novelraw Chapter 577: Celestial Azure Awaits the Rain
Chapter 577: Celestial Azure Awaits the Rain
This time, the dual cultivation of the divine sense lasted a total of ten days.
After ten days, Ning Fan left the Cauldron Ring with Teng Xianrou, and with a shake of his body, appeared in the cabin palace of the Tian Qing Boat.
At this moment, Teng Xianrou was still dressed as before, but her face was covered with a pink veil, enough to shield her appearance from the perception of cultivators below the Void Fragmentation stage.
Ning Fan’s eyes were filled with a vast sword intent. Through this dual cultivation of the divine sense, he had seized all of Teng Xianrou’s sword sense, claiming it for his own use.
Now, Ning Fan’s spirit sense realm had significantly improved, far beyond what it was ten days ago.
Teng Xianrou had spent tens of thousands of years arduously cultivating her sword sense and sword intent, all of which had become the foundation for strengthening Ning Fan’s divine sense!
Ten days ago, Ning Fan’s spirit sense was just at the level of an ordinary Grand Void.
After ten days, his spirit sense was infinitely close to the Return to Origin Grand Void realm!
After this dual cultivation, the cultivation technique "Yin Yang Transformation" also naturally broke through to the third stage, second level.
Though his mana hadn’t increased, his combat power had drastically improved!
"This dual cultivation of the divine sense is quite a good technique for harvesting energy." Ning Fan smiled as he spoke to himself.
"Hmph, your spirit sense surged, of course it’s good for you!" Beneath the veil, Teng Xianrou’s pretty face showed a mix of shame and anger.
She felt ashamed to have spent ten days in continuous dual cultivation of the divine sense with Ning Fan, which was very humiliating for her.
And she was angry because her sword sense had collapsed, turning her spirit sense back to an ordinary state. Her tens of thousands of years of hard cultivation had only resulted in the massive surge of Ning Fan’s spirit sense.
She naturally had grievances, but, unfortunately, as Ning Fan’s slave now, she could only be angry but dared not voice her complaints.
"Rou’er, calm down. After all, you are a Void Fragmentation cultivator, how can you get angry so easily?" Ning Fan teased.
"Rou...er! Can you not call me that... I cannot bear it!" Teng Xianrou gritted her teeth; she disliked being called so intimately by Ning Fan.
"If I don’t call you Rou’er, then should I call you Teng Xianrou? In case others hear it, they will know that the slave by my side is none other than the mighty Purple Wisteria Palace Master..."
"...Fine, call me whatever you like!"
Teng Xianrou knitted her brows slightly, not wanting others to know she had become Ning Fan’s slave.
Seeing Teng Xianrou conceding, Ning Fan nodded with satisfaction, walked out of the cabin, and Teng Xianrou immediately followed with small steps.
In ten days of flight, the Tian Qing Boat had crossed 29 cultivation kingdoms, and was not far from reaching Hancang Kingdom.
At the bow of the Tian Qing Boat, Qingdai was piloting the flying boat. Upon seeing Ning Fan come out of the cabin, she immediately asked with concern, "Brother Lu, has your Spirit recovered?"
"Hmm, the injury has already healed. What kingdom are we flying over now?" Ning Fan asked.
"We have arrived at Cuiyu Country. If we fly over 13 more cultivation kingdoms, we will reach Hancang Kingdom. Eh? Who is this sister..." Qingdai answered respectfully.
It was at this moment that Teng Xianrou also stepped out of the cabin, prompting Qingdai’s question.
Teng Xianrou deliberately revealed her Void Inquiry Stage cultivation, concealing her Void Fragmentation aura.
Seeing that Teng Xianrou was a Void Inquiry cultivator, Qingdai addressed her as sister, speaking very politely.
"My name is Qianrou, a ’friend’ of Lu Bei..." The word "friend" was said with a peculiar tone by Teng Xianrou.
Her wording was something Ning Fan had instructed beforehand, and "Qianrou" was a name she made up on the spot.
"So it’s Sister Qianrou, I’m called Qingdai."
