Chapter 1055

Ning Ning Shimei Ning held the teacup in both hands before her chest, sipping it in small mouthfuls, savoring the fragrance of the tea.

Master Feng was also nearby, gently gripping the teacup with the feathers at the tip of its wing, its beak tip tapping into the cup; Qian Chen, for one, didn't know if it had actually managed to drink any, or if it was simply enjoying the tea's aroma.

This was because Master Feng had just discovered that the spirit pill it had eaten was gone, and had flown in, causing a scene of chaos, leaving Ning Ning Shimei Ning with no choice but to soothe it with tea.

Qian Chen gazed at the setting sun, not particularly concerned with his image.

He leaned sideways against the side wall, his chin resting on his hand propped against the window sill, his white robes spread out beneath him.

Ning Qingchen blinked, feeling as if everything were just like their first meeting.

"Little Qian," disheveled and pale-faced, his cold aura chilling the night, dressed in white, leaned against the pillar of the ruined temple like a ghost, while she, bringing Master Feng, had stumbled in, ignorant and foolish...

"Follow me to meet my mother!"

Ning Qingchen set down her teacup and cradled her "foster mother," Master Feng, to her chest. Qian Chen looked down at Master Feng, sensing a flicker of wariness in those bean-sized eyes.

Was this a formal presentation to the mother?

Qian Chen felt a bit hesitant—I'm not ready yet!

Ning Qingchen vaulted out from the window, her goose-yellow sleeves fluttering as she gestured and flew toward Mount Shaohua, with Master Feng flapping its wings close behind.

Qian Chen casually pinched a sword finger and shouted, "Begone!"

He then transformed into a streak of sword light and followed.

The two landed in the forest behind the manor. Under the setting sun, the mountains were already quiet, with several grave mounds scattered across the sunny slope; the terrain and feng shui were both considered excellent.

Ning Qingchen landed by an isolated grave mound; it was on the edge of the slope, a small blessed spot that gathered wind and Qi.

It was just that the terrain was lonely, and the earth Qi here surged like a solitary spring, appearing slightly desolate compared to the several mounds nearby whose branches were intertwined.

The grave mound was extremely well-tended, showing that the seasonal sacrifices were never missed...

No wonder Qingchen hadn't refused this manor; after she returned having attained the Supreme Grade Jin Dan, the Ning family ancestor had put thought into bestowing this manor upon her, leaving her no room to refuse.

Watching Ning Qingchen, whose mood had suddenly plummeted upon walking here, Qian Chen sighed and stood quietly to the side, keeping her company.

"When I was very young, my mother passed away! By then, my memories of her were already hazy; I only remembered she was a woman who spoke very gently, while my father always kept a cold face, appearing strict."

Ning Qingchen wiped the tombstone slowly.

"Later, I met Master Feng and received its guidance and inheritance. Only after Foundation Establishment did my mother's face gradually become clear."

"But the Ning family's various ties were like ropes, wrapping around me until I couldn't breathe. It was only after practicing sword techniques that I found the courage to cut through those heavy shackles and escape from home!"

"After mastering the Taiyin Sword Scripture, I felt that thread of affection cross time and life and death, gently resting upon me."

"It was also then that I made up my mind to come back and take a look! Although the figure that originally made me tremble with fear had long since been surpassed by me, I still didn't want to face them, and was even more afraid to return!"

"But when I came back to pay my respects and saw the wild orchids blooming here, I was momentarily lost."

"My mother's maiden name had the character 'Lan' (orchid) in it, and she also loved tranquility..."

Ning Qingchen bowed her head, pressing her forehead against the tombstone: "Yan Yan Shixiong, you say, how difficult is it to resolve the word 'affection'?"

Qian Chen opened his mouth.

How difficult to resolve?

So difficult that when attaining the Supreme Dao, even self-slashing with a blade is hard to cut it off completely.

