An Old Acquaintance

Zhou Ning piloted the Tassel Boat over a desolate land, barren as an endless Gobi desert, where not a blade of grass grew.

A single dead tree stood on the vast expanse of earth. Two figures sat facing each other in silence.

As Zhou Ning flew closer, he gradually made out the two figures.

A woman sat cross-legged to the south, her entire body a deep blue, like a vast sea with waves surging.

Zhou Ning heard the faintest sound of a tide.

When he drew closer still, Zhou Ning thought his eyes were playing tricks on him. He saw countless figures gathered beneath the water, densely packed and layered upon one another, competing to draw in and expel water Qi.

A chill ran through Zhou Ning's heart, and he hurriedly glanced at the man opposite her.

This person was even more terrifying. His whole body was built from layer upon layer of tomb coffins, like a pyramid, with tangible, gloomy winds swirling around him.

From time to time, figures dragging heaps of white bones crawled out of the coffins and beckoned, only to be quickly scattered by the gloomy winds.

Zhou Ning's scalp tingled. What on earth are these things?

He no longer dared to look. With his face stiff, he headed straight for the dead tree between them.

In midair, countless specks of spiritual light flickered, much smaller than sesame seeds, like motes of dust.

Zhou Ning used the Spirit Eye Technique and peered hard at them. Only then did he discover that each was a lifelike cultivator, all at the Qi Refining stage.

They're so small. Wouldn't I swat hundreds of them to death with one slap?

But as Zhou Ning drew closer and closer to the dead tree, he discovered that he too had become very small.

He did not stop. Following the other cultivators, he headed for the black hole in the middle of the dead tree and flew inside.

Inside the black hole, light first flickered in a dazzling, kaleidoscopic array of colors. Then, suddenly, a brilliant white light burst forth.

The once-vast expanse of yellow earth vanished, replaced by green trees, clear pools, and wooded mountains, all brimming with life.

"Is this the Withered Wood Grotto-Heaven? It's just like a little world of its own."

Some sort of restriction existed in the sky. Unable to fly, Zhou Ning landed on the ground.

Strange crimson flowers grew around him, reaching half a man's height and bearing rough, uneven spherical fruits. With Zhou Ning's limited knowledge, he could not tell what kind of spiritual material they were.

A thought occurred to him, and he formed his spiritual power into a pair of hands and grabbed one.

The next moment, the surface of the spherical fruit boiled violently and slowly swelled.

"Not good!" Zhou Ning pushed off the ground and retreated more than ten zhang.

Boom! With a deafening blast, flames erupted as large as a thatched cottage. Red mist burst outward, filling the air with a strange, pungent odor.

Zhou Ning activated his metal-fire Law Power, and in the space of a breath, the red smoke burned away. "Poisonous?"

Fortunately, his metal-fire Law Power was of the utmost yang and hardness, and was hardly affected by the poisonous gas.

Zhou Ning was secretly alarmed. The force of that explosion could probably have killed a Qi Refining Ninth Layer cultivator, couldn't it?

"What on earth is this place? Even the fruit explodes?"

It was simply unheard of.

True Person Lu had given him too little information. All he knew was that only Qi Refining cultivators could enter this place. Whether one was at Foundation Establishment, Purple Mansion, or Golden Core, one had to wait outside.

As he was pondering this, he suddenly spotted a streak of black light shooting wildly toward him over the ground in the distance.

Zhou Ning took out a small shield, which swelled in the wind, and held it in front of him.

At the same time, he formed Hand Seals, and a bright, illusory light resembling a tortoise shell appeared. This was Immovable Mountain, the Divine Ability True Person Lu had bestowed upon him.

Unlike the good-for-nothing Qi Refining cultivators of Cuiwei Lake, the cultivators of the Land of Wei wielded formidable arts. He had to be careful.

The black light sped forward and suddenly halted in front of him. It turned out to be a cloud of black smoke.

The black smoke rose upright like a giant snake, with two eyeballs dangling from it.

Zhou Ning froze. Why did this scene look so familiar?

Wasn't this the Vast Righteous Qi Instruction that Chai Dingchun had mastered? No, Chai Dingchun was dead...

Zhou Ning asked tentatively, "Brother Zhuoran?"

The black smoke was startled too. It leaned backward, bending into a crescent.

A clear male voice rang out, full of shock and doubt. "You're not dead?"

Well, would you look at that. It really was Brother Zhuoran!

An old friend met in a foreign land!

Meeting an acquaintance in the cold, indifferent Land of Wei brought Zhou Ning some comfort.

But when he thought of the young man with swordlike brows and starry eyes at the He Household's shop, now transformed into this ghastly figure, he felt a little uneasy.

"Brother Zhuoran, could it be you didn't want to see me alive?" Zhou Ning asked in a teasing tone.

He Zhuoran had mixed feelings. At Gazing Immortal Port, he had seen Zhou Ning smashed to pieces with his own eyes.

Yet now he was alive and kicking again. It was truly baffling.

He had truly underestimated this remnant of the Chai Household. He hadn't expected him to have Purple Mansion methods in reserve.

If this fellow really did build his Immortal Foundation, his family would probably have to surrender its Foundation Establishment alchemy inheritance.

Even so, he felt some joy as well. With anticipation in his voice, he asked, "Brother Zhou, do you have any experience cultivating the Void Wind Qi-Unifying Instruction?"

"Of course I do," Zhou Ning answered naturally.

As he spoke, he tossed over a Jade Slip.

Overjoyed, He Zhuoran darted forward and caught it with the forehead between his eyes.

Immediately afterward, he said angrily, "What the hell use is this Vast Righteous Qi Instruction experience to me?"

