Chapter 466: Chapter 466: The Second Devil Slate
Feng Xueyan was terribly frightened. After Ning Fan gently consoled her, he sent her to Xu Qiuling’s place and left her under her care. Then, he followed Ju Qing to meet the Eight Ancestors.
Feng Xueyan did not hear all of what the Eight Ancestors talked about. The few words she heard from them were not really of much use to Ning Fan.
Even so, Ning Fan put up his guard against the Eight Ancestors whom he had never met before.
Along the way, Ju Qing briefly introduced the Eight Ancestors to Ning Fan and asked him to not tell anyone about them.
His memories had once been erased by the Eight Ancestors. Thus, he was not aware of her daughter’s situation. Inwardly, he still held high respect for the eight old ancestors.
Among the eight Void Refinement Realm old ancestors of the Giant Devil Clan, 2 of them were at the Void Pierce Stage while the other 6 were at the Void Inquiry Stage.
Of the two Void Pierce Stage experts, one of them was Ju Qing’s father Ju Yan while the other one was the leader of the Eight Ancestors. He was a famous individual in the Giant Devil Clan’s history.
“The leader of the Eight Ancestors is the old ancestor of the earliest generation. His name is ‘King Ju Lu’! His reputation isn’t good. He has slaughtered countless pill refinement masters his whole life. He has incredible strength and his means are vicious. Among the Eight Ancestors, the person you must never provoke is him.”
“The Eight Ancestors are planning something big. It is said to be related to the survival of the Giant Devil Clan. It’s an extremely significant matter. Unless the Giant Devil Clan faces a threat of annihilation, the eight old ancestor will never appear to give us a hand. The eight old ancestors have given their all for the greater good of our clan. I really admire them.”
They were even willing to give up on glory and dignity for the prosperity of the clan. . These are certainly acts of great men!”
When Ju Qing talked about the Eight Ancestors, his eyes were filled with great respect.
Ning Fan did not interrupt him. He did not tell Ju Qing what kinds of suffering his daughter, Feng Xueyan, was enduring.
Telling Ju Qing the truth would not help anything. Therefore, Ning Fan decided to deal with everything himself.
At the end of the day, among all of those who were concerned about Feng Xueyan, Ning Fan was the only person who had a possibility of rescuing her from her nightmare.
“I have the Stele of Sun and Moon. The stored Void Fragmentation Realm strike in the stele could instantly kill a Void Pierce Stage expert or seriously injure an Absolute Void Stage expert. However, it’s only a single strike. If I only need to confront a single Void Refinement Realm old ancestor, I certainly won’t be afraid. However, if I have to face eight Void Refinement Realm old ancestors at the same time, I don’t have any confidence of eliminating all of them with my current strength. However, I’m still capable of preserving my life. Unless my opponent is a Void Fragmentation Realm expert, I will be able to go anywhere beneath the vast heavens!”
“There are still ten years before the Eight Ancestors will take away Feng Xueyan’s life. Before that happens, I must refine the Blood of Mo Luo within ten years and master the Mo Luo Ancestral Talisman to save Feng Xueyan’s life. Meanwhile, it will be better for me if I can attain the Golden Body Refining Realm as soon as possible. Today, I must find a way to obtain the second Devil Statue Slate and complete half of the advancement of my devil marks. I can’t drag it any longer.”
“Without the Golden Body Refining Realm, I won’t be able to put up an equal fight against someone at the Void Refinement Realm. Before attaining the Void Refinement Realm, I am still an insignificant ant no matter what. If my body refining realm attains the Golden Body Refining Realm, there is nothing to be afraid about facing the Eight Ancestors! Even if King Lan Ling’s second primordial spirit comes looking for me, I can also defeat him with both of my fists!”
Ning Fan’s presence emanated an aura of determination. It was the determination to successfully achieve the Golden Body Refining Realm.
That aura astonished Ju Qing but he did not ask anything about it.
When they reached the area outside of Ju Mo’s Broken World, Ju Qing took out a message-transmitting jade and for a few moments, communicated with the Eight Ancestors who were within the broken world.
After that, a portal of light suddenly emerged. The Eight Ancestors were inviting Ning Fan to enter.
Ju Qing did not enter the portal because he did not need to know about what Ning Fan and the Eight Ancestors would discuss today. Therefore, Ning Fan entered the broken world alone.
