After Ding Ruozhao and Ye Zimei became Golden Core cultivators, they began to travel around.
Decades ago, they accidentally found the Kunshan Sect's base in the desolate region. After entering and exploring, they encountered a remaining restriction, which led to inviting Zhang Ling and others to explore the treasure.
But in the end, only Ding Ruozhao and Zhang Ling managed to escape.
Ye Zimei was captured by the Blood Child at that time. However, Ding Ruozhao was certain that Ye Zimei was not dead. She hadn't returned to the Ding family all these years and had been searching for her sister's whereabouts.
After escaping from that base with Zhang Ling, she had returned there and ventured inside once more.
But she didn't find any trace of Ye Zimei. Instead, she encountered the White Jade Skull again, which led to different encounters.
Of course, these are stories for later.
Thus, Ding Ruozhao was both plotting the Ding family's affairs with the old matriarch and recalling her experiences over the years.
Several hours later, night fell, and thunder rumbled continuously. Heavy rain began to pour outside. A faint mist rose in most of the valley.
In a remote courtyard of the Ding family, a middle-aged man in his thirties was sitting cross-legged in a room, manipulating a magic seal with his hands. A cyan-blue gem was spinning above his head.
The man shot arcs of electricity from the magic seal in his hand into the gem above his head, and the gem responded by lighting up with arcs of electricity.
Soon after, the man opened his eyes and spat out a mouthful of blood essence onto the gem. The gem stopped spinning, reverted to its cyan-blue color, and was caught in his hand.
Looking at the gem in his hand, the man's face showed joy. This Thunder Pearl was a treasure, secretly bestowed by the sect.
As long as he completed the refinement and carried out a sect mission, he would receive a large amount of cultivation resources. Such opportunities were rare.
He was originally just a collateral disciple of the Ding family, named Ding Kun. Such an opportunity would not have been available to him. It was because of the recommendation of the newly appointed family head that he got this chance.
Ding Kun had already decided to follow the new family head. He had to seize this opportunity, and perhaps he could soar to the sky. It was not impossible to be promoted to a high-level cultivator.
Looking at the Thunder Pearl, Ding Kun was fantasizing about his bright future.
Suddenly, he shivered, feeling a little cold. He scanned the room with his divine sense and found that the window had opened at some point. He could hear the sound of thunder and lightning outside, the sound of heavy rain, and gusts of cold wind blowing in.
This kind of weather was common here, but Ding Kun felt particularly cold today.
But as a Foundation Establishment cultivator, this cold was nothing to him. He chuckled and waved his hand, sending a ray of light onto the window, which closed it again.
But then a black shadow flashed before his eyes. Ding Kun's eyes rolled back, and he collapsed to the ground, losing consciousness.
"Being a member of the Ding family, yet siding with outsiders, you deserve to die."
A low, clear voice sounded. A slender figure stood beside him, none other than Ding Ruozhao. A flash of light appeared in her hand, and the Thunder Pearl, which was originally held by Ding Kun, flew into the air.
After looking at the Thunder Pearl for a few moments, Ding Ruozhao put it away. Then, with a flash, she transformed into a white rainbow, grabbed Ding Kun from the ground, and disappeared.
...
The next morning, Ding Ruozhao came to Wind and Thunder City again and entered a rather secretive shop.
In the backyard of the shop, there was a gazebo. A handsome young man wearing a tall crown and holding a folding fan was sitting at a stone table, drinking tea, looking leisurely and carefree.
Suddenly, as if sensing something, he quickly stood up, gently shook his folding fan, and said with a smile.
"Ruozhao, it's been a long time. I didn't expect you to invite me."
"It seems that I still have some face if Young Master Feng is willing to come."
Ding Ruozhao showed a smile when she saw the handsome young man.
The two seemed to have known each other for a long time.
"Haha, why are you being so polite? We are childhood sweethearts."
Feng Wenle smiled kindly and invited Ding Ruozhao into the gazebo.
The handsome man in front of her had reached the peak of the mid-Golden Core stage, only one step away from breaking through to the late stage.
Feng Wenle was the direct grandson of the Gale Sect's Old Ancestor Tianfeng. He could be said to be the young master of the Gale Sect. No one on this island could threaten him.
After the two sat down, they began to talk.
After an hour, Ding Ruozhao left. Feng Wenle looked at a black recording bead placed on the table, his expression quite solemn, as if he was thinking about something.
After a moment of silence, he called out, "Xiaoyue." Immediately, a black light flashed not far behind him, and a woman in a black tight-fitting short shirt appeared.
"What are your orders, Young Master?"
The woman was very tall, with a ponytail, and asked coldly. The aura emanating from her body was also that of a high-level cultivator.
Feng Wenle didn't seem to care about the woman's expression. He beckoned, grabbed the recording bead on the table, shook his folding fan a few times, and said, "Let's go back to the mountain gate. I want to meet my grandfather."
