Chapter 279: Remodeling the Divine Sea

At the bottom of the Maze Sea Vortex, there is no change of the four seasons, nor is there any concept of time with sunsets and moonrises; there is only endless darkness and loneliness! In such an environment, Zhang Nuo hid in a simple Cave Abode and practiced bitterly for two full years!

In front of him, a small pile of unremarkable stones lay scattered; these were Spirit Stones that had been drained of their Spiritual Qi! Over these two years, Zhang Nuo had used up many Spirit Stones, all to make two types of power coexist within his Divine Sea.

In fact, if his cultivation had reached the Spirit Severing Stage and he could perceive the "Heaven and Earth Origin Qi," he would not have needed to expend such great effort. Heaven and Earth Origin Qi is an existence that transcends Spiritual Qi, Demonic Qi, and Yin Qi; no matter which cultivation technique one practices, "Heaven and Earth Origin Qi" is more than sufficient.

After all, that is the purest breath separated from the "Yin and Yang Qi"! Every living thing in the world is transformed from the "Yin and Yang Qi"; it can be said to be the mother-breath of all things!

It is just that with Zhang Nuo's current cultivation, he is completely unable to sense the existence of Heaven and Earth Origin Qi and can only rely on the strength of his own body to forcibly make the Divine Sea store two different powers.

Gray light swirled over his body, and Zhang Nuo was firmly wrapped in it. Bursts of restless sounds came from his dantian. After his hand seals had transformed several times in succession, he finally let out a long breath, after which the gray light on his body faded, and he slowly opened his eyes.

Two years of time had left him with almost nothing to show for it; the Yin Qi and Spiritual Qi in his Divine Sea could never coexist, and instead, they kept the four Divine Seas in constant turmoil.

"Given your current cultivation, doing this seems to be somewhat difficult!"

Chunyangzi was observing Zhang Nuo's movements at every moment, and seeing that he had failed again, he said with a hint of disappointment.

"Everyone said back then that one couldn't refine a Magic Treasure into the body without reaching the Golden Core Stage, but didn't I successfully refine the seed of the 'Red Glow Fire'?"

Feeling somewhat unconvinced, Zhang Nuo let go of his hand, throwing the Spirit Stones—which had turned into ordinary stones due to their depleted Spiritual Qi—onto the ground. The stones rolled far away, hitting the stone wall of the Cave Abode.

"That may be so, but changing the properties of the Divine Sea and refining the 'Red Glow Fire' are two different matters!"

Seeing that Zhang Nuo's stubborn temper had flared up again, Chunyangzi sighed softly and said helplessly. Zhang Nuo remained silent, lowered his head to ponder for a moment, then extended a finger and lightly flicked the "Seven Kill Ring" worn on his finger!

With two "swish" sounds, two prayer beads flew out from within. The "Seven Kill Ring" was originally an object containing Evil Qi, and having stayed inside for so long, the green light on the beads had clearly dimmed significantly.

However, when Zhang Nuo probed his Divine Sense into their interior, he still gasped. That thing which was neither demon nor Buddha still existed, as if the Evil Qi had no effect on it at all.

"What that monk could do, I can do too!"

As he spoke, Zhang Nuo opened his mouth, and with a flash of light, the two prayer beads flew into it.

"Boy Zhang, what are you doing?"

Chunyangzi was terrified, his voice filled with fear! The two prayer beads looked extremely eerie; if one were to forcibly refine them into the body, it would likely lead to disaster.

Zhang Nuo did not speak. With his eyes tightly shut, the Yin Qi within his body wrapped around the two prayer beads and sent them to the top of the Divine Sea in his dantian.

The Pill Fire released by his Golden Core struck the prayer beads but had no effect at all; a faint green glow shattered the Pill Fire strand by strand.

Chunyangzi was completely bewildered. What exactly did this Zhang Nuo want to do? Such powerful prayer beads would require a very long time to refine for his own use! Furthermore, these two prayer beads existed only as individuals; even if refined successfully, their power would be far inferior to a complete set of Magic Treasures.

Just as he could not guess Zhang Nuo's intentions, the next thing Zhang Nuo did made Chunyangzi almost bite his tongue! He saw the two prayer beads circle the Golden Core once before diving straight into the two Divine Seas.

A muffled "Boom—" sound erupted from Zhang Nuo's Divine Sea, followed by his entire body shaking. His facial muscles twisted, and the gray light on his body surged!

"Reckless! Simply reckless!"

Seeing this scene, Chunyangzi was furious, his reprimands ringing out incessantly, but Zhang Nuo seemed not to hear, his entire focus poured into his Divine Sea.

He saw that above the Divine Sea where the prayer beads had been cast, Yin Qi churned continuously, and the Yin Qi, like a tidal wave, transformed into a pillar of light, all striking the Golden Core above it.

"Bang!"

A thick pillar of Yin Qi struck the Golden Core, causing it to tremble violently, almost shifting it from its place! But the next moment, a flash of light appeared on the surface of the Golden Core, and ten thousand rays of Pill Fire shot out, forming a circular fire barrier around it!

The Golden Core was like a scorching sun, illuminating the entire dantian as if it were broad daylight! Even so, the streams of Yin Qi rushing out from the Divine Sea made it unable to fend them off!

Zhang Nuo's face looked terrible; the changes within his body were a significant shock to his system, and it felt as if a great battle was taking place in his dantian!

"Bang! Bang!"

