Chapter 406: Acquisition of the Fetal Breath Spirit Vessel
At this moment, yet another Dharma Body retreated after a long battle, revealing his figure.
This person had a broad forehead and jet-black hair, simply tied with a cloth headband.
He had a tall, slender build, moved with composure, and wore a plain long robe. Hanging from his belt were a cyan medicinal pouch and a simple bamboo flute.
In one hand he held a knotted wooden staff, and in the other, a notebook.
On the notebook's cover was a title—“Xuxing’s Travel Notes.”
This was yet another historical figure whose image had long become a classic across numerous texts. Thus, the moment the crowd saw him, they recognized his identity.
Xuxing!
This man was a renowned wanderer who, throughout his life, traveled across famous mountains and great rivers, wandered through the Five Lakes, indulged in the Four Seas, and repeatedly explored perilous secret realms. The travelogue he left behind, titled Xuxing’s Travel Notes, was sought after by countless descendants.
There were sixteen volumes in total, but ever since Xuxing's death, they had never been fully assembled. Many volumes contained entries on the exploration of secret realms and methods of entry and exit, and thus were tightly controlled by powerful forces, strictly forbidden from dissemination.
Xuxing, fond of outstanding juniors like Ning Zhuo, took the initiative to explain, “This brings us to the limits of the Radiant Reflection Wall, and the origin of the Dynasties.”
“The Radiant Reflection Wall was forged during the era of the Martial Emperor. At that time, Heaven and Earth had not yet digested the Dao of Demons and Monsters. Thus, the Wall was limited to reflecting the natural principles of this world.”
“Therefore, the Dao of the Five Elements could be reflected, as could the Dao of Heaven and Earth, the Dao of Yin and Yang, the Four Symbols, and the Eight Trigrams—but the Dao of Demons and Monsters could not be reflected.”
Ning Zhuo immediately sensed a faint enlightenment.
Xuxing continued, “This world has produced three great dynasties, each one, in essence, rose from a dominant heterodox Dao, which broke through the old order.”
“For example, the Blood Slaughter Dynasty came into being when the Dao of Demons and Monsters was captured by the world—thus demons and monsters began to exist in this world.”
“After the Forbidden Dynasty, Heaven and Earth gave rise to Gods and Buddhas.”
“Following the Night Rain Dynasty, ghosts and spirits came into existence.”
“Only the most powerful heterodox Daos could stir Heaven and Earth, overthrow existing orders, and bring forth such dynasties.”
“But when it comes to these heterodox Daos, the Radiant Reflection Wall was fragile and unable to reflect them. Only when Heaven and Earth had fully adapted and digested these Daos could the Wall benefit and begin to interface with such paths.”
The Five Elements Divine Lord interjected, “Earlier, Ning Zhuo, that purple blade mark you used—it originated from the Night Rain Dynasty. It is an embodiment of the heterodox Dao of ghosts and spirits.”
“The Radiant Reflection Wall could not digest it and failed to reflect it. While the damage was minimal, its essence was irreconcilable, and so it had to be removed altogether.”
Ning Zhuo suddenly understood.
The Radiant Reflection Wall was forged too long ago, with inherent limitations—it could not adapt to or contain heterodox Daos.
So many years had passed since the Night Rain Dynasty, and yet the ghost-spirit path still couldn’t be reflected—it could only be purged.
Hence, whenever a brand-new dynasty arose, it meant that an overwhelmingly dominant heterodox Dao had been absorbed into the world. In such eras, the talents and experts who emerged were all outstanding wielders of these heterodox Daos.
For such individuals, the Radiant Reflection Wall could not reflect them—and they posed significant threats to it.
Therefore, with each Dynasty, the Radiant Reflection Wall would sink into the earth’s core, disappearing from the world.
This also explained why the Five Elements Divine Lord had been so astonished upon seeing the purple blade mark.
Logically, as a senior figure here, he should’ve seen it long ago, since the Wall absorbed descendants’ Dharma Bodies.
Yet his reaction upon seeing it showed great surprise and agitation.
The Radiant Reflection Wall had retreated from the Forbidden Dynasty and the Night Rain Dynasty, avoiding those turbulent eras. While it missed out on much splendor, it was precisely because of such avoidance that it endured to this day.
