Chapter 581: The Sealed Spirit Beast |
Ning Qi felt as if ten thousand horses were galloping inside the iron pagoda.
Sometimes it felt blocked, and sometimes it felt completely unobstructed.
"That's strange."
He muttered to himself.
"Milord, this truly is a supreme treasure."
The old man, thinking he was dissatisfied, hurriedly said.
"I'll take this."
Ning Qi snapped back to reality, then said with a smile, "Don't be nervous, we'll consider this matter settled."
"I'm only letting it go because of this iron pagoda."
Hearing his words, the old man felt as if a heavy burden had been lifted, and his entire body instantly relaxed.
"Do you understand this iron pagoda?"
Ning Qi paused for a moment, then continued asking.
"Milord, this iron pagoda can devour all things and can also unleash attacks of the five elements."
"Moreover, it's also a spatial magic tool that can open up an independent space."
"However, you need to have sufficient personal strength to achieve this."
"And, inside this seven-story pagoda, it seems each floor contains some resources, and also seems to have something sealed within."
The old man thought for a moment and said to Ning Qi, "As for what exactly is inside, I don't know."
"Oh? It even has something sealed inside."
Hearing this, Ning Qi's interest was immediately piqued.
"Yes, unfortunately, this humble one's strength is insufficient and I'm not qualified to explore its mysteries."
The old man quickly nodded and followed up.
"Good, how many spirit stones for this, name your price."
Ning Qi smiled with satisfaction, then told the old man to name his price.
"Milord, if you like it, just take it. No spirit stones needed."
The old man hurriedly waved his hands, refusing.
"Hmph, do you think I'm the same kind of scum as you people?"
Ning Qi snorted coldly, then continued, "Speak! How much? I won't shortchange you a single coin."
"Milord... this... just give this humble one ten million spirit marrow."
The old man had no choice but to name a symbolic price.
"Hmph, I'll give you one hundred million."
"I think that's about all it's worth."
Ning Qi didn't bully him either, directly flicking his wrist and tossing a storage bag to the old man.
"Thank you, Milord!"
The old man was overwhelmed by the favor, never expecting this iron pagoda could actually earn spirit marrow.
"Let's go!"
Having obtained what he wanted, Ning Qi stood up and called for Xu Qingqiu to follow him.
"Alright."
Xu Qingqiu didn't delay any longer either. After agreeing, she followed him as they left.
As the two of them walked out the door together, a look of smug satisfaction instantly appeared on the old man's face.
"Shopkeeper, did we... lose out on this deal?"
One of the shop assistants from earlier came over and couldn't help but say.
"No, I just picked up this iron pagoda casually from the street."
"I only spent five hundred spirit marrow on it back then. That guy is indeed very powerful, but he misjudged this one."
The old man chuckled, then continued, "People like that, when they're too strong, they become arrogant."
"Haha, so we actually turned misfortune into fortune and made a profit?"
The shop assistant laughed heartily.
"Exactly!"
The old man nodded, then went to count the spirit marrow inside the storage bag.
His face was filled with joy.
At this moment, Ning Qi had already left the place with Xu Qingqiu.
The two of them walked on the street.
"Master, that pagoda, I sense a somewhat familiar aura from it."
"I feel this thing is worth at least one billion spirit marrow!"
The Pill Spirit, perched on his shoulder, said, "If it makes me sense a familiar aura, there must be a supreme treasure inside."
"Mm, I sensed it too, that's why I gave him so much spirit marrow!"
Ning Qi nodded, then continued looking ahead, "I think it's getting late."
"How about we return to the inn to rest?"
"Sure, there's nothing else here anyway."
Xu Qingqiu nodded and agreed.
"Alright then, let's head back."
After agreeing, Ning Qi directly turned around and headed back towards their inn.
They quickly returned to the inn where they were staying.
Both of them returned to the Sumeru Courtyard at the same time, and Ning Qi went back to his chamber first.
He wasn't in a hurry to rest. Instead, he took out the iron pagoda.
He took a deep breath, then extended his spiritual sense to explore it.
"Whoosh!"
The next moment, his whole person felt a sudden daze and was directly transported inside the iron pagoda.
"Master, are you alright?"
At this moment, the Pill Spirit noticed he had disappeared and quickly asked.
"Don't worry, I'm fine!"
After explaining, Ning Qi continued, "I got sucked in by this iron pagoda."
"Alright, I'll stand guard for you here. Call me if anything happens!"
The Pill Spirit didn't follow him in, instead preparing to stand guard for Ning Qi outside.
