At this moment, another Dharma Body, after a prolonged battle, retreated and revealed his figure.
He had a broad forehead, and his black hair was like ink, simply tied with a cloth band.
His figure was slender, and his pace was leisurely, dressed in a plain-colored robe, with a green medicine bag and a simple bamboo flute hanging from his belt.
In one hand, he held a knobbed wooden staff, and in the other, a piece of handwriting.
On the handwriting was a title—Xu Xing's Chronicles.
This was still a historical celebrity, with his image being quite iconic in various records. Hence, upon seeing him, everyone instantly recognized his identity.
Xu Xing!
This person was a renowned traveler, who had traversed famous mountains and rivers, visited the Great Lakes, and roamed the seas, exploring dangerous secret realms multiple times. The records of his travels, known as Xu Xing's Chronicles, were fought over by later generations.
There were a total of sixteen volumes of Xu Xing's Chronicles, and they had never been completely assembled since Xu Xing's death. Many volumes, because they contained explorations of secret realms and methods of entering and leaving Arrays, were tightly controlled by major forces and forbidden from being disclosed.
Xu Xing felt quite fond of outstanding juniors like Ning Zhuo and hurriedly explained, "This brings us to the limits of the Luminous Mirror and the origins of the Dynasties."
"The Luminous Mirror was created during the Emperor Wu Era when the world had not yet assimilated the ways of demons and devils. The Luminous Mirror was confined to the original principles of the world."
"Therefore, the paths of the Five Elements could be reflected, the way of Qiankun could be reflected, and the paths of Yin and Yang, the Four Symbols, and the Eight Trigrams could be reflected, but the way of demons and devils could not.
Ning Zhuo immediately had an epiphany.
Xu Xing continued, "This world has three great Dynasties that essentially flourished from external paths and broke the existing patterns."
"For instance, the Blood Slaughter Dynasty was established when the logic of demons and devils was captured by the world, and since then, demons and devils have existed."
"After the Forbidden Dynasty, gods and Buddhas emerged in the world."
"After the Night Rain Dynasty, ghosts and monsters appeared."
"The external paths capable of forging Dynasties are extremely powerful, able to stir the heavens and earth, reshuffling the influences."
"But to these external paths, the Luminous Mirror is rather frail and cannot reflect. Only when the world adapts and assimilates can the Mirror benefit and begin to involve itself with these external paths."
The Five Elements God Master interjected, "Previously, the purple scars you deployed, Ning Zhuo, originated from the Night Rain Dynasty and were manifestations of ghost and monster external paths."
"The Luminous Mirror couldn't assimilate it, failing to reflect. Although the damage was minuscule, its essence could not be dispelled, and in the end, it could only cast it out."
Ning Zhuo had a sudden realization.
The era when the Luminous Mirror was crafted was too ancient; it had innate limitations and couldn't adapt to carry external paths.
The Night Rain Dynasty has been over for so many years and still couldn't adapt to the path of ghosts and monsters, only able to cast it out.
Therefore, whenever a new Dynasty arises, it must be due to an extremely powerful external path being absorbed by the world. In such an era, outstanding individuals and experts who emerge are all masters of the external path.
For such individuals, the Luminous Mirror cannot reflect them, and they also pose a significant threat to the Mirror.
Thus, whenever a Dynasty arises, the Luminous Mirror submerges into the core of the earth to hide from the world.
This also explains why the Five Elements God Master was so surprised upon seeing the purple scars.
Logically, since the Luminous Mirror absorbs later generations' Dharma Bodies, the Five Elements God Master, as an old-timer here, should have witnessed that before.
But when he saw the purple scars, his reaction was considerable shock, showing a disturbed countenance.
The Luminous Mirror, avoiding reclusiveness during the Forbidden and Night Rain Dynasties, missed the grand eras but it was precisely such actions that have allowed its longevity until today!
The Jingyu Immortal Princess proactively talked to everyone about collaboration.
Earlier, through the Grass Saint, she had hinted to Lin Bufan to engage in martial contests within the Ten Thousand Medicine Valley as much as possible to attract competent juniors, facilitating jade reflection.
But what Lin Bufan could attract was only up to Foundation Establishment and Golden Core Level.
For the Luminous Mirror, that was far from enough.
