"Zhuo Qing, thank you. You've helped me out of a big jam again."
Ning Fa put away the precious ten-thousand-year Thousand Soul Grass and thanked Zhuo Qing with a complex expression.
Zhuo Qing's purple eyes stared at Ning Fa, a slight smile gracing her noble and icy jade-like face.
"Brother Ning, we're friends, aren't we? You don't need to be so formal.
Besides, I actually have something I need your help with."
Ning Fa's expression shifted slightly, clearly sensing a significant change in Zhuo Qing.
The Zhuo Qing of the past was gentle and pleasant, but now she exuded an oppressive aura, even giving him a sense of cold ruthlessness.
He already had a vague guess about what Zhuo Qing wanted.
As expected, Zhuo Qing continued, "You should remember that you placed a Soul Restraint on me before, right?
Even though it was a weakened version of me back then, it still has some influence on me now.
I hope Brother Ning can perform the ritual to remove this restraint."
After speaking, Zhuo Qing's purple eyes fixed intently on Ning Fa.
Ning Fa inwardly thought, So it was about this.
He could indeed feel a faint soul connection to Zhuo Qing now, clearly the restraint he had placed back then, though it was very weak.
Ning Fa felt that even if he were to activate this restraint, it probably wouldn't have a significant impact on Zhuo Qing at this moment.
After all, he was still inexperienced back then, and he hadn't even visualized the Moon God Heart.
"I can do it," Ning Fa said directly.
Zhuo Qing had saved him once before, and now she had given him this ten-thousand-year Thousand Soul Grass. It was only right for him to remove the restraint for her.
"Alright, I'll trouble you then, Brother Ning," Zhuo Qing replied with a faint smile.
"There's no time to delay, I'll start the ritual immediately."
Ning Fa nodded and then formed hand seals.
Moon-white light emanated from his hands, gradually forming white runes that flew towards Zhuo Qing's smooth forehead.
Zhuo Qing also closed her eyes, allowing Ning Fa to proceed.
Not long after, Ning Fa clenched his right hand. A faint, ethereal swish sound could be heard as a slender moon-white chain flew out from Zhuo Qing's forehead, then disappeared into Ning Fa's palm.
Zhuo Qing opened her eyes, a smile blooming on her face.
Ning Fa looked at her, unable to resist asking, "Zhuo Qing, what... what exactly is going on?"
"Even if Brother Ning didn't ask, I would have explained. After all, I also have a deal to discuss with you—do you know who I really am?"
Zhuo Qing said solemnly.
Without waiting for Ning Fa's reply, she sighed and continued on her own, "Actually, my real name isn't Zhuo Qing, but Huangfu Qing.
And I'm not a Cangyuan cultivator. I'm from the Nine Dragons Sea Cultivation World, and I'm even a descendant of the Zi Yin Immortal Dynasty, the former ruling power of the Nine Dragons Sea."
"What? Nine Dragons Sea? Descendant of the Zi Yin Immortal Dynasty?" Ning Fa was utterly astonished.
After all, he had just returned from the Nine Dragons Sea, and he had interacted with Yun Jin, another descendant of the Zi Yin Immortal Dynasty, several times. He never expected Zhuo Qing to be one as well.
At this moment, Zhuo Qing seemed to fall into a memory and continued, "This was over ten thousand years ago. At that time, our Zi Yin Immortal Dynasty was at its last legs, on the verge of destruction.
So, the Emperor secretly sent many Zi Yin Clan Members to other cultivation worlds to preserve our lineage.
That's how I came to the Cangyuan Cultivation World and joined the Blood Heaven Sect.
It was also then that I met Jiang Chun, Xiao Han, and others.
But Cangyuan was not peaceful either. Soon after, there was the Demonic Tribulation.
After surviving this tribulation, the Cangyuan and Tianli cultivation worlds went to war.
Later, the Seven Saints Sect, including the Blood Heaven Sect, was betrayed by other forces in Cangyuan and, together with Tianli, they annihilated the Seven Saints Sect.
At that time, the First Elder of the Blood Heaven Sect, in order to get revenge on Cangyuan and Tianli, came up with a crazy plan, and the key to this plan was me.
This is because we Zi Yin Clan Members actually possess partial demonic bloodlines."
Hearing this, Ning Fa was even more surprised.
When he was in the Nine Dragons Sea, he had vaguely seen related records in some ancient texts, which mentioned that the Zi Yin clan had extraordinary bloodlines, not typical bloodlines inherited from powerful Heaven and Earth Spirit Beasts. From Zhuo Qing's words, it seemed they possessed demonic bloodlines.
This was truly something Ning Fa had never expected, and it made him wonder.
If that was the case, why did the Demon Realm armies cross over during the Zi Yin Immortal Dynasty's rule in the Nine Dragons Sea and engage in fierce battles with the Zi Yin Immortal Dynasty?
This caused the Zi Yin Immortal Dynasty to suffer heavy losses, and they were later overthrown by allied forces like the Tianshu Alliance.
Ning Fa couldn't help but stare intently at Zhuo Qing. He had a premonition that Zhuo Qing was telling him all this detail because it was related to the deal she mentioned.
Zhuo Qing's flawless jade face lowered her phoenix eyes and continued, "During that Demonic Tribulation that ravaged Cangyuan, the Seven Saints Sect, led by the Blood Heaven Sect, was the main force against the demon cultivators.
Although they suffered heavy casualties, they also unexpectedly captured a special demon."
The person had a high status among the demon race, being one of the commanders of that demon army back then, and possessed an extraordinary bloodline.
