Chapter 188 - Core Formation (1)
Chapter 188 Core Formation (1)
Ning Fan was led to a room on the second floor of the pill tower. While he was on his way, he saw countless Gold Core Realm and Nascent Soul Realm experts in the other rooms. Apparently, many of them registered as Third Revolution Pill Masters.
Each of them looked at Ning Fan in a haughty manner whenever he passed by their rooms. Ning Fan did not bother himself about their disdainful stares as most of the pill masters behave in that manner.
After a while, Ya Lan brought an elderly man who wore a luxurious green robe. He had a radiant red face and a pair of piercing eyes that held traces of impatience. People knew him as Elder Mo.
When he sensed that Ning Fan was only a Half-Step Gold Core Realm expert, his eyes narrowed.
“Ya Lan! I’m at the crucial point of comprehending my Core. I don’t have time to waste. If this young man here is not a Third Revolution Pill Master, I’ll definitely punish you!”
“Yes…” Ya Lan let out a faint sigh. She didn’t know that Elder Mo had just came out from a fruitless secluded meditation which caused him to be in a bad mood.
I’m so unlucky…
When he spread his spirit sense to study Ning Fan, he felt a sharp pain in his mind. His narrow eyes now widened with a bit of surprise. The current Ning Fan no longer carried the stench of blood of the human sharks. Anyone would never find him to be a merciless devil cultivator when he puts on a friendly smile on his face.
Pill masters controlled flames during the process of refining pills using their spirit sense. Although the strength of spirit sense was not correlated with the pill refining realm, one fact was proven – pill masters with strong spirit sense normally excelled in pill refining technique.
This Harmonious Spirit Realm cultivator might have a relatively young bone age. But it’s not impossible for him to be a Third Revolution Pill Master.
“This young friend is quite uncommon. Come, follow me to the pill refining room. I’ll test your skills.” Elder Mo forcefully squeezed out a smile. Upon seeing that smile on his face, Ya Lan heaved a sigh of relief.
Elder Mo must have spotted something special about Zhou Ming. That’s why he began to pay attention to him.
However, Ning Fan did not take another step forward.
“I have a question. What is the maximum pill refining level that Fellow Daoist Mo is able to test?”
“Hmm? Since I am High Grade Third Revolution Pill Master, I’m able to test anyone’s pill refining level below that level. If you really are a Peak Third Revolution Pill Master, I can also tell!”
“I see. It is so unfortunate that Fellow Daoist Mo made a trip in vain. My pill refining technique is beyond the peak of Third Revolution. I guess I have to trouble someone else in the tower to test my skills…”
When his words fell, Ya Lan and Elder Mo stared at him in disbelief!
Elder Mo’s smile vanished and he became emotionless, thinking that Ning Fan was lying. “Fellow Daoist Zhou, are you joking with me?”
Every year, many pill masters would make false declarations of their pill refining techniques, trying their luck to get into the higher floors of the Lost World Tower. It had become a habit of his to stop believing in pill masters who seemed to be exaggerating about their pill refining techniques.
In fact, Elder Mo was unable to test Fourth Revolution Pill Master. Only the master of the southern pill tower was qualified to do so!
If Ning Fan is not a genuine Fourth Revolution Pill Master, the tower master would surely mete out a heavy punishment to me!
The master of the southern tower had a unique identity. No one including the master of the other towers and the Spirit Severing Realm guardian of the Lost World Tower dared to offend her…
If there were any other alternatives, Ning Fan would never choose to publicize his pill refining realm. Revealing pill refining realm, especially Fourth Revolution and above, was an act of inviting danger.
However, he was left with no options.
Since his authenticity was being questioned by Elder Mo, he fished out a jade box from his storage pouch. When the lid of the box opened, there was a greenish pill glittering under the sunlight.
“I think you misunderstood my intentions. You can judge me after having a look at the pill in this box first.”
Ya Lan was not shocked at all when she saw that pill. But Elder Mo could no longer retain his calm.
