novelraw Chapter 679: The Price of Defying the Laws
Chapter 679: The Price of Defying the Laws
On the ancient golden sword, Ning Fan and Bright Sparrow stood shoulder to shoulder on the sword tip, while Wuxie stood alone beside, letting her long black hair flutter in the wind.
Occasionally, she would smooth her hair with a cold expression, giving Ning Fan no chance to get close.
Behind the ancient sword followed a gigantic toad beast, with Lux Xiu and eight old monsters of the Void Fragmentation realm sitting on its back, closely tailing the ancient sword.
The sword’s cultivation speed was comparable to an Immortal’s, which the toad could not keep up with.
The rogue devil showed an impatient expression, waved his large hand, summoned waves of demonic mist, carrying the toad and Lux Xiu and the others, chasing the ancient sword, while continuously flattering Ning Fan.
"Master, could you teach me some tips..."
"What tips?" Ning Fan’s eyelids slightly twitched in surprise.
"Tips for capturing a woman’s heart... Hehe, Master has so many ladies, surely well-versed in this, please share some experience."
The rogue devil, riding on the magic mist, rubbed his large hands with a lewd expression.
Thinking to himself that if he learned Ning Fan’s tricks for charming women, with his abilities, perhaps he could woo a Fate Immortal Fairy Sister, and Ning Fan might give him freedom due to the sister’s threats...
On the path of cultivation, it’s indeed necessary to advance bravely and struggle, but if tired of struggling, finding a good woman to lessen the effort by tens of thousands of years is also a great choice...
Ning Fan looked at the rogue devil speechlessly, seeing through his intentions which were written all over his face.
He shook his head, not answering the rogue devil’s question.
He had no skills in charming women, truth be told, the women under his protection were not all deeply attached to him.
For instance, the Female Guards, or Nalan Zi and others.
This is a chaotic era, not the beautiful world of talented men and charming women, many women admired Ning Fan often for the sense of security he provided.
With Ning Fan around, they could be free from a life of wandering... this is the emotion in a chaotic era.
"Master, don’t be so stingy, just a little advice would benefit me for life. Mistress, please say some good words for me."
The rogue devil looked at Wuxie flatteringly, one sentence stirred coldness in Wuxie’s eyes.
"What did you call me!"
"Mistress!"
Boom!
Wuxie swung her sleeve, directly blasting the rogue devil to vomiting blood and flying back.
The rogue devil shivered all over, clearly not Wuxie’s match.
He was puzzled about which word had angered the new Mistress...
Alas, better tread carefully with words, to avoid saying anything wrong and be obliterated by the new Mistress.
The rogue devil obediently shut his mouth, silently flying.
Lux Xiu and the others all trembled.
They were all astonished by Wuxie’s powerful aura, thinking she could easily defeat the rogue devil like an ordinary child.
This woman is terrifying... truly worthy of being their Mistress!
Thus, all these old monsters looked at Ning Fan’s back in worship, making Ning Fan quite uncomfortable.
"The slaves you’ve accepted all seem quite frivolous. But with their assistance, breaking the seal on the Undying Tree would probably be faster, easing my burden too."
Wuxie frowned slightly, then asked,
"Are you really going to smash all the Heavenly Gates on each level?"
The Heavenly Gates of the Fourteenth Heavenly Layer had been shattered by Ning Fan.
When Wuxie saw Ning Fan could shatter the Heavenly Gates, she was quite surprised.
Seeing Ning Fan benefit from the gates, she was also somewhat amazed.
"Yes, these Star Stones are useful to me. By the way, Sisi, your complexion looks off, has there been a change above the Four Heavens involving your true self?"
Ning Fan looked at Wuxie with some concern, noticing a pale hue on her face.
Wanting to use the Mind Reading Technique but unable to discern Wuxie’s thoughts, since her true self is a powerful Immortal.
"You don’t need to care about my matters."
Wuxie’s eyes slightly dodged, but her heart felt a trace of warmth.
Was Ning Fan concerned about her...
Wuxie didn’t tell Ning Fan that currently, her true self above the Four Heavens was undergoing a Shedding Void Realm Heavenly Tribulation.
