Three months later.
Previously, inside the cave in the depths of the Ten Thousand Peaks Mountain Range.
Sang Wen and the others were sitting cross-legged in the hall, cultivating.
From time to time, they would look towards the depths of the cave, their eyes filled with worry.
For the past three months, Ning Fa had been in the quiet room in the depths of the cave and hadn't come out.
However, sounds like thunder would occasionally come from within, making them uneasy.
But these past few days, there had been no movement, which made them a little worried. Could Ning Fa have encountered some mishap in his cultivation?
Ji Lianxing's exquisitely beautiful and enchanting jade face was filled with unconcealable worry.
In recent days, her master, Shen Xinlan, had contacted her several times to inquire. She felt that if this continued, Shen Xinlan might become suspicious.
Just then, a faint sound of footsteps could be heard.
Everyone immediately turned to look, and saw Ning Fa, dressed in a black robe and appearing handsome and elegant, walking over with a faint smile.
Everyone was both surprised and delighted.
Upon closer inspection, a look of astonishment appeared in their eyes.
Because Ning Fa, although his cultivation realm seemed unchanged, his aura was now even more profound.
Even though his expression was peaceful, the feeling they got was like facing a boundless, deep sea, involuntarily filling them with awe.
Clearly, Ning Fa's special Divine Ability, which he had been cultivating for the past three months, had made significant progress, and it was no small matter.
"Fellow Daoist Ning, are you ready?" Ji Lianxing asked, her expression brightening.
Ning Fa nodded with a smile.
A hint of excitement flickered in his eyes.
The cultivation difficulty of the Five Elements Calamity Heaven Sword Array was even greater than he had anticipated. Fortunately, with the enhancement of the Five Elements Thunder Body, he had finally achieved initial success in cultivating this sword array within three months.
He had only briefly tested the power of this sword array, and it had already left him amazed. He finally understood that the Five Qi Returning Origin Sword Canon had not exaggerated at all.
Ning Fa estimated that with this sword array, his strength should already be comparable to a true High-level Great Cultivator.
With this, his confidence in his previous plan naturally soared.
Ning Fa suppressed the turmoil in his heart, then looked at Sang Wen, who was watching him with concern, and smiled faintly. He then shifted his gaze and said, "Fellow Daoist Ji, you can begin."
Ji Lianxing took a deep breath, then gracefully stood up and walked towards the cave entrance.
Ning Fa also followed, with his hands behind his back.
At the same time, on the southwestern edge of Tianli's Qige Mountain Range, there was a canyon approximately several hundred miles long and over ten miles wide, known since ancient times as Black Wind Canyon.
This was because the southwestern edge of the Qige Mountain Range was perpetually shrouded by the natural hazard known as the Black Disaster Hurricane. Even Nascent Soul Cultivators could not escape if they were accidentally trapped within it.
However, the Black Wind Canyon was little affected by this Black Disaster Hurricane, making it the only way to enter the Qige Mountain Range.
At this moment, in a hidden location above the canyon, a cave had been opened up.
In a stone hall at the center of the cave sat two women and one man: Huangfu Hong, Shen Xinlan, and Pei Nanshu.
The atmosphere was silent, and the anxiety on their faces was hard to conceal.
Pei Nanshu frowned and said slowly, "It's been three months, and that kid still hasn't shown up. We can't keep waiting here. If we wait too long, Hermit Xuyuan might become suspicious."
Although Huangfu Hong wore a mask and her expression was hidden, a cold glint flashed in her phoenix-like eyes.
Shen Xinlan rubbed her temples with a headache, saying helplessly, "That kid has already found several Thousand Soul Grass, but he dislikes the low medicinal age and insists on obtaining Thousand Soul Grass with at least a five-thousand-year medicinal age, so he's unwilling to leave.
Now he has entered the depths of the Ten Thousand Peaks Mountain Range alone again. It's been over twenty days, and I don't know what the situation is."
Upon hearing this, Pei Nanshu's frown deepened.
Just as he was about to say something, Shen Xinlan's expression suddenly changed: "My disciple has contacted me. There should be an update."
As she spoke, she flipped her right hand and took out a black oil lamp. The black light of the lamp flared up, transforming into a blurry female face, and a soft, charming voice quickly transmitted from it:
"Master, Ning Fa has returned from the depths of the Ten Thousand Peaks Mountain Range, but he was ambushed by more than a dozen Fourth-grade Savage Beasts in the depths of the mountain range and is now seriously injured.
Therefore, we need to stay in the mountain range for a while longer until he recovers slightly before we can return."
After speaking, the illusory female face disappeared.
At this moment, the expressions of the three Great Cultivators all shifted abruptly.
Pei Nanshu said with joy, "Excellent! With this, we don't have to guard here anymore. We can directly contact Tianli's people and head to the depths of the Ten Thousand Peaks Mountain Range to completely kill that kid."
As he spoke, he prepared to stand up, but Huangfu Hong, standing beside him, reached out and stopped him.
Her eyes flickered as she said slowly, "Since that kid is seriously injured, with the three of us, won't it be more than enough to kill him?
If that's the case, there's no need to notify Tianli's people.
After all, that kid has quite a few secrets. Do you really want to share them with Tianli's people?"
Pei Nanshu's expression immediately changed, and he sat back down. Stroking his long beard, his eyes flickered, clearly tempted.
