Chapter 140: The Age of Intelligent Spirits

The Ning Family's ancestral grounds.

Inside a secluded cultivation chamber.

The grand ancestor of the Ning family was submerged inside a massive block of ice, sitting cross-legged to regulate his breath.

Clutched in his arms was a vessel-like magical artifact that radiated a layer of ethereal, pure white light.

The block of ice gradually melted until it vanished completely.

The Ning family ancestor slowly opened his eyes. After exhaling a breath of turbid air, he reached up to touch his forehead.

A dent still remained on his head, though it was no longer as distinct as before.

A reservoir of anger and hatred accumulated within the Ning family ancestor's heart.

For him, this had originally been a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

He had already entered the immortal palace, waiting for the opportune moment when the side hall was breached. Just as he was about to step inside, the Peach Core of Detachment plummeted from the skies and severely wounded him.

The Ning family ancestor was fully aware of Meng Kui's "Watching the Tigers Fight from a Mountain" divine ability and the Peach Core of Detachment.

Having suffered heavy injuries from the peach core, the Ning family ancestor had no choice but to shield his head and flee, actively retreating from the Molten Fire Immortal Palace.

Just like that, his wonderful prospects had been completely ruined by Meng Kui.

"Meng Kui is truly too overbearing!"

"The Molten Fire Immortal Palace is inherently an ownerless treasure meant for those destined to find it; everyone should have a chance!"

"My Ning family originally arrived later, but this time, we were fortunate enough to enter the side hall, yet Meng Kui couldn't even stomach that and intervened to wreck it."

"I'm afraid that in his mind, the Molten Fire Immortal Palace has long since become his private property!"

"He truly refuses to let anyone else even dip a finger into it!"

The Ning family ancestor stroked the Ice-Heart Jade Pot, gradually calming his composure.

The Ice-Heart Jade Pot was the supreme heirloom of the Ning family.

The entire pot was meticulously carved from a single flawless piece of freezing jade as transparent as ice. The body of the pot was crystal clear, resembling a pool of lucid, ice-cold water, emitting a faint, chilly radiance.

When the Ning family ancestor touched the surface of the bottle, he never felt a bone-chilling cold, but rather a warm, jade-like sensation.

The Ning family ancestor pondered the current situation.

"Meng Kui has attained the Nascent Soul stage, and he also serves as the Lord of Fiery Persimmon Immortal City."

"His justification for sealing the volcanic crater is proper, adequate, and dressed in righteousness. If I wish to enter the immortal palace, I must wear a mask and disguise myself. But once masked, I lose my righteous status and will be shamelessly targeted by Meng Kui."

"Sigh, viewed in this light..."

"Our clan's greatest hope still lies within the competition of the Qi Refining stage!"

"However, in the rivalry of the Qi Refining stage, can Ning Xiaohui truly contend with Meng Chong?"

The mere thought that Meng Chong possessed immortal-grade aptitude made the Ning family ancestor's heart sink heavily.

He could not help but speculate: Had Meng Chong already advanced into the latter half? Was he drawing close to the finish line?

Touching the dent on his forehead once more, the Ning family ancestor's gaze hardened with determination.

"It seems we must step up our support for the family's redirected cultivation team."

After pondering for a moment, the Ning family ancestor immediately issued an order.

Ning Xiaohui was the first person within the redirected cultivation team to learn of this wonderful news.

"Oh? The ancestor personally gave the order to retrieve the Frost-Ling and Pride-Snow Comprehension Scrolls, and even unlocked three bottles of White Snow Spring-Spring Pills to be distributed to the entire redirected team? He's even willing to offer the Ice-Jade Wine from the Ice-Heart Jade Pot as a reward for the cultivator who performs most prominently in the redirected team?"

"Heh!"

Ning Xiaohui glanced at her own hands and curled her lip in disdain. "Reward the most outstanding performer? Might as well just hand it directly to me; it's completely redundant!"

Ever since experiencing a crisis of life and death, Ning Xiaohui's temperament had undergone tremendous growth.

Subsequently, with the help of her grandmother, she had initially mastered the innate talent of the Glacial Jade Hands.

During this process, the might of the Glacial Jade Hands completely healed Ning Xiaohui's injuries.

As a result, as a latecomer, Ning Xiaohui actually surpassed the Zhou family duo and Zheng Jian of the Zheng family!

