Grasping the Evil-Chapter 998: Saint’s Script

Do I still need to earn the favor of the Dabei clan?

Ning Fan frowned slightly. His personality didn’t enjoy flattering others, but for the sake of accomplishing his mission, even if he was unwilling, he would try to make friends with the Dabei clan.

Bringing Ouyang Nuan for training was a promise he had made; searching for spiritual medicine to heal the daughter of the Phoenix Emperor was also a promise; helping Burying Moon find a suitable physical body was yet another promise.

These promises certainly need to be fulfilled, yet the most crucial task of this journey is to help Nine-tailed Fox reach adulthood to obtain the Nine-tailed Blood to heal the Ancient Chaos Grand Emperor.

"Can you sense which area of this realm the Nine-tailed Fox tribe’s sacrificial artifact is located in?"

Ning Fan patted the special Spirit Beast Bag on his waist, and it immediately responded.

"...In reply to the master, the sensing is very weak, but it definitely exists. There’s no mistake, within this realm, our tribe’s artifact does exist, yet the distance is exceedingly far, and it seems to be stored in a tightly guarded place. Someone has sensed my presence, using magic to interfere, unwilling to let me sense the specific location of the artifact..." The Black Cat from the Spirit Beast Bag replied through transmission.

"So there’s someone interfering with magic?"

Ning Fan was slightly taken aback.

The Nine-tailed Fox sacrificial artifact being in the inner sanctum of the Supreme Pill Sacred Domain is likely not incorrect. It just seems that the Nine-tailed Fox sacrificial artifact here is not without an owner...

Never mind, whether it’s owned or unowned, even if it means forcefully taking it, Ning Fan is determined to get his hands on this Nine-tailed Fox sacrificial artifact!

"I wonder if the Treasure-searching Compass can locate the sacrificial artifact..."

Ning Fan flipped his hand to take out the Treasure-searching Compass, his spirit sense entered it, and he cast a spirit sense spell on it. Immediately, the compass began to slowly rotate, with a series of light spots of various sizes appearing on the compass. Different colored light spots represent different meanings, the brighter the light spot, the higher the grade of the natural treasures indicated.

This Treasure-searching Compass must be used in conjunction with spirit sense, everything within the user’s spirit sense range will be laid bare! Unfortunately, Ning Fan’s spirit sense, can’t cover the inner sanctum of the Supreme Pill Sacred Domain, even using the Heaven Prying Rain Technique, he cannot achieve it. There seems to be a membrane between the outer and inner regions that prevents spirit sense from penetrating...

It’s unfortunate, even the Treasure-searching Compass can’t pinpoint the artifact’s specific location, I can only search further upon entering the inner sanctum. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎

"This is... the Treasure-searching Compass of the Three Wasteland Elder! Wait, it’s not the genuine, only a replica... Unexpectedly, in this Era of Decline, someone could replicate this magical treasure to such a degree!" Burying Moon saw the Treasure-searching Compass, and uttered a soft exclamation, like Wu Laoba did earlier, surprised.

"Three Wasteland Elder? Quite famous is it, you all seem pretty surprised seeing this compass..." Ning Fan manipulated the compass while asking Wu Laoba and Burying Moon. It seems likely that this Treasure-searching Compass was crafted by the Chongming Phoenix Emperor as a replica of the Three Wasteland Elder’s creation.

Speaking of which, this place truly doesn’t disappoint being a former gathering place of the Saint. Although the specific location of the artifact hasn’t been detected, quite a few treasures have been discovered in the outer region. The outer sanctuary is regularly searched by cultivators every ten thousand years, so the years of the spiritual medicines aren’t very high. But in the shadows, numerous Ancient Cultivator Cave Mansions are hidden, preserving many good things within, including Acquired Treasures, Nine Transformations Lead Pills, Silver Elixirs, spiritual medicines of over a million years...

Thus, along this route into the inner sanctum, it’s necessary to ransack thoroughly; any hidden cave mansion along the way shouldn’t be left any treasure.

"You don’t know Three Wasteland Elder?" Burying Moon snorted disdainfully.

