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Chapter 177: The Ancient Sect's Token
Chapter 177: The Ancient Sect's Token
"This pattern..."
Chu Ning sifted through the myriad of items in Song Cheng's storage bag and pulled out an ancient-looking token made from an unknown material. The token bore a striking resemblance to the patterns he had seen in the ancient sect's ruins, depicting a phoenix-like bird on one side and an ox-like beast on the other. These were the same symbols that had been etched into the armrests of the main seats in the grand hall, where he had obtained the Twin Fire Rings and the Thunder Pearl.
"This token must be related to that ancient sect, and these symbols are likely their emblem," Chu Ning mused to himself, filled with wonder.
"Living as a vagrant cultivator in the Thousand Lakes and Islands has its perks, but it also has its drawbacks," he thought. "Access to information is limited, unlike in the Qingxi Sect, where I could easily access the sect's resources for news. Moreover, it's inconvenient for me to keep tabs on the goings-on in this region while I'm secluded in my cave abode, cultivating."
With a furrowed brow, Chu Ning considered his options. This wasn't the first time he'd thought about this issue. During the upheaval in the Cen family, he had been unable to get timely information and had missed the chance to meet Cen Zijin.
"Perhaps I should find a couple of helpers," he thought. "Now that I've reached the Foundation Establishment stage, even with all these spirit pills and elixirs, my cultivation progress has slowed down. I need to dedicate most of my time to cultivation, and I can't possibly tend to all these rare spiritual herbs like the Flame-Twin Birthfruit and the Iron Spirit Flower by myself."
However, Chu Ning couldn't deny the usefulness of the other spiritual herbs. After all, he only had enough Green Wood Primordial Yang Pills for about half a year, and he would need more Primordial Yang Fruits and supplementary elixirs if he wanted to continue refining them.
"Now that I think about it, I've neglected these dozens of acres of spirit fields for over half a year. It wouldn't hurt to find a helper or two to manage them," he decided.
With that in mind, Chu Ning inspected the other items on the men. He collected the spirit pills and elixirs, as well as the spirit stones, without hesitation. Among the array of treasures, several magical artifacts also caught his attention, including a flying boat.
"Each of them had one of these artifacts in their possession," Chu Ning noted. "Based on their refinement techniques, they seem to be quite ancient. I presume they obtained them from the outer hall of that ancient sect."
With that deduction, Chu Ning felt no qualms about using them. As for the other decent artifacts, he didn't pay them much mind. After all, he already had offensive and defensive treasures.
However, the flying boat immediately captured his interest. His previous purchase, the Wind Chaser Shuttle, was only a high-grade artifact and no longer suited his needs. In contrast, this flying boat was a top-grade artifact, large enough to carry six or seven people, and its speed was more than twice that of the Wind Chaser Shuttle.
Chu Ning tested it briefly and was satisfied, deciding to make it his new mode of transportation.
After sorting through the newly acquired items, Chu Ning spent the next day rearranging his cave abode. On the third day, he paid a visit to Jiang Hongguang's cave abode.
"Senior Chu, why have you come personally? You could have just sent a message," Jiang Hongguang said as he welcomed Chu Ning into the main hall.
"Foundation Establishment cultivator!" The moment Chu Ning entered the hall, he caused a stir among the two dozen people gathered inside, most of whom were at the middle stages of Qi Refining. Only one or two had reached the late stages, and even they were only at the seventh layer of Qi Refining.
Chu Ning smiled and entered the hall, his eyes scanning the room with a hint of surprise.
"Oh? Do you have guests, Fellow Daoist Jiang?" Chu Ning transmitted his voice to Jiang Hongguang.
"Senior Chu, the Invisible Spirit Vein has been beneficial for the concentration of spiritual energy on our Rainbow Island," Jiang Hongguang explained with a smile. "In the past two years, several more spirit fields have opened up on the island, but we kept it a secret. Now that the news has spread throughout the Thousand Islands Alliance, and with a Foundation Establishment cultivator like yourself here, I thought it would be a good idea to rent out some of these spirit fields to bring in more spirit stones."
Hearing Jiang Hongguang's explanation, Chu Ning understood that the people in the hall were prospective renters of the spirit fields. He smiled and said, "That's convenient because I was just planning to find a couple of helpers to manage my spirit fields."
