Grasping the Evil-Chapter 875: Mid Stage Enlightenment, Dark Thunder Chariot
"Are you ready?" The Elder River Demon gradually showed a serious expression, his gaze heavy as he asked.
"Yes." Ning Fan nodded, his eyes focused, and his whole demeanor completely restrained, not leaking a single bit.
In his eyes, there was a sense of will, fully prepared to resist the will of the Treasure Bead.
That will was strong, almost an obsession.
The Elder River Demon showed a hint of appreciation in his eyes, waved his hand, and summoned the Willpower Pearl, performing incantation gestures with his fingers.
It was a Willpower Pearl he had spent hundreds of millions of years to condense, yet he didn’t hesitate to give it to Ning Fan, simply because he found Ning Fan highly agreeable.
The Pearl spun rapidly in mid-air, and when it reached its tenth rotation, it suddenly exploded like a volcanic eruption, bursting out with a chaotic and earth-shaking force of will.
The entire Inner Heavenly Dao trembled violently due to that powerful will.
Under the control of the Elder River Demon, that will heavily suppressed Ning Fan, and in an instant, Ning Fan felt as though he was being crushed by countless mountain peaks, nearly suffocating!
Fortunately, this will was benevolent, not malicious, causing Ning Fan’s bloodflow not to stagnate but instead increase a thousandfold.
Ning Fan’s skin turned flush red and started emitting steam, his body under high stress, but his gaze remained as clear as water.
At this moment, Ning Fan was finally convinced that the Elder River Demon truly bore goodwill towards him, thus slightly lowering his guard when looking at the Elder River Demon.
With an open mouth, Ning Fan swallowed several Fate Immortal Dao Fruits on his lap, refining them in his belly, and then took out other Dao Fruits to refine as well.
He had taken many Fate Immortal Dao Fruits from the Godly Void Pavilion, leaving many for the little demoness, and still had nearly seven hundred left.
Even with the enhancement of the Yin Yang Locket, it would take Ning Fan one to two years to fully absorb them all with his full effort.
Now, with the amplification of the Willpower Pearl, Ning Fan’s bloodflow increased a thousandfold, allowing him to refine all the Fate Immortal Dao Fruits in just one day!
Unfortunately, perhaps Ning Fan had consumed too many Fate Immortal Dao Fruits already, as the efficacy of the fruits decreased the more he consumed them.
When he consumed the last Fate Immortal Dao Fruit, its efficacy was only a tenth of the initial one...
In the Four Heavens, it was rare for a cultivator like Ning Fan to consume Fate Immortal Dao Fruits until they almost lost their efficacy...
Even though Ning Fan was a Three Apertures Ancient God with an eightfold refining effect compared to normal, after consuming all the Fate Immortal Dao Fruits, his mana only increased by thirty percent.
Ning Fan gave the little demoness 10 of the Enlightenment Dao Fruits, keeping 48 for himself.
For the Shekong Dao Fruits, he gave the little demoness 2 and the Sparrow God Kidd one, keeping 9 for himself.
Ning Fan then spent two more days consuming all the Enlightenment and Shekong Dao Fruits, only slightly touching the bottleneck of Mid Stage Enlightenment.
The Dao Fruits he consumed this time, if converted into Dao Crystals, would have a value exceeding trillions, even for Eternal Cultivators.
Yet, the value of trillions of Dao Crystals only allowed Ning Fan to touch the bottleneck of Mid Stage Enlightenment, making the efficacy of the fruits fall short of their price, leaving Ning Fan unimpressed.
Few Enlightenment Realm cultivators could consume Fate Immortal Dao Fruits in such quantities. Naturally, few forces could afford to mass-cultivate True Immortal experts by relying solely on Dao Fruits and expensive pills, as it’s an immense waste of resources.
For True Immortals, Dao Fruits and expensive pills are mainly used for breaking through small bottlenecks, with cultivation enhancement being secondary.
The primary way for True Immortals to enhance their cultivation is not through consuming external items but through meditative sitting, absorbing Dao force and Spiritual Energy from heaven and earth, deep contemplation, feeling the Heavenly Dao, to enhance inner Dao Enlightenment.
This process often requires thousands, tens of thousands, or even hundreds of thousands of years of arduous cultivation, consuming enormous amounts of time.
Thus, in the Enlightenment Realm, there might be cultivators with a bone age of tens of thousands of years, but among Shekong Cultivators, there are few with bone ages below a million years...
"For True Immortals, the efficacy of Dao Fruits is somewhat lacking..."
Ning Fan sighed softly, then looked up, gazing towards the Elder River Demon and the Willpower Pearl.