The area inside the broken world was filled with endless darkness. There was no way to see the surroundings clearly.
Ning Fan could only feel that this bottomless darkness which was impenetrable to light was in fact, a s.h.i.+elding magic technique that prevented others from probing into the broken world. Even if he secretly activates his demon and devil eyes, his vision would still not reach very far in the dark.
Ning Fan had also sensed the existence of grand formations around the place. There were six layers of powerful formations beneath his feet and eight layers of vigorous formations in all directions.
Without a doubt, the world within Ju Mo’s Broken World was established with extremely powerful great formations which had already reached the Low Level Immortal Void Grade!
*Whoosh* *Whoosh* *Whoosh*
The eight cardinal and ordinal directions where Ning Fan stood suddenly lit up with countless traces of moss green devil flames. The flames illuminated eight gigantic stone pillars which faintly glowed.
On top of each pillar sat a black shadow that was veiled by a dense column of black mist.
Each of the black shadows had vigorous qi that was above the Void Refinement Realm.
The areas in all directions slowly brightened up under the light of the devil flames.
Only then did Ning Fan clearly notice that there was an enormous door behind each of the eight gigantic stone pillars. The eight doors formed into a formation.
On the other hand, there was a huge hexagram-shaped grand formation right beneath his feet. On each of the six-pointed stars of the hexagram was a large blood pool which symbolized the Six Dao.
Since Ning Fan inherited the Dao of Formations of the He Luo Style, he learned how terrifying this grand formation was at first glance.
It was the Eight Gates, Six Dao and the Boundless Evil Sea Formation!
If this formation were to fully activate, it could produce artificial samsara power capable of hurting a Void Fragmentation Realm expert!
“You are Zhou Ming, aren’t you?”
A hoa.r.s.e voice broke the silence in the air, asking a question which had an obvious answer. That voice came from the direction of the Death Gate which was one of the eight gates. The black shadow sitting above that pillar resembled a skeleton. Its eyes glowed an eerie dark green which made its appearance rather frightening.
This humanoid shadow which resembled a skeleton was none other than the leader of the Eight Ancestors – King Ju Lu.
While he was speaking, he secretly released his Void Pierce Stage aura force in an attempt to intimidate Ning Fan.
However, when all of that aura force reached Ning Fan’s body, it turned into a gentle breeze which brushed against his face.
A few moments later, Ning Fan sent out a rush of ma.s.sive baleful qi from within his body which swept over the entire broken world with an irresistible fearsome force.
As soon as the eight old ancestors were hit with the baleful qi head-on, aside from King Ju Lu and Ju Yan, all the other six old ancestors lost their composure. Their state of mind turned chaotic and their qi was in disorder under the influence of the baleful qi.
“Is this how the great Eight Ancestors of the Giant Devil Clan treat their guests?”
Ning Fan’s voice was cold. Even though he was facing the eight old ancestors who had stronger cultivation bases than him, he actually did not have the slightest trace of fear at all.
King Ju Lu’s eyes flashed with a hint of surprise. He dismissed his aura force and said with a menacing tone.
“Little friend, your means aren’t half bad. However, it’s far from enough to behave unrestrainedly in my Giant Devil Clan with just what you have, no?”
“If you need my help to concoct some pills, then show me a fair amount of sincerity and the att.i.tude that you should have! Even though you all are the eight ancestral personages of the Giant Devil Clan, if you are impolite to me, don’t ever think you can make me concoct even half a pill for you!” Ning Fan spoke with an a.s.sertive tone while standing with his hands clasped behind his back.
“Impudence! How dare a lowly Divine Transformation Realm junior like you show discourtesy to us, the Eight Ancestors of the Giant Devil Clan?!” An angry female voice resounded. As soon as her voice fell, she raised one of her hands with the intention of attacking Ning Fan.
Countless currents of chilly wind emerged around her body and the aura force of a Void Inquiry Stage attack rose rapidly.
The other seven ancestors were all looking on with cold indifference from the sidelines, as if they silently agreed with the actions of the despicable woman.
From the perspective of the Eight Ancestors, Ning Fan was just a lowly junior no matter how good he was in pill refinement. How could he use such a tone to talk with them? He should be taught some manners.
