Ning Fa couldn't help but feel a bit surprised. He hadn't expected Ning Daozhen to detect him from such a distance.
Even more so, Ning Daozhen had seen through his disguise with a single glance and seemed completely unfazed.
After a moment's thought, Ning Fa's escape light flared, and he flew towards Ning Daozhen.
Before long, Ning Fa arrived at the summit of the small mountain. The two stood several feet apart, appraising each other, a flicker of astonishment in their eyes.
In Ning Fa's opinion, although Ning Daozhen was only at the early Nascent Soul stage, the true essence within his body was extremely peculiar, giving Ning Fa a faint sense of threat. It was clear that Ning Daozhen was no ordinary Nascent Soul Cultivator.
Ning Daozhen, however, was even more surprised. After all, they had both grown up in the Ning Family and had known each other since they were both in the Qi Condensation stage.
He simply couldn't fathom how Ning Fa had reached such a level in just a hundred years.
This led Ning Daozhen to suspect that Ning Fa, like himself, was a reincarnation of a powerful being, perhaps even more formidable than his previous life.
"Why are you here?"
The two spoke in unison, asking the exact same question.
Ning Daozhen scrutinized Ning Fa, a thoughtful expression flashing in his eyes.
"It's quite strange that you, a high-ranking figure in Cangyuan, would suddenly appear in Aisa City, behind Tianli's lines. Do you know that the Tianli people are eager to kill you? You've already surpassed Wang Xuance on their kill list, ranking first. If the Tianli people discover your sudden appearance behind their lines, they might even abandon the front lines to focus all their efforts on eliminating you completely."
As he spoke, Ning Daozhen seemed to recall something, a half-smile playing on his lips.
"Let me guess the reason. For someone as important as you to personally come here, and specifically to Aisa City, the answer is quite obvious. You must be planning to sabotage the defensive barrier of the Ten Thousand Peaks Mountain Range, right? This way, the beastly threats in the Ten Thousand Peaks Mountain Range will resurface, causing chaos behind Tianli's lines. Tsk tsk, that's indeed a brilliant idea."
Although Ning Daozhen had accurately guessed his purpose, Ning Fa's expression remained unchanged.
He stood with his hands behind his back, calmly facing Ning Daozhen, a powerful aura emanating from him as he spoke indifferently, "Give me a reason not to kill you."
While he and Ning Daozhen had a slight acquaintance, Ning Daozhen had now sided with Tianli, making him an enemy in Ning Fa's eyes. To prevent any leaks regarding his current mission, he would not hesitate to eliminate Ning Daozhen.
Hearing this, Ning Daozhen's eyebrows shot up, and he stared coldly at Ning Fa. "What, you think you've got me cornered?"
With that, a layer of blood-colored light erupted around him, his aura surging, and a powerful spiritual pressure exploded outwards, clearly beyond that of an ordinary Nascent Soul Cultivator.
However, Ning Fa's expression remained unchanged. "I'll give you ten breaths of time," he said calmly.
Ning Daozhen was enraged, his eyes blazing as he glared at Ning Fa. He finally took a deep breath and said coldly, "Hmph, don't think I'm afraid of you! While you may have a considerable reputation now, my strength is beyond your imagination. However, this is not the time for the two of us to fight. If your goal is indeed to sabotage the barrier of the Ten Thousand Peaks Mountain Range, we could cooperate."
"Oh?"
Ning Fa's expression shifted slightly. Then, a sudden flash of inspiration struck him, and he immediately asked, "When the defensive barrier of the Ten Thousand Peaks Mountain Range was impacted before, causing the Tianli Holy Temple to seal the entire mountain range, was that your doing, or the Ancient Spirits'?"
Ning Daozhen replied frankly, "Indeed, that's correct. That's why I say we can cooperate."
Ning Fa couldn't help but frown as he looked at him. "Haven't you already joined Tianli? Why would you do this?"
A cold glint appeared in Ning Daozhen's eyes. "Join them? It's merely a pretense. Tianli had promised us an important condition that they've been dragging their feet on fulfilling. Since they are not righteous, I can naturally be unrighteous."
Ning Fa looked at him thoughtfully. "So you colluded with those Ancient Spirits to try and sabotage the Ten Thousand Peaks Mountain Range's barrier as revenge? I don't quite believe that."
"Of course not," Ning Daozhen shook his head.
He paused, a peculiar look appearing in his eyes. "Cangyuan must know by now that Tianli has been busy dealing with the Demonized Savage Beasts in the Ten Thousand Peaks Mountain Range for the past decade. But what you might not know is that Tianli hasn't been occupied with just that during this time."
Ning Daozhen deliberately paused.
Ning Fa said indifferently, "I don't like it when people beat around the bush. Just say what you mean."
Ning Daozhen's eyebrows furrowed slightly, and he let out a soft hmph before continuing, "Tianli has used this opportunity of dealing with the beasts in the Ten Thousand Peaks Mountain Range to also prepare to forge a special treasure. And this treasure is no small matter; it's a Heaven-Piercing Spirit Treasure Replica."
"What? A Heaven-Piercing Spirit Treasure Replica?"
Ning Fa's expression tightened, and he could no longer maintain his composure.
Ning Daozhen let out a cold laugh. "Heh, it's not just any ordinary Heaven-Piercing Spirit Treasure replica.
From what I know, that Heaven-Piercing Spirit Treasure is called the Nine Divisions World-Suppressing Pagoda.