"Master, you didn’t know Three Wasteland Elder! He is the South Heaven Ancestral Emperor!" Wu Laoba expressed surprise and directly revealed the answer.

So it was the South Heaven Ancestral Emperor!

Ning Fan felt speechless, he had cultivated till now, of course, he had heard of the South Heaven Ancestral Emperor, it is said the South Heaven Ancestral Emperor was extremely adept at divination, ruthless and cunning, turning against allies easily, yet ultimately perished fighting to defend South Heaven, dying a very tragic death...

There are many legends surrounding the South Heaven Ancestral Emperor, though it seems the title of Three Wasteland Elder was not mentioned in the popular tales. So Ning Fan can’t be blamed for being ignorant, rather it’s a secret known by Wu Laoba and Burying Moon that most of the mighty ones in Eastern Heaven aren’t aware of.

Wu Laoba looked eager to tell Ning Fan more about the South Heaven Ancestral Emperor’s tales, cleared his throat, aiming to share stories, Ning Fan, however, had no interest in listening, instead took out some pre-distributed Medicine Soul Stones, instantly absorbing the medicine soul power within them entirely, then retrieved the next one to continue absorbing. Thus, after absorbing the power of eight hundred Medicine Soul Stones, Ning Fan felt somewhat relaxed, no longer experiencing the initial weakness caused by medicine fog upon entering the Sacred Domain.

Wu Laoba sat down cross-legged, muttering to himself, similarly began refining Medicine Soul Stones. Unlike Ning Fan, Wu Laoba absorbed over a thousand Medicine Soul Stones before feeling a sense of relief.

Burying Moon also absorbed thousands of Medicine Soul Stones.

Even little Maoqiu and the black cat within the Spirit Beast Bag absorbed a thousand Medicine Soul Stones each.

As for Ouyang Nuan, she didn’t need to rely on the power of Medicine Soul Stones to survive here, for she was already a Nine Transformations Lead Grade Medicine Soul, an extraordinary feat.

Ning Fan estimated that with his Seventh Grade Intermediate Medicine Soul, he could only use two hundred fewer Medicine Soul Stones than ordinary people. A single refining of a Medicine Soul Stone could last about six hours, or half a day.

Aside from Ouyang Nuan, the three people and two beasts would consume nearly ten thousand Medicine Soul Stones a day. This time, entering the Holy Domain, Ning Fan had prepared a total of only two hundred thousand Medicine Soul Stones.

Theoretically, Ning Fan and his group could stay in the Supreme Pill Sacred Domain for at most 200 days before they would need to leave, lest the shortage of Medicine Soul Stones puts their lives at risk. Of course, opening some hidden cave abodes in the Supreme Pill Sacred Domain also required Medicine Soul Stones, which means those 200 days would significantly decrease...

"Our time is limited, let’s move out as soon as possible."

The group began flying towards the inner sanctum, and before long, they reached the first hidden cave abode on their route.

This was a grassland, where the grasses were as tall as a person. Occasionally, hundred-year and thousand-year-old spiritual herbs could be seen among the grass, but to Ning Fan and the others, they were insignificant and not worth the time to pick.

This was the first hidden cave abode location indicated on Ouyang Nuan’s map. According to Wei Wuzhi, within this abode, there were items beneficial to Ouyang Nuan’s Five-Color Medicine Soul.

"Interesting, the cave abodes of the Four Heavens cultivators are often built among mountains and rivers, but this one is hidden beneath grasslands," Ning Fan remarked casually.

Even with his keen eye, it took him quite an effort to see that a hidden cave abode existed here. For other less skilled masters, it would be difficult to discover the abode.

"Hmph, how naive. The Daxian Cultivators, born and died on the grasslands, often preferred to build their abodes underground here. Most of the cave abodes left in the outer sanctum of the Holy Domain were by the ancient Daxian Cultivators, so naturally, they were mostly under the grasslands..." Burying Moon explained with a sneer.

"Born on the grassland, died on the grassland..."

Ning Fan flicked his finger, pulling out several hundred Medicine Soul Stones and stacking them on the ground, casting a spell to open the cave abode here.

