novelraw Chapter 590: Nieli
Chapter 590: Nieli
Ning Fan transformed into a streak of escape light, disappearing into the dim night.
When he reappeared, he found himself outside a Golden Palace in Jishui City, a resting place for the cultivators entering the city.
Ning Fan paid the immortal jade and chose a room to rest.
He had already warned the Fusang Clan to be wary of the Baili Clan, doing his part, but he was unwilling to get involved in the feud between the Fusang and Baili Clans.
He had grown quite apprehensive of the Baili Clan, all due to the ominous sign he divined...
Sitting alone in the room, Ning Fan pondered silently. After a long time, he suddenly began forming seals with his ten fingers, surrounding himself with azure Third-grade Rain Intent.
Outside the window was a rustling bamboo grove, swayed by the cool night breeze. As Ning Fan’s Rain Intent spread, a continuous drizzle began to fall outside the window.
This was Ning Fan using the Heaven Prying Rain Technique to peer into the outside world...
He attempted to merge the Three Heavenly Rain Techniques, letting his spirit sense cover the entire Muye Kingdom, secretly spying on the Baili Clan to gauge their capabilities.
If he could not find the root of that ominous sign, Ning Fan would not be at ease.
The rain curtain gradually expanded, first covering the entire Jishui City, then extending far outwards from Jishui City.
Gradually, within seventy million miles, everything was covered in fine rain like plain silk.
Many cultivators in Jishui City found it very strange. There were formation lights to block wind and rain in Jishui City, why would rain fall for no apparent reason?
No one knew that Ning Fan was using Heaven Prying Rain Technique - this rain nourished silently, and this technique left no trace.
At this moment, the intertwining clouds in the night sky became his eyes!
At this moment, the continuous fine rain became his thoughts!
Ning Fan’s spirit sense unfolded in the darkness, and wherever the rain fell became the root of his spirit sense!
One million miles, two million miles... ten million miles, twenty million miles... seventy million miles!
Gradually, within a radius of seventy million miles, from the surface and the mountains to the grass, trees, insects, and ants, all were under Ning Fan’s spirit sense surveillance!
Even a cultivator of the First Heavenly Layer of the Void Fragmentation Realm can only cover a range of a million miles with their spirit sense.
But at this moment, Ning Fan’s spirit sense covered a total of seventy million miles!
"The Second Heavenly Rain... Yang Heaven Rain!"
Ning Fan changed his hand seals, then formed the seals for the Yang Heaven Rain, and allowed the Yang Heaven and Vast Heaven Rain to merge.
With the merging of the two rain techniques, the black clouds drifted far away, and the fine rain extended far, stretching up to three hundred million miles!
The Lone Heaven Rain can make spirit sense cover seventy million miles.
The Double Heaven Rain can make spirit sense cover three hundred million miles.
The Three Heaven Rain can make spirit sense cover one billion miles!
With the power of Ning Fan’s Third-grade Rain Intent, it was not difficult to merge the Second Heavenly Rain, and he could even merge the Three Heavenly Rain at most!
"Three Heavenly Rain!"
Ning Fan changed his hand seals again, forming the seals for the Scarlet Heaven Rain and completely merging the three rain techniques.
The merging of the Three Heavenly Rain directly exhausted all of Ning Fan’s mana!
At this moment, the rain curtain extended to a billion miles away, drenching the entire Muye Kingdom in rainwater.
At this moment, the rainwater permeated the entire Muye Kingdom, spying on the thousands of large and small tree clans... even the Baili Clan was under Ning Fan’s surveillance!
The Baili Clan was located in the southern region of Muye Kingdom, in Kuili City.
A steady drizzle fell in Kuili City, and each raindrop seemed to be a strand of Ning Fan’s spirit sense...
The gentle rain nourished silently, saturating Kuili City, revealing the entire scenery of Kuili City.
In the dimness of the night, the atmosphere in Kuili City was very strange.
The Baili people were like walking corpses, each with hollow and vacant eyes, guarding within Kuili City, with none possessing a Nascent Soul or Demon Soul!
At the center of Kuili City stood a massive palace.
Inside the palace, the Baili King, acting as the clan leader of Baili, sat alone in the empty palace, like a statue, with hollow eyes, silent, without any expression on his face...
