In Ning Fa's sea of consciousness, the nascent Taiyin Jade Infant's small hands glowed with spiritual energy as it formed a hand seal.
At the same time, Ning Fa's eyes turned into a peculiar crescent moon shape. His gaze pierced through layers of void, following the array patterns, and traced them all the way to the underground of an island six hundred miles away.
There was a grand hall, covered in array patterns. In its center stood a circular platform, clearly the hub of this alert formation.
On this platform, two Nascent Soul cultivators sat cross-legged with their eyes closed, seemingly in cultivation.
A chill surged through Ning Fa.
Someone was using this formation to monitor Xuan Ning Island!
Or, more accurately, to monitor anyone attempting to enter the island.
The target was obvious, and it was undoubtedly himself.
There was no need to ponder who it was; it had to be one of the Qianyuan Merchant Alliance, Tianshu Alliance, or Nine Immortals Association, with the Qianyuan Merchant Alliance being the most likely.
What worried Ning Fa most was that this undoubtedly meant Xuan Ning Island had been exposed.
Ning Fa suppressed the turmoil in his heart and had the nascent Taiyin Jade Infant form another hand seal.
Six hundred miles away, in that hidden grand hall, a ripple of spiritual light, like water waves, suddenly appeared.
The two cultivators who had been cultivating cross-legged.
An old Daoist of Mid Nascent Soul and a pockmarked big man of Early Nascent Soul were instantly alerted.
"Not good! Enemy attack!"
The old Daoist exclaimed in alarm, reacting swiftly. He flicked his sleeve, and a Jade Ruyi, shimmering with spiritual light, flew before him. It spun rapidly, emitting a spiritual light shield that enveloped him.
But in the next moment, a moon-white spiritual light passed through the shield as if it were nothing, directly penetrating it and entering his forehead.
The old Daoist's face went blank, and then with a "bang," he fell to the ground, unconscious.
The pockmarked big man suffered the same fate.
They were not dead, but merely knocked unconscious by Ning Fa. He intended to perform Soul Searching on them later, hoping to glean more information.
To subdue two Nascent Soul cultivators so easily from six hundred miles away, if this were to be told, even a Spirit Transformation cultivator would be shocked.
But Ning Fa was naturally not an ordinary Spirit Transformation cultivator, and this was the power of the Moon God Art cultivated to the Taiyin Jade Infant stage.
Even though it was still in its nascent form and not yet fully mastered, its soul attack methods were already unfathomably potent.
However, even though the two guards were subdued, Ning Fa, out of caution, had the nascent Taiyin Jade Infant form another hand seal. His figure became ethereal, passing through the barrier and restriction as if they were nonexistent, and entering it.
Upon reaching the specific location, his vision blurred, and he found himself in another place.
Before him, on the azure sea, lay an island of considerable size, with a majestic spiritual mountain within it. This was Xuan Ning Island.
Ning Fa's spiritual sense swept across the entire island, but not a single person could be found.
Although he had somewhat anticipated this, his heart sank.
Unwilling to accept it, he flew to the spiritual mountain and meticulously searched every corner. Finally, he stopped above the palace he used to reside in on the mountaintop, his expression as cold as ice.
His relatives were indeed gone.
Had they really been captured by the Qianyuan Merchant Alliance?
But from his observation, there were no signs of struggle on Xuan Ning Island. Even if a Spirit Transformation cultivator had arrived, it would have been impossible for the island's inhabitants to offer no resistance.
Ning Fa decided to return immediately and perform Soul Searching on the two Nascent Soul cultivators to ascertain the situation.
Just then, Ning Fa seemed to detect something and abruptly turned his head to the side.
It was the entrance to the grand hall, where several tall, pure gold trees, about thirty feet high, were growing.
This was a Fourth-grade Spiritual Wood, "Gold Devouring Wood," a high-grade Metal-element spiritual wood that could be used as the main material for Metal-element Magic Treasures. It had been planted on the mountain long ago. Although it was of little use to Ning Fa, he had kept it.
In the direction Ning Fa was staring, a golden leaf on one of the Gold Devouring Woods suddenly flashed with purple light, flickering intermittently.
With a flash of lightning, Ning Fa instantly appeared before it. He gently plucked the golden leaf and carefully examined it with his spiritual sense. He discovered that the leaf seemed to contain a mysterious power within, more like a special sealing technique.
