Grasping Evil - Chapter 266
Chapter 266: Chapter 266 Enter the Dragon Pond and Ascend the Sea of Clouds!
In the forbidden area of the Luo Yun Province, the Dragon Pond.
The atmosphere was starting to go dim and dark. However, it was not because it was getting late but because of the dark mist evaporating from the pond, forming the murky clouds which blocked the light of the sun.
The trees and grass of the place withered. Only a strong, nauseating stench of blood permeated the air.
But when Ning Fan inhaled it into his lungs, he felt like he had just received a good rain after a long drought and his demon power increased by a bit.
With just a single breath, one would be able to increase a tiny strand of their demon power. If an ordinary Peak Nascent Soul Realm cultivator jumps into the Dragon Pond, it would not be hard to break through to the Divine Transformation Realm within a hundred years!
However, the prerequisite was that one had to be able to remain within the pond and persist for a hundred years.
It was frequent to find dead cultivators inside the pond because of the immense demon power which crushed their bodies. Therefore, the stench of blood pervaded the pond and lasted up until now.
Ning Fan wore an austere look.
So this inky and bottomless pond before my eyes is the Dragon Pond that will cause a sensation among the demons of the Luo Yun Tribe upon hearing its name!
The Dragon Pond! If one succeeds, they could attain Divine Transformation in one attempt, but if one fails, their bodies would be crushed, being buried under the pond forever!
Invariably, risks and rewards always go hand in hand!
“The depth of this Dragon Pond is unfathomable. However, the deeper you go, the stronger the demon power of the pond. Likewise, the time needed for you to absorb the demon power and advance into the Divine Transformation Realm will become shorter. Above the depth of nine thousand zhang*, the color of the pond is black. Below that level, the pond will turn into a pond of blood. There resides the bones of the cultivators that lost their lives throughout the years. It was said that there exists a yellow spring even deeper below the blood pond where a dragon corpse was buried. The presence of the dragon corpse connected the earth veins, creating great momentum. Therefore, it was called the Dragon Pond.”
“Regarding the details, this old man does not know much. With my current Mid Divine Transformation Realm and with the help of the power of bestowal, I can at most dive under twelve thousand zhang*. As for ordinary Peak Nascent Soul Realm cultivators, they can usually only reach a thousand zhang*. At this level, they will be able to achieve the breakthrough to the Divine Transformation Realm if nothing goes wrong. Among those Peak Nascent Soul Realm cultivators who died within this pond in the past, some were too confident of themselves and dived deeper into the pond while some were stealthily killed by the ‘dark beast’ hiding in the pond… Lu Bei, be sure to remember this! The affairs of the world are ever-changing, always act according to your capability!”
“Mm.”
Ning Fan closed his eyes. Before he came, he had already done some research about the Dragon Pond.
He did not immediately enter the pond but stood beside there with his hands clasped behind his back without moving a single muscle for three full days. Not even a breeze would be able to affect him.
Three days later, when his aura arrived at his peak condition, he took a step forward, turning into a trace of purple light and dived into the pond!
I must achieve a breakthrough in the Dragon Pond!
Ning Fan had been waiting for far too long to finally make this leap.
The purple light stopped at a thousand zhang* below the pond and slowly congealed into Ning Fan’s shadow. The viscous and stinky liquid of the pond caused his brows to be knitted tightly together. However, in order to attain greater power, enduring temporary discomfort was still possible.
At his current location, his speed of refining his demon power was nearly three times faster as compared to the outer world.
For demon cultivators in the outer world, they would need to at least meditate in seclusion for two to three hundred years in order to accumulate enough demon power to progress towards the bottleneck of the Divine Transformation Realm.
In this place, however, a demon cultivator with tolerable natural potential would be able to touch the bottleneck within just tens of years!
If one goes deeper into the pond, the speed would be even faster.
Attaining the Divine Transformation Realm within ten years was definitely not an empty promise. In order to achieve that, Ning Fan just has to dive deep enough and arrive at a more suitable level.
But this place gave him a vague sense of threat. It was faintly discernible, as if someone was watching him in the dark. Perhaps it was the ‘dark beast’ mentioned by Lu Daochen.
Ning Fan spread his spirit sense. However, even with the strength of his sword sense, the coverage of his spirit sense was confined within one hundred zhang*. It was completely unable to go any further.