If it weren’t for the Return to Origin Invincible aura radiating from the Baili King, Ning Fan would almost believe that the Baili King was a sculpture.
"So that’s the Baili King..." Ning Fan mused quietly.
This time, utilizing the Heaven Prying Rain Technique to secretly observe the Baili Clan, Ning Fan discovered that although the Baili King was strong, he posed no sense of danger to him.
Behind the Baili Clan, there lurked great peril, but this peril wasn’t from the Baili King or the tribe itself...
Ning Fan dispersed the Rain Intent, withdrawing his spirit sense from the entire Muye Kingdom.
He couldn’t find any dangerous individuals within the Baili Clan, unable to trace the source of the ominous sign.
But at the very moment of withdrawing his spirit sense, Ning Fan faintly heard a sorrowful, dreamlike bird cry from Jishui City...
The cry was just a faint whimper, as if it came from a very distant place, yet seemed so near, like a whisper in his ear.
That mournful cry seemed to bear unimaginable suffering, laden with threads of deep regret.
The cry seemed to be a reminder for Ning Fan of something... sensing Ning Fan’s formidable Fu Li ancestor blood, the source of the cry was warning of something...
Just a single cry, yet it caused Ning Fan’s long-dormant Fu Li demon blood to suddenly boil, resonating weakly!
"Is that the call of a Fu Li?! No, it doesn’t seem like it... there’s a slight difference from a Fu Li... that’s the call of a ’Nieli’!"
Fu Li, overseeing the world in times of chaos! The Fu Li were the overseers of the Heavenly Dao in ancient times!
Nieli are the sinners of the Fu Li race. Any Fu Li who betrays the clan will have their bloodline stripped away, marked with the Fu Li Sinful Mark, degraded to a Nieli, forever enslaved to the Fu Li...
Ning Fan’s eyes flashed with a hint of surprise... could it be that a Nieli actually exists in Jishui City...
He consumed a pill, adjusted his mana, and after a long while, once again performed the Heaven Prying Rain Technique, merging the rains of three heavens.
He wanted to listen carefully for any more Nieli cries in Jishui City, but this time, he couldn’t hear anything...
"Nieli... is there really a Nieli hidden in Jishui City?"
Ning Fan frowned deeply, unable to hear a second cry from the Nieli.
The cry echoed in his mind, stirring a vague sense of unease in his heart, though he couldn’t pinpoint why...
Clearing away the distractions in his mind, Ning Fan quickly formulated a plan for his next move.
Another month would pass before the Bamboo Sovereign would order the healing of the Ancestral Bamboo Tree.
If he could heal the Ancestral Bamboo, Ning Fan would be rewarded with the Tree Ancestor Fruit, enhancing his Rain Intent to the second grade.
He retrieved nine six-rotation pill recipes from his storage pouch, which included low, middle, and high-grade ones.
The expensive pills these recipes described contained the essence of wood spirit energy, capable of curing various wounds, ailments, and toxins afflicting dryads and tree devils.
Ning Fan didn’t know exactly what kind of disease the Ancestral Bamboo had and therefore couldn’t concoct a tailored remedy.
He decided to prepare a variety of healing, restorative, and detoxification pills, just in case of emergencies.
Ning Fan secluded himself for seven days, within the Xuan Yin Treasure, concocting four different types of six-turn healing and detoxification pills.
There were still five recipes for which he hadn’t gathered all the required spiritual medicine.
Ning Fan left his temporary residence in the Golden Palace, intending to purchase the necessary spiritual medicine from the shops in Jishui City for alchemy.
Every cultivator he encountered along the way looked at him with deep awe.
He ignored the reverence from these cultivators and headed directly to the largest shop in the city.
The largest shop in Jishui City is called Zhaixing Tower, a store owned by Muye Country’s Xingbo Clan.
The ancestor of the Xingbo Clan is the Third Elder of the Bamboo Hall, a Void Fragmentation cultivator of the First Heavenly Layer.
Zhaixing Tower towers over ten thousand feet, with several dozen floors, guarded outside by four Early Nascent Soul tree devil strongmen, all with extremely arrogant expressions.
Without the backing of a ferocious beast of Half-Step Void Refinement Realm force, or unless one is a Void Refinement Realm cultivator, entry to Zhaixing Tower is prohibited, one would be blocked outside by the tree devil strongmen.
