novelraw Chapter 746: Northern Dipper Seeking the Dao (Part 2)
Chapter 746: Northern Dipper Seeking the Dao (Part 2)
Time flows like water, and in the blink of an eye, a month has passed.
For the past month, Ouyang Nuan took the two little girls out to play every day, returning only at night.
The two little girls were playful by nature, and Maoqiu was restless too, but not Ouyang Nuan.
She simply didn’t want to stay home and disturb Ning Fan’s enlightenment.
For the entire month, Ning Fan stood in the courtyard with his hands behind his back, always staring blankly at the ground covered in ashes.
Compared to a month ago, his confusion had only increased.
"I don’t understand..."
With a long sigh, Ning Fan flicked his sleeve, a breeze scattering the ashes on the ground. He thought for a moment and then walked out the door.
In the Blood Realm, there was no day, only night.
The lights in Plant Willow City remained bright, with lanterns hanging outside each house.
In the past month, it was the first time Ning Fan stepped out of his home, the first time he calmed his mind to observe the differences in Plant Willow City.
The city was different; its people were different, and so was its cultivation atmosphere, distinct from the outside world’s bloodthirsty and cold-blooded cultivation world.
Occasionally, mortals visited this city, selling various goods in the night streets.
Fruits, jewelry, snacks, kites, and even sugar figures.
Cultivators didn’t only pursue cultivation; they also traveled, relaxed, and bought these seemingly useless items from mortals.
A few Vein Opening men sat by a noodle stand on the street, eating hot vegetarian noodles, laughing and talking about their day’s harvest in the Jade Sea hunting fierce beasts.
Pairs of Vein Opening dao companions held hands affectionately in the night, staying close in the dark.
A middle-aged man with Harmonious Spirit realm cultivation, holding a tiger-headed child, accompanied by a gentle woman, stood patiently by a candy figurine stall, waiting for the mortal to mold the sugar.
"Once you have the sugar figure, no more crying or fussing, understand?" The middle-aged man brushed his stubbled face against the child’s cheek, eyes full of indulgence.
"Hmm, Xiaoshan promises not to cry or fuss anymore! Xiaoshan will obediently go home with mom and dad!" The child vowed earnestly.
Going home, going home, going home...
Ning Fan’s cold and barren heart was suddenly touched...
To a cultivator, how luxurious a concept is home.
Home... cultivators make the world their home, yet have no home to return to, wherever they roam, that is home.
Though the cultivators of the four heavens and nine worlds have no home, the cultivators of the Big Dipper Blood Realm have a home.
This is the home of the Big Dipper descendants.
The atmosphere here is truly wonderful.
Ning Fan looked at the child with a rare, knowing smile, somewhat envious.
This smile was not a facade!
After smiling, Ning Fan revealed a face of amazement.
For the first time since his seven emotions were extinguished, he laughed from the heart!
Suddenly raising his head, he gazed at the Big Dipper seven stars in the night sky, seeming to understand something, yet unable to articulate it.
The Big Dipper Blood Realm is essentially different from the Eastern Heaven Immortal World, and because of that difference, Ning Fan could smile!
Here, the seven emotions Ning Fan ought to have extinguished are gradually being reshaped!
Though the four heavens have daylight, the world is too dark.
In the Blood Realm, though only night exists, there is the warmth of humanity.
Where one’s heart finds peace, there is home.
"Home..."
No wonder Nuan’er and the three girls, along with the beast, all like Plant Willow City, love the Big Dipper Blood Realm, living here happily, forgetting to return.
The Big Dipper Blood Realm is indeed a wonderful place.
Ning Fan walked through the long street, through the misty night, through the lantern-lit households.
Every house had a lantern hanging outside, and within the light of those lanterns, there was longing.
Mothers longed for their children, wives for their husbands, children for their fathers...
"Home..."
The myriad of house lights reflected in Ning Fan’s eyes, and gradually, indescribable emotions filled his gaze.
Unknowingly, he had reached the inner city of Plant Willow City.
Here, a towering ancient willow stood timelessly. Ning Fan speculated it was left by the Killing Emperor Jumen during his enlightenment.
