Ning Fa happily put away the brocade box, then discussed the future arrangements for the Meng family members with Meng Ruoqi.
According to their prior agreement, Ning Fa would apply for a separate island for them to reside on.
Furthermore, the island's Spirit Vein would be no lower than a mid-grade first-tier.
As for the duration, the initial agreement was for ten years.
In his delight over obtaining the Spirit Bamboo, Ning Fa directly extended it to fifteen years.
During these fifteen years, the remaining Meng family members could maintain their independence and would not have to pay a certain tax to the Ning Family annually like other subordinate families.
After this period, the Meng family members could choose to leave the Ning Family or become a vassal family of the Ning Family.
After discussing these matters, Ning Fa and Meng Ruoqi formally signed a Spirit Contract.
This allowed Meng Ruoqi to secretly breathe a sigh of relief, and her gaze towards Ning Fa softened considerably.
In reality, leading her clansmen to affiliate with the Ning Family was a gamble.
This was because the Ning Family's reputation around Thousand Wave Lake was quite poor.
However, Meng Ruoqi didn't have many other options, and for some reason, she felt an inexplicable trust in Ning Fa.
This was why she had ultimately come to the Ning Family.
Now, she was completely certain that Ning Fa harbored no ill intentions towards her remaining clansmen, which also meant her gamble had paid off.
At this moment, Ning Fa looked at her with a half-smile. "Fellow Daoist Meng, do you truly wish to become my Dao Companion? Actually, I was just angry at that Shi Shaoyang just now, and I must thank you for your cooperation."
Meng Ruoqi said softly, "If Fellow Daoist Ning does not dislike Ruoqi's humble appearance, Ruoqi is willing."
Ning Fa's eyes flickered, unsurprised.
After all, Meng Ruoqi and her people were currently under his roof. If Meng Ruoqi could become his Dao Companion.
With him as her backing, the lives of the Meng family members within the Ning Family would be much easier in the future, and at least no one would dare to bully them casually.
However, Meng Ruoqi changed the subject, looking at him and saying softly, "It's just that Ruoqi has always felt that Fellow Daoist Ning doesn't seem to have much feeling for me, which even makes me doubt my own charm."
Ning Fa looked at her flawless, fair skin and her captivating beauty, which could make a fish sink and a goose fall, and his gaze became unrestrained.
He gently lifted Meng Ruoqi's fair chin with his hand, met her gaze, and sighed softly, "Ruoqi, with your beauty, how could I not be moved? It's just that I haven't reached Foundation Establishment yet, so I'm forcing myself not to be distracted."
Ning Fa spoke, his words seemingly half-true and half-false.
Meng Ruoqi, who had been slightly annoyed by Ning Fa's casual gesture, softened her expression upon hearing his words.
She even felt a sense of reverence for Ning Fa, never expecting him to be such a dedicated cultivator.
Ning Fa's eyes flickered, and he asked the question that concerned him the most, "Ruoqi, is what you just said true? Do you really possess the [Pure Spirit Bamboo Body]? And has it even nurtured one of the seven great essence spiritual qi, the [Pure Spirit Mind Spiritual Qi]?"
This was what Meng Ruoqi had transmitted to him earlier.
Ning Fa had long heard of the so-called seven great essence spiritual qi.
There was also a brief record of them in the Heavenly Mechanism Scroll.
Each of these seven spiritual qi possessed extraordinary uses.
For example, the most famous was the Jade Phoenix Marrow Spiritual Qi, which was produced within female cultivators who possessed the Jade Phoenix Marrow Body.
Female cultivators with this physique would generate a trace of pure spiritual qi after entering the Foundation Establishment stage, which was called Jade Phoenix Marrow Spiritual Qi.
It could allow the man who obtained it to cleanse his meridians and veins, leading to a significant increase in cultivation.
This Pure Spirit Mind Spiritual Qi was also one of the seven great essence spiritual qi, but it was even rarer.
Its origin conditions were unknown, but its effects were very significant.
It could help cultivators who obtained this spiritual qi to cleanse impurities in their spiritual power, leading to a qualitative improvement in their spiritual power, thus greatly increasing the chance of breaking through to the next realm.
