Chapter 3: Mysterious Scroll
Ning Huarong, nicknamed the Demoness, indeed acted with a demonic flair.
She would even seek out Family Disciples for Dual Cultivation.
More accurately, these male Disciples became her Cauldrons, unilaterally exploited by Ning Huarong.
The male Family Disciples exploited by her naturally did not fare well; most suffered significant Origin Qi depletion.
Some even damaged their Dao Foundation, with their cultivation regressing instead of advancing, making their future Dao path difficult.
Yet, Ning Huarong held an extremely high position within the Family.
If an ordinary male Disciple caught her eye, unless he held a significant position or possessed outstanding Aptitude, it was very difficult for him to refuse.
Moreover, blood relation was not an issue; although they were in the same Family, the Bloodlines between Cultivators of different branches of the Ning Family were actually very distant, already beyond five generations. After all, the Ning Family alone had millions of Mortal Bloodlines.
On Blue Star, that would be the population of a small country.
Furthermore, Ning Huarong generally did not resort to coercion, primarily using enticement, and she was very generous.
She would bestow considerable Spirit Stones upon male Disciples who engaged in Dual Cultivation with her, so the Family tacitly approved, and most male Disciples approached by her could only accept their fate.
In fact, many male Disciples with mediocre Aptitude in the Family even yearned to catch Ning Huarong's eye, such as the blue-robed Family Disciple named Ning Chuanwei just now.
He possessed only a mediocre pseudo-Spiritual Root Aptitude, with no hope for his Dao path, so even damaging his Dao Foundation was not a big deal.
Moreover, Ning Huarong was a great beauty and held high power and prestige in the Family; by complying with her, they could obtain a large sum of Spirit Stones.
This was incredibly attractive to them, as a Low Grade Cultivator was considered fortunate to earn a dozen Spirit Stones in a year.
However, Ning Huarong had very high standards; ordinary Aptitude or appearance rarely caught her eye.
And Ning Fa was the person Ning Huarong had always coveted.
It's just that before, Ning Fa still had the halo of a Thunder Spiritual Root, and the Family did not allow Ning Huarong to lay hands on him.
Later, after Ning Fa was abandoned by the Family, Ning Huarong happened to enter seclusion for a period. As soon as she emerged, she naturally sought out Ning Fa again.
At this time, Ning Fa's predecessor was obsessively devoted to Alchemy as if possessed, and had already run out of Spirit Stones to continue supporting his Alchemy.
The predecessor wanted to make a desperate last stand, so he made this bet with Ning Huarong, obtaining a large sum of Spirit Stones from her.
He deluded himself into thinking he could thus successfully become a Family Alchemist and regain the Family's attention.
But unfortunately, the predecessor ultimately failed at the last step. Even after spending all five hundred Spirit Stones borrowed from Ning Huarong, his Alchemy skill did not improve much, and yesterday's Family Alchemist assessment still ended in failure.
In despair, the predecessor died of grief, and Ning Fa Transmigrated here, taking over his body.
...
"You died and are done with it, but you've made things difficult for me."
Ning Fa sat on a stone chair in the courtyard, looking depressed.
Although there was still a month left until the one-year deadline agreed upon by his predecessor and Ning Huarong, unless a miracle occurred, it would be difficult to avoid the fate of becoming her Dual Cultivation Cauldron.
"It seems I'll have to give up my pure body."
Ning Fa murmured. Although he could still make a few jests, he felt very helpless in his heart.
While becoming Ning Huarong's Dual Cultivation Cauldron seemed at most to damage one's Dao Foundation and make cultivation hopeless, it didn't pose a threat to life.
However, since Ning Fa had the fortune to Transmigrate to this cultivation world, especially after learning that powerful Cultivators could possess incredible Divine Abilities.
In addition, there was the astonishingly long Lifespan, so he was naturally moved and unwilling to become a Dual Cultivation Cauldron, damage his Dao Foundation, and lose the hope of ascending the Grand Dao.
But at present, the outcome seemed unavoidable, unless he could truly become a Family Alchemist within this last month.
But his predecessor, despite such effort, could not achieve it. Could he, a Transmigrator, be expected to become a Family Alchemist in such a short month?
Moreover, his predecessor had already spent all the Spirit Stones, and there were no Spirit Stones left to buy Spiritual Materials to continue Alchemy.
Thinking of this, Ning Fa couldn't help but feel a little helpless.
After a while, he stood up and returned to the main hall, or more precisely, his predecessor's Alchemy room.
Ning Fa first glanced at the small Pill Furnace lying on the ground, then looked at a few pale yellow Medicinal Pills that had fallen to the floor.
He bent down and picked up these five Medicinal Pills, holding them in his hand for careful inspection.
One could see that these Medicinal Pills were only the size of a pinky finger, emitting a faint fragrance that invigorated one's spirit upon smelling it.
The only flaw was that the surface of these Medicinal Pills was covered with several cracks, and their shapes were not uniform; most were oval rather than perfect circles.
Ning Fa now knew that these Medicinal Pills were a type of Low Grade First-Tier Medicinal Pill called 【Zengyuan Pill】, which could enhance the magical power of Early Stage Qi Refinement Cultivators. They were very precious, with one pill selling for ten Spirit Stones.
However, all of those in his hand were failed pills, just one step away from being true finished pills.
Although only this one step separated them, the medicinal effects were vastly different. This step was like a chasm, preventing Ning Fa's predecessor from truly grasping its secrets, rarely producing finished pills.
During yesterday's Family Alchemist assessment, Ning Fa only managed to refine one finished Zengyuan Pill. Unwilling to give up, he returned home to continue trying. After exhausting his last batch of Spiritual Materials and still only refining five failed pills, he finally died of despair and grief.
Just as Ning Fa was sighing, he suddenly felt a burning sensation on his right arm, causing him to cry out in pain.
Ning Fa looked surprised and suspicious, carefully pulling back the sleeve of his right arm. He saw a long, white mark on his bare right arm, flashing with white light.
Before Ning Fa could react, this white mark suddenly flew from his right arm. After a flash of white light, it transformed into a white scroll-like object, floating in the air, flickering and emitting a mysterious white glow.
Ning Fa's eyes widened.
Wasn't this white scroll something he had found in an antique market on Blue Star before?
After buying it, he had always kept it on his desk as an ornament. Could it be that his Transmigration here was due to this white scroll?
Just then, the white scroll suddenly unfurled on its own, revealing a white paper about two feet long and one foot high.
Although called white paper, it looked more like an unknown white beast hide, covered with mysterious patterns that made one dizzy to look at.
On the white paper, white light flickered, and gradually, numerous tiny white runes appeared, flickering on and off, making the scroll appear even more mysterious and unfathomable.
These tiny white runes slowly converged, forming a ball of white light. As the white light slowly receded, some Medicinal Pill-like patterns appeared on the scroll.
There were five such Medicinal Pills, each the size of a pinky finger, pale yellow, irregularly round, and each with several cracks on its surface.
Ning Fa looked stunned. He looked at the mysterious scroll in front of him, then at the Medicinal Pills in his hand.
The Medicinal Pills displayed on this mysterious scroll were precisely the five failed Zengyuan Pills in his hand, weren't they?
This mysterious scene left Ning Fa somewhat bewildered. He wanted to touch the mysterious scroll, but he didn't dare.
Just then, the Medicinal Pill patterns on the scroll flickered with white light, and then the white light extended downwards, followed by the appearance of a white line.
Soon, this ball of white light stopped extending. After the light receded, another group of objects appeared on the scroll.
More precisely, they were patterns of several Spiritual Plants.