novelraw Chapter 661: No Way!
Chapter 661: No Way!
After a night passed, Ning Fan finally calmed the raging Sword Intent.
Feeling the greatly strengthened Ninth Grade Sword Intent, Ning Fan fell into deep thought.
Sword Intent is much harder to cultivate than other Divine Intents; neither Divine Intent Stone nor Tree Spirit Fruit can elevate the grade of Sword Intent.
The best way to enhance Sword Intent is to devour high-grade flying swords and high-grade Sword Intent.
Cultivating Sword Intent is extremely difficult; Ning Fan admitted that if he did not dedicate himself to painstakingly cultivating Sword Intent, his chances of achieving First Grade Sword Intent were almost zero.
"Currently, I do not have enough time to devote entirely to sword cultivation... Swordsmanship is one of my many techniques, but it is not my Dao."
A message-transmitting flying sword flew from the direction of the Godly Void Pavilion to Ning Fan.
Ning Fan pointed a finger and shattered the flying sword, listening to the message, his eyes flickered slightly. He stood up, stepping on the thick snow, walked out from Si Fan Palace, and headed towards the Godly Void Pavilion.
On the way to the little demoness’s chamber, no one obstructed him.
Within the Godly Void Pavilion, the little demoness had already brewed Qilin Tea, waiting for Ning Fan’s arrival.
Upon seeing Ning Fan coming, her eyes immediately curved into crescents as she smiled, "Husband has a great reputation, having slain five Void Fragmentation cultivators of the Mountain World in succession. Now the entire Rain Immortal World is extolling husband’s might."
"Is that so."
Ning Fan sat directly across from the little demoness, picked up the teacup, and drank the Qilin Tea in one gulp.
Back then, he hadn’t broken through the Void Fragmentation realm and couldn’t withstand the potency of Qilin Tea, but now he had no concerns anymore.
"Is the tea brewed by the lady tasty~"
"Tasty... Let’s talk business. Are we setting off for the Immortal Burning Valley today?" Ning Fan felt somewhat helpless, the little demoness was still pretending to be his Dao companion.
"Mm, I arranged to meet with He Daozi and others in the inner valley of the Immortal Burning Valley. They’ll arrive later, we should go wait for them first. Oh, right, I still haven’t gotten your consent on one thing... I dared not invite the third helper without your permission. You know, both He Shixiu and I are inviting three helpers each to participate in acquiring the painting. You are one of my three helpers; the other two... can you guess who the second helper is? Hint, she’s someone from the Rain Immortal World."
The little demoness looked at Ning Fan with feigned innocence, clearly a pretense.
Ning Fan was stunned to find that the third helper the little demoness wanted was something she needed his agreement on before daring to invite.
"Who is the second helper?" Ning Fan clearly had no mood for guessing games.
"Hong Yi. You could also call her Thunder Emperor Bu Zhou. I heard that your relationship with Hong Yi is rather ambiguous... Is that true?"
The little demoness quietly watched Ning Fan, observing that after hearing the second helper was Hong Yi, he merely raised his eyelids slightly without much surprise.
After all, the little demoness already said the second helper was someone from the Rain Immortal World.
To Ning Fan, there weren’t any outstanding experts in the Rain Immortal World; it was no surprise that Hong Yi would catch the little demoness’s eye and be invited as a helper.
"Who are you thinking of inviting as the third helper?" Ning Fan asked subsequently.
"The third helper is... her! Her physique is somewhat useful for the fourth pass of Primordial Chaos..." The little demoness took out a painting scroll and unfurled it.
The painting depicted a naive and innocent girl.
Paper crane...
"No way!"
Ning Fan’s expression was resolute, with no room for negotiation, directly vetoing the little demoness’s proposal.
Letting the paper crane participate in acquiring the painting, what a joke!
Though Ning Fan did not know what dangers lay on the way to acquiring the painting, he firmly believed it would be a situation of nine deaths and one life even for Void Fragmentation cultivators.
At the very least, one must possess Void Fragmentation cultivation to barely have a chance at self-preservation.
The paper crane is only at the Golden Core stage; if she ventured into such danger, she would certainly have no means of self-preservation, and Ning Fan wouldn’t be absolutely confident in keeping her safe.
"I have a treasure; if given to her for protection, she would be extremely safe. As long as nothing unexpected happens in the ’Primordial Five Passes’, the paper crane will not be in any danger."
"What if something unexpected occurs? There’s no need to mention this again!"
Ning Fan’s tone was too resolute; his gaze was too stubborn.
This was the first time the little demoness had seen Ning Fan like this.
