"That's right, precisely so.
You know very well that within your spiritual pet lies the inheritance of our Ice Phoenix Clan's Spirit Transformation Ancestor.
This is of utmost importance to our clan, and we absolutely cannot allow it to remain outside, let alone become the spiritual pet of a Human cultivator.
But rest assured, we will naturally not have you hand over your spiritual pet for nothing.
Our Ice Phoenix Clan has also prepared generous compensation for you. The high-grade Spiritual Materials in the Jade Slip are all specialties of our Ice Sea, valued at tens of millions of Spirit Stones.
In addition, we can have four Shapeshifted Demonic Beasts form a Blood Pact with you to compensate for the loss in combat power caused by your spiritual pet's departure.
This can even include two Mid Shapeshifted Demon Cultivators.
I can guarantee that their bloodlines are extraordinary, and their strength is definitely above that of demonic beasts of the same rank.
What do you say, is this compensation sincere enough?
After all, even though your spiritual pet has received the inheritance of our clan's ancestor, it will not be able to grow to a higher realm in a short period.
With the lifespan of your Human cultivator race, you might not even live long enough to see it.
It would also require immense resources during that time, potentially affecting your own cultivation.
Furthermore, you may not know that within the inheritance it received, there are likely many parts that can only be absorbed in special locations within our Ice Phoenix Clan's territory. Otherwise, those inheritances would be wasted."
Bing Ning said in a deep voice, tossing a Jade Slip in front of Ning Fa.
Ning Fa's divine sense swept over the Jade Slip, and his eyebrows couldn't help but rise slightly.
Indeed, there were many extremely precious Spiritual Materials within, such as the Ten Thousand Year Cold Jade, which was something even Spirit Transformation Cultivators highly valued.
For some high-grade cultivators who practiced ice-attribute techniques, it was a priceless treasure that could greatly enhance their Natal Magic Treasure.
Especially with the inclusion of four Shapeshifted Demon Cultivators, two of whom were Mid Shapeshifted Demon Cultivators, this was almost equivalent to double the number of Human cultivators of the same rank.
If what Bing Ning said was true, then the conditions she proposed were indeed very generous.
Moreover, in Ning Fa's previous conversation with Little Ice, Little Ice had indeed mentioned that some of the inheritance left by Ancestor Bing Chen indeed required cultivation within the Ice Phoenix Clan's territory to be fully absorbed.
However, to think they could exchange Little Ice with just this was far too naive.
"This joke isn't very funny. If that's all you have to say, Daoist friend, you may leave," Ning Fa said expressionlessly.
Bing Ning's delicate eyebrows furrowed tightly. Judging from Ning Fa's unwavering attitude, he was clearly unmoved by her offer and showed no room for negotiation.
She gritted her teeth and said, "I can add two more Mid Shapeshifted Demon Cultivators."
"Even if you add two more Late Stage Shape-Shifting Demonic Beasts, there's no room for discussion," Ning Fa refused coldly.
Bing Ning was initially angered, but she quickly suppressed it.
Her beautiful face flickered with indecision. She then took a deep breath and said in a deep voice, "How about this, I can give you a pure descendant of our Ice Phoenix Clan in exchange."
"You mean an Ice Phoenix like yourself?" Ning Fa couldn't help but be a little stunned and confirmed, "That's right."
"Yes, a pure Ice Phoenix like myself, though she is still in her infancy and currently only at the Second-grade realm," Bing Ning said coldly.
This time, Ning Fa was utterly astonished. He never expected the Ice Phoenix Clan to make such a concession.
Although he didn't know how many pure Ice Phoenix clan members there were, the higher the grade of Heaven and Earth Spirit Beasts, the more difficult it was for them to reproduce and grow.
Especially for the Ice Phoenix, which could be considered the top Heaven and Earth Spirit Beast in the Human Realm.
He reckoned their numbers would definitely not be too great, yet their clan was willing to exchange a pure Ice Phoenix for Little Ice.