Furthermore, because they cultivated a special cultivation method, they were extremely difficult to kill. Thus, the Blood Heaven Sect imprisoned them with a special barrier, attempting to slowly obliterate their original soul.
Later, when the Blood Heaven Sect was on the verge of destruction, the First Elder thought of releasing this demon and letting me possess her body.
After all, I also have a demon bloodline, and the demon bloodline in our Zi Yin clan is very special. If fused with this demon body, it might even achieve greater strength than her original power.
Especially in the past, when resisting the chaos of that Demonic Tribulation, the Seven Saints Sect was the main force, and it was the Blood Heaven Sect that personally sealed many Ancient Demon Altars.
This way, I could infiltrate these Demon Sealing Lands and attempt to reactivate these Ancient Demon Altars. It would then be possible to communicate with the Demon Realm, release True Demonic Qi, and once again cause great chaos in Cangyuan and Tianli with a demonic tribulation.
However, things went awry later, and the plan did not succeed.
Even my soul was split into two; one half was in that demon body, and the other part was sealed within the Blood Heaven Token you obtained back then.
It was only later, at Moon Reflection Valley, that my soul was finally reunited."
Upon hearing this, Ning Fa's eyes showed a look of realization, and many of his previous questions were finally answered.
So, this was the purpose behind the Blood Heaven Sect placing that Demonic Offspring Body in the underground palace of that Sunset Ancient City before.
He finally understood why Ning Daozhen needed that Ancient Demon before.
This was when Ning Fa was on the verge of breaking through to Core Formation and needed a special Spiritual Material. At that time, he had a clue about the Mystic Yellow Qi and went to the Mo Yang Mountain Range, where he met Ning Daozhen.
He learned that the Mystic Yellow Qi was used to suppress an ancient demon that had been sealed all along. The two of them joined forces to capture this ancient demon, and Ning Daozhen took it away.
Thinking back now, it was also for the purpose of restoring that Demonic Offspring Body.
At this point, Zhuo Qing also said faintly, "The Moon Reflection Valley back then was a Demon Sealing Land. That's why when that top-tier spiritual treasure self-destructed, I was able to escape through the Ancient Demon Altar within it and came to the Ten Thousand Peaks Mountain Range.
This is because there is also an Ancient Demon Altar here, and there is still a lot of True Demonic Qi left within it.
So, over the years, I have been slowly recovering by absorbing this Demonic Qi, and I have also used the Demonic Qi here to develop some subordinates."
"I see," Ning Fa realized with understanding.
He then asked, "Then when you incited the Savage Beasts of the Ten Thousand Peaks Mountain Range to attack, weren't you going to start retaliating against the two great cultivation worlds as the First Elder of the Blood Heaven Sect said?"
"Of course not. I'm not a puppet of that First Elder of the Blood Heaven Sect, so how could I still follow his orders to do such a boring thing?
Although that old guy did something to my body, he still underestimated this Demonic Offspring Body of mine. Those methods couldn't restrict me at all.
Previously, when I incited the demonic beasts of the Ten Thousand Peaks Mountain Range to attack Tianli, it was partly because I didn't want Tianli to defeat Cangyuan so easily.
On the other hand, it was also to allow my subordinates' strength to improve further, as there is an important matter waiting for me to handle next.
However, at first, I did intend to communicate with the Demon Realm through this Ancient Demon Altar in the Ten Thousand Peaks Mountain Range to obtain more True Demonic Qi.
This would allow my strength to recover faster, but I couldn't succeed.
It seems that the confinement power of this world has greatly increased, and it is completely impossible to communicate with the Ancient Demon Realm."
After hearing Zhuo Qing finish, Ning Fa couldn't help but raise his eyebrows and asked thoughtfully, "You're telling me all this, is there something else you need my help with?"
Zhuo Qing stared at him with her purple eyes and nodded, "That's right.
Because before this, through the Ancient Demon Altar in the Ten Thousand Peaks Mountain Range, I felt the summons of another Ancient Demon Altar. And it is located in a place called the Moluo Space in the Nine Dragons Sea.
And the Ancient Demon Altar in the Moluo Space is also the highest-level one in the entire Human Realm.
As far as I know, the remaining descendants of the Zi Yin Immortal Dynasty have also entered this Moluo Space, so I want to go there and meet up with them."
Ning Fa was surprised once again.
He was also not unfamiliar with the Moluo Space.
That was after his trip to the Sky Furnace Fire Marsh, when he had just taken office as the Hall Master of Fu Ling Hall.
When he was talking with Hermit Wuxin of the Heavenly Evolution Sect, Hermit Wuxin suddenly left in a hurry because of the anomaly in that Moluo Space.
According to him, not only was there a sealed Ancient Demon Altar in the Moluo Space, but there was also a remnant group of the Zi Yin clan.
He didn't expect Zhuo Qing to want to go to that place, but after hearing her reasons, it was very reasonable.
"You mean, you can't go there now, but I can help?" Ning Fa seemed to understand, and asked doubtfully.
Zhuo Qing's rosy lips curved slightly, "That's right, exactly.
Brother Ning, if I'm not mistaken, you should have a special demonic item on you.
When I was by your side before, I vaguely sensed that item.
And this item should be able to help me, allowing me to be transmitted to the Moluo Space through the Ancient Demon Altar here.
Of course, don't worry, I won't take your item for free.
Although according to the information I received before, you have been missing in Cangyuan for a long time, I believe that with your profound destiny, you will reappear sooner or later.
So, over the years, I have prepared a generous gift for you in exchange for your item."
As Zhuo Qing spoke, she tossed a storage ring towards Ning Fa, making it hover in front of him.