"Your Excellency must have noticed sothing amiss with your condition these past days, haven't you?"
Recalling how the venerable had reached out without hesitation earlier, An Ning's eyes flashed with sudden understanding.
"Truly worthy of being called a Grandmaster..."
Venerable Yun Yi took a sip of fragrant tea, making no attempt to deny it:
"To be frank with the Grandmaster, ever since forming my Nascent Soul, my spiritual energy has occasionally stagnated. Not only that, despite daily diligent cultivation, rely maintaining my current cultivation level has beco difficult. Were it not for the few spiritual treasures in my possession, I fear by now..."
As a fellow cultivator, An Ning imdiately grasped the unspoken implications.
In other words, should the day co when these treasures or her own cultivation could no longer compensate for the loss, the best outco would be a dropped cultivation level, while the worst...
Complete annihilation!
In the eting hall, Venerable Yun Yi's gaze remained serene, as if she hadn't just spoken about the very foundation of her survival and cultivation.
Pandi, standing behind her, couldn't hide the panic flashing in her eyes.
"Master..."
"Life and death follow fate's decree, such is heaven's will, not any human failing..." Seeming to understand her disciple's thoughts, Venerable Yun Yi raised a hand to stop her:
"This master has no regrets in this life. Bin'er need not dwell excessively on the past."
"But...but..."
Hearing what sounded like final instructions, tears welled in Pandi's eyes as her gaze instinctively turned to An Ning:
"Cous...no, Grandmaster! Since you can detect the problem, does that an...is there any way..."
"Whatever the Grandmaster desires, I can..."
"Bin'er!"
Venerable Yun Yi unusually interrupted with a tone of admonishnt. After composing herself, she bowed apologetically to An Ning:
"My disciple speaks out of panic. The Grandmaster need not take her words seriously."
"Perfectly understandable, Your Excellency is too polite."
An Ning nodded, though her eyes couldn't help but reflect lancholy.
"Indeed, who could have imagined the price of forming a Nascent Soul would be so steep!"
Even more brutal than she'd previously imagined... Observing Venerable Yun Yi's still peaceful, even slightly warm expression, An Ning's gaze grew curious:
"If you'd known then what you know now, would you have regretted it?"
Though not explicitly stated, everyone present understood the unspoken question.
Under her disciple's trembling gaze, the venerable t An Ning's eyes without hesitation, her cool brows filled with determination:
"This path I walk, even unto death, I regret nothing!"
Truly worthy of being a top cultivator of this era, An Ning silently praised.
After seeing off the master and disciple, that evening as An Ning prepared to rest, an attendant announced Qinghong Zhenren had returned unexpectedly.
In the parlor, the luminous pearls were lit once more, but this ti it was An Ning who was surprised.
"These..."
Millennium-old Ganoderma herbs, ten-thousand-year Fire Jade, Ice Soul Flowers...even the long-lost Soul Nurturing Grass was among them.
Any single item here could spark fierce competition if revealed publicly.
Surveying the dozens of neatly arranged jade boxes, even An Ning was montarily stunned by the lavish display.
In that instant, without any investigation, An Ning instantly understood what this person's golden finger must be.
"Aren't you afraid...?"
Afraid she might kill to seize these treasures?
Staring at this now unfamiliar face—this Qinghong Zhenren in green robes already carrying an air of authority—An Ning found it hard to reconcile this image with her mory of that cousin.
In her original body's mories, she'd been a sallow-haired, thin-cheeked girl, constantly ordered about by her aunt yet never daring to speak up.
Oh, there had been so resistance.
When the original was young, she vaguely recalled this cousin arguing with the aunt and even old Chen over Second Aunt's affairs. But in the end, An Ning rembered, Second Aunt had been the one to apologize...
Truly, the twists of fate are unpredictable.
Ignoring An Ning's questioning gaze, Pandi—or rather, Chen Bin now—spoke without hesitation, her clear eyes fixed on An Ning:
"I said before—anything I have, you can take it, if only you'll save my master."
Both knew this offer extended far beyond the priceless jade boxes before them.
Truth be told, through multiple lifetis, this was the first ti An Ning had seen soone openly offer their golden finger in exchange.
"Is it worth it?"
Fiercely wiping at her brimming tears, Chen Bin didn't answer directly, only stared fixedly at the sword in her hands:
"Master has always been the kindest to ..."
"Without exception..."
As if recalling sothing, the usually sharp-eyed girl's gaze softened slightly.
Watching this, An Ning found herself believing this truly was Pandi after all...
An Ning ultimately accepted the dicinal herbs.
As for the more valuable secrets, she didn't ntion them, only saying she'd seek Chen Bin out if needed.
Reviewing the jade slips in her space, An Ning realized that even without this encounter, she would have needed to research Venerable Yun Yi's condition.
Feeling the increasingly restless spiritual energy within her—her Golden Core had reached perfection the very day those people perished. Days ago, she'd fully achieved Great Perfection of the Golden Core stage.
She'd even prepared more than one of those highly sought-after top-grade Nascent Soul Pills. The reason she hadn't attempted the breakthrough yet...
Recalling Xiao Tan's increasingly severe training thods recently:
"Has the City Lord known all along?"
The next day at the training grounds, bearing wounds more severe than yesterday's, An Ning didn't imdiately take healing pills but confronted him directly:
"City Lord, did you know about this from the beginning?"
Truthfully, she'd long harbored doubts.
Top-grade Nascent Soul Pills were rare, but the cultivation world had no shortage of alchemists capable of producing mid-grade versions. Yet if she wasn't mistaken, this man would rather risk near-certain death using his pure Yang energy to break through than rely on any pill's assistance.
Yes, pills carried risks of unstable foundations. But compared to his dangerous thod, they were far safer. Over years of interaction, An Ning knew Xiao Tan possessed a warrior's pride but wasn't obstinate.
More importantly, regarding his guidance of her...
Knowing he'd never intentionally harm her, why would he steer her toward his own perilous path unless...he knew from the start that the seemingly easier road held greater hidden dangers?
eting the young woman's gaze, Xiao Tan didn't deny it, nodding calmly as if discussing mundane matters:
"A century ago, there were thirty-two Nascent Soul cultivators. Now, barely over ten remain..."
"And the earliest Nascent Soul initial stages?"
"All perished..."
An Ning drew a sharp breath.
"I understand..."
From that day onward, everyone in the City Lord's residence noticed Grandmaster Chen spending increasing ti at the training grounds, often accompanied by the City Lord himself.
The swordplay there grew ever more formidable.
Three years later, when An Ning's spiritual energy could no longer be contained:
"Host, this defensive armor costs over two hundred points! Are you really buying it?"
In her consciousness, the System asked timidly.
An Ning's response was imdiate:
"Buy it!"
"O-okay!"
"But you said this world's heavenly tribulation isn't that severe. Most cultivators fail for other reasons, right?"
The System nearly wept at spending 280 points.
But An Ning remained resolute, gazing at the gathering heavenly phenona:
"System, do you think endless rebirth is heaven's blessing...or sothing else?"
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