Ning Fa looked at Cheng Ziyi again, his tiger-like eyes reddening as he said, "Master, your back."
Cheng Ziyi looked at him deeply, tears streaming down her face like pear blossoms. "Xiao Fa, it's good that you're back... it's so good."
Ning Fa then looked at the others, his voice filled with emotion. "Senior Brother Ouyang, Junior Brother Chou, Tieniu."
The last person was a man in his thirties, dressed in a black tunic, his face resolute. This was Li Tieniu, one of Ling Yue's three close friends from back then.
Ning Fa hadn't expected that after so many years, Tieniu had also advanced to the Early Core Formation realm.
Moreover, from Ning Fa's perception, Li Tieniu's magic power was vigorous and pure, and he didn't seem far from the Mid Core Formation stage.
Li Tieniu looked at Ning Fa, his face also filled with excitement. "Senior Brother Ning, you..."
Before he could finish, he suddenly seemed to notice something and his eyes widened.
"Senior Brother Ning, you've already advanced to Nascent Soul!?"
The others had been immersed in their excitement, but upon hearing this, they also reacted. They then carefully re-examined Ning Fa.
When the few of them sensed Ning Fa's genuine Nascent Soul realm at that moment, their faces were filled with overwhelming joy.
Ouyang Zhenhua trembled. "Junior Brother Ning, no, Uncle-Master Ning, you really... are a Nascent Soul cultivator now?"
Ning Fa smiled and nodded. "Yes, I had quite a few fortunate encounters over these past few decades, and I was lucky enough to successfully form my Nascent Soul."
Upon hearing this, Ouyang Zhenhua's old eyes welled up with tears. "That's wonderful, truly wonderful! This is truly a blessing from heaven for our Huayu Sect!"
He then turned to face the many Qi Refining and Foundation Establishment disciples of the Huayu Sect who had rushed over and shouted, "Welcome the Ancestor back to the sect after forming his Nascent Soul!"
The disciples were stunned at first, but soon their faces lit up with joy. Then, a unified roar that pierced the heavens echoed.
"Welcome the Ancestor back to the sect after forming his Nascent Soul!"
The sound reverberated nine times, even causing many streams of light to fly out from nearby peaks, looking over with surprise and uncertainty.
At this moment, Wen Hui, who was beside Ning Fa, was also moved by the atmosphere and shed tears of excitement.
She now knew that her Master came from this sect called Huayu Sect, and the people before her were all her Master's fellow disciples, and even her Master's Dao Companion and Master.
She secretly glanced at the woman in Ning Fa's arms, her eyes full of curiosity. She knew this must be her Master's wife.
Even though Cheng Susu was in tears now, it couldn't hide her stunning, flawless beauty.
She's so beautiful, only a Master's wife like this could be worthy of Master... Wen Hui murmured to herself.
At this moment, Ning Fa remembered Wen Hui beside him and introduced her to everyone. "This is a new disciple I took in over there, named Wen Hui. Xiao Hui, come and greet your senior uncles and aunt."
Wen Hui immediately stepped forward and obediently bowed to everyone. The others could see how much Ning Fa valued Wen Hui, and they responded very courteously.
Ning Fa then frowned. "Where is Senior Brother Cang Lei? And are you the only Core Formation cultivators in the sect now?"
The few of them exchanged glances. Chou Zheng said with a wry smile, "Uncle-Master Ning, this is not the place to talk. Let's return to the sect and discuss it."
Ning Fa's brow furrowed, then he nodded. "Alright."
Then, everyone flew towards the mountaintop. Cheng Susu, having calmed down, felt a bit shy and wanted to get down from Ning Fa's embrace.
But Ning Fa still held her, and even disregarding the presence of others, he kissed her deeply.
He looked at her with joy. "Susu, you've also successfully formed your Core! This is truly wonderful!"
Cheng Susu was now at the Early Core Formation stage.
In fact, given Cheng Susu's Exquisite Immortal Heart aptitude, her forming a Core was a natural progression. If she hadn't been carrying Ning An before, she might have formed her Core before Ning Fa left.
Cheng Susu looked at him with tender affection and said softly, "This is also thanks to the precious Core Formation spiritual materials you left me. I was fortunate enough to form my Core successfully over twenty years ago."
Ning Fa nodded, then asked, "Susu, how is our son Ning An doing?"
Upon hearing this, Cheng Susu's face showed a loving smile. She replied, "Xiao An is very promising. He even succeeded in forming his Core over ten years ago. In fact, he was younger than you when you formed your Core."
Ning Fa's face lit up with a smile. As he expected, with Ning An's talent and the cultivation from the Spiritual Pivot Pavilion, he succeeded in forming his Core at the age of forty-something.
But then, Cheng Susu sighed. "After Xiao An reached Foundation Establishment, he could still visit me often. But ever since he formed his Core, I haven't seen him. I only receive letters from him occasionally.
Husband, now that you're here, you must find an opportunity to visit the Spiritual Pivot Pavilion and check on Xiao An. I'm still a bit worried."
Ning Fa nodded, but his brow furrowed inwardly.
Then, they flew towards the mountaintop. Ning Fa noticed that the entire mountain peak was densely packed with buildings and pavilions, almost to the point of being crowded.
Soon after, they arrived at a grand hall on the mountaintop. Ning Fa took the main seat without hesitation.
He took a deep breath and slowly looked at everyone. "Before I came, I heard some people say that our sect's situation is not good. Now I'm experiencing it firsthand.
Can you all tell me specifically what the current situation of the sect is? And where is Senior Brother Cang Lei?"
