Chapter 111 A Big Empty Dream
“Huh~~~”
Ning Daoran breathed a sigh of relief.
At the age of sixty, he was promoted to the middle stage of foundation building. This progress was neither fast nor slow.
If everything goes well, one will enter the late stage of foundation building at around the age of ninety.
The foundation must be established successfully before the age of one hundred and fifty, and then you can start planning to form the elixir.
Looking inward with his spiritual consciousness, he could see that his life span was extremely long at this moment.
Ning Daoran, who is at the fourteenth level of the Changqing Jue and in the foundation-building stage, has a lifespan of as much as five hundred and sixty years!
The years were long and there was no need for him to feel any sense of urgency.
As long as you don't seek death, promotion to the Golden Core Stage is basically a sure thing, so there is no need to rush into anything.
He slowly practiced the Breath-Containing Technique, and his external cultivation remained at the initial stage of foundation building.
It is a great fortune for a cultivator with ninth-grade spiritual roots to enter the foundation-building stage. Advancing too quickly is likely to arouse suspicion, so it is safest to stay in the early stage of foundation-building.
In the sect, most of the foundation-building elders are also in the early stage of foundation-building.
Moreover, more than half of the people will be stuck in the early stage of foundation building in their lifetime, so it is extremely normal for Ning Daoran not to break through.
“Ah~~~”
The big stupid deer came over with a happy expression, congratulating the eldest brother on his advancement to the middle stage of foundation building.
“It’s time to celebrate!”
Ning Daoran smiled slightly: "Old Deer, go kill two chickens, and I will personally cook a big plate of chicken for you tonight!"
The big stupid deer's tail was wagging wildly and its face was full of joy. It turned out to be a new dish and it had never heard of it before.
For a moment, Lingtian Courtyard No. 77 became busy again.
Ning Daoran made a fire and cooked, Chen Weimo washed rice and cooked, Dabenlu swung an axe and chopped wood, everything was filled with the flavor of life.
…
The next day.
Ning Daoran decided to go down the mountain to buy a batch of formation materials.
He planned to refine an additional Blood-Transforming Soul-Chasing Formation to hone his formation skills so as to avoid becoming rusty after a long time.
Moreover, the second-level killing formation such as the Blood-Transforming Soul-Chasing Formation can be considered a kind of foundation, and can be used to trade with others when necessary.
Afternoon, Huanglongfang Market.
Ning Daoran was wearing a dark blue outer sect elder's uniform, and his appearance still maintained that of an eighteen-year-old. It was a pity that he was unkempt, otherwise he would have looked extremely ethereal.
The big stupid deer has snow-white fur, and a pair of white jade-like horns on its head have gradually matured, making it look more and more like a fairy beast.
When two people walk on the street, they will easily attract other people's attention.
It is not uncommon to see great monks in the Foundation Establishment stage walking around in the Huanglong Market, but it is extremely rare to see a Foundation Establishment monk and a Foundation Establishment spirit beast parading together in the market.
"Fellow Daoist Ning."
In Qingxiefang, Chen Ping'er came out in a dark blue palace dress. This woman became more and more graceful and delicate, with affectionate eyes, and there was an indescribable charm in her.
He stepped forward, bowed, and said with a smile, "Are you coming to Qingxiefang this time to buy treasures, materials, or talismans?"
"Buy some formation materials."
Ning Daoran took out a list, which contained about one-fifth of the materials for the Blood-Transforming Soul-Chasing Formation.
As for the remaining 80%, they were purchased by a group of B-grade paper figures separately so as not to arouse suspicion.
"Okay, I will select the materials for you right away!"
Since he was an old customer, Chen Ping'er did not ask too many questions and immediately called the manager over and asked more than ten waiters to go and select the ingredients together.
After the payment and goods were settled, Ning Daoran left Qingxiefang.
There is a breeze blowing on the street.
"Old deer."
