novelraw Chapter 738: Ancient Sealing Sword
Chapter 738: Ancient Sealing Sword
The wild black hair danced with the spreading of Evil Qi, eventually transforming into radiant silver threads!
Clad in an outfit as white as snow, wearing a Silver Ghost Mask, the hair was disheveled, and the blood-red eyes were filled with boundless Evil Qi!
At this moment, Ning Fan was enduring immense pain, feeling as if his body and mind were about to be corrupted by the Evil Qi within the mask, sinking into oblivion!
The Evil Qi within himself could not suppress the mask!
Without any hesitation, Ning Fan transformed into an escape rainbow, flying toward the fifth layer of the Blood Prison!
The fifth layer of the Blood Prison was a place even ordinary Fragmented Thought Elders dared not to enter!
The Evil Qi here was strong enough to suffocate Ning Fan.
The stench of blood here was strong enough to make Ning Fan vomit.
Clenching his teeth, Ning Fan tried to use the Evil Qi here to suppress the mask, but he hopelessly found that even the Evil Qi here was insufficient to subdue the mask!
"Can only go to the sixth layer then..."
Ning Fan gritted his teeth and flew toward the sixth layer. In the fifth layer, wherever he flew past, ice froze and sealed!
The Shedding Void Stage prisoners in the fifth layer were all utterly shocked.
"Has the Slaughter Emperor descended upon the Blood Prison!"
Those imprisoned in the sixth layer were all once Fragmented Thought Elders.
The Evil Qi in this layer, even an Eternal Immortal Venerable would find unbearable!
At least an Immortal King cultivation is required to walk freely in the sixth layer!
The Evil Qi of the sixth layer could easily make Ning Fan’s mind sink.
The Evil Qi of the Silver Ghost Mask was equally capable of making Ning Fan lose true consciousness forever.
The two contrasting Evil Qis suppressed each other, the intense pain within Ning Fan gradually disappeared, and his gaze slowly cleared.
Though they were blood-red eyes, he hadn’t lost his true self!
"Without the help of this place’s Evil Qi to suppress the mask’s Evil Qi, I certainly wouldn’t be able to smoothly refine the mask. Minghai Celestial King opened the Blood Prison to assist me in refining the mask; if his intention wasn’t to harm me, I owe him a favor!"
Finding a cell in the sixth layer, Ning Fan sat down cross-legged, beginning to refine the mask into his body step by step.
One day, two days, three days...
A month passed, and Ning Fan still hadn’t left the Blood Prison.
The entire sixth layer of the Blood Prison had long been frozen into an icy world by the cold of Evil Qi.
Those imprisoned in the sixth layer faintly sensed the release of Evil Qi by a ’peerless powerhouse’ here, simply thinking it was the Slaughter Emperor.
A month passed, and Ning Fan finally completely refined the Innate Ghost Mask!
Slowly rising, Ning Fan waved his hand across his face, the mask instantly turned into silver light points and vanished, revealing Ning Fan’s handsome face.
As he put the mask away, the blood-red eyes turned to black pupils, and the silver hair turned to black hair.
Another wave, the Silver Ghost Mask reappeared, black pupils turned to blood-red eyes, and his head of hair was as silver as snow.
"What a powerful mask! With my cultivation in Evil Qi, I originally couldn’t resist the Evil Qi of the sixth layer of the Blood Prison, but after refining this mask, even the Evil Qi here can’t harm me in the slightest! However, this mask can only defend against Evil Qi, it can’t release Evil Qi to harm the enemy..."
"This mask is enough to conceal from the detection, divination, and perception of most Eternal Realm cultivators. Even the Immortal Emperor might not see through my depths. Moreover, I faintly feel this mask has other capabilities, this feeling is like... standing on an altar, it feels as if it can sever the karma..."
"Besides, this mask unexpectedly comes with another divine ability... stealth!"
In an instant, Ning Fan’s figure vanished into thin air.
He hadn’t escaped into another space, he was still standing in the same place, his body completely merged with the world, utterly concealed.
Concealed in heaven and earth!
In stealth mode, he can move!
This mask comes with stealth divine ability, if this ability is unleashed, even ordinary Immortal Emperors might not detect Ning Fan in stealth!
However, Ning Fan’s cultivation is far from enough to unleash all the powers of the Innate Spirit Armor, so there are many restrictions when performing this divine ability.
Two hours later, the stealth effect automatically dissipates.
Masked, blood-red eyed, silver-haired Ning Fan reappeared in the cell of the sixth layer.
Given Ning Fan’s current realms, the stealth effect can last for two hours at most.
