Ning Fa was stunned.
He hadn't expected Meng Ruoqi to use herself as collateral.
Considering Meng Ruoqi was known as Thousand Wave Lake's Number One Beauty, this offer was undeniably attractive.
For any ordinary talented young man, they might have already lost their composure and impulsively agreed.
But Ning Fa was no ordinary person.
He calmly asked, "I'm very curious. Since that fellow disciple admires Fairy Meng so much, if you offered him the same terms, wouldn't he be very willing to help the Meng Family? With the full protection of the Chang Kong Alliance, your Meng Family should also be able to remain safe."
Meng Ruoqi sighed softly, "Given Fellow Daoist Ning's current status, you must know that the Chang Kong Alliance is not united. Nine Wood Hermit and the other two Foundation Establishment Cultivators have significant conflicts. Therefore, regarding helping our Meng Family, there are serious disagreements within the Chang Kong Alliance, and they won't invest too much strength to aid us."
Ning Fa showed little surprise.
He had not only received such information from his family but also a considerable amount from Wei Shiqin.
For instance, he knew the reasons behind the conflicts between Nine Wood Hermit and the other Foundation Establishment Cultivators.
About more than half a year ago, the Chang Kong Alliance had unexpectedly acquired two Life Transformation Fruits with a hundred years of medicinal age.
The value of this spiritual fruit was no less than the Wood Origin Fruit, and it was the primary ingredient for refining the Life Restoration Pill.
The Life Restoration Pill was a second-grade spiritual pill that could increase the lifespan of Foundation Establishment Cultivators.
For cultivators taking it for the first time, it could almost add ten years to their lifespan.
Thus, for some Foundation Establishment Cultivators who were already advanced in age, the value of this pill surpassed even the Foundation Establishment Pill.
As a result, these two Life Transformation Fruits were not used to refine Life Restoration Pills. Instead, Nine Wood Hermit used them entirely to cultivate a secret technique.
This directly caused severe dissatisfaction among the other two Foundation Establishment Cultivators in the Chang Kong Alliance.
Originally, with Nine Wood Hermit's cultivation at the peak of early Foundation Establishment, he could have forcefully suppressed them.
However, it just so happened that while he was cultivating that secret technique, attempting to break through the bottleneck to mid Foundation Establishment, something went wrong.
Not only did he fail to advance, but he also suffered considerable depletion of his vital energy, and his strength plummeted.
With this, the other two Foundation Establishment Cultivators' dissatisfaction with him was no longer hidden, but openly displayed.
The Chang Kong Alliance was now divided into two factions, and their relationship was tense.
The strength of those two Foundation Establishment Cultivators was actually greater.
And Shi Shaoyang, being Nine Wood Hermit's eldest disciple, would naturally stand by his side.
Therefore, if Shi Shaoyang wanted the Chang Kong Alliance to help the Meng Family, there would naturally be significant resistance, and the other two Foundation Establishment Cultivators would be very unlikely to agree.
Ning Fa, however, shook his head and said plainly, "Fairy Meng, I apologize, but I can't help you with this matter."
Meng Ruoqi fell silent for a moment. After a long pause, she sighed, "Then I'll take a step back. I won't ask the Ning Family to send troops to rescue us. I only ask that Brother Ning can protect some of our Meng Family members when the time comes. Don't worry, the number won't be too large. If Brother Ning agrees, I will also hand over that third-grade Spiritual Bamboo with both hands."
Ning Fa's eyes flashed. This condition was much more acceptable.
Although protecting some Meng Family members would undoubtedly bring some trouble, since the reward was the third-grade Spiritual Bamboo, it was worth it.
However, he still said cautiously, "I cannot give you a promise now. It will depend on the situation at the time, but as long as it is within my capabilities, I can act."
Meng Ruoqi was delighted. "For Brother Ning, with your cautious nature, to say this, I am already very pleased."
With that, she took out a white bamboo slip, like a jade token, from her embrace.
