Enemies Meet on a Narrow Road

These thirty spirit stones might not seem like much, but the old man in black was, after all, only a mortal.

Even as the mortal steward of their branch, he normally could not earn many spirit stones. These thirty spirit stones had likely been saved up over many years.

Seeing that Ning Fa had not accepted the spirit stones, the old man in black deliberately smiled. "Could it be that Xiaofa finds my thirty spirit stones too few? These are not merely this old man's thirty spirit stones. Your eldest uncle Zheng Qian also asked me to give you fifty spirit stones."

Ning Fa was slightly surprised. He had not expected that eldest uncle to give him fifty spirit stones as well.

Ning Fa no longer stood on ceremony and accepted the spirit stones, saying just as solemnly, "Uncle Xilin, I will repay you."

The old man in black waved his hand, stroked his beard, and smiled. Then he rose with Ning Fa's maternal uncle to take their leave.

Ning Fa escorted them to the door. Holding the two bags containing one hundred and eighty spirit stones, he could not help but be overwhelmed by a myriad of emotions.

In such a short time, he had witnessed both the shameless greed of blood relatives and the warmth between family members.

Then Ning Fa grew excited. With these one hundred and eighty spirit stones, he could buy the spiritual ingredients for more than ten batches of Essence Replenishing Pills.

His chances of refining failed Essence Replenishing Pills were now as good as certain. Then he should be able to use the Mysterious Scroll to restore them once again.

Time waited for no one. Ning Fa immediately rose, intending to head to Jinchang Island and purchase the spiritual ingredients for Essence Replenishing Pills at once.

Although Jinchang Island Market was only an internal market of the Ning Clan, its scale had steadily grown along with the clan's strength.

Basic low-level cultivation resources and materials were plentiful there, and prices were generally somewhat cheaper than in outside markets. This was one of the benefits the clan offered its disciples.

Jinchang Island was several hundred li from Pingchang Island. Even with a Flying Artifact, a low-level cultivator like Ning Fa simply did not have enough Mana to persist all the way there.

Moreover, Flying Artifacts were generally extremely expensive, far beyond what Ning Fa could afford at present.

Fortunately, the Ning Clan had spirit boats stationed on all its major islands, traveling back and forth between them free of charge.

Because Jinchang Island housed the internal market, a spirit boat departed from Pingchang Island for Jinchang Island every day.

When Ning Fa reached the docks, he happened to catch the spirit boat departing for Jinchang Island. Secretly calling himself lucky, he hurried aboard.

If he missed this spirit boat, he would have to wait until tomorrow. His time was precious now; he had none to waste.

The spirit boat was not particularly large, only a dozen or so zhang long. It had over twenty seats, with a scattered dozen or so passengers sitting inside.

At the bow stood a towering wooden carving shaped like a flying fish. On either side of the boat was a white, wing-like structure several zhang long, faintly glimmering.

After the old man steering the vessel cast a Hand Seal toward the flying-fish carving, the wings on both sides of the spirit boat immediately shone brilliantly.

With a slight flap, they whipped up a fierce gale and carried the spirit boat forward at tremendous speed, leaving Ning Fa clicking his tongue in wonder.

Less than two hours later, the spirit boat finally arrived at the docks of Jinchang Island.

Ning Fa disembarked with the others. Looking at the scene before him, his face was full of curiosity.

Jinchang Island was not small, spanning dozens of li in every direction. Viewed from above, the island resembled a gourd, so Ning Clan disciples also liked to call it Gourd Island.

Not only did the island possess a Second-grade Low-rank spiritual vein, but it also lay at the center of the Ning Clan's many islands. That was why the Ning Clan had established its internal market here.

It also served as the clan's center for the flow of goods. Supplies traded with the outside world, as well as large batches of goods purchased from outside, were mostly handed over here.

Thus, this island was exceptionally prosperous and extremely important to the Ning Clan. A Ning Clan Foundation Establishment Elder was stationed here year-round.

The docks were bustling with voices. Not only did great numbers of cultivators stream through them, but many mortals were unloading goods from ships and carrying goods aboard, creating a scene of bustling activity.

Several dozen spirit boats were already docked there, some large and some small. Most were over a hundred zhang long, and Ning Fa even spotted a colossal vessel nearly a thousand zhang in length, which left him clicking his tongue in wonder.

This also displayed the Ning Clan's current momentum, blazing like the noonday sun.

The Ning Clan was now at the height of its prosperity in six hundred years, with a record four Foundation Establishment Cultivators within the clan.

In the clan war several years ago, the Ning Clan had decisively defeated the long-established Foundation Establishment Family, the Qian Family, gaining enormous benefits. Its strength now ranked firmly second among the many powers of Thousand Wave Lake, surpassed only by the Xue Family.

Of course, the Ning Clan had also paid no small price for defeating the Qian Family. Many elite disciples, such as Ning Fa's parents, had died in battle.

Even the Ning Clan's First Elder, Mid Foundation Establishment Cultivator Ning Zhongyuan, seemed to have suffered serious injuries in that battle. Over the past few years, he had scarcely shown himself within the clan.

Yet compared to the immense benefits they had gained, those losses were entirely acceptable.

Moreover, the Ning Clan's younger generation had many people of outstanding talent. The most exceptional among them was Fifth Elder Ning Huarong, upon whom the entire clan now placed great hopes.

The clan publicly recognized that once she achieved Foundation Establishment, she would possess combat strength at the Foundation Establishment Early Stage comparable to that of an ordinary Mid Foundation Establishment Cultivator. Her future was boundless.

Ning Fa wandered about with great interest, looking here and there, and before he knew it, he had entered the market proper.

Along both sides of a main road stood pavilions and buildings of every shape and form. Many cultivators entered and exited them. There were not only disciples dressed in Ning Clan attire, but also some outside cultivators.

In certain designated areas, quite a few cultivators had directly set up stalls on the ground.

It was even livelier here. Every kind of low-level spiritual item was available at the stalls, blooming in multicolored rays of light that left Ning Fa, visiting for the first time, almost unable to take it all in.

But he immediately remembered that time was pressing. Forcing himself to withdraw his gaze, he headed straight toward the depths of the market.

Before long, Ning Fa arrived at a pavilion atop a high slope, more than ten zhang tall. This was one of the largest spiritual-material shops in Jinchang Island Market. Ning Fa had previously bought alchemy ingredients here.

After entering, Ning Fa casually swept his gaze around, only to encounter two people he had never expected to see. The excitement on his face immediately froze.

Though there were quite a few people in the hall, anyone entering would inevitably have their eyes drawn to one woman.

The young woman wore a cloud-white gauze dress. Her figure was slender and captivating, her brows and eyes picturesque, her skin like congealed cream. She was a rare beauty.

Quite a few men in the hall pretended to inspect spiritual materials while sneaking glances at her.

"Qinghui, it seems there are no Moon Orchid Flowers here. But that is no matter. Your elder brother will accompany you to Tianshui Market. There will certainly be such a spiritual item there. Your elder brother will definitely buy it for you."

At that moment, a fair-faced young man in white beside the beauty spoke gently.

He appeared only a few years older than Ning Fa, yet he was astonishingly already at the seventh level of Qi Condensation—the Late Qi Condensation realm.