For the past thousands of years, Man Shan and his wives had been borrowing power from the Star Tempering Purple Zoysia. Although they did not consume it using the right way, they had nearly reached the stage of completely transforming into true demons. Moreover, with the magical effect of the Sixth Revolution Pills, Manifestation Tempering Pills which were given by Ning Fan, they entered into seclusion at once to complete their demon transformation right after they consumed the pills!
The effect of the Manifestation Tempering Pill was to temper one’s manifestation and demon avatar. It was something that was widely sought after especially by Void Refinement Realm experts.
To star spirits, however, evolving into a true demon was no different from attaining one’s own demon avatar on the foundation of their star spirit bodies. Hence, the Manifestation Tempering Pills undoubtedly had amazing effects for them.
Seeing his three descendants having hopes of becoming demons, Man Xiong could not help but cup his fists in gratitude towards Ning Fan, despite his cold and unsociable personality.
“I’m truly grateful for this little friend’s kindness!”
“You don’t have to thank me. After all, we are just taking what each of us needs. If senior takes this pill, your injuries can be suppressed for one thousand years. Unfortunately, after one thousand years… senior will not be able to escape death.”
Ning Fan suddenly became silent. Man Xiong’s injuries were too severe. Besides, they had been staying with him for thousands of years without being treated properly. As a matter of fact, he was already a half-dead person. Ning Fan was unable to heal his injuries anymore. What he could do now was just to suppress his injuries by giving him another Sixth Revolution Pill, Death Sealing Pill.
This pill was not used in curing one’s injuries but forcibly restraining one’s condition. It did not only keep one’s wounds under control, but also had the effect of stopping the growth of one’s cultivation level.
Once Man Xiong consumes this pill, he could live a normal life like any ordinary person within one thousand years and regain his Early Void Refinement Realm cultivation level.
One thousand years later, he would still die. The reason of his death, however, was not because of his injuries but because of the limitation of his lifespan.
A Void Refinement Realm expert has a lifespan of ten thousand years. Currently, Man Xiong was already nine thousand years old. One thousand years later, he would reach the end of his lifespan and his inevitable death would be hard to reverse.
This pill might be able to suppress his injuries, but it would also restrict the possibility for growth in his cultivation level, making it impossible for him to break through to the Void Fragmentation Realm.
However, Man Xiong only laughed when told of the side effects of the pill. He was not concerned about it at all.
“This little friend sure is joking. Even if I don’t consume this pill given my current capabilities, there is absolutely no way for me to attain the Void Fragmentation Realm from my current cultivation level within one thousand years. To me, it is already enough that I can live without suffering pain from my injuries and protect these three little descendants after consuming this pill. In the eyes of our demon race, the inheritance of the race is much more important than one’s life and death.”
Without hesitation, Man Xiong determinedly swallowed the Death Sealing Pill. Moreover, after just an hour, his wounds were fully suppressed and his aura had recovered to the Early Void Refinement Realm!
“Little friend, we truly owe you a great debt of gratitude. Other than the Star Tempering Purple Zoysia, if you have anything else that you need, just say it! I heard that you wish to head towards the Heaven Hall. This old man and those three little silly children need some time for secluded cultivation. If time allows, we will certainly help you enter the Heaven Hall to search for opportunities after we exit from our secluded meditation!”
“There’s no need for that. I just need the Star Tempering Purple Zoysia.”
Looking at the King Man’s valley which was decorated with lanterns and colored hanging ornaments, Ning Fan’s eyes turned gloomy.
With my help, Man Shan and his wives now have the hope to fully transform into true demons while Man Xiong’s condition will remain stable for one thousand years. The footing of the star island on the Greedy Wolf Star Sea can be considered completely firm now…
All of them were naturally in great joy for their current situation. The feeling of joy, however, did not belong to Ning Fan.
In a remote part of the valley, Ning Fan took away the Star Tempering Purple Zoysia and stood for a long time with complicated thoughts outside Man Shan’s stone chamber. Eventually, he cupped his fists towards Man Xiong and left.
“I can help others realize their wishes. But no one is able to help me… help me restore the smile on Weiliang’s face…”
Ning Fan’s eyebrows did not relax for a single moment, even though he had already obtained the entire purple zoysia.
If he were to consume that item himself, perhaps it would make his body refining realm advance further into the Third Level of the Jade Life Realm.
However, he was not going to do that. He had decided to let the female corpse have it in order to help her recover her Sea of Consciousness.
In a way, feeding her medicine in order to revive the memories of her previous life resembled how she fed him the dew when he was just a butterfly in his previous life.
However, Ning Fan was uncertain as to what extent the Star Tempering Purple Zoysia can recover the female corpse’s memories.
The state of her Sea of Consciousness was just too severe. It was so horribly torn apart that one could hardly bear seeing it.