Now, with Ning Zhuo representing the Ning Family and Zhu Xuanji representing the Southern Bean Royal Family, the Jingyu Immortal Princess had more options.
The Jingyu Immortal Princess hoped that Ning Zhuo, Zhu Xuanji, and others could recruit talented junior Cultivators for the Luminous Mirror, the higher their skills and talents, the better.
She anticipated that hundreds of years later, when a Dynasty emerged, causing the Luminous Mirror to avoid the world for a long period, and as the Demon Nest within evolved, the old Dharma Bodies would struggle to contain the backlash of Demon Beasts, ultimately leading to a failure in suppression and sealing.
So, taking advantage of the juncture before this time of great strife, the Jingyu Immortal Princess needed to absorb more combat power.
To put it metaphorically, the Luminous Mirror was like a giant whale, which, before diving deep into the sea for a long sojourn, comes to the surface to breathe in air.
At this time, the air it needed to breathe in was naturally better in larger and higher quality amounts.
But the Jingyu Immortal Princess did not want to make a big show of it.
After all, the Luminous Mirror was a Quasi-Immortal Artifact, immensely valuable. Should it draw the attention of major forces of the present era or those with high Cultivation Level to act and claim the Mirror for themselves, that would be undesirable.
What worried her more was encountering crafty Cultivators or being sucked into a vortex of power struggles. If the seals and suppressions of the Luminous Mirror were disturbed or damaged, it would greatly violate the original intention of the Mirror's creation!
In the face of the cooperation proposed by the Jingyu Immortal Princess, Lin Bufan looked serious, while the Ning and Zhu parties jovially agreed.
Joking!
Whoever did not agree to it would be a colossal fool!!
The Demon Nest represented an abundant source of materials and wealth never ceasing to emerge.
Countless Ancestor Dharma Bodies represented countless excellent inheritances.
Proper use of the Luminous Mirror would turn it into the best place for martial exercises and training soldiers.
The Ten Thousand Medicine Sect, the Ning Family, the Zhu Family, and even the national power of Southern Bean Country would all be elevated through this cooperation!
The negotiation regarding this cooperation dragged on for three full days and nights.
After the negotiation concluded, Ning Zhuo, bearing dark circles under his eyes, fell straight to sleep.
When he awoke the next day, he still felt mentally exhausted and weary in spirit, having exerted himself too greatly during the negotiation.
But there was no helping it!
The stakes involved were so immense that he had to make the utmost effort. Securing even a small portion more at this time, would cause the growth rate of the entire Ning Clan's branch family to skyrocket by several or even dozens of times! And in the future, their strength would swell to several or even dozens of times more than it currently was.
Ning Zhuo and Ning Jiufan, as if acting in concert, took advantage of their relationship with the Zhu Family to edge out the Ten Thousand Medicine Sect. They argued tenaciously with Jingyu Immortal Princess, pulled Linghu Jiu into their scheme, and utilized their connections to the Five Elements God Master and Lonely Sword Lord to persistently harass and badger. This left Linghu Jiu dumbfounded while Lin Shanshan gnashed her teeth in frustration.
In the end, Ning Zhuo bit off a sizable chunk of profit.
As long as the collaboration persisted, nearly five hundred years down the line, Ning Zhuo and the entire Ning Clan would reap extraordinary benefits. The growth rate of their branch family was set for another dramatic leap!
Ten Thousand Medicine Valley.
In the highest tier of the medicinal fields' Array, Ning Zhuo bowed and paid respects: "Miss Lin."
Lin Shanshan glanced at him irritably, then turned to the accompanying Ning Jiufan to offer her respects: "Senior Ning, Young Master Ning, please follow me this way."
During the previous negotiation, Ning Zhuo had thrown all pretenses to the wind, quarreling fiercely and offensively with Lin Bufan, once again deeply offending this Sect Leader's daughter.
The relationship between the two parties, which had seen a slight improvement before, was now once again at freezing point.
As a result, when Ning Zhuo sought to converse with Lin Shanshan, he was met with no response.
Lin Shanshan led Ning Zhuo into the Array-within-an-Array.
Here, Ning Zhuo saw Lin Bufan and the Spirit Hidden Willow again.