However, before the despicable woman could finish forming her hand seals, Ning Fan released a terrifying power fluctuation through his dantian. It carried the aura force of a Void Fragmentation Realm strike. The coldness on the faces of the eight ancestors were replaced with surprise.
“Shut up! How dare you interrupt me while I’m having a conversation with King Ju Lu?!”
*Bang*
At this moment, Ning Fan merged into one with the aura force of his Stele of Sun and Moon.
At that point, the acc.u.mulated power of a Void Fragmentation Realm strike that was ready to be unleashed at any time was aimed at the Eight Ancestors. As long as the despicable woman becomes bold enough to act, Ning Fan would also send that powerful attack at her which would kill her instantly!
“Yin Sha, stop whatever you are doing now! Don’t provoke Fellow Daoist Zhou!”
The faces of the other seven ancestors who had been proud and arrogant all this while were filled with shock. All of them began to stop the woman from attacking Ning Fan.
They were truly terrified of the Void Fragmentation Realm strike that Ning Fan had. To them, that was a powerful deadly strike which they could never withstand. It could severely injure an Absolute Void Stage expert and instantly kill anyone at the Void Pierce Stage!
Even King Ju Lu who was the strongest expert among them was not capable of blocking such a powerful attack!
King Ju Lu could not believe that this lowly Divine Transformation Realm junior whom he had been underestimating would actually possess such a deadly trump card.
All of a sudden, he gained an immediate realization that he must never mess with Ning Fan.
As for the plans he had in mind earlier, be it threatening Ning Fan to force him to concoct the pills or killing him and devouring his medicine soul after he has outlived his use, King Ju Lu dismissed all of them.
He was not sure how many times Ning Fan could use such powerful Void Fragmentation Realm attacks.
However, even if Ning Fan only had a single shot, it would still be capable of killing him instantly. Thus, he would not dare to provoke him!
The tables had turned all of a sudden. Ning Fan did not even have the patience for some nonsense with King Ju Lu. He directly took out his greatest trump card which gave them a fright and eliminated all of their malicious thoughts.
Using this trump card, Ning Fan had even managed to scare off King Dong Long who was an Absolute Void Stage old monster back in the Black Lightning Tower. That being so, how can these eight ancestors who were only at the Void Inquiry Stage and the Void Pierce Stage be not afraid of him?
Unfortunately, Ning Fan only had a single stored attack in his Stele of Sun and Moon. If he had two, three… eight stored attacks, he would certainly be brave enough to kill every last one of these eight ancestors to eliminate all future troubles once and for all!
He was not afraid of revealing his greatest trump card. After all, was it strange for the half disciple of the Pill Sovereign to possess a stored Void Fragmentation Realm attack? Everyone would definitely think that such a powerful attack was the trump card the Pill Sovereign had given to Ning Fan.
After witnessing Ning Fan’s strength, that haughty woman whose name was Yin Sha turned pale. Despite the black mist covering her shadow, it was still s.h.i.+vering visibly.
She had never expected that Ning Fan would have such a peerless trump card. With the newfound knowledge of what he was capable of doing, the pressure he gave to the Eight Ancestors was nearly comparable to the second primordial spirit of King Lan Ling. No one dared to belittle him anymore.
“Don’t provoke me. Otherwise, I can’t promise you that I won’t do anything crazy.”
Ning Fan threatened them with a flat tone. The expressions of the Eight Ancestors looked rather unpleasant but none of them talked back at him.
Ning Fan also did not bother with how ugly their expressions were. In order to let your enemy become more obedient, it’s either you thicken your skin and kneel before them to lick their boots or show them enough strength to strike fear into them so that they had no choice but to swallow the humiliation no matter how dissatisfied they were.
Ning Fan completely had no intention of having a nonsensical conversation with the Eight Ancestors and asked them directly.
“If I may be so bold, what kind of pill does King Ju Lu want me to concoct? There is something I must tell you in advance. Since the difficulty varies depending on the pill, the reward I want will also not be the same. It will depend on the difficulty of refining a specific pill. Of course, your Giant Devil Clan will need to supply me all of the required medicinal ingredients and spiritual herbs. Besides, if I have any request during pill refinement, the Giant Devil Clan must obey and fulfill my request unconditionally. These are my conditions in helping you concoct pills.”