The two transformed into two rays of light, one green and one black, and flew into the sky.
Although there were air restrictions in this immortal city, the two flew into the sky as if they were nothing, heading west of Wind and Thunder Island.
...
On the other hand, Zhang Ling stayed in the town of Ding Family Fortress, sitting in the inn and meditating quietly. He was not cultivating, just closing his eyes to rest.
But he was thinking about Ding Ruozhao's plan in his heart. Although he had agreed to her, there must be some risks involved.
Although Ding Ruozhao had a backup plan, he couldn't be careless. He had to prepare for the worst.
His current strength had increased a lot compared to before. The seven flying swords had been reforged, and the Heavenly Star Sand had also been refined successfully, greatly increasing its power.
He also had two ancient treasures and several good magic treasures in his hands. He also carried the Corpse Bear and the Twin-Tailed Cat, two powerful helpers.
In addition, after coming out of the Hidden Monster Valley, he had cultivated a lot of the Explosive Flame Fruits that he had collected from a demon. The Explosive Flame Fruits contained violent fire spiritual power, and would explode once thrown out.
He now carried thousands of them on his body, placed separately in a storage bag. These Explosive Flame Fruits had been stimulated to about a thousand years old using the spiritual liquid on the mysterious pearl, and the power of the explosion was considerable.
Once this spiritual fruit was stimulated to a thousand years, the fire spiritual power contained in it seemed to be fixed, and the growth rate would not be too much.
This was a pity. If it could be stimulated all the time, the power of the Explosive Flame Fruit would be greatly enhanced.
Throwing out a dozen at a time, the power was comparable to a third-order attack spell. Throwing out hundreds of them could pose a threat to a late-stage Golden Core powerhouse.
In addition, with the jade talisman that could release flying needles, Zhang Ling was not lacking in attack methods now.
In terms of defense, he also had some confidence. Not only had he cultivated the Xuanling Shield, but after so many years of practice, the speed of casting it could be said to be instantaneous.
The vines parasitic on his body had also been strengthened by the lightning after cultivating the Thundercloud Spirit Nurturing Technique for so many years. Not only was the attack power good, but it was also not weaker than ordinary defensive magic weapons when used as a wooden shield for defense.
Of course, he also had several spare defensive magic weapons in his hand, which could save his life at critical moments.
Finally, he also had a White Bird's Beast Soul Talisman in his hand, which could greatly increase his strength in a short time, and also had an escape speed comparable to the peak of the Golden Core stage. It could also be used to escape in critical moments.
With these methods, Zhang Ling asked himself that he would not have much fear in fighting any Golden Core cultivator.
...
Time passed quickly, and more than half a month passed in a blink of an eye.
On this day, a ray of light flashed across the sky above Ding Family Fortress. If a high-level cultivator released his divine sense, he would be able to find that the ray of light was a black flying boat about five or six feet in size.
The outside of the flying boat was covered with a layer of cyan light, and the speed was extremely fast. With a few flashes, it flew to the horizon. Although this treasure was a magic tool, it was much larger than ordinary flying magic tools, and the speed was close to the escape light of high-level cultivators.
At this moment, five cultivators were sitting cross-legged on the flying boat.
The leader was a middle-aged man with a mustache. This man was controlling the flying boat with his eyes slightly closed. The aura emanating from his body was also that of a late-stage Golden Core powerhouse.
Behind him were quietly sitting four disciples, two men and two women. The few people looked young, but their cultivation was not weak, all having the strength of the late stage of Foundation Establishment.
At the very back was a short-haired woman in black, who was stroking a cyan-blue Thunder Pearl with both hands. The other three were roughly the same, holding an identical Thunder Pearl in their hands.
The short-haired woman sometimes slightly opened her small mouth a few times, but no sound came out, as if she was transmitting a sound to someone.
The short-haired woman looked like the Ding family female cultivator who had taken Zhang Ling to see Ding Ruozhao before. This woman's original name was Ding Yingying. If someone familiar with her observed carefully, they would be able to find that this woman's expression seemed to have changed.
But at this time, none of the people on the flying boat spoke, and no one noticed the abnormality of the short-haired woman. And at this moment, the Ding Yingying sitting above was naturally not the original Ding Yingying, but Ding Ruozhao impersonating her. She was transmitting a sound to Zhang Ling.
"The person in front of you is the current acting head of the Ding family, Ding Yuan, who is also the cultivator surnamed Liu, Liu Yuan. After this person entered the Ding family, he changed his surname to Ding, but after the old family head died, he changed back to the Liu surname. Now we are going to a secret realm on this island, Thunder Mountain. Assisting the elder of the Qing Lei Sect in forming a Nascent Soul."
