Ning Fa had returned to a secret chamber in Zhenyou City.
He set up numerous restrictions, then took out over ten pill bottles in one go, stuffing all the pills inside into his mouth.
Pure medicinal power erupted within his body, and his terrifying external injuries finally began to show signs of relief.
Ning Fa also closed his eyes and sat cross-legged, refining the medicinal power to recover from his injuries.
Although his Divine Firmament Manifestation was not too far from the First Transformation realm, there was still some distance to go.
Even with the enhancement of his Five Elements Thunder Body, which allowed him to forcefully activate it, there were severe side effects.
Just like his current state, his magic power, physical body, and divine soul were all significantly overdrawn.
His physical body, in particular, was severely damaged.
If Ning Fa had continued to force its use, his physical body might have even collapsed.
However, this battle had resulted in the death of five enemy Great Cultivators, severely wounded one, and he had also obtained the Heart of the Ancestral Sea, saving Zhenyou City.
Therefore, this risky use of the First Transformation realm of the Divine Firmament Manifestation could be considered very successful.
It was just that for a period of time, he could not easily use the Divine Firmament Manifestation again, especially the First Transformation realm.
Three months later.
Ning Fa slowly opened his eyes. He saw that the terrifying wounds on his body had healed, and although his complexion was still a little pale, he looked much better than before.
Ning Fa had still not recovered to his peak state, but he was worried about the current battle situation and did not want to continue recuperating.
Ning Fa did not immediately leave the quiet room. Instead, he communicated with the Source-Crossing Heavenly Book in his sea of consciousness.
Soon, a smile appeared on his face.
He had gained a lot from this battle.
Three Sea Race Great Cultivators had died at his hands, providing a total of twelve hundred Third-Tier Origin Points, which was a huge sum.
What gave Ning Fa the biggest surprise was the Heart of the Ancestral Sea.
It provided a full five Fourth-Tier Origin Points.
Although it couldn't compare to the mysterious white fragment he obtained from the Nine Divisions World-Suppressing Pagoda in Tianli, it was still extremely astonishing.
After all, the Heavenly Book only required one Fourth-Tier Origin Point to trace the origin of a spirit stone from low-grade to top-grade.
This made Ning Fa surprised and also filled him with regret.
Because the Abyssal Sea had already been active for some time, it was clear that it had consumed a lot of the Heart of the Ancestral Sea's energy.
If it were a complete Heart of the Ancestral Sea, the Fourth-Tier Origin Points it could provide to the Heavenly Book might have reached double digits.
Ning Fa couldn't help but sigh inwardly, it seemed the Heavenly Book truly favored the Sea Race.
Whether it was the Nascent Souls of the Sea Race or wondrous items like the Heart of the Ancestral Sea, they provided such high Origin Points.
This truly gave Ning Fa an impulse to go to the Sea Race and plunder them extensively.
But this was just a temporary thought, as there were definitely Spirit Transformation realm old monsters among the Sea Race, and likely more than one or two.
Thinking of this, Ning Fa's heart tightened again.
The threat of Spirit Transformation Cultivators was no longer an illusion, but a very real problem.
After all, he had displayed such powerful strength this time, and the Sea Race would not be without a response. It was not impossible for them to send even one Spirit Transformation Cultivator.
Thinking of this, Ning Fa's eyes flickered slightly, and a white bead the size of a thumb appeared in his right palm.
This was the Immortal Extermination Bead he obtained from Pei Nanshu, and it required exactly five Fourth-Tier Origin Points to trace its origin into a Great Immortal Extermination Bead.
Ning Fa's gaze sharpened, and he had already made up his mind.
With a flash of white light in front of him, the Heavenly Book appeared.
A ball of white light enveloped the Immortal Extermination Bead in his hand, and it soon transformed into another white bead that was slightly larger.
Mysterious runes flickered on its surface, faintly exuding a terrifying aura of world-ending destruction.
Ning Fa examined it with a look of wonder for a moment, then carefully placed it into a brocade box.
This would be his other trump card against Spirit Transformation Cultivators, besides the Chaos Divine Thunder.
Ning Fa let out a soft breath, feeling much more at ease.
Furthermore, the Heart of the Ancestral Sea, in addition to providing five Fourth-Tier Origin Points, also yielded another five hundred Third-Tier Origin Points.
Adding this up, Ning Fa had obtained a total of seventeen hundred Third-Tier Origin Points from this battle. Combined with the remaining eight hundred and thirty points he had before, he now had a total of two thousand five hundred and thirty points.
Ning Fa had never been this wealthy before; it almost made him want to laugh out loud.
This immense fortune was enough for him to trace the origin of countless precious Fourth-Grade spiritual ores.
Thinking of this, Ning Fa flipped his right hand and took out another peculiar triangular communication spirit talisman.
After sending a message, Ning Fa put the talisman away.
He had just been contacting Xiao Yu.
Before going into seclusion, he had instructed Xiao Yu not to worry about the front-line battles and to focus on collecting various spiritual ores for him in the rear.
Xiao Yu now had a large pile of spirit ores of various attributes in her hands. Ning Fa urged her to return quickly, as he was about to experiment to see what crucial items he could trace from them.
If luck was on his side, he might even be able to gather the spiritual materials for the remaining components of the Divine Firmament Thunder Armor Set.
Furthermore, after comprehending the complete refining method for the Heaven-Piercing Spirit Treasure, the Heavenly Flame Candle, Liu Ying had also provided an upgrade method for the Five Flames Lamp, which also required some extremely precious fire-attribute spirit ores.
If he could trace those as well, it would naturally be even better.
