Chapter 83: Breakthrough to the Fourth Grade, Birth of an Heir

Half a month later.

Early morning.

Ning Family Garden.

*Smack.*

*Smack, smack.*

*Boom!*

A scarlet figure flew backward, then dissipated the force in mid-air, flipping and turning with a chain of leg attacks, like twin pythons striking together, kicking towards a man not far away.

The man had his left hand behind his back and met the attack with his right. His palm collided with the lightning-fast toes.

The scarlet figure let out a delicate cry. Her long leg coiled like a snake, wrapping around his arm, the tips of her toes continuing forward like a spear aimed at his throat.

However, halfway there, her leg froze as if stung fiercely by a scorpion, becoming rigid and motionless.

The man took a step forward and gently tapped the figure’s throat.

The victor was decided.

This was Ning Xuan and his wife during their morning practice.

Lu Xuezhi retreated, recalling the fight just now. After a long while, she shook her head and said, “I still don’t get it. How do you manage to make your power flow with your will? Even when you suppress your realm and only use the snake and scorpion powers, and give me a one-hand advantage, I’m still no match for you.”

Ning Xuan said, “The five poison powers of the Five Poisons Sect are one. When they are connected, all the power is no longer rigid. This is actually very simple to learn. Once you understand it, it becomes much easier. I’ll teach you.”

He himself had tossed and turned for hundreds of years in a nightmare, yet after waking up, he had successfully cultivated it in just a few short days.

If he could succeed, so could others. It just involved one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight details of exquisite subtlety. As long as one paid attention to all the details during cultivation and maintained it, not making a single mistake, one could achieve minor success in a few days, and major success a few days after that. It was very simple.

He patiently held Lu Xuezhi from behind, holding her hands with his, and taught her the secrets bit by bit.

However, the process was not smooth. Things he considered self-evident, his wife needed a very, very long time to adjust to and accept.

“Let’s stop here for today’s lesson.”

“Mmm!” Lu Xuezhi’s beautiful eyes widened, her gaze towards him already filled with adoration, sparkling, and the corners of her mouth were turned up.

“The family is stable now, I’m going fishing,” Ning Xuan said.

“Going fishing as soon as things have settled down? What’s so fun about that? How about… I go with you.” Lu Xuezhi had become a bit clingy.

“The boat is only so big. Where would you practice your martial arts?”

“Then you have to come back for dinner, otherwise everyone will ask where you went and why you weren’t with me.” Thinking of this, Lu Xuezhi couldn’t help but giggle, her face incomparably beautiful.

In the Ning Mansion, everyone was very good to her, even better than they were to Ning Xuan.

Lu Xuezhi even felt that everyone was helping her supervise Ning Xuan. Once Ning Xuan did something inadequately, an elder would always jump out to tell Ning Xuan what to do.

Even at dinner, if her chopsticks moved a little slow, her mother-in-law would say, “Xuan’er, you are the husband, you should serve Xuezhi food…”

Sometimes, her mother-in-law would find Ning Xuan too stiff and would proactively get up to serve her food, then angrily ignore Ning Xuan, as if blaming him for not being more considerate.

Another time, she overheard her elder brother-in-law earnestly telling Ning Xuan, “Second Brother, Chenxiang Pavilion has been renovated, but tell me, how can all the women in that pavilion combined compare to a single hair on your wife’s head? Go there less, cough cough… it’s best not to go at all.”

There were too many such incidents.

In this family, she was truly spoiled to the heavens. Everyone was very good to her.

She even felt more comfortable than in the Grand Commandant’s Mansion.

In the Grand Commandant’s Mansion, she was a high and mighty princess. No one dared to defy her. She could have whatever she wanted. Even when she yearned for martial arts as a child, she could have Old Man Lan Yu as her master. However, the parental companionship she wanted most was precisely what she lacked.

She didn’t blame her parents.

Because she knew her parents were very busy, had many matters to attend to, and were in danger.

However, she understood, but she was also lonely.

But now, that lack of family affection was inexplicably being compensated for here.

Ning Xuan found nothing strange about this.

His wife was the type of woman who “as long as you don’t get to know her deeply, you’ll think she’s perfect.”

She was cool and beautiful, famous, had a great background, and an aura strong enough to command any situation. Wherever she appeared, she was bound to be the focus.

