"A gesture of goodwill?"
Ning Jiang's expression was calm. He set the Bone Shaping Pill aside without a second glance, his attention instead fixed on the IOU in his hand.
This was the very same IOU that Zhao Feng and Wu Wen had used to threaten Ning Yu'an.
The maid named Qiu Yue had already left. She had followed her instructions, leaving the items behind and departing immediately, regardless of whether Ning Jiang and his sister accepted them.
"Yue Lianxi?" Though Ning Jiang hadn't been in Luoyang City for long, he had heard of her reputation.
She was a famous beauty in Luoyang City—charming, alluring, a true femme fatale. Countless men longed for her affection, but it was said that many who entertained such thoughts had simply vanished.
Among them were even experts of the Innate Realm!
Yue Lianxi had a mysterious background and didn't seem to be a local of Luoyang City. Rumor had it that even the major powers in the city were quite wary of her.
There were even claims that she was the master of Changle Street, one of the most prosperous areas in Luoyang City, spanning thirty li.
Any power that wanted to do business there needed her approval.
'In a world where strength is supreme,' Ning Jiang thought, 'a femme fatale with Yue Lianxi's rumored looks would have been devoured, leaving not even bones behind, if she didn't have a powerful backer. This woman must have some serious background; otherwise, she couldn't have retrieved Sister An's IOU so easily.'
Given the kind of person Ning Jiang was, his intellect made it easy to see the implications. However, no matter how powerful Yue Lianxi's background was, he wouldn't be overly concerned.
"I'll accept this gesture of goodwill."
Ning Jiang murmured. A surge of True Qi rushed through his body, and with a burst of Qi Force, the IOU disintegrated into dust.
"Sister An, don't worry. We have nothing that Yue Lianxi would scheme to take. She wouldn't go to such lengths to harm us."
Ning Jiang was well aware of their situation. He and Ning Yu'an were just nobodies in Luoyang City, completely penniless. What could Yue Lianxi possibly want from them?
But he knew that after her experience with Wu Wen, Ning Yu'an was afraid of being tricked.
"You're right, little brother. I was overthinking things," Ning Yu'an said, her heart settling down.
Night fell, and the room grew quiet.
Ning Yu'an hadn't slept well for days. Exhausted in both mind and body, her eyes were bloodshot. Despite her Postnatal Early Stage cultivation, she now slept soundly.
To save Primordial Stones, the siblings shared a single room, a rather awkward arrangement.
Ning Jiang, however, was awake, sitting cross-legged in meditation.
He had already taken the Bone Shaping Pill. It was a rather precious elixir capable of mending broken bones—hence its name. It was effective even for a fractured bone of an Innate Realm expert.
The value of this single elixir was enough to bankrupt a Postnatal Realm expert.
Yue Lianxi was certainly wealthy and generous.
'In just one afternoon, the bones in my left arm have already healed by more than half,' Ning Jiang mused. 'With one more night, it should be fully recovered.'
The effects of the Bone Shaping Pill were almost instantaneous. Of course, with Ning Jiang's skills, he had other ways to heal himself even without it, but the elixir saved him a great deal of time.
At this moment, Ning Jiang was deep in thought.
The Great Thousand Realms... this was a world of martial artists, where everyone cultivated the Martial Arts.
The initial threshold was the Qi Cultivation Ten Heavens, followed by the Postnatal, Innate, Spirit, and Primordial Spirit Fourth Tribulation Realms, and so on...
As for the Venerable Realm that Ning Jiang had once reached, it was essentially the pinnacle. Higher than the Venerable Realm was the Great Emperor.
A Great Emperor appeared only once every ten thousand years and was invincible. For him to have fought a Great Emperor as a Venerable without being defeated was an unparalleled feat in history.
Of course, his current self was a world away from his former realm, separated by several major realms of cultivation.
'Although I've been reborn, it's a hundred thousand years in the future. I wonder what has happened to the world in all that time? My old friends and acquaintances... they must all be gone by now, right?'
Ning Jiang sighed as memories of the past surfaced like drifting smoke. Fortunately, he wasn't a sentimental person and quickly calmed himself.
The past was like smoke, scattered by the wind and clouds.
