Chapter 489 - Red-Haired Human Cauldron
Chapter 489: Red-Haired Human Cauldron
Ning Fan took all of the Mist Horn Clan's treasures and resources including immortal jade, spiritual medicines and devil scriptures.
Under the restraint of the slave marks, the entire Mist Horn Clan could not leave Tai Chi Devil City for the rest of their lives. Even the cultivation levels of the two Void Refinement Realm experts, Gui Jiao and Yin Gong, were sealed. Both of them would be imprisoned in the city and would not be able to leave this place until they die.
One of the four great devil clans that was once prominent and famous had fallen in just one night and became Ning Fan's slaves. This incident shocked the entire world. Su Yan did not have any objections on how Ning Fan dealt with her clan. She just brought her twelve silver-scaled horned dragons with her and followed Ning Fan to leave the Mist Horn Clan.
On this day, a wooden boat which radiated dazzling silver rays suddenly appeared one million zhang* (3.33m per zhang) beneath the Hidden Ocean. It soared towards the sky and flew among the clouds.
This wooden boat was a rare treasure used for traveling by ancient cultivators. It was being pulled by 12 horned dragons and had a speed nearly at the same level as that of a Void Pierce Stage expert.
It was Su Yan's technique. As the former clan leader of the Mist Horn Clan, it was not strange for her to have a flying treasure of excellent grade.
Ning Fan stood at the bow of the silver boat with Su Yan and little Ming Que standing behind him. As for the group of Divine Transformation Realm cultivators who were Ming Que's followers, they were responsible for steering the silver boat.
How grand and impressive a sight it was when the boat flew with twelve Half-Step Void Refinement Realm silver-scaled horned dragons pulling it.
All the cultivators they passed by along their journey could feel the formidable aura force from their silver boat from afar. None of them dared to approach at all as they were worried that they might provoke the powerful experts on the boat.
Only a few old monsters managed to recognize the origin of the silver boat and they surmised that Su Yan and Ning Fan were on it. They tried to catch up with the silver boat to greet Ning Fan but the boat completely outran them.
Ning Fan did not pay any attention to the cultivators they met along their journey. Since the beginning of their trip, he had been keeping his eyes closed without uttering a single word. He placed the bell orchid beside his ear, listening to the crisp ringing sound it produced as the wind blew. Internally, he was planning his next step in his cultivation.
His ancient devil cultivation realm at the Mid Reckless Devil Realm was equivalent to the Second Level of the Golden Body Realm. However, it was far stronger than the latter and its strength was close to that of a body cultivator who was at the Third Level of the Golden Body Realm.
Even though his physical body had already broken through to the Reckless Devil Realm, his magic power was still at the Half-Step Void Refinement Realm. At the end of the day, he still needed to achieve the Void Refinement Realm.
He would still require preparation to gradually advance towards the Void Fragmentation Realm once he accomplished that.
Forty years had passed since he left Yue Country and in these past forty years, he had managed to cultivate to this level. Only he alone was aware of the difficulties and hardships he had to face in order to obtain his current achievements.
If he ever wants to advance into the next cultivation realm, the Void Fragmentation Realm, once his cultivation level reaches this point, the difficulty of doing so would be beyond imagination.
Out of the Nine Worlds of the mortal realm, only Void Fragmentation Realm experts were those who truly stood at the pinnacle of cultivation. Everyone below the Void Fragmentation Realm was just as insignificant as an ant.
For now, advancing to the Void Fragmentation Realm was still unreachable to the current Ning Fan.
"Pills, Dao fruits, human cauldrons… If I want to break through to the Void Fragmentation Realm, all of these are necessary. It has been a while since I last captured human cauldrons for my cultivation. At my current level, I need to capture human cauldrons at least of the Void Refinement Realm. Unfortunately, there are very few female Void Refinement Realm cultivators in this vast Rain World that I can count them using my fingers. They aren't enough to help with my cultivation at all…"
Ning Fan opened his eyes and glanced at Su Yan. Then, he shook his head in silence.
To him, Su Yan was the perfect human cauldron. Be it her cultivation level or her appearance, all of them were top-notch. However, it was impossible for him to pluck her because she was his devil concubine.
Sensing Ning Fan stealing a glance at her, Su Yan made a soft smile. She elegantly stroked the hair on her temples and asked.
"I can see lust in Master's eyes. Do you want me to service you?"
The sudden appearance of lust to pluck a human cauldron in Ning Fan's eyes did not escape from Su Yan's wise and sharp eyes.
"I don't need it at the moment."
