Chapter Twenty-Four: Fundamental Theory of the Nine-Fold Yama Pass, The First Three Passes!

"Ooh..."

As Ning Wuque and Ning Tian were playing around, Wu Feng, who was supporting Ning Tian, felt quite displeased. She felt like a powerless husband who could only watch helplessly as his beloved was taken away by another, unable to stop any of it. Although she was usually the one who enjoyed being the one in control, it made no difference here.

"What, you don't agree, little red dragon?"

"Who—who are you calling a little red dragon! You jerk! Don't think that just because you're strong now, you'll always be strong. Once I reach the Spirit Saint rank, just you wait until we fight again!"

Wu Feng looked like a lit match, immediately bristling with indignation, but she had grown smarter. She didn't try to provoke Ning Wuque; instead, she proactively shifted their grudge toward the milestone most favorable to her. For a Spirit Master with a dragon-type Martial Spirit, the Spirit Saint rank was the most crucial watershed. Once she reached it, even some weak Spirit Douluos might not be able to do anything to her, and she might even be able to mount a powerful counter-kill!

It was equivalent to gathering fragments to upgrade an A-rank card to an S-rank; it was a massive metamorphosis and the foundation of her confidence to reclaim her pride before Ning Tian. She would endure for now, and once she attained her seven rings, she would surely break Ning Wuque into pieces!

"Forget it, I won't argue with you. Ning Tian, do you want to hear about my spirit skill?"

Is it time?

Before Ning Wuque, Ning Tian slowly wiped the smile from her face. She reached out and patted Wu Feng on the back to signal her to be quiet, then nodded and said, "Alright. But standing is quite tiring; let's sit down and rest together."

As soon as she finished speaking, Ning Tian waved her hand, releasing a massive, deep blue stone from her storage spirit tool. The stone was two meters long and half a meter wide, like a custom-made lounge slab.

The well-read Ning Wuque immediately recognized the object. His eyes lit up as he looked at the smug-faced Ning Tian, and he exclaimed, "Soul-Nurturing Jade! Such a large piece of Soul-Nurturing Jade!"

"It's nothing worth mentioning. You can borrow it when I'm not cultivating my spirit power," she said.

"I would go through fire and water for the Young Mistress!" Ning Wuque said, looking excited.

Soul-Nurturing Jade was discovered by accident thousands of years ago when a group of miners found a peculiar piece of jade that radiated rich spirit power, acting like a mobile, high-level simulated environment suitable for all Spirit Masters.

Later research revealed that the jade was actually a ten-thousand-year spirit bone whose spirit power had completely leaked out and become useless. Now that technology had matured, Soul-Nurturing Jade was a specialized auxiliary cultivation device that major sects would bite the bullet to provide for their geniuses. While not as good as top-tier simulated environments, it was incredibly convenient.

Thinking of this, Ning Wuque was filled with envy. Ning Tian was simply the Ning Rongrong of ten thousand years ago; how rich she was depended entirely on the limits of one's perception of wealth.

Seeing Ning Tian and Wu Feng sitting together, Ning Wuque walked over in a few steps. He gently stroked the texture of the jade before sitting down on the other side of Ning Tian. The moment he sat down, warm spirit power flowed through his limbs and bones, making his entire body cheer with joy. He felt that if he could cultivate on this, his progress would accelerate by at least thirty percent.

"Where do you want me to start?" After feeling the effects for a moment, Ning Wuque turned to ask Ning Tian.

Ning Tian touched her chin and said, "Whatever you like. It's up to you."

"Is that so? Alright, let's start with the basic theory. You should know about 'Ring Detonation,' right? The 'Nine-Fold Yama Gate' is a spirit skill I developed, inspired by Ring Detonation, but it is stronger—and also more dangerous!"

Slowly, Ning Wuque began to explain everything about this spirit skill. The Nine-Fold Yama Gate was a combination of Ring Detonation and the Eight Inner Gates. However, since the bodies of people in the Douluo world could not be compared to those in the Hidden Leaf Village, Ning Wuque only adopted the underlying philosophy rather than the execution.

The Eight Inner Gates opened eight shackles within the human body to achieve tiered power, whereas the Nine-Fold Yama Gate worked from small to large, from the inside out, amplifying every part of the body like a pyramid built from the bottom up. The difference was significant.

Spirit power was not chakra; it was not gentle. On the contrary, it was incredibly violent and came entirely from the outside. Innate spirit power indicated that the human body could only absorb and store spirit power, not generate it. When all the spirit power from Ring Detonation surged into his body, Ning Wuque's spirit could not control the direction of the flow, so he took a shortcut.

Remember, in the original work, the part that bore the greatest impact from Ring Detonation was the Martial Spirit, not the human body! Even using mental power to control the explosive energy of Ring Detonation was only to ensure that the human body wasn't blown into fireworks. The Martial Spirit part was pure brute force endurance.

This meant that even if Ning Wuque's mental power reached the limit below godhood, whether he could control the impact of the ninth spirit ring's explosion remained an unknown.

He first trained his body to become a qualified vessel, then used mature methods to train his mastery over spirit power, while simultaneously using that spirit power to assist his recovery during training. That was the purpose of those peculiar postures; he allowed his spirit power to open up circuits and meridians connecting his entire body in the gaps when his flesh was self-repairing.

Finally, he used his mastery of spirit power to set up guides at the intersections of these circuits, leading the spirit power released by Ring Detonation to actively rush toward those directions! Of course, the risk was enormous. Like a woman's first childbirth, Ning Wuque had to endure the top-tier expansion caused by the massive influx of spirit power.

This was the foundational theory that every stage of the Nine-Fold Yama Gate, from the first to the ninth, had to follow. There were no shortcuts! Can't handle it? If you can't handle it, you die! Why else would Ning Wuque call it the "Nine-Fold Yama Gate"? It meant literally visiting the King of Hell nine times!

"Following this theory, I have only devised the channels needed to open the first three gates so far," Ning Wuque said. His words made the two beside him recall his state from yesterday. He continued, "I call them the 'Three Gates of Body Training': the first, the 'Blood Surge Gate'; the second, the 'Flesh Grinding Gate'; and the third, the 'Bone Casting Gate'!"

Ning Wuque then explained the concepts and methods for these three gates. The Blood Surge Gate involved using the spirit power flowing through the entire body to stimulate and activate the blood. This process was already half-finished once the power flowed through his limbs. With his mastery, he only needed a little guidance to complete it, at which point his blood would be infused with active spirit power. This was the simplest and easiest gate to complete.

The second gate corresponded to the internal organs and required further Ring Detonation to complete. Because the blood was already filled with spirit power, the massive, excess energy had no choice but to rush through his flesh and muscles.

As for the third gate, the bones, a strong physique required pillars; otherwise, he would be the first to die. For the third gate, Ning Wuque still had no clue and would have to wait for further research, or perhaps he would only find a breakthrough after developing the second gate.