Chapter 63: The Tai Shu Family

  "My name is Ning Cheng. I just arrived here." Ning Cheng clenched his fist, without saying that he had come from Pingzhou through the Da'an Forest.

  "Indeed, this place is not bad. I've been training here for half a year and have gained a lot. However, going deeper in would be unwise. Firstly, I'm afraid of getting lost, and secondly, being alone makes me a bit vulnerable. Brother Ning's arrival at the Great Peace Forest must mean you're also one of us."

  Ning Cheng immediately understood Tai Shu Shi's meaning, it turned out that he wanted to venture into the Great Ancestor Forest to find opportunities, but his strength was slightly inferior, and he also wanted to find someone to team up with. Seeing that Ning Cheng was also training on the edge of the Great Ancestor Forest, he came to find him.

  Ning Cheng stayed in the Da'an Forest for several months, deeply aware of the dangers within. He knew the safe routes and had walked them for months before coming out. Once lost, it wouldn't be a good thing. Moreover, Ning Cheng also knew that there were not many good things in the Da'an Forest. Compared to the danger, this adventure was not worth it.

  He smiled and said, "I don't know if Uncle Tai wants to temper himself or find some high-grade spiritual herbs. If it's the latter, I advise Uncle Tai to change places early. This Daxian Forest is also somewhat familiar to me, and although there are high-grade spiritual herbs inside, they are extremely rare and may not even be encountered once a year. Uncle Tai has been staying in this area for nearly half a year, so he should be very clear about it."

  "If Uncle wants to temper himself, he doesn't need to go deep into the Great Ancestor Forest at all. Just being on the edge will achieve the effect."

  Uncle Shi listened to Ning Cheng's words and slapped his forehead, saying, "Ah, I didn't think of that. I've been here for half a year, and the highest level of spiritual grass is only second-grade. It's really not necessary to continue staying here. As for training, I'm already fed up with fighting these brainless low-level demon beasts. Although I need a large quantity of these low-level spiritual grasses, it doesn't necessarily mean I have to stay in the Great Ancestor Forest."

  "Do you need a large amount of low-grade spiritual grass? Are you an alchemist?" Ning Cheng asked in puzzlement, he now knew that not all those who refined pills were called pill masters. Only those who could refine elixirs could be called pill masters, while those who couldn't refine elixirs but only spiritual liquids and pill pellets were called alchemists.

  Tai Shu Shi didn't look very old, so it was impossible for him to be an alchemist. Therefore, when Ning Cheng heard that he needed a large amount of spiritual grass, he thought he was a medicine refiner.

  Tai Shu Shi smiled proudly, "Ning brother, you underestimate me. I am a first-class Dan Master without any discount, and I have already grasped the method to refine second-class Dan."

  Ning Cheng had heard people say that alchemy was difficult more than once, and the ones who said it were all somewhat experienced. Whether it was Fang Yijian or that old woman, they all spoke in unison. Fang Yijian was a bit better off, only saying that alchemy was difficult. But that old woman not only said that alchemy was difficult, but also said that alchemy was a minor path.

  Ning Cheng was just thinking of refining the Cong True Pill when he met a pill refiner, and immediately had the idea to inquire about it. Even if his uncle Shi couldn't refine the Dan medicine he wanted, the other party would definitely have more contact with people in this field than him.

  Ning Cheng hastily asked, "Elder Uncle, I often hear people mention the name 'Fan Dan Shi', but I don't know what it means. Can you please enlighten me?"

  Tai Shu Shi listened to Ning Cheng's inquiry, looked him up and down with some doubt, before asking, "Could it be that Brother Ning is not from Yuan Zhou, but rather came through the Da'an Forest?"

  Ning Cheng's uncle, Tai Shu Shi, was quite sharp and didn't hide the truth. "That's right, I've been lucky and it took me several months to get through the Da'an Forest."

  Ning Cheng's words were simple, but Uncle Shi's heart was shocked and turbulent. He had almost been killed several times on the edge of the Great An Forest. Ning Cheng was able to pass through the Great An Forest, which was simply too impressive. Moreover, Ning Cheng said that passing through the Great An Forest was as easy as eating and drinking water, but in fact, it definitely wasn't like that. No one could rely on luck to pass through the Great An Forest. From this, we can see that Ning Cheng is not a person who likes to show off or brag. This kind of person has a calm and steady heart, and must have a bright future ahead.

  He thought of his own pride in being able to refine elixirs earlier, and Tai Shu Shi felt ashamed, while at the same time having a mind to make friends with Ning Cheng.

  "It turns out that's how it is. Brother Ning actually came from Pingzhou. The spiritual energy in Pingzhou is the most scarce, and many things haven't been spread around, so not knowing is also normal."

  After calming down his shocked emotions, Tai Shu Shi explained in detail, "Actually, the alchemists on the continent of Yi Xing are divided into mortal pill masters, true pill masters, mysterious pill masters, earth pill grandmasters, and heavenly pill sect masters. The levels of pills are also divided from one to nine, those who can refine first and second level pills are just mortal pill masters, those who can refine third and fourth level pills are true pill masters, and those who can refine fifth and sixth level pills are mysterious pill masters. Only those who can refine seventh and eighth level pills can be called earth pill grandmasters, as for those who can refine ninth level and above pills, they are heavenly pill sect masters."

  After listening to Tai Shu Shi's words, Ning Cheng finally understood that those spiritual liquids and dan pills were actually useless.

  "Tai Shu Xiong, how many Tian Dan sect masters are there on the continent of Yi Xing? I suppose it shouldn't be too many?" Ning Cheng asked again.