"..." Teng Xianrou felt rather speechless, not wanting to engage further with Qingdai.
Thinking of herself as a notable Void Fragmentation cultivator, being called sisters with a little Void Glimpse girl left her feeling quite suppressed...
Seeing that Teng Xianrou was unwilling to engage with her, Qingdai sensibly changed the topic and handed Ning Fan a storage pouch.
Stored within were Tree Spirit Fruits and Puppet Materials.
"Brother Lu, of the immortal jade you gave me, I spent 90 billion, leaving 30 billion. I bought 6,200 Tree Spirit Fruits, and apart from the twelve rarest materials, I’ve acquired all the other puppet materials..."
"6,200 Tree Spirit Fruits are more than enough... As for those twelve kinds of Puppet Materials, they’re extremely rare, so it’s normal not to have acquired them... You’ve worked hard."
Ning Fan accepted the storage pouch, pondering briefly.
With his current fourth-grade Rain Intent, he estimated that breaking through to third-grade Rain Intent would require around 5,000 Tree Spirit Fruits.
With the Tree Spirit Fruits he currently possessed, he had more than enough to break through to third-grade Rain Intent.
He had learned from Fusang Old Demon that to ascend from third-grade to second-grade Intent, and from second-grade to first-grade Intent, one needs to consume Tree Ancestor Fruit, as Tree Spirit Fruit would no longer be effective.
Given this, there’s no point in buying more Tree Spirit Fruits.
The only real task is to find an opportunity to visit the Bamboo Hall.
"There are still 13 cultivation kingdoms to cross to reach Hancang, so there might be a few days left. During this time, you should accompany Rou’er to purchase the last twelve kinds of puppet materials, as there’s no need to buy more Tree Spirit Fruits."
Ning Fan returned to the cabin alone, leaving Teng Xianrou with Qingdai.
He had already instructed Teng Xianrou to accompany Qingdai in purchasing puppet materials, and Teng Xianrou dared not disobey his orders.
Upon returning to the cabin, he secluded himself within the Yuan Yao Realm’s Dark Golden Pagoda to refine the Tree Spirit Fruits.
The seventh level of the Dark Golden Pagoda contained 36 palaces.
Ning Fan pushed open the door to one of the palaces and entered a space with green hills and clear waters.
He flew to the peak, spreading his gentle rain intent, and the entire space suddenly poured down a torrential rain.
The rain drenched him, seeped cold into his body, and his mind gradually grew restless...
"How much longer until I can break through to first-grade Rain Intent... How much longer until I can find my mother..."
"First-grade Rain Intent! No matter how difficult, I must break through to first-grade Rain Intent! Only by mastering this technique will I find my mother in this vast sea of people..."
Ning Fan’s gaze swept vacantly, and with a pat on his storage pouch, he retrieved and refined the Tree Spirit Fruits into his body.
The price of a single Tree Spirit Fruit was equivalent to a Nascent Soul Realm Dao Fruit... After consuming 5,000 Tree Spirit Fruits, the rain intent in Ning Fan’s eyes grew increasingly dense.
A year within the seventh level of the pagoda was merely three days in the outside world.
As he stood in the rain, it seemed he wanted to merge with the rainwater!
Between his fingers, he continuously formed the hand seals of the Vast Heaven Rain and Yang Heaven Rain techniques. Initially, the seals were extremely fast, but eventually, they grew slower...
When the seals slowed to almost a stop, Ning Fan formed a third set of hand seals, suddenly executing the third heavenly rain technique—the Scarlet Heaven Rain!
The day he swept through the Immortal Clouds, he attempted to merge the rain techniques but couldn’t even merge two of them.
At that time, his Rain Intent was of the eighth-grade...
Now, he was simultaneously executing three rain techniques, and there was an easy tendency for them to merge!
This was because Ning Fan’s Rain Intent had reached the peak of fourth-grade, just one step away from breaking through to third-grade Rain Intent!
"With third-grade Rain Intent, I can merge three rain techniques; as long as I break through to third-grade Rain Intent, I can merge the first three heaven rains..."