So difficult that Taiyi stayed in a foreign world for ten thousand years, and through nine reincarnations, could not forget that hometown; so difficult that Qian Chen, as his past, saw that call of "Li Er" in the twilight of the setting sun, which drove Taiyi almost to madness.

So difficult that in the countless realms of the cosmos, there are those who struggle, swinging their blades against fate, those with obsessive love spanning three lifetimes, and those who move heaven and earth, stirring ghosts and gods.

But the only Daoist Lord who disappeared inexplicably was one who sang nursery rhymes!

But Qian Chen could only shake his head: "I don't know! I have no past, and no mother... I am just a spirit pearl that fell to earth, stained by dust!"

A fragrant breeze rushed into his embrace.

Qian Chen suddenly felt someone hugging him.

He closed his eyes tightly, only to hear her hum softly in his ear.

He felt his body lighten.

Qian Chen then slowly opened his eyes.

He saw that Ning Qingchen had already finished wiping the stone tablet, her Taiyin sword Qi seemingly firmer by a fraction, while Master Feng, cradled in her arms, was looking at him with disdain.

Qian Chen could only turn his head to look at the sky, humming softly: "In this world, only a mother is good; a child without a mother is like a blade of grass..."

His Primordial Spirit ached, gathering and dispersing without form!

Qian Chen's body scattered and then condensed beside Ning Qingchen in the blink of an eye, looking at her in disbelief.

Ning Qingchen also turned her head, leaving only a crystalline earlobe facing the setting sun, coated in a layer of radiance, with the girl's fine hairs faintly visible.

It was as if that blade just now hadn't been swung by her.

Only Master Feng, with its small eyes, stared fixedly at Qian Chen, its gaze as if saying—"You are truly pathetic!"

Walking down from the forest and returning to the painting pavilion, the young Ning Yuan was already waiting there, looking in shock as Ning Qingchen and Qian Chen walked over. This time, he didn't dare to say anything rashly, but stammered: "Aunt, the ancestor heard that you have guests visiting and worried that not hosting them would be a breach of etiquette, so he invites you to bring the guests to the family residence for a banquet!"

Ning Qingchen raised an eyebrow slightly, and Ning Yuan immediately shrank his head, shouting: "It wasn't me who snitched... it must have been Uncle Guiyao!"

Qian Chen's mind raced; although he had long known that Ning Ning Shimei Ning was soft on the outside but tough on the inside, how did her family seem to have known all along that she was—not exactly gentle?

Ning Qingchen gave Qian Chen an apologetic look, her eyes questioning whether this had disrupted his plans.

But Qian Chen had ridden his horse all the way here, walking in openly and honestly.

Even when passing through Tongguan, he had used proper travel documents, so there was naturally no need to hide his identity.

Thus, he summoned the Green-Eyed Jade Dragon and the Water-Essence White Deer, letting Ning Yuan lead the way, heading straight for the Ning family ancestral home.

The youth riding the Wind-Stepping Green Steed stared enviously at the white horse beneath Qian Chen, listening to Ning Qingchen say: "Don't call anyone else; the three of us and three horses will travel light!"

"But..."

Under Ning Qingchen's gaze, Ning Yuan lowered his voice, protesting in a whisper: "There are others!"

The Ning family's ancestral land was also at the foot of Mount Shaohua, but it was a fortress in the mountains.

It was strategically positioned in a dangerous pass in the mountains.

They had set up arrays and built the fortress on flat ground, surrounded by walls, with gates at the front and back, and strict prohibitions.

Inside the fortress, watchtowers were built, and corner towers were constructed at the four corners, all of which were Nine-Layer Cloud Tower artifacts.

Inside, they could store weapons, armor, and crossbows; during wartime, the clan's disciples relied on the corner towers to control artifacts, fight, and defend against enemies, much like a city!

This was a remnant of the Sixteen Kingdoms period; at that time, noble families that didn't build fortresses were wiped out by the ravages of war and demonic calamities. Unless they hid in the deep mountains like this and built fortresses relying on spirit vein arrays, they couldn't resist the military.