Even Ning Fa found it difficult to break this seal for a moment.
Ning Fa hesitated. With his power, he could easily destroy the seal, but then he wouldn't be able to obtain what was sealed within the leaf. This was highly likely something left for him by the people on the island.
What struck Ning Fa as strange was that the aura of the power within the leaf felt somewhat familiar.
After a moment of thought, he recalled it. It was the mana aura of Huangfu Ziyue.
After all, he had Dual Cultivated with her numerous times and was very familiar with her mana aura.
With this realization, Ning Fa's mind stirred. Green light flashed behind him, and a green thunderwood appeared, its surface etched with purple patterns.
Immediately, one of the purple patterns lit up, shooting a beam of purple light that enveloped the leaf.
Following this, the leaf peeled away layer by layer, revealing a purple ball of light the size of a grain of rice. At the same time, a pleasant female voice sounded in Ning Fa's ear:
"Brother Ning, Fairy Yuanxing's power has been exhausted and she can no longer protect Xuan Ning Island. I have already taken your family to a safe place. We are currently in a secure location. You can find us here at the hour of Yin during the month of Yin each year."
This was Huangfu Ziyue's voice.
Ning Fa's face instantly lit up with surprise and joy. So, his family on the island had been protected by Fairy Yuanxing all along, and now Huangfu Ziyue had taken them away.
The place Huangfu Ziyue mentioned was very likely the clan land of the Zi Yin clan, which he had visited before.
That place was indeed mysterious, making it difficult for even Nascent Soul Cultivators to find easily.
With this, a heavy weight was lifted from Ning Fa's mind, and he felt gratitude towards Fairy Yuanxing and the Zi Yin clan.
If Huangfu Jin hadn't sacrificed himself to save him back then, and with Fairy Yuanxing's help, he would have surely died on that mission.
He had already decided to help the Zi Yin clan rebuild their immortal dynasty as repayment.
However, Ning Fa wasn't completely at ease. After all, their enemy was one of the three top powers of the Human Race, and who knew how much time had passed since Huangfu Ziyue left her message.
Thinking of this, Ning Fa immediately left Xuan Ning Island and soon arrived at the hidden grand hall six hundred miles away.
Ning Fa glanced around his surroundings. The old Daoist priest and the pockmarked big man were still lying unconscious on the ground.
Ning Fa let out a cold snort, reached out his right hand, and grabbed the old Daoist priest's head. Without hesitation, he performed the Soul Searching Technique.
Just then, a mysterious black talisman suddenly emerged from the depths of the old Daoist's Sea of Consciousness. Black light flashed wildly, about to explode.
This was clearly a method used by the person behind them to prevent their subordinates from falling into enemy hands and revealing secrets through Soul Searching.
If it were anyone else, even a Nascent Soul Cultivator, it would be difficult to stop the explosion of such a black talisman. But for Ning Fa now, it was naturally nothing.
The divine soul power he had infiltrated into the old Daoist's Sea of Consciousness instantly transformed into a mist of white rain, enveloping the black talisman. With a flash of spiritual light, it turned into a piece of white ice, directly freezing the exploding black talisman.
To avoid alerting the enemy, Ning Fa did not destroy the talisman. He then proceeded to search the old Daoist's soul.
Fifteen minutes later, Ning Fa grabbed the pockmarked big man and did the same.
After soul searching both of them, Ning Fa's expression turned as grim as water.
These two were indeed cultivators from the Qianyuan Merchant Alliance, or more accurately, retainers loyal to the Gu family.
Fifty years ago, they were sent by Gu Zun to guard this vigilance formation, the purpose being to immediately inform Gu Zun if he, who had been missing for a long time, suddenly returned to Xuan Ning Island.
And Xuan Ning Island was exposed exactly fifty years ago.
According to the information Ning Fa obtained from soul searching, one hundred and ten years ago, when Ning Fa disappeared, Gu Zun somehow confirmed that Ning Fa had not died in the Six Paths Yuan Destruction Great Array.
After dealing with the fierce counterattack from the Sea Race, he began to desperately search for Ning Fa's whereabouts.
Not only the Qianyuan Merchant Alliance, but also the Tianshu Alliance and the Nine Immortals Association were the same. The high-level divination powers of the three top forces were fully mobilized, yet they still couldn't find Ning Fa's trace.