Ning Fan had consumed enough Tree Spirit Fruits, and all he needed was a trigger to break through to third-grade Rain Intent!
His figure suddenly blurred, leaving the Yuan Yao Realm and appearing atop the Tian Qing Boat in the external world.
Three days had passed outside, and the Tian Qing Boat was nearing Hancang Kingdom.
Ning Fan walked out of the cabin, sensing the lingering rain intent on the Tian Qing Boat, greatly aiding him in breaking through the Rain Intent bottleneck.
This Tian Qing Boat had been drenched in rain countless times, leaving behind an indelible rain intent.
This rain intent matched Ning Fan’s mood at the moment.
He fell into a mysterious state of Dao enlightenment, which Qingdai and Teng Xianrou noticed, refraining from disturbing him.
He gazed at the distant Hancang Kingdom, at the drifting clouds in the sky, and the expansive sea of pines on the ground...
His eyes fixed unmovingly on the isolation grand formation of Hancang Kingdom, and on the passing cultivators, ultimately resting his gaze on the Tian Qing Boat.
In his mouth, he repeatedly recited the incantation of the Heaven Prying Rain.
"There is rain in the nine heavens, the thought links one realm, clouds are my eyes, rain is my thought..."
Beyond the isolation grand formation, all the cultivators coming and going were from the Hancang Kingdom.
In front of the Tian Qing Boat, three massive voyage ships awaited review to enter Hancang Kingdom, and Tian Qing Boat was queued behind these ships.
These three voyage ships bore the same family crest.
It was a cedar crest, and the cultivators on the voyage ships all belonged to the Cedar Clan of Hancang Kingdom!
Qingdai halted the Tian Qing Boat’s escape light, making the flying boat hover behind the three voyage ships.
Her gaze inadvertently glanced over the crest on the three voyage ships, initially pausing, and then showing a hint of resentment.
"This is... the three-masted voyage ships of the Cedar Clan!"
Hancang Kingdom is a Void Ranked cultivation country, and the Cedar Clan is one of the twelve clans of Hancang Kingdom!
The twelve clans of Hancang all have Void Refinement cultivators among them, each is a top-tier force in Hancang Kingdom!
Among the twelve clans of Hancang, four have old grudges with the Ming Luo Tree Clan... The Cedar Clan is one of those four clans!
Qingdai still remembers, a thousand years ago, when she was still young, the Cedar Clan once bullied the Min Luo Clan.
At that time, she was not yet the High Priestess; the High Priestess was her mother.
At that time, her mother was about to succeed in Void Glimpse...
That day, the Cedar Clan heard that the Min Luo Clan was about to give birth to a Void Glimpse, a group of experts ruthlessly appeared within the Min Luo Clan.
That day, her mother was besieged by the strong of the Cedar Clan, and eventually died at the hands of the young sect leader of the Cedar Clan...
The Masters of the Cedar Clan did not allow the Min Luo Clan to give birth to a Void Refinement Realm cultivator!
They were very pleased to see the Min Luo Clan in decline!
Qingdai’s eyes carried intense hatred, her fists tightly clenched, long nails piercing into her palms, with blood gushing out.
She looked at the three voyage ships of the Cedar Clan ahead!
On each of these three Cedar Clan voyage ships stood one Void Refinement cultivator.
On the bow of one of the ships, stood the young sect leader of the Cedar Clan!
He was a sinister young man in a silver robe, with three magnificent silver demon stars shimmering above his left eye.
This silver-robed youth was named Ao Chen, possessing invincible Void Inquiry Stage cultivations, and in his hand, he was playing with a freshly severed head!
It was the head of a Void Inquiry Stage cultivator!
"Hehe, the clan leader of the Golden Oak Clan was also a Void Inquiry Stage cultivator, yet he was so easily defeated. I hadn’t even made a move, and he was already dead. What a disappointment..."
Ao Chen’s palm pulsed with demonic power, shattering the severed head into a mist of blood.
His gaze suddenly shifted sideways, catching sight of the Tian Qing Boat where Qingdai was!