This treasure originally belonged to the ancient Tianli people, but it was damaged during a great war later on. Therefore, the Tianli people possess complete inheritances regarding its refinement.
And it's said that the replica they're crafting this time will possess at least fifty percent of the original's power.
Although the Nine Divisions World-Suppressing Pagoda wasn't ranked highly among Heaven-Piercing Spirit Treasures before, it is still a Heaven-Piercing Spirit Treasure after all. A replica that can reach fifty percent of its power is definitely not comparable to ordinary Spirit Treasures.
To put it without exaggeration, once this treasure is refined, if your Cangyuan doesn't have treasures of a corresponding level, you definitely won't be able to hold on for long."
"Nine Divisions World-Suppressing Pagoda... a replica with fifty percent of its original power..." Ning Fa murmured to himself, his gaze involuntarily sinking.
Even though Ning Daozhen was currently on opposing terms, Ning Fa vaguely felt that what this person said might be true. If that were the case, this would truly be terrible news for Cangyuan.
The Blood Li Banner magic treasure that Cangyuan had originally prepared probably couldn't compare to this replica of the Nine Divisions World-Suppressing Pagoda.
Ning Fa immediately looked at Ning Daozhen with eyes like swords. "What does this treasure have to do with your attempt to destroy the barrier in the Ten Thousand Peaks Mountain Range?"
Ning Daozhen's lips curved slightly. "Of course, it's highly relevant, because the place where the Tianli people are refining that treasure is near this Ten Thousand Peaks Mountain Range.
The reason for this is that the Tianli people want to borrow the power of the ancient great array, the Five Elements Chaos Sealing Spirit Great Array, to refine this treasure.
And our previous actions were actually mainly to confirm the location where the Tianli people are refining that treasure."
Ning Fa's eyes flickered upon hearing this, and he asked in surprise, "Are you and those Ancient Spirits targeting that Heaven-Piercing Spirit Treasure replica?"
Ning Daozhen immediately shook his head.
"No, only the Tianli people can activate that treasure. Even if we seize it, it would be useless.
However, the Nine Divisions World-Suppressing Pagoda is a very rare magic treasure that can activate the power of all Five Elements. To forge it, the most crucial material is the Innate Five Elements Qi."
Ning Fa's expression remained unchanged upon hearing this, but his heart suddenly stirred.
At this moment, Ning Daozhen continued, "This Innate Five Elements Qi is extremely rare. It's very difficult to obtain in our lower realm, and it's a genuine fifth-tier material.
But the Tianli people have special methods to refine it. Over these ten thousand years, they have accumulated a considerable amount of Innate Five Elements Qi, with the goal of forging this replica of the Nine Divisions World-Suppressing Pagoda.
And this Innate Five Elements Qi is our target."
After Ning Daozhen finished speaking, although Ning Fa only appeared to be moved, his heart was already in turmoil.
This was because the Innate Five Elements Qi was extremely important to him.
If he wanted to unleash the incredibly powerful Five Elements Calamity Heaven Sword Array, one of the necessary conditions was that the swords of the Five Elements must possess Innate Five Elements Qi.
Ning Fa had already met the other three conditions for casting this sword array. If he could obtain the Innate Five Elements Qi, he would be able to immediately cultivate this powerful sword array divine ability.
Thinking of this, Ning Fa's heart leaped with excitement. Ning Daozhen, unaware of Ning Fa's thoughts, said with a smile, "What do you think? You're probably interested in this Innate Five Elements Qi too, right?
After all, you've also cultivated the Supreme Wood Divine Thunder, Evil-Repelling Divine Thunder. If you can obtain the wood-attribute Innate Qi, it can definitely greatly enhance the power of your Evil-Repelling Divine Thunder.
Moreover, it can disrupt the refinement of this powerful treasure by the Tianli people, killing two birds with one stone."
"Are you inviting me to cooperate?" Ning Fa suppressed the turmoil in his heart, his eyes narrowing.
Ning Daozhen smiled and nodded.
"Why? It seems you've already cooperated with those Ancient Spirits?" Ning Fa asked again.
"My cooperation with these annoying fellows was only out of necessity. Now that you've appeared, you're naturally a better choice.
After all, we do have a bit of a past acquaintance, hehe. Don't forget, we're practically cousins.
If you agree to cooperate, I can kick them to the curb."
Ning Daozhen said with a smile.
Ning Fa's eyes flashed with sharp light, and a killing intent surged within him.
Regardless of anything else, his primary objective for infiltrating the Tianli's rear this time was still to break the barrier of the Ten Thousand Peaks Mountain Range and enter the mountain range to search for Thousand Soul Grass.
Now that Ning Daozhen had seen through his identity, the risk was not small.
Furthermore, this was just Ning Daozhen's side of the story. He preferred to capture this person directly, perform a Soul Searching, and then plant a restriction.
If what he said was true then, he could go and try his luck at the treasure refining location.
Ning Daozhen seemed to have sensed something. His smiling expression suddenly turned serious, his sword-like eyebrows furrowing, and he let out a cold snort. "It seems you're quite confident in your own strength, even thinking of making a move against me!
Hmph, if it weren't for the fact that the Innate Qi is extremely important to me, and with your addition, my chances of success would greatly increase, I would have definitely wanted to test your strength today!"
As Ning Daozhen spoke, he flipped his right hand, and an object appeared.
It was a blood-colored sphere about the size of a fist, shimmering with mysterious blood-colored runes, and a terrifying spiritual pressure, as if it could destroy heaven and earth, was faintly emanating from it.