Ning Fan naturally wouldn’t be stopped outside; the four Nascent Soul guards immediately changed their arrogance to extreme respect at the sight of him.
"May I ask if Master Lu intends to purchase spiritual medicine for alchemy, pill recipes, or ready-made pills? Our Zhaixing Tower is the top merchant house in Jishui, with all kinds of pill recipes, spiritual medicine, and expensive pills. Whatever the master needs, we’re sure it will satisfy the master!"
"Oh? Whatever I need, Zhaixing Tower has it? I wonder if Zhaixing Tower has high-grade Seventh Revolution healing pills?" Ning Fan asked with a slight smile, looking towards the top floor of Zhaixing Tower.
This question was purely a joke, as he didn’t believe Zhaixing Tower would have such high-grade Seventh Revolution healing pills.
He wasn’t joking with the four Nascent Soul guards but with some old monster on the top floor of Zhaixing Tower.
The reason he mentioned high-grade Seventh Revolution pills was that he had not forgotten the task of finding healing pills for the little sable.
Upon hearing Ning Fan asking for high-grade Seventh Revolution pills, the four Nascent Soul guards immediately showed a bitter smile.
Although Zhaixing Tower claims to have all kinds of expensive pills and spiritual medicine, this is only true for Void Refinement cultivators.
As for high-grade Seventh Revolution healing pills, even if Zhaixing Tower had them, such high-level healing pills are lifesaving treasures for Fragmented Void cultivators; who would be willing to sell them?
"Master Lu, you must be joking. We don’t have any high-grade Seventh Revolution Healing Pills in the Zhaixing Tower, nor does the entire Tree World. However, I do have one low-grade Seventh Revolution Healing Pill, which I have always kept as a lifesaver. If you truly need it, I can reluctantly part with it and give it to you!"
After Ning Fan spoke with a smile, an elderly but hearty voice immediately responded from the top floor of the Zhaixing Tower.
The voice belonged to the Third Elder of the Bamboo Hall.
Ning Fan shook his head and smiled, knowing well that the Zhaixing Tower would not have such a high-level Healing Pill.
He did not plan to buy the Third Elder’s lifesaving pill, as the low-grade Seventh Revolution Healing Pill would not significantly help the injuries of the sable...
A streak of blue light shot down from the bottom floor of the Zhaixing Tower, transforming into an old man with blue pupils, who was none other than the Third Elder of the Bamboo Hall.
The old man with blue pupils clasped his fist at Ning Fan, exuding the aura of the First Heavenly Layer of the Void Fragmentation Realm, and said with a smile, "I wonder what Master Lu intends to purchase today at the Zhaixing Tower?"
"I wish to buy some spiritual herbs for alchemy. May I know if your firm has the spiritual herbs I need?" Ning Fan returned the greeting with a fist clasp, then patted his storage pouch and took out a jade scroll, handing it to the old man with blue pupils.
Inside the jade scroll were records of various fifty-thousand-year spiritual herbs needed for alchemy.
The old man with blue pupils scanned the jade scroll with his spirit sense and nodded, "We have all the spiritual herbs that Master needs in stock. Master is welcome to follow me into the building to acquire them. But before that, I have a question for Master Lu: are you purchasing these spiritual herbs to refine pills to treat the Ancestral Bamboo’s ailment?"
"Yes."
"If that’s the case, I fear Master might have chosen the wrong spiritual herbs... Though I’m not skilled in dan refinement, I’ve learned much about the properties of various spiritual herbs, having run the firm. The spiritual herbs you’ve mentioned are mainly effective for healing and detoxifying dryads and tree devils. The pills refined will likely only be healing or detoxification pills... These pills cannot cure the Ancestral Bamboo’s ailment."
Remembering the strange ailment that afflicted the Ancestral Bamboo, the old man with blue pupils showed a look of concern.
The Ancestral Bamboo is a treasured relic of the Bamboo Hall, not only producing Tree Ancestor Fruit but also nurturing the tree spirit within its body.
The tree spirit possesses the cultivation of the Third Heavenly Layer of the Void Fragmentation Realm. In times of need, the tree spirit can leave the Ancestral Bamboo to fight for the hall’s defense.
