A nominal apprentice was Ning Fan’s answer to Yang Gu.
He would tentatively accept him as a nominal apprentice. If Yang Gu does not fit Ning Fan’s standard, then he would be kicked out. However, if he is useful, then he could be trained for a bit and cultivated.
Even though Yang Gu only received an ambiguous reply, he was very excited about it and immediately excused himself to rush back to the Pill Island in the Internal Endless Sea.
His departure this time had two purposes. Firstly, he wanted to recommend Ning Fan to join the Pill Island and become a feudal ranking elder.
Secondly, he wanted to find a big group of people to help Ning Fan eliminate the Alliance of Ming Assassins!
As for roughly how many people he could find, it was still uncertain. Yang Gu was very popular. With his amiable character, nearly everyone beneath the heavens are his friends. Adding up some of his good friends from the Pill Island, perhaps this group battle would be a spectacular one.
The matter regarding Yang Gu was set aside for the time being. The next concern that Ning Fan had was to remove the hidden threat in Xu Qiuling’s body.
Firstly, that remnant piece of the Immortal Entrapping Sword must be taken out.
Next, he must thoroughly solve the problem of having insufficient gold elements in Xu Qiuling’s life force.
For several consecutive days, Ning Fan meditated hard in seclusion, deducing the outcome of dozens of therapeutic methods and eventually picked three of them.
Once he got out from the Profound Jade Palace, Ning Fan headed to the Blissful Summit to look for Xu Qiuling. However, it was empty when he arrived at her room.
As he spread his spirit sense encompassing half of the Pleasure Devil Island, he also could not find Xu Qiuling’s whereabouts.
Ning Fan was then inwardly surprised when a thirteen-year-old girl who was dressed like a maidservant servilely approached him and gave him a paper butterfly in the flower mound.
“Y-Young Master Zhou, this is f-from the young mistress… She asked you to seek her…”
The little girl’s voice was trembling as she spoke, as if she was very afraid of Ning Fan.
“You are Xiao Lian?”
“Y-Yes…”
“You folded this paper butterfly?”
“I-I… This is my fault. I won’t do it again…” The girl fell to her knees and cried for mercy, as if maidservants were not allowed to fold a message-transmitting paper butterfly in order to prevent information leaks.
“Mm… Don’t worry. I won’t tell others about this. This paper butterfly is quite nice. Not bad.”
Ning Fan patted Xiao Lian’s head. He unfolded the paper butterfly and glanced through the words within. Right after he finished reading them, he did not know whether to laugh or cry. He then made a step forward and vanished without leaving a trace.
Only the maidservant, Xiao Lian, was left at the flower mound who remained kneeling. After making sure Ning Fan had left, only then did she dare to to raise her head. Even so, her expression was still plastered with fear.
After Ning Fan was gone, almost eight young, little maidservants immediately came out from behind the flower bushes to help Xiao Lian get up. Each of them were in dread.
“Xiao Lian, you’re so bold. That Young Master Zhou is the devil whose reputation is being spread like wildfire in the External Endless Sea. The number of lives he has taken is innumerable. Yet you actually dared to have three lines of conversations with him!”
“That’s still fine. I’ve heard that he is the big devil who lusts after other’s wives and daughters. Did he do anything to you?”
“I saw that he has just touched your head. Could it be that he has planted some kind of mental seal on you?”
These girls were feeling worried about Xiao Lian, but the latter shook her head and blushed. She then said with a soft tone.
“I-I think that Young Master Zhou does not seem to be a bad person… He actually complimented me and said that the paper butterfly I folded was attractive…”
“Oh, my! Xiao Lian is lovesick…”
“I think she’s not just lovesick, but her soul has also been taken by Young Master Zhou.”
“Hehe…”
*Giggle*
A group of young girls began to frolic amidst the path adorned with flowers, totally forgetting how intimidating Ning Fan was.
