Wu Yan and Xi Ran had taken away all the medicinal ashes at the garden. Since the medicine had turned into ashes, they had of course run out of medicinal effect. Other than being useful for the Spirit King, they were basically useless items for other cultivators.
Ning Fan would without a doubt not seize the medicinal ashes. What he had set his eyes upon was the medicinal garden.
The spiritual soil of this place was enough to cultivate one million years old emperor’s medicine! In Ning Fan’s eyes, this spiritual soil was indeed a priceless treasure!
“Light…”
“S-Stone…”
The female corpse pulled Ning Fan to a corner and waved her bare hands with a pleading look.
She wanted Ning Fan to take that green stone away because it stored the most beautiful memories she had in her previous life.
After her spiritual intelligence slightly improved, she understood that in order to ask Ning Fan to do something for her, she needed to give him something in return.
After hesitating and repeatedly pondering for a while, she eventually mustered her courage and stretched her legs, gently planting a kiss on Ning Fan’s face.
“S-Stone…”
Feeling the ice-cold lips which came into contact on the skin of his face, Ning Fan did not know whether to laugh or cry.
“Silly girl. Fine. I will take this rock with us. I will also take this medicinal garden away too. In the future, you can sit on the green rock every day and do your embroidery of a pair of colorful butterflies. Will that be okay to you?”
“En…En…” The female corpse nodded her head repeatedly with a cheerful expression. The current her looked just like a five to six years old child.
Well, good or bad, her spiritual intelligence had improved to a level similar to that of a five to six years old child, wasn’t that great?
“So this is what they called ‘pampering’, huh…” Yuan Yao’s eyes flashed with contemplation.
Perhaps, to the female corpse, she could die without regrets for being able to find a man who would be willing to dote on her and protect her.
Ning Fan slapped his storage pouch and swept the entire area with the realm power. The dilapidated medicinal garden immediately disappeared and was kept into his Yuan Yao Jade.
He did not directly take out the Yuan Yao Jade in order to avoid being noticed by Yuan Yao which might cause more troubles to him.
Even so, Yuan Yao who had a keen eyesight still managed to realize that it was the realm power. With an astonished tone, she asked, “Realm power? Is that a treasure of the cosmos which has opened up a chiliocosm? It’s rather unexpected that you, a cultivator of the mortal world, would possess such a treasure. However, why do I feel that this realm power is rather familiar? Is it a misconception?”
Yuan Yao looked at Ning Fan as if she was seeking an answer. She had a feeling that the realm power of the treasure of the cosmos which Ning Fan possessed resembled that of the Yuan Yao Jade which she made herself.
“Mm. It’s indeed a misconception!”
Ning Fan gave her an innocent and harmless look. Well, of course, he was not going to display that Yuan Yao Jade in front of Yuan Yao.
He did not want to expose the grudges and the complicated relationship he had with Bei Xiaoman right before her sister.
About that matter, Yuan Yao was not going to get to the bottom of it as there were innumerable treasures of the cosmos in the world. It was not strange to occasionally find some treasures which shared a similar realm power.
“Originally, I was prepared to give you my Yuan Yao Jade to help you store the spiritual soil of this medicinal garden. Now, my intention seems to be unnecessary since you already have a treasure of the cosmos…” Yuan Yao let out a faint sigh and spoke.
“Oh really… I think it’s better that you keep your Yuan Yao Jade for the person you love.”
Ning Fan simply replied to her.
The Yuan Yao Jade which he seized from Bei Xiaoman was just an accidental trophy. However, if he takes the jade off from Yuan Yao’s finger, it would certainly be a token of attachment.
After all, the Yuan Yao Jade was a token of love for the four mistresses of the Lost World Palace to be given to the man whom they fell for. Ning Fan could tell that Yuan Yao was unwilling to have any ties with him. Therefore, he was not planning to take Yuan Yao’s love token just like that.
“The person I love? I don’t have any lover. I have none of them in the past and neither could I have any in the future…” Yuan Yao’s eyes looked calm and composed on the surface. However, under that veil that shrouded her face, she was nervously biting her lips.