After all, although Little Ice possessed the Ice Phoenix bloodline, it was, in the end, just a mutated Ice Luan Bird.
In reality, Bing Ning's heart was bleeding.
The total number of clan members in their Ice Phoenix Clan was currently only a little over ten.
Their clan was rather unique; when advancing to the Spirit Transformation realm, they had to refine a special Spiritual Material unique to their clan to do so.
This kind of Spiritual Material was extremely rare, resulting in only one clan member with the most outstanding talent in each generation having the qualification to refine the Spiritual Material and attempt to break through to the Spirit Transformation realm.
Despite this, other Ice Phoenix clan members, as long as they didn't die prematurely, could generally reach the Shapeshifting realm, or even the Late Shapeshifting realm. Their strength was far beyond that of demon cultivators of the same rank.
Therefore, handing over such a pure clan member was a tremendous price.
However, due to special circumstances, their clan urgently needed Little Ice, who had accepted the Ice Phoenix Ancestor's inheritance, to return.
When Ning Fa first appeared in the Nine Dragons Sea, the Ice Phoenix Clan's Spirit Transformation Ancestor had already prepared to go find Ning Fa to seize Little Ice.
But after the news of Ning Fa hiring the Heavenly Treasure Immortal Merchant spread, this Ice Phoenix Ancestor had to retreat.
Because she had a long lifespan, she had personally witnessed the Heavenly Treasure Immortal Merchant and that Mid Spirit Transformation cultivator from the Mingquan Cultivation World clash over three thousand years ago, so she was very aware of the Heavenly Treasure Immortal Merchant's strength.
If it were during the Ice Phoenix Ancestor's prime, she might have still made a move.
But now that her end was approaching and her blood essence was declining, her strength was greatly diminished, so she could only give up.
Later, Ning Fa remained in closed-door cultivation, his whereabouts unknown to the outside world. All that was known was that the Fu Ling Hall he led was now in the Black Star Archipelago.
Therefore, the Ice Phoenix Ancestor decided to negotiate with Ning Fa, offering this generous reward.
And finally, she presented her bottom line, which was to exchange a pure Ice Phoenix clan member.
At this moment, after his initial surprise, Ning Fa's eyes narrowed.
It seems Little Ice's importance to the Ice Phoenix Clan is far greater than Ning Fa had imagined; they were willing to pay such a steep price.
However, despite the astonishing temptation, he certainly couldn't agree.
After all, Little Ice had been by his side since he was in the Qi Condensation Stage. After hundreds of years, their bond was deep; how could he possibly trade him away?
Furthermore, Little Ice's future was incredibly bright, with the potential to advance to the Spirit Transformation stage.
With the Source-Crossing Heavenly Book, it wasn't impossible that he might even be able to trace back the Ice Phoenix bloodline and Heavenly Luan bloodline at the source of their bloodline.
"This is not up for discussion. You don't need to say anything more," Ning Fa said, shrugging his shoulders.
"You!" Bing Ning was furious, unable to believe that Ning Fa wouldn't budge despite their clan's significant concessions.
Her tone turned chilling as she spoke, "I'll tell you the truth: your spiritual pet is crucial to our Ice Phoenix Clan. We will absolutely not give up. Do you want to make an enemy of our entire clan?
And I might as well tell you something else: soon, the Nine Dragons Sea, and even the entire Human Realm, will undergo a massive change. Your Human Race will face a great calamity, and it's not impossible that you could be wiped out.
If you agree to our terms, we can establish a Blood Pact with you. When the calamity strikes, our Ice Phoenix Clan will shelter you."
"What calamity? Do you think I'm a three-year-old child? You can't fool me with just a few grand pronouncements."
Ning Fa scoffed in disbelief.
However, his heart grew solemn. Clearly, the Ice Phoenix Clan knew some inside information. He deliberately spoke this way, hoping to glean more news from Bing Ning.
"There's no need to test me. I believe that at your level, you must have already received some information. Therefore, I am not exaggerating at all.