His arrogant gaze swept across Ning Fan and Teng Xianrou, seeing that they both showed Void Inquiry Stage cultivations, he was indifferent.
But when his gaze landed on Qingdai, a flash of murder flickered in his eyes, "Oh? This woman in green seems to be a Min Luo dryad? Interesting, since when did the Min Luo Clan give birth to a Void Glimpse!"
"Min Luo Clan... Hehe! As long as my Cedar Clan exists, your Min Luo Clan will never rise again! Fourth Elder, Fifth Elder, you two, go and kill this woman... As for the two Void Inquiry cultivators on that ship, they seem to be this woman’s hired help, most likely having significant connections with the Min Luo Clan... kill them all!"
Ao Chen waved his hand dismissively, and immediately from the other two voyage ships, two old Void Inquiry cultivators flew towards the Tian Qing Boat, locking their murderous intent on Qingdai and the others.
These two were the Fourth Elder and Fifth Elder of the Cedar Clan, with cultivations approaching invincible Void Inquiry Stage.
To them, killing a Void Glimpse or an ordinary Void Inquiry was as easy as crushing an ant, especially crushing the ants of the Min Luo Clan, they had no reluctance at all.
The Min Luo Clan and Cedar Clan were ancestral enemies!
There was no need for a reason to kill someone from the Min Luo Clan!
Outside the Lock Realm Grand Formation, the ones responsible for inspecting passing cultivators were the Masters from the Qinnan Clan. The Qinnan Clan was also one of the Hancang Twelve Clans!
Among these cultivators, the one with the highest cultivation was an old Void Refinement Realm cultivator, he was the Great Elder of the Qinnan Clan, named Qin Shuangzi.
The Qinnan Clan, although having no old grievances with the Min Luo Clan, also had no relations with them.
Qin Shuangzi saw the two Cedar Clan Void Inquiry Elders bear murderous intent towards Qingdai, sighed slightly but showed no intent to assist.
"The power of the Cedar Clan is too great, with three Void Masters in charge, not someone my Qinnan Clan can offend. There’s no need for me to offend the Cedar Clan for the sake of a little girl from the Min Luo Clan. The Fourth and Fifth Elders of the Cedar Clan are both close to invincible in Void Inquiry Stage, with them taking action, that little girl will surely die... I just don’t know, those two Void Inquiry cultivators beside the girl, where did they come from, are they helpers hired from other cultivation kingdoms?"
"During the Min Luo Clan’s time of strength, they offended too many powers, the Cedar Clan being one of them. With just two Void Inquiry cultivators, they’re no match for the Cedar Clan... The Min Luo Clan has already fallen, and there is no possibility of revival."
Qin Shuangzi closed his eyes indifferently; in his view, Qingdai, as a mere Void Glimpse, was destined to die at the hands of the two Cedar Elders.
Teng Xianrou’s beautiful eyes sank, she was indifferent towards the grudge between the Min Luo Clan and the Cedar Clan, and had no intention to lend a hand to Qingdai.
But the two Elders of the Cedar Clan had gone too far, even locking their murderous intent on her, this was simply courting death!
Who was she? She was the honorable Purple Wisteria Palace Master, an old monster of the Void Fragmentation realm!
She was already feeling stifled, having fallen into Ning Fan’s hands, her mood was not good, and these two Void Inquiry ants dared to provoke her by locking their killing intent on her!
Her delicate fingers lifted with an impulse, wanting to unleash millions of sword lights with a single point, annihilating these two old Void Inquiry Elders!
Qingdai’s bright eyes were filled with extreme anger and consternation!
The Cedar Clan was too domineering, merely seeing her as a member of the Min Luo Clan, merely seeing her as a Void Refinement cultivator, and they attacked without asking for a reason...
Just like back then, killing her mother without asking for a reason!
The Cedar Clan, how hateful!
She swiftly formed a spirit sense, preparing to activate the defensive formation of the Tian Qing Boat to block the attacks of the two Cedar Elders.
Then to activate the twelve Void Spirit Cannons, decimating these two old Void Inquiry Elders!
