Nine months passed again.
On this day, Ning Zhongjiu arrived at Small Bamboo Island once more.
He was in the same pavilion.
Ning Zhongjiu looked at the ten pill bottles placed on the stone table.
Each bottle contained two pills that resembled jade, which were the Jade Dragon Pills.
Even the composed Ning Zhongjiu couldn't help but laugh heartily at this moment.
He looked at Ning Fa, not hiding the admiration in his eyes, and said with a smile, "Xiao Fa, you truly are a genius in alchemy. In just two years, you not only fully mastered the Jade Dragon Pill but have now stabilized its success rate at fifty percent. Having you is truly a blessing for the family."
Facing Ning Zhongjiu's high praise, Ning Fa smiled and responded, neither humble nor arrogant.
Ning Zhongjiu then looked at Liu Qinghui, who was standing quietly beside them, and said with a softened expression, "Qinghui, you've also done well. You've recently managed to achieve a thirty percent success rate with the Jade Dragon Pill. It seems Ning Fa hasn't been stingy and has shared his refining experience with you. You should thank him."
Liu Qinghui lightly nodded her head, turned to look at Ning Fa, and thanked him softly.
Ning Fa's smile instantly became a little stiff.
He knew himself best; he hadn't shared his refining experience with Liu Qinghui at all.
After all, this matter involved a scroll. He couldn't just tell Liu Qinghui that the pill recipe had problems and needed to be refined in his own way.
In other words, Liu Qinghui had completely relied on that problematic pill recipe.
She had mastered the Jade Dragon Pill and achieved a thirty percent success rate.
This was truly unbelievable.
This made Ning Fa think of that half piece of Jade Pendant again, and he guessed that it might have been the Jade Pendant's help.
However, Liu Qinghui didn't reveal the truth. Instead, she went along with Ning Zhongjiu's words, creating the impression that it was all Ning Fa's teaching.
Ning Fa was momentarily unable to fathom this woman's intentions.
At this moment, Ning Zhongjiu looked at Ning Fa with bright eyes.
He praised, "Xiao Fa, I didn't expect you to make such great progress not only in refining the Jade Dragon Pill but also in your cultivation. In such a short time, you've advanced from the fifth level of Qi Condensation to the sixth level."
"Moreover, judging by your robust aura, your magical power likely surpasses that of ordinary late-stage Qi Condensation cultivators. The Primordial Thunder Art is indeed a Mystic Grade High Rank technique; it's truly extraordinary."
Ning Fa said humbly, "Third Elder, you flatter me. It's merely luck, especially with the abundant spiritual energy here and the ample supply of pills."
Although he called it luck, it wasn't luck at all.
In the past two years, alchemy had only taken up a small portion of his time; most of his time was dedicated to cultivation.
Because of his Great Five Elements Thunder Body and the Ancient Source Thunder Scripture, his progress in the magical cultivation part was rapid.
As for the body-refining part, which had been limiting him, with the continuous supply of Spiritual Materials from Wei Shiqin, he had been refining the Nine Revolutions Purple Yuan Powder to aid his body cultivation.
Therefore, his body-refining progress had also been quite swift, allowing him to advance another small stage in such a short period.
The next step would be to break through to the late stage of Qi Condensation.
His overall strength had also increased significantly.
If he were to go all out now, Ning Zonglie wouldn't be able to last more than a few moves.
Liu Qinghui, standing beside them, also watched Ning Fa quietly.
There was a hint of disbelief in her beautiful eyes.
She couldn't understand how Ning Fa could improve his cultivation so quickly while also making such rapid progress in refining the Jade Dragon Pill.
Ning Zhongjiu glanced at Ning Fa again and suddenly asked, "Are you also cultivating a body-refining technique?"
Ning Fa's mind raced. He knew that the robustness of his blood and qi would be difficult to hide from the eyes of a Foundation Establishment cultivator.
However, he had already prepared his explanation and said with a calm expression, "Yes, I obtained a Mysterious Grade Low-tier body-refining technique at Tianshui Market some time ago and have been cultivating it when I had the chance."
Ning Zhongjiu said with a half-smile, "Cultivating when you had the chance? But judging by the vigor of your blood and qi, even dedicated body cultivators of the same level would find it hard to match you."