“This… This is the Fourth Revolution Pill – Nascent Formation Pill!”
A Nascent Formation Pill!
Elder Mo had witnessed this pill a few times throughout his life although he was unable to refine that pill himself. He even bought one for himself to save it for the day when he would form his own Nascent Soul. What astonished him the most was the quality of the pill. He had never once seen a pill with such quality as it was imbued with a trace of divine intent! Besides, this pill was flawless as if it was formed by nature itself… (Usually, the Nascent Formation Pills refined by a Peak Fourth Revolution Pill Master would contain some flaws.)
The hard evidence that proved Ning Fan’s authenticity was the qi that was left on the pill. During the final step of collecting the pills from the boiling-hot cauldron, pill masters would leave a strand of their qi on the pills to identify their maker.
The qi belonged to Ning Fan himself!
As a matter of fact, this pill was refined by him on the ship during his journey to this island!
“Zhou… No. Master Zhou! This…Was this pill really refined by you?!
Elder Mo who used to be arrogant and disdainful became flustered in front of Ning Fan.
“Precisely! Is this evidence enough? Am I now qualified enough to request for a better pill master to test my pill refining techniques?”
“Yes! Of course! However, the master of my tower is slightly different from the other three towers. My master is a female and she’s not a pill master…However, she is able to test up to…”
Elder Mo showed a five with his palm without speaking the word.
There were not more than 20 Fifth Revolution Pill Master who registered under the Lost World Palace. Only 3 among them were willing to hold titular positions as the pill masters of the Lost World Palace! The rest of them did not linger around the External Endless Sea.
If he really is a Fifth Revolution Pill Master, it would be considered as a meritorious contribution to bring him to the master!
“Master Zhou! I, Mo Yun, will lead you to the master of the tower now! She’s a bad-tempered woman. When you meet her later, please have some tolerance…”
“Thank you, Fellow Daoist Mo. The pill tower of the Lost World Palace is kind of interesting. Fellow Daoist Mo didn’t have a good temper either like the master of the tower. May I know why? Is holding a post in the pill tower something to be unhappy about?” Ning Fan laughed.
“Sorry to make a fool of myself… I really don’t have a good temperament. But I’ll still act according to the situation I face and the person I see. As for my master, she’s truly short-tempered regardless of anything. Even if she feels irritated by a Spirit Severing Realm old monster, she would also turn against him. Just… don’t offend her.”
“Now I understand…” Ning Fan’s eyes turned clear. According to how Elder Mo depicted the tower master, she might have a special status.
As far as Ning Fan knew, the masters of the four towers were at Peak Nascent Soul Realm. Only the Lost World Tower was guarded by a Spirit Severing Realm expert.
A Nascent Soul Realm tower master turning against a Spirit Severing Realm old monster? She must come from an extremely powerful background.
Somehow, the memory of the little devilish girl who kept harassing him back in the Godly Void Pavilion surfaced in his thoughts…
…
Elder Mo and Ning Fan passed by the other rooms of the corridor again. This time, Elder Mo was treating the latter who was a mere Harmonious Spirit Realm cultivator with much respect. When they saw Elder Mo bringing him into the third floor, the haughtiness on their expressions disappeared into thin air, replaced by amazement.
“That Harmonious Spirit Realm junior… No. The Harmonious Spirit Realm Fellow Daoist is a Fourth…”
“Shhh! We don’t have the right to discuss about him. If he is a Fourth… His status is comparable to that of a Late Nascent Soul Realm expert in this city!”
“I am wondering how the tyrannical tower master would treat him…”
“Shhh! This is something beyond our scope of discussion. The tower master is said to be someone from the ‘above’…”
…
Ning Fan was unaffected by the chatter and gossip from the other rooms. He carried an emotionless face and followed Mo Yun to the third floor.
The furnishings and decorations of the third floor were so lavish that it almost looked like a palace. The scent that could usually be found in a female boudoir filled the air of the entire floor.