The past was gone; all that mattered was the present.
'Here in Luoyang City, an Innate Realm expert is considered a significant figure, capable of holding sway over a region. Take the Ning Family in Baiquan Town, for example. With just a few Innate Realm experts, they were able to become a third-class family.'
'A second-tier family, on the other hand, requires over a dozen Innate Realm experts.'
'As for a first-rate family like the Li Family of Golden Cauldron City, not only do they have dozens of Innate Realm experts, but they also need an expert at the Innate Limit to hold the fort. Someone at that level can kill an ordinary Innate expert in just two or three moves, which is why they can be a first-rate family.'
'Compared to the Li Family, the Ning Family is pitifully weak. No wonder the Li Family was so against Li Qingyun and Ning Changfeng back then.'
'This world hasn't changed much from a hundred thousand years ago. The hierarchy is still strict, and strength is everything. The strong rule as kings, do as they please, and roam the world unchallenged. The weak are like fish on a chopping block, to be carved up by others, forced to swallow their anger and endure.'
'If I had Postnatal Realm cultivation, Zhao Feng wouldn't have dared to insult me so easily. If I were at the Innate Realm, he would have to keep a respectful distance. The so-called Luoyang Ten Heroes are only at this realm. If I reached the Spirit Realm, even Innate Realm experts would have to call me 'Senior.' I could walk through Luoyang City with impunity. As far as I know, there aren't any Spirit Realm figures in Luoyang City yet.'
Thinking of this, Ning Jiang shook his head and smiled. 'The Luoyang Ten Heroes? The Spirit Realm? What do they even amount to?'
In his past life, he could have annihilated the Cyan Cloud Country with a flick of his finger and killed tens of millions of Spirit Realm experts with a single breath.
A Venerable Realm expert comprehended the world's fundamental power and controlled life and death. For them, eight thousand years was a spring, and another eight thousand was an autumn. With a single thought, they could reverse the cycle of seasons, making all things wither in spring and a hundred flowers bloom in autumn.
'Compared to that, these current realms are nothing more than ants.'
'I was originally at the Postnatal Realm, but my cultivation dropped because of the Black Jade Fire Poison Curse.'
The Black Jade Fire Poison Curse was like a maggot clinging to the bone, absorbing a martial artist's True Qi to strengthen itself. It continuously corroded the body, causing one's cultivation realm to fall. Over time, it would inevitably lead to death.
He was originally at the Postnatal Middle Stage. Reaching this realm at sixteen had placed him among the top five in the Ning Family.
But now, he was left at the pitiful Qi Cultivation Third Layer. His True Qi was weak, and in a few more days, he would probably fall to the Qi Cultivation Second Layer.
The so-called "True Qi" was the pure energy that remained inside a martial artist's body after they circulated a cultivation technique to absorb and refine Heaven and Earth Primordial Qi. This energy was a type of gas, and when utilized, it was powerful enough to shatter stone tablets, hence the name "True Qi."
'The most pressing matter is to solve the problem of the Black Jade Fire Poison Curse. Otherwise, my body can only last for three more days at most.'
It was this very Black Jade Fire Poison Curse that had forced Ning Changfeng and Li Qingyun to travel all the way to the Li Family in Golden Cauldron City.
To the Ning Family, this was an incurable curse, one that no one could break.
But with Ning Jiang's knowledge, he knew countless ways to deal with it.
'There are many elixirs that can neutralize this curse, but getting the ingredients is a problem. To buy ingredients for alchemy, I first need a large amount of Primordial Stones.'
Primordial Stones were the common currency in this world. They contained abundant Heaven and Earth Primordial Qi, so martial artists could use them for both trading and cultivation.
'Forget about elixirs. I'm penniless right now; you can't make bricks without straw. The only viable method is to practice a cultivation technique. Some of the techniques I know can at least temporarily suppress the Black Jade Fire Poison Curse, even if they can't completely neutralize it at my current stage.'
Ning Jiang thought to himself. With his status as a Venerable, he was not short on cultivation techniques.
His vast repository of memories contained as many cultivation and martial techniques as there were grains of sand in the Ganges.