In the sky above the Pleasure Devil Island, Ning Fan swept over the palace with his spirit sense. After sensing that the maidservants were frolicking with each other, he let out a sigh.
Even though these maidservants do not have a high status and strong innate talent to attain the Gold Core Realm or even the Nascent Soul Realm in their entire lifetime, they can stay innocent and naive and live a normal life like that of a mortal’s.
Indeed, Ning Fan was envious of someone who could live such an ordinary and peaceful life where one could have the room to have fun and have no worries. However, his life did not give him any choice.
There were only a few words from the message transmitting paper butterfly. It was Xu Qiuling’s soft and gentle voice.
“Beauties are like water that never flows in reverse, it’s a pity that a young master never thinks of worldly pleasures…”
This line was a short poem that Xu Qiuling made casually. She was without a doubt a talented girl.
Although she was on the brink of dying, she still had the mood to play hide-and-seek with Ning Fan by purposely hiding herself to let him search for her.
It’s a pity that a young master never thinks of worldly pleasures… Was she showing compassion to Ning Fan for being too laborious in cultivation in his lifetime?
Ning Fan shook his head. It was the most helpless thing for him to handle an independent lady like Xu Qiuling.
He closed his eyes and placed his fingertips on the paper butterfly, using the slight wisp of qi left on the paper butterfly to trace the qi left in the air. Then, Ning Fan pursued Xu Qiuling relying on the direction to where the wisp of qi led him.
Xu Qiuling’s qi was rather unique as she always immersed herself in flowers every day. She reared flowers and she loved flowers. Therefore, there was a floral fragrance in her soul.
Perhaps she was a flower in her previous life…
Amidst the black snowstorm in the Pleasure Devil Sea, a brightly-painted boat drifted out in the sea and only Xu Qiuling was on it alone.
She was indeed very bold to travel around the Pleasure Devil Sea alone with just her Peak Golden Core Realm cultivation base.
However, she was not being bold without wits. In fact, that little brightly-painted boat was an Immortal’s Abode Treasure gifted by Dong Xu. If anyone were to target her, she could then hide herself in the space of the boat. Whoever below the Void Refinement Realm would never be able to find her hiding spot.
However, these were just some basic precautions for her security based on her rationale. In reality, more of her was being emotional.
She believed that Ning Fan would surely come for her. The belief she had in him was as strong as how she was captivated by his temperament during their first meeting.
She had always thought that it was love at first sight. Until three years ago, her illness began to worsen and she fell into a coma. During that period of time, she had some strange dreams.
In her dreams, she was a pitch-black orchid plant standing alone at a hollow valley, staying isolated from the rest of the world.
No one could enter her world and there was no need for her to understand anyone else’s world. She could indulge in her own self-admiration and sing alone all day long.
Until one day, a snow-white butterfly flew into the valley.
It was spotlessly clean and white but extremely delicate. It was so weak that it could not endure the gentle wind which blew against it. It looked like it had been struck by wind and rain somewhere as half of its wings had been ripped apart.
Even so, that butterfly was still stubbornly flying upwards, refusing to yield or surrender.
When the butterfly flew over the orchid by coincidence, it lost its strength to fly any further and fell right into the orchid’s pistil.
The butterfly’s breathing gradually grew weaker and weaker. Slowly, it lost its memory. However, it was still persistently flapping its wings, trying to fly towards the sky.
At this moment, the orchid understood. She understood why the butterfly was injured. It was because this butterfly was too foolish, trying to fly above the sky with its fragile wings.
Its wings were torn by the howling wind.
“Silly butterfly, that place is the immortals’ world. You’re just a little butterfly. Why are you being so stubborn…?”
The orchid was speaking the flower language which the butterfly could not hear. Naturally, there was no way the orchid could change the butterfly’s mind.
The butterfly flapped its feeble wings again and again, but no matter how hard it tried, it still fell back to the pistil of the flower. Eventually, the orchid felt pained for it.