Such ancestral fortress residences were not convenient for cultivation, and even for social interactions between noble families, they mostly relied on mansions in the city.

The Great Wei had been established for a long time, and the world was at peace.

Prominent surnames like the Hongnong Yang family, the Jingzhao Wei family, and the Hedong Pei family no longer huddled in one corner; their clan members traveled between Chang'an and the commanderies, enjoying fine food, banquets, and tea parties.

Perhaps because of their background and attainment of the Dao during the Sixteen Kingdoms period.

No matter what others did, the Ning family ancestor refused to step out of the fortress by even half a step, earning him the nickname "Old Turtle Ning."

The earth and wood Dao techniques he practiced allowed him to sit and form an array, like a giant tree taking root, which also emphasized stability.

Moreover, the Ning family was remote, and the fortress they occupied was not on any strategic pass or vital military location.

Except for the annual extortion by the Cao Lang of the feather hunt, there was nothing else to worry about.

It was just that because of this ancestor's caution, the Ning family's accumulation of manors and farmland was always one step slower than other noble families.

But the clan disciples could only complain in secret.

The fortress rules were strict; although there was a main gate, it was never opened on weekdays unless a large amount of supplies needed to be transported, and they only entered and exited through a winding corner gate opened on the side.

It was also equipped with various artifacts to spy on true forms.

But opening the gate to welcome guests was extremely rude, so it was rare for Old Turtle Ning to open the main gate wide to welcome Qian Chen inside.

Even Ning Qingchen found this rare, muttering if this turtle ancestor had changed his temper?

It wasn't until they entered and saw that it had been refined and forged as a whole by the ancestor.

The earth walls and city ramparts seemed to be arranged and stacked strictly like grains of sand and dust, and the wooden beams and large pillars contained hidden vitality, as if they were alive.

Qian Chen was slightly surprised...

"Your ancestor is truly... down-to-earth!"

Ning Qingchen could only respond with a helpless expression.

This fortress was actually a large magic treasure, a natal spell, a supernatural power that integrated countless foundational Dao techniques.

Strictly speaking, this supernatural power wasn't profound, and it wasn't as direct to the Great Dao as the Thirty-Six Heavenly Gang supernatural powers, which were high-level; once achieved, it was equivalent to instantly mastering countless similar supernatural powers and spells.

But, the Ning family ancestor's practice was truly solid!

The secret of his practice lay in stacking.

Accumulating earth into mountains, one spell after another was constantly stacked, building this fortress.

First, countless mineral powders, spirit materials, fine jade, and earth and stone were refined with magic power and transformed into five-colored earth.

This true earth was like the Xuanming True Water and Taiyin True Water refined by the Xuanming and Taiyin paths; it was a type of exotic magic power.

It was best at defense!

Ordinary cultivators often practiced and accumulated these various magic powers, and when fighting, they would condense them into earth mountains and stone walls, protecting themselves without hindrance.

But the Ning family ancestor seemed to have had a sudden inspiration, ramming this true earth onto a branch of Mount Shaohua to lay the foundation.

Then he planted spirit trees in it, cleared the roots, gripped the land, and set up an incomparably stable array.

Once the array was formed, his magic power followed this rammed earth and was fixed here, unable to be taken away.

It was equivalent to drawing a circle on the ground as a prison, trapping himself here.

But the Ning family ancestor still felt it wasn't enough, constantly breathing in spirit energy, refining spirit materials, and constantly nourishing that piece of magic power foundation, growing a city like breathing soil.

Various spells were stacked, all of which were defensive spells.

The earth malevolent Qi underground was mixed with true earth and burned into bricks with pill fire; each brick was transformed from a spell, and if taken out to sense the law, it could cast the spell.

These spirit bricks, refined into the prototypes of artifacts, were structured and stacked on the rammed earth foundation.

