Blood soaked the floor of the underground warehouse.

Ning Yao looked down at him arrogantly: "Kill me? You're not qualified."

He snatched the small gourd from his hand and held it in his own.

"What do you want to do with this person?"

Yun Xiang Nanshan was filled with boundless hatred: "Please help me cripple his skills, I want him to wish he were dead!"

Ning Yao said, "It's a small matter!"

Chen Sheng looked at the two people in front of him with a look of horror, just as Ning Yao was about to make a move.

He shouted immediately, "You can't touch me! I'm from the reclusive Ning family! If you harm me, the Ning family will not let you get away with it!"

Ning Yao stopped what she was doing, her eyes narrowing slightly: "What did you say?"

Yun Xiang and Nan Shan were equally taken aback. He was a member of the Ning family? How could that be!

Chen Sheng coughed twice and continued, "Didn't you ask me where this gourd came from? I suppose you know that the important thing isn't the gourd itself, but what's inside it, right?"

"This is the Ning family's heirloom. The patriarch passed it down to me, so don't you understand my identity? I am the future heir of the Ning family!"

Very few people know about the Ning family; Ning Yao is one, and Yun Xiang and Nan Shan are another.

If it were just Yun Xiang and Nan Shan, perhaps they wouldn't believe his nonsense.

But with Ning Yao there, she knew that the gourd contained the spiritual spring water. Regardless of whether Chen Sheng was a member of the Ning family or not, he at least had some connection with the Ning family.

However, he was wrong to use these to bargain with Ning Yao.

After hearing this, Ning Yao smiled innocently: "You are the successor of the Ning family, then who am I?"

The girl smiled innocently, but her hands didn't stop moving.

He channeled his spiritual energy into his meridians, instantly crippling his martial arts skills and destroying his years of cultivation in an instant.

The pain of abolishing internal energy with spiritual energy is different from others; that kind of pain penetrates deep into the soul.

Moreover, it is impossible to cure it and to cultivate internal energy again.

Unless the person who deposes him is willing, he will be a useless person for the rest of his life.

Chen Sheng was in so much pain that he almost fainted, but Ning Yao kept him alive and prevented him from passing out.

Watching himself become a cripple, unable to walk properly, Chen Sheng was on the verge of collapse.

"I am a member of the Ning family! How dare you treat me like this! If my eternal life lamp goes out, the Ning family will fight to the death, no matter where we are!"

Ning Yao picked at her ear: "So noisy!"

Just as he was about to seal his speech acupoint, he suddenly remembered something important.

"You claim to be a member of the Ning family, what proof do you have?"

"How about I give you a chance? Tell me the location of the Ning family, or how you can contact the family head, and I'll spare your life, okay?"

Chen Sheng's attitude changed, and he stopped answering no matter how Ning Yao asked.

Seeing this, Ning Yao stopped paying attention to him.

She won't say anything now, but one day she will bring her parents back.

Yun Xiang and Nan Shan watched from the side, feeling surprised and uncertain about Chen Sheng's words.

The Yunxiang clan and the Ning family have a great relationship. It can be said that the reason why the Yunxiang clan cannot leave Yunxiang City is because of the Ning family.

Now that he actually claims to be a member of the Ning family, Yun Xiangnan is both surprised and angry.

Ning Yao had already stopped.

"The person is in your hands now. Whether he lives or dies is up to you."

Yun Xiangnan was filled with doubt and surprise: "He just said he was from the Ning family..."

Ning Yao raised an eyebrow upon hearing this: "Do you believe him or me?"

Yun Xiangnan pursed her lips: "That's not what I meant, I was just worried..."

"Alright, even if what he said is true, so what? If the heir of the Ning family is like this, he might as well perish from this world sooner!"

Ning Yao looked disdainful. The Thousand Illusions Secret Realm was in her hands, and both her father, Ning Wenyi, and the Ning family patriarch, Ning Que Linyu, acknowledged her identity.

If this half-dead thing in front of you is a descendant of the Ning family, then what is she?

If we didn't go to the Ning family, that would be fine, but my father still wants to go back.

If that's the case, then she, as the daughter, cannot stand idly by.

As she left, Ning Yao glanced at the dead Taoist priest on the ground, a hint of disgust in her eyes.

"These two are yours to handle. Clean them up!"

In the evening, everyone who had temporarily moved to the city returned.

Hua Yan and Xiao Yuanhuai, who lived in the guest courtyard, also went together and returned together.

No one asked Ning Yao why she was sending them to the city to stay overnight.

Only Ning Wenyi mysteriously pulled Ning Yao aside.

"Honey, what happened?"

When Ning Yao saw him, she suddenly remembered: "Father, when we were in the Ning family, did you know a man named Chen Sheng? He was probably around thirty-eight or thirty-nine years old."

Ning Wenyi looked blank: "Chen Sheng? I don't know him."

"I arrested a guy who claimed to be the successor designated by the Ning family patriarch, and he also possesses the Ning family heirloom. Look, do you recognize this?"

Ning Yao took out the gourd and handed it to me.

Upon seeing the gourd, Ning Wenyi's expression changed drastically: "Where did that Chen Sheng take out?"

Seeing his reaction, Ning Yao nodded: "Yes, this man went to Yunxiang City to commit marriage fraud, lured the girl out and imprisoned her in a house in the city, creating the illusion of a haunted house."

"You've been in the city all day, you've probably heard some rumors, haven't you?"

Ning Wenyi frowned, his expression serious: "I've heard some of it, and it seems to be our family's house."

"But I don't know anything about those marriage scams you mentioned. After all, I've been away from the Ning family for a long time, and I haven't heard a word about this Chen Sheng you mentioned."

“If I remember correctly, this person is at least the same age as me, or older than me. The person you're talking about is younger than me, so he might have been born after I left, or he might have been adopted by the family head. But what I can confirm is that he comes from the Ning family, but he is definitely not a successor.”

"If he is the successor, then what are you?"

Ning Yao nodded: "Father and I are thinking the same thing. He might have stolen this gourd. It seems that there is some instability within the Ning family."

Ning Wenyi asked, "Since you're certain he's a member of the Ning family, did you ask him how he found the Ning family?"

“I asked him, but he wouldn’t tell me, so I crippled him and handed him over to the woman he had imprisoned.”

"Wait, you just said he was a marriage fraudster, and he was deceiving the people of Yunxiang City?"

"Yes, that woman lives in our house, so what?"

Ning Wenyi was silent for a while, then sighed deeply: "What a tragic fate! What a tragic fate!"

"Father, what's wrong?"

Ning Wenyi recounted in detail: "I left the Ning family when I was still young, and I only know a few words about the Ning family and the Yunxiang clan."

"I heard that the Ning family's ancestor had a wife named Yun Xiang. Later, for some reason, Yun Xiang left the Ning family, started her own household, and became her own lineage."

"It is said that our ancestor possessed unparalleled immortal techniques, countless celestial mushrooms, jade trees, and spiritual treasures, as well as profound insights into cultivation methods. As long as one comprehends the essence, one can achieve immortality."