Within this great willow was a subtle Dao of life and death, causing Ning Fan’s eyes to flicker slightly.
However, to Plant Willow City, the significance of this willow wasn’t enlightenment, but making wishes.
Near the great willow, temples were built.
Outside the temples, many travelers made vows before the great willow, while elegant ladies burned incense and offered prayers.
Beside the great willow, there were seventeen or eighteen stalls, their owners all cultivators, offering fortune-telling and interpretation to travelers.
Ning Fan glanced slightly across, each stall owner carried varying degrees of Heaven’s prediction power.
Though not strong, it showed these stall owners genuinely offered interpretation and weren’t just deceiving for money.
"Young man, would you like to draw a lot? I’m the strongest in this city’s path of divination, best at interpreting lots, especially skilled in interpreting love, fortune, and fate lots, called ’Yu Sanqian’. Ten immortal jades per lot, the first lot is free, hehe, not expensive at all."
An elder dressed in a yellow Taoist robe, upon seeing Ning Fan’s gaze, assumed business had come his way and immediately approached with a full smile, self-promoting.
Though his appearance was somewhat sleazy, the Heaven’s prediction power on him was indeed the strongest here, and his cultivation level wasn’t weak, at the eighth level of Vein Opening.
Ten immortal jades per lot were indeed not expensive.
Ning Fan casually took out twenty immortal jades and handed them to Yu Sanqian.
Twenty immortal jades were enough for three lots, considering the first was free.
Receiving the money, the elder in the yellow robe laughed even more sleazily, leading Ning Fan to the stall and handing him one of the three lot tubes on the stall, saying with a smile.
"The first lot is the love lot, young man please draw a lot, I will naturally interpret it for you."
The elderly man in the yellow robe couldn’t see through Ning Fan’s strength and only regarded him as an ordinary Vein Opening cultivator in the city.
Ning Fan nodded and was about to shake the divining stick cylinder when suddenly, a group of aggressive young men approached the stall.
This group of young men was the same group that had previously provoked Ning Fan.
The black-clad young man leading them was full of anger, and before he even got close, his voice came, "Yu Sanqian! What kind of nonsense fortune did you give me? Ten days ago, you said I would have great fortune and opportunity, so I went to Jade Sea seeking opportunities and almost died there. Nonsense! Give me back my divination money!"
Seeing this aggressive group of youths, Yu Sanqian’s face immediately changed, and he seemed a bit flustered, even preparing to pack up and run.
"Trying to run!"
The black-clad young man sneered, waved his hand, and the youths behind him drew their waist knives and quickly surrounded the stall.
Yu Sanqian bitterly smiled, ran to the black-clad young man, and appeasingly said, "Master Ren, please don’t be angry! Fortune telling can sometimes be accurate, sometimes not, cough... you can’t blame me if it’s not accurate..."
"Hmph, still trying to argue! Uh... you, you are!"
The black-clad young man sneered again, preparing to teach Yu Sanqian a lesson, when he suddenly noticed Ning Fan in front of the stall, and his expression changed drastically!
The arrogance on his face was replaced with an expression full of reverence.
Yu Sanqian was stunned.
In his impression, this black-clad youth was a tyrant in Plant Willow City, known for injuring an Early-stage Harmonious Spirit with his Ninth Level of Vein Opening realm, quite formidable.
In this city where the Harmonious Spirit realm is revered, almost no Vein Opening cultivator dared offend him, and even when facing a Harmonious Spirit realm old monster, he showed no respect.
Yet now, looking at Ning Fan, the black-clad youth’s eyes were filled with deep reverence!
Yu Sanqian couldn’t even imagine what kind of cultivation Ning Fan had, to inspire such fear and respect in the black-clad youth!
Late Harmonious Spirit? Peak Harmonious Spirit? Or even the legendary Golden Core Realm!
"I’m seeking a fortune; I don’t want anyone to disturb me." Ning Fan glanced at the black-clad youth and said lightly.
"Understood! Everyone, put away your knives, guard the stall; no one is allowed to disturb this elder brother’s fortune-telling!" The black-clad youth ordered, and the group of youths immediately sheathed their knives and stood respectfully silent at one side.
