Ning Chen was happy to have some free time and casually searched through the treasure vault.
Suddenly, his gaze was drawn to an inconspicuous, broken jade pendant in the corner.
The jade pendant is dark blue-green, with cracks all over its surface. It has lost all its spiritual energy and looks like an ordinary piece of waste jade.
However, the moment Ning Chen picked it up, a notification sound from the system quietly rang in his mind.
[Ding! Unknown item detected, seemingly containing some extremely ancient and unique aura...]
[Investigating this item will require an estimated 100,000 Editing Points. Investigate?]
100,000 edit points?
Ning Chen raised an eyebrow; it seemed this broken jade pendant was no ordinary item.
He only has a little over 10,000 editing points in total, so it's impossible for him to investigate right now.
He discreetly put the jade pendant into his storage ring, intending to keep it for later use.
While taking inventory of the royal family members and preparing to escort them back to the Ning family for unified disposal, a seemingly insignificant member of a collateral branch caught Ning Chen's attention.
This person was named Liu Jingtao, about sixteen or seventeen years old, thin, with an ordinary face, and his cultivation was only at the fifth level of the Spirit Induction Realm. Among the many royal children, he belonged to the most inconspicuous category.
However, when faced with the formidable power of the Ning family and the tragic scene of their members being captured one by one, a fleeting glimpse of resentment and deep-seated forbearance, so incongruous with his age and cultivation level, flashed deep within his eyes.
Although it was only a fleeting moment, Ning Chen, who always kept his Eye of Truth open, keenly caught it.
Using the power of his double pupils to see through illusions, Ning Chen carefully examined this person and discovered that beneath Liu Jingtao's seemingly calm surface, deep within his soul lay an unusually resilient and peculiar fluctuation.
Moreover, the circulation of spiritual energy within his dantian was not as mediocre and sluggish as it appeared on the surface. On the contrary, it showed signs of being deliberately concealed and greatly restrained by some kind of sophisticated secret technique.
"Interesting," Ning Chen thought to himself.
He didn't make a fuss about it on the spot, but secretly memorized Liu Jingtao's appearance.
He felt that this seemingly ordinary member of a collateral branch must be hiding some unknown secret, and perhaps he would become an interesting variable in the future, or... a "lesson package" worth looking forward to.
Just as the Ning family finished looting, Ning Qingtian was about to give the order to depart and leave the now ruined capital of the Great Qian Dynasty.
Suddenly, a figure staggered out from a corner of the remaining palace and blocked Ning Chen's horse.
This man was dressed in rags, his face was sallow and thin. He was none other than Liu Chengming, the seventeenth prince who had been considered a "useless prince" because he was born with blocked meridians and could not cultivate. He had been ignored by the entire royal family and thus luckily escaped the first wave of purges by the Ning family.
The Ning family guards' eyes turned cold, and they were about to step forward and take him down.
Ning Chen waved his hand, watching the boy who had suddenly rushed out with great interest.
Unlike the others, Liu Chengming didn't kneel and beg for mercy. Instead, he raised his head, his bloodshot eyes fixed on Ning Chen, his voice hoarse yet carrying a hysterical question:
"Ning Chen!"
"You rely on your father's power to slaughter my royal family and act arrogantly here. What kind of hero are you!"
"If we were to start from the same point, I, Liu Chengming, might not be inferior to you!"
Upon hearing this, everyone around was stunned, and then looked at Liu Chengming as if he were a madman.
The Ning family members let out an undisguised sneer.
How dare a piece of trash who can't even cultivate spout such nonsense here?
Ning Qingtian also frowned slightly, clearly displeased with this reckless provocation.
Surprisingly, Ning Chen didn't get angry. Instead, a playful smile appeared on his lips: "Oh?"
"You mean, if I gave you a chance, you could beat me?"
Liu Chengming felt a chill run down his spine under Ning Chen's gaze, but he still held his neck straight and said through gritted teeth, "I... I've never cultivated! If one day I can embark on the path of cultivation, I will definitely make you look at me with new eyes!"
That unwilling yet stubborn look stirred something within Ning Chen.
He recalled his identity as a transmigrator. In his previous life, he had been an ordinary person who longed for the extraordinary. He felt a subtle empathy for this "useless" mentality of being at the bottom of society but unwilling to be ordinary.
Of course, it was just a fleeting feeling.
Ning Chen is not some kind of soft-hearted saint.
A thought suddenly flashed through his mind, making him think that perhaps he could try something more interesting.
"Alright!" Ning Chen's smile grew even wider. "I have always admired people with backbone. Since you are so confident, I will give you a chance."
He changed the subject, his tone tinged with a hint of mockery: "I happen to have a body-tempering elixir that my father obtained by chance in his early years. It is said to be able to cleanse the marrow and improve the physique of mortals, giving even those who cannot cultivate a glimmer of hope to embark on the path of cultivation."
"However…" Ning Chen drawled out his words, "this spiritual liquid is too potent. For ordinary people, taking it would be a matter of life and death. If they were not careful, they would explode and die without a trace."
"Do you dare to try?"
Upon hearing this, Liu Chengming's eyes flashed with disbelief, which was quickly replaced by intense vigilance and struggle.
Ning Chen continued, "I can give you this spiritual liquid. If you are lucky enough to survive and successfully embark on the path of cultivation..."
"I'll give you ten years."
"If you can withstand three moves from me in a fair and square manner within ten years."
"I can decide to spare the lives of all the Liu clan members who are here today, and let them become my Ning family's outer servants, living a wretched existence."
"If you cannot do it, or if you cannot even pass the first test and die directly from this spiritual liquid, then from today onwards, the Liu clan will be completely wiped out from the Xuan Tian Continent, and all will be forgotten."
These words not only gave the other party a glimmer of hope that was almost impossible to realize, but also represented an extreme form of control, like a cat playing with a mouse.
More importantly, he was showing his seemingly "benevolent" but actually "ruthless" side in front of the Ning family members and even his father.
As expected, Ning Qingtian's eyes flashed with approval after hearing this, feeling that his son's actions showed more of a superior's shrewdness and composure than a simple massacre.
Liu Chengming clenched his fists tightly, his nails digging deep into his palms, his eyes bloodshot, and he struggled violently.
On one side was a perilous situation with a slim chance of survival, and on the other side was a glimmer of hope for all the collateral relatives, as well as... his own intense desire not to be a useless person!
"I...I'll try!!"
After a long silence, Liu Chengming squeezed out these two words through gritted teeth, his voice hoarse but carrying a resolute determination to burn his bridges!
"Very good." Ning Chen nodded in satisfaction, flicked his finger, and a jade bottle fell into Liu Chengming's hand.