Ning Fan tried to urge the spirit equipment mask to activate the stealth divine ability again, but found that after going stealth once, he couldn’t immediately perform stealth a second time.
He’s not in a hurry, staying in the sixth layer of the Blood Prison for ten days.
Ten days later, he finally successfully activated the stealth divine ability again.
It seems, limited by cultivation, he can only go stealth once every ten days.
Even so, Ning Fan was extremely satisfied.
With this mask, if Ning Fan encounters an enemy attack, he can unleash the stealth divine ability, merge with the world, and quietly escape.
This mask is truly a treasure for survival!
Standing up, Ning Fan wiped across his face, put away the mask.
Even with the mask integrated into his body, he can still resist other’s Evil Qi suppression, defend against others’ heavenly calculations.
However, once the mask is integrated into the body, the effects of resisting Evil Qi and isolating heavenly calculations are halved.
And without summoning the mask, the stealth divine ability cannot be unleashed, nor can the mask’s other ability be awakened.
Ning Fan has yet to discover this ability.
"I’ve stayed in the Blood Prison for over forty days, calculating at ten thousand points per day, the score for this round has long exceeded the limit of three million, staying longer is pointless, it’s time to leave."
Ning Fan stepped out of the cell, turning around to head back to the fifth layer.
Suddenly, from within the sword pouch, the five little girls, who had been silent for so long, started chattering.
"Little Fan Fan, don’t rush off! Big Sister will take you treasure hunting!"
"Little Fan Fan, don’t rush off! Second Sister will take you treasure hunting!"
"Little Fan Fan, don’t rush off! Third Sister will take you treasure hunting!"
"Little Fan Fan, don’t rush off! Fourth Sister will take you treasure hunting!"
"Little... little... little..."
With such a commotion from the five little girls, Ning Fan paused and chuckled softly, "Treasure hunting? Where is the treasure, and what kind of treasure is it?"
"The treasure is below, right below. It’s a sword, a sword! Very old! Very powerful! Very terrifying!" The little girls chimed in unison.
"Below? The seventh layer? There’s a sword on the seventh layer?"
Ning Fan’s eyes flickered mildly as he thought and then waved his hand, summoning the Ghost Mask, and walked towards the seventh layer.
Even if there was a real treasure on the seventh layer of the Blood Prison, he dared not take it. After all, it belonged to the Slaughter Hall. The mere fact that it was kept on the seventh layer proved its value; taking it would certainly lead to death.
Although he wouldn’t take it, Ning Fan didn’t mind having a distant look to see what kind of treasure sword could make the five little Sword Spirit girls so excited.
Standing at the entrance of the stairs leading to the seventh floor, Ning Fan did not enter.
Because the Evil Qi on the seventh layer was so intense that even an Immortal Emperor couldn’t break through!
He looked at the seventh layer with a shock in his eyes, seeing only a blood-red expanse, nothing visible!
The seventh layer was not a cell!
The seventh layer was a place to store treasures!
This place could not be entered even by an Immortal Emperor!
"Little Fan Fan, can’t you see, under the stairs is empty, there’s only one blood-colored sword, very tall and large, inlaid with seven Blood Crystals, sealed by many, many rune marks, chains. Huh? Little Fan Fan, can’t you really see? How strange, you are so powerful, how can you not see? We all can see it. Could it be that unknowingly, we have become more powerful than you? Wow, are we really that strong!"
The five little girls were so proud, they turned into five rays of sword light and flew out of the sword pouch, directly heading towards the seventh layer.
Instantly, layers upon layers of extremely terrifying Evil Qi emanated from the seventh layer!
In an instant, all five little girls were scared out of their wits!
Although they could clearly see what the seventh layer looked like, they simply didn’t have the power to enter the seventh layer!
Those layers of Evil Qi were enough to freeze them for eternity!
"Come back!"
Ning Fan’s expression changed dramatically, and he waved his hand to retrieve the five frightened little girls back into the sword pouch. Without another word, he desperately fled out of the Blood Prison!
Behind Ning Fan, a sea of Evil Qi relentlessly chased him.
All the Evil Qi within the Blood Prison originated from the seventh layer!
The Blood Prison never required any guards because anyone who attempted to break in would be annihilated by the sea of Evil Qi from the seventh layer!
"Little Fan Fan! It’s the sword! It’s the great sword emitting the Evil Qi, trying to kill us! It doesn’t like us intruding into its territory! Big Sister is so scared, boohoo!"
"So terrifying, so terrifying! It only releases a tip of the iceberg of its Evil Qi, how can it be so terrifying! Second Sister is also so afraid, boohoo!"