The sticky liquid of the pond seemed to be able to screen one’s senses. As a matter of fact, only Ning Fan was capable of sensing the vicinity of a hundred zhang* around him. Common Peak Nascent Soul Ream cultivators could only sense three zhang* around them. Even Lu Daochen was only able to sense as far as seventy zhang*.
Well, it was because they didn’t possess sword sense.
Ning Fan frowned again.
The demon power at this level might be concentrated, but it is still far from being unbearable to me.
He made a leap, turning into a purple light and plunged further downwards.
Two thousand zhang*. Three thousand zhang*…Nine thousand zhang*!
At the level of nine thousand zhang* below the pond, the pond seemed to be divided by a distinct boundary. There was the black pond above and the blood-red pond below. The liquid of the pond above that level was black whereas it became blood-red underneath him.
The speed of refining one’s demon power at that degree of depth was almost 6 times faster compared to the outside world. If one stays here, they could possibly achieve a breakthrough within 50 years!
The demon power that gushed into Ning Fan’s body caused him to feel a little uneasy. But that feeling of uneasiness instantly dissipated as soon as he activated the Jade Green Shield which was at the Second Level of the Jade Life Body Refining Realm.
“At this place, I can only achieve Divine Transformation Realm in forty years. But if I go even deeper, the time span will be shorter than this…”
The further he went downwards, the more he felt that he was being watched by the dark beasts. Apparently, there were thousands of pairs of shadowy eyes looking at him from top to bottom. Just the thought of that would make one’s hair stand on end.
Just as he was trying to cross the boundary and enter the blood-red pond, a dark shadow which was sharp like a blade pierced right at his dantian. Eerily, it passed through the defense of his Jade Green Shield with ease.
This black light is too fast! Moreover, it seemed to be able to disregard any form of defense other than demonic techniques.
“General’s Armor, appear!”
Ning Fan’s eyes narrowed coldly. A silver general armor covered his body. When the ray of black light collided against his silver mail, it trembled violently. A massive force was delivered onto Ning Fan’s abdomen but it did not manage to shatter his armor. On the contrary, the repulsive force of the collision knocked the black creature which emanated black light unconscious.
As the light from its body ceased to glow, a black miniature beast could be seen. It had a pair of wings on its back with razor-sharp fangs that were dripping with poison.
It probably is the dark beast that was spying on me just now.
A mere tiny beast like that was actually a Nascent Soul Realm beast. Because of its capabilities of breaking through one’s defenses and its abnormally fast speed, quite a lot of cultivators were caught off guard and had been killed by them.
Obviously, the beast which tried to sneak attack Ning Fan did not expect that he had a Profound Earth Grade general armor as protection. The ferocity within its eyes diminished and it turned to its back, intending to flee.
However, just before it could move half a step away, Ning Fan had already bent his hand and gave it a slap. His demon power quaked, nearly smashing the dark beast into pieces.
He then opened his palm wide and captured the dark beast into his grasp.
Looking at this beast, Ning Fan’s eyes turned grim.
These beasts are really annoying… The dark beasts at this level might only be at the Early Nascent Soul Realm, but if I go deeper, there could be Mid, Late and Peak Nascent Soul Realm dark beasts or even dark beasts that have attained the Divine Transformation Realm. If that’s the case, I suppose my armor won’t be able to withstand their attacks anymore. With the presence of the dark beasts, it’ll be extremely dangerous for me to go deeper than nine thousand zhang* on my own.
The people whom I can call out to guard me are only the female corpse and Stone Warrior. Unfortunately, the two of them don’t possess any demon power nor demonic techniques. I’m afraid they can’t withstand the attacks of the beasts. Moreover, under the sneak-attacks of the dark beasts, they might be injured and their lives might possibly be threatened.
“As such, I suppose this is the deepest I can go… Besides, I still have to be on guard every single moment…”
Ning Fan exerted strength in his palm, making the dark beast perish.
The whole body of this small beast carried poison, including its demon blood… I don’t think I can easily assimilate such venomous blood…
Just as he was hesitating, the small and exquisite Golden Flame Chariot inside his storage pouch quivered gently, as if it was extremely excited.
