As Ning Yuan was preparing to take the medicine, Lin Xiao reminded him.
"I know."
Ning Yuan wasn't an idiot. The only way someone could render him completely defenseless was through one possibility.
The Mingxin Realm.
Despite his innate talent, he had to admit that after eighty years of sealing, he had reached his limit. He couldn't even fully unleash his strength from the Dongxuan Realm.
This medicine, if not absolutely necessary, he would have preferred to save for someone who could bring hope... rather than an old man like himself, on the verge of death.
Suddenly, he paused his action of taking the medicine, his gaze falling upon Ming Yi.
"You are twenty-three this year?"
"Yes."
"Very well, take this." He directly placed the small medicine bottle into Ming Yi's hand. "Take it after you enter the Dongxuan Realm."
"What do you mean?"
Ming Yi looked at the medicine bottle in his hand. Wasn't this the antidote?
"The spiritual energy of heaven and earth is scarce now. Many can only enter the Dongxuan Realm through great fortune. If one wishes to enter the Mingxin Realm, besides decades of arduous cultivation, there is only... using that set of 'Ephemeral Palace's Marrow-Drying Divine Art' like this fellow."
"Marrow-Drying Divine Art? Not 'Energy Absorption Great Technique'?" Lin Xiao asked instinctively.
"It's the same thing. Both are insidious techniques. Only they could come up with such methods."
Ning Yuan disdained it. He continued, "After you enter the Dongxuan Realm, take this, find a place, and cultivate diligently for ten to eight years. Once you truly comprehend the Ning family's cultivation techniques, you will undoubtedly enter the Mingxin Realm, and perhaps even have a chance to reach the Divine Realm in one go."
"What is inside this?"
Ming Yi asked.
He couldn't tell what medicinal ingredients were inside. He only knew that his cultivation technique reacted to its contents, suggesting it was something beneficial for his practice.
"Spiritual Liquid."
"It's something the Patriarch rewarded me with before I was sealed, to help me break through to the Divine Realm," Ning Yuan said. "This Spiritual Liquid can cleanse all poisons, provide immense spiritual energy, and extend one's lifespan by a hundred years."
"It is a rare treasure in this world, and only our Ning family can produce it."
"A pity..."
The Ning family could no longer produce it now.
The regret in his words didn't seem fake.
"Spiritual Liquid?"
Ming Yi didn't quite understand.
The Three Techniques and Six Arts didn't mention such a thing.
Could it be that the Ning family possessed some lost heritage?
If what this person said was true, then indeed many lost inheritances would have existed back then, either taken by the Ephemeral Palace or stolen by those scoundrels from the Heavenly Doctors.
There was no other possibility.
"Yes, with the current era of scarce spiritual energy, the Ning family probably has no raw materials anymore. Back then, the Ning family only had three bottles of Spiritual Liquid, and one was given to me."
Ning Yuan said with great emotion. "Two of the ingredients in this require a thousand-year-old medicinal herb to be effective."
"Alright, take it."
He said, seemingly relieved. "I am already a dying man. So be it. You wanted to see how zombies appear? Then it's a perfect opportunity for you to witness the most powerful corpse-raising art of our Ning family lineage."
"Remember, don't blink."