Besides that, she didn’t have much of a temper, no strange quirks, at most a bit cold. But this coldness was within a range anyone could accept. Others even felt that a woman like her should be cold, should be proud.

Of course, that was if you didn’t know her.

If you had seen her privately release Madam Zhao, thus directly exposing her identity; foolishly getting poisoned in the oasis and almost becoming a demon believer; turning into the semblance of a little woman after being ignored in the Five Poisons Sect; and performing worse than a pig in the great escape from the Five Poisons Sect…

You would sigh, you can’t judge a book by its cover.

All in all, Lu Xuezhi’s arrival still brought joy to everyone in the Ning Mansion, especially the old couple, who smiled from ear to ear every day.

As for his elder brother, he also reaped some “benefits.”

When his elder brother took office as the prefect, although it was in a familiar territory, it was also a new beginning. This required coordinating relationships with the surroundings, and especially communicating with superiors.

But now everyone knew that “Ugly Slave” Ning Gang had a sister-in-law, and this sister-in-law was Lu Xuezhi, the daughter of Suizhou Dao’s Grand Commandant Lu.

His elder brother’s work suddenly became much smoother.

This made the continuation of the Ning family and the transfer of power extremely smooth.

Lu Xuezhi was a treasure of a girl, as long as you didn’t take her out as a teammate, everything was good.

—

The gently swaying fishing boat.

The glittering golden surface of the lake.

The wind blew, the boat moved, and the person was in the cabin.

Ning Xuan sat in the boat’s cabin.

The enclosed environment made him feel comfortable. The characteristics of a Claustrophobia Ghost allowed his spirit to slowly improve in such an environment.

He dangled his fishing rod, extending it out the window.

He leaned back, resting against the cabin wall, drifting with the current, going with the wind.

It seemed so, but he was actually cultivating the third-grade martial artist’s “Sensing Heaven and Earth, Turning the Real into the Virtual” technique in the most relaxed way.

The difficulty in cultivating this technique lay in “discretion.”

This was a more dangerous cultivation than at any other time. In ordinary cultivation, if you didn’t practice properly, at most you would sprain a muscle or break a bone. Here, if a mistake was made in cultivation, the light consequence was going mad, the heavy one was death.

Why?

Let me explain.

A person is born into the world, their body in heaven and earth, their soul in their body.

Therefore, this soul cannot actually touch heaven and earth.

The only time it can touch is when a person dies.

The body dies and the Dao vanishes, the soul flies away and the spirit disperses…

The soul is meant to fly away, it cannot be kept.

It can be seen that this heaven and earth are by no means what the naked eye sees.

What the naked eye sees is only the appearance.

What the soul comes into contact with is a deeper side.

“Sensing Heaven and Earth, Turning the Real into the Virtual” is to let you come into contact with this side of heaven and earth in advance, to let you come into contact with what a normal person can only see when they die.

Otherwise, how could this step be called the “divide between immortal and mortal”?

In this vast heaven and earth, what can the soul see?

Simply put…

Under the sunlight is a sea of fire, under the moonlight is a sea of ice.

The soul is either burned and rises, or is frozen with the spirit and becomes motionless, waiting for the next sunny day to be burned again, the spirit dispersed, the soul flown away.

And this is the discretion that cultivation needs to grasp.

You have to take it slow…

You have no way to test it, no way to say, “Let me see how fierce the sea of fire outside is, can I speed up the sensing speed?” That would only lead to the fire burning the soul.

So the safest way is to slowly endure, endure until it is foolproof, carefully draw a wisp of yang qi, and then take another step.

The third grade, for this reason, is very time-consuming.

But the third grade is still okay, because in this third grade, the soul does not fly outside, but opens some “windows of the body” to come into contact with the outside yang qi.

The fourth grade is what requires flying outside to form a Yang Soul Body.

Without foolproof preparation, who would dare to try?

Ning Xuan dared.

Because, in this world… how could there be a martial artist who cultivates both life and nature?

But Ning Xuan did.

His spirit was very powerful, and it had even fused with a Claustrophobia Ghost.

Therefore, he didn’t need to hide carefully in his “body” at all.