“Black Dragon Tomb! This qi… It can’t be wrong. This has to be the Black Dragon Tomb! Hey, you malefic being, this brother warns you. Quickly let me out. I can sense that this is the Black Dragon Tomb, a good place for me to greatly enhance my cultivation level. If you refuse to do so, I will go all-out to fight you!”
Ning Fan’s eyes flashed with surprise. The creature which was blabbering within the storage pouch was of course the chariot spirit of the Golden Flame Chariot, the Black Dragon.
Judging by his words, he seemed to know the Dragon Pond quite well as he even called it the Black Dragon Tomb.
Speaking of which, this black dragon is a fighter which possesses demon power. Good or bad, this creature is still a Mid Divine Transformation Realm demon. If I have this dragon around me, I think I won’t have to be afraid of the dark beasts…
His eyes glinted with resolution as if he had made up his mind. With a slap on his storage pouch, a golden chariot the size of his hand appeared on his palm.
Within the chariot, a dark shadow of a dragon moved around enthusiastically and scanned the surroundings. After confirming that this place really was the Black Dragon Tomb, he became especially excited, dreadfully longing to jump out from the chariot and begin to improve his demon power or even reform his demon body!
However, the pitiable black dragon had already been attached to the chariot after being turned into a chariot spirit. Unless he obtained permission from Ning Fan with his spirit sense, there was no way he could leave the chariot…
“Let me out! This Elder Brother knows you are afraid that I might acquire the inheritance in this place and break through to the Void Refinement Realm. You are afraid that I will outclass you! You envy me! You malefic being, I am warning you again! If you don’t let me out, I will really go serious on you! This Elder Brother will be really scary when I’m angry!”
“Silence!”
Ning Fan activated the demon seal and immediately, the black dragon wailed in agony. His snotty demeanor died away and his mouth ceased to utter any excessive words.
“Arghhh! Please have mercy! Master, please have mercy on me! This little brother is too elated to the degree of forgetting my position… I’m truly guilty about it!”
“Hmmph! Don’t ask why you died next time you speak insolently again! Let me ask you. What is the Black Dragon Tomb?!”
*Thump*
The black dragon’s heart pounded heavily.
How careless am I to have mentioned the Black Dragon Tomb… I was too excited just now and made a slip of the tongue…
That was actually the secret of the Black Dragon Race. Only he who was once a young master of the race could know about it. Ordinary demons had no idea of what it was!
“Er… This Elder Brother does not know what you’re talking about?”
“Three breaths! If you don’t tell me the truth, you’ll die!” Ning Fan said, feeling lazy to prolong the nonsensical conversation with the black dragon anymore.
The first breath went by!
The secondary breath went by!
Just as the third breath was about to come, the black dragon gave in.
With his teeth gritted together, he reluctantly said, “Fine! Isn’t it just about the Black Dragon Pond? There’s no big deal in telling you about it! At the end of the day, other than the members of the Black Dragon Race, no one would be able to gain the slightest advantage from this place…” The black dragon spoke, feeling pleased with himself.
Apparently, my luck isn’t that bad after everything that had happened. Being degraded as a sinful dragon and had my claws chopped off. Being turned into a chariot spirit. I originally thought I’m really out of luck. But now, here comes a chance for me to get a break. I actually discovered the Black Dragon Tomb!
“Get to the point!” Ning Fan exerted the strength in his palm. The black dragon’s demon soul within the golden chariot was on the verge of collapsing. Instantly, he became terrified again.
“No. Don’t do it! Let’s not hurt each other’s feelings! This Elder Brother will tell you everything I know! This Black Dragon Tomb is actually the tomb of a senior of my Black Dragon Race who possesses the royal bloodline. Due to the unique terrain of this place, a secret art was used to connect his dragon veins with the earth veins, turning it into a dragon cave which retains his corpse as well as his blood essence for the descendants of the race to devour and absorb… However, only the members of my race will be able to obtain the inheritance. Common people can’t do that! Hehe. If the senior who was buried here is a Heavenly Demon, then I’m truly lucky. Hahaha. If I absorb his demon corpse and demon blood, I will be able to at least break through to the Void Fragmentation Realm with ease!” His black dragon’s eyes flashed with eagerness.