Seeing Ning Fa about to speak, Ning Zhongjiu waved his hand. "Don't worry, I was just asking out of curiosity. Which of us cultivators who have achieved success doesn't have some fortunate encounters?"
After speaking, Ning Zhongjiu suddenly changed the topic and asked, "I heard you've officially registered for the Heir Competition and will be representing your branch lineage?"
Ning Fa calmly nodded.
The atmosphere suddenly fell silent.
A strange look flashed in Liu Qinghui's eyes as she stood with her head bowed.
She knew very well that this Heir Competition was a deep thorn in the relationship between Ning Fa and the Third Elder.
Back then, Ning Fa's father, Ning Zhiyuan, had a good chance of securing a spot in the direct lineage in the previous competition.
It was only because Ning Jiannan, Ning Zhiyuan's opponent at the time, had obtained two extremely powerful Top-grade Magic Artifacts from Ning Zhongjiu that he narrowly defeated Ning Zhiyuan.
Now, with the Heir Competition being held again, Ning Fa had registered to participate.
Clearly, he intended to make up for his father's regret.
This exposed the thorn in the relationship between Ning Fa and Ning Zhongjiu.
If it were in the past, Ning Zhongjiu might not have cared at all.
However, with the potential Ning Fa currently displayed, both in cultivation and alchemy, he was truly remarkable.
This caused the family's higher-ups to pay renewed attention to Ning Fa.
It also meant Ning Zhongjiu could not afford to ignore him.
Ning Zhongjiu fell silent for a moment, then suddenly extended his right hand.
A black light flashed in his hand, and a pair of small, black gauntlets appeared.
The gauntlets were covered in spikes, exuding a special aesthetic beauty amidst their ferocity, with black flowing light flashing as if breathing.
An extremely powerful spiritual pressure emanated from these gauntlets.
They had reached the Top-grade Magic Artifact level.
Ning Zhongjiu said indifferently, "Few people know that I am actually a body cultivator. These Obsidian Gauntlets have been with me for many years, helping me kill numerous powerful enemies. I shall give them to you now, hoping they will help you achieve good results in this competition."
Ning Fa was taken aback.
He hadn't expected Ning Zhongjiu to gift him treasures again.
But this time, the significance was clearly different from when he was given the Azure Condensation Treasure Mirror.
That time, it was mainly a reward for his outstanding alchemy talent.
This time, it was very obvious.
Last time, Ning Zhongjiu had gifted a treasure to Ning Jiannan.
Now, he was gifting one to Ning Fa.
Ning Zhongjiu was clearly trying to compensate for the previous defeat of his father, Ning Zhiyuan.
Ning Fa was silent for a moment, then accepted the pair of black gauntlets. "Thank you, Third Elder."
Ning Zhongjiu's expression softened, and a smile appeared on his face.
He then said, "Since you are participating in the preparations for the Heir Competition, the matter of refining the Jade Dragon Pill will be temporarily handed over to Qinghui."
He paused, then continued calmly, "Given your excellent alchemy performance, I will report to the family elders' council upon my return, and your Pill Master rank will be directly promoted to Quasi-Second-grade Pill Master. You will also be appointed deputy head of the Pill Hall, at the same level as Wei Chengzong. The official appointment will be issued soon."
As soon as these words were spoken, Ning Fa and Liu Qinghui were both astonished.
Liu Qinghui looked at Ning Zhongjiu in shock, clearly not expecting him to elevate Ning Fa's status so highly.
He had directly skipped the First-grade High-rank Pill Master level, promoted him to Quasi-Second-grade Pill Master, and even appointed him deputy head!
Did Ning Zhongjiu not know that Ning Fa was part of the Second Elder's faction?
At this moment, Liu Qinghui's eyes flickered, and a possibility suddenly occurred to her.
Could it be that Ning Zhongjiu was trying to win Ning Fa over with this?
Ning Fa also instantly thought of this possibility.
However, facing the olive branch extended by Ning Zhongjiu, he could not refuse. He immediately thanked him, "Thank you, Third Elder. I will definitely work hard in the future!"
A smile appeared on Ning Zhongjiu's face, and then he transformed into a beam of light and swiftly flew away.