The Immortal’s Heavenly Tribulation is extremely terrifying, and even highly skilled old monsters have no absolute confidence in overcoming it.
Wuxie’s tribulation was quite unsuccessful, since during her tribulation she needed to create a body double to assist Ning Fan in seeking the Undying Tree below.
Even if this tribulation was survived, her true self would suffer a number of injuries, potentially damaging her foundation.
But such words, Wuxie wouldn’t tell Ning Fan.
"Don’t need me to care... what if I insist on caring?" Ning Fan asked with a smile.
"Wait until your cultivation is sufficient to care for me, then say such words." Wuxie slightly narrowed her brows, softly closed her bright eyes, no longer paying attention to Ning Fan.
"Alright."
Ning Fan smiled slightly, also remaining silent.
Bright Sparrow was munching on an apple-shaped one hundred thousand years old spiritual herb, grinning at Ning Fan and Wuxie.
Occasionally showing an ambiguous smile, who knows what thoughts crossed her mind.
...
Summoning the rogue devil and with Wuxie’s help, the Thirty-Third Layer of the Heavenly Realm, without the Nine Ancestors and Eighteen Kings guarding, posed no threat to Ning Fan.
Of course, Wuxie didn’t prefer taking action unless necessary.
Two years passed, Ning Fan reached the Thirty-Second Heavenly Layer, shattering all Heavenly Gates along the way.
He now had 17 slaves behind him, plus a toad.
Among the 17, besides Lux Xiu and Yan Zhenzi, two Seventh Realm Fragmentations, there were three new Seventh Realm Fragmentations.
There were also two Eighth Realm, six Sixth Realm, and four Fifth Realm Fragmentations.
All these powerful figures now became Ning Fan’s slaves.
It’s conceivable that if these powerful figures were brought back to the Rain Immortal World, it would elevate the entire realm to a terrifying level of strength.
The Star Stones of the first thirty-two layers had all been obtained. Through this path of slaughter, Ning Fan’s internal corpses’ Qi had increased to an unexpandable limit.
In the Twenty-ninth Layer of the Heavenly Realm, Ning Fan discovered the ghost cultivation ground of the Sect Master of the Pill Sect, a place connected to the Demon Sinister Forest.
Gazing upon this Demon Sinister Forest, Ning Fan’s eyes flickered slightly.
This place was connected to the Rain Immortal World, and he didn’t want to leave a pathway leading directly from the ancient Heavenly Court to the Rain Immortal World.
Even if the Territorial Light of Separation obstructed the path.
Ning Fan instructed Lux Xiu and others to use the secret techniques of the Burial Immortal Clan to shatter this Ghost Cultivating Formation.
If the Sect Master of the Pill Sect noticed it someday, he would only think that the Burial Immortal Clan had destroyed his Ghost Cultivating Formation and wouldn’t suspect Ning Fan.
The spoils from hundreds of battles were countless, with over seven million Dao Crystals.
At this moment, Ning Fan possessed nearly eleven million Dao Crystals.
Unfortunately, he had reached the Shattered Sixth Rank, where refining 160 Dao Crystals was required to enhance a yuan of magic power.
For him to consume these Dao Crystals would be sheer waste, only boosting his yuan magic power by seventy thousand...
It would be the best option to leave them for the women in Seven Apricot City.
Numerous Dao Fruits had also been obtained through battles, but now, even devouring Void Fragmentation Realm Dao Fruits had little effect on Ning Fan.
These Dao Fruits would also be left for the women.
Reaching the Shattered Sixth Rank, trying to progress further is genuinely difficult.
In the Ninth Heavenly Layer of the Void Fragmentation Realm, it initially progresses quickly in cultivation, but slows down significantly later.
This was why the Rain World’s Emperor was stuck at the Shattered Fifth Realm, also the reason numerous emperors of the nine worlds were stuck at the Shattered Fifth or Sixth, and why rogue immortals were so rare.
In the lower realms, there were almost no Seventh Revolution level Pill Masters.
One must reach a Seventh Revolution level in dan refinement to produce the expensive pills needed to improve Shattered Sixth Rank cultivation.
