"My child is unfilial, to only visit Mother so late..."
"Xiao An, it's good that you're back..."
Within a courtyard on the mountaintop of Huayu Sect, Cheng Susu and Ning An, mother and son, were embracing and weeping.
Ning Fa watched them from the side with a look of relief.
Sang Wen left after returning to the Huayu Sect's mountain gate with them.
Ning Fa, however, made an agreement with her that after settling the sect and family affairs, he would travel to Tianyu City to meet Hermit Xuyuan.
After a long while, the two finally calmed down from their excitement.
Cheng Susu wiped the tears from her face and looked Ning An up and down, her smile unable to be concealed.
"It's been a long time, our Xiao An has grown even more handsome and dashing. I wonder which girl will be fortunate enough to become Xiao An's Dao Companion in the future."
However, Cheng Susu's casual jest caused Ning An's face to flush slightly, and he stammered, "Mother is joking, how could I possibly have a Dao Companion..."
Ning Fa and Cheng Susu naturally saw that Ning An wasn't telling the truth. Cheng Susu's eyes lit up, and she repeatedly pressed him, "It seems Xiao An really does have someone on his mind. Quickly tell your mother which girl it is! As long as you like her, your Father and I will go to her family to propose."
Ning Fa couldn't help but chuckle at this, while Ning An became even more flustered and refused to say anything.
At this moment, Ning Fa laughed, "Alright Susu, since Xiao An doesn't want to say, don't force him. Come, Xiao An, let me see how well you've learned at the Spiritual Pivot Pavilion all these years."
Upon hearing that Ning Fa wanted to test Ning An's strength, Cheng Susu immediately became worried and shot Ning Fa a gentle glare.
"Husband, your current strength is something even ordinary Great Cultivators can't match. Xiao An only just reached Core Formation a few years ago, how can he possibly contend with you? Don't accidentally injure him."
Ning Fa shook his head and smiled, "If I couldn't even control this much, I wouldn't be worthy of being ranked third on the Profound Ranking. Besides, Susu, you can't be too doting on Xiao An. Can you guarantee that he won't encounter enemies stronger than him on the battlefield? Would the other party hold back then?"
At this, Ning An quickly chimed in, "Mother, there's no need to worry. Being able to spar with Father has been my long-held wish."
Cheng Susu looked at the two of them before reluctantly nodding.
"Father, this child offends you."
Ning Fa and Ning An stood facing each other in the high sky, with Ning An looking solemn.
"Go all out, let me see what your current strength truly is," Ning Fa said with a smile, his hands behind his back.
Ning An nodded, and then spiritual flames surged around him, layering one upon another. In an instant, seven spiritual flames of different colors enveloped Ning An. Although there were seven types of spiritual flames, they gave off a sense of perfect harmony. The fire power emanating from Ning An at this moment was also incredibly terrifying, and the void around him was already beginning to distort and crackle.
This wasn't the end. Ning An's body was then surrounded by the phantoms of seven great stars, each radiating a distinctly different aura, circling him in a profound trajectory. Within the trajectories of these seven great stars, Ning An's figure rapidly grew to a height of thirty feet. A layer of armor condensed from seven-colored flames appeared around him, and a head of fiery long hair burned and flew in the wind. On his forehead, a spiritual mark in the shape of a circle formed by seven stars connected end-to-end was visible. Instantly, a rather powerful aura emanated from Ning An.
Ning Fa's expression immediately showed a hint of emotion. What Ning An was currently activating was clearly a very powerful Heaven and Earth Manifestation. Combined with the robust spiritual energy radiating from his body, it undoubtedly indicated that Ning An was also cultivating both body and technique. Ning Fa could tell at a glance that the grade of the Heaven and Earth Manifestation Ning An had activated was absolutely top-tier. Even more rare was that it seemed to be very compatible with his Seven Luminaries Dao Body. Under the enhancement of his Dao Body, his Manifestation appeared exceptionally powerful. Furthermore, besides these seven spiritual flames with completely different elemental auras, Ning Fa also sensed a faint trace of stellar power.
"Good boy," Ning Fa couldn't help but smile faintly.
At this, Ning An made his move. With a sudden upward push of his hands, amidst a violent roar, the seven great stars that had been circling him instantly vanished. The next moment, they had already appeared high in the sky, each a hundred feet in size, slowly rotating and forming a profound trajectory. Seven-colored starlight cascaded from them, covering an area of several miles, with Ning Fa positioned at the center.
"Father, look at this move of mine – Seven Luminaries Starfall!"
As Ning An let out a low shout, a rumbling sound followed. Then, streams of flaming star phantoms poured out from these great stars, hurtling towards Ning Fa in the center. Moreover, the descent of these star phantoms followed a profound pattern. Every seven attribute star phantoms were linked together, with starlight connecting them. The fire powers, which were completely different, fused, greatly increasing their might. Stars rained down, engulfing Ning Fa.
Cheng Susu, watching from afar, turned pale with fright and anxiously shouted at Ning An, "You brat! Why are you using such a powerful Divine Ability right from the start? What if you hurt your Father?" As she spoke, Cheng Susu was anxiously about to fly over, but soon a hearty laugh echoed out, "Susu, you think too little of your husband."
A rolling thunderous sound was heard, and from Ning Fa's location, which was submerged by the starry rain, boundless silver lightning erupted. These extraordinary star phantoms were annihilated under this silver lightning. Then, the seven great stars in the sky slowly dissipated. At the same time, Ning An, who had activated his Heaven and Earth Manifestation, felt his body tremble, and his form rapidly shrank, soon returning to his original appearance.