Ning Daoran suddenly tilted his head and said with a smile: "Why don't you go to the stall and have a look? Maybe you can really find a bargain this time!"
“Ahhhh~~~”
The big stupid deer has a pair of sharp eyes.
The eldest brother had given it a storage bag with quite a few spirit stones in it. With the spirit stones in hand, it had long wanted to try its luck.
"Let's go!"
The man and the deer crossed the bridge and headed towards the stall area.
After crossing two streets, there were endless stream of vendors on both sides of the road.
The stall area is not in the prime location of Huanglongfang City. Behind the stalls is no longer a store, but a lush green spiritual field.
There is also a spiritual vein underground in Huanglong Market. Although the quality is not high, the managers of the market have still opened up a number of spiritual fields, which are also rented to spiritual farmers to grow spiritual rice.
Ning Daoran took the big stupid deer and kept walking through the stalls of all sizes, scanning the various treasures with his spiritual sense, but found that there was really nothing decent in the stall area of the market.
Either it is a broken first-level magic weapon, or some inferior martial arts.
Or it could be a trick played by a sorcerer. It might be okay to fool those in the Qi Refining Stage, but someone like Ning Daoran who possesses divine awareness in the Foundation Establishment Stage could basically see through it at a glance.
Even when Ning Daoran looked at the goods, many vendors showed embarrassed expressions, fearing that their fake and inferior goods would anger this great foundation-building monk.
In the end, Ning Daoran shook his head.
"Old deer, there really is nothing left to be found. Let's go home."
“Ah~~”
The big stupid deer was also a little annoyed, but the next moment, it suddenly bit Ning Daoran's sleeve and made a howling sound.
"how?"
Ning Daoran was slightly stunned, and looked in the direction where the big stupid deer was pulling him.
Suddenly, he was stunned. He saw someone he hadn't seen for a long time——
Zhong Yan.
…
Back then, the woman who was in charge of taking care of Spiritual Field No. 80 on Qiongbi Peak had already grown old and lost her looks.
She was wearing a coarse cloth dress and her face was full of wrinkles. She didn't have any of the charm and elegance of a middle-aged woman in her past.
All in all, Zhong Yan is now over eighty years old.
For a cultivator in the early stage of Qi Refining, this is already the twilight years, and his life span is not much left.
What's more, Zhong Yan suffered a lot in her middle age and lost her two husbands, Xin Yan and Hong Ming.
Later, it is said that she even sold her body in the slum area in order to support her practice and life.
At this moment, Ning Daoran almost couldn't recognize Zhong Yan.
However, Zhong Yan recognized Ning Daoran at a glance.
Forty years later, he was still exactly the same as when he first arrived at Qiongbi Peak! What made Zhong Yan feel even more ashamed was that Ning Daoran was now a foundation-building cultivator, someone she could only look up to.
“…”
Ning Daoran glanced at Zhong Yan's simple stall, which was full of inferior things.
A broken first-grade low-quality talisman, a first-grade low-quality magic weapon broken into two pieces, and some so-called secret manuals of martial arts that were about to be torn apart.
All the things added together may not be worth a few spirit stones.
"It turned out to be Fellow Daoist Zhong..."
Ning Daoran bowed gently and said, "Long time no see."
"It's Ning... Senior Ning..."
There is no mistake in the poem, post, content, and read the book on 6, 9, and bar!
Zhong Yan gave a bitter smile.
"I haven't seen you for so many years. How are you, Brother Zhong?"
After asking this question, Ning Daoran immediately regretted it and cursed himself in his heart for asking a question even though he already knew the answer.
"As you have seen, how can we talk about whether it is good or not?"
Zhong Yan was not too embarrassed or bothered. She wiped her dirty face, forced a smile and said, "I... I rented a small piece of spiritual farm outside the market town, and I can earn some food and clothing by taking care of it.
This is not a place to talk, would you be willing to move to my humble abode for a gathering?"
Ning Daoran thought about it, nodded and said, "In that case, I will follow your instructions."