“Little friend is indeed an outspoken man who speaks his mind frankly. Then, this old man will also not beat around the bush. The reason we, the Eight Ancestors, invited you here today is because we need your help to concoct a type of Peak Grade Fifth Revolution Pills. We will need at least eight of them. As for the necessary medicinal ingredients, most of them have already been prepared. We are only lacking one of the main medicinal ingredients. However, it isn’t a big deal at the end of the day as it can be obtained very easily. You don’t need to worry about it… Moreover, if you have any request during pill refinement, you can just say them. As long as it’s reasonable, there is nothing I will not promise you. As for the rewards for refining the pills… Since the grade of the pills you are going to concoct for us isn’t low, the rewards will obviously be of equal value. Immortal jade, spiritual herbs, cultivation methods, secret arts… Whatever you want as your rewards, just name it. As long as it isn’t too excessive, I will give it to you.”
“I want the devil statue slate!”
“What?! There’s no way I can give you that!” King Ju Lu immediately rejected him.
“Rest a.s.sured. I just want to hold the slate in my hands and study it for a few days. I will return it to you in the end. I heard that King Lan Ling fought against the Mist Horn Clan and the Ghost Eye Clan in order to obtain the devil statue slate of the Six-Winged Clan. So I have always been curious about the reason behind King Lan Ling’s actions and I wish to find out what kind of treasure a devil statue slate is. Of course, other than looking at the slate, I also want one billion immortal jade and all of the spiritual herbs and pill recipes in the Giant Devil Clan’s storage as my reward.”
When they heard that Ning Fan only wanted to have a look at the slate, the expressions of the Eight Ancestors became less tense. They did not show too much resistance to his request.
After all, the Eight Ancestors had studied the slate for countless years and they still failed to see through its contents. Even that scroll of devil scriptures that was made out of beast skin in Feng Xueyan’s hands was pa.s.sed down from the earliest ancestor of the clan.
Hence, the Eight Ancestors did not think that Ning Fan would be able to discover anything by just spending a few days with the slate.
Of all the requests Ning Fan made, lending him the slate was just a small matter. His other requests, on the other hand, were the same as costing an arm and a leg to the Eight Ancestors.
They needed to pay Ning Fan one billion immortal jades and all of the spiritual herbs and pill recipes of their clan as his reward for concocting eight pills. It was literally daylight robbery.
However, they could not help it as they urgently needed eight pellets of Sinful Ocean Pills to prolong their lifespans. Therefore, they did not care how expensive Ning Fan’s demands were.
After haggling and bargaining for quite some time, the Eight Ancestors promised to give Ning Fan 500 million immortal jade. As for the pill recipes and spiritual herbs, all of them could be given to him.
With regards to the location where he would study the slate, it must be within Ju Mo’s Broken World. He could not bring the slate out of the broken realm.
At the same time, the Eight Ancestors made a small request to Ning Fan. The only lacking main medicinal ingredients for concocting the Sinful Ocean Pill could only grow in the Mist Horn Clan’s forbidden area.
Thus, they asked Ning Fan to head to the Mist Horn Clan in order to acquire this medicinal ingredient. It was fortunate that the Mist Horn Clan was going to hold a grand auction in the near future. That would be the most suitable opportunity for him to buy the required medicinal ingredient there.
Ning Fan furrowed his brows after hearing the additional request from the Eight Ancestors. It was impossible for him to run errands for the Eight Ancestors for free.
He later on made another condition that the Giant Devil Clan would need to bear not only the expenses of buying the spiritual herb but also all of his expenses in the Mist Horn Clan’s auction.
Only after the Eight Ancestors agreed to his terms did he promise to make a trip to the Mist Horn Clan and help them purchase the last missing medicinal ingredient.
After all, since he would also be going to the Mist Horn Clan to look for the remaining devil statue slates, he did not mind accepting this paid service.
Ning Fan did not have too much of an opinion about the location where he could examine the slate. He also was not too calculative about the other 500 million immortal jade that was reduced after the bargain.
The reason why he wanted to ask for such exorbitant rewards was only because he wanted to divert the attention of the Eight Ancestors in order to cover up his true motive on the slate.
If he only asked to take a look at the slate without asking for any other reward, the Eight Ancestors would have suspicions about him instead, thinking that he might have the ability to decipher the scripture on the devil slate.
Inside the broken world, Ning Fan entered a secret chamber. The Eight Ancestors cautiously stood guard outside the chamber without allowing him any chance of secretly escaping with the slate.