While the latter three were still recuperating from their injuries, Ning Xiaohui had already commenced specialized training.

Ning Zhuo returned to the family settlement.

Along the way, he smiled and nodded in greeting to familiar clansmen.

After disarming Qi Bai and having a brief conversation with Sun Lingtong, Ning Zhuo seized the moment to return in secret.

At this critical juncture, he had to reappear in the public eye as soon as possible to prevent Han Ming from being captured and revealing that she had seen Yuan Dasheng's corpse.

On the surface, it was Ning Zhuo who had acquired Yuan Dasheng's corpse.

Although there was no evidence linking Ning Zhuo to the Drooping-Browed Guest, even if Ning Zhuo were investigated, he had various excuses ready.

For instance, selling it on the black market, or having the corpse simply stolen by someone else.

However, this would indeed entangle his true identity.

To cope with a potential investigation, Ning Zhuo could not possibly linger in the underground base for too long.

At Ning Ze's residence.

"Xiao Zhuo! You're finally back. Yesterday the entire city was in utter chaos with frequent conflicts; weren't you hurt anywhere?"

Wang Lan hurried over and asked with deep concern.

Ning Zhuo shook his head slightly: "Auntie, rest assured. Ever since I survived that assassination attempt, I've been extremely cautious. Furthermore, I have family-assigned guards protecting me; nothing could go wrong."

"That's good, that's good!"

Wang Lan suddenly sighed. "Sigh, you're safe and sound, but your eldest uncle has suffered terribly."

"The prisoner in the cell right next to his suddenly went berserk. Over a trivial verbal dispute, he reached out, grabbed your eldest uncle by the hair, and repeatedly smashed his head against the iron bars."

"Your eldest uncle is bruised, bleeding, and urgently needs a proper environment to recover!"

"Xiao Zhuo, please go beg the young clan head again and have him release your own eldest uncle."

Ning Zhuo's expression sank, revealing a sorrowful look as he sighed: "Auntie, I never knew such a thing had happened."

"Eldest uncle has truly suffered this time."

"But I already pleaded with the young clan head last adult time; going to plead again now leaves very little hope of success!"

"Unless..."

"Auntie, you manage to pay back all the cultivation resources you've owed me over all these years!"

"This!"

Wang Lan's expression changed instantly. Her brows furrowed deeply, her face twisted in difficulty while a surge of intense fury rose within her heart.

She roared inwardly: "That Ning Xiaoren never gave any cultivation resources to begin with; the truth isn't like that at all!"

Yet she could only roar in the silence of her mind.

"Xiao Zhuo, to be honest with you, your eldest uncle's household has very thin foundations and high daily expenses, leaving virtually no surplus!"

"If you expect me to produce it all at once, it's simply unrealistic!"

Ning Zhuo interrupted her: "Auntie, I still need to cultivate. You should return at least a portion first—you haven't paid back a single cent yet!"

Reluctant to entangle himself further with Wang Lan, Ning Zhuo offered a polite refusal and plunged straight into his cultivation chamber.

He activated the Floating Cloud Scarf, shrouding himself in layers of drifting clouds, and then withdrew the Tree-Martial Fighting Ape Dasheng alongside the Golden-Blood Battle Ape puppet.

The former had been reduced to a mere skeleton after the fierce battle.

Had Yuan Dasheng not unleashed his immortal-grade aptitude, even the skeleton would have been incinerated to nothingness by the nether flames.

Ning Zhuo inspected the skeleton and found that its material remained the same as before, though it had become incomparably more fragile than when it was first forged.

"Is it because it bore the weight of Righteous Bone Resilience?"

Ning Zhuo's gaze flickered slightly. He had always been puzzled as to how Yuan Dasheng managed to execute Righteous Bone Resilience within the Tree-Martial Fighting Ape, and he planned to scour some relevant ancient texts in the future.

Since the Tree-Martial Fighting Ape Dasheng was near-totally destroyed, Ning Zhuo retrieved the Golden-Blood Battle Ape puppet.

Embryonic Divine Ability — Thread of Human Life.

He resorted to his old trick, pulling out Yuan Dasheng's sapience from the Tree-Martial Fighting Ape skeleton and placing it into the Golden-Blood Battle Ape puppet.

