Ning Fa looked at him and said calmly, "Submit to me and work for me, and I'll spare you! Otherwise, your fate will be the same as Qian Shouzhong's!"
"Don't try to pressure me with my family. If I kill you here, who will know? Your family will only assume you died at the hands of a Calamity Cultivator."
Ning Jiantao's face was filled with shock and anger.
How could he not understand now that Ning Fa had also set his sights on that cave dwelling and wanted him to be an inside informant?
He gritted his teeth and said, "Then you might as well kill me! I won't betray our branch!"
Ning Fa smiled and said, "You've told me such a huge secret. If I expose this matter at the right time, do you think you'll still have a place in your branch?"
As soon as he said this, Ning Jiantao's face turned pale.
Ning Fa then threw a contract glowing with blood light in front of him and said calmly, "Sign this Second-order Contract and submit to me. I can promise to help you manage Yuan Chang Island's lineage in the future."
Ning Jiantao's fear subsided, and his gaze flickered incessantly.
Ning Fa looked at the night and said, "My patience is limited. I'll give you ten breaths to consider."
After only a few breaths, Ning Jiantao shouted, "I'll sign!"
With that, Ning Jiantao decisively signed his name on the spirit contract.
A surge of blood light also appeared on his face, vaguely forming a blood-colored ghost head, which let out a roar before disappearing.
Ning Jiantao wore a wry smile.
He sighed that Ning Fa was truly generous, using such an extremely precious Second-order Contract on him.
From now on, unless he advanced to Mid Foundation Establishment, he would never be able to escape the restrictions of this contract.
Ning Fa's face immediately broke into a warm smile, and he removed the restrictions on Ning Jiantao.
Then, he handed him two pill bottles and said with a smile, "These are a First-order High-grade healing pill, the Azure Lotus Pill, and a few Jade Dragon Pills to improve cultivation. They should be of some help to you."
To mobilize the man's initiative, Ning Fa employed both carrot and stick.
As expected, Ning Jiantao received the two pill bottles with great surprise and repeatedly expressed his thanks.
Ning Fa pondered for a moment, "If anyone asks you about Qian Shouzhong, just say that after you completed your transaction, you each went your separate ways and knew nothing else."
Ning Jiantao nodded in agreement and then proactively said, "My lord, rest assured. If there's any situation on Spirit Deer Island, I will inform you immediately."
Ning Jiantao left.
Ning Fa then cleaned up the battlefield, mainly erasing all traces of his Lightning Law to avoid suspicion from anyone with ulterior motives.
After confirming that nothing was missed, Ning Fa chose another direction and also left the desolate island.
Sitting in the Flying Carriage, Ning Fa began to inventory Qian Shouzhong's storage bag.
This person's wealth was quite substantial. Besides the pair of Black Rings with considerable power, there was another Top-grade Magic Artifact.
There were several High-grade Magic Artifacts, thousands of Spirit Stones, and even a few Mid-grade Spirit Stones.
It was a pity that he couldn't casually use these Magic Tools, as they were all Qian Shouzhong's famous artifacts.
There were also some strange Spiritual Materials.
One item among them caught Ning Fa's attention.
To be precise, it caused a strong reaction from the scroll.
It was a palm-sized White Stone shaped like a Crescent Moon.
Ning Fa did not recognize this type of Spiritual Material.
He sensed a dense Moon Essence Power emanating from it, mixed with other mysterious energies.
He held the stone, and it felt warm and cool to the touch.
At the same time, his Moon God Art automatically activated, becoming very active, and its operation speed increased significantly compared to before.
Ning Fa looked surprised. Did this stone help him cultivate the Moon God Art?
At this moment, his right arm suddenly felt a burning sensation, only comparable to the time he encountered the Moon Gazing Art at the auction.
Ning Fa was startled. What exactly was this thing? Not only did the Moon God Art react, but the scroll's reaction was also so strong!
Considering the dense Moon Essence Power emanating from the stone, Ning Fa seemed to have some thoughts.
It seemed that the scroll greatly favored Moon-attribute power. Now, the scroll could absorb Moon Essence Power through the pattern on the scroll to slowly replenish its energy.
Ning Fa's eyes narrowed.
Could this Crescent Moon-like stone replenish the scroll's energy?
He quickly activated the scroll.
The Crescent Moon pattern in the upper right corner of the scroll suddenly lit up, and the Crescent Moon seemed to come alive, emitting a milky white radiance.
It directly sucked the White Stone in.
After a flash of white light on the scroll, the second pattern representing energy suddenly lit up by a small segment.
Ning Fa's expression was filled with joy.
This stone could indeed replenish the scroll's energy, and it instantly replenished about three percent of the energy for that pattern!
This was almost the sum total of the energy the scroll could automatically replenish in a year.
And now this stone had replenished it.
Ning Fa's heart burned with excitement. If he had a few more stones like this, wouldn't the energy for the second Dao Mark be completely filled?
If that happened, wouldn't he be able to continue tracing back many of his partially traced cultivation methods?
Ning Fa couldn't help but regret killing Qian Shouzhong too early, as he didn't know what this stone was.
But he immediately thought that if he described this item to Wei Shiqin, she might know.
Moreover, he really wanted to try cultivating the Moon God Art with this item to see what would happen.
Without delay, he ignored the fact that it was already late at night and sent a description of the stone to Wei Shiqin via a special communication artifact.
He asked her to help confirm what the stone was, and most importantly, to collect it.
Wei Shiqin quickly replied that she didn't recognize the item either, but she would investigate and inform him as soon as possible.
Ning Fa could only suppress his impatience and wait.
After returning to his family, Ning Fa immediately went to the clan land, Ningchang Island.
After all, he had killed Qian Shouzhong, so it was necessary to inform the First Elder and give him some preparation.
In the Stone Hall on the summit of Changning Mountain.
Ning Zhongyuan was very surprised by Ning Fa's late-night visit.
Ning Fa got straight to the point: "A few hours ago, I killed Qian Shouzhong."
Ning Zhongyuan was stunned at first, then his brows furrowed deeply.
He looked at Ning Fa with a headache and slowly asked, "No one else discovered it, right?"
Seeing Ning Fa shake his head, Ning Zhongyuan's expression improved slightly.
Ning Fa added, "Qian Shouzhong said a few things before he died, and I don't know if they are true."
Ning Zhongyuan gave him a deep look. "It seems you already know."
Ning Fa nodded and confirmed again, "Do you know if what this person said is true? Have we really formed a secret alliance with the Qian Family?"
Ning Zhongyuan stood up, his plump body turned away from Ning Fa.
He said indifferently, "That's right, we and the Qian Family have indeed allied long ago, precisely to counter the Xue Family."
"The Xue Family is the foremost power in Thousand Wave Lake. It will not allow families with strength close to it to exist. Once such a family appears, the Xue Family will definitely try every means to deal with it."
"Over the past decades and centuries, the losses our Ning Family has suffered because of the Xue Family are simply immeasurable, and many outstanding figures have perished because of it. Because strangling the opponent's core figures is the Xue Family's usual practice, I believe you are aware of this."
"Not to mention far away, like the Foundation Establishment Cultivator interception you encountered last time, it was actually planned by the Xue Family in secret. And Hua Rong's failed Foundation Establishment this time... it was also the Xue Family's doing."