Cultivating with Top Enlightenment Chapter 949 - 407: Sea Ancestor’s Cultivation Ground
Previously on Cultivating with Top Enlightenment...
A colossal, unfathomable whirlpool spins ceaselessly at the heart of the Endless Sea, resembling a ravenous, dark beast poised to engulf all existence.
Ning Qi and the spectral form of the Mountain and Sea Realm Will materialized at its edge, their gazes fixed upon the churning abyss below. Strange sounds periodically echoed from its depths – a screech, a thud, cries of agony, and roars of madness.
Intrigued, Ning Qi inquired, "Realm Venerable, what precisely resides within this vortex?"
The legacy of the Sea Ancestor offered scant details about the whirlpool, leaving Ning Qi in the dark about its nature, destination, and its connection to the Moon Sea Immortal Sect. He harbored a persistent feeling that the Sea Ancestor had established the sect specifically to contain this anomaly.
"Cough!" The Mountain and Sea Realm Will cleared its throat before replying, "This location is a nexus for the accumulated yin energy of the entire Mountain and Sea Realm. It's also the very spot where the Sea Ancestor achieved Enlightenment. You shall understand once we venture inside. Let us proceed."
With that, the phantom advanced, descending into the whirlpool.
Ning Qi followed without hesitation.
Whoosh!
The wind whipped past their ears, mingling the serene currents of the ocean with those unnerving screeches.
As they plunged into the whirlpool, the world dissolved into darkness, as though they had crossed into an entirely different dimension.
Ning Qi instinctively extended his Perception, only to be met with utter emptiness. This was deeply unsettling!
At his current cultivation level, few things in either the Mountain and Sea Realm or the Vast Realm could evade his Perception. This inexplicable nullification sent a shiver of caution through him, acknowledging the vast unknowns still lurking within these realms.
Ning Qi peered ahead, Naruto Sea Realm Will's spectral form acting as their guide.
The phantom weaved left and right, at times submerging into the seawater, with Ning Qi keeping pace. At other moments, it would resurface, re-entering the swirling passage of the whirlpool.
As they spiraled deeper, Ning Qi began to perceive a subtle shift.
Suddenly, he glanced at his own skin, every hair standing on end. Tiny, granular bumps rapidly bloomed across his entire body.
"Crack!" Ning Qi’s teeth chattered, a biting chill seeping into his very bones, making him feel exposed and vulnerable.
He experienced a disconcerting sensation, as if his body were disassembled and scattered, each part – bone, flesh, head, eyes, ears – existing in isolation, utterly frozen and disconnected.
This peculiar feeling startled Ning Qi.
It strangely mirrored the sensation when his clone had entered the Sea of Realms, a feeling of profound separation he could now replicate.
However, this was perplexing, as they were supposedly within the Mountain and Sea Realm.
After a moment's thought, he consciously channeled the power of the Sea of Realms within him.
To his astonishment, the unnerving sensation gripping his body vanished instantly.
He suspected, with growing certainty, that this place was intrinsically linked to the Sea of Realms.
The Mountain and Sea Realm Will pressed onward, and Ning Qi suppressed his burgeoning questions, confident the answers awaited them.
They continued their descent for an immeasurable period before a nascent blue luminescence appeared in the distance, catching Ning Qi's eye.
As they drew nearer, the faint glow intensified, enveloping them as they entered.
Glug! The sound resembled plunging into water, yet they emerged into a space utterly devoid of it.
Ning Qi surveyed his surroundings.
Ethereal, rippling lights cascaded from above, casting a dim illumination upon the expanse below. Massive shapes of formidable sea creatures occasionally glided past, their immense shadows dancing across the scene.
This locale felt akin to a colossal aquarium, suspended beneath the ocean's depths.
Ning Qi observed that while the area above was illuminated, the light steadily diminished the further one looked down. This wasn't merely a gradient of brightness; Ning Qi sensed that an arcane energy was manipulating the very rules of light and shadow.
The deeper one descended, the more profound the darkness.
Ning Qi's gaze drifted downwards, spotting intermittent pairs of fist-sized, faint lights embedded in the cavern walls.
"What is this place?" Ning Qi asked.
The Mountain and Sea Realm Will replied, "This is where the Sea Ancestor drew power from the Sea of Realms. She imprisoned numerous Fierce Beasts from the Sea of Realms here to study their innate talents."
Ning Qi was momentarily speechless.
So, this was the Sea Ancestor's hidden laboratory? Truly ingeniously concealed.
After a brief contemplation, Ning Qi grasped the significance of his discovery.
Within the vast expanse of the Mountain and Sea Realm, should the Sea Ancestor seek to practice Forbidden Techniques for the sole purpose of vanquishing the Mountain Ancestor, undertaking such cultivation would be impossible to do so openly. Consequently, the Endless Sea beneath her offered a perfect, secluded environment. The two figures pressed onward, descending further. Guided by the will of the Mountain and Sea Realm, Ning Qi began to perceive the nature of the area below. It struck him not as a place for the Sea Ancestor's cultivation, but rather resembling a colossal eighteen-layered dungeon. This structure widened into a conical shape as they descended, offering progressively more space the deeper they went. Contained within the immense walls of the sea were isolated, watery cells, each containing a fearsome Beast, a denizen of the Sea of Realms. Upon witnessing Ning Qi's presence, their gazes blazed with ferocious avarice and hostility, displaying hues of red, green, yellow, and purple. Saliva cascaded from their maws as they emitted intermittent roars, suggesting an unimaginable period of deprivation. Ning Qi finally grasped the origin of the unsettling noises emanating from the whirlpool; they were almost certainly the cries of these captive entities. Ning Qi performed a subtle assessment of their collective might. Progressing from the upper tiers to the lowest, their power levels appeared to escalate in a corresponding fashion.