…
On the outskirts of the market town, there is a dilapidated house with leaking tiles.
Zhong Yan's residence seemed extremely simple. After she welcomed Ning Daoran and Dabenlu into the house, she made two cups of tea.
"Fellow Daoist Zhong."
Ning Daoran looked at her aging appearance and seemed to be hesitant to speak.
"Senior, you don't need to say anything."
Zhong Yan's mouth twitched for a moment, and she smiled bitterly, "Back then, Xin Yan and I became Taoist companions, seeking immortality together, but now looking back, I am left with endless regrets.
For people like me with inferior spiritual roots, the road to becoming an immortal is so bumpy. After going through so much hardship in this life, what have we gained in the end? "
She smiled sadly and said, "It turns out that cultivating immortals is just an empty dream, and it ends up being so ridiculous."
Ning Daoran frowned and remained silent.
"Senior...Fellow Daoist Ning..."
Zhong Yan said softly: "Xin Yan and I were actually very envious of you back then. You became a sect disciple at such a young age. Although your spiritual roots are not that good, your heart is firm.
But we never thought that you would have established your foundation in just twenty years... This kind of good fortune is something that people like me would never dare to dream of."
Her eyes were full of reverie as she said, "The immortal road is long and ethereal. Xin Yan and I can only walk a short distance. For more scenery in the distance, we can only ask Brother Ning to see it for us old friends..."
Ning Daoran had mixed feelings, but still didn't say anything.
"Daoyou."
Zhong Yan said softly, "My tea... doesn't taste good. If you have nothing else to do, please go ahead."
"Um."
Ning Daoran stood up and turned away with the big stupid deer.
Zhong Yan didn't say anything either. She just watched Ning Daoran's back getting farther and farther away, her eyes filled with tears.
"Fellow Daoist Zhong."
Ning Daoran suddenly turned around and said, "It is said that the two Lingnan demons who killed Daoist Xin back then are now entrenched in the Black Wind Village area. Daoist, are you still grudged against them?"
"yes!"
Zhong Yan's eyes became slightly ferocious: "I wish I could cut these two thieves into pieces!"
"In that case, leave it to Ning."
Ning Daoran nodded and turned away.
…
late at night.
The Black Wind Village was ablaze with flames.
After dawn.
When Zhong Yan opened the door, she found two bloody human heads in front of the door.
These two were the heads of the Lingnan Twin Demons! Both of them were Qi-refining Perfection Tribulation Cultivators, and were notorious in the Qi-refining circle in the Huanglong Mountains.
However, the two brothers were extremely skilled and had top-grade magical weapons to protect themselves, so the Qi Refining cultivators dared to be angry but not say anything against them.
I also heard that the two demons from Lingnan attacked Black Wind Village, seized the village by brutal means, and proclaimed themselves the masters of Black Wind Village.
Originally, Zhong Yan thought that she would never have the chance to avenge Xin Yan in this lifetime.
But he never thought that these two heads would be placed right in front of him.
She naturally knew who killed the Lingnan Twin Demons.
After a moment, Zhong Yan slowly knelt on the ground, looking up at the sky with tears in her eyes.
"Husband, did you see that? Fellow Daoist Ning avenged you!"
…
Among the clouds.
Ning Daoran looked disdainfully and indifferently at Zhong Yan crying below.
"Old deer."
He frowned and said, "From now on, the cause and effect between us and fellow Daoist Zhong Yan will be completely resolved."
“Ah~~”
The big stupid deer nudged his shoulder with its head.
In fact, Ning Daoran did not make any move when killing the two Lingnan demons. It was all done by the big stupid deer. After a few streaks of ice and flames, two heads flew into the air. It took no effort at all.
"alright!"
Ning Daoran raised his sword-like eyebrows and said, "Return to the mountain and continue to practice. There is no need to look back at where the old friends have gone. You and I still have a long way to go in the path of cultivation!"
(End of this chapter)