As everyone was filled with anticipation, ready to see whom Chu Ning would select, he suddenly looked towards an elderly man and a young girl among the crowd.
"Are you two willing to come to my cave abode?" Chu Ning asked.
The skinny old man, addressed by Chu Ning, was initially taken aback, but the next moment, his face lit up with joy.
"I am willing," he replied.
Chu Ning nodded, "Alright, then. Follow me."
Without hesitation, the skinny old man and the beaming little girl followed Chu Ning out of the hall.
Seeing that Chu Ning was about to leave, Jiang Hongguang quickly escorted him out.
The people left in the hall were filled with both envy and disappointment.
"That old man, Cheng, really hit the jackpot. To think he would be chosen by a Foundation Establishment cultivator."
"Perhaps that senior took a liking to his granddaughter."
...
At these words, everyone exchanged glances, but no one dared to speak up.
The middle-aged cultivator who had spoken earlier also realized that he probably shouldn't have said anything, and his face turned pale.
Fortunately, by this time, Chu Ning had already led the others out of the courtyard, and it seemed that he hadn't heard a word of their gossip.
Chu Ning didn't pay attention to the idle chatter of the lower-ranked cultivators. If he had wanted to listen, his spiritual sense would have easily picked up on their conversations, even if they were in Jiang Hongguang's cave abode.
As for why he chose this particular old-young pair, it was quite simple. They were the same grandfather and granddaughter he had met a few days ago on the lake, pretending to be chased by a toad demon.
After leaving Jiang Hongguang's cave abode, Chu Ning asked the two for their names.
The skinny old man was called Cheng Zuyuan, who asked Chu Ning to just call him Old Cheng, and the little girl was called Cheng Xinxin.
At this moment, the two naturally didn't know that the Foundation Establishment cultivator before them was the same person they had met a couple of days ago.
Chu Ning, of course, didn't tell them, but he casually asked, "Old Cheng, what did you do for a living before, and what made you suddenly think of coming to Fei Hong Island?"
Hearing Chu Ning's question, Cheng Zuyuan quickly replied, "I used to make a living by catching spirit fish with my granddaughter near Qing Shi Island and Shui Yun Island.
A couple of days ago, we accidentally obtained the corpse of a first-stage high-grade demon beast that someone else had killed, and we were able to sell it for some spirit stones.
So, we thought of coming here to rent a spirit field to have a more stable source of income."
Chu Ning merely nodded slightly and didn't inquire further.
His decision to choose Old Cheng was not only because he felt a connection with them but also because of what Old Cheng had said to Cheng Xinxin later.
Although helping to tend to the spirit fields wouldn't expose him to too many secrets, Chu Ning still wanted to find someone cautious, steady, and tight-lipped.
Since Cheng Xinxin had only reached the second layer of Qi Refining, her flying speed was too slow.
After some thought, Chu Ning took out a flying boat from his storage bag and said to the two, "Come on up, I'll take you to my cave abode."
This flying boat was one of the items he had sorted through and acquired in the past two days.
As for Old Cheng, he probably hadn't used one before, but given his age, he had likely seen a few in his lifetime.
However, Cheng Xinxin had never been on a flying boat, and she immediately boarded with wide eyes, looking around in excitement.
Chu Ning cast a protective barrier around the two of them, and in the next moment, they took off into the sky, swiftly flying towards Yan Peak.
After a short while, Chu Ning landed with his passengers outside his cave abode.
"There's an array here, so follow me closely and be careful not to stray," Chu Ning instructed as he turned to Cheng Zuyuan and Cheng Xinxin. The two nodded and carefully followed behind him.
Chu Ning led them to an open space on the outskirts of the spirit fields and said to Old Cheng, "You can build a house here and live in this place from now on..."
As he spoke, Chu Ning handed over a token to Cheng Zuyuan, which would allow him to enter and exit the outer perimeter of the grand array.
With that, he had settled them in temporarily.
As for how they would arrange their living space, that would be up to them.
Over the next few days, Chu Ning gave Old Cheng specific instructions on what to do each day and asked him to keep an ear out for any major news in the Thousand Lakes and Islands.
Thus, the grandfather and granddaughter settled into their new lives.
As for Chu Ning, he dedicated himself to cultivation within his cave abode.
Time flew by, and two months passed in the blink of an eye.
Chu Ning named this new fruit the Iron Primal Fruit, and it became an essential aid in his body tempering practice.
