Chapter 658: Zhang Family’s Attraction

Time flies, and three years have passed in the blink of an eye.

This year, Ning Daoran was 465 years old. If he was in the Jindan stage, he would have been an old man, but he was in the Yuanying stage and had a long lifespan, so he still looked like a young man.

Within three years, the Dragon Demon Heart Sutra has improved a lot again. Although it has not been able to break through the level, it has made a lot of progress.

In addition, the strength of the magic power in the body is becoming more and more profound. These are the foundations that require time to refine and cannot be rushed.

"Young Master..."

Xiaobai stepped into the Lingpu Cave Heaven, bowed, and said with a smile: "Master, have you come out of seclusion?"

"Exactly."

Ning Daoran nodded and said, "Did anything happen during my retreat?"

"Nothing happened, but quite a few people came to visit."

"Oh, who is it?"

"Huang Xianyu, Zhang Qinghe, and Chen Ningfeng, they all came before, but the young master was concentrating on his retreat, so I didn't disturb them and rejected them all."

"Um."

Ning Daoran smiled and said, "Chen Ningfeng must have come here to ask about formations. As for Huang Xianyu and Zhang Qinghe... I can't guess what it is about. By the way, have you accepted the formation business?"

"Exactly."

Xiao Bai took out a book and said with a smile, "Many of the commissions for refining formations have been postponed for two years. There are more than twenty formations that need to be refined. What do you think, young master?"

"Refine the formation first, making money is more important!"

Ning Daoran groaned and said, "I'll start refining now."

"good!"

So, he started making money as soon as he got out of customs.

…

A few days later, Huang Xianyu came to visit.

"Ning Keqing!"

With the sound of footsteps, Huang Xianyu strode into the cave with big strides, even feeling a little smug.

Ning Daoran naturally knew the reason. At this moment, Huang Xianyu's cultivation had reached the middle stage of the Nascent Soul! That's right, he had actually broken through in three years! "Congratulations, fellow Daoist, on breaking through!"

Ning Daoran clasped his fists and smiled: "Congratulations!"

"It's all thanks to Ning Keqing's help!"

Huang Xianyu said excitedly, "For the past three years, I have followed the advice of Mr. Ning and practiced the Divine Fire Art again. As expected, the blockages that appeared before have been eliminated one by one. In less than three years, the Divine Fire Art that I have cultivated for hundreds of years has finally been perfected. With the perfection of the Divine Fire Art, my cultivation has naturally advanced to the middle stage of the Nascent Soul!"

As he spoke, Huang Xianyu excitedly took out a jar of spirit wine from his storage bag and said with a smile: "This is the best Fire God Wine. There are only a few jars in the entire Fire God Sect. I have gone through many vicissitudes and tried every possible way to finally get a jar. I give it to Guest Ning as a thank you gift. I hope you will not refuse it!"

"Um."

Ning Daoran nodded and said with a smile: "I must accept this jar of Fire God Wine, otherwise I would be rejecting your kindness!"

As he spoke, he stretched out his hand and put the jar of top-grade Fire God Wine into his storage ring, placing it together with the ten jars of top-grade Fire God Wine.

Next, Huang Xianyu talked about some things about the Divine Fire Art.

In fact, his breakthrough was very normal. After all, Huang Xianyu had not been too slack in his practice over the years, and he had already accumulated enough foundation. It was just that he took the wrong path in the practice of the Divine Fire Art.

This is like a ditch that has been dug, but the drainage fails, causing the water for irrigating the ditch to be blocked and unable to enter. Therefore, when the Divine Fire Art is promoted to perfection, the spiritual power cleanses and irrigates the body, and breaking through to the middle stage of the Nascent Soul is a natural thing.

Even if Huang Xianyu is diligent enough and can further cultivate the Divine Fire Art to perfection within a few decades, it is not impossible for him to advance to the late Nascent Soul stage.

It is also because of this that it is understandable why Huang Xianyu was so excited and happy.

Ning Daoran once again pointed out some things about the Divine Fire Art, but not much. After all, he had never practiced it, so all his corrections came from the principle of learning by analogy and applying what he had learned to other similar situations from the Nine Yang Furnace Divine Art.

He really wanted to help Huang Xianyu break through. After all, Ning Daoran had also been called a waste and had experienced many humiliations. He could understand Huang Xianyu's state of mind.

Unfortunately, the Divine Fire Art is not passed on to outsiders, and guests are not qualified to practice it. Unless Ning Daoran is willing to truly join the Divine Fire Sect and serve as an elder or become a true disciple, it is not very realistic.

…

After Huang Xianyu left, Ning Daoran continued to refine the formation.

Now his attainments in the art of formations are so high that he can refine formations at a very fast speed. Perhaps it is because he is too proficient, a third-grade top-quality formation can often be refined in half a day. If other formation masters knew about this, they would probably be in a state of panic.

In a blink of an eye, several days passed and someone came to visit again.

The person who came to visit this time turned out to be the guest elder of the Divine Fire Sect, Zhang Qinghe.

Zhang Qinghe's status in the Divine Fire Sect is very special. He is not only a guest elder, but also the Taoist partner of the sect leader, Long Xian'er. Ever since the two of them became Taoist partners, all major matters of the Divine Fire Sect have been discussed and decided by the two of them.

Moreover, Long Xian'er has a gentle personality and is deeply in love with Zhang Qinghe. She also has higher aspirations for her own cultivation, so she often goes into seclusion and leaves all the important matters of the sect to Zhang Qinghe.

Therefore, there is a consensus in the Divine Fire Sect that cannot be made public, that is, although Zhang Qinghe is a guest elder, he is no different from the supreme elder. In the Divine Fire Sect, he is the emperor, who can act arbitrarily.