For three consecutive days, the Elder River Demon had been manipulating the Willpower Pearl, assisting Ning Fan in refining various treasures, and now he appeared exhausted, clearly indicating helping Ning Fan was a significant expenditure for him.
The Willpower Pearl had reduced to three-quarters of its original size, depleting a quarter of its power.
"So, having refined so many Dao Fruits, how confident are you now about breaking through the Mid Stage Enlightenment bottleneck?" The River Demon laughed heartily, asking.
"Less than fifty percent...it’s quite low..."
"Less than fifty percent is low? You truly speak boldly as someone able to create a True Bridge... Do you have more Dao Fruits? If you do, I can continue helping you refine them, using up the entire power of this Pearl. After all, this Pearl was crafted by me during my idle time while guarding the river, and is of little use to me but very beneficial to you." The River Demon spoke generously.
"I’ve used up all the Dao Fruits I had, but I have something else, stronger in efficacy than those Dao Fruits, and I wish to borrow the power of the Willpower Pearl to refine it."
With that, Ning Fan performed a special spirit sense, and a dark glow flashed from his Dantian, sending out a Dark Star Fruit.
"Hiss! It’s a Dark Star Fruit specific to the Dark Origin Sect! Such an item is extremely rare in the Dreamland Realm, and you actually have one!" The River Demon’s eyes immediately widened in shock, and his gaze upon Ning Fan became more solemn.
"Dark Origin Sect?" Ning Fan was slightly surprised, as it was evidently his first time hearing this name.
"The Dark Origin Sect is an immortal sect in the ancient immortal domain; it’s not surprising you don’t know of it... I didn’t expect you to have a Dark Star Fruit, which is not easy to refine... The force within my Willpower Pearl can only last for ten more days. I wonder if it’s enough to help you refine this Dark Star Fruit..."
"Might as well give it a try!"
The River Demon waved his hand, and the power of will from the Pearl increased again, pressing down on Ning Fan.
Ning Fan didn’t waste the pressure of the will, and without a second thought, he swallowed the Dark Star Fruit again, refining it into his Dantian, and began the process of refinement.
The process of refining the Dark Star Fruit was indeed as difficult as the River Demon predicted.
For others, refining a Dark Star Fruit would take at least a thousand to ten thousand years; even with Ning Fan’s extraordinary talent and the help of the Willpower Pearl, after ten days, he only refined a tenth of the Dark Star Fruit...
After ten days, the power of the Willpower Pearl was exhausted, dispersing into faint lake light.
"I originally thought I could at least refine one or two Dark Star Fruits this time; it seems my expectations were a bit high..." Ning Fan said with a wry smile.
For an ordinary cultivator, one Dark Star Fruit could enhance forty thousand years of cultivation. For Ning Fan, a Three Apertures Ancient God, one Dark Star Fruit could increase by three hundred and twenty thousand years of cultivation.
A tenth of a Dark Star Fruit could still enhance thirty-two thousand years of cultivation.
At this moment, Ning Fan was fully confident in breaking through the Mid Stage Enlightenment bottleneck and crossing the second Bridge of Conviction.
He slowly stood up and cupped his fists in gratitude towards the River Demon, "Thank you! Senior, for your assistance today, I will repay your kindness in the future!"
The gratitude was, of course, for the River Demon’s help in refining the Dao Fruits and the Dark Star Fruit.
"Haha, I don’t care for your repayment! But if one day you can see through the truth of the Dreamland Realm, I may indeed have a small matter to ask your assistance with... If that day truly comes, don’t refuse me, young friend..." The River Demon said half-jokingly.
Ning Fan didn’t comprehend the meaning of the River Demon’s words, not understanding what it meant to see through the truth of the Dreamland Realm.
However, he remembered the River Demon’s words. If there ever comes a day when he truly sees through the truth of the Dreamland Realm, he would naturally find the River Demon to hear his request and do his best to help.
"Alright! Quickly go to the True Bridge and break through to the Mid Stage Enlightenment! You’ve already spent quite some time in the Inner Heavenly Dao, and I suppose it won’t be long before you leave this place, so don’t waste your time crossing the bridge."
The River Demon laughed heartily, took a deep look at Ning Fan, and then disappeared with a flicker, re-entering the first Zhenhuan River.
Ning Fan glanced towards the direction of the first river, withdrew his gaze, turned around, and walked towards the second river, stepping onto the second Bridge of Conviction!
As he set foot on this step, countless river water wills sank heavily down upon him.
The river water will of the second Zhenhuan River was several times stronger than that of the first river. However, Ning Fan’s strength had now exceeded beyond several times that before; though it was difficult to progress on the second bridge, he still moved forward slowly and steadily.