So at this moment, he seemed to be lying there leisurely fishing, but in fact, his soul had already left his body, floating outside, suspended above his own body.

He saw the fishing line tighten, creaking and trembling. The fish under the boat swayed left and right, pulling the line left and right. Soon… the fish bit off the bait and also escaped the hook.

He watched for a while. He sat in the sea of fire of the sunlight and watched for a while, then began to operate the “Sensing Heaven and Earth” technique, to let his soul absorb yang qi from the sea of fire of the daytime sun.

Others needed to be careful, brewing for a long time before daring to absorb a trace of yang qi, for fear of引火烧魂 (leading fire to burn the soul); but he had no need to fear at all, directly absorbing, directly taking.

Instantly, wisps of fire surged from all directions, drilling into his seven orifices—eyes, ears, nose, mouth—like snakes flowing, then flowing into his qi and blood, nourishing his body. He only felt all his bones relax, and his constitution rapidly improved.

The connection formed by the five poison powers, like a small tree being watered, gave him a mysterious feeling of growth.

This made him feel that he was getting stronger.

This kind of cultivation involving the soul made time pass extremely quickly.

Ning Xuan felt as if it was the time it took to drink a cup of water, and the sky had already darkened.

Just now it was a sea of fire, in an instant it became frost…

Ning Xuan’s soul returned to his body.

He took a look.

His constitution had actually gone from “21.4” to “21.8”.

Because his constitution had increased, the speed of dual cultivation with Lu Xuezhi had slowed down again. Originally, three days of diligent dual cultivation could increase his constitution by 0.1, but now it would take a full six or seven days to possibly increase it by 0.1.

But now, with just one day of cultivation, his constitution had increased by 0.4.

A feeling of comfort arose in Ning Xuan’s heart.

Thinking that now there were no damn troubles, it was even more refreshing.

He yawned, slowly propped up the long bamboo pole, rowed the fishing boat to the shore, tied it up, and then walked home with the fish basket on his back. When passing by the fish market, he suddenly remembered something and bought a big fat fish to throw into the basket.

—

Ning Mansion.

The house was brightly lit, with many lanterns hanging.

Normally, the Ning Mansion was not so wasteful, but since Lu Xuezhi arrived, the Ning Mansion had been like this every day…

The First Madam was smiling and talking to Lu Xuezhi.

The table was a round table.

Eating together at one table was a tradition of the Ning family, although men and women were separated, except for the main family.

After Lu Xuezhi arrived, they had originally planned to have separate tables, that is, each person with a food tray, enjoying their meals separately, but Ning Xuan had vetoed it.

Now it seemed better.

“Why are you back so late?” Now that the First Madam had a daughter-in-law, she was picking faults with her son.

Ning Xuan said, “Mother, I went fishing.”

The First Madam said, “Then… then just right, take the fish to the kitchen, let Chef Wang handle it again, and stew a fish soup to nourish Xuezhi’s body.”

Ning Xuan opened the fish basket.

In the basket, a big fat fish was jumping around.

“What a big fish! Quick, quick, take it down, half braised and half stewed in soup.”

There was a light in the First Madam’s eyes.

Ning Xuan had not seen such a “vibrant” look in his mother’s eyes for the past seventeen years.

Lu Xuezhi giggled, patted the seat next to her, and gave a small “come here” look with her eyes.

Ning Xuan sat down.

Next to him was his father, next to his father was his elder brother, and next to his elder brother was his sister-in-law.

This main table was not large, with a total of six people.

Ning Xuan was relaxed, but “Ugly Slave” Ning Gang’s eyes were full of trouble.

So, Ning Xuan took the initiative to ask, “What’s wrong, Big Brother?”

Ning Gang smiled, “Nothing, just small matters. Let’s eat, let’s eat.”

Yun Yi next to him looked at Ning Gang with heartache, “It’s not a small matter. There are too many refugees, all from Leizhou. The demon disaster in Leizhou is already unimaginable. Brother Gang worries every day, worrying about settling the refugees, worrying about whether the newly planted spring wheat is growing well. Just today, an official from outside came to find Brother Gang, saying they want to open up channels and increase the planting area, but they are worried about demons. On the other hand, Brother Gang is also worried about the demon disaster in Leizhou spreading to us.”