It was on the Ning family ancestor's Dao foundation that platforms, pillars, walls, and ramparts were gradually built, and finally, tiles, eaves, ridges, and spines were burned and refined with Gang Qi.

Stacking houses and building beams, thousands upon thousands of extremely basic spells were layered, building indestructible supernatural powers.

Qian Chen looked around, and every building in the fortress was cast in this way.

It was simply not a building constructed by an array, but a magic treasure of the Ning family ancestor, an external pill.

It could even be said to be an outer shell cast for a Jin Dan.

Right in this turtle shell built like an iron bucket, the Ning family ancestor's Yin Spirit was entrusted to a spirit root, growing quietly and gradually gestating.

The Yin Spirit was formed.

But what Qian Chen didn't understand was.

The Yin Spirit was shrinking in this turtle shell, growing and strengthening was naturally fine, but without being tempered by the sun and moon, wind and rain, how should his Yin Spirit be Yang-transformed?

Using external Qi to temper and stimulate the changes of the Yin Spirit was almost the most widespread and common step for a Yin Spirit to achieve a Yang Spirit.

The Yin Spirit was like a ghost, not seeing the sun for a long time; how could it point to pure Yang and take that step toward becoming an immortal?

Ning Qingchen couldn't answer either.

Since she had memories, the ancestor had already been sitting in the fortress, and was already a senior Yin Spirit great cultivator.

"Aren't you going to give this old turtle a slash?"

Qian Chen smiled wickedly, enticing her: "So stable, he probably won't die from one slash."

"Moreover, your Taiyin Ancient Shendao follows the thread of affection, cutting from the heart, pointing directly at the soul. Most of the turtle shells he built with such difficulty won't be of any use. Giving his Yin Spirit hiding inside such a fierce slash will surely be painful to the bone."

"And a Yin Spirit that hasn't been tempered by the sun and moon is weak and delicate."

"Being slashed by your Taiyin Qi, he'll remember it for a lifetime!"

"And the Blade of Cutting Affection targets the soul, and the Taiyin Qi targets the Yin quality; it arises from the heart, and external objects are hard to block! You are his natural nemesis!"

Qian Chen looked around, and the Ning family ancestor didn't know that a bad boy brought by his own descendant was desperately enticing his "little cotton-padded jacket" to perform a set of "ancestor's words, descendant's laughter" combos.

He didn't even know that Qian Chen had seen through his plans at a glance.

"Your ancestor is preparing to cultivate Corpse-Dissection Immortality!"

Qian Chen whispered in Ning Qingchen's ear: "His idea is interesting: using the city as a body, then Taiyin refining the form, and thus dissecting the corpse."

"The city he built is the coffin that wraps his body and protects his fragile soul during its transformation!"

"The corpse body disperses into Qi, shuttling through the buildings in the city, refining the external pill he worked so hard to build, and gradually re-gathering."

"Do you see the ancestral hall in the middle of the fortress?"

"When the time comes, the Ning family cultivators will hold grand sacrifices every year, and the incense will never stop, gathering divine Qi for his Yin Spirit and casting a divine body."

"But he is not reconciled to only cultivating the divine path!"

"The spirit root entrusted with his soul is a tree of eternal green, possessing the ability of withering and flourishing without dying."

"After your ancestor dissects the corpse, it will leave and wither, and then a spirit seed will grow and sprout again on the old body. By the time the sacrificial incense divine body is achieved, that spirit root should also have grown."

"The newborn soul returns, absorbs the incense divine body to pass through the most fragile period, and will transcend the tribulation and become an immortal within this fortress!"

Ning Qingchen raised her index finger and shushed him.

"Yan Yan Shixiong, my ancestor is timid, don't scare him!"

"He wouldn't even dare to tell his own son about this plan, and after dissecting the corpse, it will be his most fragile moment."