Cultivation techniques were divided into Mortal, Profound, Spirit, Earth, Celestial, and Divine Levels. Each level was further divided into Low, Middle, Upper, and Top Grades.
Mortal Level was the most common, the standard fare. Most people practiced Mortal Level techniques; only some families possessed Profound Level techniques.
The Ning Family, for instance, only had a few Profound Level techniques and not a single Spirit Level one.
A Spirit Level technique allowed one to break through the Innate Realm and reach the Spirit Realm. If a Spirit Level technique were to appear in the world, numerous families would fight to the death for it.
When it came to choosing a cultivation technique, Ning Jiang hesitated.
'Should I cultivate the Myriad Stars Flying Immortal Technique or the Heaven-Devouring Demon Skill? Both of these can suppress the Black Jade Fire Poison Curse.'
The Myriad Stars Flying Immortal Technique was the technique Ning Jiang had practiced in his past life. It was one of the world's top-level cultivation techniques, and he had relied on it to step into the Venerable Realm and fight a Great Emperor to a standstill.
As for the Heaven-Devouring Demon Skill, he had obtained it from an unmarked stone tablet during his journey in pursuit of the "Blank Ten Thousand Years."
The stone tablet was stained with blood, immortal and indestructible; even he had found it difficult to damage.
With his insight, it wasn't hard to see that in the early stages, the Heaven-Devouring Demon Skill was even superior to the Myriad Stars Flying Immortal Technique—more domineering, more demonic!
There was just one flaw.
The technique was incomplete!
The Myriad Stars Flying Immortal Technique had six volumes, corresponding to the Mortal, Profound, Spirit, Earth, Celestial, and Divine Levels. Different realms corresponded to different volumes. The sixth volume, the Divine Level, could only be cultivated at the Venerable Realm, and it was the key to vying for the position of Great Emperor.
But the Heaven-Devouring Demon Skill only had five volumes, from Mortal Level to Celestial Level. Once he finished cultivating the fifth volume, his realm would stagnate.
'If I cultivate the Myriad Stars Flying Immortal Technique, I have my past life's experience, so returning to the pinnacle won't be a problem. The Heaven-Devouring Demon Skill is more domineering, but the technique is incomplete.'
Ning Jiang wasn't anxious. He imagined himself as a lake, murky and disturbed. As he calmed his mind, the impurities settled to the bottom, and the water became clear.
This was a mind-calming technique that could make one's spirit as still as tranquil water.
'The Heaven-Devouring Demon Skill... I'll choose this one. Even though the sixth volume is missing, I might find a way to obtain it in the future. I'll cross that bridge when I come to it.'
Ning Jiang was not an indecisive person. Having made his decision, he immediately recalled the incantations of the Heaven-Devouring Demon Skill.
Passages of text flowed out from his repository of memories.
The first volume of the Heaven-Devouring Demon Skill was Mortal Level Top Grade, suitable for cultivation during the Qi Cultivation Ten Heavens. After reaching Perfection, one could practice the second volume, the Profound Level chapter, which corresponded to the Postnatal and Innate Realms.
The third volume, the Spirit Level chapter, could only be cultivated by those with Spirit Realm Cultivation.
As Ning Jiang began to circulate the Heaven-Devouring Demon Skill, a light breeze stirred within the quiet room, and streams of cyan-colored air continuously drilled into his body.
Heaven and Earth Primordial Qi was drawn over and absorbed into his body.
The Qi Cultivation Ten Heavens:
The first layer was Qi Nurturing: cultivating a breath of True Qi in the Dantian, allowing one to hold their breath underwater for over ten minutes.
The Second Layer was Qi Circulation: moving the True Qi through the meridians of the entire body, to every limb and bone.
The third layer was Qi Gathering: gathering the True Qi to form a Qi Vortex in the Dantian. With a Qi Vortex, the speed of absorbing and refining Heaven and Earth Primordial Qi would increase several-fold.
He was currently at the third layer.
In this world, everyone had only one Qi Vortex. Even the Myriad Stars Flying Immortal Technique only formed a single Qi Vortex.
The reason Ning Jiang chose the Heaven-Devouring Demon Skill was because this technique could form three Qi Vortexes, shattering common sense! Overturning all understanding!