To the Six-Winged Clan, being surrounded by four great forces and witnessing the arrival of King Lan Ling were absolutely shocking.
However, after three of the great forces left, Ning Fan surprised the Six-Winged Clan too.
With only a single move, he killed Lu Jiefen!
Killing a Void Glimpse Stage expert with a single move. How could it not be shocking?!
When Lu Jiefen was in a quagmire with no way out, he fused with his spiritual puppets and broke through to the Void Refinement Realm. To cultivators from the Six-Winged Clan, this situation was literally a nightmare.
Every punch of Lu Jiefen who had broken through to the Void Refinement Realm after the fusion had the power to destroy heaven and earth with the strength of the body of his spiritual puppet. His newly gained strength struck fear into the hearts of countless members of the Six-Winged Clan. Even the great elder of the clan, Liu Yi, was deeply terrified of Lu Jiefen.
However, Lu Jiefen who had gotten a boost in his strength was eliminated by Ning Fan with two punches shortly after flaunting his strength for a bit. That scene was absolutely astonishing and startled countless experts. It was completely beyond their expectations.
“What level is this body technique? His fists summoned two black dragon shadows. They could probably smash heaven and earth and flatten mountains and rivers. When a single punch is thrown, a black dragon falls. When two punches are hurled, heaven and earth will die! This is undeniably a Mortal Void Realm body technique!”
“Terrifying! It’s truly terrifying! Is it really true that Venerated Ming is not a body cultivator at the Golden Body Realm?! Only body cultivators at the Golden Body Realm could display Mortal Void Realm body techniques! If it wasn’t because Venerated Ming lacked the golden light protecting his body when hurling his punches, I would definitely have thought that he is a true Golden Body Realm cultivator!”
“However, even if Venerated has yet to attain the Golden Body Realm, that punch is definitely much stronger than that of an ordinary Golden Body Realm cultivator.”
“What?! Venerated Ming is actually so strong! His physical body is comparable to that of a Golden Body Realm cultivator! He is already so strong on his own. After this battle, he will have four Void Glimpse Stage spiritual puppets. Besides that, he also has a beauty like Venerated Moon who is unrivalled among all Void Glimpse Stage cultivators. Venerated Ming is certainly someone we can’t provoke. He alone has the strength to annihilate our Six-Winged Clan!”
“Hai… So that’s why the great elder regarded him so importantly and was even willing to lend him the Revival Platform. Despite that, we still conspired to harm him in the past. We really were trying to court death…”
Voices and discussions that were filled with relief, astonishment and disbelief could be heard everywhere in the Six-Winged Clan. Everyone was flabbergasted by Ning Fan’s terrifying strength as he killed Lu Jiefen.
One of the six elders of the Six-Winged Clan, Hei Yi, who was just a Peak Divine Transformation Realm cultivator, floated amidst the crowd in the form of his tiny primordial spirit and looked up towards Ning Fan. His face revealed a bitter smile.
Back then when he offended Ning Fan on Tianqi Island, the latter had destroyed his physical body. After that, he was brought back to the clan by Great Elder Xuan Yi.
He once thought that even though he was weaker than Ning Fan, the latter was just a minor cultivation realm higher than him. Today, however, he found out that Ning Fan’s strength was far beyond his imagination. The latter was actually an expert who was strong enough to fill him with admiration as he looked at him.
Fen Chi sat on Ning Fan’s shoulder. Her charming eyes glinted with surprise time after time.
She had never expected for Ning Fan who looked extremely ordinary to actually be so strong. Even the great elder would not be able to eliminate Lu Jiefen with a single move when he is at his peak condition. Ning Fan, however, had just done it. His strength was extremely close to that of a Void Inquiry Stage old monster.
“Venerated Ming, you are really strong…” Fen Chi had always been haughty and conceited. She had never regarded any man with respect. When she looked at Ning Fan, however, she could not help but admire and respect him from the bottom of her heart.
Moreover, Fen Chi could not understand one thing. Somehow, after Ning Fan devoured the devil qi from the slate, she actually had an inexplicable feeling of dependency towards him.
Yes. It was indeed a feeling of dependency! This feeling was extremely strange. It did not come from her heart but her blood veins instead!
It was as if a trace of friendly and harmonious devil qi that could arouse the feeling of dependency in Fen Chi for Ning Fan was present in the latter. That feeling was similar to the relationship between a servant to her master.