The black-clad young man glared at Yu Sanqian with a threatening look and coldly said, "Give my elder brother a proper fortune! If you don’t do it well, I’ll chop you into a human stick!"
"B-brother?! This young man, no, this elder, is your elder brother!"
Yu Sanqian was instantly convinced that Ning Fan must be a Golden Core expert!
A peak Harmonious Spirit once approached the black-clad youth wanting to recruit him as a subordinate, but was refused.
This black-clad youth had an arrogant nature, refusing to acknowledge even a peak Harmonious Spirit as an elder brother, yet he considered Ning Fan his elder brother, indicating Ning Fan’s power exceeded that of a peak Harmonious Spirit!
Surpassing a peak Harmonious Spirit, what else could it be but an Old Monster Han!
Just the thought of interpreting a fortune for a Golden Core realm master made Yu Sanqian’s palms sweat.
This is troublesome. If the fortune is not interpreted well, won’t Ning Fan destroy me...
Ning Fan frowned slightly, not knowing when he had become the black-clad youth’s elder brother.
Ignoring the black-clad youth, Ning Fan closed his eyes and shook the divining stick cylinder.
A few moments later, a stick fell out.
Yu Sanqian’s hands trembled as he picked up the bamboo stick, which had only a strange symbol with no words, unlike those used by ordinary people.
Glancing at the content on the bamboo stick, Yu Sanqian closed his eyes, calculated with his fingers, then suddenly picked up a vermilion brush and started writing a poem on a piece of yellow paper.
At that moment, he became immersed in the power of Heaven’s prediction, completely unaware of what he was writing.
When he opened his eyes and saw what he had written, Yu Sanqian’s face became extremely ugly, trembling even more.
’A thousand lifetimes of loneliness for one life of love, watching fallen flowers ground into dust, beauty like clouds hard to betray, half friend, half enemy.’
"What does this fortune mean?" Ning Fan asked lightly.
"This fortune, this fortune..." Yu Sanqian didn’t know how to explain.
"Elder brother asked you to interpret it, so do it quickly! If you delay, this young master will chop you to pieces!" the black-clad youth said coldly.
"Ahem, I’ll interpret it, I’ll interpret it... This is a very bad romance fortune. From the verse, this elder will suffer through prolonged loneliness before attaining a desirable match. Moreover, there will be multiple women involved. Unfortunately among these women, some will be confidants, others great adversaries... In short, the path of love will be full of hardships..." Yu Sanqian trembled as he spoke.
"Nonsense! My elder brother is a celestial-like figure; how could his romance fortune be among the worst!" The black-clad youth glared at Yu Sanqian, wishing to cut him down immediately.
Ning Fan, however, looked at Yu Sanqian with mild surprise, thinking that his interpretation was indeed accurate.
In truth, while many beauties surrounded him, quite a few had transitioned from enemies to confidants.
"Well interpreted."
Ning Fan’s simple remark, like a heavenly melody, filled Yu Sanqian with joy.
His greatest fear was Ning Fan being dissatisfied with the fortune interpretation, but now it seemed Ning Fan was quite pleased with the outcome.
Hearing Ning Fan’s approval, the black-clad youth suppressed all his fury and didn’t make things difficult for Yu Sanqian anymore.
As long as Ning Fan was satisfied, the black-clad youth naturally had no dissatisfaction!
With the first fortune interpreted, Yu Sanqian handed the second fortune stick cylinder to Ning Fan.
This fortune was for good luck.
Ning Fan shook out a stick, and Yu Sanqian calculated with his fingers again, rapidly writing a verse on yellow paper.
’At first like a purple sun reflecting red glow, then tainted with filth sinking into black light. Fortune’s opportunities are just an empty fantasy, dying a miserable death is all too common.’
Putting down the vermilion brush, Yu Sanqian opened his eyes, frightened by what he had written, cold sweat pouring.
Great misfortune, great misfortune! This fortune is worse than the worst. How should he interpret it without angering Ning Fan!
