novelraw Chapter 1075: The Second Emperor
Chapter 1075: The Second Emperor
Ning Fan naturally wouldn’t explain the oddity of his Divine Spirit Wasted Body to the cultivators here.
To him, punching away an Innate Treasure was not an astounding feat, especially since Meng Baixiong was not in his prime state while using the Innate Treasure.
Severely injured and on the brink of death, he was unable to exert even a tenth of his Mana. Amidst various weaknesses, the Purification Immortal Cauldron’s power was extremely limited.
Of course, if Meng Baixiong used this treasure with peak cultivation, Ning Fan would not dare to recklessly challenge the Innate Treasure with just his physical defense.
After breaking the Purification Immortal Cauldron’s attack with a punch, Ning Fan didn’t waste time with the cultivators here and directly flipped his hand to unleash a burst of seven-colored light towards Meng Baixiong.
The seven-colored light advanced too swiftly, making it difficult for most here to discern what the light was.
Meng Baixiong sensed a strong crisis from within the seven-colored light; with a grim expression, he disregarded his shock at Ning Fan’s terrifying physical defense, pinched his fingers to control the Purification Immortal Cauldron and attacked again, colliding with the seven-colored light.
In this clash, the fierce attack of the seven-colored light also experienced some obstruction, revealing its true form, which was the Seven Treasures Marvelous Tree.
The Purification Immortal Cauldron suffered a disadvantage. Although an Innate Treasure, its power was inferior to the non-Innate Seven Treasures Marvelous Tree. Moreover, due to its owner’s injuries, its power was significantly reduced, easily brushed aside by the Seven Treasures Marvelous Tree. Though not damaged by one hit, the treasure’s brilliance flickered erratically.
The residual power of the Seven Treasures Marvelous Tree’s attack made Meng Baixiong continuously retreat, shattering stone slabs beneath his feet and almost tumbling to the ground—although uninjured, quite embarrassed.
"Is this... the legendary Seven Treasures Marvelous Tree?! It truly has such power; could it be nurtured to quite a height!"
Meng Baixiong’s face was as calm as water. Suppressing his inner shock, his ten fingers pinched again, forcefully stabilizing the flickering light of the Purification Immortal Cauldron, sending it once more towards Ning Fan.
Ning Fan was relentless, holding the Seven Treasures Marvelous Tree in his hand, continuously brushed it out at Meng Baixiong. In mere dozens of breaths, the two exchanged attacks over a thousand times.
Countless afterimages fluttered here!
The two battled higher and higher, eventually fighting from the ground to the sky!
The terrifying spiritual duel rocked the heart of every cultivator here. No one dared to intervene for fear of being caught in the shockwaves!
The sky was stricken with unfathomable void cracks by the Seven Treasures Marvelous Tree!
The earth was pounded into fractured valleys by the Purification Immortal Cauldron!
In such chaos amid countless clashes, the Great Dao Laws were disordered and collapsed!
Whether the Meng family’s cultivators or the guests swayed by Meng Baixiong, all retreated rapidly away, unwilling to ascend or advance, fearful of being drawn into Ning Fan and Meng Baixiong’s duel.
Like mortals witnessing miracles, they gazed upon the duel with awe!
Within mere dozens of breaths and over a thousand exchanges, Ning Fan firmly held the upper hand. In his fluttering white robe, not a piece of fabric tore; no speck of dust touched him.
Meng Baixiong looked quite miserable.
He was continually struck by the Seven Treasures Marvelous Tree, vomiting blood, wearing tattered wedding robes that barely covered important parts. The current power exerted by the Purification Immortal Cauldron couldn’t counter all the tree’s attacks, gradually worsening his severe wounds!
Though possessing Immortal Emperor cultivation, in his weakened state, Meng Baixiong couldn’t compare with Hex Zu’s full prowess. Gravely injured, his Mana only amounted to that of a Quasi-Emperor, further deteriorating to resemble that of an ordinary Five Tribulations Immortal King.
His aura weakened with his growing injuries!
Facing the impenetrable attacks from Ning Fan, Meng Baixiong felt his scalp tingle. If the battle of attrition continued with Ning Fan, his injuries would worsen, reducing the cultivation he could exert further, inevitably leading to an easy defeat by Ning Fan!
Despite being hesitant to believe Ning Fan’s identity, Meng Baixiong was now certain the Ghost-Faced Cultivator wielding the tree against him was Ning Fan!
Such close sensing of aura does not deceive!
His heart was thus churned in turbulences!