Ning Fan smiled faintly and shook his head. Even though he had a favorable impression of Su Yan, their relationship was not that of lovers. Besides, since he did not consider her as his human cauldron, he certainly would not recklessly do it with her.
*Bang*
Out of the blue, a loud crumbling sound could be heard from the clouds in the distance. Someone was literally tearing the space apart into pieces.
From the space that had been torn apart came strong energy fluctuations caused by a battle between three Void Inquiry Stage experts. The waves of energy discharged from their battle were enough to strike fear into any Divine Transformation Realm cultivator.
Immediately, every Divine Transformation Realm cultivator on the silver boat began to feel tense and nervous. Ming Que's little face also became stern and had stopped chewing her pill biscuits.
Su Yan took out her magic weapon at once and warily stood in front of Ning Fan. Her brows were tightly knitted together.
Ning Fan's eyes turned solemn. He spread out his spirit sense and discovered that three Void Inquiry Stage old monsters had torn apart space one hundred thousand li* (500m per li) ahead of them. One of them was pursuing the other two experts who were trying to flee.
At first, Ning Fan thought that the killing intent that had targeted him previously was relaten when he felt the waves of energy from their battle.
However, when he took a closer look, he realized that these three Void Inquiry Stage old monsters had nothing to do with that killing intent.
The two Void Inquiry Stage old monsters wearing green robes were originally hale and hearty, but both of them currently looked battered and exhausted. Their bodies were full of injuries and their qi were weak. They were desperately running away towards no particular direction.
The person who was in pursuit of the two green-robed elderly experts was a red-haired lady who exuded strong yin qi. Her complexion was pale white while her lips were red like blood. Her eyes looked seductive but ferocious.
That red-haired lady was at the Void Inquiry Stage, just like the other two elderly experts but her strength was nearly at the peak of the Void Inquiry Stage which was far above the two experts.
Moreover, due to the severe injuries that the two elderly experts were suffering from, it would only be a matter of time for that red-haired lady to hunt them down without any accident. It was definitely impossible for the two to defeat her.
Ning Fan's expression changed and ordered to turn the bow of the silver boat around. He did not have any intention of interfering in their battle.
The two experts clad in green robes had previously fought against the red-haired lady in midair but they were clearly not her opponent. In fact, they almost died in her hands. Thus, they could only break the space apart and flee with their lives. However, they suddenly noticed Ning Fan and the others present at the scene.
As soon as they saw Ning Fan and Su Yan who were also Void Inquiry Stage experts on the silver boat, they looked like they had just seen the light of hope. They obviously were trying to seek their help.
Even though they did not know who Ning Fan was, they recognized Su Yan, a Void Refinement Realm expert of the Rain World. They knew how powerful she was.
Now, the two of them only had a single thought in their minds – to avoid the red-haired lady's attacks at all costs. Thus, they boarded the silver boat and begged for Su Yan's help while gasping for air.
"You are Fairy Su of the Mist Horn Clan, aren't you? We, the 'Two Elders of Ling Nan', are currently facing trouble. It's a great coincidence to have met Fairy Su here. Fairy Su and this Fellow Daoist over there, please lend us a hand. We will be very grateful to you if you are willing to save us from danger!"
The two elders had no idea of Ning Fan's strength. However, they were aware that if Su Yan were to help them, it would not be a problem at all for them to deal with that red-haired lady.
"The Two Elders of Ling Nan?" Su Yan was slightly stunned, as if she had heard of the names of these two individuals before. However, judging from her expression, she didn't seem to be very familiar with them.
Ning Fan frowned. After the two elderly experts boarded the silver boat, the red-haired lady who was closely chasing after them had also aimed her killing intent on the boat and had started to spare no effort delivering attacks towards it. Her attacks forced the silver boat to stop.
"Anyone who tries to protect the two of them shall die!" The red-haired lady shouted, unleashing an intense killing intent.
Evidently, the red-haired lady had already viewed Ning Fan and the others as accomplices of the Two Elders of Ling Nan and had decided to wipe them all out.
The red-haired lady held a massive blood-red sickle that had the shape of the crescent moon. Each time she wielded her sickle, the blood-red attack she sent out carried a destructive power comparable to a Peak Void Inquiry Stage expert's attack. It was strong enough to grievously injure ordinary Void Glimpse Stage cultivators.
Su Yan took a lotus step forward and raised one of her hands, waving a purple copper dragon horn. The horn produced purplish red rays which destroyed the red-haired lady's attacks. It looked like both Su Yan and the red-haired lady were equal in strength.