Lu Xuezhi chimed in, “Leizhou, the demon post stations. When we were in Hanzhou before, my husband and I were supposed to go there, but later we went to the desert, so we didn’t go. However, it is indeed very serious there. In the desert, that mountain…”

Ning Xuan watched his wife’s earnest discussion, knowing that she was trying hard to integrate into this environment.

However, he still picked up a piece of meat and stuffed it into her mouth, preventing her from saying the words “Shanmo Sect.”

Looking again, sure enough, his father and mother had both stopped their chopsticks and were looking over with great worry.

Ning Xuan continued, “There are many demons in that mountain in the desert, but so what? The previous Icy Hell was so terrifying, wasn’t it resolved just like that?”

After speaking, he filled his wine cup, then filled one for his white-haired father, and smiled, “Father, our dynasty is not that weak. If the sky falls, the tall ones will hold it up. Nothing will happen.”

On the side, Ning Gang also glared at Yun Yi. He didn’t want to bring these matters to the table at all.

His mother said from the side, “But, you and Xuezhi are both seriously injured.”

As she spoke, she suddenly became a little sad, “Are the injuries better?”

Lu Xuezhi finished the meat in her mouth and said, “Mother, my husband and I are fine.”

Her mother-in-law held Lu Xuezhi’s hand, “Look how good Xuezhi is.”

As she spoke, tears actually flowed down.

She was too worried about her son and daughter-in-law.

Although Ugly Slave was not her biological son, she treated him as her own.

She was worried about this elder son’s path as a prefect on one hand, and worried about her younger son’s recovery on the other. These days, she burned incense daily and copied scriptures nightly, only praying that the gods and Buddhas in the sky would open their eyes and bless her two sons.

Ning Xuan and Ning Gang looked at each other.

Ning Gang smiled, “Yun Yi doesn’t understand. Mother, please don’t take it to heart. It’s not that serious, just some daily small matters. For someone in my position, isn’t this what I’m supposed to worry about?”

Ning Xuan also smiled, “If it were really serious, where would my wife and I, two ready-made generals, have the chance to recuperate at home? Isn’t that right?”

The two brothers, one saying this, the other singing that, finally coaxed their mother into being happy again, and then the family happily ate their meal again.

—

At night.

The two Ning brothers walked together.

“Big Brother, are there any signs of demons invading from Leizhou?”

“No.”

“What about the demon post stations?”

“None either.”

“Have they been suppressed?”

“They should be…” Ning Gang hesitated, pondered, then said, “After all, although there are many demons in Leizhou now, there are also many Heavenly Masters and Demon Plague Martial Artists, too many. The number of experts gathered in Leizhou probably exceeds the entire Suizhou Dao.”

As he spoke, he paused, “So many experts are enough to seal off the demon post stations.”

Ning Xuan did not express an opinion.

What his big brother said was all on the surface.

He didn’t know what the situation was really like inside, but he understood it was definitely not that simple.

After thinking for a moment, he suddenly asked, “Has there been any progress with His Majesty’s Divine General plan?”

Ning Gang pondered for a long time before looking at him, “You just focus on recuperating.”

Ning Xuan couldn’t help but laugh, “Is Big Brother afraid I can’t accept it?”

Ning Gang smiled, “There really is one.”

Ning Xuan asked curiously, “Who is it?”

Ning Gang said, “It’s a deal, don’t overthink it after hearing it. It’s just a piece of news.”

Ning Xuan smiled, “When did you become so motherly?”

Only then did Ning Gang say seriously, “I don’t know who he was in the past, but now he is the famous ‘Heavenly Martial King’ Shi Yantang.

The first Divine General, his glory is unparalleled for a time. His Majesty not only betrothed a princess to him, but also… specially established the Demon Slaying Division for him, making him the Grand Director.

The Demon Slaying Division’s status is on par with Zixia Temple. All Heavenly Masters belong to Zixia Temple, while all generals and Demon Plague Martial Artists must be registered with the Demon Slaying Division.

Zixia Temple has Dao Merit Points, and the Demon Slaying Division has established Martial Merit Points. Both have a large amount of supplies that can be exchanged.”

Ning Xuan said, “How did he rise to power?”

Ning Gang said, “I do know about that. He relied on the opportunity of the demon post stations in Leizhou. The so-called chaotic times produce heroes, and he is probably one of them.