A few days later, Ning Fan returned the slate to them with a disappointed look. He behaved like he had failed to interpret the secret of the slate.
After returning the slate to its original place, King Ju Lu had a brief and casual conversation with Ning Fan with a mirthless smile on his face. Eventually, he sent Ning Fan out of the broken world.
When Ning Fan left, only then did he chuckle coldly.
“This kid is the same as us. He failed to find out the slate’s secret. This is all he amounts to.”
However, the Eight Ancestors did not know that the devil mark on Ning Fan’s back right now contained an extremely ma.s.sive devil qi.
He had secretly extracted the devil qi of the devil slate of the Giant Devil Clan while the Eight Ancestors were being kept in the dark, feeling pleased of themselves. They did not have the slightest clue about Ning Fan’s plan.
Ning Fan had also made a copy of the scripture on the second devil slate.
Within this scripture, it not only contained the devil scripture on the scroll in Feng Xueyan’s hands but also some additional content. It was the introduction to the cultivation levels of the ancient devil race but it was an incomplete copy.
The divine race cultivated magic power, the demon race cultivated spirit sense while the devil race cultivated blood.
The devil cultivators today were still prioritizing the cultivation of magic power. However, the devil cultivators in ancient times did not cultivate any magic power at all. They only focused on the cultivation of devil blood and they had a set of cultivation levels that was completely different from that of the divine race.
The second slate did not say too much about the cultivation levels of the ancient devil race. In order to access complete information on it, perhaps Ning Fan would need to obtain the third and fourth slates.
Ning Fan was also not particularly concerned about it. After returning to his guest house, he spent three peaceful days with his women as if nothing had happened.
Feng Xueyan felt less worried after seeing Ning Fan return without being devoured by the Eight Ancestors.
However, she was still a little angry for what he had done. Even though she was so worried about his safety and had pleaded with him to not meet the Eight Ancestors, he actually still went for the meeting secretly while she was asleep.
Because of her dissatisfaction, she did not talk to Ning Fan at all for three whole days.
Three days later, Ning Fan entered the Profound Yin World, leaving everyone outside. Then, he began a.s.similating the second trace of devil qi from the devil slate.
The reason why he chose to wait for three days before starting to a.s.similate the devil qi instead of immediately refining it once he got it was to eliminate doubt from the Eight Ancestors.
A trace of devil qi would be equivalent to one million units of magic power which was also equal to the total amount of power an expert with the First Level of Golden Body Refining Realm had.
When Ning Fan completely refined the first trace of devil qi, the strength of his physical body had already exceeded that of an ordinary First Level Golden Body Refining Realm expert. The reason why his body refining realm had yet to break through to the Golden Body Refining Realm was only because his devil mark had yet to achieve the required advancement. Otherwise, Ning Fan would have already become an expert with the First Level of Golden Body Refining Realm.
The second trace of devil qi with him right now was another one million units of magic power.
For the next three consecutive days, Ning Fan refined the devil qi in the Profound Yin World. Of the remaining three-fourths of the Profound Earth Devil Mark on his back, a third of it vanished and was replaced with the symbol of a giant.
His devil mark had achieved 1/2 advancement!
The strength of Ning Fan’s body had increased by nearly one fold. Even though he was still not as strong as an expert with the Second Level of Golden Body Refining Realm, he was almost unrivalled among all experts at the First Level of the Golden Body Refining Realm.
His entire upper body glowed with tens of thousands of golden rays.
Ning Fan clenched his fists, feeling the terrifying power that was coursing through his whole body. The current him was capable of killing s.h.i.+ Kun without even using his Yellow Dragon Seven Tokens!
“I’ve already obtained what I needed from two out of four devil slates. I just need to get my hands on the remaining two slates and I can then attain the Golden Body Refining Realm completely!”
“However, I keep having a strange feeling that the breakthrough in my body refining realm will be rather unusual. Perhaps when I gather the devil qi from all four devil slates, the improvement on my body refining realm will exceed my expectations.”
Ning Fan’s eyes shone with confidence.
Now, he completed half of the progress needed for his advancement to the Golden Body Refining Realm.
As for the remaining devil slates in the Ghost Eye Clan and the Mist Horn Clan, Ning Fan would get them by hook or by crook!