Of course, she did not know what caused it and she also did not give it a thought.
Great Elder Xuan Yi’s expression remained calm and collected but inwardly, he was absolutely stunned.
When he first met Ning Fan in the past, he had exchanged a single move with him. He slightly suffered a loss during that time. However, Ning Fan’s strength was enough to surprise him.
However, Xuan Yi had never imagined that Ning Fan actually had the strength to kill a Void Glimpse Stage expert. Since Ning Fan was able to casually kill Lu Jiefen who had gone all-out to fight him, he naturally could also eliminate Xuan Yi who was already grievously injured.
“I didn’t expect that Venerated Ming is actually so strong. If he wants to use the Revival Platform of my Six-Winged Clan, who could stop him…? Today, a terrible disaster befell my clan. Countless members of my clan died and I could no longer afford to mess with him. Naturally, I must not provoke him. Moreover, if it wasn’t because of his help, I would have certainly died earlier and the Six-Winged Clan would have been annihilated. On the basis of the debt we owe him, we also can’t offend him. Today, the three forces – the Mist Horn Clan, the Ghost Eye Clan and the Lan Ling Sect have already retreated. The Six-Winged Clan managed to survive by chance and continues to exist. In the future, we must be cautious in every step we take. My Six-Winged Clan must not only provoke Venerated Ming, but we might also need to bow down to him in order to obtain his protection. Only then can we continue to survive… *Cough*”
Xuan Yi muttered to himself. Suddenly, he coughed violently. It was because the effective time of his self-harming secret technique had passed. Hence, his injuries worsened.
In order to save the members of his clan, Xuan Yi had ignited his devil blood and primordial spirit to suppress his injuries and kill all of the enemies around them. Now, his cultivation base had fallen from the Void Refinement Realm and became a Half-Step Void Refinement Realm expert again as the price for what he did.
He was not sure whether he still had the chance to regain his Void Refinement Realm cultivation base or not in this life.
“Great Elder! Venerated Ming, please save the great elder. I beg you!” Fen Chi’s miniature primordial spirit knelt on Ning Fan’s shoulder and pleaded earnestly.
“Don’t worry. Xuan Yi is still useful to me. I won’t let him die.”
As Ning Fan spoke, he took a glance at Fen Chi. His eyes remained cold and indifferent but he felt strange inside.
He kept having a feeling that there seems to be an additional relationship between him and Fen Chi after devouring the devil qi of the slate. It was similar to a relationship between a master and his servant.
With a flick of his finger, he tossed a pill to Xuan Yi. It was a Mid Grade Fifth Revolution pill – Divine Injury Pill.
After receiving the pill, Xuan Yi’s face was filled with gratitude. He quickly consumed it to stabilize his condition. Even though his cultivation base had regressed, his life was still intact.
Then, he looked at Ning Fan with a hint of hesitation in his eyes. However, at the next second, determination replaced his hesitation. With his fists cupped, he spoke to Ning Fan resolutely.
“Today, a great disaster has befallen my Six-Winged Clan. If it wasn’t for Venerated Ming, my clan would have been eliminated. Venerated Ming is our savior and we are deeply indebted to you. From today onwards, if Venerated Ming has any requests for my Six-Winged Clan, you can just tell us frankly. We, the Six-Winged Clan, will never turn down any request as long as it is within our capabilities and we will certainly do as you say!”
Just as Xuan Yi’s voice fell, all the members of the Six-Winged Clan turned silent. Those with some wisdom understood the implied meaning behind Xuan Yi’s words. Xuan Yi actually had the intention to join Ning Fan’s side as a subordinate force and recognize him as the head of the clan.
Ning Fan was not too surprised after hearing Xuan Yi’s words. Today, the Six-Winged Clan suffered a tremendous loss. Moreover, the great elder’s cultivation base had fallen from the Void Refinement Realm. Evidently, the strength of the clan was waning. If they do not look for a backer, they would probably be invaded and conquered by the Ghost Eye Clan and the Mist Horn Clan.
Xuan Yi had two reasons for making the decision to join Ning Fan. Firstly, it was undoubtedly because Ning Fan was strong. Secondly, it was because of Ning Fan’s unique identity. Even King Lan Ling was afraid of Ning Fan’s identity which made the former not dare to act recklessly.