"Okay!"
Ning Qi agreed, then focused all his attention on the interior.
At this moment, the inside of the iron pagoda was filled with dense, abundant Immortal Energy.
The environment here couldn't be connected to the pagoda's external appearance at all.
Who would have thought that something so rusted and worn on the outside could contain such a world inside?
"This place really isn't bad!"
Looking at the environment here, Ning Qi couldn't help but click his tongue in admiration.
Then he focused his attention here.
Apart from the abundant spiritual energy, there were also many piles of Natural Treasures stacked to one side.
Besides these, there were also some Ancient Books among them.
Ning Qi came over and flipped through them, discovering they were all cultivation technique manuals and some related records.
He wasn't in a hurry to check the situation upstairs. Instead, he focused his attention on these Ancient Books.
After flipping through them for a while, he also gained some understanding of the situation.
He finally understood why he could sense that this iron pagoda was extraordinary.
"So this iron pagoda originally belonged to Di Xi."
Looking at the records, Ning Qi learned of its origins.
In other words, on each of the six floors above, an ancient Spirit Beast was sealed.
Azure Dragon, White Tiger, Black Tortoise, and Vermilion Bird.
What about the top two floors?
Ning Qi didn't see any related records. Instead, he focused his attention on the next floor up.
This floor sealed the Azure Dragon.
So, he headed towards the staircase over here.
After walking over, he sensed there were restrictions here blocking his way up.
So, he focused his attention on the restrictions here and began trying to use the Water Thirty technique and Dao Patterns to break through the restrictions here.
After sitting down, Ning Qi activated the water-wave pattern and began merging with the restrictions here.
At first, they were incompatible, but later, they gradually merged with the Dao Patterns here.
This caused the restrictions at the entrance to begin loosening. Finally, a ripple of heart-palpitating fluctuation surged down from above.
Clearly, this was the aura fluctuation of the Azure Dragon sealed here.
"Almost successful."
After sensing the aura, Ning Qi continued to exert effort.
After some effort on his part, the fluctuations here began to intensify.
"Bang!"
Finally, as the restrictions erupted with a wave of energy, the restrictions here directly shattered.
This successfully allowed Ning Qi to open the passage upward.
So, he directly stood up and walked upward.
When he reached the second floor, he saw it was empty. Only in the corner was there a chain, locking up a small snake here.
It was a small green snake, looking completely harmless.
However, it seemed motionless, giving a feeling as if it were dead.
Ning Qi became puzzled, then directly walked over, carefully observing the small snake before him.
"Hiss."
Gradually, the small snake also sensed someone looking at it, then slowly opened its eyes.
It also fixed its pair of pupils on Ning Qi.
Just like that, they ended up making eye contact.
Looking into this pair of pupils, Ning Qi felt his entire body grow heavy.
"Whoosh!"
The next moment, he felt his consciousness sink, as if he had plummeted to the bottom of a valley.
"What's going on?"
Looking at everything that had suddenly changed, he felt as if he had been teleported to some kind of space.
This place was icy cold, with ice crystals everywhere.
Exhaling a single breath could create swirling mist, making Ning Qi feel a wave of astonishment.
What place is this?
Looking around, he felt somewhat incredulous.
He never expected he would end up in such a place.
So, he began searching for a way out here.
At first, he still held hope, but the further he went, the more fatigued he became.
Moreover, a cold sensation assaulted his entire body, as if ice crystals had been poured into him, making movement difficult. It seemed he was about to collapse.
However, he persisted until finally, he could no longer hold on.
His body collapsed with a thud.
He lay there listlessly, looking at the pitch-black sky above.
"That's not right, I'm already someone with Peak Celestial Immortal strength."
"How can I still feel cold?"
Ning Qi thought to himself, feeling more and more that something was off.
After thinking seriously for a while, he felt this matter wasn't right.
No, this... is an illusion.
After figuring it out, Ning Qi laughed loudly, "Illusion!"
With his roar, his whole person suddenly swayed. The next moment, he returned to this floor.
In the eyes of the small snake before him, one could clearly see a look of disbelief.
Clearly, it also hadn't expected Ning Qi to recover so quickly.
His entire person seemed like a different person, spirited and vigorous, without any trace of the hollow look of someone controlled by an illusion.
This made the small snake before him even more panicked.
"Beast, you still want to deceive me?"
Ning Qi focused his attention on the small snake before him, gritted his teeth and said, "If I don't show you some color, you won't know how powerful I am!"