As for the process, I don’t know the details, but he should be of ordinary origin. But by devouring demon pills, he rose step by step, rapidly improving, and in a short period of time, reached the middle stage of the fourth grade, becoming a chosen one.

There should be many people like him, but the vast majority failed and became human-demons, human-demons who could only be clear-headed for a short time each day. But he succeeded.

You say it’s luck, he was able to continuously consume so many demon pills without becoming a human-demon. You say it’s not luck, why couldn’t others, but he could?

But regardless, he is now the Heavenly Martial King.”

As he said this, he watched his second brother’s expression. Seeing that he was truly not dejected, he felt a little relieved.

Ning Xuan suddenly asked, “The Demon Slaying Division, what does it do? Just… responsible for dispatching martial artists to slay demons everywhere?”

Ning Gang said, “It was just established not long ago, I don’t know either. Since you’re so concerned, I’ll pay attention to it later. As soon as there’s news… we’ll continue our chat at night. Your most important task now is to recuperate properly.”

Ning Xuan smiled, “Big Brother, you have a task too.”

Ning Gang asked curiously, “What task?”

Ning Xuan said, “Have a son soon.”

Ning Gang was amused, “You too. Then the two children can have a companion, unlike you and me.”

—

The next day.

Ning Xuan was fishing on his boat as usual.

His big brother’s words from yesterday lingered in his ears.

Demon Slaying Division?

On par with Zixia Temple?

The demon post stations in Leizhou have been controlled?

He squinted his eyes, but did not rashly make any judgment.

*Let’s just watch and wait.*

*A mirage rises from the vast sea, the high platform is overturned, the play is not over. The wind and clouds change in an instant, heaven and earth are overturned in a flash!*

Immediately, Ning Xuan, just like yesterday, began to operate the “Sensing Heaven and Earth, Turning the Real into the Virtual” technique.

Like a few breaths of time, the sky darkened, and his constitution also went from “21.8” to “22.2”.

—

That night.

He returned to his room.

After the daily routine with Lu Xuezhi, the two lay in the bedding, clinging to each other stickily.

Lu Xuezhi suddenly said, “You’ve heard about the first Divine General, right?”

Ning Xuan said, “Did sister-in-law tell you?”

Lu Xuezhi nodded.

Ning Xuan was not surprised.

His sister-in-law looked well-read and reasonable, and a bit introverted, but she was also very gossipy at heart. The type who wouldn’t talk to you if she didn’t know you well, but would chatter on and on once she did…

Lu Xuezhi said, “I’m really not reconciled. Why did that Shi Yantang become the first Divine General? Why is he the Grand Director of the Demon Slaying Division?”

Ning Xuan said, “He is at the middle stage of the fourth grade.”

Lu Xuezhi’s tone was disdainful, “He just ate his way up, got lucky. Or…”

Her beautiful eyes rolled, “He must have a treasure.”

Saying this, she became even more convinced, “It must be like this. He must have some strange treasure on him, and he was able to improve like this by relying on this external object.

Since he developed in Leizhou, and Leizhou is a place rampant with demons, I think this strange treasure might have been given to him by the demons, to let him mix into the dynasty and be a high-level spy.”

Ning Xuan listened to his wife’s words.

The more he listened, the more familiar it sounded.

Thinking carefully, wasn’t this how the villains in some of the novels he read in his previous life spoke?

In the dark night, an irrepressible laugh came out.

Lu Xuezhi pulled her leg away from him, and before pulling it away, she even fiercely nudged him with her knee, then turned over to the other side, “What are you laughing at? I’m not talking to you anymore.”

After a while, she turned back on her own, muttering, “Husband, the more I think about it, the more unreconciled I am. Are we worse than him? Are we not as good as him?”

Ning Xuan did not speak.

Lu Xuezhi said, “Fine, I’m not as good as him, I admit it.

But what about you?

Husband, you are so talented, how can you be suppressed by such a person? Why is he sitting in that position? Clearly… clearly the position of the Grand Director of the Demon Slaying Division should be yours!”

Ning Xuan still did not speak.

Lu Xuezhi said, “I don’t care. We’re not injured. Husband, let’s go and achieve merits. We must prove to everyone that you are the most suitable person to be the Grand Director!”