However, this matter was extremely significant. It was related to the life and death of the entire clan. Thus, it was naturally impossible for it to be decided with just a few words. Aside from that, Xuan Yi could only declare this offer to Ning Fan. The decision whether or not to accept it was still in Ning Fan’s hands.
Ning Fan refused.
“Hehe, Fellow Daoist Xuan is too serious. I merely came here to borrow the Revival Platform. The reason why I lent a hand earlier was only because I couldn’t let the Six-Winged Clan be annihilated since I still need to borrow the Revival Platform. As for the favor you owed me, there’s no need to mention it again. I am also not interested in commanding your clan.”
Ning Fan replied with a gentle smile, euphemistically rejecting Xuan Yi’s offer.
To Ning Fan, the current Six-Winged Clan did not have any use to him at all. It was just a hassle since the strength of the clan was weakened. It would probably be conquered by the Ghost Eye Clan and Mist Horn Clan anytime.
Ning Fan would never choose to bring great enemies to himself just for the Six-Winged Clan. He did not like troubles and he was also not a kind person.
Xuan Yi laughed at himself. It was no surprise that Ning Fan would reject his offer to obtain the Six-Winged Clan as a subordinate force. When it was still strong and powerful, there were still grudges between him and the clan. When it had now lost its strength, it wanted to be under him. To be honest, who would be willing to clean their awful mess?
“Hehe. Fellow Daoist Zhou, you don’t need to reject my offer so quickly. You can stay in my clan for the meantime. When my clan has slightly recovered, I will then help Fellow Daoist activate the Revival Platform to let you use it. After that, I still have a secret to tell Fellow Daoist. Fellow Daoist is a body cultivator. Perhaps, your strength will greatly improve because of this secret. When that time comes, perhaps Fellow Daoist will change his mind with regards to accepting my clan.”
“Oh? A secret that can greatly improve my strength? Since Fellow Daoist Xuan said it like this, I’m starting to feel rather intrigued by this secret. Well, if Fellow Daoist’s secret really is of help to me, I might change my mind. Let’s talk about the Revival Platform first. How long do you roughly need to activate it?”
“The activation of the Revival Platform needs a lot of devil offerings and requires a lot of preparations for formations. Because of the disaster this time, many of the devil offerings were killed. We need to search for suitable devil offerings again. A few of those formations were also destroyed and we need to prepare them once again. But all of the main formations remained in good condition. I will need at most half a month to fully prepare for the activation of the Revival Platform for Fellow Daoist’s use.”
“Half a month, huh.” Ning Fan nodded his head. He could stay in the Six-Winged Clan temporarily during this period of time.
The deceased members of the Six-Winged Clan needed to be buried. The protective grand formation of the clan, the dwelling places and the other buildings were also in need of rebuilding. After Xuan Yi arranged a long list of tasks, he had to rest and treat his injuries. Meanwhile, he also asked someone to bring Ning Fan somewhere to rest.
Not knowing whether it was intentional or not, the person whom Xuan Yi had sent to take care of Ning Fan and his people was actually Fen Chi, the woman who was only left with her primordial spirit after taking grievous injuries during battle.
Even though the order said to take care of Ning Fan, it was just asking Fen Chi to guide him to the guest house and settle him there properly. In addition to that, she was the designated representative for Ning Fan to convey his requests.
Fen Chi had enough time to treat her wounds as she did not need to meet Ning Fan all the time.
Ning Fan also did not have the habit of giving orders to outsiders. Thus, he sent everyone away with an excuse and established a sense blocking formation around the guest house. Then, he began to sort the loot he had obtained from this battle.
He left Yue Lingkong and the female corpse to rest at the guest house while he entered the Profound Yin World by himself.
This time, Ning Fan did not commit a large-scale slaughter in the Six-Winged Clan. However, the loot he obtained was quite valuable.
After Ning Fan repaired the Void Glimpse Stage spiritual puppet, he kept it into his storage pouch straight away. It was not the item that Ning Fan was concerned about the most.
The thing that intrigued him the most was the text on the devil statue slate and the trace of devil qi which went into the devil marks on his back.
The text were the true words that had been recorded on the slate. They were concealed under an illusion and only Ning Fan was able to see through them with Mo Luo’s blood inside him.
Those words were a type of writing of the devil race that was called Gu Tuo Writing. It has been said that this type of writing was created by Great Emperor Gu Tuo who was one of the nine ancestors of the ancient devil race. Every stroke contained immense force.