"Just tell it as it is, I won’t do anything to you." Ning Fan, seeing through Yu Sanqian’s worry, said calmly.
"Understood. This is a greatly ominous fortune. From the verse, you, sir, should have overwhelming fortune and boundless blessings. However, due to certain reasons, your fate altered, all blessings lost, and bad luck entangles you. From now on, fortune’s opportunities are beyond reach, and you must be cautious outside, or due to poor fortune, you could fall prey to others and die miserably..." Yu Sanqian gritted his teeth and interpreted truthfully.
"Nonsense! You dare to curse my elder brother with a miserable death!" the black-clad youth roared!
Ning Fan, however, waved his hand, nodding with satisfaction.
Yes, indeed very accurate.
This Yu Sanqian could even deduce his purple fortune turning black.
Unfortunately, Yu Sanqian was destined not to foresee that his black fortune could turn back to purple.
It was just as well because if Yu Sanqian could foresee his fortune’s transformation, Ning Fan would have been concerned.
"The next fortune is regarding fate, correct."
Ning Fan picked up the third stick of sign, shook out a stick, and handed it to Yu Sanqian to interpret.
Yu Sanqian calculated by pinching his fingers, closed his eyes, swished his red brush, and deciphered the third sign!
Opening his eyes, he looked at the content he wrote, and Yu Sanqian turned pale with fright.
The first sign was the worst, the second extremely ominous, and the third... turned out to be the Shura sign!
This sign is as ominous as it gets!
’Slay all immortals to become a demon, slay all demons to slay Shura. The bloody sea is hard to seek the true Dao fruit, but what if Dao forms, and Dao perishes!’
"This sign, this sign..."
"This sign doesn’t need to be interpreted, I understand it."
Ning Fan put down the stick box and turned to leave.
Throughout his life, he spent most of his time in endless slaughter.
Solely to protect the obsession in his heart, he had already bathed in blood, burdened with sins, but so what!
This path, he cannot avoid, he cannot escape!
Walking under the Big Dipper stars, Ning Fan’s thoughts drifted far away.
In life and death tribulations, he had heard of the story where the Purple Dou Immortal Sovereign exterminated Ziwei Celestial Emperor and Immortal Emperor of the Northern Dipper.
Back then, when the Purple Dou Immortal Sovereign annihilated Ziwei and Northern Dipper Immortal Domains, the massacre committed was definitely immense.
After the bloody sea of slaughter, it brought about a peaceful era in the Purple Dou Immortal Domain.
The Purple Dou Immortal, with his sinful deeds, gave the world a peaceful era.
The merits and demerits of Purple Dou are hard to say, but Ning Fan understands he is not like Purple Dou.
On his path, all he thought about was protecting his loved ones with his own sins.
He never had such grand ideals to protect all living beings.
He wasn’t as persistent as the past Slaughter Emperors, willing to give up everything to protect the Blood Realm.
He was always selfish and could never be selfless.
Yet at this moment, a surge of impulse arose in him, wanting to turn the turbulent four heavens and nine worlds into a peaceful place like the Big Dipper Blood Realm.
Allowing those he cherishes and loves to live carefree in the cultivation world.
No need to worry about plots or attacks, just living a simple life like ordinary people.
Isn’t this a kind of ideal?
Creating a peaceful era, letting loved ones be happy, can this be considered an ideal?
"Ideal..."
In Ning Fan’s ears, he seemed still to hear the earnest words of the Purple Dou Immortal Sovereign.
"Have you ever had an ideal in your heart?"
"At your age, I was merely a demon of unrestrained slaughter. One day, you will have your own thoughts about this cultivation realm."
In a trance, Ning Fan seemed to hear another voice.
That voice came from within the Giant Willow, inaudible to all beings, only Ning Fan could hear it.
That was the voice of the Great Dao!
That was the Dao sound left by those who comprehended the Dao under the Giant Willow!
In the dim night, Ning Fan had walked very far, suddenly looking back, staring at the towering Giant Willow!
A youthful man once called himself Jumen, planted a willow seed, and comprehended the Dao before planting.
On the day of his Dao achievement, it had been a dream of ten thousand years, and the willow seed had long turned into a majestic tree!