Ning Xuan said, “Then what if His Majesty wants me to marry the princess?”

Lu Xuezhi said magnanimously, “I’m not a jealous woman. A small matter like that is nothing!”

After speaking, she rarely acted coquettishly like a young girl, “Husband, you must have a way. I’m really not reconciled. Why should that Shi Yantang be above us? Why?

I’m not convinced. You go and fight him, let him know what a real Divine General is. I will also invite my parents over, and have my parents support you.”

Ning Xuan suddenly said, “Wife, let’s have a child, shall we? Then their age will be similar to Big Brother’s child, and they can have a companion from birth.”

He wanted to use having a child to suppress his stupid wife’s ever-restless heart, to stop her from messing around and thinking nonsense. Moreover, this was also the task of that mysterious mother-in-law, and at the same time, the expectation of his own mother.

Lu Xuezhi looked blank, stammering, “Have… have a child?”

Ning Xuan continued to coax her, “That Shi Yantang is at the middle stage of the fourth grade. Even if he ate his way up with demon pills, he is not someone I can deal with right now, right?

You have to give me some time to grow, right?”

“But… have a child?” Lu Xuezhi’s heart suddenly started to beat faster.

She didn’t know what was going on in her little head, murmuring, “Have a child… have a child…”

Ning Xuan said, “It just so happens that we are both not busy, and Big Brother and sister-in-law are also preparing for pregnancy. This child will definitely have many people to accompany them from birth, and also companions of the same age. This child will be very happy.

We are both martial artists. If we don’t have children now, what if we get busy later?”

Lu Xuezhi instantly threw the “Heavenly Martial King Shi Yantang” to the back of her mind.

Ning Xuan’s words had touched the softest spot in her heart.

What she couldn’t have, she always hoped her child would have.

She thought about the current situation again. It seemed… it was indeed very suitable for having children.

Suddenly…

Lu Xuezhi made a decision. She heroically flipped over and mounted him, like a fiery mare, tossing her long hair, her pretty face looking down, and said, “Come!!!”

Ning Xuan also moved accordingly.

Lu Xuezhi suddenly stopped, “It’s a deal. You have to grow up quickly. You have to defeat Shi Yantang!

He must have relied on external objects, on treasures, to get to his position. He will definitely not be your opponent.

If I’m pregnant, I can’t practice martial arts. You have to practice my share as well.”

Ning Xuan began to worry a little about the intelligence of his yet-to-be-born child.

However, he still began to soar up to the clouds, then draw the water of the nine heavens to irrigate the fertile land of the human world…

—

Ning Xuan’s constitution began to improve rapidly.

22.6

23.0

23.4

Nineteen days after starting to prepare for pregnancy…

Ning Xuan’s constitution had reached 29.9.

And at this time, even with the [Gong Siji] Heavenly Demon Record, it was still 29.9.

This realm had already reached the bottleneck of the fourth grade.

Ning Xuan might not know how to break through the fourth grade of a Taiyin Ghost, but he already had the inheritance of the Five Poisons Sect, plus the cultivation notes left by that expert named A Sui. He still knew how to break through the fourth grade.

Third grade, sensing heaven and earth, only required and could only be cultivated in a normal environment.

But to enter the fourth grade, that was not enough.

In heaven and earth, the sea of fire during the day was not all the same. In some places, the fire was fierce, in some places, the fire was gentle. The fire in a normal environment was gentle.

However, Ning Xuan had long been prepared. These days, while cultivating, he had been actively looking for a new cultivation location.

The first choice was a geothermal vent.

But there were none nearby.

The second was a blacksmith’s shop.

There were many blacksmith’s shops.

Even the Ning family could temporarily build one.

Ning Xuan chose this.

Under the pretext of hammering weapons and recovering from injuries, he opened a blacksmith’s shop at home.

He found a blacksmith master and simply learned the craft of forging swords, then began to hammer iron.

The high temperature of forging, enclosed behind a cloth curtain. When his soul manifested again, he could already feel that this cramped little world was filled with a raging sea of fire. The yang qi contained in this sea of fire was even more abundant.

Ning Xuan sat cross-legged in meditation.

His soul left his body, circling above his head.