Gu Tuo Writing was widely circulated in the devil race. Even though Ning Fan was not a member of the devil race, he can still recognize a few words. In general, he found out that these text held the secret related to Mo Luo’s blood. If it were to be translated into more understandable words, he would certainly obtain the method to refine Mo Luo’s blood in him.
Moreover, it also mentioned the four great clans that had been enslaved by Mo Luo and the way for them to break free from their slave mark.
The information regarding the four clans was exactly what Ning Fan knew beforehand. The four clans – the Six-Winged Clan, the Giant Devil Clan, the Ghost Eye Clan and the Mist Horn Clan were indeed Mo Luo’s slaves. Moreover, all of them had been enslaved.
All these four clans that had been completely enslaved were Mo Luo’s slaves for generations. If Mo Luo’s separated soul were to arrive today, he could take the lives of all of his slaves with just his spirit sense. In the past, Ning Fan was also nearly enslaved. Hence, he knew how terrifying it was.
The Six-Winged Clan was not a big deal. The Giant Devil Clan, however, had a close relationship with him. It would be a wonderful thing if he could understand the method to break free from the slave mark and free the Giant Devil Clan from being slaves to Mo Luo.
However, he would still probably need to pay a visit to the library of the Six-Winged Clan to learn all of the Gu Tuo Writing in order to fully understand the contents of the text.
As for that trace of devil qi, it was extremely pure. If it were devoured and assimilated, it could raise Ning Fan’s magic power by at least one million units!
That is to say the power contained in this pure devil qi was enough to produce a Void Refinement Realm devil cultivator!
What made Ning Fan extremely depressed was that this trace of devil qi had already gone into his devil marks. It could not be devoured using ordinary means and it could not be turned into magic power anymore.
Now, that trace of devil qi was slowly being devoured by his Profound Earth Devil Marks. Gradually, it caused the devil marks to show signs of improvement in terms of its rank.
Ning Fan’s feeling was not wrong. The devil qi that was hidden in the slate could indeed improve the rank of his Profound Earth Devil Marks. Once his devil marks advanced to the Marshal Rank, he had great confidence of attaining the Golden Body Realm in a single attempt!
Once he attains the Golden Body Realm, he would become a cultivator who was comparable to a Void Refinement Realm expert. He would then truly have the strength to travel across the Rain World without any hindrance!
“Refine!”
Ning Fan activated his devil marks, accelerating the process of assimilating the devil qi with vast and boundless power.
For three days in a row, Ning Fan remained at the same spot without moving a single muscle.
With the accelerated cultivation effect in the Profound Yin World, the speed of assimilating the devil qi was one hundred times faster than in the outside world. As the devil qi got assimilated by his devil marks, each stroke of the devil marks on his back burned with tiny black fire sparks.
After assimilating this trace of devil qi, the enhancement in Ning Fan’s physical body was really significant. Now, he was extremely close to the Golden Body Realm.
One-fourth of the devil mountain pattern on the Profound Earth Devil Marks on his back was erased. Meanwhile, the pattern of six black wings began to form.
One-fourth of the advancement progress of the devil marks was completed!
Ning Fan was deeply surprised. That trace of devil qi which was equivalent to one million units of magic power could only allow his devil marks to complete one-fourth of the advancement after being fully assimilated into his Profound Earth Devil Marks.
In other words, in order to make his devil marks advance to the next rank completely, he would need to obtain at least three traces of devil qi that were as strong as this.
Ning Fan had never expected that raising the rank of his Profound Earth Devil Marks to the Marshal Rank would actually be so difficult. If the devil marks he had were a different type of devil marks, the single trace of devil qi would certainly be able to raise their rank!
Standing in the Profound Yin World, Ning Fan tried to hurl his fists. Suddenly, he was stunned. He clenched his fists without uttering a single word.
Even though only one-fourth of the advancement of his devil marks was completed, when he hurled his fists just now, his right arm immediately shone with golden light as if it had become part of an indestructible golden body.
By just completing one-fourth of the advancement of his devil marks, he felt his strength had greatly increased. At this moment, the strength of his whole body was already greater than a common cultivator who had attained the Golden Body Realm.
It was indeed difficult to improve the rank of his Profound Earth Devil Marks. However, after just achieving one-fourth of advancement, his devil marks were already much stronger than some devil marks at the Marshal Rank.
