Chapter 158: Northern Dark Water True Essence

Following the gravitational pull transmitted through the spectral bands, Zhou Yi’s vision seemed to pass through a multi-colored tunnel where various hues streaked by, stretching into lines due to the sheer velocity.

The pathways paved by these lines represented countless distinct spaces. The speed of consciousness is extraordinarily fast—a mere snap of the fingers is enough to cover immense ground, and within the realm of consciousness, this fleeting instant is sufficient to accomplish a great deal!

Even so, traveling at the speed of consciousness through this channel took a considerable amount of time. From this, one could gauge the sheer abundance of spaces existing within this cultivation pagoda, and the density of the elemental forces of heaven and earth!

After traveling for a long time, the colors within the channel converged from elongated, distorted streaks back into a single hue. At the end of the tunnel lay a blue-black point of light, no larger than a finger.

"Is this the Northern Black Water True Qi Space?"

Gazing at the blue-black point of light, Zhou Yi murmured in his heart. Feeling the instantly clear spectral band in his consciousness, he compared it with the memory of the band—they were identical, without the slightest deviation.

Having confirmed this, he hesitated no longer. Forming the mental intent of a great leap, his consciousness instantly plunged into the blue-black light point.

Boom!

The moment his consciousness entered the light point, a sound resembling the roaring of surging ocean waves immediately echoed within his mind, continuous and endless, as if he were standing right in the middle of a vast sea.

In reality, there is no sound within the spatial realm; even if there were, consciousness possesses no concept of hearing and cannot perceive actual sound. It was simply that everything perceived by his consciousness upon entering this space, combined with his memories, translated into the sensation of roaring waves!

Before his eyes, countless streams of water surged with overwhelming momentum. His consciousness, appearing here, was completely enveloped by countless currents. All around him—east, west, south, north, above, and below—everything was surrounded by flowing water!

It was as if he were deep within the ocean, right at the heart of the sea rather than floating upon its surface!

Logically speaking, no matter how turbulent the waves might be on the ocean's surface, deep within the sea, it ought to be tranquil!

Yet the scene before him was entirely different. Even submerged within the currents, his consciousness could clearly see countless streams entwining yet remaining distinctly separate, forming various factions that violently collided with one another, driven by an aggressive momentum as if harboring a mortal grudge!

When the currents collided, they burst into sprays of dazzling foam that scattered into the water. Before the foam could dissipate, it was absorbed by larger, neighboring tributaries entwined nearby, integrating into them before charging once again toward their former allies and rival streams!

The roaring thunder filling Zhou Yi’s mind was precisely the visceral impact brought upon him by everything unfolding before his eyes!

"This is?"

The various branch factions among the currents, their mutual hostility and violent collisions, naturally stirred a wave of confusion within Zhou Yi as he witnessed this spectacle.

After a moment of thought, Zhou Yi cautiously divided his consciousness, selected one of the tributaries, plunged into it, and began to comprehend!

A short while later, he gained a general understanding of this tributary. Carefully withdrawing his consciousness and looking around, he selected another tributary and dived in!

Thus, after comprehending several different tributaries, Zhou Yi gradually understood the reason behind the scene before his eyes!

The Northern Black Water True Qi was no ordinary elemental spirit of heaven and earth. If the elemental spirits of heaven and earth possessed a hierarchy akin to a military system, they could be classified into privates, squad leaders, generals, marshals, and supreme commanders!

They were ranked according to the magnitude of their abilities and the profundity of their nature!

The world was simply too vast, and the quantity of heaven and earth spirits it contained could be roughly comprehended from the spatial passages his consciousness had traversed earlier.

Among the vast multitude of heaven and earth spirits, the vast majority merely attained the level of a private. For instance, water was divided into clear water, fresh water, weak water, heavy water, light water, corrosive water, and a myriad of other branches.

These all belonged to the private-tier elemental spirits of the water attribute.

Perhaps some were even squad leaders or generals!

However, the two types of heaven and earth spirits required by Zhou Yi to cultivate the *Northern Black Water Canon*—the Northern Black Water True Qi and the Northern Black Water Earthly Fiend—while he was currently unsure of the latter's rank, the Northern Black Water True Qi was equivalent to a marshal among these ranks!

Though not the highest rank, nor the supreme commander governing all water-attribute elemental spirits of heaven and earth, it was nevertheless the Northern Marshal reigning over all water-attribute elemental spirits in the north!

One could well imagine how lofty its rank truly was!

The reason Zhou Yi saw countless tributaries colliding with one another within the Northern Black Water True Qi space was precisely because these tributaries were lower-tier elemental spirits belonging under the jurisdiction of the Northern water-attribute elemental spirits.

"Should I say it lives up to the *Northern Black Water Canon*? Its description is so formidable that I initially underestimated it, thinking that since it only required two types of heaven and earth spirits, the cultivation would be much simpler. I never expected that although there are only two kinds, their rank is high enough to outweigh all else!"

"Although I don't know the rank of the Northern Black Water Earthly Fiend, I can roughly deduce it from the Northern Black Water True Qi!"

"Since it can be placed on par with the Northern Black Water True Qi, its own rank will certainly not be weak!"

"It is most likely identical. Since the Northern Black Water True Qi is the marshal of the northern water-attribute elemental spirits of heaven and earth, the Northern Black Water Earthly Fiend should be the marshal of the northern water-attribute earthly spirits!"

"Hoo—"

Gently exhaling a breath, Zhou Yi gradually sorted through his thoughts in his mind. A fleeting trace of hesitation flashed across his eyes, which were soon filled with a resolute determination.

Since the location of the Northern Black Water True Qi had already been found, the cultivation of the *Northern Black Water Canon* could now begin.

"To cultivate the *Northern Black Water Canon*, one must first condense the two heaven and earth spirits: the Northern Black Water True Qi and the Northern Black Water Earthly Fiend. Using them as seeds, manifest the profundity of the northern water attribute, transform them into spell quanta, and then control these quanta to assemble into spell runes. Only then is the task successfully accomplished!"

Recalling the cultivation method of the *Northern Black Water Canon* in his mind, he skipped the subsequent sections and focused on the first part, which appeared clearly in his thoughts. The contemplative look in Zhou Yi's eyes grew even deeper.

"So this is the cultivation method for the first stage!"

Zhou Yi’s gaze flickered as he gathered his concentration. "First of all, what I need to do right now is to condense the Northern Black Water True Qi!"

With his goal determined, Zhou Yi immediately enumerated the tasks ahead of him in his mind, forming a simple plan.

First, comprehend all the different branch elemental spirits of heaven and earth within this space.

Second, combine these elemental spirits in a specific rhythm to form the Northern Black Water True Qi!

Third, locate the space belonging to the Northern Black Water Earthly Fiend, repeat the above steps, and form the Northern Black Water Earthly Fiend!

Finally, combine the two heaven and earth spirits, manifest the spell quanta, and assemble them into spell runes!