Noticing

After Liu Qinghui left, Ning Fa sat on a stone chair in the courtyard, staring at the Osmanthus Cake on the stone table as he sank into thought.

He could not shake the feeling that Liu Qinghui's purpose in coming today had not been so simple.

He could not help recalling her every movement and expression.

As he pondered, his eyes suddenly lit up.

He remembered that after Liu Qinghui took out that half of the Jade Pendant, she had seemed slightly tense, staring fixedly at him.

Was she nervous about whether he had the other half of the Jade Pendant?

Ning Fa did not believe she wanted to use that half of the Jade Pendant to confirm whether he still harbored lingering feelings for her.

More likely, she had been worried about the half of the Jade Pendant itself.

As for why she cared about that half of the Jade Pendant, the reason did not seem difficult to guess upon reflection.

Perhaps some secret was hidden within her half of the Jade Pendant, and she wanted to take his half away.

And it was very likely a secret she had discovered only recently, which was why she had not come before.

At that thought, Ning Fa felt as though the clouds had parted and the moon had emerged.

Poor Liu Qinghui would never have imagined that Ning Fa was no longer the man he had once been.

After years of battling in the business world, he had long since forged a pair of fiery golden eyes. His mind was quick, and he noticed every minute detail.

Liu Qinghui had revealed only the faintest trace, yet Ning Fa had already more or less guessed the truth.

Thinking of this, Ning Fa instead kept his expression unchanged. He even yawned lazily, muttered a few words under his breath, and returned to the pill room with his usual gait.

He feared Liu Qinghui might still be hiding nearby. After all, she was in Late Qi Condensation, and her divine sense was far stronger than his.

If he showed any abnormality now, would he not be giving himself away?

Only after activating the Guardian Spirit Array did Ning Fa's eyes shine brightly.

Since Liu Qinghui cared so much about that half of the Jade Pendant, it was very likely a treasure.

He could not help racking his brains over where his former self had thrown that half of the Jade Pendant.

It seemed that after Liu Qinghui's family had called off the engagement, his former self, overwhelmed by rage and anguish, had casually tossed away this token of love.

Ning Fa frowned and thought hard.

Suddenly, he sprang to his feet.

In this familiar pill room, Ning Fa swept his gaze around before fixing it on the pill furnace—or, more precisely, beneath it.

Ning Fa walked over and moved the pill furnace aside. The stone slabs beneath had already been blackened by Black Nitre Stone.

He tested several slabs in succession. Then, after he pried hard at one of them, it loosened.

Delight flashed across Ning Fa's face. He exerted more force and flipped the stone slab over in one motion.

Beneath it was a small hole containing several items.

There was a wooden dragonfly toy, blackened and rotted away; gleaming crystals; a jade hairpin still glimmering faintly; and a green bamboo Jade Slip inscribed with words of love...

These were basically all items that had belonged jointly to his former self and Liu Qinghui. They had once been treasured by his former self, but after the broken engagement dealt him too great a blow—

He had initially wanted to burn everything in one fire, but in the end he could not bear to do so and buried them all instead.

And burying them in the pill room had not been done on a whim. His former self had wanted to use them to spur himself on in pill refining.

He had even thought that once he became a Pill Master, Liu Qinghui would change her mind. Then he could show her these things and move her heart.

At that thought, Ning Fa felt physically sick and nearly wanted to slap himself.

Forcing himself to remain patient, he continued rummaging through the items. At last, at the very bottom, he found the half of the Jade Pendant carefully wrapped in jade silk.

Ning Fa picked up the half of the Jade Pendant excitedly and examined it closely.

Yet after studying it for a long while, he could not see anything special about it.

This half of the Jade Pendant was made of ordinary material, with only a few simple patterns and dim spiritual qi. It could not even be considered a magical artifact, merely a small ornament.

Ning Fa shook his head, not overly surprised.

After all, his former self had regarded this half of the Jade Pendant as a token of love between himself and Liu Qinghui, treating it as a priceless treasure and handling it countless times. If there had been anything unusual about it, he would have discovered it long ago.

Ning Fa studied it for a while longer but still could not make sense of it. Just as he was about to give up, his right arm suddenly grew hot.

Delight filled Ning Fa's face, and he hurriedly activated the Mysterious Scroll.