  "Actually, I'm not very clear about it either," said Tai Shu with a bitter smile. "But I can be sure that even if there are Tian Dan sect masters, there would only be one or two at most, and it's not worth mentioning."

  Ning Cheng suddenly thought of a question he had grasped when he was talking to the old woman and Fang Yi Jian, and immediately asked again, "Uncle Ta, I heard that in the low-level continent's gong fa, very few Qi gathering cultivators have their divine sense extending outward. Alchemy requires strong divine sense, Uncle Ta, how do you refine dan?"

  "Uncle Tai stared blankly at Ning Cheng for a while before saying, 'I finally understand why Brother Ning can pass through the Great Ancestor Forest. It turns out that Brother Ning and I are fellow travelers.'"

  When Ning City was about to speak, Uncle Shi raised his hand to stop Ning City's words and continued, "I'm sure Brother Ning is not cultivating a simplified technique. In fact, this is no secret. In high-level continents, even in mid-level continents, the techniques cultivated by cultivators are mostly complete techniques, that is, from the first layer of gathering energy, they must start cultivating their spiritual mind. After the fourth layer of gathering energy, they can fly with swords. When they reach the condensation stage, a sea of consciousness will form, and the spiritual mind will also become spiritual consciousness. It's not like what's usually said in low-level continents that you need to build a yuan boundary before you can have a sea of consciousness."

  Tai Shu smiled self-deprecatingly and said, "I suppose Ning brother is like me, we both cultivate complete techniques and have our divine sense extended outward."

  Ning Cheng thought this was his secret, but he didn't think that anyone in Yangzhou could know about it. He asked even more puzzled, "Does everyone in Yangzhou know about this?"

  "Everyone knows that, how is it possible? However, some people do know, but everyone's spiritual energy resources are very scarce. To advance, they have no choice but to cultivate low-level techniques. Don't look down on a low-level cultivator who has reached the Condensed Reality stage, if he were to go to a high-level continent, he might not even be able to defeat a talented Qi Gathering cultivator, this is a fact, and no one can change it."

  As expected, Ning Cheng also looked somewhat downcast. With his current cultivation, being able to reach the Transformation Realm was already quite impressive, but wanting to go to the Middle Realm would undoubtedly be even more difficult.

  "Brother Ning can pass through the Da'an Forest, he must have the same thoughts as me, always thinking that one day we can go to Zhongji Zhou. Unfortunately, although we understand this truth, the spiritual energy here is really not enough to allow us to advance to a higher level. Without the protection of Xuan Dan or above cultivators, wanting to go to Zhongji Zhou is simply a fantasy." Taishu Shi didn't know whether he was persuading Ning Cheng or comforting himself.

  Ning Cheng quickly cast aside these distracting thoughts. Who would have thought that he could cultivate to the 9th layer of Qi Accumulation? He had done it anyway. As for what would happen in the future, who could say clearly?

  "Second Uncle, I heard your tone of voice earlier, it seems that there are other continents outside of Yixing Continent?" Ning Cheng had been wanting to ask this question for a long time, he really wanted to know if the Earth was another continent relative to Yixing Continent.

  "That's right, the Yi Xing continent is just one plane of the entire Chaos Universe. In the Chaos Universe, there are countless planes, some of which can be traversed through cultivation, while others cannot be traversed no matter how hard you cultivate. Or rather, if your cultivation hasn't reached an extremely terrifying level, it's impossible to cross between planes." Ta Shu Shi's tone also became solemn when he mentioned the countless planes.

  Ning Cheng didn't understand any of this, but after listening to Tai Shu Shi's words, his heart also sank. Tai Shu Shi's meaning was that he would never be able to return to Earth again.

  "Uncle Tai, how do you know all this? Is it that all the monks on the island are aware of these principles?" Ning Cheng knew that Uncle Tai had no reason to deceive him, but he still harbored some hope in his heart, wishing that he could be an exception.

  "Uncle Shi shook his head and said, 'I and Brother Ning are like old friends at first sight. I feel that Brother Ning is a person worth befriending. In fact, the cultivation method I practice is from my uncle's family. My uncle's family appeared on the high-level continent of Leizhou in the Yixing Continent thousands of years ago. Later, our ancestors left Leizhou to find their way back. After our ancestors left, my uncle's family gradually declined. Until today, only I am left, drifting to a low-level continent like Yan Zhou.'"

  Tai Shu's tone was despondent, clearly with a lingering sense of discontent.

  Ning Cheng's heart was racing with excitement. Tai Shu Shi's ancestor could traverse dimensions, an absolute top-notch ability among the greats. Would he be able to achieve this in the future as well?

  Ning Cheng didn't even notice Tai Shu Shi's desolation, and asked hastily, "Tai Shu brother, your ancestor must have been a brilliant and talented person. Is the Gong Fa of your Tai Shu family also passed down from that ancestor?"

  Ning Cheng originally wanted to ask if there were any records of his ancestors crossing the dimensional planes, but thinking that their relationship wasn't very deep, asking this question seemed a bit abrupt. He decided to slowly steer the conversation towards this topic.

  Listening to Ning City talk about his ancestors, Taishu's face immediately showed an extremely proud expression. "My ancestor was named Taishu Yi. According to the tradition of my family, when my ancestor accidentally crossed the dimensional plane and fell onto the Yixing continent, his cultivation had already been reduced to only one billionth of what it originally was. But even so, the strongest person on the entire Yixing continent was like an ant in front of my ancestor."

  (Update 2 is online, seeking a vote for Sanjiang and a recommendation ticket to support the new book, while thanking friends for their rewards! Thanks, good night.)