With the ancestor's help, he had endured untold hardships to master the Secret Method.

Zhou Ning was laughing to himself.

"Why didn't you give me your cultivation experience when we made our trade?" He Zhuoran demanded.

"You didn't ask for it, did you?" Zhou Ning spread his hands.

Then, seeing that He Zhuoran was about to explode, he hurriedly said, "Brother Zhuoran, don't be angry!"

"Hah, I belong to a Purple Mansion immortal clan. I've cultivated my character since childhood. How could I get angry?" He Zhuoran's clear voice was full of restraint.

Zhou Ning took out a small mirror. "But you're practically turning into a fire."

He Zhuoran looked into the mirror and saw that the black smoke had indeed taken the shape of a flame. For a moment, he fell silent.

Ever since mastering the Vast Righteous Qi Instruction, the impenetrable reserve he had possessed had vanished entirely, and his joy and anger showed plainly on his body.

It troubled him immensely.

Fortunately, the power of the fourth-grade Cultivation Method made up for his dissatisfaction.

Now, he was incredibly powerful!

"Brother Zhou, could you give me your experience in building an Immortal Foundation?" He Zhuoran asked.

Zhou Ning pondered for a moment. "I can, but do you have a Sea-Filling Pill?"

He Zhuoran said, "I do, but I forgot it at home."

Who brought that sort of thing into a secret realm?

"Then what about Calamity-Severing Grass?"

He hadn't brought any of that either.

"But there's some in the Withered Wood Grotto-Heaven. I can get it for you," He Zhuoran promised. "Nobody knows the Grotto-Heaven better than I do!"

"Then does your family have a better Qi Refining pill than the Ginseng-Nurturing Pill?" Zhou Ning felt that cultivating with Ginseng-Nurturing Pills still wasn't fast enough.

Even when he stuffed himself to bursting, his cultivation speed still couldn't compare to that of an Earth Spirit Root.

"Naturally. This is a divine pill my family has developed in recent years."

With that, He Zhuoran pulled a jade bottle from his Storage Bag.

Zhou Ning opened it and looked inside. The pills looked much like Ginseng-Nurturing Pills, except that they had three additional markings on their surface, making them more mysterious.

"It's called the Greater Ginseng-Nurturing Pill," He Zhuoran explained.

"My entire He Household pooled its efforts to develop it. It's fifty percent more effective than the Ginseng-Nurturing Pill, but the cost is simply too high!"

He watched Zhou Ning slip the jade bottle into his pocket as though nothing were amiss, and his eyeballs trembled.

A single Greater Ginseng-Nurturing Pill cost a full five Spirit Stones to make, and its effects lasted only about a month.

Zhou Ning tossed him a Jade Slip. "My experience breaking through to Foundation Establishment with the Void Wind Qi-Unifying Instruction."

His Storage Bag contained not only his experience breaking through to Foundation Establishment with the Void Wind Qi-Unifying Instruction, but also his experience with the Foundation Establishment Middle Stage and Foundation Establishment Late Stage...

It was hardly scarce.

Then Zhou Ning saw the black smoke He Zhuoran had become begin to sway. He was obviously thrilled.

He said, "..."

Fortunately, he hadn't cultivated this method. Otherwise, his personality would show on the outside, like a child's.

After examining it, He Zhuoran kept his promise and handed over the Greater Ginseng-Nurturing Pill Formula.

Zhou Ning gave it a quick look and found that it mainly required older ginseng. The requirements for the other herbs were not too exacting.

Both sides were satisfied.

"When will you take me to get the Calamity-Severing Grass, Brother Zhuoran?" Zhou Ning asked.

He Zhuoran also wanted to befriend him. Perhaps this man had cultivation experience for advancing to Purple Mansion as well.

As for killing him and taking his treasures?

It wasn't that He Zhuoran hadn't considered it, but since this man had escaped Gazing Immortal Port, he could most likely escape from him as well.

If he soured their relationship, where would he find cultivation experience for the Void Wind Qi-Unifying Instruction?

"Wait a moment, Brother Zhou. There are other good things here."

As he spoke, He Zhuoran swung his eyeballs around and stared at the swathes of strange crimson flowers.

"Those are Fire Furuncle Fruits!"

He had come rushing over precisely because he had heard the noise.

As he spoke, He Zhuoran formed a Method Formula and sent out a cloud of bright white ice Qi. Then he thrust both hands of black smoke forward.

He plucked the bumpy, pustule-shaped fruits from the scorched crimson leaves.

Zhou Ning quietly stepped back a few paces. Yet although fire poison surged inside the fruits, they did not explode again.

He Zhuoran placed the Fire Furuncle Fruits in a jade box and sealed it.

"Why are you standing there, Brother Zhou? Pick them!"

"These Fire Furuncle Fruits can not only be thrown to blow people up, but also be used to refine fire-attribute pills, cultivate poison-fire Law Techniques, and even cure cold poison. They work wonders for all of those."

Zhou Ning gave a dry laugh. "Brother He, please teach me the Law Technique for picking them!"

He Zhuoran sighed out a puff of black Qi. "Never mind. I'll give you some once I've picked them."

With that, he worked swiftly, picking every Fire Furuncle Fruit in the area, a full thirty or forty of them.

Zhou Ning received fifteen. He immediately cupped his hands and said, "Brother Zhuoran, you're a true friend!"

He Zhuoran took out a cyan compass and fiddled with it, then followed its direction. "Come on, Brother Zhou. I'll take you to get the Calamity-Severing Grass."

"Brother Zhuoran, you truly are an old hand," Zhou Ning said admiringly.

He Zhuoran said nothing, but the black smoke twisted slightly. He appeared to be in a wonderful mood.