Noticing the look in Ning Fa's eyes, Ning Shaohong felt a strange sensation.
The amazement in Ning Fa's gaze didn't offend her; in fact, she felt a hint of pride in her own charm.
Ning Shaohong chuckled lightly, "Little Fa, why are you here again? Did you run into trouble once more?"
Ning Fa finally snapped out of his daze, mentally chiding himself.
He scratched his head, realizing that it seemed like every time he came to Ning Shaohong, it was to ask for her help with his problems, and this time was no exception.
He gave an awkward smile and then respectfully greeted Ning Shaohong.
Instead of immediately mentioning his troubles, Ning Fa, with a solemn expression, took out a pill bottle from his storage bag.
He gently pushed the pill bottle towards Ning Shaohong and said respectfully, "Aunt Hong, please take a look at this first."
Seeing Ning Fa's serious and earnest demeanor, Ning Shaohong couldn't help but become curious about what kind of pill was in the bottle.
When she poured the pill from the bottle into her palm, even with her composure, she couldn't help but part her cherry lips slightly and let out a surprised gasp:
"A One Dao Mark Essence Replenishing Pill!?"
Before Ning Fa could answer, Ning Shaohong, still in shock, eagerly brought the pill closer to her eyes to examine it carefully.
"This special Dao charm, there's no mistaking it. It truly is a Dao Patterned Pill..."
After a long while, Ning Shaohong finally put the pill down and murmured, her beautiful eyes still lingering with shock.
She came back to her senses and looked at Ning Fa.
Even though she had already seen the answer, she still asked with a hint of disbelief, "Little Fa, did you refine this Dao Patterned Pill?"
Seeing Ning Fa nod in confirmation, Ning Shaohong let out a soft sigh, "It's truly incredible. It's only been such a short time, and you've actually managed to refine a Dao Patterned Pill... Although you already had a nascent Dao Mark during the last Pill Hall assessment, I thought you would need at least a few more years to truly take this step."
Ning Shaohong looked at Ning Fa with a spark in her eyes. She already knew that Ning Fa had a knack for alchemy and possessed extremely high talent.
Her friend had praised the pills Ning Fa refined without reservation. It was important to remember that her friend was very knowledgeable and had very high standards, so receiving such high praise from her was not easy.
But now, it seemed she had still underestimated Ning Fa.
At this moment, Ning Fa said respectfully, "I've taken this One Dao Mark Essence Replenishing Pill several times. Its efficacy should be three to four times that of a regular Essence Replenishing Pill, and its medicinal power is even more refined. It also has a certain effect in assisting with breakthroughs, and it should increase the chance of breaking through the bottleneck in the middle stage of Qi Condensation by about thirty percent."
Upon hearing this, Ning Shaohong was even more shocked.
It wasn't because of the potent effects of this Dao Patterned Pill.
After all, for a Dao Patterned Pill, not having such strong effects would be abnormal.
What caught her attention was Ning Fa's earlier statement that he had taken it several times. Coupled with the One Dao Mark Essence Replenishing Pill in her hand, Doesn't that mean this kid has already refined the One Dao Mark Essence Replenishing Pill multiple times?
This was the truly shocking part for Ning Shaohong.
Being able to refine a Dao Patterned Pill and being able to consistently refine a Dao Patterned Pill were two completely different concepts, representing a huge gap in alchemy skill.
Ning Fa's ability to consistently refine a Dao Patterned Pill meant that, solely in terms of refining Essence Replenishing Pills, even ordinary alchemy grandmasters couldn't match him.
Ning Shaohong composed herself and hurriedly asked, "Can you consistently refine the One Dao Mark Essence Replenishing Pill? What's the success rate?"
Ning Fa secretly thought that this Aunt Hong was indeed sharp; she understood everything immediately.
He replied, "Within about fifteen furnaces, I can refine one One Dao Mark Essence Replenishing Pill."
He wasn't telling the truth here.