This discovery sparked a new idea in Chu Ning's mind.
Over the past two months, he had sectioned off several small areas in the spirit herb garden, experimenting with crossbreeding various spirit fruits and herbs.
In addition to the Iron Stem Orchid, Primal Sun Fruit, and Golden Primal Fruit that he had used before, he also tried crossbreeding the Flame-Wood Twin Birthfruit and other spirit fruits he had brought back from the Spirit Domain.
He even experimented with the Iron Spirit Flower.
After all, with only a few plants of each hybrid, Chu Ning was curious to see if any of them would yield surprising results.
One day, as Chu Ning cultivated in his cave abode, he suddenly heard Old Cheng's voice from outside.
"Young Master, I have an important matter to report."
Since Old Cheng, who was nearly fifty years old, kept addressing him as 'Senior', which sounded a bit awkward due to their age difference, Chu Ning asked him to call him 'Young Master' instead.
Hearing Old Cheng's call, Chu Ning stepped out of his cultivation chamber and into the outer area of the spirit fields.
Instead of looking at Old Cheng first, Chu Ning's gaze fell on Cheng Xinxin, who was standing beside him.
"This little girl has reached the third layer of Qi Refining? Not bad."
Hearing Chu Ning's praise, Cheng Xinxin, with her hair tied in two braids, immediately bowed and said, "Thank you, Young Master, for the spirit pills. I just broke through a few days ago."
Cheng Xinxin's face was lit up with excitement, her eyes sparkling.
It was because a month ago, when Chu Ning noticed her exceptional talent, seeing that she was already at the peak of the second layer of Qi Refining, he casually gave her a few low-grade pills.
And now, she had broken through to the third layer.
Chu Ning nodded, acknowledging her gratitude, before turning his attention to Old Cheng.
"Old Cheng, I assume you want to tell me about this matter."
"No, it's about the Song family of the Thousand Lakes and Islands," Old Cheng quickly shook his head.
"The Song family?"
Chu Ning asked him to continue, and he finally learned about the situation in general.
Interestingly, this matter was somewhat related to him.
After several Song family cultivators at the Foundation Establishment stage died at Chu Ning's hands, the situation was initially stabilized by Song Li, one of their elders.
However, as time passed and Song Cheng and the others failed to reappear, it became clear that something had happened to them.
The balance among the powers in the Thousand Lakes and Islands was already fragile, and the Cen family's alignment with the Chen and Shi families had disrupted it further.
Now, with the sudden decline of the Song family, that balance could no longer be maintained.
"A group of rogue cultivators launched a joint attack on the Song family. Only Song Li, a late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator, managed to escape. The rest of the Song family was wiped out. The other five major families of the Thousand Islands Alliance are furious and have issued a wanted order throughout the Thousand Lakes and Islands, vowing to find the perpetrators."
As Old Cheng spoke, a sarcastic smile appeared on Chu Ning's face.
He asked meaningfully, "The Song family has always been on good terms with the Liu and Huo families. Why didn't they come to their aid when the Song family was under attack?"
Old Cheng's expression turned strange as he explained, "It is said that on that day, the various families of the Thousand Islands Alliance were discussing the Thousand Islands Competition in the Thousand Islands Hall. Suddenly, Song Li, the elder of the Song family, flew into a rage and left with his family members. They returned to their own island, and that night, the attack occurred. The other families were too far away to provide timely assistance."
"How convenient," Chu Ning chuckled.
"Although several of the Song family's Foundation Establishment cultivators are missing, they still have Song Li, a late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator. They should also have a few familiar Island Masters at the same stage. For this group of rogue cultivators to push the Song family to such a desperate situation, either a late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator must have joined them, or a large number of Foundation Establishment cultivators must have collaborated. Which family in the Thousand Lakes and Islands could have such strength?"
Chu Ning deliberately avoided mentioning the surnames of the five families, but Old Cheng understood his implication.
In fact, anyone with half a brain in the Thousand Lakes and Islands could guess as much.
It was just a matter of whether they dared to speak up.
Chu Ning had no interest in these dog-eat-dog politics.
He turned to Old Cheng and said, "Alright, I understand the situation, and it doesn't concern me much."
Old Cheng quickly added, "Young Master, I'm afraid it does concern you somewhat."
Hearing this, Chu Ning's eyebrows furrowed slightly.
(End of Chapter)
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