Ning Fa's expression softened slightly, and a peculiar look flickered in his eyes.
He hadn't expected that the Zi Yin clan, which had founded the extremely powerful Zi Yin Immortal Dynasty, had such a miraculous origin.
This undoubtedly spoke to the mysterious and formidable nature of the purple ancient wood before him; Ning Fa couldn't perceive its depth of cultivation at all.
At this moment, Huangfu Jin and the mysterious ancient wood had finished their conversation.
With a sudden flick of a thick branch, the purple ancient wood sent a fist-sized mysterious purple fruit flying out, directly above the ecstatic Huangfu Jin's head.
The fruit exploded with a boom, transforming into a dense mass of purple light that enveloped him.
Huangfu Jin's form instantly melted within it, but another aura rapidly ascended.
The purple ancient wood's movements didn't cease as another branch swung, and another purple fruit flew out.
However, to everyone's surprise, this purple fruit didn't head towards Huangfu Jin but instead flashed to appear above Ning Fa's head.
Ning Fa's expression changed drastically. Before he could think, a flash of electricity erupted around him, and he attempted to activate his Lightning Escape technique.
But an inexplicable binding force rendered him immobile. Even trying to activate the Star Roaming Compass proved utterly useless.
At this point, the purple fruit exploded, transforming into a dense purple light that similarly enveloped him.
Ning Fa was furious and was about to activate his Divine Firmament Manifestation when his heart suddenly stirred.
He discovered that within the Sea of Lightning Divine Treasury of his newly opened Innate Supreme Wood Divine Thunder, an extremely potent and mysterious power was surging into him.
The symbol of his Innate Supreme Wood Divine Thunder – the small sapling-like green thunderwood – grew rapidly after absorbing this mysterious energy.
Ning Fa also clearly felt his Supreme Wood Divine Thunder origin rapidly increasing.
Before long, the grade of his Supreme Wood Divine Thunder was approaching that of the Supreme Metal Divine Thunder and Supreme Fire Divine Thunder.
This change caused Ning Fa's thoughts to shift. He abandoned any other methods and instead actively absorbed and refined the energy.
This made the advancement of his Innate Supreme Wood Divine Thunder even faster, nearing the Fourth-grade Mid-tier.
Outside, apart from Huangfu Ziyue and Zhuo Qing, the other Zi Yin clan members also wore expressions of surprise.
After Huangfu Ziyue explained through a telepathic message, their expressions eased slightly, but many still frowned, looking regretful and even envious.
Meanwhile, Huangfu Ziyue and Zhuo Qing gazed at Ning Fa, enveloped in the purple radiance, with eager anticipation.
When they had sought Ning Fa's help previously, Huangfu Jin, Huangfu Ziyue, and Zhuo Qing, the three core figures of the Zi Yin clan, had already devised this plan.
The true intention behind giving Ning Fa that Innate Thunder Seed was to ensure that, upon refining it, the vital blood of the Zi Xiao lineage clan members would remain within him.
This way, after the sacrifice to the Divine Wood, the mysterious fruit bestowed by the Divine Wood could use the residual vital blood as a guide to transform Ning Fa into a true Zi Yin clan member.
The goal was to completely tie Ning Fa, who possessed the Five Elements Thunder Body and boundless potential, to their clan's chariot.
At this moment, they were unaware that the residual vital blood had actually been automatically annihilated by Ning Fa's Thunder Body.
Under normal circumstances, their plan should not have succeeded.
But then, the situation changed, a development that Huangfu Ziyue and the others hadn't anticipated.
First, the Source-Crossing Heavenly Book within Ning Fa's sea of consciousness trembled slightly. The surface of its pages revealed the phantom image of an ancient wood. Although its appearance resembled the purple ancient wood before them, it looked more profound and extraordinary, as if it had existed for countless eons.
The ancient, weathered human face on the mysterious purple ancient wood in the sky, which had closed its eyes, suddenly opened them. A clear look of shock could be seen within them.
It stared intently at Ning Fa, as if it had discovered something incredibly unbelievable.
Then, something astonishing happened that made Huangfu Ziyue and the other Zi Yin clan members gasp.
The purple ancient wood suddenly shook, revealing a mysterious fruit hanging high on its central trunk.