Although Ning Fan did not intend to save the two elderly experts, the red-haired lady's actions made his eyes turn cold.
Moments earlier, he had still been worried over not having any suitable human cauldrons for him to capture. Since this red-haired lady attacked him and his group without distinguishing between right and wrong, he would not mind keeping her as his first Void Refinement Realm human cauldron!
"Yan Er, come back. Let me deal with her."
"Why did you call me Yan Er…" Su Yan's cheeks turned slightly red. Her apricot eyes flickered. However, she secretly concealed the redness on her face and returned to the boat obediently.
As for Ning Fan, he leapt forward and soared into the sky above the silver boat and dashed towards the attacks of the red-haired lady.
This went beyond the two elderly experts' expectations.
The two of them were rogue cultivators of the Rain World. Throughout the years, they had been travelling around the world, seeking and exploring the historical remnants of ancient cultivators in order to find opportunities.
They rarely paid any attention to the news and rumors circulating in the world. Therefore, they were unaware of Ning Fan's name which rose to fame among the Void Refinement Realm experts in the Rain World.
Even though they could sense that Ning Fan had Void Inquiry Stage qi, they could also tell that he had just recently advanced not too long ago and his foundation was still somewhat shallow. Thus, they did not expect Ning Fan to be very powerful, much less fight against the red-haired lady head-on.
From their perspective, the only one present there who could resist the red-haired lady was only Su Yan, the clan leader of the Mist Horn Clan. Of course, since they had kept themselves unaware of the latest news, they still had no idea about the incident that had happened to the Mist Horn Clan.
They heaved sighs of relief after seeing that Su Yan was equal in strength to the red-haired lady. They were prepared to help Su Yan fight against the red-haired lady alongside her.
However, they did not expect that Ning Fan would call Su Yan back at this moment and face the red-haired lady himself. From the two elderly experts' view, what Ning Fan did was undoubtedly extremely foolish.
"This Fellow Daoist, the red-haired lady is incredibly strong and is almost at the peak of the Void Inquiry Stage. She's not someone whom you can fight…"
Before they could finish speaking, they were suddenly startled with their mouths wide open.
They saw Ning Fan handle the red-haired lady's sickle attacks more easily than Su Yan.
By just raising his palm, he could crush the blood moon slash from the lady using only his physical strength.
By just hurling his fists, he could deliver an attack at the peak of Void Inquiry Stage and keep the lady on tenterhooks.
Based on the strength which Ning Fan displayed, he clearly was not any weaker than Su Yan and certainly was at the peak among Void Inquiry Stage experts!
The two elderly experts no longer dared to underestimate Ning Fan in the slightest. Both of them realized that they had been belittling his strength too much.
However, there was something they found a little hard to understand. If Ning Fan had such great power, he should have already become a famous individual in the Rain World. No matter how uninterested they were in the Rain World's matters, they should have still heard of his name regardless. But why did Ning Fan look so unfamiliar to them?
"How dare you stop me from killing people? Have you grown tired of living?!" The red-haired lady flew into a rage. She realized that her attacks did not actually have any effect on Ning Fan and was suppressing her instead.
Under her boiling anger, layers of blood-red baleful qi suddenly rose around her body.
The baleful qi seeped into her red hair. It was then that her elegant and soft long hair seemed to have come to life. Countless strands of her hair turned into blood-red snakes. Each of them opened their bloody mouths wide and blasted out blood-red flames towards Ning Fan.
One hundred thousand strands of hair meant one hundred thousand blood snakes.
The lady's voice was as cold as ice. As she did a hand seal, all one hundred thousand snakes spat out ten thousand traces of blood-red fire rain. The shower of fire rain expressed that lady's determination to kill Ning Fan as it emanated her terrifying killing intent!
"Secret Killing Technique – Snake Hair Technique!"
The destructive power of the ten thousand traces of fire rain was a hair's breadth away from that of a Void Pierce Stage attack. Even if the two elders of Ling Nan took that attack head-on in their best condition, they would not be able to withstand it.
The faces of the two turned pale when they saw the flames of the snake hair. Ning Fan, however, was as calm as usual when he faced the flames. He gently lifted his palm and a vortex rose on its center which sucked in all of the snake flames.
"Fire Plucking Technique!"
Ning Fan easily took care of an attack that was as powerful as the Void Pierce Stage!
"How is this possible?! This Fellow Daoist actually managed to block the snake flames without any difficulty! Even a Void Pierce Stage old monster might not necessarily be able to do that without spending much effort, right?!"