With each step forward, Ning Fan’s cultivation would improve a little.
Upon reaching the Other Shore, Ning Fan’s entire cultivation smoothly broke through to the Mid Stage Enlightenment. After the breakthrough, his mana was comparable to those in the Late Stage Enlightenment, and it surpassed the average Late Stage Enlightenment by several levels!
Exhaling a murky breath, Ning Fan raised his head to look at the surrounding world, only to see that spatial turbulence was already appearing in the Inner Heavenly Dao, clearly intending to expel him from this place.
"Time to leave..."
Ning Fan cupped his fists towards the first river, and with a raised hand, tore open a pitch-black passageway in front of him, stepping into it, departing.
...
Half a month has passed since Ning Fan entered the Inner Heavenly Dao for Enlightenment.
During this half month, Liu Yan and Xian Luoli have stayed in the Barbarian Valley, waiting for Ning Fan’s return.
Every day Xian Luoli wakes up, she loses memory of Liu Yan, causing much headache for Liu Yan.
Fortunately, Ning Fan had already left behind a jade scroll recording, which captures fragments of memories of living with Liu Yan and Xian Luoli.
Every day, Liu Yan would show these recordings to Xian Luoli, reminding her that she’s not an enemy.
"Liu Yan, why hasn’t dad come back yet? Xianxian misses dad..."
Xian Luoli climbed a tree like a little monkey, shaking her feet, gnawing on Thunder Pills, staring blankly at the sky.
During the days Ning Fan wasn’t there, she would zone out every day, thinking about Ning Fan.
"Soon... Whether Senior succeeds or fails in Enlightenment, after half a month, he should return..."
Liu Yan guarded beneath the tree, watching Xian Luoli, afraid she might wander out of the Barbarian Valley while Ning Fan was away and encounter danger.
Although she knows well that Xian Luoli’s strength is comparable to a Mid-stage Shaking Old Monster, posing little danger in the primitive and wild lands...
However, after decades of interaction, the bond between her, Ning Fan, and Xian Luoli has grown to feel almost like family. That feeling is intoxicating, making Liu Yan reluctant, yet she knows it’s false; there’s no true family relationship among them.
Boom!
The clear sky suddenly resounded with a muffled thunder, followed by several streaks of escape light held by Yin Yang Transformation experts, holding Offering Vessel of Ancient Demons, arriving at this Barbarian Valley.
The visitors were three in total: two were Initial Stage Enlightenment True Dragon Clan Transformation experts, and the other was a Mid-stage Shaking Purple Armored Dragon Demon.
If Ning Fan were present, he would surely recognize the Mid-stage Shaking Purple Armored Dragon Demon as one of the four Poison Dragon Guards he couldn’t kill that day!
"Commander Feng, this is the location indicated by the map. Our task is to unseal the ancient formation here... Huh? Someone’s in the valley?"
The two Initial Stage Enlightenment Dragon Demons were reporting something to the Shaking Poison Dragon Guard when their gazes abruptly changed, silencing them.
The Poison Dragon Guard, known as Commander Feng, casually glanced down at the Barbarian Valley and said indifferently,
"They’re just two low-cultivation human experts, one at Void Fragmentation and the other seemingly not harmonized yet; nothing worth alarming. You two head down and silence them. We’re acting on the Ancestor’s secret order; no one can witness our actions!"
"Yes!"
The two Enlightenment Dragon Demons obeyed, immediately displaying cold glints in their eyes as they charged downwards, releasing killing intent recklessly, directly locking onto Liu Yan and Xian Luoli.
"Not good! Xianxian, run!"
Liu Yan’s beautiful eyes widened in shock as she leaped onto the tree, grabbing Xian Luoli’s hand, ready to crush the jade scroll Ning Fan left her to escape.
Despite her low cultivation, unable to discern the exact strength of the three Dragon Demons, she faintly sensed their terrifying presence.
Although aware of Xian Luoli’s prowess, Liu Yan was uncertain whether Xian Luoli was stronger than the three Dragon Demons. Sensing their exposed murderous intent, she sought foolproof escape plans.
That jade scroll was given by Ning Fan before his departure, containing a trace of Vertical Golden Light’s power.
Once crushed, the scroll instantly emitted a golden light, enveloping Liu Yan and Xian Luoli, flashing away in the sky.
"So quick!" The two Enlightenment Dragon Demons’ eyes shook, frantically releasing spirit sense, but within the range could no longer find any trace of the two women.