The yang qi in the fire stream enveloped him from all directions.

He mobilized the yang qi obtained from cultivating his flesh and blood to resonate with it.

The five poisons, the five types of power linked as a whole, emitted yang qi.

This yang qi was enveloped by the yang qi of heaven and earth, like a seed entering a womb.

But, after a day…

Failure.

Ning Xuan didn’t know where he had failed.

That night, he continued to plow the fields.

The next day, he did not continue to break through, but went out to help his big brother kill a small demon that dared to eat people near the channel, and then entered the nightmare to comprehend with the blood of that small demon.

After comprehending for more than ten years, he understood. He clearly knew what he should do. His subsequent cultivation would not make any mistakes, nor would he take any detours.

That night, he continued to plow the fields.

On the third day, in the fire waves of the blacksmith’s shop.

Ning Xuan operated the technique again, offered his own yang qi, and re-entered the sea of fire of heaven and earth.

Slowly…

This seed formed by practicing power began to take root in the yang qi of heaven and earth.

The yang qi of heaven and earth became the amniotic fluid, and began to promote the growth of this seed.

—

After more than a month, Lu Xuezhi began to feel a strange nausea. The doctor checked and said congratulations.

Lu Xuezhi then rested and stopped practicing martial arts.

A few days later, Yun Yi was also pregnant.

In the fourth month, Lu Xuezhi’s abdomen was already obviously bulging. Her face was also always smiling, and she would gently stroke her lower abdomen from time to time.

Since she stopped practicing martial arts, she began to be dragged by her mother-in-law and sister-in-law to pray and burn incense.

Anyway, it was their own Buddhist hall, so there was nothing to worry about.

And on this day, in the blacksmith’s shop, Ning Xuan suddenly let out a long breath of turbid air.

A mouthful of turbid air seemed to stir up a whirlwind, and the red heat wave formed a fire snake that spun endlessly in the shop.

Ning Xuan opened his mouth and spat out a fiery red spider.

The spider landed, only the size of a palm. It had eight legs, and on four of them, there was a mysterious white-gold flame pattern. It was precisely because of these four white-gold flame patterns that the power of these four legs was stronger than the remaining four.

Ning Xuan understood with a thought.

The five powers merged into one, with one power as the main, transforming into the Yang Soul Body. The four powers fused and were stationed in the four legs.

As soon as the spider landed, it expanded with his will. In an instant, it was as tall as him, and in the next moment, it was already a zhang tall, standing behind him, then quickly disappeared.

Ning Xuan tried a few more times and then completely understood.

One.

The strength of the Yang Soul Body was related to the number of powers.

The more powers you fused in the second grade, the stronger the Yang Soul Body would be.

Imagine that in the second grade, he could already defeat the third-grade Gong Siji by relying on the chain of five powers. Then at this fourth-grade Yang Soul Body, the gap was even greater, like the difference between clouds and mud.

The gap between a strong early-stage fourth-grade and a weak early-stage fourth-grade was probably even greater than the gap between an unranked and a third-grade.

Two.

At the initial stage of the fourth-grade Life-Establishing Realm, his mouthful of yang qi was not enough to support the Yang Soul Body outside for a long time.

At this stage, the Yang Soul Body was like an assassin, or a trump card, one spit and one收 (retraction), taking the enemy by surprise, not seeking longevity.

However, this point would undergo a qualitative change when he reached the middle stage of the Life-Establishing Realm.

He remembered the battle between Old Man Lan Yu and his mother-in-law.

Old Man Lan Yu’s qi and blood had long since declined, but even so, he had still spat out a single-horned flood dragon Yang Soul Body. That flood dragon had even soared into the sky and lasted for a long time before disappearing.

In the blacksmith’s shop, Ning Xuan sat cross-legged for a long time again.

Since he knew that the strength of the Yang Soul Body was related to the number of fused powers, what was he waiting for?

There were many demons in this land. They might not be strong, but their innate demonic arts contained a special kind of power, such as the Mountain-Bumping Bear and the Golden-Clawed Wolf.

For others, fusing unrelated powers might be an impossible task.

But for him, Ning Xuan…

As long as he could endure hundreds or thousands of years of loneliness, there would always be a chance to succeed in the fusion.

He had to try.