White light flickered across the scroll. Soon, within that white glow, an image of this half of the Jade Pendant appeared. White lines extended downward, and another half of a differently styled green Jade Pendant faintly emerged.

But after more than ten breaths, that green Jade Pendant remained only a phantom and failed to materialize fully.

The white light on the scroll stopped flickering, as though the scroll had given up trying.

The delight on Ning Fa's face faded as he rubbed his chin.

The fact that the Mysterious Scroll had reacted meant that this half of the Jade Pendant was indeed no ordinary object.

From the looks of it, the Mysterious Scroll lacked the energy to successfully trace its origin. Ning Fa could not help feeling somewhat regretful.

Ning Fa did not continue studying it.

There was no need to rush over the Jade Pendant's secret. Once he became strong enough, he would make Liu Qinghui reveal it herself.

His most urgent task now was still to break through to Qi Condensation Mid-stage.

Once he advanced to Qi Condensation Mid-stage, with his thunder body and the Ancient Source Thunder Scripture, he believed his strength would not be inferior to that of an ordinary Late Qi Condensation cultivator.

More importantly, he could then begin preparing to advance to a First-grade Mid-rank Pill Master. When that time came, he would give Ning Ruiming a huge surprise.

It would count as repayment for this man's "care" during this time!

On Lingchang Island, inside an elegant private room of the Alchemy Hall.

With a crisp smash, a jade teacup was hurled against the wall and shattered into pieces.

Ning Ruiming glared furiously at a middle-aged man in a gray robe with a mustache, anger surging through him. "Uncle Hong, is what you said true?!"

The mustached man lowered his head and replied, "It should be true. I heard that Ning Fa's neighbor personally saw Miss Liu enter Ning Fa's home, and the two of them behaved... somewhat intimately."

"Damn it!"

Veins bulged across Ning Ruiming's face, his eyes turning bloodshot with rage as he moved to charge out the door.

Ning Jinghong hurriedly stopped him. "Ruiming, don't be impulsive! Miss Liu's status is different now. Not only the Third Elder, but several other Foundation Establishment Elders also think highly of her. You cannot be overly disrespectful toward her!"

Hearing this, Ning Ruiming gradually calmed down.

This clan uncle was right. Liu Qinghui's standing within the family was now highly unusual.

In fact, even he held a lower position in the family than Liu Qinghui now.

Liu Qinghui had advanced to Late Qi Condensation only three years ago, yet she could already refine four kinds of first-grade high-rank pills with at least a thirty percent success rate, and her success rate was still steadily rising.

In terms of pill-refining ability, even Wei Chengzong did not dare claim he could certainly defeat Liu Qinghui. This was why the family's upper echelons valued Liu Qinghui so highly.

Ning Ruiming had advanced to Late Qi Condensation a year earlier than Liu Qinghui, yet he had only barely achieved a thirty percent success rate with one kind of first-grade high-rank pill—and it was the simplest kind of first-grade high-rank pill.

Even with the full support of the family and his branch lineage, he was still far from becoming a First-grade High-rank Pill Master.

Thus, he currently lacked both the confidence and the strength to question or interfere with Liu Qinghui.

Ning Ruiming's expression returned to calm. As though something had occurred to him, his gaze flickered as he slowly said, "Ning Fa's pill-refining skills suddenly improved by leaps and bounds. Could it be... Qinghui taught him?"

Ning Ruiming's gaze wandered. Though he was asking a question, it sounded more like he was talking to himself.

The mustached man lowered his head and pondered briefly before saying in a grave voice, "That is indeed very possible, and the possibility is not small."

But Ning Ruiming's brows remained tightly furrowed, and he was still somewhat confused.

Because when Ning Fa encountered Liu Qinghui during the Pill Master assessment, his attitude toward her had been exceptionally vile.

He had looked as though he loathed both her and her father to the bone. No matter how one looked at it, it did not seem like Liu Qinghui had ever taught him.

Yet this time, Liu Qinghui had behaved intimately with Ning Fa and had even entered his home. That was also a fact.

Ning Ruiming's expression darkened. After a long while, he suddenly said, "Tell that Uncle Liu about this. He definitely does not want to see Ning Fa rise again any more than I do. He should restrain Qinghui."

The mustached man nodded. "That is a prudent course of action. I will go at once."