She did not understand why she would feel that way, but when she saw the butterfly’s expression while it was making its final struggle, she could not bear it anymore. She wanted to save this butterfly.
“Silly butterfly, pluck my pistil and you can recover your strength.”
“Silly butterfly, tear off my petals so that you can replace your wings.”
“Silly butterfly, you’re too weak and your body is not strong enough to withstand the howling wind. I’m willing to give you the gold qi of my life force to make your wings be as firm as iron and stones. You will then be able to withstand the howling wind…”
“Silly butterfly, why don’t you take a look at me…?”
That orchid secretly sprinkled the floral dew on the butterfly, patched her petals on its torn wings and passed the gold qi of her life force to the butterfly.
After that, that butterfly was no longer pure white. Half of it turned black because of the petal given by the orchid.
Her gold qi was not absorbed by her father’s Primordial Magnetic Force…
Instead, her gold qi was given to a butterfly in her previous life.
In the end, that butterfly recovered its power and became strong enough to fly into the sky. However, it never knew that there was an orchid that saved its life…
That orchid eventually withered day after day after losing the gold qi in her life force.
Until one day, a trace of remnant ashes from the butterfly drifted into the mortal world along with the blowing wind and fell on the orchid.
At that moment, the orchid’s heart was shattered, as if it was sobbing in sadness and eventually lost her final trace of life force.
“What a sad dream… Am I being too sentimental…?” Xu Qiuling sighed with emotions.
“That butterfly, where did it go…?” Xu Qiuling mumbled to herself while folding a message transmitting paper butterfly with her fingers.
She loves flowers, but she also had a bias for butterflies…
Perhaps she once had an unrequited love for a butterfly a very long time ago…
Xu Qiuling activated the boat, making it sail with an unimaginable speed. The cultivators coming to the island flew past her boat from above in rays of light but all of them were unable to sense the hidden aura of the boat.
She stood alone on the boat, drifting aimlessly on the sea like a vagrant.
However, she firmly believed that Ning Fan would come for her.
*Thud*
Amidst the gentle breeze, a young man dressed in white robes and draped with black cloak caught up with the boat following the tiny wisp of qi left by Xu Qiuling and landed on the stern.
He originally used to wear a set of white clothes. However, after following the path of devils, he symbolically draped a large black feathered cloak on his white robes.
The color of his outfit symbolized the interchanging kindness and evil…
“It’s not a trifling matter roaming the sea all by yourself!” Ning Fan frowned and scolded. Throughout the endless killing on his path, he knew how dangerous the Endless Sea was, especially at a lawless territory like this Pleasure Devil Sea.
In the past, Yuan Yao was ambushed at this place. Even though there was no action today and the cultivators from the Internal Endless Sea rarely came, it was still dangerous for Xu Qiuling to travel alone, even if she had a Treasure of Immortal Abode to protect herself.
At the very least, Xu Qiuling was ill and her body was weak. It was inappropriate for her to be exposed to the chilly wind.
After being scolded by Ning Fan, Xu Qiuling did not feel sad or angry but she laughed instead. It was because only people who were lonely could understand that having someone to scold you was actually bliss. Scolding, in other words, meant concern.
“I’m sorry… I was being reckless. But I believed that you will come for me!”
Xu Qiuling stroked the hair on her temple gently and lifted the corners of her mouth. A smile as beautiful as an orchid bloomed on her face.
“Of course I will come for you!” Ning Fan felt angry but also amused at the same time.
This Xu Qiuling really is a troublesome woman, being second only to Yin Suqiu… No, perhaps from a certain aspect, she could be as troublesome as Yin Suqiu.
“Do you know the origin of that line in the poem…” Xu Qiuling suddenly changed the topic. At the same time, she hurriedly navigated the boat, sailing towards a specific direction at a faster speed.
“Which line? Since the day we met, you have uttered quite a lot of poems.”