"Little Fan Fan, run quickly! Don’t let it catch up with us, or we’ll all be doomed! Third Sister is so scared, what should we do, boohoo!"
"Little Fan Fan, it’s over, we can’t escape... boohoo!"
"Boohoo..."
All five little girls were scared to tears, crying incessantly inside the sword pouch.
They knew they had recklessly intruded on the seventh layer, causing a great disaster, angering the blood sword on the seventh layer, possibly endangering Ning Fan’s life.
Having just escaped to the fourth layer of the Blood Prison, the sea of Evil Qi behind him had already caught up to Ning Fan, engulfing him in the sea of blood.
The Evil Qi was too powerful, enough to make even an Immortal Emperor succumb, lost in its grasp!
Listening to the little girls say that such a powerful Evil Qi was merely a tiny part emitted by a blood sword...
What kind of sword could possess such terrifying Evil Qi...
Just as he was about to succumb to the sea of blood, Ning Fan gritted his teeth and activated the Yin Yang Locket, escaping into the Xuan Yin Treasure.
After all, the Xuan Yin Treasure was a Void Realm. Although the external Evil Qi was powerful, it was not strong enough to breach into the Xuan Yin Treasure and harm Ning Fan.
Seeing Ning Fan disappear, the Evil Qi gradually receded, returning to the blood-red Giant Sword on the seventh layer.
It was an ancient stone-made Giant Sword, constrained by countless chains and rune marks, formation light.
The pressure on the sword body was enough to crush an average Immortal Emperor outright!
This sword was extraordinary, absolutely not something a cultivator from the Second Step could wield! No cultivator at the Second Step could touch this sword!
This Era’s Slaughter Emperor, could not either!
Within the Xuan Yin Treasure, Ning Fan stayed for ten days.
He released a low-level puppet to investigate the situation outside.
Using the puppet’s senses, Ning Fan learned that the terrifying Evil Qi on the seventh layer had dissipated, allowing him to safely leave the Xuan Yin Treasure, retrieve the puppet, lift the Ghost Mask, and flee out of the Blood Prison.
The seventh layer definitely held a great secret!
Unfortunately, such a great secret was not something he could explore.
The moment Ning Fan stepped out of the Blood Prison, the Minghai Celestial King nodded in satisfaction.
Thus, the fourth round of the grand competition formally concluded, and without question, the first place was undeniably Ning Fan.
A score of 27,270,000 points, surpassing any previous competition winner.
Unprecedented, never to be seen again.
"From today on, Ning Fan is a disciple of our Slaughter Hall."
The Minghai Celestial King’s voice was not loud, yet it clearly reached the ears of every elder present.
Slaughter Hall does not restrict battles or killings among its disciples, but it is exceedingly protective, not allowing outsiders to harm Slaughter Hall disciples.
At least below the level of the Eternity Realm, no one dares to openly kill a Slaughter Hall disciple. Even if one must kill, it would be done secretly, leaving no trace.
Thus, the competition drew to a close.
Many who previously harbored deep hostility toward Ning Fan, including Fate Immortals and Enlightenment Old Demons, hurried over to extend their goodwill.
Those with discerning eyes could tell that Ning Fan was greatly favored by the Minghai Celestial King, and he himself was unmatched among his peers, with a boundless future ahead.
Though Ning Fan was merely at the Void Fragmentation stage, no one dared to underestimate him.
"In this recruitment ceremony, Slaughter Hall received an extraordinary disciple." So thought some Shedding Void Stage and Fragmented Thought Elders.
Ning Fan was not one to be ungrateful. Whether the gestures were genuine or not, he responded to each one.
As the competition concluded, some elders left with their successors, while others stayed on Blood Sea Star to cultivate.
Yao Qingyun watched Ning Fan, her elegant brows furrowed.
She had long known Ning Fan would take first place and was mentally prepared.
But when she truly saw Ning Fan ascend the platform, drip his essence blood, and leave his disciple soul plates, she felt extremely displeased.
Ning Fan had still joined Slaughter Hall...
This hateful brat actually managed to take first place, which was truly infuriating!
Especially irritating was the fact that she had wagered with the Minghai Celestial King to assist the top winner in undergoing the highest level of Blood Pool cleansing.
The highest level of Blood Pool cleansing required her to personally guide Ning Fan into the pool and assist him in completing the ritual.
During this process, neither could wear any clothing; it must be completed in the nude!
Very few have the qualification to undergo the highest level of Blood Pool cleansing, not even during Yao Qingyun’s youth did she have the qualification.