Under the tree, he lamented the passage of time, lamented ’such is the wood, how can mankind endure’
No one knew, before Jumen Slaughter Emperor died, he quietly sat under the Giant Willow!
He entrusted everything to the Third Generation Young Emperor, sat alone under the Giant Willow, gazing at it, at the ebb and flow of the Jade Sea like in the past, gazing at the eternally darkened mountains, with no sign of decay, but full of grandeur!
He uttered a second sentence there, unheard by anyone.
That sound turned into a Dao sound, eternally preserved within the Giant Willow!
"The mountains still stand, yet my hair is now white, how time spares no one... Man can become old, strength can wane, but the heart must not die, ideals must not perish!"
"Even if my body dies, even if the Dao is extinguished, my ideals will endure with the Big Dipper, immortal and indestructible!"
The Dao sound resonated in Ning Fan’s ears, and suddenly he raised his head, gazing at the vast Big Dipper, silent for long.
At this moment, his Dao ascended, transformed qualitatively, showing signs of solidification.
At this moment, Ning Fan appeared solemn, clasping his fists in salute towards the Big Dipper stars!
This salute was admiration, was reverence!
He reveres Jumen Slaughter Emperor’s undying obsession, eternally residing within the Giant Willow!
He finally understood how to verify his Dao.
His Dao could corroborate with countless Daos of the world!
Mountains, rivers, grass, and trees all hold obsessions, all beings in the world have their obsessions!
Jumen Slaughter Emperor had obsessions in his heart, Purple Dou Immortal Sovereign had obsessions in his heart.
Obsessions are a Dao transcending life and death, unaffected by death!
In his previous life, Ning Fan was a butterfly, the body may have turned to ashes, but obsessions remain.
From past to present, his heart of protection has never changed.
Obsession can transcend life and death, can transcend reincarnation!
If obsessed with emotion, even seven emotions perish, one can still smile and talk.
If obsessed with thought, even if Dao vanishes, even if body falls, even if reincarnation extinguishes, this thought will not die!
For a long, long time, Ning Fan’s gaze gradually cleared, and he turned back to his residence.
Outside the gate, he hung up two lanterns and lit the lamps.
This is the home of him, Nuan’er, Weiliang, and Zili.
Lighting a lamp can illuminate the way home for them.
Day by day passed, and a year quickly went by.
The Immortal Soul Grass had yet to mature, but the five grains had already harvested abundantly, and could be used for brewing wine.
The cattails in the courtyard grew anew.
One day, outside various temples in the Inner City, a fortune-telling stall appeared.
The stall owner was Ning Fan, and he only interpreted one type of fortune.
The Life and Death Fortune!
At his feet, lay bundles of cattails.
Each time he deciphered a Life and Death Fortune, he would weave a grass ring!
He intended to weave others’ life and death into the grass rings!
For seven consecutive days, no one came to find Ning Fan for a fortune.
On the eighth day, a black-clad youth brought a group of people, dragging along a pitiful-looking middle-aged scholarly man, seeking Ning Fan to interpret his fortune.
"Big brother! I heard you were setting up here for fortune-telling, and coincidentally, a friend of mine wishes to calculate his life and death. Please help him."
The black-clad youth spoke respectfully, while the dragged middle-aged scholarly man could only lament his fate.
He didn’t even know the black-clad youth, much less when he became friends with him!
He was merely a new Opening Vein cultivator in Plant Willow City and had been dragged over by the black-clad youth just after entering the city for a fortune.
He was merely a Spirit Plant Husbandry, making a living by cultivating spiritual medicine, not seeking treasures or opportunities in perilous places. What was the need to calculate life and death?
But now, with the black-clad youth pressuring him for a fortune, he dared not refuse.
"May I know how much you charge for interpreting a Life and Death Fortune?" the middle-aged scholarly man asked bitterly.
"For an Opening Vein cultivator, one fortune is ten pieces of immortal jade," Ning Fan replied indifferently.
"Ten immortal jades, that’s not too expensive," the middle-aged scholarly man sighed in relief.