"Hiss!"
Seeing it was discovered, the small snake no longer hid.
Immediately, it flicked its tongue and charged flying towards Ning Qi.
Like a sharp sword, it stabbed towards Ning Qi's chest.
"Ting, mere parlor tricks!"
Ning Qi snorted coldly, then extended his palm.
"Smack!"
He firmly grabbed the small snake in the palm of his hand.
"Hiss!"
The small snake kept twisting its body, still flicking its tongue at Ning Qi.
"Hmph, want to escape? Dream on."
Ning Qi had no intention of holding back. After a cold snort, the strength in his hand also increased.
Then he squeezed down hard.
However, the result Ning Qi imagined—directly crushing the small snake—didn't happen.
He squeezed the little thing, but it felt like squeezing an indestructible rod. He couldn't squeeze it even a fraction.
"Hiss!"
Seeing Ning Qi's failure, the small snake seemed to be mocking him, repeatedly flicking its tongue at him.
"Hmph, don't get cocky. I'm going to roast you."
Seeing this, Ning Qi snorted again, then activated his flames.
The Chaos Flame activated, transforming into a mass of blazing light that swept towards the small snake.
In the blink of an eye, it enveloped it.
However, something that surprised Ning Qi also happened.
His Chaos Flame could burn all things, but it was ineffective against the small snake.
It simply couldn't burn it.
On the contrary, it even made the small snake show a somewhat comfortable expression.
"Hiss!"
It still didn't forget to flick its tongue at Ning Qi.
This was like provoking him, making Ning Qi frown.
If fire can't burn it, then I'll chop you.
He gritted his teeth and took out his Chaos Divine Sword.
He swung it directly at the small snake's head.
"Clang!"
However, this sword strike didn't slice off the small snake's head.
Instead, after a ringing sound, a flash of firelight lit up on its head.
This made Ning Qi even more puzzled.
"Tsk tsk, as expected, it is the Azure Dragon."
He finally understood this snake wasn't simple.
Combined with the ancient records he just saw, he finally confirmed the identity of this small snake.
It was the Azure Dragon mentioned in those ancient records.
"Hiss!"
The small snake seemed to acknowledge his words, continuously flicking its tongue.
"Pity, it's already turned into a useless little snake."
"Although I can't kill you, it's a shame you no longer possess your former strength."
Ning Qi shook his head, showing a disappointed expression, then threw the small snake back onto the table where it had been lying.
"Hiss!"
The small snake seemed to be protesting against Ning Qi, flicking its tongue.
"Oh? You're still getting worked up."
"Too bad, you're of no use to me, and I can't save you either."
Ning Qi smiled, then shook his head.
He then prepared to go upstairs to check the situation.
This Azure Dragon had clearly had its strength drained due to being sealed.
Who knows how long this result took. Since it's from ancient times, it must absolutely be over ten thousand years.
"Hiss!"
The small snake still provoked him, but this time it carried more of a mocking meaning.
Ning Qi just glanced at it, then paid it no more mind.
Instead, he went to the staircase leading from the second floor to the third floor.
"Crash!"
Upon arriving here, similarly, there were restrictions blocking him.
Ning Qi snorted coldly, then sat down cross-legged.
Once again, he activated his Dao Patterns and began merging with the formation restrictions here.
At first, he could still achieve success naturally. Just as they were about to loosen, a golden light suddenly appeared.
"Hum!"
The golden light flashed, instantly making Ning Qi snap back to reality.
"Whew!"
He let out a long breath, feeling a wave of heart palpitations.
If he hadn't dodged just now, there would have been trouble.
"What's going on?"
Looking at the situation before him, Ning Qi spoke, not understanding.
"Hiss!"
Hearing his words, the small snake began looking at him with a mocking expression again.
"Do you know?"
Ning Qi glanced at the small snake nearby and couldn't help but ask in a deep voice, "What's going on? Tell me!"
"Hiss!"
The small snake's response to him was again the sound of its tongue flicking.
Clearly, it couldn't speak.
"I understand, it's because my strength is insufficient."
Ning Qi's eyes suddenly lit up as he looked at the small snake, "Right?"
"Hiss."
Hearing his words, the small snake, very understanding of human nature, nodded at him.
"So that's it. I'm already at Peak Celestial Immortal strength, and I still can't go to the third floor?"
Ning Qi immediately became curious, his pair of pupils fixed on the entrance to the third floor.
"Hiss!"
The small snake cried out again, clearly wanting to remind him of something.