This fruit was twice the size of the ones the purple ancient wood had previously given out. It was entirely purple-gold in color, and as it swayed gently, it shed streams of mysterious purple-gold runes, appearing extremely extraordinary.
"This is...?"
Upon seeing this, Huangfu Ziyue and the other Zi Yin clan members' eyes widened in shock.
None of them had ever seen the Divine Wood before; they had only read descriptions in their clan's ancient texts.
It was said that when their clan was first born, not only was the Divine Wood the bestower of their extraordinary bloodline, but it also granted them various fruits.
These fruits were no ordinary produce; they contained everything imaginable, possibly including elixirs, talismans, magical artifacts, spiritual artifacts, divine treasures, cultivation techniques, and other spiritual items.
Later, as the Zi Yin clan developed and grew stronger, they needed to make sacrifices to the Divine Wood to receive these rewards.
The better the sacrificial items, the higher the grade of the bestowed spiritual items.
This was also the key reason why the Zi Yin clan could establish an immortal dynasty, unify the Nine Dragon Sea, and make both Great Qin and Tianwu wary.
However, for some unknown reason, the Divine Wood could no longer be summoned frequently and could only be seen once in a long while.
Otherwise, if they could still frequently receive precious rewards from the Divine Wood through sacrifices, the Zi Yin clan, even after suffering heavy losses at the time, would not have been so easily annihilated by the combined forces of the Heavenly Pivot Alliance, the Demon Sea Alliance, and the Primordial Hunt Ancestral Court.
Regarding the grade of spiritual items bestowed by the Divine Wood, one could infer it from the position of the fruit on the Divine Wood.
The lower the position, the lower the grade of the spiritual item.
A fruit located in the middle section of the Divine Wood was already considered an ultimate treasure.
Just as they had exchanged extremely precious sacrificial items this time for the primal blood of their bloodline origin.
This was incredibly valuable, even in the True Demon Realm.
This was to allow Huangfu Jin to successfully complete the Body Shattering Spirit Sculpting technique and advance to Spirit Transformation.
Furthermore, it wouldn't just be Spirit Transformation in the future; he even had the potential to reach the late stage of Spirit Transformation.
The other portion of the source blood was for Ning Fa. They wanted Ning Fa to become a true Zi Yin clan member.
This kind of precious fruit was only found on the mid-to-upper sections of the Divine Wood.
Yet, this mysterious Purple-Gold Fruit, sent by the Divine Wood, was located at its very peak.
What did this signify?
What kind of treasure was it?
Following this, Huangfu Ziyue and the others were overjoyed.
Could it be that Lord Divine Wood saw their Zi Yin clan in such a fallen state and decided to show them special favor, helping them rise again? And that was why it gave such a precious fruit.
But what made their jaws drop next was that the Purple-Gold Fruit didn't fly towards Huangfu Jin. Instead, with a flash of light, it directly entered the ball of purple light where Ning Fa was.
Huangfu Ziyue, Zhuo Qing, and the others were dumbfounded. As for the Zi Yin elder, the square-faced man, and the other Zi Yin clan members, they looked anxious, with some already unable to resist making a move.
At this moment, Huangfu Ziyue was the first to react. She sternly stopped them with her eyes and quickly transmitted a message using her divine sense.
The others finally calmed down, but their expressions were complex and unreadable.
After all, in the minds of these pure-blooded Zi Yin clan members, Lord Divine Wood was their clan's protector, and this protection was exclusive to their clan.
Now, Lord Divine Wood was showing such favor to an outsider, which made them feel very uneasy.
At the same time, Ning Fa was shocked to discover that within his Sea of Lightning Divine Treasury of Supreme Wood Divine Thunder, the Purple-Gold Fruit had appeared. It directly transformed into a stream of light and merged into his green Thunderwood.
The green Thunderwood immediately emitted purple, green, and gold lightning, rapidly growing by more than half. A rumbling sound, as if the heavens and earth were being created, spread from the Sea of Lightning to the infinite distance.
At this moment, the Supreme Wood Divine Thunder directly broke through to Fourth-grade Mid-tier, and it didn't stop there, continuing to climb upwards.
