Chapter 199: Brothers | Regret | Knowing One's Faults

This time, the process of obtaining a Soul Ring—from entering the Star Dou Great Forest to leaving and returning to Heaven Dou City—was even faster than when Ning Feiliu re-absorbed his third Soul Ring last time.

Last time, they stayed in the Star Dou Great Forest for a full eight days, but this time, it took less than five days—four and a half days—to obtain the desired Soul Ring and return to Heaven Dou City.

This was naturally thanks to Ning Fengzhi, who, upon entering the Star Dou Great Forest, utilized the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect's intelligence-gathering capabilities as a major power to determine the habitat and most likely location of the Demon Eye Demon Tree early on.

This truly saved a lot of effort.

After returning to Heaven Dou City, Ning Feiliu followed Ning Fengzhi and the others back to the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect.

"Feiliu, you've worked hard too, go back and rest first," Ning Fengzhi said to him with a smile. "I have had people cleaning and tidying your room during this time, and I even had the garden in front of it renovated; it should look much more pleasant now."

Ning Feiliu nodded with a smile immediately, "Thank you, Father."

Only then did Ning Fengzhi, accompanied by the Sword Elder, leave with satisfaction.

After seeing him walk away, Ning Feiliu shook his head.

This convenient father was still quite good at winning people over, but it was a pity... this was of no use to him.

Even if Ning Fengzhi were to act as his personal nanny now, doing nothing but pampering him to the extreme, he wouldn't feel a thing.

Unless it were like those cliché novel plots, where, just like the Sword Elder and Bone Elder in the original story, they sacrificed their lives to save that wretch...

Then, he wasn't a heartless, double-standard person like that wretch; he would certainly be moved to tears by such an act.

"Big Brother, let's go to my place and chat first," Ning Feiliu said, no longer dwelling on this, as he smiled at Ning Mingrui beside him.

"Alright," Ning Mingrui nodded and walked side-by-side with Ning Feiliu.

Along the way, the two brothers began to let go of their restraints and talk.

When they were in the Star Dou Great Forest, they had certainly been very restrained and said nothing, as Ning Fengzhi, the Sword Elder, Dugu Bo, and other elders were by their side.

Even a girl with as generous a personality as Dugu Yan had appeared very well-behaved on the road.

Now that only the brothers were left, Ning Mingrui finally let go a little and had some sincere conversations with Ning Feiliu.

"To be honest, my trip with you this time served no purpose, and it made me travel so far; it was too exhausting," Ning Mingrui said helplessly.

Ning Feiliu smiled instantly; it was true, Ning Mingrui's role this time was purely to accompany him. Since it wasn't him absorbing a Soul Ring, nor did he need to help out, he had just run back and forth for nothing.

"Just think of it as a trip, Big Brother; you probably haven't been to the Star Dou Great Forest, right?" he said with a smile.

"Who says I haven't? I went to the Star Dou Great Forest when I absorbed my third Soul Ring," Ning Mingrui said helplessly. "But I didn't run that far. Back then, Father also sent an outer sect Elder and several outer sect senior brothers to accompany me."

"It's nothing like you, Feiliu, having even Jian Yeye dispatched to hunt your Soul Ring this time."

He was also intentionally or unintentionally trying to restore the image of Ning Fengzhi and the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect in Ning Feiliu's heart.

Ning Feiliu gave a wry smile and didn't say much.

And just at this moment...

"Big Brother! Xiao San!" As they walked to the garden in front of Ning Feiliu's residence, a familiar voice came from the side.

Ning Feiliu and Ning Mingrui turned to look and discovered it was none other than their three brothers: Ning Shouzong, Ning Xiaosi, and Ning Xiaowu.

The three brothers seemed to have been waiting here for Ning Feiliu and Ning Mingrui.

Ning Feiliu felt a bit helpless at this moment, and he said to Ning Shouzong, "Second Brother, could you stop calling me Xiao San in the future? This nickname doesn't sound very good."

Sharing a nickname with that wretch, he truly found it creepy.

However, he had only mentioned this to Ning Mingrui before; as for Ning Shouzong, Ning Xiaosi, and Ning Xiaowu, he hadn't said anything.

"Ah? Then I'll just call you by your name from now on," Ning Shouzong said with a loud laugh.

"Xiao Si, Xiao Wu, you two don't call me San Ge anymore either. You can call me by my name, or just call me Brother," Ning Feiliu said to Ning Xiaosi and Ning Xiaowu.