She couldn’t be oppressed by the Cedar Clan every time!
Qingdai and Teng Xianrou both became angry, intending to retaliate against the two elders of the Cedar Clan.
But before the two women could take action, Ning Fan stepped forward first, blocking in front of them, gazing blankly at the two approaching Cedar Clan elders.
His eyes were filled with boundless rain intent, just a sliver away from breaking through to the third grade.
That small gap, like a tiny crevice, had begun to close bit by bit after countless insights...
He lowered his head, ignoring the two Cedar Clan elders, and looked at the Tian Qing Boat beneath his feet.
He raised his head, ignoring the two Cedar Clan elders, and looked at the cloudless sky.
His gaze stirred with the light of clouds, and with just one look, the sky darkened, filled with dense clouds, and a fine rain began to fall.
At this moment, his rain intent broke through the bottleneck of the third grade!
After reaching the third grade in rain intent, its power suddenly increased, surpassing even some Mortal Void spells...
"Third-grade rain intent..." At this moment, a sky-blue rain intent flashed through Ning Fan’s eyes!
"Die!"
The two Cedar Clan elders had already drawn close, each raising a large hand, reaching out at a distance towards Ning Fan and the two women.
Both of them attacked simultaneously, and instantly two massive thousand-zhang palm imprints slammed towards the Tian Qing Boat!
The two of them prided themselves on their cultivations, close to being invincible at the Void Inquiry Stage, and looked down on Ning Fan and the others!
At this moment, Ning Fan’s eyes turned cold, without any hint of insight remaining!
He did not need to know the animosity between the Cedar Clan and the Min Luo Clan, he did not ask!
He did not need to know the background of these two Void Inquiry elders, he did not ask!
He only needed to know one thing, that the opponents had attacked him, and harbored killing intent!
Thus, he had no need to show mercy to these two, lifting his hand for a single point, pressing down from above!
This point used no divine skills, only wrapped in boundless third-grade rain intent.
Third-grade rain intent... one grade higher than the Rain Emperor’s rain intent!
It is said that the Rain Emperor, relying on fourth-grade rain intent, could kill Void Glimpse cultivators.
At this moment, Ning Fan’s lifted finger, swirling with persistent rain intent, could dissolve even a Void Inquiry cultivator!
The rain of heaven and earth seemed to heed Ning Fan’s summons, swirling around the two Cedar Clan elders’ palm imprints.
The fine rain brushed past, and the two massive palm imprints suddenly shuddered, melting eerily into the rain in an instant, vanishing without a trace!
The Fourth Elder and Fifth Elder were first stunned, not knowing what Ning Fan had done to so eerily block their palm imprints.
In the next moment, the fine rain soaked their bodies, and they immediately displayed expressions of extreme shock.
It was as if all of their mana was dissolving into this rain!
It was as if all their life’s cultivation was being buried in this rain!
It was as if all their years of practice were fading away with the sky-blue drizzle!
"Impossible! How can this person’s intent be so formidable, to break through our divine skills with just the strength of intent alone!"
"This rain intent is unbeatable, we must immediately avoid it!"
In great surprise, the two hastily tried to escape backwards, attempting to flee the curtain of rain.
But their bodies had already been infused with rain intent, they couldn’t escape, nor erase it.
With every step back they took, they dissolved a bit more, and after retreating several dozen steps, their bodies trembled, transforming into two pools of blood in the sky, scattering with the rain!
"Is this fourth-grade rain intent?! No, this is... third-grade!"
Qin Shuangzi, who had remained silent with closed eyes, suddenly opened his eyes, deeply shocked.
And that Cedar Clan young master Ao Chen, who had been leisurely watching from the sidelines, was filled with horror in his eyes.
He had seen some Masters with rain intent before, but had never seen one with rain intent as powerful as Ning Fan!
There were only a few with third-grade intent across the entire Tree World...
"Who exactly is this person! How did the Min Luo Clan invite such a formidable helper!" (To be continued. If you enjoy this work, you’re welcome to vote on qidian.com with recommendations and monthly votes. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users please visit m.qidian.com for reading.)