The Spirit Hidden Willow now showed signs of greenery, with at least half of its previously withered branches looking fuller. Compared to its former near-death state, it was significantly improved.
Ning Jiufan stroked his beard, immediately praising: "My boy, I said entrusting this Spirit Plant to Sect Leader Ning would never be a mistake."
Ning Zhuo was quite pleased. He circled the tree thrice, patting its trunk: "Old Willow, I've gone through a great deal of trouble, but I've finally managed to save you. This is wonderful."
The willow branches gently swayed, as if trying to touch Ning Zhuo's face, but they merely trembled faintly, ceasing midway, much like a patient barely recovering from a severe illness trying to raise an arm, lacking strength.
Lin Bufan: ...
He felt somewhat speechless, promptly stating that to revive this Spirit Hidden Willow, he had used various precious resources and had endeavored wholeheartedly, even enlisting the help of the Sect's Elders, to finally achieve this result.
By implication, how had it all become Ning Zhuo's accomplishment in his words?
Ning Zhuo waved his hand: "Ah, Sect Leader Lin, our covenant has already been signed. We are now our own people. Isn't your merit also mine? Why must we be so precise in our distinctions?"
Lin Bufan laughed out of exasperation.
Lin Shanshan glared at Ning Zhuo, who playfuly smiled back, frustrating her to the point of clenching her teeth, yet she had no way to deal with Ning Zhuo.
Lin Bufan quickly composed himself.
Ever since the last negotiation, he had become thoroughly acquainted with Ning Zhuo's shamelessness and thick skin. The latter was exceedingly adept at exploiting his junior status. Lin Bufan, considering his elder status, often found himself unable to retaliate without losing face.
"The Spiritual Spring is here; it is up to you two now," Lin Bufan indicated with a gesture.
Ning Zhuo nodded repeatedly: "Rest assured, Sect Leader Lin, now that the covenant is signed, the matter of leasing the Ten-Thousand-Year-Old Water Essence is set in stone. I will not go back on my word."
As he spoke, he took out the two Ten-Thousand-Year-Old Water Essences from the Mechanical Dragon at his waist and placed them into the spring's eye of the Spiritual Spring.
This Ten-Thousand-Year-Old Water Essence naturally came as a gift from Jingyu Immortal Princess after leaving the Luminous Mirror.
One for Ning Zhuo, and one for Sun Lingtong.
But since Boss Sun felt the Ten-Thousand-Year-Old Water Essence was of no use to him, when Ning Zhuo asked to borrow it, he readily lent it to Ning Zhuo.
Ning Zhuo used the two portions of Ten-Thousand-Year-Old Water Essence as negotiation terms to sway Lin Bufan during the talks.
After all, placing the Ten-Thousand-Year-Old Water Essence in any water source would result in a massive boost.
Once the Ten-Thousand-Year-Old Water Essence was placed within, Lin Bufan confirmed it, then activated the Array to thoroughly conceal the Spiritual Spring.
"What about the one belonging to Brother Linghu? Why isn't it placed inside?" Ning Zhuo asked curiously.
Lin Bufan snorted coldly, offering no answer.
Lin Shanshan gave Ning Zhuo a disdainful look, also remaining silent.
Ning Zhuo didn't press further and walked up to Lin Bufan, extending his hand: "Sect Leader Lin?"
The next moment, Lin Bufan took out the Fetal Breathing Spirit Boat: "This boat is a treasured legacy of the Ten Thousand Medicine Sect. I trust Young Master Ning Zhuo will safeguard it well."
"Rest assured, rest assured, Sect Leader Lin. My own legacy treasure is also with you," Ning Zhuo said, gesturing towards the Spirit Hidden Willow.
Then, caressing the small boat in his hand, he lamented: "Oh dear, as the leader of my branch family, it seems I've broken my back for the sake of our clan."
"I hope the Fetal Breathing Spirit Boat will be of help to them."
Having said that, Ning Zhuo tucked the Fetal Breathing Spirit Boat into his own bosom.
While speaking, Ning Zhuo was already planning to quickly incinerate the Spirit Boat to exchange it for his mother's Spiritual Nature.
"The key problem is that this Spirit Boat is merely on loan; cremating it nearby will surely alert Sect Leader Lin."
"Better to run a good distance before doing this!"