"Alright... Brother Feiliu," Ning Xiaosi and Ning Xiaowu had no choice but to call him that.

"I know you all have many questions, so let's brothers chat here for a bit," Ning Feiliu looked at them, then sat down on a stone bench in the garden with a smile.

The brothers all sat down together. Ning Shouzong, who was slightly older and had a more generous personality, spoke directly, "Feiliu, you really are... usually so quiet, yet you suddenly shocked everyone! Good fellow!"

"Brother Feiliu is truly amazing," Ning Xiaosi and Ning Xiaowu also said with envious expressions.

Ning Feiliu shook his head with a smile and joked directly, "Alright, I won't pretend anymore. I am the one-in-ten-thousand peerless genius of the Douluo Continent!"

"Ah, yes, yes, you are a genius, but to think you hid it from us brothers for so long," Ning Shouzong also joked, "Shouldn't you be punished? Hehe, Feiliu, you haven't had a drink yet, have you? Tonight you must drink a few jin with me!"

Ning Feiliu curled his lips and said, "Second Brother, then you've guessed wrong. I have already had alcohol, and... without exaggerating, a few jin? Even if you brought a whole barrel, I could drink it all!"

Ever since he was made drunk by Dugu Yan last time and tasted the alcohol of the Douluo Continent, which was like the beverages of his past life, Ning Feiliu had taken a liking to the stuff.

He understood a bit why people in novels liked this stuff; it was just like the drinks of his past life, carrying a fermented sweetness and fragrance. Since it was like an alcoholic beverage, who wouldn't like to drink it?

At the same time, Ning Feiliu had also built up his tolerance—mainly by using soul power to accelerate the breakdown of alcohol. In this way, he could truly claim to be able to drink a thousand cups without getting drunk.

"Hahahaha, that's even better!" Ning Shouzong was clearly a heavy drinker himself and said with great joy, "We'll all have a few cups tonight!"

Ning Mingrui was a bit helpless, "Shouzong... stop messing around. And Xiao Si, Xiao Wu, don't learn from your two brothers; you are still young and cannot drink alcohol."

Ning Xiaosi and Ning Xiaowu had been looking forward to it, but upon hearing their eldest brother Ning Mingrui's words, they immediately wilted.

"Big Brother, don't say that, you must come tonight too!" Ning Shouzong turned his focus to Ning Mingrui and said, "You have to drink too! You must have known about Feiliu's situation a long time ago, good fellow, and you didn't tell us! Xiao Si, Xiao Wu, you two come tonight too; if you can't drink alcohol, can't you eat something else or drink some honey water?"

"Fine, fine, fine..." Ning Mingrui said with a smile, "I will get drunk with you all tonight..."

Suddenly, as if remembering something, he slapped his forehead and said, "I almost forgot one thing. Now that everyone knows about Feiliu's situation, this Mysterious Water Pill that Feiliu entrusted me to give to you should be given to you now."

He took a box out of his Soul Guidance Device; it was exactly... the Mysterious Water Pill that Ning Feiliu had given him back then.

Previously, in order to continue keeping Ning Feiliu's secret, he hadn't given this Mysterious Water Pill directly to Ning Shouzong.

"This is... a Mysterious Water Pill?" Ning Shouzong was stunned; he was a bit confused now.

A Mysterious Water Pill... that was a miraculous elixir famous throughout Heaven Dou City. Currently, only one Mysterious Water Pill had appeared on the market, which was bought by the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect for the sky-high price of 1.2 million Gold Soul Coins and given to Ning Rongrong, who had the highest talent among them.

And now, this Mysterious Water Pill worth a million Gold Soul Coins had appeared before him so easily.

"It's the real deal. I've taken one, and this is absolutely genuine," Ning Mingrui said with a smile. "Would I lie to you? Besides, this Mysterious Water Pill came from Feiliu's hands, and Feiliu is a student of Senior Dugu... could it be fake?"

Ning Shouzong was somewhat incredulous; in the current era of the Douluo Continent, the Mysterious Water Pill was truly a miraculous elixir that Spirit Masters dreamed of.

So, naturally, he was excited.

Ning Mingrui looked at him with a smile and added, "Alright, take it. And don't thank me; thank Feiliu."

"Feiliu... this is such a precious item." Ning Shouzong was conflicted at this moment, looking at Ning Feiliu with a struggle in his eyes.

Such a precious item, to let him accept it without any psychological burden... he truly could not do it.