You can reconsider this. You can come to the Ice Sea to find us within twenty years. Once that time passes, we won't honor this offer anymore."
After saying this, Bing Ning gave Ning Fa a deep look before transforming into a dazzling silver light and shooting into the sky, disappearing into the horizon in an instant.
Ning Fa couldn't help but frown, sighing inwardly that peace in this world wouldn't last much longer.
Fortunately, his strength had greatly increased, and there were no longer any obstacles to breaking through to the Late Nascent Soul stage. With a bit more dedicated cultivation, he should be able to advance smoothly.
Coupled with the assistance of the Heavenly Treasure Immortal Merchant, he would be better prepared to face the impending catastrophe.
At this moment, Ning Fa glanced at Little Ice, who was sound asleep in the Spirit Beast Bracelet, and teased, "Almost let you have a good life, kid."
"Daoist Tianbao, let's go," Ning Fa said to the Heavenly Treasure Immortal Merchant. After returning to Fu Ling Hall to give instructions to everyone, he, along with the Heavenly Treasure Immortal Merchant and Luo Feixuan, flew towards the Qianmo Sea.
Upon returning to Xuan Ning Island, Ning Fa immediately met with everyone, urging them to cultivate diligently.
In fact, during his twenty years of closed-door cultivation, Ning Shaohong, Meng Ruoqi, and Yun Ying had all successfully advanced to the Core Formation stage.
Wei Shiqin had attempted Core Formation once but failed. Fortunately, her foundation was not damaged, and she still had opportunities to try again in the future.
Ning Fa also paid close attention to the progress of the Ancient Teleportation Array's construction. If the Sea Race were to truly unleash a great calamity, having an ancient teleportation array that could transmit between the two cultivation worlds would provide a crucial escape route, making it extremely important.
Zhu Lingyun also brought good news: over the years, she had deciphered about eighty to ninety percent of the ancient teleportation array, and it was expected to be completed within a few years.
This was naturally excellent news. Ning Fa relaxed slightly and returned to his closed-door cultivation. The grand hall on the mountaintop fell silent once more.
Unknowingly, another fifteen years passed.
In the heart of the Nine Dragons Sea's territory, the Gelan Archipelago.
This archipelago had been designated a forbidden land by the Sea Race fifty years prior, with only members of the Tidal Council eligible to enter.
Its outer layers were guarded by the Deep Blue Guard, directly under the Tidal Council, with Spirit Transformation stage Sea Race cultivators stationed there permanently.
Therefore, even though the Tianshu Alliance detected that the Sea Race seemed to be making moves in this archipelago, they found it difficult to ascertain the situation. Even the Star Luo Palace could not use divination arts to track their movements.
Over the past fifty years, all islands in the Gelan Archipelago, except for the central island of Yilan Island, had been deliberately shattered by the Sea Race.
If one were to look down from above now, they would see array formation base points scattered every few miles across the Gelan Archipelago.
These array formation base points, numbering over a hundred thousand in total, formed a super great array that enveloped an area of over ten thousand miles.
Currently, at the center of this super great array, on Yilan Island, all previous structures had been razed to the ground.
In the center, a Nine-cornered Plaza, tens of miles in size, had been constructed, inscribed with dense and complex array formation patterns. This was also the array eye of this super great array.
Conspicuously, tens of thousands of spirit stones were embedded in this Nine-cornered Plaza, all of them high-grade spirit stones.
Especially in the innermost circle, thirty-six top-grade water spirit stones were embedded.
Outside the plaza, dozens of Sea Race figures stood quietly. Each of them exuded an incredibly powerful aura, with at least late Fourth-grade cultivation.
The six leading figures were unfathomably profound, all of them Spirit Transformation cultivators. These were precisely the six Spirit Transformation Ancestors of the Sea Race.
In the center stood an elder leaning on a deep blue scepter. Although his figure was slightly stooped, his powerful spiritual pressure made him stand out like a crane among chickens.