“It’s a pity that a young master never thinks of worldly pleasures! Do you know that this is what I felt when I first met you … Pity, yes, it purely means having pity for you, not admiring you like what you were thinking… You’re too stubborn. It was obvious that your cultivation base was not strong enough, but you still chose to fight with that Zhao Zijing just for an orchid. Was it really worth it…”
Xu Qiuling seemed to have recalled the dream she had. She felt like helping that orchid ask the butterfly.
Butterfly, was it really worth it for you to stubbornly fly towards the sky even if you have to risk your life…
Even though the orchid had not gotten the chance to ask the butterfly before, it believed that there must have been a reason for the butterfly to persistently fly towards the sky, a reason which was more important than death…
“I won’t ask anything about your past because I wasn’t part of it in the first place…” Xu Qiuling said composedly. Then, she pointed in the direction in front of them and suddenly smiled.
“I’ll take you to a place. That was the first place that I visited after sneaking out from the Pleasure Devil Island for the first time. It was my master who brought me there. It’s a kingdom of mortals. In the past, my master also used this boat to bring me there to watch the life led by these mortals… At that moment, I realized that I was not the only person who had the most bitter life in this world…”
“My physique is too weak. Thus, I am unable to attain the Nascent Soul Realm. Besides, my lifespan is too short. There is not much hope for me to live for more than ten more years. But even so, I have already been living for hundreds of years, haven’t I? These mortal people, on the other hand, have to suffer the torments of wars, plagues and natural disasters. However, they are still tenaciously surviving. Even if they can’t have three square meals a day, and they have to suffer many mishaps in their life, they are still struggling to live…”
“At that moment, I finally understood that no one can choose their own fate in their life. However, what we can decide is our attitude in facing our fate. No matter how hard life is, we can choose to live on with a smile… If one can meet his or her beloved at the right time in their life before passing away, so what if one has to go against what was common?”
Xu Qiuling’s eyes were filled with affection as she looked deeply at Ning Fan. “As long as you dare to defy it, then I will never back away!”
“Is that so?”
Ning Fan looked at Xu Qiuling, feeling great pity for her. He was at a loss for words all of a sudden.
Even his thought of scolding her for secretly leaving the island had also subsided.
If Xu Qiuling has not met me, perhaps she would have died alone inside her own hollow valley in this life.
“I will take you to wherever you want to go. But you need to promise me that after that, you will follow me obediently back home and receive your medical treatment with a peace of mind.”
“No, can I receive my treatment at the mortal kingdom? I like the ambience over there.”
“There are a lot of people there. The more people, the more interference there is. If anyone harbors bad intentions and wants to conspire against us…”
“With that powerful strength of yours, can’t you even protect me, a weak, feeble lady from a bunch of mortal people?” Xu Qiuling asked and her eyes flashed with a hint of mischief.
“… I’m not as powerful as you think. But if this is your will, I will try my best to protect you.”
Ning Fan shook his head. Somehow, he just instinctively felt that he did not want to reject any requests that Xu Qiuling makes today.
It was as if he had once harmed her and owed her something in his previous life.
Xu Qiuling’s eyes were brimming with happiness. This was the only time she could be so willful in her whole life. She just wanted to see whether the person she loved would be willing to tolerate her willfulness.
However, just as the blissful feeling rose within her, her face became filled with surprise and shyness right afterwards.
Ning Fan suddenly placed his hand around Xu Qiuling’s waist and swept her off her feet, bringing her into his arms. Then, he made a light step on the boat. When the tip of his toe touched the boat, it immediately turned into a ray of light which then flew back into Xu Qiuling’s storage pouch.
“W-why did you…”
It was her first time being hugged by a man in such an intimate way. No matter how calm Xu Qiuling was, it was difficult for her not to feel surprised and shy.
“Your boat is too slow!” Ning Fan’s eyes flashed with a sense of pride. A pair of massive purple black demon wings spread from his back. As he flapped his wings, they stirred up waves as high as the skies on the surface of the sea. If he was hovering among the clouds above the sky, a single flap would be able to propel him ninety thousand li (500 m per li) forward!