He had already obtained information that the cave abodes of the Supreme Pill Sacred Domain were opened differently from those of the Four Heavens, requiring a special method that also consumed a certain amount of Medicine Soul Stones. The exact amount used was directly proportional to the cave abode’s rank.

This particular cave abode did not exhaust this small pile of Medicine Soul Stones, using roughly three hundred stones. A cave abode that required three hundred stones was usually that of a Fate Immortal Master.

Knowing the relatively low rank of this cave abode, Ning Fan, Wu Laoba, and Burying Moon were not very enthusiastic. Once opened, the ground revealed a tunnel entrance with long stairs leading underground. The stone stairs were ancient, and the walls on both sides intermittently featured recesses displaying Buddhist niches. After reaching the underground, there were a total of twelve stone rooms, all sealed with formations. The formations connected to the earth, powered by the thick essence of the land, had formidable defenses. Although it was only a Fate Immortal abode, without the owner’s permission, even some Crossing Truth Realm True Immortals could not open the stone rooms here!

"Such a peculiar formation..."

This was Ning Fan’s first time encountering such a bizarre formation. He quietly operated his Momentum Character Secret to see through the formation’s intricacies. Moments later, he raised a palm and pressed it against the stone door of the first stone room.

"Hold on!" Burying Moon hurriedly exclaimed.

At that moment, Ning Fan’s cultivation was suppressed to the Crossing Truth Realm. He hadn’t studied the formation thoroughly, and hastily triggering the main formation would involve considerable risks.

This was Burying Moon’s concern. Despite her verbal disdain for Ning Fan due to the influence of the Zi Relic, she instinctively called out when Ning Fan acted recklessly.

To her surprise, when Ning Fan’s hand touched the stone door, he did not receive any backlash from the formation. Ning Fan’s technique was too mysterious; as he touched the stone door, his fingers instantly changed their formation twenty-four times... as he touched the stone door, it clicked open!

He hadn’t forcefully broken the formation but had opened the stone door directly along its formation path!

"This little... rogue... his Dao of formations isn’t weak! He actually saw through the formation here entirely in an instant! Among the Eternal Immortal Venerables, few could achieve this level." Burying Moon was secretly amazed, but her expression held a disdainful grin. That little rogue was indeed powerful; why was she even worried? Oh, I would never be concerned about that little rogue; it was just an illusion, an illusion.

The first stone room stored some magical treasures, though most were not of high quality and their spirituality was largely damaged due to age. Ning Fan wasn’t interested in these, but there were some crafting materials piled in the corner, which he collected. Many were unique Daxian crafting materials, not high in grade but absent from the Eastern Heaven.

Following the same method, Ning Fan successively opened the rest of the cave abode, acquiring a total of four thousand Medicine Soul Stones, seven sealed expensive pills, some ancient Daxian books, and a small medicine garden. The garden contained quite a few one-million-year-old spiritual herbs. While their grades weren’t high, they were genuinely unique Daxian materials, which Ning Fan had never seen before.

Ning Fan could not recognize the text of the ancient books, so he couldn’t understand them. They likely contained things like Fate Immortal Cultivation Techniques, Divine Skills, and alchemical pill refining methods.

The four thousand Medicine Soul Stones, while not much, were a notable gain, allowing Ning Fan and the others to spend more time in the Holy Domain.

The sealed expensive pills made Ning Fan click his tongue in amazement. The Daxian Clan seemed extremely adept at secret techniques for storing pills. Though these seven pills were ancient, their aroma was still rich, retaining at least forty to fifty percent of their efficacy...

Moreover, even though Ning Fan didn’t recognize the names of these seven expensive pills, he could sense from the Medicine Soul that these seven pills were quite beneficial for enhancing the power of the Medicine Soul!

Seven Nine Transformations Lead Grade Pills that could enhance the Medicine Soul!

"Probably, these are the seven pills your master wanted you to take."

Ning Fan inspected them repeatedly, then suddenly consumed one of the pills and, after confirming its efficacy, handed the remaining six pills to Ouyang Nuan.