Perhaps ascending to the Four Heavens may make it easier to continue enhancing cultivation...
Or if there were enough Shattered Void Cauldrons...
Ning Fan couldn’t help but recall the Blood Slave Garden and then promptly dismissed the thought.
Because they had reached the Thirty-Third Layer of the Heavenly Realm.
The last Heavenly Gate of the thirty-two layers was shattered by Ning Fan, revealing the light passageway beyond the gate.
Flying through the passageway, Ning Fan and his company appeared in the Thirty-Third Layer.
Scanning the surrounding scenery with his spirit sense, Ning Fan’s gaze suddenly quivered.
The scenery here was so familiar, so familiar...
When he was still a butterfly, he came here...
The lands here were smashed to bits and pieces.
On the ground, there were traces of terrifying duels from those years, including enormous hand seals spanning tens of thousands of miles, gigantic fierce beast bones measuring millions of feet, and numerous dried pools of blood once filled with the blood of fallen ancient immortals...
In Wuxie’s cold eyes, an almost imperceptible trace of sorrow and hatred flickered.
Those emotions belonged to the former Heavenly Emperor’s daughter—Mu Weiliang.
It was Lux Xiu and others’ first time ascending to the Thirty-Three Heavens; even inside the Burial Immortal Clan, none dared to reach the Thirty-Three Heavens.
The Heaven above the Twenty-Seventh Layer was declared forbidden territory by the Nine Ancestors and Eighteen Kings within the clan...
Looking at the terrifying traces of duels on the ground, even the old monsters with tens of thousands of years of experience were utterly shocked.
It was evident that atop these Thirty-Three Heavens lay the main battlefield where the Heavenly Court was destroyed.
They could hardly imagine what kind of cataclysmic battle occurred here to leave such astounding relics.
"The memories I obtained are blurry; I don’t recall how the Heavenly Court was destroyed... Do you remember..." Wuxie, for the first time, looked earnestly at Ning Fan, seemingly craving a satisfactory answer.
"I... don’t know."
He didn’t disclose the matter of the Love Wielding Immortal Emperor annihilating the Heavenly Emperor to Wuxie; if she found out, she might be hurt.
After all, she was once part of Mu Weiliang’s seven souls.
"Is that so. Let’s go, keep heading east, and we’ll reach the ruins of Liang Chen Palace; then we can find the Tree of Undying."
Wuxie pointed the direction, and Ning Fan leapt onto the ancient sword, speeding forth with the rogue devils following.
The demonic mounts they encountered along the way, seeing this overwhelming procession of powerful figures, all prostrated upon the ground, not daring to assault carelessly.
Ning Fan remained silent, merely observing the remnants of shattered walls and ruins, feeling a pang of sorrow within.
He had been here before, he had been here...
He closed his eyes, reliving the fragmented dreams of reincarnation.
He was a butterfly, a butterfly with aspirations to reach the heavens.
Time and time again, he tried to fly to the Heavenly Court, failing each time.
In the end, one day, he flew up but faced the brink of death.
Mu Weiliang saved him and brought him into the Heavenly Court, sharing a brief and tranquil time together.
Then, Affection Control rebelled, and the Heavenly Court was destroyed...
Not knowing how much time passed, Ning Fan finally opened his eyes, finding Liang Chen Palace within reach.
"Beautiful scenes of a fair day, joyful events, whose courtyard holds it all..."
His gaze abruptly sharpened, as he recalled vividly!
Next to Liang Chen Palace, there should have been an herb garden!
It was the place he met Mu Weiliang!
It was where he, with no regrets, turned into ashes in wrath, fighting to his death!
The herb garden now resided inside the Yuan Yao Jade, so there naturally was no herb garden here anymore.
Ning Fan soared over the ruins of Liang Chen Palace, seeing behind the ruins a towering golden divine tree!
The Tree of Undying!
A faint golden light floated around the Undying Tree, forming intricate and enigmatic formation patterns.
When Bright Sparrow saw the Undying Tree, her eyes went wide and saliva started to drip, "This, this one tastes good, absolutely delicious!"