"That spirit root sprouts and entrusts the true spirit. Even if there are various backup plans, as long as a small Qi-refining cultivator finds the flaw, they can kill him."

"If he knew you saw through it at a glance! I'm afraid his inner demons would be deep, and he wouldn't be able to pass this tribulation!"

Qian Chen nodded, but still enticed her: "Ning Ning Shimei, if you still have a shred of affection for the Ning family, it's better to give him a slash!"

"This person's plan is good, but his Yin Spirit has been in this shell since birth and has never been tempered by wind and rain. The stage of Taiyin refining the form is like thousands of ants biting the body, and like being burned in an ice cave; it's harder to endure than the eighteen levels of hell."

"Lacking such tempering, this tribulation will surely be hard to pass."

"And his tempering in terms of temperament is also lacking. If he is targeted by the Nine Heavens Demon..."

Qian Chen shook his head, clearly not optimistic.

"I'm not afraid of him dying alone, I'm afraid that his re-gathered soul will be mixed with the Nine Heavens Demon, refining this city into a demon city and devouring your entire Ning clan in the city."

"But he also has an advantage: his mind is resilient, he is extremely patient, and he is neither arrogant nor impetuous."

"Other stages of corpse dissection probably won't trap him."

"So if you want to do him a favor, give him a slash..."

"The Ice Soul Blade's light originates from the meaning of Taiyin extinction. Using this blade intent to temper his soul will make him more likely to pass the stage of Taiyin operation. And the Blade of Cutting Affection points directly at the human heart and specializes in cutting his mental weaknesses. After passing your slash, ordinary Nine Heavens Demons won't be able to trouble him!"

Ning Qingchen agreed deeply and nodded.

In terms of corpse dissection, I'm afraid there are few in the entire Earth Immortal Realm who can compare to Qian Chen.

After this person dissects the corpse, he is brewing what might be an unprecedented grand plan in the history of Corpse-Dissection Immortality.

One-step Daoist Lord!

Speaking of which, even those ancient ancestors who dissected corpses didn't have such a terrifying plan.

By comparison, the Ning family ancestor's little plan is like children playing house.

"Yan Yan Shixiong, why do I feel that you mainly still want to trick me into giving the ancestor a slash?"

Ning Qingchen tilted her head.

Qian Chen was not at all guilty and smiled: "Never mind whether I'm harboring evil intentions or not, just tell me if it works!"

"What else can compensate with internal Buddhist practice, the Mirror Light guiding the sun and moon to shine on the body, the Glazed Law, incense casting the divine path, the Withering and Flourishing Life and Death Scripture... which is as neat as a slash from the Taiyin Ancient Shendao?"

As he spoke, Qian Chen summoned Ning Yuan, who was leading the way: "Is there a Xuanwu Gate here?"

Ning Yuan heard this abrupt sentence and was also confused: "This... Xuanwu resides in the north, Yan Shixiong, are you talking about the Beimen? The fortress does have north and south gates, but the Beimen is not open at this time!"

"This person is very narrow-minded, don't pay attention to him!"

Ning Ning Shimei Ning pulled her nephew away.

Ahead was the main hall of the banquet, and at this time, lamps and candles had been lit, filling the place with light.

The Ning family ancestor was nicknamed Old Turtle, but at this moment, he looked dignified, with a long beard, sitting in the seat of honor, with the demeanor of a Confucian scholar.

Another person sat by his side, dignified and reserved, also a high-level Yin Spirit cultivator.

Qian Chen felt his Ning Ning Shimei suddenly pull his sleeve. Turning his head, he saw a middle-aged man with a calm temperament standing on the steps, blocking the two of them.

This person's features were somewhat like Ning Ning Shimei Ning's, but lacked that clear spirit, appearing even more rigid.

His eyes were strange, staring fixedly at the two of them, his face somewhat dark.

Ning Ning Shimei Ning raised her head, held Qian Chen's hand, and walked straight into the hall to take her seat...

(End of chapter)