Chapter 5: Inheritance
“It’s fine, it’s fine. I just need to use that mysterious scroll again to restore them into spiritual materials and then continue practicing.”
Ning Fa comforted himself, a smile appearing at the corner of his mouth as he thought of the mysterious scroll.
Anyway, with this mysterious treasure, he could repeatedly perform Alchemy without panicking.
But he soon realized he was being too naive.
When he unrolled the mysterious scroll again, this time the scroll showed no reaction at all. No matter how Ning Fa tried, nothing appeared on it.
Ning Fa stood stunned on the spot.
After a long time, his mouth twitched, and he came up with two possible reasons.
One, the mysterious scroll might have a certain cooldown period, requiring a time interval before it could be activated again after one use.
Two, the Medicinal Pill had to at least reach the level of a discarded pill, or be close to forming a Medicinal Pill, to be restored by the mysterious scroll.
Whichever the reason, it was very bad news for Ning Fa.
If the mysterious scroll’s cooldown period was only a few hours, it would be fine. But if it needed to cool down for several days or longer after each use, then...
Although it would still have Heaven-Defying efficacy, for him at present, it would be somewhat insufficient, as he only had one month left.
If it was the second reason, it was equally troublesome, because this was already the last batch of spiritual materials, and he had no extra Spirit Stones to buy more spiritual materials.
Ning Fa frowned deeply, deciding to wait for a while. He hoped it was the first reason, and that the cooldown period wouldn't be too long.
However, he waited until the next morning, but the anxiously waiting Ning Fa still couldn't reactivate the mysterious scroll.
Ning Fa cursed inwardly, but he also knew time was pressing and he couldn't wait any longer. He had to get Spirit Stones to buy the spiritual materials for Zengyuan Pill.
He would first try to refine this pill into a discarded pill, and then test the mysterious scroll.
“I should be able to refine a discarded pill with just five more portions of Zengyuan Pill spiritual materials.”
Ning Fa murmured to himself, his brow tightly furrowed.
Because one portion of spiritual materials needed for refining Zengyuan Pill cost ten Spirit Stones, he felt he needed at least five portions of spiritual materials to ensure he could refine a discarded Zengyuan Pill. This meant he still needed nearly fifty Spirit Stones.
For low-level Cultivators, fifty Spirit Stones was already considered a huge sum, not to mention Ning Fa currently had no Spirit Stones at all.
Ning Fa searched his memories, wondering if there were other ways to get Spirit Stones.
Ning Zhiyuan, Ning Fa's father, had one elder sister and three brothers, with his father being the third eldest.
Except for Ning Fa's paternal aunt and fourth uncle, who were full siblings, the others were just cousins. Other siblings from the same branch without Spiritual Roots were disregarded.
This branch of their Family had produced a Foundation Establishment cultivator over three hundred years ago, and was considered prosperous for a time, being a direct branch of the Ning Family.
The Ning Family had a rule: if a branch produced a Foundation Establishment cultivator, that branch would automatically become a direct lineage, with Family treatment and status far exceeding other collateral branches.
However, if, after the demise of that Foundation Establishment Old Ancestor, their branch failed to produce another Foundation Establishment cultivator within three generations, their direct lineage status would be automatically revoked, and they would become a collateral branch.
After the demise of that Foundation Establishment Old Ancestor, by Ning Fa's father's generation, their direct lineage status had already been revoked, and they had become a collateral branch.
If they wanted to become a direct lineage of the Family again, besides another Foundation Establishment cultivator appearing in their branch, there was another way.
That was to secure one of the top two spots in the Family's decennial Succession Competition.
However, in the six hundred-plus years since the Ning Family's establishment, there were now over four hundred Cultivators, but only eight direct lineages. The number of collateral branches, however, was as many as forty or fifty.
The difficulty of securing one of the top two spots among so many collateral branches was imaginable.
In fact, Ning Fa's father's generation had excellent Cultivation Aptitude. His father had a Medium Grade Spiritual Root with three Spiritual Roots, and due to a fortuitous encounter, he advanced to Refining Qi (Late stage) before he was twenty.
And like Ning Huarong, his strength surpassed those of the same Realm, and he was highly valued by the Family, considered to have hope of Foundation Establishment.
His third uncle, Ning Hongye, had an High Grade Spiritual Root with two Spiritual Roots, and his Aptitude was even better than that of an ordinary High Grade Spiritual Root.
At just fifteen years old, he advanced to Refining Qi (Late stage), directly breaking the Ning Family's record for the youngest Refining Qi (Late stage) Cultivator, drawing the attention of the entire Family.
Coupled with Ning Fa later being detected with a Thunder Spiritual Root, their branch was once infinitely glorious.
They were recognized by the Family as certain to produce a Foundation Establishment cultivator and return to direct lineage status, and it was even highly possible that multiple Foundation Establishment cultivators would appear.
However, the subsequent developments could only make people sigh at the unpredictability of life.
First, Ning Fa's Genius third uncle, Ning Hongye, went missing seven years ago after an outing and was never seen again.
Then, in the previous Family's direct lineage competition, Ning Fa's father, who was widely considered to have a strong chance of winning the succession, unfortunately lost to his opponent in the four-to-two round, regrettably losing the direct lineage spot.
Following that, Ning Fa was confirmed to have a Remnant Thunder Spiritual Root and was abandoned by the Family.
Finally, three years ago, when the Ning Family and Qian Family had just started a major war, Ning Fa's parents fell into a Qian Family ambush and both perished.
In just a few short years, their branch went from being infinitely glorious to its current desolate state, with even Ning Fa having to become someone else's Dual Cultivation Cauldron.
Ning Fa shook his head, not dwelling on these upsetting matters, but instead pondering how to get Spirit Stones from his two uncles and aunt.
After recalling a bit more, Ning Fa finally remembered that his former self actually had a large inheritance.
His father, Ning Zhiyuan, was not a small figure during his lifetime. He had already Cultivated to the Perfection Realm of the Qi Refinement Stage.
Moreover, he was very capable and influential, holding high status and power within the Family, so he naturally did not lack Spirit Stones.
He had long ago purchased a shop in the Family's internal market, Golden Prosperity Island Market.
Although the shop was small and its location relatively remote,
As the Ning Family's strength rapidly increased, the Golden Prosperity Island Market also became increasingly prosperous, and the shops there became even more valuable.
Even that small shop could now easily sell for a high price, and it was the kind that had a price but no market.
After Ning Zhiyuan's death, Ning Fa's former self naturally inherited ownership of this shop.
Logically, with such a large inheritance, if Ning Fa's former self had burned his bridges and sold this shop for a large sum of Spirit Stones,
To buy spiritual materials and practice Alchemy, he might actually have had a chance to pass the Family's Alchemist assessment.