Ning Fa was no stranger to this person; it was Sang Wen from the Spiritual Pivot Pavilion.
When Ning Fa's child, Ning An, was just born, Sang Wen had come to the sect to find him.
To prevent that extraterrestrial demon from returning, Ning Fa had no choice but to hand over the newborn Ning An to Sang Wen to be taken away.
Ning Fa suddenly looked at another person. This was a young man dressed in a cloud-white robe, with a heroic bearing, a face like jade, and an elegant appearance.
Ning Fa vaguely saw a bit of himself in this young man, and the young man, upon seeing Ning Fa, was so excited that his body trembled.
He suddenly lunged in front of Ning Fa, knelt down on both knees, tears streaming down his face as he choked out, "Father..."
Seeing this, Ning Fa's eyes also turned red as he looked at him. At this moment, how could he not understand that this young man was his child, Ning An?
Ning Fa trembled as he extended his right hand, stroking Ning An's head, and said with emotion, "Little An, Father finally sees you again."
Decades had passed in the blink of an eye. The Ning An of that time was just an infant in swaddling clothes, but now he had grown into an adult, even becoming an Early Core Formation cultivator.
"This son has finally seen Father too..." Ning An's longing, suppressed for decades, finally erupted. He hugged Ning Fa's leg and wept uncontrollably.
Behind Ning Fa, Lan Dian was also wiping away tears with a moved expression. Little Ice, however, was quietly observing Ning An, leaning closer to Lan Dian and whispering:
"So this is the boss's child. Although his cultivation is a bit weak, his appearance and demeanor can barely compare to mine. It's quite rare, in my opinion—"
Before he could finish speaking, Lan Dian unceremoniously grabbed his neck, and Little Ice's scream immediately followed.
A long time later, the excited emotions of the father and son, Ning Fa and Ning An, reuniting finally subsided a little.
At this moment, Ning An was still looking at Ning Fa with excitement and adoration. Although he had a thousand words in his heart, he couldn't speak them for a moment.
Ning Fa sized him up, feeling the abundant true essence within Ning An. It was clear that he hadn't become unstable due to breaking through to Core Formation too quickly; on the contrary, his foundation was incredibly solid.
This was not only due to Ning An's own outstanding aptitude, but it was also evident that the Spiritual Pivot Pavilion had not relaxed in his training.
Thinking of this, Ning Fa felt a slight sense of relief. He patted Ning An's shoulder heavily, "Good boy, you haven't disappointed your father. It seems you haven't slacked off in your cultivation these past few years."
Hearing Ning Fa's affirmation, Ning An's face immediately broke into a smile, and he looked a little embarrassed.
At this moment, Ning Fa looked at Sang Wen, and the smile on his face suddenly faded.
He had a premonition that he would be able to learn from Sang Wen why Pei Nanshu was targeting the Huayu Sect and the Ning Family so fiercely.
Especially since Sang Wen had brought Ning An here, it made Ning Fa vaguely feel that Pei Nanshu's actions might even be related to Ning An.
"Fellow Daoist Ning, it's been a long time. Congratulations on your safe return and your great progress in Divine Abilities," Sang Wen said with a smile, seemingly oblivious to Ning Fa's mood.
Although she was a woman, in her male disguise, her smile still possessed captivating beauty.
Ning Fa remained unmoved, staring at her intently, a hint of coldness in his eyes, and said plainly, "Fellow Daoist Sang, do you have nothing else to say to me?"
Ning Fa's attitude could be described as impolite, and he was indeed dissatisfied with Sang Wen and the Spiritual Pivot Pavilion for allowing Pei Nanshu and Yu Chan to cause so much trouble for the Huayu Sect and the Ning Family.
Although the two were Great Cultivators, and it might have been difficult for the Spiritual Pivot Pavilion to handle, Ning Fa didn't care about that.
Hearing Ning Fa's blunt tone of questioning, Sang Wen couldn't help but show a wry smile. Ning An also quickly opened his mouth to speak, but Sang Wen gestured to stop him.
She looked at Ning Fa and said sincerely, "Fellow Daoist Ning, it's understandable that you're unhappy, but in reality, our Spiritual Pivot Pavilion also has unspeakable difficulties."
Ning Fa remained unmoved, saying calmly, "Whatever these unspeakable difficulties are, perhaps you can let me hear them."
Sang Wen sighed slightly, then said seriously, "Fellow Daoist Ning, aren't you curious why Fellow Daoist Pei Nanshu, a newly advanced Great Cultivator, is targeting your Huayu Sect and Ning Family like this?"
"Yes, I am indeed very puzzled by this question. It seems to be related to me, but I don't think I've ever offended your Pei Family before," Ning Fa said calmly.
Sang Wen sighed slightly, "Fellow Daoist Pei is doing this not because of you, Fellow Daoist Ning, but because of—Ning An."
Upon hearing this, Ning Fa's brow furrowed sharply, and he was utterly shocked. He had never expected that Pei Nanshu's actions would be related to Ning An.
Ning An also wore a bitter expression and apologized to Ning Fa, "I'm sorry, Father. It's all my fault for implicating the sect and the family..."
"What exactly is going on? Please explain clearly, Fellow Daoist Sang," Ning Fa said in a deep voice.
Sang Wen paused slightly and said helplessly, "Fellow Daoist Ning may not know, but although our Spiritual Pivot Pavilion is somewhat special, we also select core disciples for cultivation, just like ordinary sects. We even place more importance on them, and the selection process is known to be rigorous and brutal.
Because our Spiritual Pivot Pavilion bears the mission of guarding Cangyuan, the Pavilion Master of each generation must be one of the strongest cultivators in Cangyuan.
Therefore, the selection of core disciples is extremely crucial.