"Yuan Dasheng's sapience has undergone a distinct transformation."

This extraction immediately yielded a discovery for Ning Zhuo.

Previously, Yuan Dasheng's sapience resembled a pink sphere of light, its surface occasionally morphing into the shape of a baby monkey's head.

Though still a pink sphere of light, Yuan Dasheng's current sapience was easily more than three times larger than before.

The morphing monkey head image was no longer that of an infant, but of an adult monkey.

The lines outlining the adult monkey head were much deeper and more lifelike than the previous juvenile one.

Moreover, when suspended in mid-air, a halo of light now enveloped the outer perimeter of Yuan Dasheng's spiritual sphere.

This was a characteristic that had never been present before.

Starting from this point, Ning Zhuo swiftly associated it with relevant records from the *Treatise on Spirits*.

"This layer of halo is spiritual brilliance!"

"When sapience overflows with richness and reaches a certain threshold, spiritual brilliance is born!"

"As the sapience continues to grow hereafter, the spiritual brilliance will become increasingly powerful, allowing it to contact all things in the universe, communicating with them and discerning them."

"So, Yuan Dasheng has already stepped into the stage of Wise Sapience."

Classifying by the states of sapience: The first stage is the Inanimate Stage.

The second stage is the Necrotic Sapience Stage.

The third stage is the Nascent Sapience Stage.

The fourth stage is the Wise Sapience Stage.

The fifth stage is the Divine Sapience Stage.

The Necrotic Sapience Stage is subdivided into five phases, and the Nascent Sapience Stage is similarly structured.

From lowest to highest, the Nascent Sapience Stage is divided into five phases: Astral, Agile, Primate, Kinetic, and Acute.

Previously, after Yuan Dasheng's sapience reached its peak, it attained the Kinetic phase.

At this stage, sapience is lively and restless, heavily dominated by emotions.

According to Ning Zhuo's research, as long as one directed it in accordance with its lively nature, one could attune to the sapience and regain complete control.

Following the Kinetic phase was the Acute phase.

"Judging by the current state, Yuan Dasheng has skipped the Acute phase and directly ascended to the first phase of the Wise Sapience Stage — Communion."

"The Nascent Sapience Stage is also known as beastly sapience, which obeys instincts. The sapience of the Wise Sapience Stage, however, is intelligent sapience, and the first major qualitative change it produces is the ability to communicate."

"This is why Yuan Dasheng can speak!"

Communion, the first tier of the Wise Sapience Stage, signifies that sapience can begin normal communication with its surroundings.

Ning Zhuo placed Yuan Dasheng's sapience into the Golden-Blood Battle Ape, but instead of rushing to communicate with it, he stored it back inside his storage bag.

Enveloped in layers of floating clouds, Ning Zhuo took out his meditation mat and began his daily cultivation.

The Mirror Platform Attunement Art - Sixth Layer.

The Five Elements Qi Law Art - Fifth Layer.

The Demonic Dyed Blood Tendon Technique - Fifth Layer.

"My cultivation is still too weak, much too weak!"

"Defeating Qi Bai this time relied primarily on Meng Kui's peach core, and secondarily on my accumulated years of preparation."

"When will I ever be able to defeat formidable enemies relying purely on my own cultivation?"

"What other methods can make me cultivate faster?"

"I need to advance faster, and I need to grow stronger."

Having just come through a life-or-death battle, Ning Zhuo's desire for strength was ten times more intense than before.

At the same time.

In another part of the Ning family's ancestral grounds.

"Peak third-layer Qi Refining, Glacial Jade Hands—relying solely on these two points, who among Zhou Zhu, Zhou Zeshen, and Zheng Jian can be my enemy?"

Ning Xiaohui wore a proud expression.

This was because the aptitudes of the trio—including Zheng Jian—lacked strong offensive capabilities.

The Glacial Jade Hands, however, were different.

"Frost-Ling and Pride-Snow Comprehension Scrolls!"

Ning Xiaohui unfurled these two scrolls and examined them closely.

"I possess the Glacial Jade Hands and hold a natural affinity in this regard!"

"As long as I comprehend the arts of Frost-Ling and Pride-Snow, it will be like adding wings to a tiger!"

"By then, only Meng Chong will be worthy of being considered my formidable opponent!"

…………

End of this chapter