"Sure enough, the paper crane is very important to him..."
The little demoness felt somewhat lost, as if she had foreseen this situation, nodded her head, "Fine, let’s not have her go, just the three of us—me, you, and Hong Yi."
"My escape light speed is faster than yours; I’ll head out first. Once you’ve handled the mundane matters of Seven Apricot City, come meet me at the Immortal Burning Valley. Look at this jade scroll; it contains a detailed introduction to the Immortal Burning Valley..."
Without more words, the little demoness placed a jade scroll on the table and stood up, walked out of the pavilion, transforming into a flowing light, and disappeared.
The tea was yet unfinished, but she had lost the desire to drink anymore.
Her cultivation was gradually recovering to the sixth level of the Void Fragmentation realm.
"Is she having a tantrum?" Ning Fan was taken aback; he wasn’t foolish and naturally noticed the current little demoness was different from usual.
She didn’t call him Little Fan Fan, nor husband, and had no intention of lingering; she actually left alone.
Was it because Ning Fan disagreed to let the paper crane go along?
Ning Fan shook his head.
If the little demoness was upset for that reason, even if she was furious, Ning Fan wouldn’t care.
In any case, Ning Fan wouldn’t let the paper crane take risks; she shouldn’t be entangled in the matters of the cultivation world.
Taking the jade scroll, after reading it carefully, Ning Fan’s body blurred, returning to Si Fan Palace, informed everyone that they would be heading to the Immortal Burning Valley, and notified The Pill Sovereign, Li Cangtian.
He left 12 Thunderquake Artifacts at Seven Apricot City, entrusted to Yue Lingkong, for defending against potential formidable enemies.
Then he took out the Ancient Golden Sword and left on it.
The little demoness wasn’t actually having a tantrum; she was simply feeling a bit lost, a bit inexplicably disturbed.
She was too lost to even muster a fake smile, and had no mood to entangle with Ning Fan any longer.
No, no, no...
Because Ning Fan cared about the paper crane, he would never let it take any risks.
What about her... If one day, she returns to the Godly Void Pavilion of the Eastern Heaven, and if one day, she is forced to die by the old monsters of the pavilion, would Ning Fan care about her as he cares about the paper crane?
Would Ning Fan stand before countless True Immortals, shield her behind him, and say, ’No’?
Probably not...
She wasn’t angry, she was just jealous...
"Xiao Qianci, Xiao Qianci, you’re jealous of the inheritor of Ancient Chaos again... This isn’t like you."
The little demoness flew on while closing her eyes, silently reciting the Void Scripture.
After a long time, all her distracting thoughts vanished, replaced by her usual smiling expression.
"Yes, this is how I should be. Little Fan Fan, just keep it ambiguous, no need for deep feelings. Just follow the ancestral teachings, entangle him well, and don’t think about what shouldn’t be thought of."
"After all, someday, I’ll be pushed out to die. The so-called Young Pavilion Master of Shenxu, seemingly glamorous on the surface, is nothing but a sacrifice in reality."
The little demoness flew with a cheerful smile all the way, yet that smile was still a facade.
...
It must be said, ever since the little demoness’ cultivation restored to Fracture Sixth, her flying speed increased.
Even ordinary Fragmentation Eight cultivators might not have such speed, and Ning Fan certainly couldn’t catch up with her.
Ning Fan stood atop the ancient sword’s tip, occasionally taking out immortal jade and placing it into the sword’s groove.
He flew across Middle State, heading toward the northwest continent of the Rain Immortal World.
His destination was the Western Flame Country on the northwest continent. The Immortal Burning Valley was located within the Western Flame Country!
He flew over countless cultivation kingdoms, no isolation grand formation could halt his escape light.
Those who saw Ning Fan’s golden light of cultivation showed gazes of admiration or even fanaticism.
They knew that the one flying overhead was their Rain Emperor, Ning Fan!
When Yun Zongxuan ruled the Rain Immortal World, it was always known as the weakest among the nine worlds, often bullied.
Years ago, when the Moksha Emperor invaded to kill, Yun Zongxuan didn’t even utter a sound.
Such invasions by the Moksha Emperor happened countless times, each time Yun Zongxuan remained silent.
Four thousand years ago, a demoness of Fragmentation Sixth realm openly entered the Rain Immortal World and annihilated four high-level cultivation worlds, sacrificing countless masters and mortals to refine Soul Tempering Streamer.
Despite that, Yun Zongxuan still remained silent...
Six thousand years ago, an invincible old monster of Fracture Fifth realm came to the Rain Immortal World, ’borrowing’ Dao Crystals from the Rain Palace to cultivate and breakthrough to Fragmentation Sixth.
