from regular trees. However, what’s unique about it is that each growth ring holds a world of its own, and as one moves from the outer growth ring to the inner ones, the flow of time would double compared to the flow of time outside….”

Ning Cheng asked in amazement, “Does that mean that if I can enter the tenth growth ring and cultivate in it for ten years, only one year would have passed outside?”

Sichen Qiutian nodded but continued solemnly, “That’s right, if you want to advance to the Dao Raising Realm in a few months, I can’t think of a better place other than the Mysterious Ferry Ancient Clan’s Blooming Rings.”

Ning Cheng suddenly remembered what Cang Wei had said about law worlds in the void and asked suspiciously, “I once heard that there are many law worlds in the void, and among them, one could also find the law worlds of time. It any force can obtain such a law world, they could easily transform it into a cultivation holy land. In other words, they could cultivate inside for many years while only a few years would pass on the outside. The specific time difference would be calculated according to the time laws of that world. Could this Blooming Rings be one of those time law worlds?”

Sichen Qiutian shook his head, “These cultivation worlds you’re speaking about can also be found in the Grand Essence Realm. The Nine Revolutions Sacred Dao Pond and the River Luo Sacred Sect also have time law worlds within their grounds, where a passage of ten years inside would only be equivalent to one year outside. However, those law worlds are fundamentally different from the Blooming Rings. Those law worlds lack the heaven and earth dao rhythm rules. If there is no need for dao enlightenment, these kinds of law worlds can save cultivation time. But once you step into Dao Confirmation, the effect of such a time law world on cultivation would be very weak due to its lack of natural dao rhythms.”

“The Blooming Rings is different as it is an ancient treasure. Even if a Dao Confirming Holy Emperor cultivates within it, their perception would not be hindered. In fact, it would be enhanced much more than the outside. This is also why the Mysterious Ferry Ancient Clan is considered the leader of the top ten forces. What’s more, this kind of time law cultivation world also has its own heaven and earth dao rhythm, which makes it vastly superior to an ordinary time law world. Because of this, the Blooming Rings can even be considered a supreme treasure.”

“Are the Blooming Rings really that powerful? If that’s the case, why doesn’t the Mysterious Ferry Ancient Clan come out instead of staying reclusive?” Ning Cheng suddenly thought of something. If there was a treasure like Blooming Rings in his Mysterious Yellow Bead, wouldn’t he become invincible once he cultivated with it?

Sichen Qiutian sighed, “Everything has advantages and disadvantages. The Blooming Rings is indeed an incredible treasure. But if a person with a weak perception of their grand dao entered the Blooming Rings and crosses into a growth ring where they lose control of their grand dao, they would eventually die of old age due to the accelerated passing of time and turn into a shovelful of yellow earth to nourish the tree. I heard that the Mysterious Ferry Ancient Clan sends in many geniuses to train every year. Unfortunately, many die inside the Blooming Rings; sometimes, no one can come out alive.”

Ning Cheng finally understood the consequences that Jin Molong spoke about, especially the part about losing control of one’s dao rhythm in the Blooming Rings. The consequence that he spoke about was none other than death.

Sichen Qiutian looked at Ning Cheng with grave concern and said, “Ning Cheng, the fact that you can refine Dao Essence Dao Pills shows that your control and understanding of your grand dao is far stronger than that of an ordinary Dao Sculpting Holy Emperor. Moreover, I have felt your grand dao back then and understood that your grand dao stands much above mine.”

“It’s because of this that I decided to bring you here. I believe that you can reach all the way to the eighth growth ring. Three months on the outside equals exactly two years in the eighth ring. In two years, I believe you should be able to advance to the Dao Raising Realm. But even if you can’t, we’ll continue as is.”

“Many thanks, Union Master.” Ning Cheng once again thanked him. He felt sure that Sichen Qiutian wasn’t trying to harm him but was genuinely trying to help him. Moreover, when refining his pills, his Alchemic Dao had integrated into his Returning-to-one Dao, which Sichen Qiutian must have sensed, giving Sichen Qiutian enough confidence that Ning Cheng could enter the eighth growth ring.

Sichen Qiutian smiled, “After reaching the eighth growth ring, you shouldn’t go further, no matter what. Remember, even if you are sure that you can go further, do not advance. Every person who died in the Blooming Rings was sure nothing would go wrong, but it all went wrong. A cultivator who cannot control their greed will find all their achievements coming to a hard stop because of the said greed.”

Ning Cheng smiled but didn’t reply. In truth, Sichen Qiutian’s words weren’t wrong. If he couldn’t control his greed, he might die because of his greed. However, the step he wouldn’t cross wasn’t something that could be set by Sichen Qiutian but rather by himself. If he thought he could enter the ninth growth ring, he naturally wouldn’t stay in the eighth ring. If he thought he could only go up to the seventh ring, he wouldn’t enter the eighth ring even if Sichen Qiutian encouraged him.

Before the conversation progressed, Jin Molong suddenly appeared again and said to Sichen Qiutian, “You can wait here. This Dao Friend who wants to enter the Blooming Rings can accompany me.”

“Ning Cheng, you must remember my words. Your footsteps must stop at your dao heart.” Sichen Qiutian once again reminded Ning Cheng.

Ning Cheng bowed and said, “Please rest assured, Union Master, my heart will guide my footsteps.”

When Jin Molong heard Ning Cheng’s words, he revealed a hint of appreciation before turning around to leave again.

Ning Cheng followed Jin Molong and stepped forward, and his entire body disappeared from the chamber.

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