However, since ten thousand years ago, due to some unforeseen changes, the tree spirit hasn’t left the Ancestral Bamboo.
And over the last ten thousand years, the Ancestral Bamboo’s leaves have gradually withered day by day.
Recently, this withering has intensified, as if the entire Ancestral Bamboo is about to wither and die.
At this critical moment, the tree spirit suddenly left the bamboo body and appeared inside the Bamboo Hall, behaving as if possessed, initiating a deadly rampage...
In just a few breaths, the tree spirit, relying on its cultivation of the Third Heavenly Layer of the Void Fragmentation Realm, killed seven Void Refinement Realm cultivators in the Bamboo Hall...
Had the Bamboo Sovereign not acted in time to subdue the berserk tree spirit, it could have slaughtered even more powerful figures in the Bamboo Hall.
The Bamboo Sovereign sealed the tree spirit and the Ancestral Bamboo in the forbidden area, forbidding any Bamboo Hall cultivator to approach, lest they fall victim to the frenzied tree spirit.
The Bamboo Sovereign declared to the outside world that the Ancestral Bamboo was afflicted with a strange illness, yet he did not mention the madness of the tree spirit...
The Bamboo Sovereign’s summoning of alchemists worldwide is not solely to cure the withering ailment of the Ancestral Bamboo and revitalize it.
More importantly, the Bamboo Sovereign wishes to cure the tree spirit’s madness.
It is neither an injury nor an illness, not even poison...
It’s a strange ailment that the Bamboo Sovereign has never seen before. With this ailment, the tree spirit has completely forgotten its mission to protect the Bamboo Hall, recognizing no kin, killing whomever it encounters...
The old man with blue pupils knew very well that the pills Ning Fan intended to refine would not address the issue and could not cure the tree spirit’s madness.
"I have never seen the Ancestral Bamboo, nor do I know what strange illness it specifically suffers from, so I cannot prescribe correctly... May I inquire, Third Elder, what exactly is the Ancestral Bamboo afflicted with?"
"The Bamboo Sovereign decreed that all information concerning the Ancestral Bamboo is classified as the highest secret of the Bamboo Hall and must not be disclosed... However, you are no outsider, being here specifically to cure the Ancestral Bamboo as an alchemist. I suppose there is no harm in sharing what I know with you... Please have a look at this jade scroll, which contains all the information about the Ancestral Bamboo."
The old man with blue pupils took out a jade scroll and handed it to Ning Fan.
Ning Fan received the jade scroll and perused its contents, his eyes showing a hint of astonishment.
The strange illness of the Ancestral Bamboo refers to the madness of the tree spirit...
To cure the tree spirit’s madness, one must first find the cause of its derangement...
Ning Fan’s spirit sense swept over the information in the jade scroll, suddenly stirring his thoughts.
The jade scroll recorded all information concerning the Ancestral Bamboo, and two pieces of information caught Ning Fan’s attention.
Firstly, the Ancestral Bamboo grows in the Minor Thousand Forbidden Land within the Bamboo Hall, planted by a former Bamboo Sovereign. It is said that the Bamboo Sovereign once used the Ancestral Bamboo’s power to suppress a fierce beast called ’Nieli’ within the forbidden land...
This information related to Nieli intrigued Ning Fan greatly.
The wail of Nieli that he heard that day might have emanated from the forbidden area within the Ancestral Bamboo.
Secondly, ten thousand years ago, the clan responsible for guarding the Ancestral Bamboo within the Bamboo Hall was the Baili Clan of the Muye Kingdom...
Ning Fan, having always kept a keen watch on the Baili Clan, tensed up upon seeing this information.
Again, the Baili Clan...
The Ancestral Bamboo showed symptoms of illness ten thousand years ago, and ten thousand years ago, it was guarded by the Baili Clan...
Baili, Baili...
This Baili Clan is by no means a benevolent entity...
"Could the Ancestral Bamboo’s illness and the madness of the Tree Spirit be related to the Baili Clan..."
"The enormous crisis hidden behind the Baili Clan, could it be connected to the strange illness of the Ancestral Bamboo?"
"...Is that ominous sign related to the suppressed Nieli under the Ancestral Bamboo..."
Ning Fan put away all distracting thoughts and did not purchase those spiritual herbs from before, but instead took out a few pill recipes specifically for treating madness, and purchased the required spiritual herbs from Zhaixing Tower.