He looked pale, his aura greatly diminished. It was clear that the previous move was his strongest divine ability, having exhausted most of his magic power.
Looking at Ning Fa, who stood smiling and unharmed, Ning An couldn't help but show a look of filial affection in his eyes. "Father, my meager skills are but a display for you."
"Husband, are you truly alright?"
Cheng Susu flew to Ning Fa's side, still somewhat worried.
After all, the divine ability Ning An had just unleashed had been incredibly powerful, making Cheng Susu feel that she might have perished if she had been the one to block it.
Ning Fa couldn't help but chuckle. "Susu, have you forgotten who your husband is? While this kid's move is quite good, it's still far from being able to harm me."
After speaking, he looked at Ning An again, sizing him up. A look of satisfaction appeared in his eyes.
Although Ning Fa said this, Ning An's Heavenly Law Manifestation and his final divine ability were likely not something an ordinary Late Core Formation cultivator could withstand.
In fact, Ning An's current strength, while not equal to Ning Fa's when he had just reached Core Formation, was not significantly inferior. This naturally made Ning Fa very pleased.
"Xiao An, your strength is very good. It seems you haven't slacked off these past few years."
Ning An immediately touched his head, feeling a little embarrassed.
"Your strength should be enough to qualify for the Star Ranking, right?" Ning Fa suddenly said again.
Ning An nodded. "Yes, if we include the cultivators from our Spiritual Pivot Pavilion, my current ranking should be around seventieth on the Star Ranking."
Ning Fa nodded. This was more or less in line with his expectations.
After all, no matter what, Ning An was still only at the Early Core Formation stage.
However, if he continued to develop like this, as long as he grew smoothly, it should be no problem for him to occupy the top few positions on the Star Ranking, or even the top spot, in the future.
"Xiao An, what kind of cultivation method are you practicing? It actually complements your Seven Luminaries Dao Body so well."
Upon hearing this, Ning An did not hesitate and replied directly. "I am cultivating one of the Spiritual Pivot Pavilion's strongest cultivation methods, the Brilliant Sacred Scripture. It is said to have been left by the founding ancestor, and its grade is Heaven Tier Mid-grade.
The cultivation threshold for this method is extremely high; even someone with a Heavenly Spiritual Root of a single Fire Spirit root is not qualified to cultivate it.
It requires very superior fire-attribute Dao Bodies to cultivate. My Seven Luminaries Dao Body is precisely the most suitable candidate for cultivating this method.
The reason I've been able to achieve this level of progress is not only due to the great support from the pavilion but also because of this cultivation method.
The divine ability I just used was also the Seven Luminaries Starfall Manifestation from the Brilliant Sacred Scripture. However, I can only barely condense this manifestation now and cannot sustain it for too long."
Ning Fa's eyebrows couldn't help but rise upon hearing this.
He now somewhat understood why Sang Wen, representing the Spiritual Pivot Pavilion, had been so interested in Ning An. It was very likely that they had been waiting for a cultivator with the Seven Luminaries Dao Body to appear for a long time.
And judging by the power of the divine abilities Ning An had displayed, the Brilliant Sacred Scripture was indeed extraordinary. With this, he was finally at ease.
Ning Fa looked at Ning An and couldn't help but think of that Outer Realm Heavenly Demon.
On the way back, Ning Fa had also discussed this matter in detail with Sang Wen.
He learned that during the first decade or so after Ning An arrived at the Spiritual Pivot Pavilion, he had indeed been attacked several times by that Outer Realm Heavenly Demon.
However, the Spiritual Pivot Pavilion's foundation was extraordinary, and they possessed some extremely yang items like the Evil-Repelling Divine Thunder.
They also had some very special Array Formation Barriers, so those attempts by the Outer Realm Heavenly Demon had all ended in failure.
But the Spiritual Pivot Pavilion did not dare to be careless and had kept Ning An under strict protection.
Later, as Ning An's strength gradually increased and he advanced to the Core Formation realm, and several years ago, the Spiritual Pivot Pavilion sensed through special means that the Outer Realm Heavenly Demon seemed to have suffered a severe injury.
Only then did Ning An begin to move about outside, of course, with certain preventative measures in place.
Ning Fa understood everything upon hearing this.
Judging by the timing, the severe injury sustained by that Outer Realm Heavenly Demon was likely due to him.
It was when he was condensing his Nascent Soul that this demon had come to set up an Inner Demon tribulation for him, only to be severely injured by him, who was prepared.
However, Ning Fa also knew very well that the Outer Realm Heavenly Demon was no ordinary demonic entity and would likely remain a significant threat in the future.
But Ning Fa was not overly worried. This was, after all, the Human Realm, where the power of Outer Realm demons was severely suppressed.
And as long as he was given more time to open up his Sea of Lightning Divine Treasury with his Supreme Fire Divine Thunder, his innate Supreme Fire Divine Thunder should be enough to protect Ning An.
With this thought, Ning Fa flicked his sleeve.
Instantly, amidst a burst of light, several shimmering items appeared:
A small crimson bow, a red stone shield, several ancient jade talismans...
A short segment of pale golden bamboo, with faint golden electrical arcs flickering around it...
These treasures all emanated powerful spiritual pressure, clearly indicating they were no ordinary items.
There were also several pill bottles. In one of the Purifying Bottles, a red fruit shaped like a phoenix was contained.