Yun Zongxuan gritted his teeth and gave that person Dao Crystals, knowing well that the borrowing was just a pretense, that person would never return the Rain Palace’s Dao Crystals.
Yun Zongxuan, when ruling the Rain Immortal World, only repressed the masters within his realm, schemed against Thunder Emperor Bu Zhou, dealt with Heaven Separation Sect... With outsiders, he was cautious, daring not to act recklessly, fearing catastrophic consequences.
Ning Fan is different, he loves to court trouble, and hates to bow down to others.
This unyielding personality is dangerous, without powerful cards in hand, it’s easy to invite destruction from formidable foes.
Thus, Ning Fan continuously seeks life-saving cards, continuously becomes stronger, aiming to become someone others daren’t provoke.
All for not letting his soul bend, not to bow down to anyone.
If compared to worldly emperors, Ning Fan is not a benevolent ruler of peace, but an expansionist tyrant.
After several days flight, the Western Flame Country was close at hand.
Upon entering the Western Flame Country, Ning Fan saw from afar a flame soaring skyward from the center, reaching the heavens.
That flame’s location was the Immortal Burning Valley.
Within the Immortal Burning Valley once existed an ancient sect called Shedding Orchid Sect.
After Shedding Orchid Sect’s extinction, the Immortal Burning Valley became a perilous land, but it also holds countless opportunities from Shedding Orchid Sect.
Numerous masters from the Rain Immortal World are eager to try their luck and seek fortunes here.
The valley is filled with endless dangers, below Nascent Soul realm, even the outskirts of Immortal Burning Valley would remain inaccessible.
Even Nascent Soul cultivators entering the outskirts face the likelihood of dying nine times out of ten.
To enter the inner valley, one would need Absolute Void Stage cultivation to break through the inner valley’s fiery array and enter the valley.
In the deepest part of the inner valley lies an ’Abyss of Death’, within its depths immortal flames interweave, even the Rain Emperor cannot enter.
According to the Rain Emperor, Abyss of Death holds Feather Ascension Pill... In the past, the Rain Emperor, for the elusive and rare Feather Ascension Pill, utilized Ning Fan, simultaneously protecting Ning Fan...
Apart from the Abyss of Death, there are countless earth abysses within the inner valley, among which one is named ’Primordial Abyss’.
According to the little demoness, the Immemorial Fisherman’s Raincoat Painting is concealed within Primordial Abyss.
To obtain the painting, one must overcome five passes and one gate.
The five passes refer to the Primordial Five Passes, each exceptionally dangerous, specifics unknown to Ning Fan.
The one gate refers to the forbidden ground door, according to the little demoness, six keys are required to open it.
The keys are named the Shedding Orchid Key... made from Jade Swimming Tear Gold and crafted specifically for the underground key.
Only by collecting all six Shedding Orchid Keys can the forbidden ground’s gigantic door be opened. But unfortunately, He Daozi holds merely three Shedding Orchid Keys, while the little demoness has only two.
One more key is missing, and they couldn’t locate it...
Hence, they plan to forcefully blast open the Shedding Orchid Sect’s forbidden ground door, which would bring about many unknown disturbances...
"The last Shedding Orchid Key seems to be in my possession..."
Ning Fan stood atop the ancient sword, waved his sleeve, and brought forth a bronze key.
That was what he unexpectedly obtained during the exploration of Qi Shen’s Treasury at Pill Island years ago.
Unexpectedly, this key would prove useful during this quest for maps.
The little demoness walked too fast, Ning Fan didn’t have time to tell her he possessed the sixth key.
Forget it, the matter of the key can wait until we’ve passed the Primordial Five Passes and reached the Giant Forbidden Gate.
Ning Fan flew all the way into Immortal Burning Valley, which was so vast, it rivaled a high-level cultivation kingdom.
The outer regions were endless towering mountains and dense forests, heavily saturated with Yin energy, and home to many ghost creatures and phantoms.
The majority of these ghosts were above the Golden Core stage, and occasionally, Nascent Soul and Divinity Transformation ghosts roamed the outskirts.
These ghosts had low spirit awareness, with some rising to attack Ning Fan, only to be obliterated by Ning Fan’s sword sense.
After traveling billions of miles, Ning Fan reached the inner valley of Immortal Burning Valley.
The inner valley was surrounded by layers of blue flames, forming a formidable fire array.
One must be a Void Refinement Realm expert to break through this intense fire array.
Ning Fan put away his ancient sword and landed, closely examining the blue flames.
These blue flames seemingly came from a lesser flame of some kind of immortal fire...