A faint smile appeared in Ning Fa's eyes, and he then walked out of the secret chamber.
In the outer reception hall, a beautiful and pure female cultivator in a white dress was sitting on a chair, holding an ancient scroll. She occasionally looked in the direction of the secret chamber, worry in her eyes. It was Sang Wen.
Just then, with a flash of lightning, a figure suddenly appeared. Ning Fa, dressed in a silver robe, was looking at her with a smile.
Sang Wen's eyes immediately filled with surprise, and she stood up, saying, "You're finally out. How are your injuries?"
Ning Fa looked at her with a half-smile, "What, are you worried about me?"
Hearing this, Sang Wen's delicate eyebrows furrowed, and she lightly rolled her eyes.
"Seeing that you can still joke, it seems you're not seriously injured."
Ning Fa chuckled, then turned serious, "What's the situation now?"
Sang Wen immediately opened her small mouth and began to explain.
After listening, Ning Fa nodded. The situation was quite good.
After the last battle, the enemy's Great Cultivator-level combat strength had suffered heavy losses.
And they were unaware that Ning Fa had such severe side effects after activating the First Transformation of the Divine Firmament Manifestation.
So, while Ning Fa was in seclusion recuperating, the enemy forces had not attacked again, and Cangyuan had gained a rare respite.
After all, the last battle had been extremely fierce, with casualties far exceeding those before.
Ning Fa also asked about the well-being of those close to him, and fortunately, they were all unharmed.
"You've come at the right time. The situation has changed slightly, and the Pavilion Master wishes to see you," Sang Wen said solemnly at this point.
Ning Fa nodded and took a step, disappearing from the room. A complex look appeared in Sang Wen's eyes.
Not long after, Ning Fa met Hermit Xuyuan in another pavilion.
"Fellow Daoist Ning, it's truly wonderful that you are unharmed."
Hermit Xuyuan examined Ning Fa from head to toe, then smiled with relief.
However, Ning Fa frowned as he looked at Hermit Xuyuan.
Hermit Xuyuan's aura was significantly weaker than before, and his face had many more wrinkles, making him look much older.
Noticing Ning Fa's gaze, Hermit Xuyuan smiled and waved his hand.
"Fellow Daoist Ning, you don't need to worry too much. I've only depleted several decades of my lifespan. I have you to thank for scaring them all away; otherwise, my losses would have been more than just this lifespan."
Ning Fa pondered for a moment, then flipped his right hand, producing a green pill bottle.
"Here is a Life Origin Pill. It should have some effect on you, fellow daoist."
This Life Origin Pill was something Ning Fa had obtained from True Lord Baidan after killing him.
True Lord Baidan had originally intended to use this pill to bribe Xuan Weizi to intervene and stop Ning Fa.
However, when faced with Ning Fa's threat, Xuan Weizi ultimately did not dare to forcefully intervene, and the Life Origin Pill was returned to True Lord Baidan, thus ending up in Ning Fa's possession.
Hermit Xuyuan looked at the pill but smiled and shook his head.
"I've already taken this pill once, and it has no effect on me anymore, Fellow Daoist Ning. You should take it yourself.
Don't worry too much, Fellow Daoist Ning. I can still hold on for over a hundred years."
Ning Fa looked regretful and asked, "Old friend Xuyuan, I heard you wanted to see me. Has something happened?"
Hermit Xuyuan's expression turned serious. "Fellow Daoist Ning, do you know why some Great Cultivators from the enemy side, including that Moon Lord from Tianli, have suddenly disappeared?"
Ning Fa's eyes flashed upon hearing this. "Is it because of the Abyssal Heavenly Pool?"
Hermit Xuyuan nodded. "That's right.
We only had suspicions before, but now we can basically confirm it.
Recently, our Pavilion's Celestial Observation Instrument has detected unusual spiritual energy fluctuations in the direction of the Cloud Wasteland Great Marsh.
And that direction is where our ancestor discovered the Abyssal Heavenly Pool. Those unusual spiritual energy fluctuations could very well be caused by those disappeared enemy cultivators.
After all, if we calculate the time, it's almost time for the Abyssal Heavenly Pool to open, as predicted by our ancestor. Tianli and the others might have found a method to make the Heavenly Pool open a bit earlier."
Ning Fa's eyes gleamed.
He had initially maintained a cautious attitude towards the Abyssal Heavenly Pool, but now he had a compelling reason to go.
This was because he needed to obtain the Soul Nurturing Divine Spring within it, for himself and Zhu Lingyun, to contend against that terrifying Ancient Immortal.
Therefore, hearing that the Abyssal Heavenly Pool was about to open stirred waves in his heart.
At this moment, Hermit Xuyuan's expression turned solemn. "The Abyssal Heavenly Pool very likely contains a Spirit Transformation opportunity. Although our Cangyuan is weak, we cannot simply hand over this opportunity."
After all, not to mention anything else, if Tianli were to obtain the opportunities within and produce a Spirit Transformation Cultivator, it would be a disaster of annihilation for our Cangyuan. However..."
As he spoke, Hermit Xuyuan's face showed hesitation, as if deeply conflicted.
Ning Fa's mind raced, and he understood why Hermit Xuyuan was so conflicted.
It was because he was likely the only Cangyuan Cultivator suitable to head to the Abyssal Heavenly Pool to contend for the opportunities.
But at present, he was like a stabilizing pillar for Cangyuan.
If any accident were to befall him in the Abyssal Heavenly Pool, it would also be a massive blow to Cangyuan, and they would likely collapse immediately.
However, if they didn't contend for the opportunities within, Cangyuan might face a slow death.
That was why Hermit Xuyuan was so conflicted.