Two months ago, he tried killing Ning Fan from above in the Fire Soul Tower. But if Ning Fan hadn’t successfully schemed with the Flame Ancestor’s Golden Palm Command, Meng Baixiong could have easily crushed Ning Fan like an ant!
Yet only two months have passed; the foreign cultivator child who could barely fight now ascended unimaginably, casting doubt even over an Immortal Emperor like him...
To cultivators, two months was but a fleeting moment; how could one experience such astronomical growth in power?!
Unbelievable!
"In my life, I never encountered any cultivator who could ascend from ordinary Immortal Venerable strength in two months to a level capable of defeating an Immortal Emperor! Did this child have fortuitous encounters and a sudden spike in cultivation over two months, or did he inherently possess such power but restrained his cultivation for some reason?"
"My last bloodline descendant killed by this child, leaving my lineage extinct! I myself also suffered from being schemed against with the Golden Palm Command, left with merely decades to live, maybe even dying directly today. Though irrevocable, I’m unwilling! I am... indignant!"
Puff!
The indignant Meng Baixiong suddenly groaned wretchedly, spurting fresh blood, his connection with the Purification Immortal Cauldron severed!
Ning Fan had brushed the Purification Immortal Cauldron a thousand times over, stripping its surface brilliance, then, the Obliteration River unfolded, directly swallowing the temporarily impotent treasure beneath its depths.
He forcibly took away Meng Baixiong’s famed treasure amid an upfront battle!
How overbearing! How absolute!
"Bad news! The ancestor’s Innate Treasure was taken by this demon upfront!"
"What is that river? It gives an uncanny feeling of altering heaven and earth, accepting everything!"
"It’s an Ancient Great Cultivator-level Divine Ability!"
"This demon’s defiance of Heaven is vast; even Meng Ancestor would struggle against him! What should we do!"
"We must flee! If we don’t, we will be slaughtered utterly by this demon!"
Seeing Meng Baixiong lose his Innate Treasure, a large number of cultivators fear Ning Fan greatly, starting to flee in all directions, afraid of perishing along with the doomed Meng family.
Among the fugitives are guests who previously remained neutral, allies swayed by Meng Baixiong’s persuasion, and even members of the Meng family utterly disappointed in their clan.
With a thought, Ning Fan sends forth a dark shadow from his body, forcibly taking over the Heavenly Dao within a ten-thousand-mile radius of Meng’s surroundings, and then sealing the heavens and earth, cutting off everyone’s escape routes.
The one sealing the heavens is a cold-faced young girl with cat ears and a black skirt, not uttering a word.
This is the Black Evil Sect, who has entered adulthood, possessing a corporeal Dao Soul.
"Humph! Did my master allow you to escape! Those who wait in place may be spared! Those who flee will be killed without mercy!"
As she spoke, an aura comparable to a Quasi-Emperor emanated from the Black Evil Sect, and with a wave of her small hand, the lightning tribulation in this area comes under her control, gathering in the sky, with a momentum that covers the heavens, causing the cultivators to change color in fear.
No one expected that Ning Fan didn’t come alone to destroy the Meng family, but even brought a little girl as his aide!
Not an ordinary little girl!
It was actually a little girl with Quasi-Emperor cultivation!
Moreover, a terrifying little girl capable of stripping a portion of the Great Dao rights from the Supreme Pill Sacred Domain!
"Quasi-Emperor! Since when did Sanyan have such a Quasi-Emperor!"
"Could she be a reclusive figure from the Holy Mountain faction?"
"Why does this girl have the power to administer the Heavenly Dao! This is not something that cultivators can accomplish; never in history has any cultivator of the Second Step been able to wrest control of the Heavenly Dao from the nascent laws of the Void Realm!"
"Damn it, with this girl sealing the heavens and the earth, are we unable to escape?"
Countless fleeing cultivators are blocked by the mighty force of the heavens and earth, unable to leave Meng family’s territory. After repeated unsuccessful attempts, they can only show despair and give up on fleeing.
A tiny minority of cultivators, unwilling to yield, try forcibly to break through the Black Evil Sect’s blockade, resulting in them being directly killed by lightning power drawn by the Black Evil Sect.
"Master, rest assured, Black Evil will not let any escape! Master, focus on confronting Meng Ancestor!"
With an attitude of dutifulness, the Black Evil Sect imprisons everyone here, also using divine skills to block all information transfer, preventing news of the Meng family’s incident from reaching other factions.
Ning Fan nods in satisfaction.
Having an adult Little Kitten as a helper makes killing and looting convenient, with not a single captive able to escape nor relay any information to the outside; they can only die trapped.