It’s not that I am unable to love anyone… It’s just that… I can’t…
Silence gradually fell upon the area. After two hours, the quiet atmosphere was broken by a flash of silver moonlight which travelled straight at where they were residing.
Just as the light receded, a female girl who had the appearance of a seven to eight years old child emerged. Her face was delicate and pretty. Her eyes appeared to be rather cold and arrogant. She was none other than Yue Lingkong.
“Yue Er, you have returned? How was it? Did you encounter any danger? Have you managed to find out how many ways to get out of this ancient forest?”
“Pah! Stinky Cucumber! Who allowed you to call me ‘Yue Er’?!”
Yue Lingkong impatiently talked back to Ning Fan. However, after seeing that Ning Fan was concerned about her, her facial expression became slightly gentler.
“What kind of danger will I experience in this place? At most, there are just a few Wild Beasts which may pop out of nowhere. However, with my power and capabilities, I can beat them up until they are too scared to see me with just a few moves… As for the routes, based on my discovery, other than the path that we took to enter the forest, there are at least three more routes that could lead us out of this place… Of course, one of the three paths has traces of fighting. I suppose they were left by the three unlucky generals from the Thunder Water Tribe while they were fleeing for their lives. So which one should we take?”
Yue Lingkong passed a sketchy map of the ancient forest to Ning Fan with one of her hands while using the other to hold a light blue pearl. It was this pearl which helped her from being deluded by the illusion formation of this place.
The pearl gave out a thick, enshrouding light and it had the unique effect of warding off illusion formations. It was named the ‘Blue Spirit Bead’. Originally, it was a treasure bestowed upon Imperial Concubine Zi by the Spirit King. However, since it now belonged to Ning Fan, it was temporarily given to Yue Lingkong for her own use.
During the time when Wu Yan and Xi Ran were gathering the medicinal ashes, Yue Lingkong brought the bead along with her while exploring the possible paths in the forest.
“Three paths? Which one should we take? If we want to follow the wolf demon and obtain the key, we should take the path which the three generals had taken earlier.” Yuan Yao indifferently suggested.
“Sister Bei Yao is right. Besides, the nine Honorable Demon Generals are also on that path. If we join forces, it’s very likely that we would be able to seize that key!” Wu Yan continued.
“Brother Lu Bei, no matter which path you choose, I will certainly follow you. However, y-you must protect me and keep me away from being harmed…” Xi Ran sounded hesitant, as if she lacked the courage to follow through.
As soon as the words which the women uttered entered Ning Fan’s ears, they turned into contemplation.
Since the Key of the Star Palace had already turned into a chess piece of star power that fell into his hands, it was no longer necessary for him to confront Tan Lang for the key at all.
Well, the women were not aware of that matter. As such, all of them were contemplating which route to take and their target was to obtain the key. As for Ning Fan’s target, he was looking for the center of the Star Palace, the location where Lu Wu’s remnant soul was trapped.
Taking out the jade slip given by Lu Daochen, he pressed it against his glabella. All of a sudden, he furrowed his brows.
By looking at the map, in order to arrive at the place where Lu Wu’s remnant soul was sealed, there are no other options but to pass through the domain where Tan Lang is guarding.
“Fine. It seems like I am only left with one option…”
Ning Fan no longer spoke any words. With a slap on his storage pouch, he summoned the Golden Flame Chariot.
With a flick of his sleeve, he carried the women to the chariot. After performing a hand seal, the golden-fiery crystal chariot which was pulled by a black dragon turned into a ray of golden light and vanished into the dense forest in an instant.
…
Half a month later.
Within the Heaven Hall, inside a confusing valley where silver snowflakes drifted in the air, nine Divine Transformation Realm experts wore similarly serious and heavy expressions.
They seemed to have just escaped from being hunted down. Along the path which they took when they fled, there were many corpses of demon beasts lying on the ground.
Afterwards, the nine of them parted and stood on two separate sides. Both parties stared at each other with maliciousness.