Could this be the immortal flames from the Abyss of Death?
"Swallow!"
Ning Fan opened his mouth and inhaled, turning the blue flames of the fire array into streams of cyan fire lotuses, swallowing them whole.
Gradually, he devoured the entire fire array.
From today onward, the fire array would no longer exist here; those without Void Refinement cultivation can enter the inner valley.
Of course, the inner valley was exceedingly perilous, entering without Void Refinement cultivation was purely courting death.
"The fire elemental body of the Minor Five Elements Constitution has reached five percent completion. This is the power of the lesser flame of immortal fire..."
"If I reach the Abyss of Death and consume the immortal fire, my fire elemental body should be able to reach complete success."
Ning Fan had entered Immortal Burning Valley with the intention of going to the Abyss of Death.
Whether it was the immortal fire or the Feather Ascension Pill, they both held enormous allure for him.
With Rain Emperor dead, if Ning Fan obtained the Feather Ascension Pill, naturally, he’d consume it himself.
The little demoness is probably still waiting in the Primordial Abyss; during this time, Ning Fan will proceed to the Abyss of Death to collect the Feather Ascension Pill.
Ning Fan transformed into an escape rainbow, flying toward the direction of the Abyss of Death.
The information provided to him by the little demoness included complete maps of Immortal Burning Valley, indicating many locations filled with illusion arrays.
With these details, Ning Fan could evade all dangers and reach the Abyss of Death.
The Yin energy within the valley was even heavier than outside, breeding a special type of dead spirit—Resentful Spirit.
These Resentful Spirits born from the grudge of the dead occasionally gather and dissipate.
On occasion, resentment coalesces into Refined Void Resentful Spirits, assaulting those entering the valley.
Other times, the resentment gathers into Shattered Void Wraiths, wreaking havoc far and wide.
Even Shattered Void Wraiths cannot survive long, lasting no more than seven days before their spirit bodies dissipate, reverting to resentment to form new Resentful Spirits.
If a Resentful Spirit dies, it reverts back to resentment.
Theoretically speaking, unless the resentment here is completely eradicated, Resentful Spirits are endless.
Knowing Shattered Void Wraiths might appear here, Ning Fan directly activated the Flowing Light Ring, concealing his form and flying away, avoiding much trouble.
Half an hour later, he arrived at the Abyss of Death.
An abyss engulfed in an endless sea of green flames, the flames could transform into the shape of a cyan lotus, known as immortal fire.
The depth of the fiery abyss is unknown, and the Feather Ascension Pill likely rests at the bottom of this fire sea.
Ning Fan did not rashly enter the sea of fire; gazing upon the immortal fire at close range, he felt a heart-stopping sensation.
If he rashly entered this sea of fire, he’d face certain death; the only hope for survival lies in the fire-resisting power of the Stele of Sun and Moon.
Currently, the Stele of Sun and Moon had absorbed two Yang spirits and one Yin spirit, still insufficient to counter the immortal fire.
Ning Fan’s own cultivation was at the Second Heavenly Layer of the Void Fragmentation Realm, which paled before the immortal fire.
As for the Minor Five Elements Constitution... Ning Fan’s Minor Five Elements Constitution’s fire element was not fully completed.
His body still had limited defense against fire.
If he could achieve complete success in his fire element, though still inferior to an indestructible fire body, it would be considerably useful.
Then, with the Minor Five Elements Constitution combined with the protective power of the Stele of Sun and Moon, Ning Fan would have absolute confidence in entering the immortal sea of fire without dying.
As for the idea of taking away the immortal fire, Ning Fan temporarily dismissed it.
His current cultivation was insufficient to tame the immortal fire; forcing it might lead to a backlash, burning him to ashes...
If the immortal fire were so easily subdued, it would have been collected by the Rain Emperor long ago, instead of remaining here, obstructing others from taking the Feather Ascension Pill.
"Let’s first strive for complete success in the fire elemental physique."
Ning Fan sat cross-legged on the ground, raising his hand to capture clusters of cyan flames from the fire sea, refining them one by one.
Although he can’t take away the Immortal Fire for now, he can use it to cultivate his Minor Five Elements Constitution.
The quality of the Immortal Fire is very high, and it can even be used to cultivate the Grand Five Elements Body.
Using it for the Minor Five Elements Constitution is indeed somewhat an overkill.
Clusters of cyan flames were refined into Ning Fan’s body, and the completion rate of his Fire Physique began to slowly increase.
Six percent, seven percent, eight percent...
After one day, Ning Fan’s Fire Physique was completely perfected.