Although the Thunderwood was still emerald green all over, mysterious purple-gold patterns began to appear on its surface.
At this point, the purple ancient wood outside deeply glanced at Ning Fa with its ancient eyes. Then, its trunk gently trembled, transforming into a stream of light and re-entering the spatial rift above, disappearing.
In the blink of an eye, the massive spatial rift quickly closed, as if everything before had been an illusion.
The purple light enveloping Ning Fa and Huangfu Jin below had not yet dissipated.
A full half year passed.
The ball of purple light around Huangfu Jin finally dispersed. The reappearing Huangfu Jin was slightly taller and more robust than before.
Although the spiritual power aura he exuded wasn't much stronger than before, the soul-stirring, powerful oppressive force was far beyond what it was previously.
He took a deep look at Ning Fa, who was still enveloped in purple light, a look of shock and disbelief flashing in his eyes. He then took a deep breath and flew upwards.
With a long cry, an astonishing spiritual pressure erupted from him.
Thunder rumbled throughout the heavens and earth, and a large patch of dark clouds appeared out of nowhere. This was clearly the Tribulation Clouds for the Spirit Transformation Tribulation, indicating that Huangfu Jin was about to undergo his tribulation.
Layers of barrier light shields also rose above the hexagonal altar below. Huangfu Ziyue and the others standing by the altar watched the sky with tense anticipation.
With the booming thunder, Huangfu Jin's figure was quickly submerged in the surging tribulation lightning.
A full day passed, and the Spirit Transformation Heavenly Tribulation finally concluded.
Following a long cry that echoed through the heavens and earth, a powerful Spirit Transformation-level fluctuation emanated from the sky, clearly indicating Huangfu Jin's successful advancement.
All the Zi Yin clan members were ecstatic and wept with joy.
Afterward, they all withdrew from the area, leaving only Ning Fa, still enveloped in purple light, alone at the hexagonal altar.
Another year passed.
At this time, the Thunderwood in Ning Fa's Sea of Lightning Divine Treasury of Supreme Wood Divine Thunder finally stopped growing, reaching a height of ten zhang.
The purple-gold patterns on the tree's surface had also become more pronounced, making the Thunderwood at this moment resemble a work of art, exquisite and beautiful.
Simultaneously, the lightning emitted by the Thunderwood had turned into three colors: purple, gold, and green. The power contained within it was also far beyond what it was before.
At the same time, the layer of purple light around Ning Fa finally dissipated.
And behind him, a three-colored Thunderwood of purple, gold, and green, identical to the one in the Sea of Lightning Divine Treasury, slowly emerged.
Although it was only ten zhang tall, it gave off a sense of obscuring the sky and sun, as if it had existed for eternity, inspiring a desire to prostrate oneself in worship.
Ning Fa slowly opened his eyes, divine light flashing within them. A heart-trembling thunderous sound sounded repeatedly. The Thunderwood behind him also swayed gently, rippling out a circle of mysterious purple, green, and gold lightning.
Ning Fa stood up and slowly examined himself, a hint of surprise in his eyes.
Under the effect of the two fruits from the mysterious ancient wood, especially the second Purple-Gold Fruit, his Supreme Wood Divine Thunder had directly broken through to Fourth-grade Upper Rank, even reaching the peak of Fourth-grade, just one step away from the Fifth-grade realm.
This improvement was astonishing. After all, for so many years, his Innate Supreme Metal Divine Thunder had been quite a distance from Fourth-grade Mid-tier.
But soon, Ning Fa frowned, as his Innate Supreme Wood Divine Thunder was clearly not quite right.
It seemed to have been deeply influenced by the second Purple-Gold Fruit of the Zi Yin Divine Wood, as if it had mutated, or perhaps been endowed with some special attribute.
Just then, the sound of breaking air echoed. Led by Huangfu Jin, the Zi Yin clan members reappeared at the hexagonal altar.
They first glanced at Ning Fa, then their gazes immediately focused on the Purple-Gold Thunderwood behind Ning Fa, their eyes filled with shock and disbelief.
Even Huangfu Jin, who was now emitting a powerful Spirit Transformation-level spiritual power fluctuation, was dumbfounded.
"How is this possible? This kid has actually condensed a Divine Wood Totem before even advancing to the Spirit Transformation realm?