The rogue devils were excited upon seeing the Undying Tree!
Lux Xiu and the others were also elated!
"The Undying Tree! It’s the Undying Tree! A supreme treasure that can bring dead masters back to the world of the living!"
Ning Fan gently grasped Bright Sparrow’s hand, a trace of sadness in his eyes, "This can’t be eaten... I need it to save someone."
"Oh, then I won’t eat it." Bright Sparrow said softly, nodding her head, as she had never seen Ning Fan show such a sorrowful expression.
She was unaware that the place where the Undying Tree grew was where Ning Fan had died in his previous life!
It was Ning Fan’s obsession with being unyielding even after a hundred deaths, coupled with the vast magical power fluctuations of the Shattered Palm, Affectionate One Eye, that nourished this Undying Tree in later generations!
When Ning Fan first laid eyes on this Undying Tree, he understood why it was born.
That year, he shattered the Love Wielding Immortal Emperor’s one eye as a Butterfly, but could only save Mu Weiliang once, and ultimately, Mu Weiliang still died...
He had once been so powerless.
Even with a heart set on killing an emperor, he still couldn’t reverse the fate...
In this life, he will not let any beloved die again, he will make Mu Weiliang come back to life!
No one can stop his footsteps!
"None of you shall have designs on the Undying Tree!"
Ning Fan’s icy gaze swept over the rogue devils, scaring them into silence, not daring to harbor any greed.
He was courteous and indulgent to Bright Sparrow, but naturally did not need to be polite with the rogue devils.
"This Undying Tree has a very powerful seal placed upon it, I’ve only broken one-seventh of the seal before heading to the lower heaven’s realm... But now, with so many helpers here, the speed of breaking the seal will surely be fast. These people will stay behind to help me break the seal, and as for you..."
Wuxie looked at Ning Fan, hesitant to speak.
"What do you need me to do? Just say it."
"Take this formation map, carve the formation patterns with your own blood, and set up this formation centered around the Undying Tree."
Wuxie hesitated for a moment and then handed Ning Fan a blood-colored jade scroll.
"This is easy. After setting up the grand formation, what needs to be done?"
"Once the grand formation is set up, you should rest well and restore your Primordial Qi... To resurrect her, you will ultimately have to pay a huge price, be mentally prepared. Her souls are still intact, yet you are trying to reform them anew, this act defies the laws of reincarnation. You must know, violating the laws of reincarnation will exact a heavy price. Knowing this, are you still willing to help her reshape her soul?"
Wuxie quietly stared at Ning Fan.
Ning Fan didn’t reply, just left Bright Sparrow here to take pills and rest, while he flashed his escape light and went ahead to construct the blood formation.
Some questions have had answers right from the start, why bother answering.
Wuxie watched Ning Fan’s receding figure, a hint of lament in her eyes, yet she silently concealed it, and commanded the rogue devils to break the seal.
Bright Sparrow on the other hand rested leisurely, after all, her Fragmented Realm First Level Cultivation couldn’t be of much help, right.
Or rather, her not being a hindrance and causing trouble was a blessing in disguise...
...
Ning Fan looked at the formation map in his hand, silent.
It was an Immortal Array, named Reverse Wheel Blood Formation.
With Ning Fan’s Dao of formations cultivation, he could barely set up an Immortal Array. Even if he forcibly set it up, he could only exert less than one-tenth of the formation’s power.
Fortunately, this formation uses the Undying Tree as the power source, even though it originally has only one-tenth of the formation’s power, it can exert full power under the Undying Tree’s strength.
This was sufficient.
The formation’s coverage span is extensive, extending over ten thousand miles.
Across the ten-thousand-mile territory, Ning Fan needed to draw the complete formation map with his own blood, which was no easy task.
He had Demon Starfall for healing, and his blood was replenished by blood pills, even so, he could only complete one hundred miles of the formation map each day.
The process involved numerous times of exhausting blood, numerous times of blood restoration, arduous yet hardly worth mentioning.
After a hundred days, Ning Fan finished the entire formation map and filled the measured formation’s eye with a large quantity of Dao Crystals.