The few of them exchanged glances. Ouyang Zhenhua said solemnly, "Uncle-Master Cang Lei led a group of disciples to the front lines on a mission not long ago, so there are only five of us Core Formation cultivators in the sect right now."
Ning Fa relaxed slightly upon hearing this, then he asked with a hint of heaviness, "After all these years, what is the casualty situation of the sect?"
Although Ning Fa felt reluctant to ask this question, it was unavoidable.
Upon hearing this, everyone's face showed sadness. Ouyang Zhenhua slowly said, "In these decades of war, our Huayu Sect has suffered heavy casualties. Among them, the number of fellow disciples who fell at the Core Formation stage was..."
At this point, Ouyang Zhenhua's voice choked with emotion, unable to continue.
He then took a deep breath, took out a jade slip, and with a flash of spiritual light, he began to engrave something into it. He then handed it to Ning Fa, his face filled with grief. "Uncle-Master, please see for yourself."
Ning Fa looked at the jade slip on the table, and for a moment, he didn't dare to probe it with his spiritual sense.
He then took a light breath and placed the jade slip against his forehead.
Soon, Ning Fa's body trembled violently.
After a long while, he removed the jade slip, his eyes tightly shut, a look of pain flashing across his face.
The series of names on this list was simply shocking. Among them, the fallen Core Formation elders alone included:
Core Formation elders from the family factions, Ouyang Huai and Ouyang Tianzong of the Ouyang family, the First Elder Duanmu Qi of the Duanmu family, Ji Yongchang and Ji Qingqing of the Ji family, Cheng Dongyang of the Cheng family, and Xia Xinlan of the Xia family.
The disciple faction had True Dragon Jade and True Person Yu Chen, and besides them, there was also Mei Sangu, who had followed True Lord Tianyou from Tianyou City.
A total of ten Core Formation cultivators had fallen, and especially Duanmu Qi, True Dragon Jade, True Person Yu Chen, and Mei Sangu were all Late Core Formation cultivators.
It could be said that when Ning Fa left, nearly half of the Huayu Sect's Core Formation cultivators had already perished. This could no longer be described as merely a flesh wound.
Furthermore, there were hundreds of Foundation Establishment disciples whose names were on this list.
Ning Fa also saw some familiar names, such as Zuo Guanglin and Kou Zhun.
These two, like Li Tieniu, were once good friends to Ling Yue and himself. However, unlike Li Tieniu, they had also perished in this protracted war.
After reading these names, Ning Fa couldn't help but feel an overwhelming sense of heavy, oppressive sadness.
Especially the name Xia Xinlan on the list, which made him fall silent.
In truth, Ning Fa hadn't had deep feelings for Xia Xinlan.
He had taken her in primarily for dual cultivation. Seeing her now on the cold list of fallen cultivators made his heart feel heavy.
Although Ning Fa had previously guessed that the Huayu Sect would likely suffer heavy casualties, now that it was confirmed, his heart felt extremely heavy.
Cheng Susu and Cheng Ziyi also had red-rimmed eyes and looked grief-stricken.
At this moment, Chou Zheng wiped the tears from his eyes and then said solemnly, "Uncle-Master, you don't need to be too sad. These fellow disciples died for a worthy cause.
Moreover, over the years, the sect has also seen the emergence of quite a few new Core Formation cultivators. Besides Junior Sister Cheng and Junior Brother Li, there are also Junior Brothers and Sisters Liu Qinghui, Young Commander, Qian Ziang, and Zhan Yi.
And now that Uncle-Master has returned, coupled with Uncle-Master Cang Lei, I believe our Huayu Sect's situation will only get better."
Upon hearing this, the others also felt invigorated.
In their hearts, Ning Fa was almost an invincible figure. Now that he had returned after achieving Nascent Soul Formation, they placed a blind faith in him.
Ning Fa's heart stirred; he hadn't expected Liu Qinghui to have successfully formed her Core as well.
Given her talent and her pill refining skills, it wasn't strange that she could achieve Core Formation.
After so many years, and facing such heavy casualties within the sect, Ning Fa's lingering dislike for Liu Qinghui, stemming from his original body's experiences, had completely vanished.
Then, Ning Fa looked at everyone and slowly said, "Can you tell me what trouble the Huayu Sect is currently facing?"
The few of them exchanged glances, and finally, Ouyang Zhenhua said solemnly, "The biggest trouble is that our sect currently lacks sufficient war merits.
As most of the Yunhuang Alliance's territory has been occupied, the remaining forces of the Yunhuang Alliance are now squeezed into the northern regions of the Wu Kingdom and the Xu Kingdom.
Especially the northern part of the Xu Kingdom, which is the front line of the war. It is crowded with numerous sect forces, and Spirit Vein Dojos are severely insufficient.
Therefore, a long time ago, the Supreme Elder Council had already issued regulations stating that both sects and families must have a certain amount of war merits to possess corresponding Spirit Vein Dojos."
Ning Fa frowned and suddenly asked, "So, does this mean that because our sect's war merits were insufficient, we were forced to move out of our original mountain gate, and now we only have this one spiritual mountain?"
Ouyang Zhenhua sighed mournfully, "That's right. In fact, our sect has already relocated several times.
And our current problem is that our war merits are still insufficient. Even this spiritual mountain we currently occupy might not be kept.
We might have to move to a spiritual mountain with only a Second-grade Spirit Vein, giving this one away to others."
Ning Fa was immediately perplexed, "The sect has suffered such heavy casualties, how can it still be so lacking in war merits, causing the Spirit Vein Dojos to be downgraded repeatedly?"
At this, the crowd exchanged glances again.