It emanated white auspicious light all over, with patterns of formations on it, clearly indicating it was extraordinary.
Meng Ruoqi handed the bamboo slip to Ning Fa and said softly, "This is the Spiritual Heart Communication Bamboo that I refined. It's a very good communication Magic Tool, with a range of over a thousand li. If the situation is urgent at that time, I will contact Brother Ning with this bamboo slip."
Ning Fa took the bamboo slip and felt its residual warmth, his heart stirring slightly.
He chuckled and said, "If I do end up protecting you, does Fairy Meng's offer of marriage still stand?"
Meng Ruoqi gave him a playful glare, a mix of annoyance and amusement, but did not answer.
Ning Fa let out a low laugh, then took out a Wood Origin Fruit and handed it to her.
Afterward, Meng Ruoqi left with the old man.
Ning Fa watched in the direction Meng Ruoqi had departed, his eyes narrowing slightly. He murmured, "The Meng Family..."
As far as he knew, the Meng Family was in considerable trouble.
The several major powers surrounding it had already united, led by at least two Foundation Establishment Cultivators. They had even already divided the spoils.
It was likely that it wouldn't be long before they launched an attack on the Meng Family, and he doubted the Meng Family could hold out for much longer.
Ning Fa shook his head and then returned to his residence.
In the following days, Ning Fa enjoyed a rare period of peace.
After having dealt with several minor families in the previous period, no small family dared to cause trouble anymore.
Coupled with Liu Qinghui's departure, the pressure of Pill Refining was considerable.
Ning Fa now spent most of his time on Small Bamboo Island, refining pills.
The Pill Refining tasks from the family and Tongbao Pavilion no longer took up too much of his time.
He began to spend a significant amount of time studying the Clear Gloom Pill.
With his current magical power and divine sense, refining second-grade low-rank pills was not a major issue for him.
Aside from pill refining, the focus was naturally on his cultivation.
Ning Fa used Moonstones to attempt cultivating the Moon God Art.
The effect was indeed extraordinary.
His cultivation speed, as well as the speed at which the shattered moon in the visualization diagram was constructed, both increased by more than double.
The feeling was very much like an upgrade to a Spirit Vein, akin to his magical power rapidly increasing under a higher concentration of spiritual energy.
As a result, Ning Fa discovered that one Moonstone was enough to match nearly two to three months of his arduous cultivation of the Moon God Art.
This left Ning Fa in a bit of a dilemma for a time.
He didn't know whether to use all these Moonstones for cultivating the Moon God Art or for restoring the scroll's energy.
In the end, he decided to use three Moonstones for cultivation.
This way, after using up the three Moonstones, he wouldn't be far from cultivating the third layer of the Moon God Art to the perfected stage.
The other four Moonstones would also be able to restore over ten percent of the energy in the mysterious pattern on the scroll.
Ten days later.
Ning Fa refined the first Clear Gloom Pill.
Shortly thereafter, he truly mastered it, achieving a decent pill-refining success rate.
With the aid of the mysterious scroll, one portion of spiritual materials was guaranteed to yield at least one Clear Gloom Pill.
With a steady supply of Clear Gloom Pills, the toxins in Yun Jian's body were completely cleared within a month.
And according to the agreement between Ning Fa and Yun Ying, the two were supposed to begin dual cultivation.
It was at this time that Yun Jian learned of the condition Yun Ying had agreed to with Ning Fa to save him.
Yun Jian, who had been immensely grateful to Ning Fa, was instantly enraged to the point of madness.
"Ning Fa! You despicable scoundrel! To take advantage of someone's predicament! I'll fight you to the death!"
Yun Jian roared in anger, his body radiating a golden stream of light. With a single step, he crossed several dozen feet and appeared directly before Ning Fa.
He raised his fists, which seemed to glow like golden flames, and unceremoniously smashed them towards Ning Fa.
"Brother, don't!" Yun Ying cried out in panic.