A middle-aged man in a blue robe sitting behind Liu Yuan was also staring at the Thunder Pearl in his hand, seemingly in a daze. This person's appearance was Ding Kun, but now it was naturally Zhang Ling disguised as him after taking the Reverse Spirit Pill.
More than ten days ago, Ding Ruozhao had secretly introduced him into the Ding family, gave him a Thunder Pearl, and a set of secret methods to refine the Thunder Pearl.
Originally, it would take more than half a month to refine the Thunder Pearl, but that was for Foundation Establishment cultivators. Zhang Ling only took three days to complete the refinement.
It was not because his cultivation was high, but because of the magical effect of the Reverse Spirit Pill, which temporarily converted 30% of the spiritual power in his body into thunder attribute spiritual power.
The Thunder Pearl could only be refined with thunder attribute spiritual power. His 30% spiritual power was naturally several times deeper than that of a Foundation Establishment cultivator. Of course, it was also thanks to his cultivation of the Thunder Essence Spirit Nurturing Technique, which condensed twelve Thunder Light Spells in his dantian. He was no stranger to thunder attribute spiritual power, so it was easier to refine the Thunder Pearl.
Ding Ruozhao had also roughly introduced him to the current situation of the Ding family.
Ding Kun was considered Liu Yuan's confidant, so he was able to get the opportunity to refine the Thunder Pearl.
According to Ding Ruozhao's explanation, the other two people sitting on the flying boat now, except for Ding Yingying, were also Liu Yuan's confidants.
Ding Yingying was able to get the opportunity to refine the Thunder Pearl because Ding Ruozhao returned to the Ding family and seized power from Liu Yuan.
After Ding Ruozhao returned to the Ding family, she learned about the Ding family's situation and also expressed her loyalty to the Qing Lei Sect. But before she returned, Liu Yuan had already offered the Ding family's inherited spirit beast, the Thunderfire Beast, to the sect.
Therefore, Liu Yuan was able to become the acting head of the Ding family without any scruples.
After all, offering a top-level spirit beast was a great achievement for the sect. Liu Yuan himself had also reached the late stage of the Golden Core, and was closer to the sect than the old family head of the Ding family.
The Qing Lei Sect was naturally very happy. On the surface, these immortal cultivation families depended on the sect, of course, for the sake of profit. The sect also took this opportunity to expand its power.
The relationship between the sect and the family can only be regarded as peaceful, mutually beneficial. In the end, these immortal cultivation families that depend on the sect all maintain a certain degree of independence, and do not completely belong to the sect.
If the sect loses power, it may immediately break away from the sect, or even turn against it.
Some of the power of the sect is in the hands of the immortal cultivation family, but this kind of thing is not common. It is often only possible when an ancestor of the Nascent Soul level appears in a family.
The Ding family's position in the Qing Lei Sect was quite special, because the Ding family was originally proficient in thunder attribute techniques. Depending on the Qing Lei Sect was also for better development.
The Thunderfire Beast, which took a lot of time to cultivate, was used not only to inherit and protect the family, but also for the disciples of the Ding family who joined the Qing Lei Sect to choose to cultivate the Qing Lei Sect's Blood Thunder Curse secret technique once their strength reached the Golden Core stage, also wanting to use this secret technique to break through to the Nascent Soul stage.
But now that Liu Yuan had offered the Thunderfire Beast to the sect, some members of the Ding family were naturally unhappy. This led to some people opposing Liu Yuan. Originally, these people were not strong, and Liu Yuan would be able to suppress them all soon with his own cultivation.
At this time, Ding Ruozhao happened to return to the family, and the Ding family disciples who did not submit to Liu Yuan had some confidence to fight against him. Now, the Ding family was split.
In order to stabilize the Ding family, the Qing Lei Sect would not allow the two to fight openly.
The Thunder Pearls originally allocated to the Ding family by the sect were four, and Ding Ruozhao and Liu Yuan each had the right to allocate two.
The young man named Ding Chen, who was killed by Zhang Ling more than ten days ago, was allocated one. But this person had his own plans, wanting to break away from the sect and the family, so he betrayed and escaped.
Moreover, Ding Chen was a collateral disciple of the Ding family who was biased towards Ding Ruozhao. Ding Ruozhao saw that Ding Chen had the thunder spirit root attribute and his cultivation was not weak. Therefore, she allocated one to him, wanting to win over some collateral disciples, so that she would have more confidence to deal with Liu Yuan in the future. She did not expect this person to betray.
That's why Ding Ruozhao discovered Zhang Ling's aura when she was searching for this person later.
The Qing Lei Sect was angry at the Ding family, and the missing Thunder Pearl was naturally made up by the Ding family. Therefore, the Ding family wasted a lot of resources to refine one, but the allocation right was not up to Ding Ruozhao alone. In the end, it was reallocated by Liu Yuan to a disciple.
That was the fat cultivator named Ding Wu sitting behind Zhang Ling at this time.