If there was a demon of the Lu Clan at the scene, they would definitely realize that each and every one of the nine experts were the Honorable Demon Generals of the nine tribes!
They had just escaped from being killed but now, they seemed to be having a dispute over something as they separated themselves into two groups.
On the left, the group was composed of five generals with Lu Jiefen being the leader. Each of them cast covetous eyes on the group of four experts who were standing in opposite of them.
Among the four experts at the other side, the ones who were standing at the front were the Thunder General of the Second Division and the Wind General of the Third Division. Behind these two members, the Earth General of the Lie Tu Tribe wore a distressed expression while Lu Daochen whose white beard was stained with blood was holding an illusory fruit which glowed with faint golden light in his hand. Lu Daochen’s left eye remained tightly shut all this while and black blood could be seen flowing out from it.
“Lu Daochen! All nine of us killed our way out together from the brutal of the wolf demons. But why are you the one holding the ‘Dao Fruit of Blood Wolf’?! Don’t tell me you are planning on taking it all for yourself without sharing it with us?! Hand out the Dao Fruit!”
Lu Jiefen’s aura was like a blazing fire. As it spread, the silver snowflakes within the vicinity of ten thousand li* (500m per li) lit up and melted!
“Hmmph! Lu Jiefen, have you no shame?! When we were being pursued by the group of wolves just now, if it was not because of the Cloud General who risked his life to protect our rear and sacrificed his Bestowal Star, how could we escape from the wolves so easily? At the expense of his Bestowal Star, he killed one of the nine ‘blood wolves’ and obtained this Dao Fruit. Why should it be given to you?!” The Thunder General who had the shortest temper among the four indignantly spoke.
“What Thunder General said is exactly true! Lu Jiefen, you better not go too far in bullying others! We aren’t at your Pure Flame Tribe now. If you dare to turn against us for a mere Dao Fruit, I’m afraid your safety would be at stake too!” The Wind General threatened with a deep menacing tone.
The Earth General from the eighth division was feeling extremely awkward. When Ning Fan had established his reputation in front of all the nine divisions, he had determinedly befriended the Luo Yun Tribe without sparing any financial resources in order to neutralize the grudges between the two tribes.
He did not dare to offend Lu Jiefen. However, he was even more afraid to provoke Ning Fan… As such, he would of course choose to stand on Lu Daochen’s side.
“Since all of us are in such a dangerous place right now, we should be more cooperative with each other…” The Earth General spoke, advocating peace between the opposing sides.
“Apparently, all of you are thick-headed! No more nonsense! If I’m able to obtain this Dao Fruit, it would be worth it even if I have to reveal my true strength! This Dao Fruit is at least equivalent to three Peak Divine Transformation Realm Dao Fruits. With this Dao Fruit… the chances of me breaking through to the Void Refinement Realm would then increase by nearly 50 percent!”
Lu Jiefen’s eyes flashed with ferocity. He made a stomp forward and a trace of qi which had been deeply hidden within him flowed out, congealing an illusory shadow of a fiery purple dragon in front of him.
Amidst the layers of purple flames, the illusory shadow then turned into a purple-robed man. His appearance was rather similar to that of Lu Jiefen. His aura, however, was a few times stronger than that of the latter!
Lu Jiefen was an expert of the Late Divine Transformation Realm. This purple-robed illusory man however, was a Half-Step Void Refinement Realm expert!
“A Half-Step Void Refinement Realm expert?! Who are you?!” The Wind General and Thunder General stared at the purple-robed man who appeared out of nowhere. Each of their faces were filled with shock.
“Who am I? I’m of course Lu Jiefen. Hahaha. However, I am just another version of Lu Jiefen… the sect master of the Demon Sealing Sect of the Endless Sea! Fine. Since we still need to cooperate with each other later, as long as the four of you hand over the Dao Fruit of Blood Wolf and let me plant demon seals on you all, I shall spare your lives!”
The purple-robed man sneered coldly.