Seeing that it was ineffective, Gu Zun immediately went to the Cangyuan Cultivation World, controlled many Ning family members, and almost slaughtered all the cultivators with spiritual roots in the Ning family to refine Bloodline Pearls, hoping to locate Ning Fa's position, but it was still ineffective.
As the war with the Human Race and the Sea Race intensified, the Tianshu Alliance and the Nine Immortals Association gradually gave up their pursuit of Ning Fa.
But Gu Zun never gave up, because besides Ning Fa, there was also Ning Fa's daughter, Le'er.
Because these two Nascent Soul Cultivators were retainers of the Gu family, they knew some secret information.
Previously, Gu Zun did not hesitate to repeatedly use the Heaven-Piercing Spirit Treasure "Xuanhui Fengling Disk," at the cost of consuming its spiritual essence, to try to locate their positions.
As a result, fifty years ago, this Heaven-Piercing Spirit Treasure discovered the whereabouts of Ning Fa's daughter, Le'er, which was Xuan Ning Island.
Gu Zun immediately rushed over, but when he arrived, Xuan Ning Island seemed to have received the news in advance and was already empty.
After that, the Xuanhui Fengling Disk could no longer find Le'er's trace.
Gu Zun was unwilling, so he set up this vigilance formation, hoping to catch the big fish, Ning Fa, by leaving these two people here to guard it.
For some reason, Gu Zun was convinced that Ning Fa would definitely return here.
"It's actually been fifty years..."
Ning Fa murmured.
He didn't expect that after losing Fairy Yuanxing's protection, Huangfu Ziyue and the others could still block the pursuit of that Heaven-Piercing Spirit Treasure, and he didn't know by what means.
But no matter what, his family was safe, and this situation was much better than he had originally anticipated.
This time, he owed Fairy Yuanxing and the Zi Yin clan a great debt.
But it wasn't all good news.
Although the people on Xuan Ning Island did not fall into enemy hands, Ning Fa's son, Ning An, was immediately controlled by the Tianshu Alliance and then handed over to the Qianyuan Merchant Alliance.
The surviving Ning family members were also transferred by the Qianyuan Merchant Alliance to the territory of the Great Qin Cultivation World.
The reason they weren't killed was that Ning Fa had disappeared without a trace, and Gu Zun intended to use Ning Fa's relatives as leverage if he reappeared in the future.
However, given the status of these two Nascent Soul Cultivators, they naturally did not know the location where these Ning family members were imprisoned.
A strong killing intent flashed in Ning Fa's eyes, and after a long while, he suppressed the surging emotions in his heart.
Regardless, Ning An was still alive, and there were still some Ning family members who survived, such as the First Elder Ning Zhongyuan, Ning Zhongjiu, and even his third uncle, Ning Hongye.
These Ning family members of the highest status were deliberately kept by Gu Zun to threaten Ning Fa in the future.
No matter what, this was good news. He had to rescue them, and he had to act immediately.
In addition, Ning Fa obtained another important piece of information from these two.
First, Gu Zun had also entered Mi Tian Valley. Not only him, but also Yuanzun, Divine Lord Xuan Yi, and other Mid Nascent Soul Cultivators from the Human Race, as well as some powerful cultivators among the Early Nascent Soul Cultivators, had all entered Mi Tian Valley.
The same was true for the Sea Race. The number of Nascent Soul Cultivators entering Mi Tian Valley from both sides was roughly the same, and they seemed to have reached a certain agreement.
However, Mi Tian Valley was indeed in turmoil as Su Wanwan had said, and it was impossible to enter or exit. Those Nascent Soul powerhouses had been trapped inside for decades.
The reason they were said to be trapped was that the Nascent Souls of many cultivators who entered did not extinguish their soul lamps.
Secondly, there was another important piece of news.
Gu Zun's great-grandson, Gu Ying, was soon to hold his grand wedding. His Dao companion was a personal disciple of a Nascent Soul rogue cultivator of the Human Race, and it was said she possessed a very superior innate spiritual body.
The Qianyuan Merchant Alliance attached great importance to this, and had been preparing for the couple's Dual Cultivation Ceremony for several years. It was scheduled to be officially held in less than a month.
Although Gu Zun was still trapped in Mi Tian Valley, one of his clones remained and would preside over the wedding.