However, Ning Feiliu shook his head, smiled, and said, "What's so precious about it... Second Brother, don't listen to the rumors outside. Let me tell you the truth: this Mysterious Water Pill is not hard to refine at all. I can easily make a dozen or so in a day..."

Then, he actually smiled and took several medicine boxes out of his Soul Guidance Device, opening the lids one by one to reveal the Mysterious Water Pills inside. This truly left the three brothers, Ning Shouzong, Ning Xiaosi, and Ning Xiaowu, stunned.

A single Mysterious Water Pill is worth over a million Gold Soul Coins; there are six or seven here, which is equivalent to nearly ten million Gold Soul Coins!

Ning Feiliu smiled and pushed two of the boxes containing Mysterious Water Pills toward Ning Xiaosi and Ning Xiaowu respectively, saying, "Alright, since everyone knows now, I don't need to worry about anything. But since Second Brother has them, of course, you two, Xiao Si and Xiao Wu, must have them too. Here, these are for you."

He had long been prepared; once his identity was exposed, there was no need to hide the Mysterious Water Pills from Ning Xiaosi and Ning Xiaowu.

However, he still smiled and said to Ning Shouzong and the others, "But Second Brother, Xiao Si, Xiao Wu, you must keep the production cost and quantity of these Mysterious Water Pills a secret for me. This is a good way to make money."

Seeing Ning Feiliu say this, Ning Shouzong, Ning Xiaosi, and Ning Xiaowu no longer acted coy and accepted the Mysterious Water Pills.

Yet, they secretly swore in their hearts that from this day forward, they would support Ning Feiliu no matter what.

Even if Ning Feiliu were to say in the future that he wanted to vie for the position of Sect Master, they would support him as much as they could! Of course, if such a situation were to truly arise, they believed that the eldest brother, Ning Mingrui, would be the first to voluntarily step down from the position of heir, and Ning Fengzhi, the Sword Douluo, and the Bone Douluo would also be quite willing.

"I understand that, of course. Don't worry, I've managed sect businesses before; I definitely won't let it leak out," Ning Shouzong said, patting his chest.

"We won't tell anyone either," Ning Xiaosi and Ning Xiaowu also said very firmly.

"Don't be so serious, either." Ning Feiliu nodded with satisfaction, but still relaxed and said with a smile, "Among us brothers... I think it's better to be relaxed. But Second Brother, you have to spend a bit tonight; get more good wine and side dishes!"

"Don't you worry about that! Tonight, if nothing else, there will be plenty of good wine and food. I'll have the Royal Hotel in the city send over thirty bottles of Qiongyun Brew, and I'll have the sect's head chef prepare a table of fine dishes. Let's brothers have a good drink!" Ning Shouzong said generously.

Ning Feiliu had given him such precious Mysterious Water Pills; he couldn't be stingy no matter what. And since a bottle of Qiongyun Brew from the Heaven Dou Royal Hotel sold for five hundred Gold Soul Coins, one could imagine he was truly dipping into his savings.

However, even if it added up to over ten thousand Gold Soul Coins, it certainly didn't count for much compared to the "market price" of over a million Gold Soul Coins for the Mysterious Water Pills.

Ning Shouzong knew this very well and didn't feel any heart-wrenching pain; instead, an irrepressible joy filled him.

"No problem." Ning Feiliu smiled slightly, but just then, he turned his head to look at the shadows of the corridor outside the garden behind him and said coldly, "How much longer do you intend to hide there? If you have something to say, just say it."

Ning Mingrui, Ning Shouzong, and the others were taken aback, and then they saw a familiar petite figure biting her lip as she walked out from behind Ning Feiliu.

"Third... Third Brother, and Eldest Brother, Second Brother, Fourth Brother, Fifth Brother..." Ning Rongrong seemed like a different person, appearing extremely well-behaved.

However, Ning Feiliu didn't buy it. Changing from the kind demeanor he had with his brothers, he said coldly, "There's no need to pretend like this, and I'm not used to it. I'm slightly more accustomed to your previous 'little witch' persona."

"Third Brother... I..." Ning Rongrong's face turned pale, and she wanted to say something more.

"Wrong, you should be calling me a loser," Ning Feiliu interrupted calmly again. "Ning Rongrong, stop acting. You weren't that nice to me before."

"That was because Rongrong was ignorant before..." Little pearls of tears fell from Ning Rongrong's pretty face as she cried to Ning Feiliu, "Third Brother... I truly know I was wrong... I was wrong..."