"You have such a powerful ally! Capable of administering the Heavenly Dao!" Meng Baixiong gasps in shock, having never heard of such an unbelievable event before; his fear of Ning Fan incrementally increased.
He has only a single Innate Treasure, now taken by Ning Fan, his battle power greatly diminished.
With his mana weakened, even his divine skills have little force; wanting to harm Ning Fan’s terrifying physical defense is a very slim possibility.
Meng Baixiong’s gaze struggles for a moment and then becomes resolute, pressing his hands together as a slit opens behind him in the Realm of Incense Offering.
A couple million years of accumulated incense offering rushes out, transforming into a white mist sword radiance, slashing toward Ning Fan!
Sword of Incense Offering!
This incense offering was meant for use during attempts to have a child, but now it seems, if he doesn’t kill Ning Fan, he won’t have another chance for that.
"Is this all the power you have... far inferior to Bailu’s Sword of Incense Offering."
Ning Fan watches the Realm of Incense Offering of Meng Baixiong with indifference, letting his Sword of Incense Offering take form.
Facing the attack of a powerful enemy’s Sword of Incense Offering for the second time, he does not activate the God-Extinguishing Shield for defense; instead, he uses the Seven Treasures Marvelous Tree directly, causing Meng Baixiong’s confident Sword of Incense Offering to explode.
The entire process took little effort.
In terms of the number of incense disciples, Meng Baixiong has several times more than the True Person Bailu.
However, the remaining incense in his Realm of Incense Offering is far less than True Person Bailu. Most of the incense offering has been consumed during his past cultivations. The remainder, only a couple million years of accumulation, thus the slashed Sword of Incense Offering is far inferior to the seventy-four million accumulated by True Person Bailu.
It couldn’t even bring Ning Fan the slightest sense of crisis.
Even the Sword of Incense Offering is shattered; a trace of despair appears on Meng Baixiong’s face, but in the end, it turns to madness.
Being as weak as he is, many Immortal Emperor methods cannot be employed against Ning Fan, even his Eternal True Body is severely damaged from the past pursuit of Flame Ancestor’s Golden Palm Command, making it unusable.
Facing the strong-willed Ning Fan, unless Meng Baixiong fights to the death, he has no ability to resist anymore.
He has only one last card that might cause injury to Ning Fan—sacrificing his life for a primordial spirit detonation!
The Immortal Emperor’s divine spirit is renowned for being hard to kill, but Meng Baixiong’s primordial spirit has already weakened to the extreme; he isn’t confident that it can escape from Ning Fan’s hands.
Even if he escapes, he only has decades left to live!
A few decades to live... haha, he only has a few decades left to live!
The mighty Immortal Emperor, rampant for a lifetime, yet due to Ning Fan, a mere child, falls to such a fate!
How tragic!
How shameful!
How could there not be hatred!
"Haha! Hahaha! Living a few more decades, living a few less decades, what difference does it make to me! I won’t run, I won’t fight, I admit it, I lost! At this moment, injured as I am, I’m no match for you! Life or death are determined by fate, I accept my destiny! But do you think you’ve secured your victory!"
"I can forsake passing on my bloodline, I can ignore the life or death of the Meng family! You cannot kill me, the only one who can kill me is myself!"
"Explode!"
Montgomery Baixiong’s physical body directly erupted into a mist of blood.
Then his golden primordial spirit flew out through the blood mist, and began to swell within it, the energy within his spirit growing wildly.
Everyone here shouted in fear!
No one expected Meng Baixiong to be pushed to the point of detonating his primordial spirit!
The energy contained in an Immortal Emperor’s spirit is terrifyingly immense. If it self-destructs, within the blast’s range, no life form under the Immortal Emperor can survive!
"We will die! We’re going to die!"
"Had I known the Meng family would face such calamity, I would never have attended the crowning ceremony of Meng Zu!"
"I don’t want to die! I don’t want to die yet!"
"Old Ancestor, stop, please stop! Do you wish to blow up all of us Meng family descendants too?"
"Senior Meng, quickly stop, you mustn’t, you mustn’t!"
"No! No!"
Countless cries of terror reverberated in the sky, yet could not deter Meng Baixiong’s resolve to self-destruct.
His primordial spirit swelled continuously, death constantly approaching, yet an ecstatic sneer appeared on Meng Baixiong’s small face.
He intended to blow Ning Fan to death here and now!
Even if he can’t kill him, at least he must inflict severe injury!
Even if this act would lead countless descendants of the Meng family and congratulating friends to a shared death, Meng Baixiong was undeterred!
Unfortunately, as weak as he was, even suicide was a luxury...