These are good pills, containing slight toxicity, but not much, and for a Fate Immortal, this level of toxicity is negligible, with no harm in consumption! With just one pill, his Seventh Grade Intermediate Medicine Soul neared the Seventh Grade Advanced level. Indeed, these pills are excellent!

"There’s no issue with these pills. Keep them first, and refine and consume them later when you have time. These pills are great for significantly enhancing the Medicine Soul," Ning Fan instructed.

Ouyang Nuan’s Medicine Soul was stronger than Ning Fan’s. With just a glance, she could see the pills were good, making her reluctant to consume them, and hesitated, "You’re also an Alchemist, husband. Why not keep them for yourself and strive to breakthrough to the Seventh Grade Advanced dan refinement..."

"No need. From practicing Dao till now, dan refinement is no longer a compulsory skill for me. Whether the Medicine Soul is enhanced or not, makes little difference. You, on the other hand, with one more pill, could breakthrough to the Silver Elixir Grade Medicine Soul earlier." Ning Fan felt a bit regretful, if it weren’t for testing the pills, he wouldn’t have taken even one. Giving him these pills was a bit wasteful.

"Well... alright then, anyway, after my refinement skills improve, you can benefit too. Whatever pills you want, come directly to me," Ouyang Nuan thought of being able to refine pills for Ning Fan, and no longer declined.

This place was completely searched, lingering was futile, and the group left the cave mansion continuing toward the inner periphery. Along the way, they searched through hundreds of cave mansions, some recorded in Ouyang Nuan’s map, others discovered by Ning Fan’s Treasure-searching Compass.

Advancing like this, Ning Fan also gathered hundreds of thousands of Medicine Soul Stones. After deducting the costs of opening the cave mansions, there were 2.3 million Medicine Soul Stones left.

Besides the Medicine Soul Stones, many pills, spiritual medicines, materials, and tomes were gained too. The cave mansions needed by Ouyang Nuan for this journey were mostly searched out. The remaining few, being off-route, were no longer worth deviating for.

This kind of search truly led Ning Fan to find some valuable things.

First, ten or so Innate Spiritual Medicines were found, among them one with a soul-nourishing effect, a kind Ning Fan had never obtained before. As such, Ning Fan had gathered five of the seven kinds of soul-nourishing Innate Spiritual Medicines needed to save the Phoenix Emperor’s daughter, with only two missing!

Next, in some Ancient Cultivator Cave Mansions, Ning Fan actually found numerous Daoquan springs, whose spiritual springs were stored for countless years, of rather pure quality, perfect for watering the Seven Treasures Marvelous Tree!

These Daoquan springs were naturally all collected by Ning Fan.

Additionally, in some cave mansions, Ning Fan found several supreme wood spiritual items, containing very pure Power of Dao Laws, suitable for subsequently enhancing Wood Yin-Yang’s power.

The Supreme Pill Sacred Domain was a medicinal garden, rich in wood aura, naturally producing such supreme wood spiritual items.

Altogether, it only took Ning Fan two days to journey from the outer to the inner periphery. The majority of the time wasn’t spent on traveling but on searching through cave mansions. Occasionally, they encountered cultivators who also entered the Holy Domain, but mostly they were low-level masters. Seeing Ning Fan’s group rushing through, they were too intimidated to act recklessly. Ning Fan had no interest in dealing with them, focusing only on his own journey.

"Ahead is the boundary between the inner and outer periphery..." Suddenly, Burying Moon became serious.

The terrain of the Supreme Pill Sacred Domain’s outer periphery, generally speaking, formed a large circle. The inner circular region is the outer periphery of the Holy Domain. The boundless outside is the center of the Holy Domain.

Should low-level cultivators see this scene, they would surely burst into laughter, claiming the division of inner and outer regions by whoever set it was unclear-headed, even reversing inner and outer circles.

But was it really reversed...

"...All beings trapped in the circle, inner and outer have no definition. Like dream, like wake, like dust, like origin. The Great Dao is vast and humble, wild grass is swaying, bowing but tough..."