“A royalty of the Black Dragon Race…”
Ning Fan frowned. From the Demon Codex, he had come across some information about the Dragon Race. It originally had numerous branches. But after the great cataclysm of heaven and earth, other than the Immemorial Thunder Dragon Race, no one from the other Dragon Races had managed to awaken the royal bloodline…
However, before the great calamity, the Black Dragon Race was once stronger than the Thunder Dragon Race.
That is to say, this Dragon pond existed long before Lu Wu went into slumber and the collapse of heaven and earth?
Will there be the corpse of a royalty of the Black Dragon Race lying below?
The boundary of the Second World is weak. It can at most allow Divine Transformation Realm beings to enter. In other words, even if there really is a corpse of the Black Dragon Race’s royalty, that being’s cultivation level can only be below the Half-Step Void Refinement Realm.
As such, it is certainly impossible to have a Heavenly Demon’s corpse as what the black dragon mentioned. At best, there can only be a Divine Transformation Realm demon corpse…
Perhaps the black dragon was bound to be disappointed.
However, since this place was the tomb of his race, he should presumably know the methods how to deal with the dark beasts.
“Do you have any means to face the dark beasts?” Ning Fan asked in a deep tone.
“Dark beasts? Just them? They are just my snacks. As long as I reveal myself, all of them have to flee!” The black dragon proudly replied.
“Very well! Then, I will cultivate here and you will be responsible in guarding me. If anything goes wrong, I will activate the Demon Seal and take your life! You are permitted to come out now!”
Ning Fan touched the golden chariot with his finger. The black dragon trembled and flew out from the chariot, transforming into a physical dragon with a massive body.
After keeping the golden chariot, Ning Fan stepped above the black dragon and ordered, “Go further down!”
“No problem. It’s all on me!”
The black dragon agreed with certainty while feeling ecstatic inwardly.
“This malefic being wants to cultivate in this place?! Haha. Good! Very good! During this period of time, I will capture all the dark beasts around this tomb and obtain the inheritance from the deceased royalty, seizing the opportunity to advance into the Void Refinement Realm. As soon as I achieve the breakthrough, no matter how strong the Demon Seal is, it can’t control a demon beast who has a big cultivation level gap over its castor. When the time comes, I’ll definitely be able to break free from his grasp!”
Suddenly, the black dragon was filled with hope and optimism about his future.
However, just as he traversed the blood pond and entered the yellow spring at the bottom, all his hopes were crushed, leaving only disappointment within him.
Thirty thousand zhang* below the pond – the Land of the Yellow Spring!
Multitudes of human bones were piled up on this land. The set of skeletons that come out on top among the pile of bones belonged to a dead black dragon which was already half decomposed.
By the look of the dragon blood, this black dragon should be just half a step away from advancing into the Void Refinement Realm when it was alive back then. It was not much different from Ning Fan’s expectations.
*Glass breaking sound*
The black dragon’s wonderful dream was smashed to pieces.
“Just a Divine Transformation Realm dragon’s corpse?! It’s not a Heavenly Demon?! F**k! I rejoiced too soon! If that’s the case, even if I devour this dragon corpse as well as its demon blood, I can only break through to the peak stage of the Divine Transformation Realm!”
“The dragon blood is mine. The decayed corpse is yours!”
Ning Fan smiled and leaped from the back of the black dragon. With a wave of his sleeve, droplets of black, shiny dragon blood filled with overflowing demon power were attracted into his hands. Without a second thought, he gulped down every last one of them.
The black dragon was perplexed and was mentally crushed.
“Originally, I can only attain the Peak Divine Transformation Realm after devouring the dragon corpse and the dragon blood. Now, I can only break through to the Late Divine Transformation Realm! I’ll kill you!”
“If you make any more noises, I’ll take the dragon corpse for myself too!”
Ning Fan’s eyes turned slightly grim and triggered the Demon Seal. Instantaneously, the black dragon felt an acute pain from his Sea of Consciousness, crying out for his parents like a child.
Anyhow, I didn’t help this malefic being for nothing. Finally, I’ve gotten the dragon corpse as a reward. Whether it’s rotten or not, it’s still better than having nothing! I’ll bear it! I’ll eat it!
After eating this dragon corpse, I’ll assimilate every last bit of the demon power and strive to attain the Late Divine Transformation Realm. With the dark beasts as nourishment, perhaps I still have hopes of attaining the Peak Divine Transformation Realm and even break through to the Void Refinement Realm!