Shen Xinlan also raised her delicate eyebrows: "Sister Huangfu makes a lot of sense."
At this moment, Huangfu Hong looked at her and said, "The key issue now is to figure out how serious that brat's injuries really are.
Although your disciple has extraordinary talent, she only recently advanced to the Nascent Soul stage and her strength is too far from Ning Fa's.
So, her assessment of severe injuries might not reflect Ning Fa's true condition.
If Ning Fa's injuries aren't that serious, then it's best we don't take risks and cooperate honestly with the Tianli people.
After all, such a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity is hard to come by again, so we can't let this brat escape this time, otherwise, the consequences will be endless."
Hearing this, Shen Xinlan's lips curved into a smile. "There's no need to worry about this, sister. I'm confident I can ascertain the brat's true condition. You all just wait and see."
Meanwhile, above a certain mountain peak deep within the Ten Thousand Peaks Mountain Range, Ning Fa and Ji Lianxing hovered in the air.
Ji Lianxing put away the black oil lamp and looked at Ning Fa with a worried expression.
"Fellow Daoist Ning, next, Shen Xinlan will definitely use the Spirit Sealing Great Method to possess me and confirm your true condition.
Shen Xinlan cultivates a special cultivation method, and her spiritual sense is extremely sharp. When that happens..."
Although Ji Lianxing didn't finish her sentence, her meaning was clear.
Ning Fa smiled. "Don't worry, I have my reasons for doing this. Fellow Daoist Ji, just do as we agreed."
With that, he turned his escape light and flew downwards, quickly returning to the quiet room deep within the mountain cave.
Ning Fa sat cross-legged and then projected his spiritual sense into his sea of consciousness.
The Moon God Heart was still floating quietly, but the white illusory flames on its surface had increased significantly. However, they seemed to be suppressed by an invisible force, and their burning intensity was not excessive.
As Ning Fa's mind moved, the invisible force that had been restraining these white illusory flames released more than half of its hold. The white illusory flames on the surface of the silver full moon immediately flared up.
At this moment, a layer of white flames also ignited around Ning Fa, causing him to grimace in pain.
After a long while, the white flames outside his body slowly receded. Ning Fa's complexion was now as pale as paper, and his divine soul's aura had weakened considerably.
But his eyes were calm. With a flip of his right hand, a special black mass of qi appeared. This was the mass of demonic qi given to him by Zhuo Qing.
As Ning Fa gently shook it, strands of demonic qi began to attach themselves to him as if they had a will of their own. Soon, demonic qi billowed around him.
Combined with his current weakened state, anyone looking at him would think he was severely injured, and clearly wounded by demonic creatures in the Ten Thousand Peaks Mountain Range.
Ning Fa inspected himself and nodded with satisfaction. Then, he sat cross-legged, quietly waiting.
After about an hour, a faint sound of footsteps was heard first, followed by Ji Lianxing's charming voice from outside the quiet room: "Fellow Daoist Ning, are you free now?"
"Didn't I tell you not to disturb me recently?" Ning Fa replied impatiently.
"Please calm your anger, Fellow Daoist. I have prepared the Demonic Yuan Potion, a secret recipe of our Wushi Demonic Palace, which should be very beneficial for your injuries."
Ji Lianxing, standing outside the room, took out a transparent purifying bottle. Inside the bottle was some blue-black liquid. Although the lid was not yet opened, a refreshing fragrance had already emanated from it.
Then, with a creak, the door to the quiet room opened.
Ji Lianxing immediately looked at Ning Fa, who was sitting cross-legged in the room. Although his expression showed no abnormality, she couldn't help but show a hint of surprise in her eyes as she looked at Ning Fa, who was pale and severely weakened.
"Thank you," Ning Fa said simply.
Then, the bottle in Ji Lianxing's hand flew away, and the door to the quiet room closed.
Ji Lianxing stood outside the door, paused for a moment, and then walked back as if nothing had happened, a slight smile already playing on her lips.
On the other side, Ning Fa's aura was rapidly recovering, and his complexion gradually improved, a smile also appearing on his lips.
Although he was smiling, his eyes were filled with icy killing intent.
After he learned that Huangfu Hong, Shen Xinlan, and Pei Nanshu had ill intentions towards him.
Ning Fa's original plan was to find a way to return to Cangyuan and take revenge after advancing to the Mid Nascent Soul stage.
However, after obtaining the Innate Five Elements Qi, Ning Fa changed his plan.
Because once he could master the Five Elements Calamity Heaven Sword Array, combined with the assistance of Baili Ming, Hei Yu, Blue Lightning, and Little Ice.
While he couldn't possibly capture Huangfu Hong and the other two, along with those high-level Tianli cultivators, he had a good chance of killing just Huangfu Hong, Shen Xinlan, and Pei Nanshu.
After all, once he reached Cangyuan, it would be much more difficult for him to kill these three.
This was because they all had considerable backing, especially the Wushi Demonic Palace, which was not only the number one sect in Cangyuan, but also had the top-ranked expert on the Profound Ranking, Old Ghost Mo.
Ning Fa even felt that Hermit Xuyuan might try to stop him from killing these three.
After all, for Cangyuan at the moment, every Great Cultivator was extremely precious.
Given Hermit Xuyuan's style of acting solely from Cangyuan's perspective, he would likely try his best to save the lives of these three.