However, since Duanmu Ling specifically requested Ning Fa, Xue Danping could only suppress her myriad thoughts.
And she had to guarantee that Ning Fa would leave the Xue Family unharmed.
Ning Fa looked at this woman. Although her expression was calm, his heart had already ignited a murderous intent.
He recalled the time they first met at Tianshui Market. Xue Danping had glanced at him more than once.
She must have known back then that his Xue Family would intercept him.
He would remember this debt and repay it in the future.
Ning Fa followed her towards the island's interior.
There was a beautiful mountain hundreds of feet tall on the island, with dense spiritual energy. It was at least a Second-grade Mid-rank Spirit Vein.
To Ning Fa's surprise, Xue Danping led him directly through an entrance at the foot of the mountain into its interior.
Before long, Ning Fa arrived in a massive underground hall, thousands of square feet in size.
Dozens of luminous pearls were embedded in the hall's ceiling, emitting a soft glow that illuminated the space.
In the center of the hall was a pool several dozen feet long and wide. White mist swirled above it, sometimes like fog, sometimes like crystal sand.
An extremely pure and abundant spiritual energy emanated from it.
Ning Fa understood that this pool was likely the Cloud Crystal Liquid.
Standing beside the pool were the peerless beauty Duanmu Ling and the enigmatic man Feng Jue.
Duanmu Ling turned to look at Ning Fa. She smiled charmingly and said, "Fellow Daoist Ning is indeed a man of his word, arriving on time. In that case, we are ready."
Ning Fa thought to himself, Could I dare not come?
But he still respectfully asked, "May I ask what Senior wants me to do?"
Duanmu Ling chuckled, "You don't need to worry too much. I just want to borrow your Thunder Spiritual Power to help my spirit beast advance."
"It's a good time to let it get familiar with you, to get used to your aura, so that it will be more compatible later."
Hearing this, Ning Fa felt a temporary relief.
At this moment, Duanmu Ling gently flicked a bracelet on her wrist. With a burst of colorful light, the figure of a spirit beast appeared before them.
It was pale blue all over, shaped like a fox, but its eyes were large and round, looking almost cute.
There was a lightning-shaped spiritual pattern on its forehead, making it look extraordinary.
The spirit beast seemed to still be half-asleep, its eyes hazy.
Faint blue arcs of electricity occasionally emanated from the beast, exuding a subtle sense of danger.
Duanmu Ling said solemnly, "This is my spirit beast, Little Lei. It's a Thunder-attribute spirit beast and is about to advance to the second rank. Fellow Daoist Ning, don't be nervous, don't be on guard. Little Lei has a bad temper. If you make any sudden movements, it might attack you. But don't worry, as long as you don't move, I'll ensure you're safe."
Ning Fa's face stiffened, and he cursed Duanmu Ling thoroughly in his heart.
What do you mean it has a bad temper? And you tell me not to resist? If this little thing bites me, will I just stand still?
"Go, Little Lei, get familiar with this fellow Daoist's aura. Be friendly. He's going to help you advance later."
Duanmu Ling said gently to the Thunder Beast.
The blue Thunder Beast's eyes snapped open and stared intently at Ning Fa.
The pale blue arcs of electricity on its body suddenly intensified.
The next moment, it pounced.
Duanmu Ling was startled and was already preparing to intervene.
But she saw the Thunder Beast affectionately circling Ning Fa, rubbing its forehead against Ning Fa's leg from time to time, even sticking out its tongue, looking overjoyed.
Duanmu Ling's cherry lips parted slightly, as if she had seen something incredible.
Ning Fa's suspended heart finally relaxed. Sensing that the spirit beast was very affectionate towards him, he couldn't help but reach out and stroke its head.
"You can't touch its head!"
Duanmu Ling exclaimed in shock, spiritual light already flashing in her hand as she prepared to act.
Feng Jue, standing beside her, also changed his expression, his demeanor becoming guarded.
But to Duanmu Ling and Feng Jue's utter astonishment, the spirit beast seemed to greatly enjoy Ning Fa's petting.
It squinted its eyes as if savoring the moment, even sticking out its tongue to lick Ning Fa's hand with a fawning expression.
Duanmu Ling was completely petrified, and Feng Jue wore a strange look on his face.
Duanmu Ling, who was usually composed, murmured in confusion, "How is this possible..."
Feng Jue asked from the side, "Could it be because this young friend has a Lightning Spiritual Root?"
Duanmu Ling shook her head. "It shouldn't be. Junior Brother Jing from the sect also has a Lightning Spiritual Root and is already a Foundation Establishment Cultivator, but Little Lei didn't react specially to him. And when we saw that cultivator from the Wan Family in Black Marsh Immortal City before, Little Lei reacted the same way."
Feng Jue asked curiously, "Then why is Little Lei so... so friendly to this kid? Is it because his cultivation level is low, only at the Qi Condensation Stage?"
"Probably... maybe?"
Duanmu Ling said uncertainly, her brows furrowed.
After all, her spirit beast had never been this affectionate with her before. Now, in front of her, it was acting so familiar with a stranger. How could she not be angry?
Ning Fa finally sensed that the atmosphere was off and no longer dared to tease the little creature. He quickly stood still.
However, the spirit beast wasn't having it. It circled Ning Fa back and forth, even letting out soft whimpering sounds, as if wanting Ning Fa to continue petting it.
Ning Fa's heart raced.
Don't you dare howl anymore. Your mom's going to come and chop me soon.
Duanmu Ling took a deep breath, her expression a little stiff as she said, "It seems Little Lei really likes you. This... well, it couldn't be better. Little Lei, come back now. You're about to advance."
At first, the Thunder Beast pretended not to hear, still wagging its tail and circling Ning Fa.
Only when Duanmu Ling began to activate their mental connection did it reluctantly return to her side.
Duanmu Ling forced a smile and said, "Fellow Daoist Ning, pay attention. You should gather your mana now, and after my command, channel all your mana into Little Lei."
Ning Fa nodded, feeling a wave of misery.
I can only hope the young lady is magnanimous and doesn't resent me over this.
Next, Duanmu Ling began to set up a formation above the Cloud Crystal Pond.
Several hours later, a blue light formation, about ten feet wide, materialized in the air above the pond.
Intricate formation patterns were etched onto the light formation. Even with Ning Fa's current strong divine sense, he found it difficult to decipher them.
This formation was definitely a second-grade formation, and likely of mid to upper-grade quality.
Afterward, Duanmu Ling directly embedded a hundred Mid-grade Spirit Stones, brimming with spiritual energy, which made Ning Fa gasp.
That was ten thousand Spirit Stones directly invested.
Instantly, the spiritual energy concentration within the formation reached the third-grade level.
Duanmu Ling nodded in satisfaction and then took out various spiritual materials, shimmering with colorful light, and placed them into the formation.
Although Ning Fa didn't recognize most of these spiritual materials, he could clearly sense that they all contained significant Thunder Spiritual Power fluctuations.
Clearly, they were all thunder-attribute spiritual materials, and most of them were even second-grade in quality.
Ning Fa inwardly thought, As expected of someone from the Duanmu family, truly generous.
Once all preparations were complete, the Thunder Beast leaped into the formation.
Immediately, the entire grand formation was fully activated.