It is precisely because of this that in recent years, a large number of resources of the Divine Fire Sect have been poured into disciples with the surname Zhang. In addition, the generation of disciples with the surname Long has been really disappointing, so that now half of the upper echelons of the Divine Fire Sect are named Zhang, and five out of the six true disciples are named Zhang. There is only one disciple with the surname Long, Long Jiuyu, and he has a fiery temper, so it is difficult for him to achieve great things.

In short, Ning Daoran’s impression of this guest elder... was extremely average!

“Swish!”

The restrictions of the cave were lifted, Ning Daoran clasped his fists and smiled: "Ning respectfully welcomes Fellow Daoist Zhang!"

"Keqing Ning, long time no see!"

Zhang Qinghe also clasped his fists and said, "I hope I am not disturbing you by coming to visit you."

"No, please come in and have a look at the tea!"

"Thank you!"

The two sat down in the pavilion and Xiaobai began to make tea.

Soon after, the fragrance of Fengxue Spirit Tea spread, and even a great cultivator like Zhang Qinghe couldn't help but sniff it and exclaimed: "Good tea, Mr. Ning is indeed an elegant person."

"Of course, Ning has always been elegant."

Someone said shamelessly.

The latest novel is published first on Liu9shuba!

It seemed that facing this guest elder, Ning Daoran was too lazy to tell the truth, let alone show any sincerity.

"Friend Zhang, are you here this time for..."

Ning Daoran smiled slightly: "The misunderstanding three years ago?"

“Ahem…”

Zhang Qinghe said, "This bad disciple has been taught many times but has never changed. He is so stubborn that he offended Fellow Daoist Ning... This time, I came to visit him with the intention of apologizing. As for Zhang Naiqian... His talent is second to none in the Divine Fire Sect, but he is too arrogant and looks down on others, so he has offended many people. I have scolded him many times, but he still has not changed. It is really annoying."

He clasped his fists lightly: "As his master, I will apologize to Mr. Ning on his behalf!"

"Fellow Daoist Zhang, there is no need to be like this. It's just a small misunderstanding."

Ning Daoran sneered in his heart. If he really wanted to come and apologize, he should at least bring that bad disciple with him. Zhang Qinghe really thought he was a fool. Or, in other words, Zhang Qinghe had no respect for him as a guest official, and acted as if he was using his power to oppress others.

"I won't hide it from you, Daoist Zhang."

Ning Daoran said, "Although I look young, it's actually because I took a pill of Guyan Pill when I was young. In fact, I'm nearly 500 years old, several hundred years older than your disciple Zhang Naiqian. I understand the feeling of youthful vigor. Young people, if they don't have vigor, how can they be called young people? Daoist friend, don't you think this is the case?"

"That's right."

Zhang Qinghe agreed immediately and said with a smile, "I am so pleased that Mr. Ning can say that!"

"It should be. It should be."

Ning Daoran pretended to be accommodating and spoke in a very perfunctory manner.

“Ahem…”

Zhang Qinghe continued, "Actually, the reason I came to visit you this time is because I have another matter I want to discuss with Mr. Ning."

"oh?"

Ning Daoran was surprised: "I wonder if you have anything else to say?"

"It's about conferring the title of Peak Master."

"Appoint the Peak Master?" This time Ning Daoran was really stunned.

"Exactly!"

Zhang Qinghe said, "There are six inner peaks of the Divine Fire Sect, namely, Shenxiao Peak, Shenlu Peak, Shenhan Peak, Huoyun Peak, Huolin Peak, and Huoyang Peak. The previous peak master of Huoyun Peak, Junior Brother Zhang Qingyang, retired and returned to his hometown to become a wealthy man, so the position of the peak master of Huoyun Peak has been vacant."

He smiled calmly, "I have looked through all the Yuanying stage people in the sect, and I found that Guest Ning is the most qualified person in terms of both cultivation and seniority. If you are willing, I can make the decision and let you take charge of Huoyun Peak as a guest and serve as the peak master of Huoyun Peak. What do you think?"

Ning Daoran was confused.

Zhang Qinghe actually said that he was the most qualified in terms of both cultivation and experience, but he had just come to the Divine Fire Sect not long ago, so how could he have so little experience? This old man must have bad intentions.

“Ahem…”

Ning Daoran said: "How can I dare to usurp the position of Peak Master?"

"Ning Keqing is too modest."

Zhang Qinghe said, "Guest Ning was able to put my inferior disciple at a disadvantage and even injure him within thirty moves. This shows that Ning Daoran has extraordinary combat power and profound background. It is a bit of a waste of his talent to be the master of a mere Fire Cloud Peak. However, I also have some selfish motives of my own."

"What's your selfish motive?"

"I have a nephew named Zhang Huaiyu, who is one of the inner disciples of Huoyun Peak."

Zhang Qinghe said: "Zhang Huaiyu is a lucky kid. He was born with a second-grade fire spirit root, which can be considered as a heavenly spirit root. If Ning Keqing becomes the master of Huoyun Peak, I hope that Ning Keqing can become Zhang Huaiyu's master. In this way, you and I will be a family. After that, I will strongly recommend Ning Keqing to serve as the right protector of the Divine Fire Sect. By then... Ning Keqing doesn't have to pass any tests at all to obtain the qualification to practice in Lieyang Tianyuan!"

Ning Daoran narrowed his eyes.

So that's how it is. Zhang Qinghe said so much just to win me over and make me the master of the Zhang family disciples. Then, he would become a guest official of the Zhang family and fight against the Long family forces of the Divine Fire Sect!

My goodness, this opportunistic old guy has already set his sights on me!

(End of this chapter)