Chapter 8: What the Heart Loves, No Regret in Nine Deaths (Part 2)

  "Whoosh!"

  Ning Feng's body trembled slightly, as if he had entered a state of trance and was reliving a memory. He felt something being drawn out from between his eyebrows, sucked into the Jiukong Stone.

  In the twinkling of an eye, heaven and earth have changed.

  "Is this inside the Jiugongshi?"

  Ning Feng curiously sensed his own existence and looked up.

  This is a closed and self-contained world.

  There are mountains, there is water, and a winding path leads to seclusion; apart from this, there is nothing else.

  Ning Feng stood at the foot of the mountain, next to a pond.

  "Shouldn't this be called Jiugongchi?"

  Ning Feng looked at it for half a day and stroked his chin, saying.

  Next to him was a pond, one connected to another, from only the size of a well to the last one as large as a lake.

  These nine pools of water are arranged from low to high, the lowest being the one beside me, like a shallow pool; the highest is at the top of the mountain, as if it were a sparkling lake, almost comparable to the Heavenly Pool.

  Now there is water only in the puddle beside Ning Feng.

  "If water had a golden color, then it would be okay..."

  Ning Feng maintained his pose with his hand on his chin, crouched down by the pond, and looked around curiously.

  This pool is filled with a full pool of golden water, emitting the purest golden light. Compared to the luster of gold, even if one were to accumulate the experiences of three lifetimes, they would not have seen such high-purity gold.

  The golden light is shimmering and seems as if it might overflow at any moment, surging into the next pool.

  "Hmm, it seems like one pool needs to be filled up before water can be stored in the second pool. But... what's the use of this golden water?"

  "Take a bath?"

  Ning Feng suddenly remembered the bath he took in the lake of Hujin in the Soul Realm, and instantly felt a strong desire to return, his heart filled with longing and his spirit at ease.

  He was crouching down, stretching out his hand conveniently, thinking and doing it directly, reaching out to try.

  "Huh?"

  Ning Feng's hand directly passed through the golden water without any feeling of touching anything.

  "Can't you find it?"

  "Never mind..."

  Ning Feng shook his head and stood up, gazing at the mountain in front of him.

  There is a path on the mountain, and the winding path leads to seclusion.

  "Go take a look."

  The wind is strong and I take big strides as I climb up the mountain.

  The whole world is quiet, and the mountains are even more secluded with fewer birds singing. The rustling of leaves in the forest is even more serene, and what's more, there is a sense of security and peace that pervades everywhere.

  The breeze strolls along the winding path, as if a baby is learning to walk on its mother's belly, an unparalleled feeling.

  "Huh?!"

  "This is..."

  Suddenly, Ning Feng stopped in his tracks, and in front of him stood a stone monument.

  The stele leans against a simple, ancient stone, with no words on its surface. Yet, it inexplicably exudes an aura of profound desolation, as if standing quietly there, having witnessed the passage of endless years, and the flavor of time flows out from it.

  "I dare to swear to heaven that I just looked down the mountain and there is absolutely no such stone tablet here, otherwise let the old ancestor of the God Palace smash me on the head."

  The wind whispers to itself, not for others, but just to relieve the tension in its heart.

  I guessed it too, this suddenly appearing stone tablet is absolutely extremely important.

  "Hmm"

  Ning Feng slowly let out a breath, stretched out one hand and stroked the stone tablet.

  "Brush brush brush~~~"

  As his palm passed by, Ning Feng's eyes narrowed involuntarily, and two lines of golden characters appeared, dazzling him with their brightness.

  "What is in my heart is also what I am good at"

  "Though I die nine times, I still have no regrets."

  "Boom!"

  Suddenly, Ning Feng's mind was filled with a loud and intense shock, leaving everything blank except for fourteen large characters shining brightly in the air.

  At the same time, the entire Jiukongshi world was violently shaking, and the water level of the first pool of golden water could be seen dropping rapidly.

  In a moment of time that was less than one breath, the entire pool of golden water had disappeared, revealing the dry bottom of the pool.

  "Also the heart's desire, even if nine deaths, still not regret" These fourteen characters flew out from the stone tablet one by one and hit Ning Feng's brow, disappearing without a trace.

  Unconsciously, Ning Feng's palm slipped down from the stone tablet and slowly fell to a seated position.

  He had just touched the ground when his mind was drawn away and fell into an extremely strange situation...

  ……

  Endless yellow sand road, two rows of footprints from this end, extending all the way to that end, going straight to the horizon.

  Braving the wind and waves in the desert, one step at a time, leaving footprints behind.

  Crossing the desert, traversing the Gobi, wading through rivers, climbing snow-capped mountains...

  Fall down in the desert, faint in the Gobi, drown in the river, be buried in the snowy mountain...

  He fell down time and again, but in an instant he would get up, as if nothing had happened, and continue on his journey.

  Generally endless.

  The wind has forgotten the purpose of its journey, forgotten where it was going, forgotten its fatigue, and even forgotten to turn back, stop, or remember itself, all completely forgotten.

  Just move forward, forward, and forward again.

  ……

  After a long time, Ning Feng's pores were all open, and sweat burst out instantly. He was like someone who had just been pulled out of the water, panting heavily as he opened his eyes.