This pitiful appearance made it impossible to tell if she was faking it or truly regretful.

But...

To Ning Feiliu, regret was useless. If you regret it now, what were you doing before?

If Ning Feiliu were still that "loser Third Brother," would Ning Rongrong be apologizing like this?

Therefore, whether Ning Rongrong was truly regretful or faking it, it was all the same to Ning Feiliu.

He would not accept the apology, nor would he feel any pity for the current Ning Rongrong.

"Is this what you call knowing you were wrong?" Ning Feiliu said dismissively. "You only regret it because I've become stronger, not because you truly know you were wrong. If you really knew you were wrong, you should have apologized to me after you finished your confinement, not... after more than a year has passed, putting on this act here."

If Ning Rongrong had come to ask after him when he woke up after falling into the water, or had come to apologize after finishing her confinement, Ning Feiliu might have actually had some good feelings toward her.

But it was a pity...

Ning Rongrong's "little witch" personality destined her not to do such things, and it had caused her relationship with Ning Feiliu to deteriorate to the extreme.

"I... I..." Ning Rongrong felt a surge of regret in her heart once again.

Why had she treated her own brother, Ning Feiliu, like that back then? He was... a biological brother who had been very good to her. Yet, at the time, she only felt that she had suffered a great grievance, and unable to tolerate such a grievance, she had gone to cause trouble for Ning Feiliu.

But... Ning Feiliu had fallen into the water and been seriously ill at that time, almost dying, and yet he had been met with her unreasonable behavior.

Wasn't his grievance ten or even a hundred times greater than hers?

Why... couldn't she have thought of Ning Feiliu at that time?

"Rongrong... Rongrong is sorry, Third Brother..." Ning Rongrong said with a pale face.

This appearance made Ning Mingrui, Ning Shouzong, and the other brothers feel somewhat unbearable.

After all, this was their younger sister...

Before the incident with Ning Feiliu happened, they had actually been quite fond of their sister, Ning Rongrong.

But after such a thing happened, they had only distanced themselves from Ning Rongrong because they were standing up for Ning Feiliu.

Yet, they did not persuade Ning Feiliu at this moment.

After all, Ning Rongrong was the one who was wrong in the first place, and Ning Feiliu was the victim. To force the victim to forgive the perpetrator now...

That was simply too unreasonable.

"Don't call me Third Brother; I really don't like that form of address," Ning Feiliu said, still extremely coldly.

He truly disliked the exclusive title of "San Ge" from the original plot, especially when it came out of Ning Rongrong's mouth. In the original plot, Ning Rongrong didn't know how loudly she had called that "San Ge."

But she had been so vicious to her own real brother; just thinking about it made her seem like an ultimate ingrate.

"Don't appear in front of me again. I won't pursue anything against you, and you are still the young lady of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, but it just has nothing to do with me anymore," Ning Feiliu said impatiently.

He couldn't kill Ning Rongrong, and he couldn't be bothered to care about her anymore.

After all, cultivation was the most important thing. Without the ability to consume the Qiluo Tulip like in the original plot and upgrade her martial soul to the Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda, she would never be able to break through level eighty in this lifetime.

And this was the best revenge against her.

Hearing Ning Feiliu's resolute words, Ning Rongrong knew that anything she said was useless. With a pale face and accompanied by her attendants, she said nothing more and left.

This actually surprised Ning Feiliu a little.

Ning Rongrong hadn't shown her "true nature" or talked back like she did on the anniversary of his death after he had spoken to her like this; it seemed she really was regretful and knew she was wrong.

However... as the saying goes, if you regret it now, what were you doing before?

Ning Feiliu stopped worrying about Ning Rongrong and instead chatted with his brothers about some of the experiences that led to his transformation. It was much the same as what he had explained to Ning Mingrui, hiding his "cheat" and his own efforts, and shifting the credit to his convenient teacher, Dugu Bo.

He also painted a grand picture for his brothers, talking about the Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda and the like, promising that in the future, once he grew Immortal Herbs, he would definitely upgrade the martial souls of his brothers first.

Ning Mingrui, Ning Shouzong, and the other brothers did not concern themselves with Ning Rongrong's affairs, but instead chatted happily with Ning Feiliu.

When night fell, after the unusual family banquet with Ning Feiliu as the guest of honor concluded, the brothers drank heartily late into the night, feeling refreshed in body and mind.

The next day, Ning Fengzhi sought out Ning Feiliu again.

(End of chapter)