This was a mid Spirit Transformation stage super expert.
This person was none other than the current speaker of the Tidal Council, and the de facto leader of the Sea Race – Dario Thorne.
He looked upwards, his slightly cloudy eyes filled with anticipation. The other Sea Race members were similarly expectant, their hearts filled with excitement as they awaited something's arrival.
Time slowly passed. Suddenly, a rumbling sound, like muffled thunder, echoed. Patches of white dots appeared in the void above, as if some monster was violently pounding from within the void, trying to break through.
"They're here!" a Sea Race Spirit Transformation cultivator with a full beard and a fierce aura shouted, raising his arm. The Fourth-grade Sea Race cultivators couldn't help but cheer loudly.
"Esteemed Speaker, can we begin?" a young man with a delicate face asked Dario. This person was the Sea Race Spirit Transformation cultivator Kailandir.
Dario nodded. He pointed his scepter forward sharply, and a deep blue beam of light shot out, instantly illuminating the array formation patterns in the innermost circle of the plaza.
The thirty-six top-grade Water Spirit Stones suddenly blazed with blue light, releasing pure and immensely potent spiritual energy.
At the same time, a series of rustling sounds could be heard as the illuminated array formation patterns rapidly spread to other areas.
A violent humming then erupted, and streaks of blue light ascended. In the blink of an eye, the array formations on Yilan Island were activated.
This was only the beginning. Within the time it took for an incense stick to burn, all array formation base points within a radius of ten thousand miles were activated and lit up.
Viewed from high above, an incredibly vast, complex, and dazzling array formation was now fully activated, emitting spiritual energy fluctuations far exceeding the Spirit Transformation stage.
Concurrently, the Star Luo Palace of the Tianshu Alliance, the Tianhong Hall of Great Qin, the Star Locking Platform of the Tianwu Cultivation World, and other locations possessing powerful divination abilities suddenly detected extremely strong and abnormal hexagrams. Every Divination Grandmaster there was utterly shocked and immediately began analyzing the hexagrams.
Meanwhile, on this side, after the super great array was completely activated.
On Yilan Island, a super light pillar several miles thick ascended from the plaza, fiercely striking towards the areas where the white light clusters had appeared.
A violent sound, like mountains collapsing and rivers shattering, ensued, causing the void to shake violently.
Under the sustained impact of this deep blue light pillar, approximately half an hour passed. Finally, with a sound like shattering glass, the void shattered layer by layer, and an opening shrouded in misty blue light appeared.
This was clearly a spatial rift, and not just any spatial rift; it was more like a spatial channel.
As the deep blue light pillar continued its bombardment, this spatial channel grew larger and larger, becoming tens of feet wide. However, its blue light flickered intermittently, indicating its instability.
At this point, the deep blue light pillar ceased its attack and instead directly entered the spatial channel. Soon after, the spatial channel stabilized.
Below, a multitude of high-ranking Sea Race cultivators held their breath, watching intently with faces full of tension.
Then, a sound echoed from within the spatial channel, followed by a figure flying out. It revealed a tall human-shaped figure, twenty feet in height, with a pair of blue, fleshy wings on its waist.
Its entire body was covered in pale blue scales, and its bell-sized eyes were filled with ferocity.
Judging by its physical characteristics, this was unmistakably a Sea Race cultivator. Furthermore, its powerful spiritual energy fluctuations clearly indicated it was a Sea Race cultivator at the early Spirit Transformation stage.
And this was just the beginning. More figures flew out from the spatial channel, all radiating powerful auras no less than his.
The first ten individuals to emerge were all Sea Race cultivators at the Spirit Transformation stage.
More figures poured out of the channel. The subsequent hundreds of figures were all Fourth-grade Sea Race cultivators, followed by even more Third-grade Sea Race cultivators, who swarmed out of the spatial channel like locusts.
Upon witnessing this, the Sea Race cultivators below erupted in thunderous cheers.