At this moment, in the back mountain of Qinghui Town ten miles away, Zhao Shuning found a cave.
Outside the cave, there was a thick layer of spider webs. It seemed that no one else had ever been here.
Taking out the night pearl she had prepared in her bosom, Zhao Shuning's slender body slowly walked into the cave.
As soon as she entered the cave, she felt a blast of cold air hitting her face.
The cave was pitch - black inside, with a cold wind whistling. Zhao Shuning could only see the path in front of her with the faint light of the night pearl in her hand. The deeper she went into this cave, the more fascinating it became. There were many portraits of demons and ghosts on the walls, which made Zhao Shuning's hair stand on end.
Zhao Shuning originally planned to find a more spacious place to rest, but for some unknown reason, she was guided deeper and deeper inside.
After passing through the narrow passage and wading through a small pool of water, Zhao Shuning's vision suddenly broadened.
This part of the cave was extremely spacious.
Moreover, there were many precious night pearls here, illuminating the entire cave brightly.
In the center of the cave, there was a huge grass nest. Only when Zhao Shuning walked closer did she discover that inside the grass nest, there were the feathers of the divine beast Phoenix that she had once owned when she was the Eight - Phase Female Emperor.
No wonder when she first entered the cave, there had always been a mysterious force guiding her here.
Every divine beast, once it had a master, would sign a contract with the master.
The Phoenix was a gift from Yan Ruyu to Ye Ling when she was eight years old.
In the same year, Ye Ling signed a contract with the Phoenix. A divine beast could only sign a contract with one person in its lifetime, and if this contract was not terminated before the master's death, it would surely follow the reincarnated master. There was a spiritual connection between the divine beast and the master.
This was why Zhao Shuning had unconsciously walked deep into the cave.
However, Zhao Shuning's joy did not last long before she became extremely dejected.
Because the remaining feathers of the Phoenix were quite old, at least over two years.
So the Phoenix must not be here now.
The Phoenix was an ancient divine beast, clearly different from other demons.
In the beast world, there were also three levels: spiritual pets, also known as spiritual beasts, demons, and divine beasts.
Spiritual pets were usually owned by wealthy families. Demons could only be owned by spiritual pharmacists of the fifth level or above, and divine beasts were even rarer. One had to be at the Eight - Phase level or above. So far, Zhao Shuning had never heard of a spiritual pharmacist above the Eight - Phase level in the Eastern Ze Wilderness.
When she signed the contract with the Phoenix back then, Zhao Shuning was not at the Eight - Phase level yet, but luckily, she had a prodigious master.
Although her master always had a cold expression on his face, he always gave Ye Ling the best things.
"No wonder ordinary people can't get in. The Phoenix left a restriction at the entrance. An ordinary spiritual pharmacist wouldn't be able to find this entrance."
Thanks to the Phoenix, she could now peacefully refine pills here for the time being.
The First - Rank Red Blood Emperor Pill was the simplest first - grade pill. In her previous life, Ye Ling had never even touched such an inferior pill. Back then, with a casual refinement, she could produce a sixth - grade pill.
At that time, she had just taken in Xia Wanning and Ji Qinglin as her disciples. When they saw Ye Ling produce a sixth - grade pill with a single move, their expressions were filled with indescribable surprise.
From then on, Ye Ling had two little tails following her. They always looked at her with adoring eyes, and Ye Ling couldn't shake them off.
Back to reality, Zhao Shuning stared blankly at the Yimi Flower in front of her.
This Qinghui Town was really quite backward. A first - grade spiritual herb like the Yimi Flower could actually attract so many people to fight over it.
She closed her eyes and recalled the mental method for refining pills from the past. Slowly, she poured her spiritual power into the Yimi Flower. Although she was being very careful, she still smelled a burning odor. When she opened her eyes, she saw that the Yimi Flower in front of her had somehow started to burn.
Thankfully, she noticed it early and managed to stop the loss in time. The Yimi Flower could still be used.
Looking at the spiritual herb in front of her, Zhao Shuning fell into deep thought.
She had never refined a first - grade pill before and didn't know how much spiritual power was needed for it.
But judging from the situation just now, the spiritual power she had used must have seriously exceeded the required amount.
Time waited for no one. After coming up with a plan, Zhao Shuning closed her eyes again and slowly fell into meditation.
This time, she was much smarter.
She increased her spiritual power at an extremely slow pace. Only after she felt that her spiritual power was in harmony with the spiritual herb did Zhao Shuning start to slowly nourish the Yimi Flower with her spiritual power.
Then, she opened her eyes and looked at the Yimi Flower hovering in mid - air. She was in a great mood.
"I said it. How could a mere first - grade pill stop me?"
Flipping her two small braids behind her back, Zhao Shuning walked out of the cave proudly.
It was getting late. She had to go back early. Otherwise, if her mother found out, she would be worried again.
When Zhao Shuning returned to the Zhao family, the clan had just finished a meeting and was walking out of the ancestral hall.
Judging from their expressions, they should have almost made a decision. Zhao Shuning originally didn't want to interfere because her father would probably tell her all about it when she woke up the next morning.
But just as Zhao Shuning was about to return to her room, she heard her own name from her grandfather's mouth.
"Zheng'er, don't tell Xiaoning about this when you get back."
Don't tell her? Why? Was there something in the family that they needed to hide from her?
"But father, what about the protective armor?"
"I'll give it to her five days later. Don't mention this to her before then. I'm afraid Xiaoning will have a psychological burden if she knows about it."
"Father, the protective armor is your most precious thing. You should let Shuning know so that she can understand your good intentions."
"You're wrong, son."
"Father?"
"As an elder, sometimes, you don't have to voice your kindness to your children. You know Xiaoning is a smart and mischievous girl, but she values her family very much. You saw how Xiaoning didn't care that Zhao Xue was her second uncle and kicked his leg until it was fractured just because Zhao Xue mocked you a bit."
Zhao Zheng looked a bit embarrassed.
"I'm telling you this not to say that Xiaoning is bad. It's just that Xiaoning values family ties too much. If you tell her how precious the protective armor is, I'm afraid the weight of this family affection will make it hard for her to breathe."
"Father, I understand."
In the dark, Zhao Shuning's eyes were moist.
She had never thought that besides her father, mother, and brother, she would have a small family, and even less had she thought that everyone in the family would be so sincere to her.
From then on, she secretly swore that she would surely protect everyone in the Zhao family and not let outsiders harm them in the slightest.