Following several more muffled sounds, the Golden Core was battered until it was precarious, and the circular fire barrier on the outside had clearly dimmed significantly. If this continued, the entire Golden Core would be destroyed.

Chunyangzi let out a series of strange cries, wanting Zhang Nuo to extract the prayer beads from the Divine Sea, but how could he know that the moment those two prayer beads entered the Divine Sea, they acted as if they were home; no matter how Zhang Nuo tried, they simply refused to come out!

Gritting his teeth, he looked inward and saw gray light rippling around the Divine Sea; bursts of immense pain radiated from it! After two more pillars of Yin Qi, the circular fire barrier on the surface of Zhang Nuo's Golden Core was shattered in one blow.

Seeing this, Zhang Nuo also panicked. He had originally wanted to use the peculiar nature of the prayer beads to test the Divine Sea, but he had not expected it to turn out like this!

The prayer beads were a fusion of the Demon Sect and Buddhism, and what Zhang Nuo wanted to do at this moment was to remodel his Divine Sea. The two seemed to have no necessary connection, yet in the dark, there seemed to be some kind of link!

The situation inside his body was becoming increasingly complex; if he could not take the prayer beads out of the Divine Sea, things would be even worse! Zhang Nuo folded his hands into seals, but no matter what method he used, the pillars of Yin Qi refused to stop, and attack after attack landed on the Golden Core.

"I'll fight you to the death!"

A stream of blood flowed from the corner of his mouth. Zhang Nuo wiped the blood away fiercely and said with great anger.

"What else do you want to do?"

There was a tremor in Chunyangzi's voice; Zhang Nuo's headstrong approach made him very angry! First, he had swallowed the prayer beads, and now he didn't know what shocking move he was about to make!

Zhang Nuo had no time to answer him now. He reached into his Storage Bag and took out a small Jade Box. After opening the lid, a Golden Core emitting a faint light lay quietly inside.

"You..."

Seeing that Zhang Nuo had even taken out the Golden Core he had obtained from the dark-faced cultivator, Chunyangzi's heart sank! Was this boy crazy? His body was already in turmoil; if he were to swallow this Golden Core now, wouldn't things be even worse!

But before Chunyangzi's words could leave his mouth, Zhang Nuo threw the Golden Core into his mouth! The moment the Golden Core entered, a majestic Spiritual Pressure filled his entire body.

The blood vessels on the surface of his skin bulged! His eyes bulged outward; although Zhang Nuo wanted to forcibly close his eyes, he simply could not do it—the pressure on his eyelids was not enough to cover them.

Within his ears, apart from the roaring sound inside his body, he could hear nothing else. His heart beat faster and faster, as if it wanted to break free from the shackles of his body and rush out!

After a great deal of effort, Zhang Nuo finally managed to transport the dark-faced cultivator's Golden Core to a position directly below his own Golden Core, letting all the attacks rushing out of the Divine Sea strike this Golden Core instead.

The dark-faced cultivator's Golden Core was, after all, not Zhang Nuo's own, so it was not easy to control. After turning it a few times, it barely managed to release a few strands of Pill Fire, but those strands of Pill Fire were instantly reduced to nothingness under the impact of the Yin Qi!

"Bang!"

A powerful pillar of Yin Qi rushed out from the Divine Sea and instantly struck the Golden Core. At this moment, a tiny crack appeared on the surface of the dark-faced cultivator's Golden Core!

Looking inward, Zhang Nuo was shocked! If this Golden Core were to explode inside his body, let alone a body that had practiced the "Immovable Underworld King," even a Spirit Severing Stage cultivator would perish instantly.

But at this very moment, an unexpected thing happened! The two Divine Seas, which had been restless, suddenly quieted down. It seemed that something deep within the Divine Sea had forcibly suppressed the power of the Yin Qi.

Zhang Nuo and Chunyangzi both stared at this in amazement. Could it be that the prayer beads submerged in the Divine Sea had taken effect? These were just their guesses. Another moment passed, and there was still no movement in the Divine Sea.

"What is going on?"

Chunyangzi asked in surprise. At this time, Zhang Nuo's entire body had grown nearly a size larger; with two Golden Cores in his body at once, it was a feeling that probably no one could endure!

The gray light of the first layer of the "Immovable Underworld King" tightly wrapped his body. Even so, the immense pain, like having his tendons pulled and skin peeled, still made Zhang Nuo grit his teeth tightly.

"I don't know either!"

Transmitting his voice back, Zhang Nuo kept looking inward at the Divine Sea where the two prayer beads had been submerged. A moment ago it was a raging storm, and in the blink of an eye, it was calm. The huge contrast between the two left both of them confused.

Zhang Nuo did not believe that this matter was over just like that; calm is the precursor to a coming storm! Sure enough, after the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, a tremendous suction force suddenly emerged between the two Divine Seas, drawing the surrounding Yin Qi in! In just the blink of an eye, the suction force surging wildly from the two Divine Seas spread throughout Zhang Nuo's entire body!

This time, Zhang Nuo was so frightened he nearly jumped up; the powerful suction force was not only absorbing the Yin Qi in his body, but it did not even spare his blood, and the blood throughout his entire body was flowing backward toward the Divine Seas.

Previously it was releasing power outward, but this time it was absorbing power inward again! The huge contrast of the Divine Seas left Zhang Nuo unable to grasp the meaning behind it! However, a new crisis had arrived right now! He had to preserve the blood in his body, otherwise, relying on the terrifying suction force in the Divine Seas, he would become a dried corpse in less than a moment!