And the grade of his Divine Wood Totem is even higher than mine?
Also, aren't the Divine Wood Totems of our Zi Yin clan supposed to be purplish-black? Why is this kid's purplish-gold?
Why do I feel such a strong oppressive aura from his Divine Wood Totem?"
Huangfu Jin's sword-like eyebrows were deeply furrowed, and his expression was somewhat grim.
On the other side, Huangfu Ziyue and the other Zi Yin clan members were in an even worse state.
The phantom of the divine wood behind Ning Fa exerted an extremely intense pressure on them, making them want to prostrate themselves in worship, like subjects facing a monarch.
However, after their initial shock, surprise and joy flickered in the eyes of Huangfu Ziyue and Zhuo Qing.
Ning Fa looked up and coldly stared at them, saying, "I need an explanation."
It was clear he had been tricked by Huangfu Ziyue and the others this time.
They had invited him to help and use that Zi Xiao Sword, which was likely only one reason. The other purpose was to have the Zi Yin Divine Wood bestow that mysterious fruit upon him.
Although it seemed he had gained immense benefits now, this did not erase his anger at being manipulated.
Huangfu Ziyue let out a light laugh, "Brother Ning, you've seen it now.
In fact, another important reason we invited you to our Zi Yin Ancestral Land this time was to make you a true member of the Zi Yin clan.
It seems Brother Ning is favored even more by Lord Divine Wood than we imagined, and the bloodline power bestowed upon you is extraordinary."
Ning Fa's brow furrowed. He finally understood that the two fruits contained bloodline power.
However, his bloodline had likely not been changed, but his Innate Supreme Wood Divine Thunder had been significantly affected.
"Wishful thinking. I am not one of your Zi Yin clan," Ning Fa sneered.
At this moment, Huangfu Jin coldly snorted, "Truly ungrateful!
Do you know how many exceptionally talented cultivators in the past wanted to join our Zi Yin Immortal Dynasty and become members of our clan?
Moreover, the deed is done. It's not as if it didn't happen just because you refuse to acknowledge it.
The divine wood behind you is the unique Divine Wood Totem of our Zi Yin clan's high-ranking members."
As his voice fell, Huangfu Jin's aura surged.
A phantom image of an ancient wood slowly appeared behind him. It was purplish-black all over, but only about three zhang tall. Compared to the one behind Ning Fa, the difference was stark, like the distinction between a genuine article and a fake.
Seeing this, some of the Zi Yin clan members frowned deeply.
Huangfu Jin was clearly a bit embarrassed. He immediately retracted the Divine Wood Totem behind him and said with a slightly unnatural tone:
"See? This is the Divine Wood Totem unique to our Zi Yin clan's Spirit Transformation cultivators.
You have gained Lord Divine Wood's recognition and activated this totem at the Nascent Soul stage, so you are now a genuine Zi Yin clan member.
In fact, you can even be considered the progenitor of the Zi Xiao Lineage. In the future, the Zi Xiao Lineage will need you to develop and grow."
Ning Fa inwardly sneered upon hearing this.
Was becoming a Zi Yin clan member a good thing now?
It wasn't like the time when the Zi Yin Immortal Dynasty was at its peak. To put it bluntly, current Zi Yin clan members were like rats scurrying across the street.
Ning Fa immediately understood why they were acting this way.
He said with a blank expression, "By doing this, you intend to tie me to your clan's chariot and have me help you share the pressure to resist the Heavenly Pivot Alliance?"
Under Ning Fa's sharp gaze, Huangfu Ziyue and Zhuo Qing lowered their heads, a hint of embarrassment on their faces. This was indeed their motive for doing so.
But Huangfu Jin remained unfazed, "Young Ning, you need to think long-term.
While our Zi Yin clan is a bit down on its luck right now, this is only temporary.
You just witnessed the mysterious power of Lord Divine Wood with your own eyes. As long as Lord Divine Wood is here, it's only a matter of time before our Zi Yin clan rises again.
You are so favored by Lord Divine Wood and so young. In the future, it's highly possible you could even become the clan leader of our Zi Yin clan.
Once the Immortal Dynasty is re-established, you will be the new Emperor!"