Due to the scarcity of precious cultivation resources, we cannot cultivate multiple disciples simultaneously. Ultimately, only one person can be chosen for preferential cultivation. Such candidates are also called 'Spiritual Sons' by our Spiritual Pivot Pavilion."
Hearing this, Ning Fa's expression changed slightly. He had already grasped Pei Nanshu's motive.
As expected, Sang Wen continued, "Because of Ning An's Seven Luminaries Dao Body, he received great attention as soon as he entered our Spiritual Pivot Pavilion and was considered a strong contender for the next Spiritual Son.
This later proved to be true. As Ning An grew, he also displayed powerful cultivation aptitude, and his cultivation advanced by leaps and bounds.
In fact, if the Pavilion Master hadn't wanted Ning An to further solidify his foundation, Ning An might have successfully reached Core Formation by the age of thirty.
Therefore, Ning An is now one of the most promising contenders for the Spiritual Pivot Pavilion's Spiritual Son. And currently, the only other person capable of competing with him is one other individual.
And that person is Fellow Daoist Pei's grandson—Pei Ruiqing.
Pei Ruiqing's aptitude is also extremely outstanding. He not only possesses the Heavenly Spiritual Root aptitude of a single Water Spiritual Root but also has a congenital Dao Body—the Heavy Water Law Physique.
This is also one of the known top-tier Water-attribute Dao Bodies. Although it's slightly inferior to Ning An's Seven Luminaries Dao Body, the gap is not too large, and he can still be considered to have comparable aptitude.
Furthermore, due to Fellow Daoist Pei's status after advancing to Great Cultivator and his important role in Cangyuan, many within our Spiritual Pivot Pavilion support Pei Ruiqing.
Now that both of them have successively advanced to Core Formation, their competition for the Spiritual Son position has become white-hot."
And Fellow Daoist Pei, in order for Pei Ruiqing to secure the position of Spiritual Son, he began to resort to some underhanded tactics..."
Upon hearing this, Ning Fa's eyes revealed a look of understanding. He finally grasped the reason behind it all.
His gaze flickered with cold light as he slowly said, "So Pei Nanshu started using his influence to target the Huayu Sect and the Ning Family, all to distract Little An, thereby affecting his cultivation, and even causing him to lose in the competition against Pei Ruiqing?"
Sang Wen nodded with a bitter smile.
Tears welled up in Ning An's eyes, and he choked out, "Father, it's all my fault, I caused..."
Before he could finish, Ning Fa placed a hand on his shoulder and shook his head, saying with emotion, "Little An, how can this be your fault? If anyone is to blame, it's your father for not appearing sooner to shield you from the storm."
Hearing this, Ning An wept even harder.
At this moment, Ning Fa, though appearing calm, still had killing intent flashing in his eyes.
Understanding the reason only intensified the murderous intent in his heart.
Pei Nanshu truly deserved to die!
For the sake of his own grandson, he completely disregarded the lives of the disciples of the Huayu Sect and the Ning Family, treating them as mere pawns to threaten Ning An.
To think that over the years, due to Pei Nanshu's targeting, the Huayu Sect and the Ning Family were often assigned high-difficulty missions, resulting in their disciples suffering severe injuries or even perishing on the battlefield. Ning Fa wished he could tear Pei Nanshu limb from limb!
Ning Fa's undisguised killing intent caused Sang Wen a moment of shock. Just as she was about to say something, Ning Fa suddenly spoke again, "After Little An reached Core Formation, did Fellow Daoist Sang prevent Little An from returning to the sect, fearing he would be distracted by this?"
Seeing Sang Wen nod, Ning Fa frowned, puzzled. "As far as I know, the Spiritual Pivot Pavilion holds a transcendent position, and especially with Fellow Daoist Xu Yuan being the strongest in Cangyuan, how could he stand by and watch Pei Nanshu act so outrageously, even openly interfering with your internal Spiritual Son selection?"
As he spoke, Ning Fa's eyes suddenly flashed, and he immediately asked, "Is it because of the special role Pei Nanshu plays in Cangyuan that you mentioned?"
Sang Wen fell silent upon hearing this, then sighed. "Yes, that is indeed the main reason..."
As she said this, Sang Wen suddenly looked around. Then, extending her right hand, a white radiance erupted, instantly forming a faint barrier of light that enveloped the three of them.
Sang Wen's expression turned solemn. "I believe Fellow Daoist Ning has learned from Fellow Daoist Biwu that our Cangyuan is seeking reinforcements. Do you know where these reinforcements are coming from?"
Upon hearing this, Ning Fa immediately recalled the time at Huangdang Mountain when everyone's spirits were low upon learning that the powerful Myriad Bone Gate was assisting Tianli.
Thus, Biwu had revealed a piece of information: Cangyuan should receive strong reinforcements, but she was unwilling to elaborate further.
Now, hearing Sang Wen's words, Ning Fa couldn't help but frown. "Could it be that these strong reinforcements are from another cultivation world? And are they related to Pei Nanshu?"
Sang Wen nodded. "That's right. These strong reinforcements are indeed from another cultivation world, the Great Qin Cultivation World!"
As this statement fell, Ning Fa's expression also trembled, his eyes filled with a strange light. "I've heard rumors before that far to the east of our Cangyuan lies a vast cultivation world. Could it be this Great Qin?"
"But the easternmost part of Cangyuan is blocked by the Cloud Break Mountain Range, which is filled with countless demonic beasts. The shapeshifted demonic beasts in the depths of the mountain range are even more numerous, and even the combined might of our entire Cangyuan is far inferior.
Therefore, no cultivator can safely pass through the Cloud Break Mountain Range. Could it be that a method has now been found to traverse the Cloud Break Mountain Range to seek aid from Great Qin?"