Immortal Consort Jingyu took the initiative to discuss collaboration with everyone.
Earlier, she had conveyed through the Grass Sage to Lin Bufan, encouraging him to conduct martial training within the Myriad Medicines Valley, so as to attract outstanding juniors for the Wall to reflect.
However, Lin Bufan could only draw in Foundation Establishment and Golden Core-level cultivators.
That was insufficient for the Radiant Reflection Wall.
Now, with Ning Zhuo representing the Ning Family, and Zhu Xuanji representing the Southern Dou Royalty, Immortal Consort Jingyu had more options.
She hoped that Ning Zhuo, Zhu Xuanji, and others would help the Wall attract more talented junior cultivators—the stronger and more gifted, the better.
Immortal Consort Jingyu was preparing for the possibility that in a few hundred years, a new Dynasty might emerge. If so, the Wall would go into seclusion for many years. During that time, the internal Demonic Nest might evolve, and the old Dharma Bodies would be insufficient to suppress a beastly counterattack, leading to sealing failures.
Therefore, before the upcoming era of Great Strife, Immortal Consort Jingyu needed to absorb more combat strength.
To use a metaphor: the Radiant Reflection Wall was like a giant whale, surfacing before a deep and prolonged dive into the abyss, to gulp down air.
At this moment, the more and the better quality the air it inhaled—the better.
Yet Immortal Consort Jingyu didn’t want to make a grand spectacle out of it.
After all, the Radiant Reflection Wall was a quasi-immortal artifact, incredibly valuable. If it attracted powerful factions or high-realm cultivators who wanted to claim it as their own, it would be disastrous.
Even worse, if it drew in scheming cultivators or got caught in factional conflicts, the Wall’s sealing and suppression capabilities might be disturbed or destroyed—that would go entirely against its original purpose!
Faced with Immortal Consort Jingyu’s proposed cooperation, Lin Bufan looked conflicted, but Zhu and Ning both readily agreed.
Are you kidding?
Anyone refusing would be the world’s biggest fool!!
The Demonic Nest meant an endless source of cultivation materials and wealth.
The countless Dharma Bodies of ancient sages meant countless excellent legacies.
If used properly, the Radiant Reflection Wall could become the perfect place for martial training and army drilling.
The Myriad Medicines Sect, the Ning Family, the Zhu Family, and even the national power of the Southern Dou Country—would all be elevated by this partnership!
The negotiation over this partnership lasted three days and nights.
After it concluded, Ning Zhuo collapsed into sleep with heavy dark circles under his eyes.
When he awoke the next day, he still felt utterly drained and mentally exhausted. He had truly gone all-out in the negotiation.
But there was no other choice.
The stakes were enormous. He had to fight for every bit of interest. Each concession he won now would multiply the growth rate of the Ning Family’s branch—by several times, even tenfold!
Its future strength would balloon to several times, even tenfold what it would otherwise have been.
Ning Zhuo and Ning Jiufan moved as one. With the Zhu Family’s support, they suppressed the Myriad Medicines Sect, sparred logically with Immortal Consort Jingyu, dragged in Linghu Jiu, and leveraged relationships with the Five Elements Divine Lord and the Lonely Sword Sovereign, relentlessly pressing on.
Even Linghu Jiu was stunned, while Lin Shanshan watched on, gnashing her teeth.
In the end, Ning Zhuo bit off a huge chunk of fat.
So long as this partnership continued, over the next five hundred years, Ning Zhuo and the entire Ning clan would benefit tremendously. The development of the branch family would once again accelerate—skyrocketing to new heights!
Myriad Medicines Valley.
Within the highest-grade medicinal field formation, Ning Zhuo cupped his hands and greeted, “Miss Lin.”
Lin Shanshan rolled her eyes at him and then respectfully saluted Ning Jiufan: “Senior Ning, Young Master Ning, please follow me this way.”
In the prior negotiations, Ning Zhuo had thoroughly torn off the veil of civility, having several heated arguments with Lin Bufan, and once again deeply offended this Sect Master's daughter.
Their relationship, which had once slightly thawed, had plunged again to freezing point.