Immortal Arrays cannot be triggered by immortal jade.
While the Undying Tree served as the formation’s power source, it certainly couldn’t provide all the formation’s power.
Ning Fan spent two million Dao Crystals, just to fill all formation’s eyes.
When Ning Fan returned to the base of the Undying Tree, half the seal on the Undying Tree had been broken, he still had time to recover his Primordial Qi.
The method to restore Primordial Qi was nothing more than using Demon Starfall to nurture the body.
Ning Fan sat cross-legged beside Bright Sparrow, taking out all the Star Stones obtained on this journey and refining them one by one, causing the number of stars to rapidly increase.
stars, 1710 stars, 1725 stars...
When half of the Star Stones were consumed, the sky suddenly emitted a loud noise.
Lux Xiu and the others halted their hands, raised their heads to the sky, shocked.
Bright Sparrow also gazed at the sky, utterly perplexed.
Wuxie glanced at the sky, without much surprise, a faint sorrow flashed in her eyes.
Ning Fan looked up at the sky, his gaze suddenly cold as ice.
Amidst the loud noise, a gigantic door slowly appeared in the sky!
It was an immeasurable purple-golden gate!
The gate was completely destroyed, unable to be opened again!
The key to the gigantic door was once safeguarded by Mu Weiliang, but was tricked away by Emotion Control.
The gigantic door was the reason for the destruction of the ancient Heavenly Court!
Back then, the Love Wielding Immortal Emperor opened the gigantic door, stepped out of it, and unleashed slaughter!
"Sisi, it seems you know where that gigantic door leads?" Ning Fan closed his eyes, suppressing the cold light in them, inquired.
"I don’t know, in my memory, there is very little mention of this door. The texts in the Kunlun Jade Pool only barely refer to this door, saying that beyond it lies endless dangers and it cannot be opened. But this door has been destroyed since the fall of the ancient Heavenly Court, and can no longer be opened. Every few hundreds of thousands of years, it will reappear in the Heavenly realm and then vanish." Wuxie replied.
"Is that so..."
Ning Fan remained silent for a while, constantly gazing at the purple-golden gate.
Meanwhile, Wuxie and others continued to break the seal.
Ten days later, the gigantic door’s shadow vanished.
Ning Fan’s eyes sparkled briefly, yet he said nothing and continued refining the Black Star Stone.
After two months, he completely refined all the star stones, increasing the number of natal stars within him to 8,800, more than he anticipated.
With 8,800 natal stars, he could instantly heal from injuries inflicted by rogue devils.
Even if besieged by several rogue devils, Ning Fan wouldn’t die.
Of course, if the number of rogue devils besieging him reached a certain level, Black Star’s healing speed might not keep up with his rate of injury.
The seal of the Undying Tree was just one step away from being completely broken.
At the moment the seal broke, Lux Xiu and a group of old monsters of the Void Fragmentation realm all collapsed weakly to the ground, each looking extremely exhausted.
Even the rogue devil, showed signs of significant depletion.
And Wuxie’s complexion was exceedingly pale; her main body was at a critical juncture during tribulation, while the spirit sense here was draining mana lavishly, undoubtedly affecting the main body greatly.
Her delicate frame softened as she leaned to the side, seemingly about to fall, but was immediately caught by Ning Fan, falling into his embrace.
"Are you okay?" Ning Fan asked with a frown.
At this moment, Wuxie’s complexion was unnaturally weak, not merely due to immense mana depletion, but even this spirit sense was on the verge of collapse.
If it were only a matter of breaking the seal, there shouldn’t be such intense depletion.
Perhaps, something went wrong with Wuxie’s main body, sustaining severe injuries, which in turn affected the spirit sense here.
"I’m fine...but this body likely can’t exert any mana anymore. Should strong enemies appear again, I can’t protect you." Wuxie’s pretty face blushed, she pushed Ning Fan away, stood firmly, then added,
"The Undying Tree’s seal has been lifted, retrieve her corpse and aid her in reconstructing her soul; seven treasures, although good, are ultimately external."
"Mm."