Lu Daochen pressed against his chest, suppressing his injuries and carefully studied Lu Jiefen as well as the purple-robed man. All of a sudden, he said, “I understand now… Lu Jiefen, the purple-robed man is your true self, isn’t it? While the red-robed man is just your clone which you refined using the Corpse Fusion Technique! You then left your clone in the nine tribes and escaped from the Second World with your true self using some kind of method which none of us knew, becoming the so-called sect master of the Demon Sealing Sect in the outside world… Is my guess correct?!”
“The ‘Corpse Fusion Technique’!” All the Honorable Demon Generals at the scene were surprised upon hearing that technique. The aforementioned technique was a secret technique of refining a clone by devouring the corpses of demon beasts. However, if this kind of secret technique fails, it will directly cause the caster to die.
In the past, when Eagle Crane fought Ning Fan in the External Endless Sea, he once used that technique to devour two demon corpses. Due to his luck, he became the master of three entities, giving a huge boost to his strength.
This technique was extremely rare to find in the ancient demon races. The reason was because the risk of performing this technique was too great and cultivators seldom practice it.
Lu Jiefen, however, was daring enough to risk his life in order to practice this technique despite his identity as an Honorable Demon General. What’s more shocking was that he actually managed to succeed.
In the Second World, he was the Honorable Demon General of the Pure Flame Tribe. In the outside world, he was one of the Venerated Seven of the Internal Endless Sea – the sect master of the Demon Sealing Sect!
All this while, Lu Jiefen was waiting. He was waiting for his clone which resided in the Second World to break through to the Half-Step Void Refinement Realm. After that, he would fuse his true self with his clone and break through to the Void Refinement Realm in one go!
“Precisely. I practiced the Corpse Fusion Technique! Lu Daochen, I am going to make a count of three. If you don’t hand over the Dao Fruit of Blood Wolf, then I will be killing some of you!”
The purple-robed man scanned the surroundings with his eyes. His Half-Step Void Refinement Realm aura force brought upon a terrifying pressure on everyone’s heart.
“One!”
“Two!”
The faces of Lu Daochen and his group were filled with indignation as well as hopelessness.
Apparently, the only option we have is to yield to Lu Jiefen by handing over the Dao Fruit and letting him plant demon seals on us. Otherwise, who else in this place could win against a Half-Step Void Refinement Realm expert?!
“You don’t have to count anymore! Lu Jiefen, I agree to…” Lu Daochen let out a sigh and took a step forward, preparing to hand over the Dao Fruit.
However, before he could finish his words, a clear and loud voice echoed throughout the atmosphere and a ray of golden light flashed past the sea of snow. It then turned into a fiery golden chariot and appeared above the sky of the valley.
“With me being here, who dares to lay a finger upon the members of the Luo Yun Tribe!”
As soon as this voice reverberated into the generals’ ears, two black shadows flickered from the chariot and dived straight at them. Their speed was as fast as a Half-Step Void Refinement Realm expert!
No one at the scene, including Lu Daochen was able to see clearly what that black shadow was, other than the purple-robed man. However, after having a clear sight of what that was, his face was filled with utter disbelief.
“This is completely impossible!”
*Rumble*
As the purple-robed man let out a cry of surprise, two black shadows charged at him without any mercy. One of them approached him with a claw while the other assaulted him with a punch.
The purple-robed man desperately defended himself with all his might. However, it was beyond his capability to fend off two attacks at the same time. In an instant, he was sent flying away by those two shadows!
The strength of the impact directly caused the area within ten thousand li* (500m per li) of the valley to crumble!
The purple-robed man then climbed up from the ruins and coughed out mouthfuls of fresh blood. Upon receiving the attacks, he suffered serious injuries!
“A Half-Step Void Refinement Realm black dragon refined corpse and… a Half-Step Void Refinement Realm spiritual puppet!”
The purple-robed man stared in front of him in disbelief.
The two black shadows which attacked him revealed themselves. Like what he had said, one of them was a dragon while the other was a spiritual puppet!
Translated by Tommy, edited by Roel.
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