It’s unknown if these pills can cure the madness of the Ancestral Bamboo...
He bid farewell to the Third Elder and left Zhaixing Tower.
On the way back to the Golden Palace, he was suddenly stopped by an angrily pouting girl in a red dress.
"Lu Bei, it’s all your fault! In the Bamboo Hall today, they held the first round of trials for the successor of the Eighth Elder. My father, Tang Xiong, was severely injured by a blow from the Baili King and lost the qualification for selection... do you know that!"
"If you had agreed to Grandfather’s request to help our Fusang Clan compete for the Bamboo Hall’s Eighth Elder, my father wouldn’t have participated and wouldn’t have been severely injured by the Baili King! This is all your fault, you caused my father to get hurt! How will you take responsibility for this!"
Blocking Ning Fan’s path was the little princess of the Fusang Clan — Tang Yuan.
At this moment, the girl was crying as if flowers were rain-beaten, her attitude one of righteousness, blocking Ning Fan’s path, glaring at him furiously.
Ning Fan’s gaze showed a hint of impatience. This little princess of the Fusang Clan was truly clingy, and she was causing another scene today.
Ning Fan was unaware that the first round of the Eighth Elder’s selection had begun, and also unaware of Tang Xiong losing his qualification, being injured by the Baili King.
This matter had nothing to do with him, and he had only a superficial connection with the Fusang Clan.
Tang Xiong being injured by the Baili King, what did it have to do with him?
Tang Yuan coming to find fault was truly perplexing!
This brainless woman, it was the first time Ning Fan had encountered.
Ning Fan was neither in the mood to coax this crying woman nor in the mood to ’take responsibility’ for her.
She wasn’t his cauldron furnace, so why should he take responsibility for her?
Ning Fan acted as if he did not see Tang Yuan, directly bypassing her, leaving her to stand there.
Tang Yuan saw that Ning Fan was ignoring her, quickly chased after him, grabbing Ning Fan’s sleeve, refusing to let go, "You haven’t taken responsibility for me yet, you can’t leave!"
"Freeze!"
Ning Fan pointed a finger and performed the Sealing the Heavens Technique, freezing Tang Yuan in place.
He was at the Absolute Void Stage, and Tang Yuan was a Nascent Soul cultivator. Casting the Sealing the Heavens Technique on her, he thought he could freeze her for a lifetime.
Of course, if a Void Refinement Realm cultivator from the Fusang Clan intervened, they might, after much effort, be able to break this technique.
"Why can’t I move! What did you do to me! Let me go!" Tang Yuan was a bit scared.
Ning Fan pulled away his sleeve, patting off the dust on it, coldly saying to Tang Yuan, "The last time you came looking for trouble, I spared you. This time, I only froze you as a minor punishment. If there’s a next time, I’ll throw you into the nest of ferocious beasts of the Half-Step Void Refinement Realm, leaving you to fend for yourself."
Ning Fan finished speaking, turned around and left, leaving Tang Yuan frozen by the Sealing the Heavens Technique, unable to move on the long street.
Tang Yuan almost cried in grievance, she had never been bullied by anyone, yet today she was severely bullied by Ning Fan...
She tried to break free from the Sealing the Heavens Technique, but found that it was impossible to escape.
She watched Ning Fan’s back, clearly wanting to curse, but words turned to pleading at the tip of her tongue, she was too shameless...
"Master Lu, Great Master Lu, please let me go, I beg you!"
"Master, please let me go, I won’t bother you again!"
"Master, why are you walking further away, Master, don’t leave!"
"Master... if you let me go, I’ll pledge my life to you, I promise!"
Tang Yuan’s pleas could not move Ning Fan at all, and Ning Fan quickly disappeared from sight.
She stood there like a statue, embarrassed, until four female guards finally arrived and carried her away.
After Tang Yuan embarrassingly left, Ning Fan’s figure flickered and suddenly reappeared in place, muttering to himself,
"The selection for the Eighth Elder has already begun... If there’s no accident, the Baili King should succeed as the Eighth Elder. Baili..." (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to come to Qidian (qidian.com) to vote for recommendations and monthly tickets. Your support is my biggest motivation. Mobile users please visit m.qidian.com to read.)