Ning Zifeng rushed to Ning Fa's side, his face etched with anxiety.
He first placed his hand in front of Ning Fa's nose. Seeing that Ning Fa was still breathing, he let out a long sigh of relief.
Upon seeing the corpse of Ning Xilin lying on Ning Fa, Ning Zifeng couldn't help but show a somber expression. He gently moved Ning Xilin's body aside.
He then intended to move Ning Fa to a safer place further away, but looking at the bloodstains on Ning Fa's abdomen, he hesitated to act.
Meanwhile, inside Ning Fa's dantian, a fierce black magical energy was raging violently, scattering the magical energy within Ning Fa's dantian into disarray.
Immediately, this black magical energy expanded rapidly, on the verge of exploding and shattering Ning Fa's dantian.
At this critical juncture, the mysterious Thunder Rune Pattern appeared out of nowhere within Ning Fa's dantian.
As if threatened, its surface flashed with five-colored lightning. In just a short moment, the illusory parts of the circular Thunder Rune Pattern directly transformed from illusory to solid.
This circular Thunder Rune Pattern instantly became complete.
A five-colored spiritual light emanated from this pattern, instantly striking the invading black magical energy. The black magical energy was annihilated without any resistance.
The Thunder Rune Pattern then flickered, and the solidified parts began to revert to their illusory state.
Just then, Ning Fa's right arm felt a warmth, and the Mysterious Scroll flew out, hovering in the air.
A cluster of mysterious white runes on it flashed wildly. The same Thunder Rune Pattern appeared in an instant, and began to complete itself from incomplete to whole at an astonishing speed.
The speed was much faster than when Ning Fa had attempted it before.
Strangely, Ning Zifeng, standing nearby, showed no reaction to this astonishing phenomenon of the Mysterious Scroll, as if he couldn't see it at all.
Five breaths later, the Thunder Rune Pattern on the scroll finally appeared, now complete.
On it, numerous fine, varied five-colored thunder runes connected and intertwined, forming an unfathomably profound trajectory, as if containing the great principles of heaven and earth.
Having become complete, it seemed like the most perfect creation, exuding an aura of flawless perfection.
Subsequently, the complete Thunder Rune Pattern on the scroll transformed into a ball of white flowing light and flew directly into Ning Fa's abdomen.
At this moment, the Thunder Rune Pattern within Ning Fa's dantian had reverted to its previous incomplete state, flickering as if about to completely dissipate.
Just then, the mysterious ball of white flowing light arrived, directly merging into the incomplete Thunder Rune Pattern and enveloping it in a white glow.
Countless fine, five-colored runes danced around this white glow.
After an unknown amount of time, the white glow dissipated, and the Thunder Rune Pattern reappeared.
Now, it was no longer incomplete or illusory; it had finally become perfectly whole.
At this point, the surrounding spiritual energy began to stir, and barely visible thunder spiritual power surged towards Ning Fa.
Ning Fa seemed to have become a vortex on the sea's surface.
Suddenly, a five-colored spiritual light flashed across Ning Fa's body surface, repelling Ning Zifeng, who was inputting spiritual power to alleviate his injuries.
A mysterious five-colored spiritual mark, several inches in size, appeared on Ning Fa's forehead. It was the greatly reduced Thunder Rune Pattern, which then slowly faded away.
After an unknown period of time.
Ning Fa slowly woke up and found himself in a void.
Everything around was a hazy gray, with no sky and no earth, only endless nothingness.
Ning Fa found himself flying forward at extreme speed. He looked down and saw that beneath his feet was a peculiar place, seemingly a giant circular pattern of five colors.
It was formed by countless interweaving thunder runes of various shapes and forms, which shone with white, cyan, black, red, and yellow lightning.
These thunder runes flickered incessantly, emitting faint, low rumbling sounds, exuding an air of mystery.
Ning Fa realized with a start that this was the Thunder Rune Pattern that had appeared in his dantian.
Just then, he seemed to notice something and turned to look around. He saw that at the five corners of the edge of this massive Thunder Rune Pattern, strange objects had appeared.
These were a white long sword, a green tree, a black long river, a crimson fireball, and a small yellow mountain, respectively.
Ning Fa looked closer and was astonished to find that these five strange objects were actually formed from lightning of different colors and shapes. Although different, they all emitted a powerful sense of pressure.
Suddenly, the white long sword slashed a white lightning bolt towards Ning Fa. The green tree also flew out countless green leaves, which converged into streams of green lightning.
The other black long river, crimson fireball, and yellow mountain also emitted black, red, and yellow lightning, striking towards Ning Fa in the center.
Ning Fa was greatly alarmed and wanted to escape, but found that he couldn't move at all.
The five-colored lightning in the air converged into a five-colored lightning bolt shaped like a majestic dragon, emitting a terrifying power that seemed capable of destroying the heavens and the earth, and struck towards Ning Fa.
"Ah!"
Ning Fa cried out in terror.
He opened his eyes and found himself lying on a bed.
"It was just a dream!"
Ning Fa let out a long sigh of relief. The terrifying scene in his dream had left him with lingering fear.
He glanced around the room, which was about ten square meters in size. It contained simple furniture such as a table, chairs, and a wooden cabinet. A gentle breeze blew in from the open window, clearing Ning Fa's head considerably.
Ning Fa wondered where he was. This was not his home.
His mind couldn't help but recall past memories. He had a vague impression that after being hit by a magic orb, the Thunder Rune Pattern in his dantian had undergone a mysterious change.
Thinking of this, Ning Fa's expression shifted slightly. He felt as if his body had become different.
He could clearly feel waves of gentle breezes caressing his body, making him feel exceptionally comfortable.
His expression immediately changed. This wasn't a gentle breeze; it seemed like the surrounding spiritual energy was surging into his body, as if his body were a vortex.
Ning Fa was inwardly shocked. Just as he was about to examine his body, the door suddenly burst open, and Ning Zhengqian and Ning Zifeng rushed in.
Seeing Ning Fa awake, Ning Zhengqian couldn't help but exclaim with joy, "Xiao Fa, you're finally awake! That's wonderful!"
A smile also appeared on Ning Zifeng's honest face.
"How long was I unconscious?"
Ning Fa asked, startled by the hoarseness of his own voice.
"Xiao Fa, you've been asleep for ten days,"
Ning Zifeng said in a deep voice.
"What!"
Ning Fa was greatly surprised. His feeling was that he had only slept for a few hours at most, yet he had been unconscious for such a long time.
"What happened after the conflict that day? Were anyone else injured besides me? Where's Uncle Xilin? I remember he was right beside me at the time."
Ning Fa quickly asked, his face looking a little grim. He had a vague recollection that just before he completely lost consciousness, Uncle Xilin seemed to have lunged towards him.
Ning Zhengqian and Ning Zifeng exchanged a glance, remaining silent for a moment.
Ning Fa seemed to have guessed something, and his expression instantly turned extremely grim.
Ning Zhengqian sighed and said, "The rest of us only suffered minor injuries at most, but Xilin... alas, he's already gone."