The black dragon muttered inwardly. As soon as he thought about that possibility, his eyes shone with confidence again. The dejected feeling was completely gone.
His dragon eyes scanned around the surroundings and spotted nearly a dozen dark beasts at the Early Divine Transformation Realm hiding in the dark.
Aiyo. These are truly delicious rations!
In the dark, there were more than just thousands of pairs of eyes spying on Ning Fan. But as soon as they caught sight of the black dragon, each and every one of them shivered uncontrollably with fear.
The black dragon were the dark beasts’ predator!
Therefore, it was just a natural instinct of the dark beasts to fear the black dragon. Moreover, the dark beasts could not even display ten percent of their power in the presence of the black dragon!
At thirty thousand zhang* deep below the pond, the demon power nearly stuffed Ning Fan’s body to the extent of nearly exploding.
If his body refining realm had not broken through to the Second Level of the Jade Life Realm, if he did not have the protection of the royal Fu Li Bloodline, he would certainly be unable to adapt to the immense demon power of the area.
At this place, his cultivation speed was more than 30 times faster than the outside world!
In other words, it was not difficult for him to achieve Divine Transformation Realm within ten years!
After seeing that the black dragon was naturally oppressive towards the dark beasts, he set his mind at rest.
With the Demon Seal, unless the black dragon is stronger than me by a major cultivation realm, he would not dare to play any tricks.
Safety is no longer an issue with the presence of this dragon. The only worrisome matter is whether or not he will advance into the Void Refinement Realm in one attempt after devouring too many dark beasts…
“There’s nothing to fear! The blood of the dark beasts contain poison which can only be purified by the black dragons. I shall wait for this black dragon to consume as many dark beasts as possible and cleanse the poison from the blood. Then, I shall seize the purified demon power and consume it myself. In that case, this dragon’s cultivation realm can be constrained…”
Ning Fan’s eyes glittered with cold light. After giving multiple orders to the black dragon to restrict his movements, he sat down in a lotus position. With a pat on his storage pouch, he fished out the Blue Flame Grass and the Demon Marshal’s golden blood.
13 complete droplets of golden blood and 84 strands of golden blood streaks…I’m afraid these are all the remnants of the Demon Marshal’s blood in the entire Land of Slumber.
As the items appeared, the depressed countenance of the black dragon who was busy catching and killing the dark beasts suddenly brightened up.
“The Demon Marshal’s blood essence?! How did he gather so many of them?! They are really good…”
The black dragon could not imagine where and how Ning Fan obtained so much golden blood.
He audibly swallowed his saliva and bitterly filtered out his greedy thoughts.
No. I can’t seize the malefic being’s golden blood. They might be good, but the current me is bound by the Demon Seal, I can’t oppose him…
“Fine. The golden blood is all yours! This Elder Brother will endure for the time being! I’ll just eat the dark beasts with all my might!”
…
It took three months for Ning Fan to consume the golden blood.
During that time, Ning Fan did not move nor speak. He sat still in deep meditation as a faint golden light began to radiate from his body. At the same time, there were blue flames blazing within him, gradually refining the golden light.
His demon power increased bit by bit, slowly advancing into the realm of the Divine Transformation Realm.
When the last strand of golden blood was fully assimilated, his demon power had increased to 10147 units!
As his demon power broke through ten thousand units, he also broke through to the borderline of the Divine Transformation Realm. At this very moment, Ning Fan suddenly opened his eyes. With a single thought, he condensed all the golden light and the blue flames into his body, finalizing the refining process.
“My demon power has already reached 10000 units… It’s time to begin condensing the demon power and crush the bottleneck of the Divine Transformation Realm…”
With a slap on his storage pouch, he pulled out the General Breaking Pill, the Profound Blood Pill and the Separation and Reunion Pill. Other than the three pills, he also took out the fourth pill – Cloud Forming Pill.
The Cloud Forming Pill was a secret prescription of Lu Daochen. It would be able to raise the chances of success in achieving the breakthrough by 10%.
Consuming the four pellets in front of him would be able to increase 35% of his chances of success. With his demon power which was already more than 10000 units and the two types of intents that he had comprehended in the past, if he still failed in attaining the Divine Transformation Realm, it would be a total humiliation for him.