She had never helped anyone undergo this level of Blood Pool cleansing before. When members of the Yao Family arrived in the past, she merely assigned a subordinate to help them.
To be honest, after the Minghai Celestial King’s painstaking guidance, her initial hatred for Ning Fan had long vanished.
After all, the Minghai Celestial King was her savior, and his words were not unreasonable.
It’s just that although she no longer hated Ning Fan, she still disliked him.
Having to face Ning Fan in the nude was truly an ordeal.
Yao Qingyun was a person of her word, and she would never go back on what she said.
She lost the bet and could take the loss.
"Yanhong, go notify the Blood Pool Pavilion Master, tell him to prepare a highest-level blood pool within three months. If he asks, say it was requested by the Great Elder. Liulan, once Ning Fan finds a suitable disciple quarters, inform him that three months later, I will personally host the Blood Pool cleansing for him!"
Though Yao Qingyun was giving orders, her tone was unusually gentle.
The names Yanhong and Liulan belonged to the two Ghost Eye female cultivators standing behind her, both at the Initial Stage of Crossing Truth.
Both female cultivators were aged women, who in their youth had been Yao Qingyun’s servile maidservants, joining Slaughter Hall with her.
The two women had extremely poor talent, becoming immortals by sheer luck after eight or nine thousand years.
With Yao Qingyun’s help, they had cultivated up to the Initial Stage of Crossing Truth.
Unfortunately, limited by their talent, the two women could not break through to the Mid Stage Enlightenment no matter what.
If Yao Qingyun cared about anyone in this world, perhaps it would only be these two maidservants.
"Yes!"
Upon hearing Yao Qingyun’s command, the two Ghost Eye elderly women responded respectfully, transforming into escape light and departing.
Watching their departing figures, Yao Qingyun revealed a look of reminiscence in her eyes.
Once upon a time, she too was the bloodless princess of the Yao Family.
Alas, after her parents’ demise, every step within the Yao Family was fraught with enemies.
In the end, the old shameless men of the Yao Family stooped to...
"Hehe, Elder Yao’s hostility towards Ning Fan seems greatly reduced now." Fei He’s sinister laugh echoed from behind Yao Qingyun.
Yao Qingyun frowned, turned around and said coldly, "The affairs of my palace are none of Elder Fei’s concern!"
"Hehe, Fei must indeed be meddling too much."
Fei He laughed grimly and slowly moved away.
Watching Fei He’s receding figure, Yao Qingyun’s brows furrowed even deeper.
She had always known that Fei He wanted her dead.
This is not surprising, as all Slaughter Hall cultivators are competitors, and mutual killings do not violate the law.
According to Slaughter Hall’s law, except during special periods or occasions, disciples slaughtering each other is not prohibited.
For instance, during recruitment ceremonies, disciples are forbidden from killing each other.
In the Slaughter Blood Realm, Slaughter Hall disciples are also forbidden from killing each other.
Therefore, privately, some Slaughter Hall disciples would swear spirit oaths to become allies, simply to defend against potential intra-Hall killings that might happen at any time.
For a disciple to be hacked to death in their sleep by another disciple is quite a common occurrence.
During seclusion, being ambushed by your own comrades is all too common.
If you want to survive in the Slaughter Hall, you must either join a small group or possess extremely strong strength and self-protection measures to survive alone.
Yao Qingyun did not find it strange that Fei He wanted to kill her.
In the Slaughter Hall, there were many who wanted to kill Yao Qingyun.
As long as they couldn’t kill her, and couldn’t take her elder token, she would still be an elder with great power.
However, Ning Fan was quite dissatisfied with the tradition of the Slaughter Hall.
After a series of ceremonies, he left his soul plates in the Slaughter Hall and officially joined the Slaughter Hall.
Two Mid-Stage Human Profound disciples from the Slaughter Hall led Ning Fan to the Disciple Quarters to choose a residence.
There were many Disciple Quarters in Slaughter City, but most were vacant, as very few Slaughter Hall cultivators were foolish enough to live there. Most would find a hidden cave residence to keep its location secret from others.
Ning Fan casually chose a Disciple Quarter, not intending to stay there long-term. He just wanted to rest for a while and then find a hidden cave residence elsewhere on Blood Sea Star to live long-term.
Just as he selected a Disciple Quarter, one of the two Slaughter Hall disciples who had led him suddenly attacked and killed the other disciple.
This was the tradition of the Slaughter Hall, always being on guard and vigilant against assassinations and ambushes from all sides.
The disciple who killed his companion naturally dared not attack Ning Fan. Firstly, he knew how formidable Ning Fan was and that attacking him would be courting death.