He could actually guarantee that he could refine one One Dao Mark Essence Replenishing Pill every six or seven furnaces.
However, Ning Fa was afraid of shocking Aunt Hong and also worried about being too astonishing, so he stated a lower figure.
But even so, Ning Shaohong was rendered speechless by the news. For the usually elegant and composed her, this was a rare loss of composure.
After a long moment, she regained her usual demeanor, but still exclaimed with a strange tone, "You truly surprise me, you brat."
After exclaiming, a hint of a smile played on her lips as she asked, "Alright, what do you need from me? I don't think you've come just to show off."
Ning Fa gave an awkward smile and then said seriously, "I can provide you with fifteen One Dao Mark Essence Replenishing Pills within a year, and I only hope you can help me with one matter."
According to Ning Fa's estimation, the value of a One Dao Mark Essence Replenishing Pill was at least one to two hundred Spirit Stones.
It was easy to say that its efficacy was three to four times that of a regular pill, but its added effect of assisting in breaking through the bottleneck of the middle stage of Qi Condensation was very important and would definitely be very popular among many low-level cultivators.
Therefore, the value of these fifteen One Dao Mark Essence Replenishing Pills should be around two thousand Spirit Stones.
Considering the rarity of Dao Patterned Pills, the value should be even higher.
This amount of Spirit Stones was enough to purchase an ordinary top-grade magical artifact.
Ning Fa was willing to pay this price not entirely to help his maternal uncle.
He also considered it an opportunity to display his strength to Ning Shaohong and strengthen their relationship.
Ning Fa had this idea after he was able to consistently refine the One Dao Mark Essence Replenishing Pill before, but he was still hesitant. Now, his uncle's situation had given him the final push.
A smile curved Ning Shaohong's lips, "For you to be willing to pay such a price, the favor you want must not be simple. Tell me about it first."
So, Ning Fa recounted the troubles his maternal uncle's family was facing, word for word.
He had expected Ning Shaohong to find it troublesome, but what he never expected was...
Ning Shaohong's face lit up with surprise after hearing this. "Are you sure there's a large patch of Red Coral Stone at the bottom of that lake?"
Ning Fa looked bewildered. Was Aunt Hong's focus a little off? But he still nodded.
Receiving confirmation, Ning Shaohong let out a sigh of relief, finally returning to her usual demeanor. She smiled and said, "I won't hide it from you, that Red Coral Stone is actually very important to me. If the Red Coral Stone in that water area satisfies me, I'll take ownership of it."
Seeing Ning Fa's expression change slightly, Ning Shaohong continued, "But don't worry, I won't act like the Wenchang Island lineage and seize it through trickery. I will offer the Xu Family a satisfactory price."
Ning Fa felt reassured upon hearing Ning Shaohong say this.
He trusted this Aunt Hong a great deal. Her reputation within the family was excellent. Since she had said so, even if not for his sake, she would definitely give the Xu Family a satisfactory resolution.
It was just a bit unexpected that this Aunt Hong was also interested in the Red Coral Stone.
Moreover, it seemed she didn't even consider the Wenchang Island lineage or the Eighth Elder behind them, appearing determined to obtain the Red Coral Stone.
This was not surprising. Although she was the Ninth Elder and ranked slightly lower than the Eighth Elder in the family's hierarchy, the Second Elder of the family was Ning Shaohong's own brother. Therefore, if it came down to a direct confrontation, the Eighth Elder would definitely back down.
Ning Shaohong pondered for a moment, then said, "How about this, in about three days, I will personally go to that water area to inspect it."
"If the Red Coral Stone doesn't meet my needs, and considering the One Dao Mark Essence Replenishing Pill, I will still step forward to help the Xu Family."
Seeing that Ning Shaohong had gone this far, Ning Fa also felt relieved.
It seemed that using the One Dao Mark Essence Replenishing Pill to ask for Ning Shaohong's help had yielded good results this time.
It was just a bit of a surprise that Ning Shaohong was also interested in the Red Coral Stone.