Within four months, Lu Wan’er had already succeeded in making the phoenix wings. She stood at the side of the Dragon Pond, patiently waiting for the moment when Ning Fan completes his advancement.
Within four months, the demon concubine would occasionally come to pay a visit. Her concern was still of course just about the map of the World Passage.
Within four months, Lu Daochen held a luopan1 in his hand, displaying a secret art to determine how deep Ning Fan had dived below.
When the luopan showed that Ning Fan was thirty thousand zhang* deep below the yellow spring, Lu Daochen’s face was filled with astonishment.
He had no idea what means Ning Fan had that enabled him to dive under such depth. The ferocity of the dark beasts at that level was enough to make him feel dread. It was impossible that he would dare to dive to that level…
“This man’s capabilities are still beyond my anticipation… The younger generation is truly fearsome, as the saying goes: the young generation should be feared! Attaining the Divine Transformation Realm within 10 years… I suppose he will really be able to achieve it…”
The first year went by, the second year went by and the third…
When the seventh year came by, within the territory of the Pure Flame Tribe, millions of li were stained with blood. Hundreds of thousands of demons were massacred. The passage connecting the Demon World was opened for the second time!
On the eighth year, a ray of dazzling sunlight shone down from the sky above the Luo Yun Province. A beautiful woman clad in purple robes was leading at least ten delicate and pretty Divine Transformation Realm female demons arrived at the province!
On the ninth year, the flames of war rose within the Land of Slumber. The prince of the Demon Sovereign had launched attacks towards three demon tribes while the Demon Concubine Zi had stormed two, seizing all their maps. Other than the Second Tribe and the Third Tribe which were not being assaulted and still managed to keep their maps with them, the rest of the tribes had all lost theirs.
Under the protection of Demon Concubine Wu Yan, Demon Concubine Zi did not wrest the maps in Ning Fan and Lu Daochen’s possession for the time being.
But on the tenth year, the Pure Flame Tribe’s target had shifted to the Luo Yun Tribe.
A period of ten years flew by like clouds in the sky.
After ten years of bitter cultivation, Ning Fan’s demon power became dense and concentrated. For every second that passed by, he became closer to breaking through.
Throughout the ten years, Ning Fan had not opened his eyes even once. All his focus was completely in advancing through the bottleneck of the Divine Transformation Realm.
In the same year, he finally breached the invisible barrier. His state of mind sank into the Heavenly Dao, appearing in a domain of clouds.
On top of the sea of clouds, there were three gigantic tablets made of stone.
The three massive tablets seemed to have been carved with all the names of the cultivators who had achieved the Divine Transformation Realm throughout the ages. The height of each of the tablets was immeasurably tall, seemingly endless.
Below the tablets stood a Daoist child who was holding a fly-whisk in his hand. As he caught sight of Ning Fan approaching step by step, he uttered with an indifferent tone, “Hmm? A cultivator from the Rain World…’Sever your mortal coil in the sea of clouds, transform as a deity and ascend the heavens’. This place is the Sea of Clouds. The three stone tablets before your eyes are the Three Tablets of Heavenly Dao. The purple stele is for demon cultivators; the green stele is for divine cultivators while the one in black is for devil cultivators. The Heavenly Dao will only be in harmony when the three tablets coincide with each other. You, the cultivator from the Rain World, will only need to complete the three steps of severing your mortal coil and carve your name on the tablets. Then, you will complete your Divine Transformation…”
As the Daoist child finished speaking, he closed his eyes, holding his head high arrogantly and remained silent. Apparently, he did not intend to converse any further with Ning Fan.
As for the three steps of severing one’s mortal coil, he did not give any explanation at all.
“The Divine Tablets of Heavenly Dao. The three steps of severing one’s mortal coil… Did I just enter into the Heavenly Dao?”
As Ning Fan inched forward to the tablets and scanned through the three gigantic monuments with his eyes, he was inwardly surprised by the quantity of the names engraved unto them.
There are actually so many Divine Transformation Realm cultivators who once existed in heaven and earth…
If he carves his name unto the stele, he would then obtain the recognition from the Heavenly Dao and become a true Divine Transformation Realm demon cultivator!
If he does not carve his name, he would never be able to complete his Divine Transformation, let alone proceed to Devil Transformation…
“What was Dong Xu trying to tell me in the past… How should I achieve Devil Transformation?”