This was inscribed on an ancient monument at the inner boundary!

Ning Fan glanced at the ancient monument, feeling its words held infinite profound truths. What he couldn’t imagine was the overwhelming power contained within those words, as if it could sweep forward from the immemorial times, giving a sense of a collapsing sky, irresistible!

Small, like ants... whether Ning Fan or Wu Laoba, even Burying Moon, all felt this way looking at this line of words, because the cultivator who wrote them had an astonishing cultivation!

Third Step!

"Could this monument have been left by a Saint who collected medicines here back then!"

Ning Fan secretly speculated.

Every word and deed of a Saint held unmatchable power, even a few words could be used as unparalleled killing moves. This is something even peerless Immortal Emperors like Ancient Chaos or Immortal survivor lacked the ability to do. Though they might be strong enough to rival an Initial Saint in battle, without being a true Saint, they didn’t possess such power.

A Saint’s word collapses mountains and rivers, a Saint’s letter submerges seas and lands! Dao arts must not be lightly spread, describing situations like this.

Upon close approach to the monument, Ning Fan could feel each word on it carrying immense power, any word could eradicate an Eternal Immortal Venerable!

"If only I could take away this monument, or the Saint’s line of words..."

Ning Fan entertained the thought, Wu Laoba was equally thinking about it. A Saint’s autograph, that was more powerful than any Innate Treasure. If it could be obtained...

"Don’t even think about it, many powerful cultivators likely shared your thoughts, yet the reality is this monument still stands here, the Saint’s words remain here. It’s beyond the ability of us second-step cultivators to take it away, even an Ancient Great Cultivator couldn’t do it." Burying Moon Fairy spoke in a seasoned manner to Ning Fan.

Monuments like this were still found around the entire outer periphery of the Holy Domain, lamentably no one has ever been able to collect the Saint’s words, this applied to her too. She once attempted that with the cultivation of a Nine Tribulations Immortal Emperor, resulting in severe injury and failure...

For second-step cultivators, without a Saint’s permission, they couldn’t even touch the Saint’s words!

"Heh, entering a treasure mountain without taking anything isn’t how Wu Laoba operates. Without trying, how would I know if I could take these Saint’s words away!"

Wu Laoba rubbed his hands eagerly, impatient to attempt, of course, necessary caution was exercised though compared to the Saint’s words, all cautiousness was cast aside.

This was the Saint’s inscription, imbued with awe-inspiring power! Wu Laoba could sense, if he ventured to touch the monument’s words, he would suffer grave injuries... but if successful by luck... Wu Laoba would wield these thirty-six words of the Saint, enough to dominate the Four Heavens! Even an Immortal Emperor would fear Wu Laoba as if facing a venomous snake!

Wu Laoba was eager.

Ning Fan thought about it, he had the God-Extinguishing Shield for protection, he might as well give it a try. Even if it didn’t work, he wouldn’t get hurt.

This place being the inner perimeter boundary, there was no need to suppress cultivation anymore. Wu Laoba unleashed his full power, Ning Fan likewise released his cultivation suppression.

The two were just about to attempt taking the monument’s words when their gazes simultaneously shifted.

In the next instant, an ink-drawn giant tiger, a hundred meters large, suddenly appeared out of thin air in the sky, and then roared fiercely, crashing down from the heavens, and gusts of strong wind erupted around!

The force of the crash rivaled the full power strike of a Crossing Truth Realm master!

"Those who dare touch the Tamu Clan’s sacred artifact, shall be killed without mercy!"

An unexpectedly elderly voice.

Following the elderly voice, many younger voices emerged in succession.

"We vow to protect our clan’s sacred artifact to the death!"

"We vow to protect our clan’s sacred artifact to the death!"

"We vow to protect our clan’s sacred artifact to the death!"

One after another, shadows unexpectedly crawled out from beneath the plains.

Ning Fan’s gaze subtly sharpened, amidst the aggressive killing intent of the arrivals, he raised a hand to crush the divine skill of the tiger charging down from above, while scrutinizing the newcomers.

The Dabei Clan...