"Indestructible Fire Body! It must be the Indestructible Fire Body! The way this Fellow Daoist restrained the snake flames is just like how the king of flames would. It must be because he possesses the legendary physique – the Indestructible Fire Body!"
The moment the two experts cried out in surprise, the red-haired lady was filled with shock. She did not expect that Ning Fan would be able to take care of the strongest secret technique she could use with just a wave of his hand.
She brandished her blood moon sickle, attempting to display other magic techniques to attack Ning Fan. At the next moment, Ning Fan quickly summoned his Eight Black Burning Wings.
As he flapped his fire wings, he dashed towards the lady at a speed comparable to the Void Pierce Stage. He raised his Yin Plucking Finger and pressed her body.
His actions were too fast. The red-haired lady did not even have the time to defend herself and all she could do was to let Ning Fan touch her. Her cold eyes looked like she wanted to hack him to pieces right away.
However, as soon as Ning Fan touched her with his finger, the energy in his finger flowed throughout the lady's entire body, making her unable to muster any of her magic power. Her body began to feel numb and soft. A feeling of warmth also surged up within her. She knew that she was undoubtedly affected by Ning Fan's bewitching technique.
"How dare you… How dare you…" Her expression turned hot and red in a very short amount of time. She then started to gasp for air. Her body felt so weak that she even lost the ability to speak properly.
The bewitching technique was just too domineering as it was even capable of subduing a Void Inquiry Stage female expert with just a single touch. It was the red-haired lady's first time witnessing such a powerful bewitching technique.
Before she could even retaliate, her body had already fallen into Ning Fan's embrace. Then, Ning Fan touched her body for tens of times more using his Yin Plucking Finger to seal off her magic power completely.
"So what if you've used a bewitching technique to seal off my magic power?! Secret Killing Technique, Sense Killing Technique!"
Waves of faint red spirit sense burst out from the lady's Sea of Consciousness. Every wave of her spirit sense was imbued with killing qi which turned the waves into blood-red blades. They directly headed for Ning Fan's head and the others on the silver boat at the same time.
The faint red spirit sense was very similar to sword sense. If anyone could probe into the lady's Sea of Consciousness, they would discover that her Sea of Consciousness had already been cultivated into the form of killing qi.
It was called Killing Consciousness and Killing Sense!
It really astonished Ning Fan that she managed to cultivate the killing consciousness.
However, it really enraged him when she tried to attack Ming Que and Su Yan as well using it.
When the lady released her killing sense, Ning Fan also unleashed his sword sense which formed a shield in front of everybody on the boat, blocking the killing sense from the lady.
*Bang* *Bang* *Bang*
Each time their spirit sense collided, the lady would groan in pain. Eventually, all of her killing sense were cut down by Ning Fan's sword sense.
She stared at Ning Fan in disbelief and tried to use other means she had to kill him.
This time, however, Ning Fan did not give her the chance to act again. He directly placed his finger on her forehead, making her pass out. Then, he tied her up with magic ropes and threw her inside the Cauldron Ring.
He had not captured a new human cauldron for a long time. Even so, his techniques did not become rusty.
While he might not be willing to pluck Su Yan, Ning Fan did not have the slightest hint of pity for a ferocious lady who wanted to take his life at first glance.
She was a human cauldron that had literally presented herself to him! The only thing that concerned Ning Fan was the background and identity of that red-haired lady…
Judging from her ultimate techniques, she seems to have a rather influential background.
It had only been a little over ten breaths from Ning Fan taking over Su Yan's place and capturing the red-haired lady alive. Every action he made was as quick as lightning.
The two elders of Ling Nan were completely dumbfounded. They could not imagine that Ning Fan would actually catch the red-haired lady who made them flee desperately so easily…
"Let's talk. Tell me about this lady's identity and the reason why she pursued you two. If you two try to conceal anything, don't blame me for being cruel!"
Ning Fan's cold eyes were fixed on the two elderly experts, making their soul tremble for a second. They did not dare to look Ning Fan in the eye and neither were they bold enough to hide anything from him.
Ning Fan's strength was just too frightening. Since he could even capture the red-haired lady alive, it would not be very difficult for him to eliminate them both.
"It's a long story… It's all our fault to begin with. When we were exploring the historical remains of ancient cultivators, we accidentally found a passage to a realm that was filled with immense killing qi. That's what led to this disaster…"
The two elders were wearing apologetic smiles while telling Ning Fan about the entire incident.
Translated by Tommy, edited by Roel