"Oh? Unexpectedly, a mere Void Fragmentation junior holds such a formidable escape jade scroll. Could she be a descendant of a Human Clan Immortal Honorific... An Immortal Honorific’s lineage? Haha, that makes her worth killing even more, presenting such a grand achievement to the Ancestor!"
Commander Feng sneered, flicking a finger towards the sky, having a purple dragon shadow appear.
"Get on, I will help you earn a merit!"
Commander Feng leaped onto the purple dragon’s head, carrying the two Enlightenment Dragon Demons, aiming in a direction, ready to pursue.
Suddenly, Commander Feng appeared perplexed as the two women inexplicably returned the way they came...
The reason for returning was due to Xian Luoli.
"Liu Yan, why are we running? Dad won’t find us when he returns!" Moments before, Xian Luoli complained, being enveloped in the golden escape rainbow by Liu Yan, pouting.
She wasn’t afraid of the three Dragon Demons, wanting to stay in the valley and await ’Dad Ning Fan’ to return home.
"Those three are very formidable Yin Yang Transformation. Senior said if we encounter formidable masters, we should crush the jade scroll for escape... He left behind plenty of jade scrolls. Once we flee further, I will activate the concealing jade scroll, hiding our presence and eluding these pursuers easily..." Liu Yan replied gravely.
"No way, I’m not escaping, I want to go back and wait for Dad!"
Xian Luoli swung her fist, directly punching a hole in the Vertical Golden Light escape technique, stepping on silver thunderous cold energy as she returned the way they came towards Barbarian Valley.
Liu Yan’s delicate face changed, foregoing the golden light escape, biting her silver teeth, she activated the golden light, returning the same way, chasing after Xian Luoli.
Thus, the two women once more ended up back in the Barbarian Valley.
Xian Luoli to stay and await Ning Fan, and Liu Yan to take Xian Luoli away...
"Interesting, interesting... Your golden light technique is quite remarkable. I was worried you’d escape my perception range; never expected you’d return for death..."
"This time, you won’t have another chance to escape!"
Commander Feng watched the approaching Xian Luoli and Liu Yan, sneering, raising his hand, pointing to the sky, saying solemnly,
"Heavenly Demon Art, carve the sky into a mirror!"
As Commander Feng’s finger pointed down, the sky within the valley’s expanse solidified as if sealed by a barrier.
Liu Yan and Xian Luoli’s escape light collided with an invisible wall, retreating backwards with a bang, their escape light extinguished, unable to advance further.
"Unite!"
Without giving the women more time to react, Commander Feng clapped his hands, activating a divine skill, causing countless earthen stones within the valley to soar skyward, forming two massive stone palms.
The palms originally at each side of the women, upon activation, simultaneously slammed down towards the women.
With Commander Feng’s Mid-stage Shaking cultivation, his dual palms could easily achieve a one-hit kill against any Enlightenment Cultivator. 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝐰𝚎𝕓𝐧𝚘𝘃𝗲𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝕞
Commander Feng believed his divine skill would decisively obliterate the two women effortlessly.
Unexpectedly, during the instance the two palms converged, it wasn’t Xian Luoli who received any attention. Instead, Xian Luoli suddenly raised her delicate fist, delivering punches towards each side, shattering both giant palms.
Her expression remained relaxed.
"Liu Yan, don’t worry, this old jerk isn’t my match, but it seems hard for me to kill him now..."
"I want to stay here and wait for Dad to come home. Though I can’t defeat them, Dad said if bullied, fight back!"
Xian Luoli punched again, causing the surrounding miles of barrier to shatter like glass.
With a toe tap, she astonishingly dashed towards Commander Feng and others, raising a small hand, whereupon a huge silver lightning diagram appeared in the sky.
Within the diagram, cold energy surged forth, with chilling lightning forming a half-ice-cold half-thunder ancient war chariot.
At the appearance of the chariot, Commander Feng suddenly showed disbelief, his expression shifting.
He recognized the lightning diagram, chariot, and sensed Xian Luoli’s powerful aura!
"She concealed her cultivation; she’s actually a Mid-stage Shaking Cultivator!"
"Moreover, shockingly, she’s from the East Heavenly Extreme Thunder Palace Cultivator! The technique she used is clearly the Extreme Thunder Palace Forbidden Technique... Dark Thunder Chariot!"
In the next instant, millions of cold thunder runes emerged from the chariot, with the cannon on the chariot releasing deafening thunder cannons.
A lethal threat surged upon Commander Feng and the other two Enlightenment minds! (To be continued. If you enjoyed this work, feel free to vote for recommendation tickets and monthly tickets on qidian.com. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please visit m.qidian.com to read.)