The strength of his physical body has been significantly enhanced, but his Ancient Demon Cultivation did not increase a small realm as it did when his Wood Physique was perfected.
He still remains at the peak of Reckless Devil Realm, unable to break through to the Revered Devil Realm with the completion of just the Fire Physique.
Revered Devil is a major realm, and solely perfecting one element’s physique is not enough to break through it.
Ning Fan stood up and looked at the Immortal Fire sea before him, no longer as shocked as he was initially.
With his Fire Physique perfected, his body’s defense against fire has risen to an outrageously high level.
With the protection of the Stele of Sun and Moon, as long as he’s careful, he can advance and retreat in the Immortal Fire with ease.
Even after absorbing the flames for a day, the Immortal Fire sea did not diminish in the slightest.
Ning Fan withdrew his gaze and took out a fiery red elixir to consume.
This elixir is called the Fire-Resisting Pill, a low-grade Seventh Revolution, which can enhance a cultivator’s fire defense for two hours.
After refining the elixir, Ning Fan stepped onto the Immortal Fire sea.
An immediate scorching sensation spread from his feet, almost burning his skin.
As the power of the Stele of Sun and Moon spread throughout Ning Fan’s body, the scorching feeling subsided slightly.
Although still extremely hot, it would not harm his body.
After confirming he was safe on the Immortal Fire, Ning Fan resolved himself and, with a flicker of his figure, descended into the depths of the fire sea.
The deeper he went, the higher the temperature of the Immortal Fire became.
In the end, even with the protection of the Stele of Sun and Moon, Ning Fan’s skin began to burn.
It should be noted that this period is when the Yin energy in the Immortal Burning Valley is at its densest, and the Immortal Fire’s power is at its weakest.
Furthermore, with the Rain Emperor’s many years of rain-extinguishing efforts, the fire’s power is far less fierce than it initially was.
Even so, Ning Fan couldn’t help but marvel at the power of the Immortal Fire.
If other cultivators ventured into the fire sea, even those of Fragmentation Seven or Eight Realms, they would likely perish here...
If the Immortal Fire’s power was at its peak, even rogue immortals entering would have a significant chance of perishing...
When Ning Fan could barely withstand the heat of the Immortal Fire, his feet suddenly found emptiness, and he fell into a cool stone chamber.
A fire isolating formation seal in the chamber kept the Immortal Fire entirely at bay.
Ning Fan’s gaze swept around the chamber, realizing it was an alchemy chamber with a door leading somewhere unknown.
The ground was covered in dust, and the pill furnace was long decayed.
A skeleton lay in the chamber, long since deceased.
The quality of the bones was exceptionally pristine, shrouded in a blend of reality and illusion, indicating that the skeleton’s owner had been very powerful in life, at least a Void Fragmentation cultivator.
On a bookshelf lay some jade scrolls, most of which were damaged.
Among the few intact jade scrolls, Ning Fan took them into his hand and examined them closely.
The jade scrolls recorded the Seventh Revolution pill formulas of the Shedding Orchid Sect...
After Ning Fan read the jade scrolls, they seemed unable to withstand the force of his divine sense and crumbled into dust.
Fortunately, the formulas were imprinted in his mind, so he didn’t lose anything.
Finding nothing else of interest in the chamber, Ning Fan headed for the chamber’s door.
Beyond the stone door, he entered yet another alchemy chamber.
This chamber also contained a Void Fragmentation skeleton...
Ning Fan continued on, traversing hundreds of alchemy chambers.
Every alchemy chamber had seen the demise of a Void Fragmentation cultivator.
He eventually reached the end of all the alchemy chambers, arriving at the last stone chamber in this place!
Inside the stone chamber was a massive Spirit Liquid Pool, but the liquid inside had long since dried up.
At the bottom of the pool lay four elixirs.
Among the four elixirs, three were only semi-finished products, not yet completed.
Only one elixir emanated a mysterious light.
It was a low-grade Eighth Revolution elixir!
The elixir filled the chamber with a confined fragrance, and when Ning Fan caught a whiff, he felt his mana increase by half a Yuanhui.
"This is... a Feather Ascension Pill!"
The Feather Ascension Pill, when consumed by a Void Fragmentation cultivator, has a slim chance of breakthrough into the Life Immortal Realm, ascending to immortality!
Even if unable to ascend in one go, it can enhance a Void Fragmentation cultivator’s power by one additional heavenly layer!
This was the elixir Yun Zong Xuanzhi longed for until his dying breath! (To be continued. If you enjoy this work, we welcome you to qidian.com to vote for recommendations and monthly tickets; your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users please read at m.qidian.com.)