Even if I possess the Star Tempering Purple Zoysia now, would it really be able to recover her Sea of Consciousness?
If it fails in the end, what is the point of everything that I’ve done…
“Weiliang…”
Ning Fan paused. After making a few teleportations, he had already returned to his abode in the southern part of the island.
It was already noon. Each of the women had already woken up, chatting casually within the abode. What they were discussing was closely related to Ning Fan’s trip to the northern part of the island.
As soon as they saw Ning Fan return, each of them stood up one after another.
Yue Lingkong felt slightly discontented. From Xi Ran’s mouth, she found out that Ning Fan went to the King Man’s valley in the northern part of the island to obtain the Star Tempering Purple Zoysia. She just thought that he was just too mean for not bringing her along to a matter which involved fighting.
Wu Yan was a little worried. She worried that Ning Fan would get into a brawl with Man Shan and his men.
As for Xi Ran, she wore a sulky expression with her lips pouted. She was still angry about the 950 million immortal jade that Ning Fan owed her.
As for Yuan Yao, she shifted her gaze away to avoid Ning Fan’s eyes as her heart was still filled with guilt and embarrassment.
“How did it go? Did you get the purple zoysia?” Yue Lingkong broke the silence and asked.
“Mm. It’s in my hands now…”
Ning Fan only looked the female corpse who was standing alone at one corner, feeling pained inwardly.
“I want to treat her wounds. Please help me stand guard and protect the abode…”
With a gentle step, he floated to the female corpse’s side. In a twirl, the both of them had gone out of sight.
All the four women were surprised at once. The guilt, remorse and weakness that filled the current Ning Fan’s eyes could not escape from their observation.
“He… actually has such feelings as well…”
Even if Ning Fan had killed millions upon millions of lives, he had never once hesitated or felt remorseful for his actions.
However, when he saw the rigid and emotionless expression on the female corpse’s face, he found it difficult to avoid feeling heartache.
As the sea breeze blew, Ning Fan hugged the female corpse and soared into the sky, going against the direction of the sea breeze. He did not plan to enter into seclusion in the star island. Instead, he brought her straight up to the sky where the starlight was the brightest: the remotest part of the sky located at about 4.8 million zhang* above the ground.
Amidst the soft-blowing wind, Ning Fan came to a halt and hugged the female corpse even more tightly.
“Don’t be afraid. I’m here… If the recovery of your Sea of Consciousness fails, I will look for other ways to help you regain your memories. I will. I definitely will…”
“Light?”
The female corpse wore a blank expression. She completely had no idea why Ning Fan would suddenly show her such a frail expression.
Neither could she understand why she would suddenly be brought so high up into the sky by Ning Fan when everything was alright.
Instinctively, she just wanted to push Ning Fan away because she did not like being hugged by any man.
However, at this moment, the current Ning Fan gave him an extremely familiar feeling. All of a sudden, she felt like the person who was hugging her was not a man but a butterfly…
Her fragmented Sea of Consciousness began to tremble. Apparently, she seemed to have had a glimpse at a scene of her previous life which made her completely overwhelmed by grief.
That butterfly which only had a pair of insignificant wings charged towards Zhang Qing in order to save her life!
“Light…I…don’t…feel…good…”
“I…didn’t…open…the…door…”
She did not know why she felt like crying but she could not stop it.
A corpse devil had no tears; thus it would never cry. A corpse devil did not have a heart; thus it would never feel heartache.
“Don’t be afraid. The past life is just like flying dust. Everything will pass. In this life… I’m here! I’m here for you. Regardless of anyone, no one shall be able to harm you, even if that person is…an Immortal Emperor!”
Ning Fan deeply inhaled, calming his emotions. He must not feel nervous. He must not waver. He must not let weakness overwhelm him!
Previously, he was worried whether the Star Tempering Purple Zoysia would be able to cure the female corpse. Currently, however, he no longer had any worries anymore.
“If a single tuft of purple zoysia can’t cure you, I will then search for one hundred tufts, one thousand tufts or even ten thousand tufts! If you can’t recover your memories within one year, it doesn’t matter because I will wait for that day to come no matter how long it takes, be it one hundred years, one thousand years or even ten thousand years! I will wait for the moment… when you finally remember who I am!”
The confusion within Ning Fan subsided as he let go of the female corpse from his arms. Now, there was an unprecedented aura surging around his body.
Slapping on his storage pouch, he took out a khaki lingzhi.
Whatever aspect it was, be it its smell or its appearance, this lingzhi shared an exact resemblance to the Extreme Profound Zoysia. If Ning Fan were to bump into it in the past, he would without a doubt consider it as an Extreme Profound Zoysia.
However, after awakening his medicine soul, his ability to discern spiritual herbs sharpened. He now could already recognize a spiritual herb just by smelling it. The smell of this lingzhi might closely resemble that of the Extreme Profound Zoysia, but in actual fact, it was just a camouflage.