If his devil marks achieve two-fourths or three-fourths of the advancement or even the complete advancement, Ning Fan’s physical body would certainly be unrivalled among Golden Body Realm cultivators at the same level as him!
*Puff*
Ning Fan exhaled a mouthful of foul breath. Even though he felt rather sad that his devil marks could not advance to the next rank completely, his strength had indeed increased by a great deal.
With the current strength of his physical body, he would be able to severely injure Void Glimpse Stage old monsters at Xuan Yi’s level just by throwing an ordinary punch without displaying any kind of body techniques.
Three days had passed and Ning Fan now had to leave the Profound Yin World.
After talking to Yue Lingkong and the female corpse for a bit, he headed to Fen Chi’s place. He made a request to Fen Chi, hoping that he could pay a visit to the library of the Six-Winged Clan.
Fen Chi, of course, did not dare to neglect his request and immediately reported to Xuan Yi. His answer was clearly yes. Xuan Yi gave an order which allowed Ning Fan to read and study all kinds of books of ancient cultivation methods, ancient scrolls and secret records as he wished. Even if he wants to make a copy of the materials, no one is allowed to stop him.
That night, Ning Fan went to the library of the Six-Winged Clan once. He returned the jade slip of the Star Punishing Bow technique that he had borrowed in the past and made a copy of all of the books, scrolls and records there. Then, he brought them back to his guest house and carefully studied them.
The Six-Winged Clan was a devil clan. Thus, they were born to be exceptionally skilled in body refinement techniques. Not only do they have a few methods to engrave devil marks, but they also have many precious devil cultivation methods, including a few types of fiendgod cultivation methods.
Even though Ning Fan could not use these cultivation methods and magic techniques, he would not mind making a copy of them and bringing them away. After all, there was no harm in accepting free things.
What aroused Ning Fan’s interest the most was actually the set of Devil Codex regarding the Gu Tuo Writing.
With Ning Fan’s intelligence, he learned all of the Gu Tuo Writing inside the codex in just one night. At least for now, he could recognize the basics of the writing.
Ning Fan had already imprinted the text of the slate in a jade slip. When he translated each and every one of the words in the text, his eyes gradually became solemn.
“Ancient Devil Dao, ‘Ancestral Talisman Blood Refinement Technique’! This is the secret technique of cultivating ‘blood’ in the ancient devil race! In ancient times, the heavens gave birth to ten thousand devils. Each of them held a devil talisman and used it to refine their blood. The stronger the devil talisman, the stronger their blood after it was refined. Hence, it meant stronger devil bodies. Among the ten thousand talismans, there were nine great talismans of the devil ancestors. Their power was unparalleled and they were called the ancestral talismans. The nine great ancient devils who possessed the ancestral talismans eventually became the nine formidable devil ancestors. All of them were experts who were unrivalled among cultivators at the same level as them!”
“What this technique contains is the cultivation method of Great Emperor Mo Luo’s Mo Luo Ancestral Talisman. However, this slate only contains one-fourth of the whole secret technique. In order to completely learn the technique, I still need to look for the other three pieces of devil statue slates.”
“After gaining the complete secret technique, I can condense my natal ancestral talisman and use it to refine that drop of Mo Luo’s blood. Besides, as long as I gather enough devil medicine to concoct devil pills, I can continue on condensing a second drop or even the third drop of devil blood with this ancestral talisman. With this set of cultivation methods, I only need to practice the ‘ancestral talisman’ step by step and condense my devil blood. Once I have enough devil blood, I will be recognized as an ancestor by the members of the devil race and become a great emperor of the devil race like the nine devil ancestors!”
“Mo Luo’s Ancestral Talisman!”
Ning Fan’s eyes gradually blazed with passion. ‘Blood’ and ‘devil talisman’ were the mysterious means of the ancient devil race.
‘Blood’ blessed the members of the devil race with an innate talent in body refinement techniques which greatly surpassed other races whereas the ‘devil talisman’ was the technique to increase the potential and quality of the blood.
If Ning Fan could condense Mo Luo’s Ancestral Talisman completely, he would be able to fight Mo Luo with just his physical body in the future.
A great path leading to the pinnacle of body refinement cultivation was paved beneath Ning Fan’s feet!
Translated by Tommy, edited by Roel