Ning Fan’s face showed no mercy as he pointed from afar, stopping Meng Baixiong’s death in mid-air at the cost of a slight cough of blood!
The self-destructive wave, halted!
The expanding primordial spirit, shrunk back to its normal size!
Meng Baixiong struggled desperately but could not move the primordial spirit body one bit, could only watch helplessly as Ning Fan approached step by step and, with a big grasp, directly captured him and threw him into a silver great cauldron.
"Refine!"
Ning Fan uttered coldly, and suddenly countless blood lights burst from the Refining God Cauldron. In the midst of the blood mist, a huge blood sphere rose from the cauldron, imprisoning Meng Baixiong’s primordial spirit within.
The blood sphere emitted an endless suction power in front of countless cultivators, drawing all vitality from Meng Baixiong’s spirit, transforming it inside the cauldron into over two hundred and thirty pieces of Blood of Ten Thousand Spirits.
Rising death air emanated from the silver great cauldron!
An era ends with the fall of a great emperor, dying at Ning Fan’s hands!
Deathly silence!
Above the ruins of the Meng family, countless cultivators trembled at this terrifying scene, not daring to speak.
Who would have thought this ghost-faced cultivator could be so mighty that even the old ancestor of the Meng family couldn’t manage suicide!
Who would have thought this ghost-faced cultivator would dare refine Meng Zu’s spirit into expensive pills right in front of countless cultivators, not only ruthless in his methods but also unfathomable!
"The causes of the past, the consequences today. Had your clan’s Demon Child not harmed me, had your clan’s Immortal Emperor not tried to assassinate me, your Meng clan wouldn’t face such calamity today."
"Those present with no relation to the Meng family, I can allow you to leave. As for the Meng family cultivators, since you are not direct descendants of Meng Baixiong, I can show leniency and give you two options. Either die or become my Incense Slaves. All Meng family disciples, give me your answer!"
Ning Fan retrieved the silver great cauldron and Meng Baixiong’s storage pouch left after his death, standing in the sky, addressing the multitude of cultivators below.
He is a demon, but those unconnected to the Meng family’s fate may be spared, like those factions that did not take sides and those women Meng Baixiong forcibly brought over, they could be freed.
But the Meng family cultivators won’t have it easy.
Either die.
Or forever become his Incense Slaves, imprisoned in the Realm of Incense Offering.
Upon hearing this statement, all the many cultivators below were greatly surprised, and the majority showed expressions of delight.
Those who had remained neutral towards the Meng Family now felt immense gratitude towards Ning Fan upon hearing that he would spare them.
As for the guests and numerous Meng Family cultivators who had previously sided with Meng Baixiong, upon hearing this statement, they each began to make their own calculations...
A day later, another piece of news shook the entire Sanyan.
The Ghost-Faced Cultivator who had annihilated the Hex Family had, after invading the Bone Mountain Range, moved to the Stone Flame Continent, wiped out the Meng Family, slain the Meng Family Immortal Emperor Meng Baixiong, and captured all cultivators of the Meng Family lineage.
The foundation of the clan was naturally emptied.
As soon as this news spread, numerous strong individuals came rushing to the Meng Family ruins, including other Immortal Emperors and even the Stone Master himself, but unfortunately, naturally none could find any trace of Ning Fan.
Having destroyed the Meng Family, Ning Fan had naturally already left the area to find a place to absorb the benefits of annihilating the Meng Family.
Using another Tower of Years spanning ten thousand years, Ning Fan refined all the foundation of the Meng Family and refined the primordial spirit of Meng Baixiong into two hundred and thirty pieces of Blood of Ten Thousand Spirits.
The cultivation of Fiendgods and ancient demons was elevated to the peak of Shattered Thought!
Ancient Demon cultivation then advanced to the Twelve Nirvana Transformations of the demon realm!
The three great cultivations each advanced a full realm within ten thousand years, which for ordinary cultivators would be unimaginable progress, but for Ning Fan, it was not anything extraordinary.
After all, having swallowed the entire foundation of the second Immortal Emperor power, it would indeed be strange if there was no advancement in cultivation.
As for those two hundred and thirty pieces of Blood of Ten Thousand Spirits, they allowed Ning Fan’s Divine Spirit Wasted Body to have minor enhancements in various aspects.
Bone age, one hundred and forty thousand.
Three Towers of Years remain.