“There is actually such an incredible speed in this world!?”
Xu Qiuling was totally stunned.
The boat that Dong Xu gave her was built focusing on two kinds of special abilities: staying stealthy and allowing the user to hide in the space of an Immortal’s Abode. Its speed, however, was not very fast as it was just equivalent to the movement speed of the usual Nascent Soul Realm cultivator.
No one had taken Xu Qiuling on a trip in the skies before. Other than the few times she left the island, she could be said to have spent most of her life cooped up inside the Pleasure Devil Island. Therefore, it was her first time being carried by a man while flying in the air.
This man’s speed allowed them to travel ninety thousand li* (500 m per li) in an instant. In terms of speed, he could be regarded as the fastest being among the cultivators under the Void Refinement Realm in the entire Endless Sea.
Xu Qiuling laid in Ning Fan’s arms, putting her arms around his neck. Her eyes were glued to his face and was gradually enthralled by his features.
For a moment, she saw him as a butterfly, a butterfly that didn’t even bother to have a second glance at her in her previous life. That butterfly, however, was hugging her tightly in this life.
“Speaking of which, where exactly do you want to go? Is there really a mortal kingdom here?”
“Yes, there is. To be precise, it is a half-mortal kingdom. It is a small country located on an island in the northern part of the sea. This kingdom was originally established by a few Nascent Soul Realm old monsters who wanted to comprehend the life of mortals, as a preparation for ‘Being Mortal'[1] and ‘Mortal Severance’… That is to say that most of the mortals here were actually caught and brought to this island generations before our ancestors. They have never been told that there are actually other kingdoms in this world, and neither have they been told about the existence of cultivators. Any cultivator who enters this island will be affected by the mortal ambience of this place, making them voluntarily restrain their magic power and live incognito here. Of course…”
Xu Qiuling suddenly paused and her expression changed.
“Of course, there is a minority of cultivators who see that mortals are weak and nice to be bullied. Thus, they came here to kill or to avoid their enemies. This kind of people will usually be secretly eliminated by several Peak Nascent Soul Realm cultivators who are hiding on this island of mortals… They are the guardians who maintain the safety and peace of this kingdom. According to rumors, they were once mortals on this island a few generations ago. However, they wanted to protect this kingdom and therefore…”
Ning Fan’s eyes lit up with interest. He did not expect that someone would deliberately build up a haven of peace in this so-called ‘The Grave of Cultivators’ which was stained with blood.
Perhaps many cultivators who resided in this land with their identities concealed had grown tired of the bloodshed in the cultivation world and chose to spend their remaining life here. Or maybe some of them were just passersby who would leave after they gain enough insights.
Suddenly, Ning Fan seemed to have understood something. He turned his gaze at Xu Qiuling who was in his arms and gave her a grateful look.
“Thank you.”
“What are you thanking me for?” Xu Qiuling blinked her eyes curiously.
“Thank you for this line in your poem – “It’s a pity that a young master never thinks of worldly pleasures…”
Ning Fan sighed with emotions.
This Xu Qiuling isn’t a willful lady but a person with keen eyes. She must have felt that I became too tired of the endless killings in the past twenty years, and she was afraid that I might lose control of my fiendish self and go crazy. As such, she plans on bringing me to see the life of mortals and remind me of some of my past to calm down my devil heart.
Xu Qiuling is clearly caring for me, but she didn’t say anything about it and neither did she ask for any credit. What she did was just contributing silently.
If you don’t pay attention, perhaps you will miss it and you will never know that she has contributed everything for you.
While looking at Xu Qiuling, a sense of familiarity suddenly rose within him. He just felt like he had seen her before somewhere.
Where was it…
With Ning Fan’s speed and the direction navigated by Xu Qiuling, they reached a calm sea domain very soon.