Of all creations in this secular world, everything possesses a spirit. Every one of them knew how to avoid disasters and pursue good fortune. As for this Star Tempering Purple Zoysia, it had an exceptional spirituality. Hence, it knew how to camouflage itself by imitating the looks of other spiritual herbs naturally in order to deceive others.
“How can a man not be like this since a mere medicine is already behaving in this manner…”
Ning Fan indifferently muttered to himself and activated his medicine soul. The next moment, his body emanated a bright green light which then gathered on his palm and condensed into a green jade piece. Using it, he scraped it on the lingzhi.
After being scratched by the green jade which was formed using his medicine soul, that lingzhi trembled gently and immediately transformed into a tuft of purple lingzhi which was one chi* long. (30.7 cm per chi)
One would need to go through three steps in order to consume the Star Tempering Purple Zoysia.
Firstly, one would need to transform his ‘medicine soul’ into jade to break the disguise of the spiritual herb.
Secondly, roasting the zoysia with flames nine times.
Thirdly, using a ‘medicine slave’ to purify the poison contained within the zoysia, bringing out its maximum medicinal power.
After completing the first step, a column of black flames which was three chi* (30.7 cm per chi) tall rose from the tip of his finger. Without further delay, he began roasting the purple zoysia.
The process of roasting the zoysia required a high level of control towards flames. If the temperature of the flames were to be slightly higher, the purple zoysia will then be turned into ashes, whereas a lower temperature would cause the zoysia to be under-roasted.
After awakening the medicine soul, Ning Fan felt that his sense of sight and hearing had greatly sharpened. Moreover, his ability to control flames had become exceptionally better!
Within just an hour, the process of roasting had been completed. After roasting the zoysia for nine times, whiffs of fragrance began to fill the atmosphere. By just sniffing its smell once, Ning Fan felt his magic power surge, as if it was showing signs of improvement.
“Next would be the third step…”
Looking at the female corpse who was wearing a dull expression, Ning Fan’s eyes glinted with determination. He exhaled a mouthful of essence qi and then sucked in the huge purple zoysia into his abdomen.
“Refine!”
As Ning Fan uttered the word, the purple zoysia started to be refined inside his body, turning into droplets of purple zoysia juice which was then condensed into pellets of purple medicinal crystals.
Ning Fan was very careful, worrying if he would waste the medicinal power by absorbing the slightest trace of medicinal essence, and diminish the possibility for the female corpse to regain her memories.
Along the process of refining the medicinal crystals, streaks of poison which were black like ink forced its way into the crystals and was then absorbed by him.
Just like how the saying goes, whenever heaven gives birth to a medicine, it would certainly create a poison as well!
Thus, the stronger the medicinal power of the purple zoysia, the heavier its poison would be.
When the poison entered his body, Ning Fan’s lips immediately turned dark purple while his face started to be suffused with black qi.
No matter how the poison racked his insides or how agonizing his five internal organs felt, Ning Fan only clenched his jaw without uttering a single word. Gradually, the pellets of the purple medicinal crystals emanated a massive amount of medicinal qi out of his body and placed each of them into the female corpse’s mouth.
Pain?! I don’t care about pain!
Cultivation level?! I could also give all of it up!
The only thing I wish is that I could see you smile again!
“The thirteenth medicinal crystal!”
After Ning Fan inserted the last medicinal crystal into the female corpse’s mouth, he felt a sharp pain in his chest as if he had just received a heavy blow and retreated one hundred steps, spurting out a mouthful of black blood. At that moment, he was already in a severe condition.
Ordinary beings were unable to resist the poison that came along with spiritual herbs. Even an ordinary medicinal slave would not be able to sustain the poison contained within the purple zoysia, let alone survive it… But Ning Fan didn’t care about it!
“Light…you’re…hurt…”
“I…don’t…get…it…”
The female corpse obediently consumed those medicinal crystals and stared blankly at Ning Fan.
She didn’t understand. She didn’t understand why Ning Fan vomited blood.
“It’s nothing. You don’t need to understand…”
Ning Fan smiled satisfyingly. He had already noticed that after the female corpse swallowed the medicinal crystals, the power of the purple zoysia was starting to be assimilated by her body.
In the sky above the Star Palace within the vicinity of 4.8million zhang* (3.33m per zhang), countless and seemingly endless rays of starlight began to rush towards the female corpse, gathering inside her body.
Streaks of starlight revolved around her body. Her internal injuries were starting to recover amidst the starlight.The broken pieces of her Sea of Consciousness also began to show signs of uniting.
So, all that I’ve done isn’t a waste after all…
However, what happened next was totally out of Ning Fan’s expectations.
After Ning Fan had refined the poison of the zoysia and fed the female corpse the purified medicinal crystals, the female corpse gradually recovered while basking in the silver-colored starlight.