He decided to spend ten immortal jades to avert disaster.
Having paid the ten immortal jades, the middle-aged scholarly man took the fortune tube and shook it.
He drew out a fortune, but it was blank, with no words on it!
"Uh... a blank fortune?" The middle-aged scholarly man paused, looking at the fortune tube. All the fortunes were blank.
He felt deceived; how could a blank fortune be divined or interpreted?
He didn’t realize that all these blank fortunes were specially crafted by Ning Fan.
Ning Fan didn’t understand divination or interpretation, but he understood observing life and death.
This secret bamboo slip had a divine skill for observing life and death.
Ning Fan’s eyes flashed, emanating the Lifedeath Dao Light.
That day, in the Demon World attending the Fish the Dragon Conference, the Lifedeath Dao Light frightened countless powerful beings.
Now, he could freely use the Lifedeath Dao Light to observe life and death.
Currently, he could only see the life and death of Harmonious Spirit realm cultivators at most.
This middle-aged scholarly man was in the Vein Opening realm, so Ning Fan could see through his life and death.
"In ten days, you will die in your home, due to being drained," Ning Fan said indifferently.
"Ha! Ridiculous! I’ve never been near women, how could I die from being drained? Besides, in my Spirit Martial Country, morals are strong, no magic flower demon women. Who would drain me?"
The middle-aged scholarly man sneered at Ning Fan, assuming Ning Fan was spouting nonsense.
The black-clad youth was infuriated. How could he tolerate his acknowledged big brother being belittled!
This was the big brother he revered, the one whose single look could paralyze him!
He hadn’t been frightened even facing a peak Harmonious Spirit realm old monster, but Ning Fan could frighten him, proof he was no ordinary being. If Ning Fan said the middle-aged man would die, it was well-founded!
Just as he was about to reprimand the middle-aged man, Ning Fan waved his hand and said, "Ren Li, stop. I’ve already disclosed his life and death, if he doesn’t heed it, his fate is sealed, and others won’t be to blame."
Ren Li was the name of the black-clad youth.
Ning Fan, having stayed here for a year, was somewhat familiar with the black-clad youth.
Though the youth had a roguish demeanor, he wasn’t particularly evil.
With the young man constantly calling him big brother, Ning Fan got accustomed and paid it no mind.
Listening to Ning Fan, Ren Li, though displeased with the middle-aged man, dared not reprimand him.
He listened to no one but treated Ning Fan’s words as decree.
The middle-aged man, knowing he couldn’t offend the black-clad youth and the others, though displeased with Ning Fan’s deceptive fortune-telling, dared not stir trouble and left dejectedly.
Many observing cultivators saw Ning Fan’s fortune-telling process and shared the middle-aged man’s view, thinking Ning Fan was a scam.
Only Yu Sanqian, observing intently, sensed Ning Fan’s fortune-telling was extraordinary.
Ning Fan didn’t rely on the Rebellion of Heaven’s prediction, but a mysterious power beyond Yu Sanqian’s comprehension!
"Perhaps, the middle-aged man will indeed die..." Yu Sanqian pondered.
Ten days later, shocking news spread throughout Plant Willow City!
A middle-aged scholarly man was tragically found dead at home, drained by a grass demon!
The middle-aged man was the same who sought Ning Fan’s fortune!
The grass demon was transformed from the spiritual herb he grew!
The grass demon was eliminated by the powerful allies of Plant Willow City, while Ning Fan’s accurate fortune-telling spread rapidly throughout the city!
Gradually, strong hunters setting out to sea would seek Ning Fan for a Life and Death Fortune before departing.
No one knew, on the middle-aged man’s demise, Ning Fan crafted his first grass ring!
Within the grass ring, he wove the middle-aged man’s life and death!
Ning Fan opened his mouth, swallowing the grass ring as it turned into a half-black, half-white gleam, consumed into his belly!
The Lifedeath Dao Pattern of Ning Fan’s Spirit increased by one upon ingesting the grass ring! (To be continued. If you like this work, welcome to Qidian (qidian.com) to vote for recommendations and monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users please visit m.qidian.com for reading.)