Ning flew up to the peak of the mountain and looked at the whole thing again. Now, he could feel a different sensation from reaching the Spirit transformation realm.
As with all of the breakthroughs, this one too came with increased strength, power, and senses. Ning once more let his divine sense go out and realized that it covered the entire island and more. He could actually see the ocean that lied outside of this folded space.
"Wow, I can see so far even though my senses are being stunted by the heavy Qi density," Ning thought.
He stayed there and checked his strength for a few more minutes and finally decided to leave.
He flew up once again to look at the mountains that made a spiral shape around the entire island. At the center of the island was something very black from what Ning could see.
As he got closer, he could see that the black thing was actually releasing a lot of light and that surprised him. 'Is that a lake?' he thought and looked at it.
As he flew closer, he could sense the Qi in the surroundings getting denser and denser. Finally, when he reached next to the lake, the amount of Qi there was simply overwhelming.
"So much Qi. Is it even a good idea for me to stay here?" Ning wondered. He didn't know what having too much Qi in the surrounding did to a weak cultivator. It could have amazing positive effects, but it also could have negative effects.
Whatever it may be, he decided to stay there for a few seconds longer and check. He looked at the small pond in front of him.
The pond was about 10 meters wide in a circular shape. The water in it looked deep blue, nearly black even from where he stood. The pond was surrounded by what Ning had learned to be very high-level plants.
The liquid in the pond may have been dark, but it was sending out the bright light from it. Ning could see the illumination in his cheeks from where he stood. In fact, the entire valley was a shade brighter thanks to the mysterious liquid.
Suddenly, a thought struck him and he said out loud, "Is this the actual Origin?" he wondered. If that were to be the case then the pond in front of him was where the Qi originated for the entire planet.
The Qi first filled this folded space, and then slowly released onto the entire planet. That was one of the reasons why the planet had such a poor accumulation of Qi.
If the folded space wasn't there, then the planet would definitely have a higher level of Qi. Maybe not enough to have people enter the Spirit Transformation realm easily, but there definitely would be a lot of them.
Ning crouched down to look at the liquid of the pond closely. From what he could tell, there was no way the liquid there was water at all.
"What is this?" he wondered and thought about putting his hands in. However, just in case, he decided to put something else in first. He took a small stick from one of the trees nearby and dipped it into the liquid.
He stirred it around and was very surprised. He couldn't feel the liquid at all. He moved the wood around, but he could feel zero friction from the liquid.
"Are my senses playing tricks on me?" he thought. If he were to close his eyes right now, he would think that the wood was moving in nothingness, not even air.
"What is this?" he couldn't help but get more confused. He threw away the stick and decided to place his hands inside to touch it.
The moment his hands entered the liquid, the liquid started to immediately seep in through his arm and rushed to his entire body. Ning was surprised, but that was all he could do there. Nothing felt off to him other than that one feeling he had since he entered the island.
However, in just a few seconds, he started feeling that his body was growing in cultivation, and was ready to break through once more.
Only, that was wrong. Ning wasn't ready in any way, but the liquid was trying to do so forcefully.
"No!" Ning cried out and jumped backward. As soon as he stopped touching the liquid, his body felt light once again, and he could sense his cultivation base going back to normal.
If he had let what was happening to happen, then he would certainly enter Qi deviation without a doubt. Ning looked at the liquid in horror and he finally understood what it really was.
"It's Qi," he thought. "The Qi is so concentrated in this one point that it looks like it's a liquid."
He then finally took a moment to take it all in. The place he was currently in was in a way the center of the entire world. This place was the reason why humans and beasts could cultivate in the first place.
"So, is this what the origin is?" Ning wondered. He thought of something and reached into his storage space to bring out something.
The thing he brought out was a small black marble. This one was different from the one he used previously to get back to Planet Kumia from Planet Vilmore.
That marble was in Anya's necklace that she still wore from time to time. This one was a stronger one that he had made for such a case, and this one seemed to be such a case.
Ning switched body and jumped into the white marble. He had lost a majority of his acute sense by doing that and yet that one feeling he had felt persisted even when he was in the marble.
Ning didn't think twice before jumping into the pond of Qi. He felt no resistance as he fell directly to the bottom of the lake.
He couldn't see a single thing down there at all. That wasn't because of the darkness, but rather because it was too bright. Even though he didn't feel anything inside, his visions were blasted with bright light from all sides.
Fortunately, such bright light didn't hurt him or strain him at all, and he could perfectly navigate without having to cover his eyes, which he would if he were a human.
He flew through the entire pond, but he couldn't see a damn thing.
Finally, he let himself sink to the bottom of the ground. Once he landed, he started rolling around the floor, looking at whatever he would possibly find.
Soon, he started realizing that he was going downhill. He started to roll without meaning and landed on top of something very bright.
In all of his life, he had never seen anything like that.
What he saw was a small opening of the sort that seemed to lead to a land of bright light, however, he couldn't enter no matter what.
"System, what is this?" he asked.
<That is an opening to a place that is not in your universe>
Ning's eyes went wide. "What?" he asked in surprise. "This leads to someplace outside of our own universe? Then, can I enter the other universe through this?" he asked.
<No. This opening does not lead to any universes>
Ning was confused now. "What do you mean?" he asked.
<The System isn't allowed to talk about this.>
<The system suggests you leave this place. It is very dangerous for you>
"Even in this strong marble, it's dangerous?" Ning asked in surprise.
<No, it is dangerous to you, the energy>
<in that place, there is a very small, but definite chance of the System being ripped away from you. In that case, you will lose your sentience and subsequently, your immortality>
Ning's surprise turned to terror when he heard that. He spent no further minute and immediately escaped from the pond and flew out.
Once he was safe, he asked once again. "Can you elaborate, System? What did you mean by me losing immortality? I thought that was definite."
<As long as you remain in the multiverse, you have are guaranteed to have immortality. But once you leave to venture the other places, there is no longer a guarantee, as the system itself is under threat in those places.>
Ning finally understood the severity of the situation. "I see. So even the system is not free from danger. And here I thought I had no danger whatsoever," Ning said.
<You are free from danger so long as you don't try to find ways to enter those realms>
"I will make sure not to," Nings said. It took a while, but the fear he felt was slowly going away. However, even if the fear went away, that one feeling from the very start was still there and it started really bugging him now.
"System, what is going on? What is this weird sensation that I'm feeling?" Ning asked.
<That is your sense of time sensing the different flow of time>
"...what?" Ning asked with a confused face. "This place has a different flow of time? Different how?" Ning asked.
<The time in this island passes about 13 times faster than it does outside>
"13 times faster?" Ning said with surprise. "But wait, I have been in places where time passed slower before and I never got these feelings."
<Those places had both time and everyone in it moving at the same pace>
<In this island, while the time moves 13 times faster, you move at the same rate as everything outside of this island.>
<Only time moves faster, not everything else>