Many high-level cultivators of the Human Race had already received invitations. The Qianyuan Merchant Alliance also planned to take advantage of Gu Ying's wedding to hold a grand auction.
These two retainers of the Gu family expressed their regret at not being able to personally attend Gu Ying's wedding, because the Gu family would be bestowing generous rewards on that day.
"Dual Cultivation Ceremony... Heh, what a coincidence," Ning Fa murmured, his eyes flashing with a coldness like ten thousand years of ice.
"It's about time. I will let this grand wedding be thoroughly stained with blood, and make the Gu family, along with the Qianyuan Merchant Alliance, completely disappear from this world."
Ning Fa looked at the two men lying unconscious on the ground, killing intent surging in his eyes.
However, before he could go on a killing spree, he had to rescue Ning An and the other Ning family members first, so that he would have no worries.
As for how to rescue them, Ning Fa pondered for a moment and came up with an idea.
Suddenly, a white light emanated from his hands, enveloping the heads of these two Gu family retainers.
After dozens of breaths, Ning Fa stopped casting the spell, and the two men slowly stood up.
At first, their expressions were blank, and then they both respectfully cupped their fists towards Ning Fa and said, "Greetings, sir."
At this moment, these two men were completely under Ning Fa's control.
Ning Fa smiled slightly, then his body emitted a series of crisp cracking sounds. His figure shortened by three inches, and after a fluctuation of spiritual light on his face, he had a completely different appearance.
He looked about twenty-four or twenty-five years old, handsome, bearing some resemblance to his original face, and even more so to his son Ning An.
At the same time, Ning Fa's aura also dropped, quickly falling to the early Core Formation stage, appearing as if he had only recently formed his core.
"Daoist Lu, let's go," Ning Fa said with a smile to the old Daoist priest.
"Yes, sir," the old Daoist priest bowed slightly and led the way towards the exit.
Several days later, a magnificent feathered crane carried the old Daoist priest and the disguised Ning Fa to Zhenhai City.
After the old Daoist priest presented a token from the Qianyuan Merchant Alliance, the two passed through unhindered, directly entering the inner city of Zhenhai City. They then proceeded to the summit of a spiritual mountain over a thousand feet tall in the western part of the city.
Here stood a continuous cluster of palaces, with extremely high spiritual vein concentration. This was the core area of the Great Qin Cultivation World in the region belonging to Zhenhai City, and it was also where the ultra-long-distance teleportation array to the Great Qin Cultivation World was located.
Soon, the two arrived before a majestic white palace, which was shrouded by a crystal-clear, three-colored light barrier.
This time, the old Daoist priest's token, which had a not-low authority, was useless. The two could only wait patiently in front of it.
Before long, the light barrier in front of them rippled like water, and a tall figure walked out.
This person was clad in heavy yellow armor, had a full beard, and exuded a very powerful spiritual pressure. His cultivation had reached the late Nascent Soul stage.
He looked at the old Daoist priest with surprise, "You old Daoist, I remember you were sent on a secret mission. Why are you here all of a sudden? And who is this Core Formation brat you brought?"
As he spoke, he looked at Ning Fa. Without any apparent action, the simple hat that Ning Fa wore, which could shield him from simple spiritual sense probes, was flung backward, revealing Ning Fa's face.
Ning Fa's face was pale, and besides his anger, his eyes also held unconcealable panic and dejection.
"Hmm, this person..." Upon seeing the disguised Ning Fa, the late Nascent Soul cultivator seemed to recall something and stared intently at Ning Fa, scrutinizing him.
At this moment, the old Daoist priest stroked his beard and smiled, a hint of smugness on his face. His lips moved slightly as he transmitted his voice:
"Commander Wen, you should have seen it, right? This brat looks very similar to that person.
Heh heh, because he is Ning An's descendant who was left outside, Ning Zhuo, Ning Fa's grandson.
He has been living incognito in the outside world. He just formed his core a few years ago. He thought that after so much time, we would have given up on Xuan Ning Island, so he secretly came to try and obtain the treasures in a secret cache on the island.
Naturally, he was discovered by me and Fellow Daoist Ma, and we caught him red-handed. We even followed the lead to that secret cache.
Tsk tsk, the spiritual items within were truly tempting. No wonder this brat risked coming even knowing the danger."