When he got closer to the steles, he felt like the vast and boundless aura emanated by the steles was going to melt him away.
As his eyes were perusing the tablets, he suddenly noticed that each and every one of the unfamiliar names were actually glowing in different colors.
Red, orange, yellow, emerald green, jade green, blue and purple. Each of the color represented one’s luck at the end of their cultivation paths. Most of them were glowing in red, orange, yellow, emerald green and jade green. There were only a minority of the names shone in blue color whereas the names gleaming in purple were extremely rare…
What Ning Fan was truly concerned about were not the purple names but a black name that was mixed up in the list.
He was not interested in it at first but when he took a closer look at it, his expression changed drastically.
Yin Yang Star, Han Yuanji!
“Master! His name is also on the Divine Tablet! It can’t be wrong. This name carries Master’s unique aura. There is no way I can be wrong!”
“However, why is it black in color? Why is the color of Master’s name different from the rest? Don’t tell me this is the key to Devil Transformation?!”
His eyes glanced through the three giant tablets again, from the bottom to the top. Occasionally, there would be one black name appearing among ten thousands of names. He shifted his gaze unto the haughty Daoist child. He might look young but his bone age was already more than one thousand years old and his presence radiated Late Divine Transformation Realm aura.
Ning Fan brought his eyes back to focus and cupped his fists.
“Your Excellency, may I ask why the names on the Divine Tablets are glowing in different colors?”
“Huh?! You are able to notice the difference of color of the names?!”
The Daoist child’s eyes widened in amazement.
It was because the colors were the representations of luck. Ordinary cultivators would not be able to notice them at all. Generally speaking, only True Immortals were able to spot them. In the Immortal Mansion that the Daoist child was assigned to, the probability of a Void Fragmentation Realm cultivator to notice luck was pretty low. It could be said that out of ten of them, no one would be able to see it. As for the cultivators who had yet to achieve the Divine Transformation Realm, the probability was even lower. The ratio was nearly zero to ten thousand!
Immediately, the arrogant demeanor of the Daoist child dissipated and he cupped his fists towards Ning Fan as an act of courtesy.
“Fellow Daoist really has an unprecedentedly sharp observation. You’re truly extraordinary! I am a subordinate to the Black Tortoise Star of the Void Realm of the Northern Ocean, acting as a tablet protector of the Tablets Master Immortal Emperor. My Daoist name is Yi Qing2. May I know what’s Fellow Daoist’s name?!”
With just a bone age of a thousand years old, this Daoist child, Yi Qing had already attained the Late Divine Transformation Realm. His innate potential was truly outstanding. Even in the Black Tortoise Star, his reputation was also not weak. Among the great talents of the Black Tortoise Star, those whom Yi Qing could place in his eyes were few. But today, Ning Fan had caused that Daoist child’s eyes to light up with interest.
This man is already able to read the color of luck even though he has yet to completely achieve the Divine Transformation. He certainly is unique.
This kind of talented being is definitely worthwhile for me to befriend!
“I’m Ning Fan!”
Ning Fan replied with his fists cupped. Before the Divine Tablets, it would be meaningless to conceal his true name.
There was no way he could hide his identity if he has to go through the three steps of severing his mortal coil and eventually engrave his name on the tablet.
Up until now, no one among the cultivators who came could cause the Daoist child to cast a second glance at them… Ning Fan was the first one!
‘Fellow Daoist is able to recognize one’s luck. I’m afraid when Fellow Daoist carves your name on the tablet, you will need the help of Senior Sister Bei Li to congeal the pen of luck…”
The Daoist child took out a green talisman and muttered a few words.
Thirteen years. For the past thirteen years, no cultivators at the Divine Transformation Realm could identify luck.
The Daoist child had a feeling that the entire Sea of Cloud would be shaken by Ning Fan.
Translated by Tommy, edited by Roel
Note:
Luopan (Chinese: 罗盘, pinyin: luópán) or the geomantic compass is a Chinese magnetic compass, also known as a Feng Shui Compass. It is used by a Feng Shui practitioner to determine the precise direction of a structure or other item. (Click here for picture)
Yi Qing (Chinese: 一清, pinyin: yī qīng). Yi means one, Qing means pure.