So much so that Ning Zhuo couldn’t even get a response when he tried to make small talk with Lin Shanshan.
She led him into the formation within the formation.
There, he once again saw Lin Bufan, and also the Lingyin Willow.
The Lingyin Willow was now visibly green; its once-withered branches were now at least half-full, much improved from its dying state.
Ning Jiufan stroked his beard and immediately praised, “Boy, I said that giving this spirit plant to Sect Master Lin would never be a mistake.”
Ning Zhuo was overjoyed. He circled the tree three times and patted the trunk. “Old Willow, after all my hard work, I’ve finally saved you. This is wonderful!”
The willow’s branches quivered slightly, as if trying to reach out and touch Ning Zhuo’s face, but they only trembled faintly, halting halfway—like a recovering patient failing to raise a hand, lacking the strength.
Lin Bufan: “…”
He felt speechless. He promptly declared that he had used all kinds of resources—each one rare and precious—to revive this Lingyin Willow. He had given his all, even mobilized elders from within the Myriad Medicines Sect to help. Only after exhausting great efforts had they succeeded.
His tone implied: how did this all become your achievement, Ning Zhuo?
Ning Zhuo waved his hand, “Ah, Sect Master Lin, we've already signed the alliance pact. We're one family now! Your achievements are my achievements—why split hairs?”
Lin Bufan was so annoyed, he laughed.
Lin Shanshan glared at Ning Zhuo. Ning Zhuo responded with a cheeky grin, making her so mad she ground her teeth—but she had no way to deal with him.
Lin Bufan quickly composed himself.
Since the last negotiation, he had learned firsthand just how shameless and thick-skinned Ning Zhuo was. The latter excelled at playing the junior card. As Lin Bufan, an elder, he couldn’t always retaliate—doing so would be undignified.
“The Spirit Spring is here. The rest is up to you two.” Lin Bufan pointed.
Ning Zhuo nodded repeatedly. “Rest assured, Sect Master Lin. Now that we’ve signed the alliance, the loan of the Ten-Thousand-Year Water Essence is set in stone. I won’t go back on it.”
Saying that, he took two vials of Ten-Thousand-Year Water Essence from the Puppet Dragon at his waist and placed them into the Spirit Spring’s eye.
These vials had been given to him by Immortal Consort Jingyu after leaving the Radiant Reflection Wall.
One was for Ning Zhuo, the other for Sun Lingtong.
But Sun Lingtong felt the Water Essence was of little use to him. When Ning Zhuo asked to borrow it, he handed it over without hesitation.
With these two vials, Ning Zhuo had successfully used them as bargaining chips to sway Lin Bufan during negotiations.
After all, placing Ten-Thousand-Year Water Essence into any water source would result in a massive enhancement.
Seeing them placed in, Lin Bufan confirmed the setup, then activated the formation, concealing the Spirit Spring thoroughly.
“Why didn’t you put in Linghu Jiu’s vial?” Ning Zhuo asked offhandedly.
Lin Bufan let out a cold snort and didn’t answer.
Lin Shanshan rolled her eyes again and also remained silent.
Ning Zhuo didn’t press the matter. He walked up to Lin Bufan and extended his hand. “Sect Master Lin?”
The next moment, Lin Bufan brought out the Fetal Breath Spirit Vessel. “This vessel is a treasured inheritance of our Myriad Medicines Sect. I entrust it to Young Master Ning for careful safekeeping.”
Ning Zhuo replied, “Of course, of course, Sect Master Lin. Don’t forget, my own inheritance treasure is still in your hands too.”
He gestured toward the Lingyin Willow.
Then, while caressing the small boat in his palm, he sighed, “Sigh, as head of this branch family, I’ve truly exhausted myself for my clansmen.”
“Let’s hope the Fetal Breath Spirit Vessel can be of help to them.”
With that, he stuffed the Fetal Breath Spirit Vessel into his robe.
As he spoke, Ning Zhuo was already planning how to burn this vessel as quickly as possible—to trade it for his mother’s spirit.
“The key is… this vessel is only on loan. If I burn it too close by, Lin Bufan is sure to sense it.”
“I better run far away before I do the deed!”