  This time, it was completely different from waking up from the Soul Realm just a moment ago.

  In Ning Feng's eyes, there was a clarity that saw right through to the bottom, an eerie calmness that seemed numb, as if he had seen through everything.

  "How terrifying..."

  He spat out a mouthful of turbid air and hastily got up, as if afraid that if he sat down again, he would enter that state once more.

  At the moment of standing up, Ningfeng's eyes fluttered, as if he saw a winding path leading upwards, with pieces of golden light rising from it. Each piece of golden light contained a certain atmosphere, as if it had life and was calling out to him.

  Subconsciously, he took a step forward.

  "Huh?!"

  Before Ning Feng's foot even touched the ground, he was ruthlessly pushed out.

  That intangible and irresistible force, in short, cannot be crossed beyond Leihai.

  "What's going on?"

  Ning Feng scratched his head and turned around to see the first pool of Jinshui had dried up.

  "Huh?"

  Ning Feng somewhat understood.

  "I can walk here, see this stone tablet, and enter that realm just now, is it because of the pool water?"

  Want to go further, want to get more, have to re-accumulate wealth?

  This can't be verified now, Ning Feng muttered to himself as he turned and headed down.

  In the instant he turned around, his eyes caught a glimpse of the stone monument with two lines of golden characters disappearing without a trace, leaving only the towering ancient stone standing there, exceptionally lonely.

  "After trudging along for so long, the numbness and loss of meaning had become as if I had turned into stone."

  Walking back to the first pool, Ning Feng thought about the scene just now and wiped his forehead with the back of his hand, really wiping off sweat like rainwater.

  This is scary.

  "What kind of cultivation method is this, turning people into stone?"

  The wind is still in my heart, and I only slightly recall the feeling before, but my eyes are already different, clear to the point of being frightening.

  At the same time, the scene of traveling all the way and never stopping reappeared.

  Ning Feng suddenly had an epiphany and finally understood what he had obtained: "This is a mental cultivation technique!"

  "Mind Technique: Nine Deaths!"

  He propped his chin on his hand and sat down by the dry pool, lost in thought.

  "This is not the realm of Qigong, foundation building, golden elixir, primordial spirit or dharma forms, nor is it a specific method of practice. It is a state of mind cultivation, a gate of mind cultivation."

  "The first heavy heavenly law is to die nine times!"

  "I wonder what effect it will have if I use this level of mental method to assist in the cultivation of gongfa?"

  Ning Feng's habit of being unable to eat but remembering to fight is hard to change, and now he's starting to think about the benefits of having a "nine deaths" mentality.

  "It's probably not that easy to become a stone..."

  It wasn't self-consolation, but after calming down and thinking back, he discovered something.

  "I've been through nine deaths and still haven't truly understood, I don't even have the qualifications to become a stone."

  Once again, he made it clear that he would remember that feeling firmly and could enter the state of nine deaths at any time. Ning Feng relaxed, lying on his back on the ground, with both hands propping up his head.

  The sky in the world of Jiugong Stone is always unchanged, making people feel bored and listless.

  "Huh? Something seems off?"

  Ning Feng suddenly reacted, "How come I'm so clear-headed now?"

  He still remembers his previous state.

  Ning Feng entered the Soul Realm, but it was only an hour outside. However, inside, he truly spent over a decade.

  After sobering up, it was the nine orifices again. My heart and spirit were tightly collapsed. Just as I arrived at the side hall, I relaxed a bit, and my whole brain became like paste.

  In fact, it's not just him, but among the thirty young people in the temple, every single one of them has an unmistakable look of exhaustion on their faces.

  This is mental fatigue.

  The Shinto priest led them to a side hall for a rest, originally intending to let them take a short break and recover.

  Now, that kind of fatigue has vanished without a trace. Ning Feng feels like he's never been so awake and spirited before.

  "Is this what Jiuxing brings?"

  Ning Feng's face showed a happy expression, from before until now, there is only one thing that can cause this change.

  He sprang up from the ground, moved around a bit, and felt invigorated, refreshed all over, with an overwhelming urge to start practicing immediately.

  "Turn back and go out, try it immediately. If it's like this every time, others can't hold on for a single double hour of cultivation, can I cultivate two, five, or even the whole day?"

  "This is a great bargain!"

  The wind is eagerly awaited, and there's a bit of a longing gaze at the mountain road ahead, thinking about that one step that still can't be taken.

  "What comes after nine deaths?"

  "There's still a lot ahead, but it's not something I can get now."

  "Besides the Nine Deaths Heart Condition as a foundation, it's probably also related to this golden pool water. Accumulating more of this pool water should allow me to continue upwards."

  Ning Feng looked at the dried-up pond beside him, somewhat worried, "But... where did this golden water come from?"

  "It can't be created out of thin air, right?"

  "There is still much to be studied."

  Ning Feng was not dissatisfied at all, but instead had a strong interest and high morale.

  "This is interesting!"

  "Let's go take a look!"

  Ning Feng turned around and took a step back.

  When he lifted his foot, he was still in the Jiukongshi world; when he put it down, he was already in the side hall.

  In front of me is Chen Xiwei!