As for Ning Fan, there were also rays of starlight which were as light as veils emerging around his body.
This starlight, however was black in color….
“Black starlight? What…is this!”
Ning Fan’s eyes glinted with surprised. A moment after he was covered by the starlight, his eyelids started to droop, and he seemed to have entered a dream.
“Black star, it’s actually the black star! My silly little brother, I can’t believe that you got this golden opportunity! You’re so awesome” Luo You said excitedly inside the Yin Yang Locket. Unfortunately, Ning Fan could not hear her words as he had already fallen into a dream.
Outside the abode, Yuan Yao gazed into the sky without uttering a single word.
After noticing the movement of the starlight above the sky, she guessed that Ning Fan probably had already successfully fed the female corpse the purple zoysia and drew the power of the starlight to cure her injuries.
“One of its leaves enables one to condense the star of fiendgod. A bite on its flesh can draw the power of starlight to temper one’s body and enhance their body refining realm… You weren’t reluctant at all to let her consume such a precious item whole. You treat her really well, even though she might not necessarily be able to understand how much you have done for her…”
Yuan Yao sighed with emotions, feeling a little dejected. However, a brief moment later, her face was filled with utter amazement.
It was because pieces of black star clouds began to form in the sky, refracting starlight which was as black as the darkest night!
“Black-colored starlight?! Immortal Demons can borrow the power of starlight to cure their wounds. However, there are differences in superiority in terms of the power of starlight… Ordinary Immortals Demons could only comprehend silver-colored starlight which allows them to cure their wounds and remedy poison. The color of silver, however, is the lowest grade of the starlight… Whereas black is the color of the strongest grade among the nine grades of starlight!”
Yuan Yao’s face was plastered with astonishment. It was rare to find anyone who could understand what she was currently feeling. One has to arrive at a certain cultivation level and only then could they know what the differences were between black-colored starlight and starlight with ordinary color.
Both of them were borrowing the power of starlight to heal their wounds and injuries, but the difference in terms of the effects of both types of starlight was like the gap between heaven and earth.
The technique of tempering the body using starlight was actually a type of treatment to heal wounds that was commonly used by immortals. The number of stars for healing the wounds and the color and grade of the starlight directly related to the effectiveness of this technique.
“Rumor has it that the Celestial Emperor had cultivated this technique to the level where he could call upon a million stars. With a flick of his hand, one million black stars would appear and the starlight which would shine upon him would never extinguish. No matter how heavily he gets besieged by the other celestial immortals, no matter how severe he was injured and how much blood he shed, he could be healed in a flash…”
“If you are able to comprehend this technique, perhaps you could be the next Celestial Emperor when you attain the cultivation level of an Immortal Emperor… Erm… What was I thinking?”
Yuan Yao shook her head while laughing at herself.
She seemed to have forgotten herself being so excited after just seeing Ning Fan drawing the power of the black starlight.
Being able to draw the starlight to heal injuries did not necessarily mean that one would be able to comprehend the technique of starlight.
Successfully comprehending the technique of starlight did not necessarily mean that one could cultivate to the level of summoning one million stars, let alone become an Immortal Emperor.
Ning Fan surely had great luck to get such an opportunity to call upon the black star. However, the gap between him and Yuan Yao was still too huge after all.
“Difficult…”
No one clearly knew if the word ‘difficult’ she uttered was about the difficulty of comprehending the technique of starlight or the love affair between her and Ning Fan.
Ning Fan stood still within the black starlight for three days. Throughout these three days, he seemed to have been dreaming.
With his consciousness fully immersed within the dream, he could not break free at all.
In the dream, he wore a white robe. In front of him, there was a middle-aged man who was clad in a black robe which was majestically adorned with a dragon. Both of them were playing chess.
Ning Fan was controlling white chess piece while his opponent was controlling the black chess piece.
“Butterfly boy, it’s your turn…”
The black-robed man stroked his beard as he spoke. His left eye was gouged out and black blood had been oozing out from his wound continuously to the floor but his facial expression remained composed.
“In this world, when there is white, then there will be black. When there is life, then there will be death. When there is sunlight, then there will be shadow. When there are heroes, there will be villains. From my perspective, the technique of starlight is just like a chess game. The black star and the silver star; the strongest and the weakest, both of them are in this game… Isn’t it interesting… I didn’t expect that 150 million years after my death, the remaining intent that I left within the starlight will be discovered by you again… You are quite good towards Weiliang just now. I’ve seen it all…”
“Who are you?!” Ning Fan lifted his head and stared straight at the mysterious man’s eye.
“It doesn’t matter who I am. This is just a broken dream. Winning this chess game is all that you need to do! You still have half a day to consider what the following move to make!”
Translated by Tommy, edited by Roel.
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