These thirty spirit stones might not seem like much, but the old man in black was, after all, just a mortal.
Even the mortal stewards in their branch of the family didn't usually earn many spirit stones. These thirty were likely what he had saved up over many years.
Seeing that Ning Fa didn't take the spirit stones, the old man in black deliberately chuckled, "Does little Fa dislike my thirty spirit stones for being too little? It's not just my thirty spirit stones here; there are also fifty spirit stones your paternal uncle, Zhengqian, asked me to give you."
Ning Fa was slightly surprised, not expecting his paternal uncle to have given him fifty spirit stones as well.
Ning Fa no longer stood on ceremony and accepted the spirit stones, saying earnestly, "Uncle Xilin, I will repay you."
The old man in black waved his hand, smiled while stroking his beard, and then got up to leave with Ning Fa's maternal uncle.
Ning Fa escorted them to the door, holding the two bags containing one hundred and eighty spirit stones. He couldn't help but feel a mix of emotions.
In such a short time, he had witnessed the shameless greed of blood relatives, but also the warmth between family members.
Ning Fa's heart then filled with excitement. With these one hundred and eighty spirit stones, he could buy the spiritual materials for over ten batches of Essence Replenishing Pills.
His chances of successfully refining the Essence Replenishing Pills, even the failed ones, were almost certain. Then, he should be able to use the Mysterious Scroll to restore them again.
Without delay, Ning Fa got up immediately, planning to head to Jinchang Island right away to purchase the spiritual materials for the Essence Replenishing Pills.
Although the Jinchang Island Market was merely an internal market of the Ning Family, its scale had grown larger and larger as the Ning Family's strength increased.
Basic low-level cultivation resources and materials were very abundant, and the prices were generally a bit cheaper than external markets. This was also a benefit the family provided to its disciples.
Jinchang Island was hundreds of miles away from Pingchang Island. Even with a flying artifact, a low-level cultivator like Ning Fa wouldn't have enough spiritual power to last the journey.
Moreover, flying artifacts were generally extremely expensive, and Ning Fa couldn't afford one at the moment.
Fortunately, the Ning Family had set up Spirit Boats on various islands, which traveled between the Ning Family's islands and were free of charge.
Because Jinchang Island had an internal market, there was a Spirit Boat departing from Pingchang Island to Jinchang Island every day.
When Ning Fa arrived at the dock, he just managed to catch the Spirit Boat heading to Jinchang Island. Ning Fa secretly called out his luck and quickly boarded the ship.
If he missed this Spirit Boat, he would have to wait until tomorrow. His time was precious now; he couldn't afford to waste any.
This Spirit Boat wasn't very large, only a little over ten zhang long. It had over twenty seats, with about a dozen people scattered throughout.
At the bow of the boat was a tall, flying fish-shaped wooden sculpture, and on both sides of the boat were things resembling white wings, several zhang long, which flickered with a faint glow.
After the old man piloting the boat struck the flying fish sculpture with a hand seal, the wings on both sides of the Spirit Boat suddenly blazed with light.
With a slight flap, they stirred up a powerful gust of wind, propelling the Spirit Boat forward at an extremely fast speed, which Ning Fa watched with great wonder.
Less than two hours later, the Spirit Boat finally arrived at the dock of Jinchang Island.
Ning Fa disembarked with the crowd, looking at the scene before him with a face full of novelty.
Jinchang Island was not small, spanning dozens of miles. When viewed from high above, the island resembled a gourd, which was why Ning Family disciples also liked to call it Gourd Island.
The island not only had a second-grade low-rank Spirit Vein but was also located in the center of the Ning Family's many islands. This was why the Ning Family had established an internal market here.
It also served as the family's logistics hub. Most of the materials the family traded externally and the large quantities of materials purchased from outside were handled here.
Therefore, this island was exceptionally prosperous and very important to the Ning Family. A Ning Family Foundation Establishment elder was stationed here year-round.
The dock was bustling with activity. Not only were there many cultivators moving about, but there were also numerous mortals unloading cargo and boarding ships, creating a scene of fervent activity.
Dozens of Spirit Boats were already docked. They varied in size, with most being a hundred zhang long. Ning Fa even saw a colossal ship nearly a thousand zhang long, which amazed him.
This also demonstrated the Ning Family's current soaring momentum.
The Ning Family was currently at its most prosperous period in six hundred years, holding a record number of four Foundation Establishment cultivators.
In the family war a few years prior, the Ning Family had decisively defeated the old Foundation Establishment Family, the Qian Family, gaining substantial benefits. Now, the family's strength ranked second among the various forces in Thousand Wave Lake, only below the Xue Family.
Of course, the Ning Family had paid a considerable price to defeat the Qian Family. Not only had many elite disciples like Ning Fa's parents died, but even the Ning Family's Grand Elder, Ning Zhongyuan, a Foundation Establishment mid-stage cultivator, seemed to have sustained serious injuries in that battle and had not appeared much in the family in recent years.
However, compared to the immense benefits gained, these losses were entirely acceptable.
Moreover, the Ning Family had many individuals with outstanding talent among the younger generation. The most prominent was the Fifth Elder, Ning Huarong, upon whom the entire family placed great hopes.
She was recognized by the family as someone who, once she reached Foundation Establishment, would possess the combat power of a normal Foundation Establishment mid-stage cultivator even in the early Foundation Establishment stage, with boundless prospects for the future.
Ning Fa walked around with great interest, and before he knew it, he had arrived inside the market.
He saw rows of buildings with various architectural styles lining a main thoroughfare. Many cultivators were entering and exiting these buildings, including disciples in Ning Family attire and some external cultivators.
In some specific areas, many cultivators were directly setting up stalls on the ground.
It was even more lively here. The stalls offered all sorts of low-level spiritual items, with colorful rays of light emanating from them, dazzling Ning Fa, who was visiting for the first time.
But he immediately remembered the urgency of his task and forced himself to avert his eyes, walking straight towards the depths of the market.
After a short while, Ning Fa arrived at a pavilion over ten zhang tall, situated on a high slope. This was considered the largest spiritual material shop in the Jinchang Island Market, where Ning Fa had previously purchased his alchemy spiritual materials.
After Ning Fa entered and casually scanned the area, he encountered two unexpected people, causing the excited expression on his face to freeze.
Although there were many people in the hall, anyone who entered would have their gaze drawn to one particular woman.
The young woman wore a cloud-white gauze dress, had a graceful and moving figure, a face like a painting, and skin like congealed fat. She was a rare beauty.
Many men in the hall, while pretending to look at the spiritual materials, kept glancing at this woman.
"Qinghui, it seems there's no Moon Orchid Flower here, but that's alright. Brother will accompany you to Tianshui Market. They will definitely have this spiritual item there, and Brother will surely buy it for you."
At this moment, a young man beside the beauty, dressed in white with a fair and clean complexion, said gently.
This person appeared to be not much older than Ning Fa and had already reached the seventh level of Qi Condensation, which was the late stage of Qi Condensation.