Just as he arrived at the entrance of a room which was to the internal of a palace, his nose caught a faint smell of blood.
Two Gold Core Realm cultivators who were dressed like servants were carrying a wooden stretcher out from the room with pale-white faces.
A white cloth which was stained with blood covered the object on top of the stretcher.
Ning Fan spread his spirit sense to check what was beneath the cloth. To his surprise, it was a dismembered corpse of a male cultivator! Judging from the spiritual qi in the blood of the corpse, the male cultivator was at least a Mid Nascent Soul Realm expert!
“This is…” Ning Fan was bewildered.
“ *Cough* I’ve already told you. My master is quick-tempered. By the way, she hates male cultivators the most… The man on the stretcher used to be a Fourth Revolution Pill Master. However, he always behaved in a frivolous manner towards the master. So…”
Ning Fan stared at the corpse in silence.
A Fourth Revolution Pill Master is someone that would be treated with great respect in a Mid-Grade Cultivation Country, someone that would be regarded as a useful individual in the Lost World Palace. However, he ended up serving as a tool for the master of the southern tower to vent up her anger.
It was an obvious fact that the Lost World Palace was trying to entice skillful pill masters since they were being provided with preferential treatment. But the master of the southern tower could dare to disregard the intentions of the Lost World Palace… She must have a status that was far more superior than anyone else here!
Now, Ning Fan really was worried about the temper of the female master. The chances of getting killed and dismembered was quite high if there’s a disagreement.
I should have gone to the other towers…
Ning Fan helplessly muttered to himself. His Yin Plucking Finger might not be able to bewitch her as the difference between their cultivation realms was worlds apart.
It would be too unjustifiable if I were to die by her hands because of her bad temper…
But if I accidentally reveal my trump card and kill her…
I would be pursued by True Immortals from the heavens!
At the end of the day, I would end up dead as well…
In the internal palace, a few Gold Core Realm maidservants were attending to a young lady.
She wore red clothes which was of the size suitable to a teenage girl who had yet to hit puberty. There was also a long lava-red whip ornamented with eagle plumes hung around her shoulder.
Her appearance showed that she was just a 12-year-old girl. Her hair was tied into a loose bun that sat in the center of her head, adorned with a blood-red jade hairpin. Even her nails were painted in red colour. The delicate features on her gorgeous oval face made her look pretty and innocent. However, anyone who stared into her cold eyes would find her to be not innocent at all. For cultivators, they would definitely sense a trace of blood-red intent flashing in her eyes.
“How dare a mere Fourth Revolution Pill Master try to bewitch me… What a disgusting man! I see no difference in all the men under the heavens from him! All men are loathsome with their inability to restrain themselves from their urges… Right. Mo Yun said he wanted to see me. What’s the matter?”
“Reporting to mistress. Apparently, Mo Yun has found a Fourth Revolution Pill Master…”
“Really… If that person’s gaze stops on my body for more than a period of three breaths, his life will not be spared… If he tries to retaliate, we will annihilate him and his entire sect…” The young lady spoke in an unsympathetic tone.
“What if this person is well-behaved?” The maidservant asked gingerly.
“Hmm. Then he will be considered as a good man… Just cut off his sausage so that he can become one of my servants too.”
“What if this person is a Fifth Revolution Pill Master?”
“If he’s a Fifth Revolution… I can’t simply bully a Fifth Revolution Pill Master. Hai… It’s so troublesome.” The young lady paused as if she was thinking of a way to torment Ning Fan if he really was a Fifth Revolution Pill Master.
…
After hearing her words, the most erogenous zone on Ning Fan’s body turned chilly as he imagined losing that body part.
Am I going to suffer that fate?
Now, he’s going to face a devilish little lady!
Note :
Measurements :
a. li(里) = 500 m
b. zhang(丈) = 3.13 m
c. chi(尺) = 30.7 cm