"Indeed, plundering Immortal Emperor powers is the fastest way to elevate one’s cultivation. Unfortunately, Immortal Emperor powers are not so easily extinguished. The success of annihilating the Hex Family was because the Sanyan Continent had not yet guarded against me at that time; the success of annihilating the Meng Family was because the heavily injured and dying Meng Baixiong was truly too weak, extremely easy to kill, much easier than killing Bai Lu... If I were to go and annihilate other Immortal Emperor powers in Sanyan, the risks would be difficult to estimate... Moreover, it seems all three Flame Masters are now hunting me, and the situation in Sanyan is becoming increasingly tumultuous due to the wars between the continents... It’s inappropriate to linger here, it’s time to leave."
"Moreover, my cultivation in Divine skills has all been honed to the pinnacle of True Immortal and Heavenly Demon realms, only by breaking through the bottleneck and stepping into the Timeless Realm or Restoring the Ancestors can further advancement be achieved. Before that, consuming ordinary expensive pills, Dao Fruits, or Spirit Fruits is already of no use... If it were the Immeasurable Pill, then there would still be some use, but it’s a pity such rare pills, even in Immortal Emperor foundations, happen to have very little stock..."
"Beyond True Immortal is Timeless. Beyond Heavenly Demon is Restoring the Ancestors. Existences at the Timeless Realm or Restoring the Ancestors level are already at the peak of the second step of cultivation, this step is extremely difficult to take, among a hundred Shattered Thought Peaks, often only one can successfully break through, the rest mostly remain trapped in this bottleneck for life, showing the difficulty of becoming an Eternal Immortal Venerable..."
Sensing the cultivation at the extreme limit within his body for Divine skills, Ning Fan slightly furrowed his brow, unfolding an ancient scroll in his hand.
This ancient scroll was something Ning Fan purchased through the Ancient Kingdom Trade Array, it recorded the methods and insights for ordinary Shattered Thought Peak to break through the Timeless bottleneck.
The biggest difference between an Eternal Cultivator and an ordinary True Immortal lies in the nature of their mana.
Masters at the first step of cultivation initially calculate their mana in units of Jiazi.
Then, Jiazi returns to yuan, this step is the biggest difference between Void Fragmentation cultivators and ordinary first step Masters.
The second step of cultivation has already reached immortality, the cultivation within the body can no longer purely be calculated by quantity, this is the biggest difference between immortal cultivation and mortal cultivation.
The nature of mana at the Eternal Level differs again from True Immortal and Fate Immortal.
If one truly wants to break through to the Timeless Level cultivation, they need to... cultivate to such a difference.
"The mana of an Eternal Cultivator transforms from infinite to tangible again. From the first step to the peak of the second step, the mana of the cultivator goes from tangible to intangible, from intangible to tangible again, though still tangible, it has already become vastly different from before. Eternal Cultivators calculate the highs and lows of their mana using the Tribulation of Measure as the unit..."
Shattered Thought Peak cultivators require at least five hundred tribulation mana to break through and become newly ascended Immortal Venerable.
The Eternal First Calamity requires reaching a thousand tribulation mana.
The Second Calamity Immortal Lord, two thousand tribulations.
The Triple Calamity Immortal gives rise to three thousand tribulations.
Each enhancement in the realm of Timeless requires an increase in mana by a thousand tribulations to have the qualification to challenge the bottleneck.
The Sixth Calamity Immortal Emperor requires six thousand tribulation mana to break through.
The Ninth Calamity of the Eternals requires nine thousand tribulation mana.
First Order Quasi-Saint, ten thousand tribulations!
Second-Grade Quasi-Saint, twenty thousand tribulations!
Third Order Ancient Great Cultivator, thirty thousand tribulations!
Theoretically, a Third Order Quasi-Saint with thirty thousand tribulation mana can consider sanctification and begin to step into the third step.
Of course, achieving sanctification with just thirty thousand tribulation mana is merely the lowest record noted in the Tongtian Sect, those who can truly sanctify with merely thirty thousand tribulation mana are exceedingly rare...
Moreover, by the Timeless Level, mana is no longer the standard to measure ultimate combat strength, magical treasure, secret technique, Eternal True Body, ultimate trump cards, all the decisive factors are key to victory or defeat at the Timeless Level.
"Shattered Thought Peak requires reaching five hundred tribulation mana to start breaking through to the Eternal Immortal Venerable. The process of converting into the Tribulation of Measure, as well as subsequently enhancing Timeless cultivation, the most common method is to consume a type of pill called the Immeasurable Pill. Of course, there are other heaven materials and earth treasures that possess the medicinal efficacy of mana conversion into tribulations..."
"The real trouble is, the Immeasurable Pills I possess are far from enough for the mana tribulation conversion of the three systems of cultivation in Divine skills..."
Thinking of this, Ning Fan couldn’t help but frown slightly...