When they had just entered this sea domain, Ning Fan immediately felt an unusual qi. The atmosphere within this area did not have the slightest trace of spiritual qi. There was no way a cultivator could train at this place at all!
This heaven and earth which had no spiritual power was of course created by some cultivators using formations in order to simulate the same situation as other mortal kingdoms.
Ning Fan came to a halt and lowered his hand to look downwards. There were many sea boats docked below.
There were more than ten sea boats and each and every one of them had a boatman. These boatmen were unremarkable at first glance, but each of them was faintly emanating Nascent Soul Realm aura force.
Upon seeing Ning Fan and Xu Qiuling’s arrival, all of them stood up together at once and gave an unfriendly look at Ning Fan.
“Please stop! This is a place for the cultivators of the Endless Sea to cultivate their hearts and minds and experience a mortal’s life. Any cultivator that enters this place is not allowed to use their teleportation or flying technique and expose a single trace of their cultivation base. Otherwise, you will be pursued by five Peak Nascent Soul Realm experts once you let the mortals in this land realize the existence of cultivators in this world and disrupt their peaceful lives.!”
These boatmen’s reminders made Ning Fan feel stunned. He looked at Xu Qiuling in his arms and shook his head.
“What should we do now? With my personality, there are no places I can’t go. If anyone stops me, I will then kill my way in.”
“Pah! We can just enter the island by riding a boat!”
Xu Qiuling was totally speechless.
This Ning Fan is really a maniac in cultivation and also a madman who favors battle! I brought him here to comprehend the life of mortal people out of my kind intentions but he still wants to kill and cause a bloody conflict in this place. Is he an idiot!?
As if she had noticed an acquaintance, Xu Qiuling pointed in a certain direction. Ning Fan held her and landed on one of the boats at once.
The boatman on the boat was a middle-aged man with a Mid Nascent Soul Realm cultivation base. He was vigorously smoking a dry tobacco bag.
When he saw Xu Qiuling and Ning Fan, he first revealed a vigilant look and his body instinctively warned him that the young man in front of him was extremely dangerous!
However, when he noticed Xu Qiuling, the middle-aged man was greatly confused as if he recognized her.
“You are…”
“Uncle Wang! It’s me, I’m Qiuling!”
Xu Qiuling jumped out of Ning Fan’s arms and smiled faintly. Her elegant smile immediately made the simple middle-aged man feel embarrassed of himself, not knowing where to put his hands and feet.
“Qiuling, it’s you. You’ve grown so big! *Cough* *Cough* You’re a big lady now and you even have a husband! Now, even this fourth uncle of yours almost can’t recognize you.”
“Of course I will grow up. Do you know how long it has been since my last visit to ‘Gu Su’? It was already hundreds of years ago!”
“Aiya, it’s been so long… Hehe, I have grown used to living like a mortal person, not remembering the years.”
Her fourth uncle put down his tobacco bag and looked carefully at Ning Fan. At this moment, he seemed to be looking at his niece’s husband. The longer he looked, the more satisfied he felt.
“Not Bad, Qiuling! You have a good insight. This young man has an excellent foundation. He definitely is a talented person… So this time you came here to marry your lover in conjunction with the ‘Qi Xi Festival'[2]?”
“Marriage?” Xu Qiuling’s eyes turned bright. She turned her head and looked at Ning Fan as if she was asking for permission. She then asked lightly, “Shall we try?”
“Whatever…”
Ning Fan’s tone sounded indifferent, yet his eyes remained alert. He was still in a vigilant mode, secretly paying attention to the Nascent Soul Realm experts around them.
If someone wants to hurt Xu Qiuling, he could kill all of them here within just half a breath.
It was the instinct that was built within him through his experience after countless killings and massacres.
Xu Qiuling gently sighed seeing Ning Fan behave in such a careful manner.
It seems like it isn’t easy to let him be completely relaxed… Fine. I will just treat this as an outing with him. It won’t be a bad thing after all.
Translated by Tommy, edited by Roel
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