The higher the grade of this spiritual qi, the stronger this effect would be, and it could even be effective for Golden Core and Nascent Soul cultivators.
Meng Ruoqi had just transmitted her message, offering this spiritual qi as a price to ask Ning Fa to spare Shi Shaoyang.
Ning Fa was naturally tempted. Moreover, if what Meng Ruoqi said was true, then her potential was very high, and the temptation to make her his Dao Companion was even greater.
Meng Ruoqi calmly replied, "That's right, I do possess the Pure Spirit Bamboo Body. However, it's a pity that it's not a complete spiritual body. My spiritual body's innate spirit bamboo currently only has the body of the spirit bamboo; the crucial spirit bamboo heart has not fully grown."
"Therefore, although this spiritual body has helped me develop a high talent for formations, it has also made my Foundation Establishment much more difficult. Since the Second Elder's accident, I have tried many times but still haven't managed to establish my foundation."
"Before, due to my spiritual body, I sensed that Wood Origin Fruit. I intended to use this fruit to help the spirit bamboo heart grow. Although I exchanged for one from Brother Ning, it was ultimately unsuccessful."
"This has also resulted in my Pure Spirit Mind Spiritual Qi not being of a high grade. It should not be of much help in breaking through realms beyond Foundation Establishment, but it should have no problem helping Brother Ning break through the bottleneck of the eighth or ninth layer of Qi Condensation, and it might even have some effect on your breakthrough to Foundation Establishment."
Upon hearing this, the joy in Ning Fa's eyes slowly receded.
However, he was not overly disappointed.
This was only natural. If Meng Ruoqi's spiritual body were truly complete, with her aptitude, she should have reached Foundation Establishment long ago with the full support of the Meng Family.
She would not have fallen to her current state.
Ning Fa's heart, however, stirred.
He had a way to deal with an incomplete spiritual body.
With that Mysterious Scroll, even his top-tier Great Five Elements Thunder Body could be traced back to its complete form, let alone her spiritual body.
However, tracing the origin like this would inevitably consume a significant amount of the scroll's power.
Furthermore, the scroll was his greatest secret, and it was difficult for Meng Ruoqi to earn his trust to the point where he would use it for her.
But even so, the Pure Spirit Mind Spiritual Qi could help him break through the eighth and ninth layers of Qi Condensation, which was already quite good.
Ning Fa said with a serious expression, "This is already very good, but Ruoqi, I still need to make things clear with you. Until I achieve Foundation Establishment, I won't formally take a Dao Companion, so I can't give you a formal Dual Cultivation Ceremony. But rest assured, I promise you here that if you follow me, I will naturally protect your Meng family members."
Actually, holding the Dual Cultivation Ceremony meant little to Ning Fa.
Meng Ruoqi was more than qualified to be his Dao Companion in terms of both appearance and aptitude.
Moreover, even if the two became Dao Companions, he wouldn't live together with her.
At most, they would live separately, like Liu Qinghui before.
Ning Fa's actions were mainly to consider Ning Shaohong's feelings.
Meng Ruoqi nodded gently with a soft expression.
Although the Ning Family took in these remaining Meng Family members, it didn't cause too much of a disturbance.
Initially, Xie Feng of the Anti-Meng Alliance and three other families, fearing the Meng Family's resurgence, wanted to pressure the Ning Family again.
However, the Ning Family's attitude was very firm; they weren't afraid at all.
They adopted an attitude of "if you dare to provoke me, be careful of my future retaliation."
Two of the Foundation Establishment Cultivators from those three families were advanced in age. Once they passed away, there was no guarantee that their families would produce another Foundation Establishment Cultivator.
Their attitudes immediately softened.
Adding to this, these factions were not united at all, and soon, conflicts arose due to the uneven distribution of Meng Family benefits.
This matter was thus dropped.
The people of the Ning Family also knew that the Pearl of the Meng Family, originally famous throughout Thousand Wave Lake, had deigned to be with the family's eleventh elder, Ning Fa.