Secondly, he knew Ning Fan held a Death-Exemption Token and dared not make a move on him.
After apologizing to Ning Fan with a smile, he cleaned up his companion’s corpse, collected his storage pouch, and left with a bright smile.
"Mutual betrayal..." Ning Fan frowned deeply.
A sect where even brother disciples had to guard against each other was not to his liking.
Upon further thought, if he didn’t hold the Death-Exemption Token, there would likely be many strong figures in the Slaughter Hall eager to assassinate him.
Fortunately, now that Ning Fan had refined the Innate Ghost Mask, even if a powerful Slaughter Hall figure attacked him, he wouldn’t fear and was confident of escaping unscathed.
Not long after, other disciples came to deliver Ning Fan’s disciple allocation.
After a while, another disciple brought Ning Fan his Slaughter Jade.
The Slaughter Jade recorded the slaughter value of Slaughter Hall disciples. On Ning Fan’s Slaughter Jade, the slaughter value displayed was 27.27 million, the fractions being directly ignored by Ning Fan.
With such a high slaughter value, he could go to the main pavilion of the Slaughter Pavilion in Slaughter City to exchange it for desired items.
Having no intention to spend his slaughter value for the time being, Ning Fan’s thoughts were completely occupied with the Eternal Jade.
He had successfully joined the Slaughter Hall. If given a chance to meet the Slaughter Emperor and present his elder token, he might have an opportunity to obtain the Eternal Jade.
The Slaughter Emperor’s palace was built within the Slaughter Blood Realm and not in the outside world.
Meeting the Slaughter Emperor was not an easy task.
Claiming to possess an elder token would qualify him to enter the Blood Realm and present the token.
However, he was unwilling to reveal he held the elder token before meeting the Slaughter Emperor.
Though he had a Death-Exemption Token, which meant other powerful figures in the Slaughter Hall couldn’t kill him, it didn’t mean they couldn’t steal his elder token.
If the elder token were taken earlier, it would be a disaster; then, he would have no leverage to acquire the Slaughter Emperor’s Eternal Jade.
Swoosh!
An escape light suddenly descended outside the Disciple Quarters.
Ning Fan’s eyes narrowed, as the newcomer was a strong figure at the Initial Stage of Crossing Truth.
Knowing the undesirable traditions of the Slaughter Hall, Ning Fan had to remain extremely vigilant in the face of anyone.
The newcomer was an old woman in blue, her face covered with a red-gold ghost mask, her expression indifferent but with no intent to kill.
She hadn’t come to deal with Ning Fan, only to deliver her mistress’s orders.
"Your Blood Pool Baptism will be presided over by Elder Qing Yun, set for three months from now. Remember to go to the Blood Pool Pavilion after three months; don’t miss your Blood Pool Baptism. Your baptism is of the highest level, at least able to increase your immortality chance by fifteen percent, so don’t underestimate it."
Though her tone was cold, Ning Fan detected a touch of goodwill in her voice.
She used to be a maid in the Yao Family, called Liulan, and served Yao Qingyun, extremely loyal to Yao Qingyun.
Yao Qingyun had almost been shamed, and Liulan deeply hated the Yao Family; after Ning Fan destroyed the Yao Family, she held a great liking for Ning Fan. Though she usually treated others coldly, her words were somewhat polite.
"Thank you, Senior, for the reminder. I certainly won’t underestimate this Blood Pool Baptism,"
Ning Fan replied courteously.
"Hmm."
After delivering Yao Qingyun’s message, Liulan had no intention to stay longer and turned to leave.
After she left, Ning Fan frowned in thought.
Indeed, trouble seemed to arise one after another. He hadn’t even figured out how to enter the Blood Realm and meet the Slaughter Emperor, and now he had to face the upcoming Blood Pool Baptism presided over by Yao Qingyun.
In Ning Fan’s impression, Yao Qingyun had ’become smarter’ and was plotting to kill him.
"Perhaps that foolish woman will use this Blood Pool Baptism opportunity to eliminate me... I need to be cautious."
He truly misunderstood Yao Qingyun.
Having lost a bet to the Minghai Celestial King, Yao Qingyun honored her bet, and this time, she would earnestly host Ning Fan’s Blood Pool Baptism without any tricks.
She had the capacity for this.
"Hehe, young friend, be careful of this Blood Pool Baptism. This old man thinks Yao Qingyun has no good intentions,"
a hoarse, sinister laugh suddenly came from outside, icy and chilling.
It was Fei He again. (To be continued. If you enjoy this work, feel free to recommend it with votes or monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please visit m.qidian.com for reading.)