Ning Fan’s heart tingled slightly with anxiety; was it finally time to reconstruct Mu Weiliang’s soul?
What matter is it to defy the laws of reincarnation?
He couldn’t let the paper crane and other women dissipate their souls, nor could he let Mu Weiliang lose her soul.
If he must pay some price to resurrect Mu Weiliang, he was willing to do so.
He caressed the Yuan Yao Jade between his fingers; in the next moment, an ancient green jade coffin appeared beneath the Undying Tree.
That year, he was a butterfly, she was an emperor’s daughter.
This year, he was a demon, she a corpse...
Slowly, Ning Fan opened the coffin lid and set it aside.
He gazed at Mu Weiliang’s sleeping visage, his heart gradually calming.
"Next, what must I do to reconstruct her soul?" Ning Fan lifted his head and looked at Wuxie.
"You need to pay three prices, then borrow the Reverse Wheel Blood Formation and the Undying Tree’s power; only then is it possible to assist her soul reconstruction."
"Is it only possible...what prices must be paid?"
"The first price, you must sever half of your soul as a medium for her soul reconstruction." Wuxie quietly gazed at Ning Fan.
The higher the cultivation of a master, the more severing the soul harms longevity, and damages foundations.
She wondered if Ning Fan would agree to this demand.
"That’s easy. What’s the second price?" Ning Fan said casually.
"The second price, you must extinguish your seven emotions, gifting them to her, allowing her to have real emotions upon resurrection; and from now on, you won’t cry, won’t laugh, becoming a person devoid of emotion...Of course, if you manage to reconstruct the seven emotions, you can naturally regain normalcy."
"Even if I extinguish the seven emotions, I won’t turn into a person devoid of emotions. What’s the third price?"
"The third price..." Wuxie lowered her eyelids, remaining silent.
After a long while, she transmitted her voice to Ning Fan, "Do you dare to abandon reincarnation...real reincarnation. If you abandon it, you fall with Void Fragmentation cultivation, never having the chance to reincarnate; if you abandon it, you fall with Immortal cultivation, also never having the chance to resurrect in the Dao...do you dare..."
"The price for defying reincarnation laws is being forsaken by heaven and earth’s reincarnation...would you trade your lifetime for her current life, do you dare..."
"This is also easy. Let’s begin saving her."
Wuxie began to teach Ning Fan the specific method to heal.
Ning Fan said no more, wielding sword gleam, slashing towards his chest.
The wound from this slash was instantly healed by Black Star.
But his complexion paled instantly like paper, as his soul was severed into two.
In truth, this was the second time he had severed his soul.
Ning Fan held a mass of half-black-half-white soul light, pressing it into Mu Weiliang’s chest.
After withdrawing his palm, he bent a finger and pointed to his own Tian Ling.
Extinguish seven emotions...
Ning Fan pointed down, his gaze dimming.
With the other index finger, he pointed at Mu Weiliang’s Tian Ling, transmitting the power of severed seven emotions to Mu Weiliang, bit by bit.
The last price, being forsaken by reincarnation.
The method is simple; this formation is initiated by Ning Fan, this soul is reconstructed by Ning Fan, he will naturally be forsaken by reincarnation.
"All of you exit the Reverse Wheel Blood Formation; this place, I will initiate the formation by myself."
...
The moment the Undying Tree’s seal was broken, all twenty-seven King Ancestors were horrified!
As the Undying Tree’s power gradually vanished, the Nine Ancestors and Eighteen Kings all displayed rage!
"Detestable! Detestable! Just a few remaining years, who dares break the Undying Tree’s seal and extract its power!"
"The Ancestor’s resurrection depends entirely on the Undying Tree providing soul reconstruction power; this person’s extraction of the Undying Tree’s power, how will the Ancestor revive! Despicable, despicable indeed!"
"Our confinement in caves is pointless! Gather the entire clan immediately, using the Immortal Burial Altar’s power, rush to the Thirty-Third Heavens! The old man must kill the one who destroyed the tree!" (To be continued. If you enjoy this work, feel free to vote for recommendations, monthly tickets on Qidian (qidian.com), your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please visit m.qidian.com to read.)